Chapter 117

Chapter 117. True Education ON. (2)

After Betelgeuse left… I mean, Pingchang… or whatever.

I immediately tried to soothe my mind by patting Marian’s head, but for some reason, our raven-haired beauty Marian was nowhere to be seen in the base. Not even a single strand of her hair was visible. Maybe it’s because she’s a superhuman with no hair loss issues, but still, not a single hair in sight.

“Gryanarr, have you seen Marian by any chance?”

“Hmm, why don’t you ask Leonard? That guy who’s always holed up in his ship.”

“Ah, right.”

So, despite still feeling awkward, I contacted Leonard, who, after Oxianor’s gender-swap incident, has become one of the only two regular male characters in this base.

-“Sorry, but I can’t say anything about the Pirate Empress.”

“Huh?”

He didn’t say he didn’t know, but that he *couldn’t* say anything, which only made me more curious. But before I could ask more, he cut off the communication and blocked me. Suddenly, I was left wondering where our pure, innocent Marian was and what she was up to.

==========

At the same time…

The Marian that Icarus had been searching for so desperately…

“You thought hiding in a destroyer instead of a light cruiser would keep me from finding you?”

“…What are you talking about, Pirate Empress?”

Instead of the Hamburg-class light cruiser that Betelgeuse had set as the fleet’s flagship, Marian, along with the elite Imperial Guard, had stormed the bridge of a destroyer mixed among other ships nearby. She was pointing accusingly at Betelgeuse, who was there instead of on the flagship.

Of course, Betelgeuse maintained a calm demeanor on the surface, but inwardly, she was baffled.

‘How did she figure it out?’

To avoid the flagship being targeted and destroyed during a long-range expedition, Betelgeuse had boarded a regular destroyer instead. But Marian had seen through her little “prank” in an instant and tracked her down. Despite Marian’s poker face, Betelgeuse couldn’t help but feel a sense of panic.

But as Marian lowered her pointing finger, she raised her gloved hand, rested it on her chin, and smirked sinisterly.

“Aha, so you’re the one who messed with my oppa?”

“…Oppa?”

Betelgeuse, who led a massive clan of over 10,000 “jokesters,” immediately realized she was in deep trouble upon hearing that “title.” But she wasn’t about to go down without a fight.

“Wait, I made a peace treaty with your Commander, right? Is this how you treat someone who’s trying to negotiate peace?”

Despite her desperate attempts to maintain her composure, Marian’s response was…

“You seem to be misunderstanding something, so let me correct you.”

“Huh?”

-*BAM!*

“Gah?!”

“First of all, I don’t have any separate contract with my oppa yet.”

“Cough! Cough!”

While pretending to engage in conversation, Marian suddenly delivered a punch to Betelgeuse’s lower abdomen. The force was so strong that Betelgeuse’s body floated upward, saved from being turned into mincemeat only by the system’s protection against fatal attacks. But that didn’t stop the intense pain and the bruise forming on her stomach.

As Betelgeuse coughed and struggled on the ground, Marian grabbed her pink curly hair and lifted her up, whispering into her ear.

“Don’t worry, though. I’m not going to kill you.”

“Guh… ugh?”

As if hearing the whispers of a devil, sweet words reached his ears.

Betelgeuse, who had been groaning in pain, perked up with a glint in his pink eyes.

But that expression was short-lived, as suspicion filled him, wondering what kind of words could follow after being utterly destroyed.

Seeing her like that, Marian lightly tapped her head a couple of times.

Despite holding her hair so tightly, she seemed momentarily fascinated by how it didn’t come out.

Then, she began whispering into Betelgeuse’s ear again.

“What happened between you and Oppa ended at Oppa’s discretion, right?”

“…Well, yeah.”

“Plus, since you thought highly of Oppa, you’ll get bonus points for that, so I won’t kill you.”

“…!”

Of course, due to the system’s protection, there was no chance Betelgeuse would physically become minced meat by Marian.

But neither Marian nor Betelgeuse knew that.

At Marian’s bold declaration, a thin ray of hope flickered in Betelgeuse’s pink eyes.

But right after.

“Instead, I’m really… really annoyed.”

“Eek…!”

As Marian lifted the hand gripping Betelgeuse’s hair, the much smaller Betelgeuse dangled in the air, flailing in pain.

But regardless, Marian maintained the same expression.

Looking at Betelgeuse struggling, she spoke in a tone as if delivering a verdict.

“So, you’ll have to repay me with your body until my annoyance subsides.”

“…!!”

“You better take care of yourself, okay?”

“Wha… what?”

“Oh, and don’t worry, once my annoyance is gone, I’ll deliver you back to your base.”

Hearing this, Betelgeuse’s eyes widened in pain.

‘Am I really screwed?!’

Facing a reality where she couldn’t predict what would happen next.

She felt cold sweat dripping down her entire body from the tension.

‘What’s going to happen to me…?’

==========

Four days had passed since the intense battle with the Clan Leader of the Loki Clan.

“Oppa! I’m back!”

“Where on earth have you been?”

I felt a strange suspicion as Marian returned, looking unusually refreshed.

Still, I decided to welcome her back safely first.

In response to my question, Marian just giggled.

Then, she reached into her pocket and began speaking in a satisfied tone.

“Oh right! Oppa, I have a gift for you!”

“Huh? A gift?”

“Just a sec, it’s somewhere here… Huh? Huh?”

Not knowing what she was trying to give, she realized something was missing from her pocket.

Panicking, she started frantically searching her body.

I wondered what was going on but tried to tell her to calm down.

“Oh right, it’s here!”

“Oh.”

Finally realizing where she had put ‘something,’ Marian reached into her increasingly noticeable cleavage—the source of Ignis’s recent angry glares.

She pulled out a portable memory device and handed it to me.

“Here, Oppa!”

“…What’s this?”

Perhaps because it had been nestled in Marian’s cleavage.

The lingering warmth made me feel like I was committing a crime, so I couldn’t fully grasp it.

Marian shrugged nonchalantly and spoke boldly.

“Remember that woman who picked a fight with you last time?”

“Who… Oh, Commander Betelgeuse.”

“It’s a video I made while tormenting her for four days! You can watch it later or use it as blackmail if she causes trouble again!”

“…”

And I realized this was the infamous ‘that thing’ I had only heard about.

I was truly baffled.

‘What the hell has this crazy game created?’