I Gave Up on Conquering the Heroines – Chapter 127

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“Now, let’s go see Cornelia.”

“Okay…”

The gains were significant.

First, I learned that Solra wasn’t a Heavenly King yet. That meant the remaining seat was still vacant.

Second, I found out that Belphegor wasn’t in the Holy Empire. Solra said they were at sea, meeting with the Sea Dragon… That meant they were likely at the Saint Francesco Sea Fortress.

I had a bad feeling about this, but there was nothing I could do about it from inland Cologne.

I’d find out what they were up to when I visited the fortress.

‘Then why did the demonic energy fragment send a signal here?’

This raised a question.

Belphegor’s demonic energy fragment had sent a signal westward, towards Hameln and Cologne.

If Belphegor’s main body wasn’t here, then who was the signal intended for? Perhaps there was another Heavenly King in the Holy Empire, besides Belphegor.

If so, it had to be the Necromancer… I had to be careful.

And finally, the grand prize.

The Evil Eye.

Simply put, it granted one-second future sight.

It might not sound like much, but it was incredibly valuable. In battles between superhumans, victory could be decided by a thousandth of a second.

Although it took a long time to adapt to, once mastered, it would provide a tremendous advantage in one-on-one combat.

But was it worth gouging out my own eye and replacing it with this creepy thing?

“…Disgusting.”

“I agree. Ugh, I feel sick.”

Absolutely not.

The eyeball swiveled on its own, making eye contact with me. Every time it did, I felt like the baguette I ate for breakfast was about to come back up.

It was supposed to cloud the mind with prolonged use, but even a brief glimpse made me dizzy.

I desperately wanted to bury my face in Cornelia’s hair and inhale deeply to calm myself.

No wonder Solra had fallen, wearing this thing in his eye socket… Perhaps removing it would help him regain his senses? Or not.

‘Should I give it to the Demonic Sword? Its only way to communicate with the outside world is through me, so it’s been whining nonstop.’

I briefly considered embedding the Evil Eye in the Demonic Sword, but quickly dismissed the idea.

A sword with an eyeball… just the thought was horrifying.

‘The problem is what to do with Solra now…’

I had buried him alive, but I couldn’t relax yet.

He was trapped within the Heavenly Armor Plate, a barrier created with my trait. It reflected all physical force, both internal and external.

Solra’s magic was electricity-based, so it would be completely nullified. And since the Heavenly Armor Plate didn’t emit any magical or demonic energy, it was undetectable unless someone dug up the ground.

However, the Heavenly Armor Plate consumed magical power to maintain. I couldn’t keep Solra trapped forever.

Based on my calculations, it would last for about 24 hours.

In other words, in 24 hours, I would have to face a furious, rampaging Solra.

‘I’ve already used the ‘Heavenly King impersonation’ card…’

There was no way to prevent Solra’s hostility towards me.

The best option was to escape the Holy Empire before he broke free. But I wasn’t sure if I could achieve all my objectives and leave within 24 hours.

‘If necessary, I’ll take his sister hostage.’

I wasn’t too worried. I had a last resort.

“Undecided, get the communicator. I need to contact Cern.”

“Okay…”

Just in case, I had to call Cern through Linda. I might need his help in the worst-case scenario.

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Tap, tap, tap.

The sound of fingernails being bitten echoed through the room.

Saintess Jill paced anxiously, glancing outside and sighing repeatedly.

“It’s gotten bigger…”

The white smoke that blanketed Cologne, visible only to her, hadn’t dissipated. In fact, it seemed even thicker than yesterday.

She had mobilized the Holy Knights to find its source, but to no avail. They had searched the entire city, turning everything upside down, but found nothing and eventually withdrew.

Even with the Saintess’s authority, she couldn’t justify an indefinite search based solely on a “bad feeling.” She tried to explain about the white smoke, but they only pretended to believe her.

No one took her seriously.

Jill was frustrated.

“Yoo-jin… he believed me without question…”

Before her regression, back when she was close to Yoo-jin, she had seen the whitish smoke during a volunteer trip to a neighboring city with him.

She told everyone that there had to be a corpse nearby, and they searched, but found nothing and gave up. But Yoo-jin stayed behind, searching even after sunset, despite the villagers’ complaints.

He dug up the ground, searched rooftops, and finally, late at night, he found it. Human remains, hidden inside a wine barrel.

The moment the remains were removed, the white smoke disappeared.

Even then, few believed Jill’s story about the white smoke. They dismissed it as a coincidence.

Only Yoo-jin truly believed her.

“Why? Why did you search so diligently? It could have been my imagination. A lie.”

“I’ll believe anything you say, Saintess. Even if it sounds absurd and ridiculous. Even if the whole world turns against you, I’ll stay by your side until the end.”

Tears streamed down Jill’s cheeks as she remembered his words.

She missed him.

She wanted to go back to the way things were.

But now, with a warrant out for his arrest, that future seemed impossible. She had a feeling that he would never forgive her if he was caught.

She needed him to find the source of the white smoke, yet finding him would make him hate her forever.

It was a cruel irony.

Jill was lost.

“I need to talk to someone…”

Jill wiped her tear-stained face and walked out of the room.

Cornelia would be working in her office at this hour.

She was about to knock on the door when it suddenly rattled.

Then, silence.

“Cornelia…?”

A sense of unease washed over Jill, and she called out cautiously.

She had just been thinking about Yoo-jin, wishing she could see him again. And at that very moment…

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“Huh?”

“Long time no see, Cornelia.”

The window rattled open, and she froze.

There he was, squeezing through the small window, smiling awkwardly.

Her surprise quickly turned to overwhelming joy.

She almost screamed, but Yoo-jin put a finger to his lips, silencing her.

“Jill’s in the mansion. I came to see you secretly. Keep your voice down.”

“Should I put up a barrier…?”

“No barriers. She can sense magic like a ghost. Just whisper.”

“Okay…”

‘She’? The way he referred to the Saintess… there was a strange intimacy.

What kind of relationship did they have, that he could call her that even after their falling out?

She felt a pang of jealousy.

“Are you okay? Did Jill give you any trouble?”

“No. We’ve become quite close. She’s been very kind to me.”

“That’s good. I was worried she might give you a hard time after discovering you were my spy.”

“Hee hee. I’m not that incompetent.”

Yoo-jin couldn’t quite bring himself to smile at Cornelia’s confident grin.

He had been caught spying before, and it hadn’t ended well.

“How did you get past the warrant?”

“It’s… complicated. Someone tried to help me, sensing that the Saintess was acting irrationally, but I ended up burying him alive.”

“What?!”

“I’ll dig him out tomorrow, so don’t worry. More importantly, about this warrant… Jill didn’t issue it just because she missed me, did she?”

“What do you mean?”

“There has to be another reason. A reason why she needs to find me so urgently.”

Yoo-jin’s confident tone made Cornelia pause.

He was certain that the Saintess hadn’t issued the warrant out of selfish desire. Such conviction was impossible without absolute trust.

Cornelia smiled.

“Have you heard about the white smoke?”

“White smoke? That sounds familiar.”

“The Saintess told me about it…”

Cornelia relayed the story Jill had told her. About the white smoke she saw rising from corpses, and how it was now blanketing Cologne.

Yoo-jin’s expression grew serious as he listened. He didn’t scoff or doubt her words.

‘I’m a little jealous.’

What kind of relationship did they have, that they shared such unwavering trust? How deep was their bond?

Cornelia felt a pang of jealousy, a gap she couldn’t seem to bridge.

“Yoo-jin, I missed you.”

“Me too. I’m running out of checks.”

“Do… do you only see me for checks…?”

Yoo-jin’s mouth closed.

Cornelia’s hand reached up and caressed his cheek.

She slowly pulled him closer. She knew he had been keeping her at arm’s length, but she suspected it wasn’t because he wasn’t attracted to her.

“You seem so aloof, but you’re not, are you? You’re just pretending. You deliberately avoid forming attachments. Why?”

“…”

“Because you know… everyone will leave eventually?”

“I won’t deny that.”

“Every meeting is followed by a parting. It’s just a matter of time. It’s all the same. So, Yoo-jin… don’t suppress your feelings so much. You’ll only end up hurting yourself. Acknowledge that partings make meetings precious, and be honest…”

Yoo-jin’s pupils wavered.

He was being persuaded.

Cornelia wouldn’t miss this opportunity.

She gently pulled him closer, and he didn’t resist. Their faces drew near.

Cornelia stood on her tiptoes and kissed him.

Yoo-jin couldn’t bring himself to push her away and embraced her tighter.

Their lips met, exchanging saliva. After a long moment, they parted.

Yoo-jin’s eyes were still clouded with confusion.

“Hee hee. You’re not used to this, are you?”

Yoo-jin gritted his teeth at her teasing remark.

He grabbed her shoulders and pushed her against the door, leaving her no room to escape.

He cupped her face and kissed her again.

“Cornelia?”

A familiar voice called out from beyond the door.

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[Bro actually has the most yandere fuckin harem ever i swear and hes a mf player]