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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Mod7
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I started replying to the messages in the order they arrived, mostly with copy-pasted responses.
I prioritized Arthur’s messages because of our promise.
―Sorry, my communication crystal broke, so I’m late replying. How have you been?
I copy-pasted that message and sent it to everyone. A while later,
Buzz.
I received a long reply from Arthur.
―Ethan! You finally replied! I’m doing great, as always. How about you?
It’s already been half of summer break…
No, wait. Is that too negative?
Let’s think positively! We still have half of summer break left!
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·
Good Lord.
You truly are the King of Positivity, Arthur Pendragon.
He was even worse than Tesha. Tesha’s messages were twelve lines long, while Arthur’s were thirty.
The only message left was from Sepia.
―Hey, why haven’t you messaged me?
―Ethan! Where are you?
I deliberately left Sepia’s messages for last. It took me over an hour to reply to everyone.
―Sorry, my communication crystal broke, so I just got a new one and I’m catching up on messages. That’s why I’m late replying.
As soon as I sent the message, I received a reply from Sepia.
―Where are you?
―Westvan. Where are you?
―Answer me as soon as you see this.
There was no reply. I grabbed my communication crystal and headed towards the transfer stone. I had arranged to meet Arthur in Southvan.
We were going to travel to the port city of Airasvan together.
I waited for Arthur near the transfer stone in Southvan. He was easy to spot in the crowd.
As expected of the protagonist.
“Ethan! Long time no see! How have you been?”
“I’ve been well.”
Arthur must have gotten stronger during the break.
We exchanged greetings and boarded a carriage bound for the port city.
It was cheaper to stay in the port city than in Southvan.
The sky outside the carriage window was a clear, bright blue after days of rain. The inside of the carriage, however, was stiflingly hot.
“Oh, right, Arthur.”
I handed him the ring Master had given me and asked him to identify it.
Arthur examined the ring carefully.
“It’s called the ‘Linchester Family’s Lucky Ring.’ It increases the wearer’s luck stat by 30.”
Increases it by 30?
I didn’t have a system like Arthur, so I couldn’t increase my luck stat.
Even in the original story, it was impossible to increase luck through training. It could only be increased through quest rewards.
This meant that just by wearing this ring, my luck stat would be higher than Arthur’s.
“Are there any negative effects?”
“No, it just increases your luck. That’s all.”
Good luck brings good fortune.
That was true in both this world and my original world. Of course, luck wasn’t everything.
Even Arthur, with his high luck stat, had been constantly attacked by demons.
“Where did you get it?”
“I received it from a friend.”
I kept it vague. I couldn’t tell him about the almost-engagement with Master.
It would only embarrass her. I smiled and put on the ring.
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“Why… why hasn’t he replied…?”
Sepia whined, glancing at her communication crystal. It had been almost a month since she last contacted Ethan.
“Just be patient, my lady.”
Vivian sipped her tea, amused by Sepia’s impatience.
“Are you sure this will work?”
“The book says ‘playing hard to get’ is an effective strategy.”
Playing hard to get.
A pre-relationship mind game.
‘Reply after five minutes. But leave some room for interpretation.’
Sepia was skeptical.
She had resisted the urge to reply immediately to Ethan’s message and had waited for exactly five minutes.
―Westvan. Where are you?
She had wanted to reply right away, but she had forced herself to wait.
‘Ah, whatever! It’s been five minutes! I’m going to reply!’
She hadn’t even lasted the full five minutes. She had replied after four. And now, over an hour had passed with no response.
“That jerk… he’s playing hard to get with me, isn’t he?”
Sepia paced around her room, her pride wounded.
“I heard Arthur and Ethan are going to the beach today.”
They were going on a trip without her. Vivian blinked, sipping her tea.
She wasn’t sure what to make of the situation either. It was certainly strange.
She received a message from Arthur. He was going to the beach in Airasvan with Ethan.
What were two guys going to do at the beach?
‘It’s summer… they’re probably going to hook up with some girls…’
And there was a festival in Airasvan soon. The thought made her feel uneasy.
She understood. Ethan was a young man. But understanding and accepting were two different things.
“Vivian, come with me. We’re going to the beach. We’re going to find them.”
“My lady…?”
Vivian didn’t think it was a good idea.
“I don’t care. I’m going.”
If they left now, they could arrive by tonight. Sepia packed a few necessities into her spatial pocket.
Including a bikini.
It was a beach trip, after all. And she was confident in her figure.
‘I’m definitely better than Tia and Tesha…’
She was superior to them in every aspect: wealth, talent, appearance, power, and figure.
“You take care of Arthur. Make sure he stays away from Ethan.”
“What…? Yes, my lady.”
Sepia had wanted to walk along the beach with Ethan during the school trip to Arvis Island. But her plans had been ruined because Ethan had collapsed from mana exhaustion.
‘This is my chance. Tia and Tesha aren’t here.’
A giddy laugh escaped her lips.
She had a long list of things she wanted to do with Ethan at the beach. And she was going to do them all.
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“We’re finally here!”
Arthur stretched as he stepped out of the carriage.
They had arrived at the port city in the evening.
The streets were crowded, as expected of a southern coastal city. Most of the people were tourists, enjoying the summer weather.
The Airasvan Summer Festival was starting tomorrow.
“Should we find a place to stay?”
“Sure.”
I led the way. Many people were dressed in light clothing, enjoying the warm weather.
The sea breeze carried a faint scent of salt.
It was the eve of the festival.
A palpable sense of excitement filled the air. Two women, also visiting for the festival, were looking around curiously.
The two adventurers, Yuna and Ria, hadn’t visited the beach in years. It had been three years since their last visit.
“Holy shit, Yuna! Look!”
“Damn, he’s hot! Is he a Neydia student?”
Two boys, one with blonde hair and the other with black hair, walked past them. The blonde one was pretty, while the black-haired one was more ruggedly handsome.
“This is even better. They’ll be rich after they graduate.”
“True. Jackpot!”
“Time for Operation Impregnation.”
“Shut up, you crazy bitch.”
As adventurers, their language was coarse and unfiltered. They grinned at each other. They were here to enjoy the festival.
And it seemed like the boys were also here alone. They needed partners to enjoy the festival with.
“Let’s go. I like the blonde one. How about you?”
“Yuna, you crazy bitch. You always go for the pretty boys. You have terrible taste in men. Real men are rugged and manly.”
Yuna shrugged.
“Whatever. Time to activate my Innocent, Cute, and Sexy mode.”
“Ugh, you crazy bitch. They’ll all run away if they see your true self.”
Yuna cleared her throat and approached the boys. She tucked her hair behind her ear, putting on an innocent expression.
“Excuse me… We’re a little scared because we’re here alone… Could you walk with us for a bit? Just until we find a place to stay?”
They had already booked a room, but Ria nodded enthusiastically.
“Yeah! Some creepy guys have been bothering us. Could you pretend to be our friends for a while?”
If they agreed, they would buy them drinks. And after that, anything was possible.
They could each pick a boy and enjoy the festival.
“Um… I’m not sure…”
The blonde boy smiled awkwardly. Yuna’s instincts told her that he was kind and easily swayed.
Arthur glanced at Ethan. The black-haired boy didn’t seem to mind.
‘This is going to be a hassle… It’s the festival atmosphere and Arthur’s protagonist aura…’
I had plans. And those plans didn’t involve two random girls.
I had something to do on the third day of the festival, at the Sleeping Giant Tavern. If things went wrong, it would be a disaster.
In the original story, Arthur had been with Sonny.
And Sonny had rejected all the women who approached them.
‘That was because Sonny was the reincarnation of Sun Wukong.’
He was essentially a monkey, and he had no interest in human women. Or monkeys, for that matter.
‘Sonny played the role of the asexual character perfectly.’
But I couldn’t just reject them outright.
“Okay, we’ll walk with you until you find a place to stay.”
I agreed.
Yuna and Ria grinned and nodded eagerly. The four of them walked down the street.
They chatted as they walked.
They arrived at an inn.
Creak.
I opened the door and immediately wanted to close it again. Sepia was standing in the middle of the lobby, fuming.
“Get out, before I kill you all!… What is it, Vivian?”
Vivian nudged Sepia with her elbow.
Sepia’s gaze followed Vivian’s and met mine.
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…