[You rescued Nepher-tem with the doppelganger technique that has the potential to break her curse, undeterred by the threats of the powerful Senior Velvet Belle.]
[You gained 10,000 points as a reward for overcoming the event branch.]
[Doppelganger Experience Points +50]
[Stealing Experience Points +50]
[Acceleration Afterimage Sword Experience Points +30]
[One Hit Technique: Powerful Throw Experience Points +30]
[Freediving Assassination Technique Experience Points +30]
[Gravity Magic Experience Points +30]
[Mana Technique Experience Points +30]
[Leap Experience Points +20]
[Rolling Experience Points +20]
[Quick Movement Experience Points +20]
[Mana Booster Experience Points +20]
[Sensory Block Experience Points +10]
[Balance Sense Experience Points +10]
[Super Acceleration Experience Points +10]
Of course, Senior Velvet Belle’s experience points are shooting up even though they’re not in a slaughter fest.
It’s just that she’s incredibly strong.
But in this fourth year, excluding the already graduated former student council president, there are still three people stronger than Velvet.
The so-called end content of the accelerated DLC is [The Four Kings of the Ultimate Fourth Year].
They’re the ‘already perfected strong ones’ that contrast sharply with our class 980’s water rocket four kings who still have a long way to go and much growth ahead.
No need to fight yet, since it’s not even the second semester of the third year, but just having experienced the weakest of the four kings, Senior Velvet, gives me quite a thrill.
To encounter such strong people outside the academy, I’d have to face the leaders of various organizations.
Even compared to the fake heroes stripped of their souls that I faced in the imperial family’s sacred grounds, Senior Velvet stands a cut above.
But when will the special reward mentioned in the event window arrive?
[As a result of successfully carrying out a difficult choice at the event branch, the pre-reported special reward has been granted.]
[You have obtained the unique function [Call of Affection].]
Call of Affection: This summoning technique allows the player to summon a being they have harbored affection for over 100 hours. The duration of the summon is proportional to the duration of the affection, and this time can increase even during the summon.
It’s here!
A unique function, no less.
The content is quite intriguing.
‘Someone you’ve had affection for for over 100 hours?’
But the usage condition is pretty demanding.
There are many things one likes in life.
But can I confidently say any of those lasted 100 hours?
“Summon Hamburg Steak!”
[The time you have harbored affection for Hamburg Steak is 53 hours 15 minutes.]
“…No way!!”
My affection for Hamburg Steak was only 53 hours!
“Mango Smoothie Summon! Banana Pancake Summon! Chocolate Cookie Summon!”
[The time you have harbored affection for Mango Smoothie is 14 hours 33 minutes.]
[The time you have harbored affection for Banana Pancake is 8 hours 17 minutes.]
[The time you have harbored affection for Chocolate Cookie is 39 hours 39 minutes.]
This is shocking.
Right now, I feel like my life has been discredited!
“Look.”
“Gasp. It’s really a chocolate cookie!”
“What if you’re just calling out food names and summoning them because you’re hungry?”
Nepher-tem looked at me with pitying eyes and placed a chocolate cookie on my palm.
…So embarrassing.
I need to confirm I’m alone in a place where nobody’s testing this function.
“Nepher-tem.”
“If it’s a thank you, it’s fine. I’ve told you that my curse could lead to dire consequences if undone in the ‘wrong way’, and I really don’t want to get close to Senior Velvet right now.”
“No, that’s not it. Do you always carry around chocolate cookies?”
“Not really?”
“How many days have you been kidnapped and detained?”
“Not really?”
“I think this has become a cursed item!”
Nepher-tem checked the status of the cookie that was both [Damaged] and [Cursed] and kept apologizing profusely.
“By the way, is this a homemade cookie?”
“Yeah, kind of… I occasionally make cookies or snacks for Felix as a thank you for the times I’ve benefitted from him while only eating black bread. This one turned out too ugly and I had too much left over… hehe.”
“Wow! Collectible cooking! Unique handmade!”
Nom nom.
Watching me open my mouth wide and shove the cookie in, Senior Velvet was horrified.
“You said it was spoiled! You said it was cursed! Spit it out, spit it out now!”
Gurgle gurgle
In a flurry of commotion, we headed to Senior Felix’s Dark Cult Hideout.
“Nepher-tem.”
“Felix…!”
“Was this Velvet’s doing?”
“Huh?”
“Your curse… the forcibly ripped-out curse is regenerating more grotesquely and larger than before. I asked if this was Velvet’s doing.”
“S-Sorry… Senior Velvet isn’t bad. I didn’t know it would turn out like this; I just asked her to help with my curse a bit! Please help!”
Felix looked at Nepher-tem and only half understood what was happening to her body.
“Do you think I wouldn’t know your pathetic personality? You were probably dragged along to follow orders and got your curse exposed. A powerful curse that ordinary folks couldn’t recognize, but there are many strong individuals in the student council. What happened to the forcibly ripped-out curse?”
“Senior Velvet said she would throw it at an enemy!”
“Things have taken a turn for the worst.”
Senior Felix realized the seriousness of the situation and ground his teeth.
Just from the dark mana seeping out, it was clear how furious he was, and Nepher-tem was whimpering like a guilty puppy, glancing around.
“Felix… you’re really mad?”
“I am.”
“…Eep.”
“At myself.”
“…Huh?”
“If I had been smart enough to handle my own curse alone, this wouldn’t have happened. My inadequacy put you in danger.”
“No, please don’t say that… I feel bad for Felix, but I’ve already…”
“It doesn’t matter. Just forget today’s events; I will take full responsibility.”
“Felix? What do you mean by that?”
“I’m sorry.”
The dry, bark-like hand of Senior Felix gripped Nepher-tem’s head.
[Memory Erasure]
I was taken aback.
Memory manipulation magic is advanced magic that affects the mind.
It wouldn’t be as simple as casting [Memory Erasure] with just a first-level fire magic technique.
First, one must use the basic magic of [Mental Observation], which requires three techniques: observation, precision, and concentration.
To continue to [Memory Incineration], one needs to search memories, remove a specific range, and exercise hyper-concentration to avoid mistakes during those operations—requiring three-level magic.
Observation, precision, concentration, search, remove, hyper-concentration.
That’s a total of six levels.
When proficiency increases, ‘concentration’ and ‘hyper-concentration’ can be removed, but that means a level 6 magician with enough proficiency can shorten it, not that a lower-level magician can arbitrarily improve their proficiency.
Thud.
As Senior Nepher-tem’s blurred eyes fell, Senior Felix caught her in his arms.
“Senior, you just said, ‘Forget about today,’ huh? Then has this happened before?”
“Think about it. A child lacking the strength and wisdom to protect herself has caused misfortune, creating all sorts of incidents; how do you think adults viewed a child abandoned even by their parents?”
“Yikes. Hardcore mode in life!”
“Memories of nearly being violated by a trusted neighbor after being chased from home are ones that shouldn’t be kept. Memories of being accused of witchcraft and facing the stake are the same. It’s even more shocking if the one pushing her was a childhood friend, unable to bear the jealousy of the boy she liked favoring her.”
“Wow, you’ve had a hard life!”
“There have been plenty of misfortunes since then too. The familiar merchant we trusted, begging to take us anywhere, was actually headed to a slave trader, and we were wanted by adventurers trying to kill the merchant to escape.”
“You’ve been together all this time?”
“Of course. Being childhood friends, the first adult to try and violate Nepher-tem was actually my father.”
Oops.
I stepped on a landmine!
I looked down, following Isabel’s lesson on expressing apologetic emotions, keeping my mouth tightly shut. Senior Felix stopped me.
“Being that overly conscious makes me uncomfortable talking. You don’t like dark stories?”
“No! I want to hear more!”
Phew, Isabel’s method might’ve been wrong.
Next time, I should try the method Emperor Papa taught me: when someone makes you uncomfortable, overpower them.
“Nepher-tem lost her pure form and smile from childhood. Before coming to the academy, she had even tried to take her own life. To survive, she had to grow stronger, and even I, who was focused on protecting her, found it pretty shocking.”
“But is this story lengthy?”
Hit the skip button!
Even with my childish complaints, Senior Felix spoke in his usual dry voice.
“Almost finished. In search of a religion to serve as a refuge for her sick soul, we stumbled upon a temple of a goddess. And there, we learned that Nepher-tem was under a powerful curse, one that even a high priest could not break.”
“Wow. So she wasn’t just a fraud!”
“Yeah. The priest said this curse was a ‘Divine Punishment’ from a god. Nepher-tem was a sacrificial lamb afflicted by the curse from the village of the clan that was hated by the gods.”
“Which god was that?”
“At that time, I didn’t know, but after enrolling in the academy, I learned—the name of the god who cursed Nepher-tem is Apnonia. The Goddess of Satisfaction, who bestows great power on those who are content and satisfied with the present.”
Wait, huh?
I was expecting the God of Corruption Anrage or the God of Love Atalaxia, but this was an unexpected name.
Anrage corrupts unblemished people.
Apnonia dislikes discomfort.
She favors strong beings who are not stifled.
Essentially, she’s a munchkin enthusiast.
The goddess who randomly marked Nepher-tem as the [Unfortunate Saintess] is a very rare god I’ve never seen before.
“Honestly, Nepher-tem is a bit too weak to be marked as Apnonia’s saint. Have you offered any tributes? Why did the curse even happen?”
“When the Sun Goddess Sofemia chose the authentic Warrior Party, the saintesses of the Saintess Alliance were defeated by the warriors, causing Nepher-tem’s mother, then a saintess, to leave. The curse was spread so that future generations would suffer, so her clan was never welcomed anywhere, and even those who wanted to stay with them couldn’t endure it.”
“Oh, I see.”
To a god, a saint is like a diligent character in a game they raise or a proxy to grow their church.
If you have a character you trained hard that runs away and embarrasses you suddenly, it’s understandable to be furious.
Normally, one could just do tailored strategies for each god without issue, but this time, it’s a huge problem.
“To quell the god’s anger, you need to satisfy her, but that will be extremely difficult for Nepher-tem!”
“That’s right. The goddess’s priest directly laid down the oracle: to avoid the god’s anger, one must fulfill one of the following three conditions.”
“What are those?”
“Either kill the contemporary warrior chosen by Sun Goddess Sofemia, reconstruct the fallen Saintess Alliance to ascend to the position of Saintess Director, or endure a thousand days of training in the Demon Realm’s Arctic!”
As expected of a goddess who favors munchkins; the conditions for satisfying the Satisfaction God Apnonia are tough!
“Oh?”
“What’s wrong?”
“The Saintess Alliance exists, right? It could be formed simply by gathering three saintesses, yes?”
“Correct.”
“That means we only need three?”
Including the best friend of Warrior Ishtar.
The Saintess Yufi who serves the Golgotha of Beheading.
We’ve got three names written down with the recent authorities of ‘Saintess Certification’ and ranking board with a fresh name!
-Titosso has been ranked as the 5th Glorious Saintess of the continent’s ten great saintesses. She is noted as the first revolutionary saintess to have never belonged to any church in human history.
With Titosso included, there are three.
We’ve got them all, don’t we?
