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-Thud.

The dormitory door swung open roughly.

Followed by a strong aura of negativity, Isabella stepped inside.

Isabella looked around the room in silence and eventually her gaze fixed on the bed.

The sight of Edgar Fix, who was gently petting himself, floated before her eyes like an illusion.

“······”

Isabella closed her eyes.

One… two… three…

Counting in her mind, she slowly opened her eyes.

Her long, extended eyelashes lifted, revealing her violet irises fixed on the bed.

All that was visible was an empty bed.

-Pat… pat…

Isabella moved her feet.

She plopped down on the bed, staring blankly into the void.

The faces of those she had hurt today.

Their visages flickered in her mind.

Those who were hurt by her, and in turn, those she had hurt.

Their faces appeared and disappeared like a mirage.

-Goooooooon────

And this was very effective.

Just by reminiscing, the negative energy surged within her.

Feelings of self-hatred welled up, and the dark, burnt remains filled the empty vessel.

She felt herself growing stronger by inflicting pain upon others yet again.

“······.”

One, it doesn’t matter.

Now that her control magic was perfectly restored.

No matter how much she hurt others or was hurt, she remained unfazed.

Only a hollow feeling pressed down upon her.

Like the stale air that stagnated in this room.

“······Ed.”

But at that moment, her eyes caught the doll placed on the table.

The defensive doll she had gifted, which Edgar had fixed up nicely.

The doll’s bright face gazed at Isabella.

Isabella also looked at the doll, which wore a cheerful smile.

-Swoosh.

Finally, Isabella stood up.

With her weary body, she walked over to where the doll was placed and picked it up.

The image of Ed, who used to tuck her in, flickered in her mind.

-Cough…

Isabella hugged the doll.

As if embracing Ed who used to tuck her in, she squeezed the doll tightly.

[47 days!]

“Gaaah!”

However, at that moment, an unexpected event occurred.

The doll said, “47 days.”

Isabella was startled and stared blankly at the doll she had dropped.

“·····What’s that?”

The doll looked perfectly normal.

With a wary look, Isabella picked up the doll once more.

And pressed it down again.

[47 days!]

And then what had just happened occurred again.

It accurately spit out, “47 days,” in the voice of a congested child.

Only then did Isabella realize that there was something special set up inside this doll.

She quickly activated her clairvoyance and began rummaging through the doll’s internal structure.

“·····Hah.”

Then she spotted the clever device that Edgar had secretly planted.

It was set up to connect mechanical devices with magic so that the doll would speak when pressed.

“Phew.”

She fell for it.

The words “gift” written in mana were clear on the mechanical device.

Edgar had played a prank to tease her.

“Puhuhuh…! Khehhehe…!”

Isabella began to chuckle softly, her shoulders shaking.

She recalled how she had screamed in surprise at such a silly doll.

“Hoo…”

Finally, as her laughter subsided, Isabella exhaled deeply, steadying her breath.

With a faint smile, she gazed at Ed’s doll.

She pressed the doll’s belly, and it said, “[Shashipchuiil!]”

“·····47 days.”

The moment she could be accepted by Ed, once every 49 days.

Isabella looked at the doll, reminding herself that there were still 47 days left.

It was such an exciting yet cruel contraption that had been built into the doll.

To think there were still 47 days left…

-Swoosh.

Isabella’s gaze turned toward the window.

***

“Oh, dear…!”

An exclamation burst forth.

To think she had earned this much money.

Charlotte let out an excited breath as she looked at the countless stacks of money before her.

This was enough to pay a year’s worth of tuition and still have leftovers.

“It’s this easy…”

Charlotte suddenly remembered her past self.

The one who wore the same clothes every day due to the lack of money, starving as she went.

The one who sighed, worried about tuition and living expenses, had become her norm.

But that self was no more.

Now, she could attend the Academy wearing elegant clothes and eating delicious food, just like the other noble families.

And all of this was thanks to Edgar.

Learning that even the perfect Edgar faced numerous failures before finally succeeding, she gained the courage to take on challenges herself.

She had begun living a life unafraid of failure.

“I can do it!”

Ambition boiled within her.

Now Charlotte had stepped into the cycle of positive outcomes.

Small successes would call forth other small successes, and those small successes would gather to create significant achievements, thus beginning to change her destiny.

“I will elevate my family.”

Charlotte boldly voiced her aspirations.

However, the original Charlotte was just an inconsequential extra.

Born into a tragic fate of constant worry over tuition fees, eventually leading her to sell her body.

Then, in her fourth year, she was discovered, expelled from the Academy, and cursed her family to the point of taking her own life.

Her life was one that truly began and ended in tragedy.

“How about building a theme park in the territory…?”

But Charlotte, who had discovered her true self, was forging her own destiny.

To catch up to Edgar, who had become a noble on his own, she was planning to uplift her family and become a woman deserving of him.

“It’s possible!”

And the idea she conceived was… a theme park.

Using the vacant land her family owned, she would create an artificial forest with a theme and charge admission.

Just like how she had listened to Edgar’s advice and succeeded spectacularly during this festival.

Creating several special forests like “The Forest that Glows Brightly at Night” to turn them into tourist attractions.

“The Forest of Horror.”

Charlotte decided to apply the “horror” theme.

Edgar suggested she try creating a thrilling and tense forest reminiscent of a haunted house, and she accepted.

“All I need to do is gather the business funds.”

Having completed her business plan, what Charlotte needed now was money.

Because creating a large-scale theme park would require numerous facilities and personnel to maintain them.

“Completely feasible.”

However, Charlotte had received multiple requests after promoting the “Starlight Garden” that had opened during this festival.

If she could fulfill those requests and gather the rewards, it would be sufficient for business funds.

-Swoosh.

Having roughly finished her plans, Charlotte grasped her pen.

She began writing down the concrete steps and details necessary for the business.

“·····Hmm?”

Finally, after completing her plan, she saw the estimated profits the territory would earn once her venture became successful.

It was even more than the income generated by that Cardmos guy’s territory.

“····Haha.”

That moment started to feel like it was approaching.

***

The day of the festival had ended.

It was time to return to daily life.

“Let’s see if I’m doing well.”

However, today was a day without classes.

I decided to utilize the free time to check out the territory I hadn’t visited yet.

Having finished constructing Construction Robot No. 1, I was eager to see the progress made since I hadn’t been to the territory during the festival.

-Whoosh.

I thus transferred to my territory via the exchange office located in the city.

To the exchange office that had been renamed from ‘Arzie Exchange Office’ to ‘Fix Exchange Office’ in my territory.

“L-Lord!”

“Greetings, my Lord!”

When I arrived at my territory’s exchange office, the guard who had been playing chess immediately stood up and saluted me.

Then he exclaimed—

“I’ll summon a carriage!”

He rushed out to call a carriage.

However, since I found carriages utterly useless, I called the departing guard back and pulled out the mode of transportation I had stored in my inventory.

-Crack!

My mode of transportation emerged, creating a rift in the air.

It was none other than a bike.

A mode of transportation that far surpassed the suit in terms of sheer speed.

“W-What is that…?”

“Oh, that’s something. It’s way more thrilling than a carriage.”

The distance from the exchange office to my castle was about 4km.

Fortunately, the previous Lord had paved the road well for rapid carriage travel.

I mounted my mana motorcycle and gazed down the long straight road ahead.

-Bruuuuuh!

All that remained was to race down that straight path.

I revved up the engine and twisted the throttle.

As soon as the engine ignited, the RPM started to skyrocket like crazy.

However, since this bike I had crafted was a blend of modern engineering and magical engineering, rather than a loud exhaust sound, a clear and pure high-frequency noise resonated.

It sounded almost like the voice of a repulsor beam firing up.

-Zhoooom!

As expected, the performance of the bike combined with both modern engineering and magic was phenomenal.

It took only 4.7 seconds to reach zero to sixty.

Before I knew it, the guards behind me had become distant silhouettes.

The scenery seen through the bike goggles blurred quickly.

-Kiiiaaah!

But I couldn’t settle for just that.

I twisted the throttle further in.

The overwhelming wind crashing against me felt exhilarating.

I could already see my castle’s shape in the distance, indicating I was almost there.

Only 4km to my castle; I felt it was a shame it was so short.

“······?”

At that moment.

The soldiers guarding my castle entrance began to move noisily.

With shields and weapons drawn, their defensive formations seemed to mistake me for a threat.

Thinking about it, if something was approaching at such a crazy speed, it was an expected reaction.

-Kiiiiiihh…

Thus, I gradually let off the speed.

Considering the bike was intentionally crafted, the brakes were just as exquisite.

“Relax, it’s me.”

Finally dismounting the bike, I took off my goggles and revealed my face.

The guards, who had initially been on high alert, jumped in surprise and quickly saluted me.

After a casual greeting of thanks, I stored the bike back in my inventory and walked into my territory.

“You’re doing well.”

Once I passed the entrance, the view of the territory came into sight.

Numerous people were busily moving about to carry out their assigned tasks.

And among them, construction robots were bustling about… Let’s see, one, two, three, four…

Already, four units were operational.

Fix was truly doing an impressive job.

“At this rate, having 100 construction robots won’t take long.”

100 construction robots.

Once that number was reached, it would truly be a labor revolution.

I could swiftly create the infrastructure I envisioned, as well as a steel mill and various factories.

And even the Dreadnought could be made in no time.

I headed straight toward the container box where I resided, eager to commend Fix.

“Fix!”

Finally, I opened the door of the makeshift Lord’s office and excitedly called out for Fix.

As a result, Fix, draped in the Lord’s cloak and perched on a high-end chair, recognized me and immediately leaped down, rushing toward me.

“~~~~!!!!!!”

That was quite the enthusiastic greeting.

 

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