Chapter 789: Sprouting

“Hezekiah... ah!”

Feier froze for a long moment before realizing that “that kid Hezekiah” referred to the esteemed Pope.

So that doll head—cute as it looked, with not the slightest aura—actually held a status this exalted?

“All right, then.”

Compared to Paul and Annie, Feier was far more sensible and sharp. Her connection to the Origin Tower had already let her guess at certain things. She dipped into a slight bow and spoke to Mela with respect.

“Since a senior is handling this matter, we shouldn’t pry further.”

“Sorry,” Muen said with an apologetic nod.

“It’s fine. We’re the ones who were presumptuous. Oh, right.”

Even with her eyes closed, Feier turned toward Muen. It gave the distinct impression she was looking straight at him.

“What are you going to do next? We’re going back to help the people the demonfolk imprisoned. We’re a bit short-handed—do you want to come with us?”

“I...”

Muen thought for a moment, then shook his head.

“No. I do want to help them, but I have another task I need to handle.”

The Demon God blood was too big a problem. It had to be delivered back to the Academy as soon as possible.

And...

Muen’s gaze drifted toward the exit of this space. For some reason, a lone, desolate figure flashed through his mind as if unbidden...

He couldn’t just ignore Ariel, either. It would make him look like the kind of scumbag who messed around and then dumped her.

He didn’t have one hundred million on him right now, but something as small as inviting her back to the royal capital and then giving her the money—he could still do that.

Then again... if all he did was invite her to come back with him...

She wouldn’t draw her sword and chop him up, right?

Muen couldn’t help feeling uneasy.

But when he thought about it again, it probably wasn’t that dangerous. Ariel hated him, and she did reach for her sword at the drop of a hat, but she had plenty of lovable sides, too. She wouldn’t really just cut someone down for no reason.

...Right?

After all, they’d been through life-and-death crises together. She shouldn’t, right...?

“Before we leave, I still have something to take care of,” Muen said to An at his side. “An, go help Miss Feier and the others for now.”

“Understood.” An folded her hands neatly over her lower abdomen. The Love God’s influence seemed to have vanished completely; she was back to her usual elegance and obedient composure. “Young master, please be careful.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be back soon.”

Muen ruffled An’s hair, then headed straight after the direction Ariel had left.

“Tsk, tsk...”

Watching that, Paul snuck up beside An, his face full of mischief as he whispered,

“That guy is obviously going to see a woman. Miss, you’re just going to let that happen?”

“It’s fine.”

A sweet smile traced itself onto An’s dignified features. She didn’t look worried in the slightest.

“If some pest tries to seduce young master again, that’s the pest’s fault, not young master’s. I’ll take responsibility and handle it. After all, I’m young master’s maid.”

“Handle it?” Paul asked, blank.

“Mm.”

Steel rang, transforming into countless upright blades—just like the faint chill now seeping out from that dignified young woman.

“I’ll handle it gently.”

“...!” Paul suddenly shivered.

“Oh my.”

Feier sounded genuinely surprised.

“It seems Miss An would get along very well with Margarita. It’s a pity she isn’t here this time—otherwise you two would definitely have a lot in common.”

“...!” Paul shivered again.

...

After exchanging greetings and getting acquainted, Feier’s group left with An.

Even though the demonfolk had completely vanished from the world, for safety’s sake, it was best to rescue all the female adventurers as quickly as possible.

A breeze swept through. The stars were sparse, the clouds thin. In this space where a world-shaking event involving an entire race had just occurred, everything finally returned to complete calm.

Perhaps it would remain calm forever, until time buried it.

“All right. The young people are gone—so I’ll go too.”

Mela’s head swayed as it floated up, circling the space once again.

No matter what, her foolish disciple had been right about one thing: the Love God was sly. Among all the Evil Gods, it was the slyest.

And it understood human nature—which was the most dangerous part.

“Mm. Inspection complete. There’s no residual Pollution from the Love God, and there’s no opening left for it to slip in again.”

After confirming, Mela’s head gradually turned transparent. It was about to vanish from this place and return to the Academy.

“Hm?”

But suddenly, it solidified again.

“This...”

Mela turned her head toward a direction. On that baby-faced cheek, a rare uncertainty appeared—an unmistakable flicker of doubt.

“How could...”

...

...

“Are you really just leaving like that?”

“What do you mean, ‘like that’?”

“Mm... you’re not going to stay and say goodbye or anything?”

“Why would I stay just to say goodbye?”

“Because Muen Campbell—”

“What does he have to do with it?”

Ariel suddenly stopped, cutting off her teacher’s voice in her mind with deep annoyance.

“I didn’t leave suddenly because of Muen Campbell. And I don’t have any reason to talk to him before leaving!”

“Oh?” Peles’s tone turned teasing. Her disciple had been shouting about love and feelings ever since her childhood sweetheart got snatched away, but the only people who could make her this troubled—aside from Miss Muse before—seemed to be Muen Campbell...

Wait.

Wasn’t that the same person?

And wasn’t the one who stole her childhood sweetheart also that person?

“Don’t overthink it.” A trace of grief surfaced on Ariel’s pretty face, but her gaze was firm. “I admit I cared a lot about Miss Muse before. But that was before. Once I learned Miss [N O V E L I G H T] Muse was Muen Campbell, I cut those feelings off completely!”

When it came to love, if you didn’t cut when you should, you’d only suffer for it later. As a master of romance, Ariel could see that clearly.

There were so many beautiful girls in this world—why would she hang herself on one tree called Miss Muse?

Especially when that “beautiful girl tree” was a man in disguise.

“Then Muen Campbell—”

“Teacher, why do you keep bringing up Muen Campbell?”

Ariel clicked her tongue in disdain.

“I hate men, and I hate Muen Campbell even more. After the Miss Muse incident, I hate him even, even, even more. So stop saying his name. It annoys me.”

“...All right.”

“Hmph.”

Ariel pulled herself together, forcing away the image that had surfaced again for no reason—the moment Miss Muse had turned back into Muen Campbell—and continued down the quiet corridor.

With the demonfolk reduced to dust, these already-empty millennium-old halls felt even colder and lonelier. Ariel walked alone, and the only sound in her ears was her own footsteps.

“What are you doing next?” Peles asked.

“Obviously, I’m going to rescue the beautiful girls who are trapped!” Ariel’s eyes ignited again.

That’s right. Why had she taken such a huge risk and infiltrated Gutongs Castle in the first place?

Was it because of that damned yellow-hair?

No. It was for the beautiful girls imprisoned here!

Now that the demonfolk had been wiped out, everything was peaceful. Those beautiful girls who had been taken captive had to be in chaos right now. If she made a dazzling entrance at this moment—saving them from peril—and then, without making it too obvious, casually revealed that she was one of the forces behind the demonfolk vanishing from the world...

Then winning their hearts and having them throw themselves into her arms wouldn’t be anything but easy.

That’s right. She was about to have an entire sea of flowers—so why would she care about that one flower she’d once cherished?

“No, I have to hurry. It’ll be bad if someone beats me to it!”

With that thought, Ariel’s mood brightened again. It was as if she could see countless delicate, enchanting beauties waving to her just ahead. She could practically smell that captivating scent on their skin.

“Coming through, beauties!”

Ariel’s steps sped up. She practically bounced, humming a little tune.

It was like she’d gathered up every unpleasant feeling, every tangled, unsolved thought, and set them aside—

【But... are you really satisfied?】

Ariel’s skipping steps slowed. Slower. Slower—until she stopped.

“Teacher, I told you, don’t—”

Ariel fell silent.

At some point, her teacher’s voice had disappeared. Her presence, too. Ariel couldn’t feel her at all.

It was like she’d suddenly dropped into a lonely box that contained only herself—nothing else.

No.

Not nothing.

Candles suddenly flared to life. One by one, then in clusters, lighting the entire corridor. Only then did Ariel realize she had somehow arrived at a place she knew all too well.

That room that had once imprisoned her.

And the corridor outside it.

This had been her first stop in Gutongs Castle—the beginning of the story. If she hadn’t happened to meet Miss An back then, then with high probability, everything that followed would’ve had nothing to do with her at all.

Forget the life-and-death crises, the intricate mess of events afterward.

And if she wasn’t mistaken, then Miss Muse must have been imprisoned somewhere along this same corridor back then—just in a different layer of space. Because Miss An had said...

She’d smelled young master’s scent here.

Young master... that probably meant Muen Campbell.

Wait. No—why was she thinking about Miss Muse again? And that hateful guy?

Ariel lifted her head. Sure enough, at the far end of the corridor, she saw the mirror.

The mirror was still as old and plain as ever, almost perfectly blended into the wall. But under candlelight, the darkness inside it looked deep—sharp—unnervingly clear.

Looking through that mirror, Ariel finally realized how awful her expression was. Her brows drooped at the corners. Her face was blank.

She looked as dejected as she had as a child, when she’d accidentally lost the broken old doll her mother had given her.

The only doll she’d ever had.

So all that anticipation just now, the humming—maybe it had only been a thin, false film stretched over her wounded heart.

Something you could pierce with a finger.

She stared at herself in the mirror.

【Are you really satisfied?】

In Ariel’s view, the pathetic girl inside the mirror slowly curled her lips upward. A strange smile appeared.

Then that reflection looked at her and asked, word by word, in a soft voice soaked with temptation:

【Are you really satisfied with letting your beloved Miss Muse vanish completely from this world?】

As the words rang out, a faint sound echoed from the deepest part of Ariel’s heart.

It was...

A seed that had lain hidden for a long, long time—

breaking through the soil, and beginning to sprout.