Chapter 91

EP.91 Love Troubles - 2

[Now that I feel really bad, I have to ask...]

Hyun-jae, with a serious expression, asked Leonardo a question that could affect the course of his life. She was deeply worried and even felt guilty about whether her actions had erased a man's instinctive identity.

[Did you become a real prick after getting a stone stuck in you by Hyun-jae...]

"Shut up. And why are you suddenly talking about this?"

After a long time, having returned to the mansion, she was resting in her room when Hyun-jae started spouting such unlucky words.

Moreover, on the day she unconsciously had a wet dream, she had been teased for over a month, and when she miscalculated the time to temporarily remove Hyun-jae and saw a scene of satisfying her sexual desires, she had been teased for over six months. It was quite ridiculous for her to say such things.

[...Are you really asking? Did you throw yesterday's incident into the trash like a used tissue?]

"Did everyone suddenly clap their foreheads yesterday?"

Honestly, it was a memorable event that would last for a year. It was clearly an act of frustration or absurdity, but there was no context to justify it.

What she had said was merely a common-sense approach based on her pre-regression experience.

"And the conversation itself was heartwarming."

[...Yeah, my throat is not just warm, it's burning and blocked.]

"What's the problem?"

Reinhardt is fine, the family members are all in order, the damn Senate has already been dealt with, and potential enemies have been handled during the four years in the Mage Tower.

With Aria living like a human, there couldn't be a better situation.

[...Sigh...]

"Why?"

[...No, just think about it.]

Leonardo's metaphor was too extreme and gloomy, and it didn't seem like a simple metaphor, so Hyun-jae couldn't bring herself to say more.

Knock knock

At that moment, someone knocked on Leonardo's door.

"It's Ein. May I come in, Father?"

Now, there was no sense of alienation with that title. Initially, the family members were eager to give Ein the surname 'Reinhardt,' and it would have been strange for her to feel awkward.

"You can come in."

"Thank you."

Ein, with her small stature, reached up to turn the slightly high doorknob. As Leonardo stood up and approached the door, Ein looked up at her father.

"Good morning, Father."

"Yeah. But why did you come to talk to Hyun-jae so early in the morning?"

[Uh... Uh...!]

Now, Ein had reached the level of calculating the sound wave values herself to shock Hyun-jae. As a parent, it might be something to be proud of, but given the suddenness of the action, it was necessary to ask.

"I have something to do with Hyun-jae."

"...Is it similar to when you forgot to visit for 300 years and said it was because you forgot?"

At that time, she led the charge in beating up Hyun-jae, but Ein also seemed to have strong emotions.

Thinking it was a kind of shock therapy, Leonardo allowed the physical abuse of Hyun-jae's spirit form for educational purposes, without any personal feelings.

"...It's similar."

At that moment, Ein learned to act out a 'lie that is not a lie' for the first time.

"If that's the case, there's nothing I can do. Hyun-jae, have a good talk."

"This...! Uh! Gaaah...!"

Crack

She wanted to listen to Hyun-jae's words, but unfortunately, due to Ein's intense urging, Hyun-jae was silenced. It looked like her mouth was caved in by a punch, but it was her specialty to sulk and insert her mouth, so there was no need to ask. There were no personal feelings involved.

"Then, rest well."

"No, I was planning to go out too."

Since she had just returned to the mansion, she wanted to properly greet the senior and junior knights and the servants who had helped her. If they needed help, she would assist them as well.

"No. Father should rest."

"...Suddenly?"

When Ein suddenly gave advice like an order, Leonardo asked in a slightly confused tone. It was because Ein's behavior today was unexpectedly different from usual.

"Ah..."

Ein couldn't answer the question immediately. For humans, it was a psychological 'confusion,' and for machines, it was a 'decrease in output speed' due to a calculation error.

And Ein said,

"...Since you always work hard, I thought it would be good to take a break sometimes."

Ein had also learned 'benevolent packaging.'

Additionally, she applied the advice that if you start with a true part of the advice you learned from your father and end with a lie, the probability of the other person being deceived is high.

"Is that so? Did someone tell you to say that?"

But when Leonardo asked a sharp question, Ein felt her output speed decrease again.

In fact, by the time he taught such tactics, Leonardo meant that he wouldn't easily fall for them.

Chin

"...That...?"

[...Uh?]

Leonardo smiled gently and stroked Ein's head.

"If you thought of it yourself, I want to praise you. Ein, it's the first time I've received such concern from our daughter. Thank you. Resting isn't bad either."

That considerate action made Ein 'confused.' Although she couldn't explain it, she understood a little why Ariaasfil clung to Leonardo with such love.

"...Yes, thank you."

[Then, let's talk... Uh...]

It sounded like something said by a bug, but Leonardo, who was planning to rest, didn't hear it. It was something said by a bug or worse, so she didn't want to hear it.

"Then, rest well."

"Don't go too far. Even though I've trained a lot, my total mana is still on the low side."

No matter how much she trained and experienced before regression, her body itself lacked essential talent.

When Ein first analyzed her genes, she commented that they were "too average, creating a gap with actual efficiency."

In fact, the number of her Circles and Cores was 4 each, which was average and not particularly outstanding. In a prestigious knight family, the same amount of effort over the same period could yield several times the results.

This was a painful truth etched in the Reinhardt family.

"...Then, I..."

Leonardo took out a few magic books she had brought from the Mage Tower and put on the glasses she had placed in the case.

Leonardo, of course, had no vision problems. Through training, she had developed a千里眼 (千里眼 means '千里眼' in Chinese, which translates to '千里眼' in English, but it's a term that means '千里眼' in this context, so it's better to translate it as '千里眼') that could see farther than an ordinary knight.

However, the glasses did have a prescription. In fact, they had high-refractive lenses with a higher prescription than average, which actually obstructed her vision.

But that was what Leonardo was aiming for.

"Indeed, taking a break from training is also..."

She used aura to control the muscles of her eyes to read the book. Adjusting the eye muscles according to the prescription of the glasses required a high level of technique.

Through this, she could also improve her dynamic vision and strengthen her eyes to function like a telescope, making it possible to snipe from ultra-long distances.

Reading magic books not only served as a review but also helped to maintain focus despite the complex terminology.

'...But if the content becomes too familiar, it loses its meaning.'

She had already read this book more than 10 times. 'Magic Circles: A Study to Reach the Perfect Circle' offered various interpretations each time it was read, but reading the same book repeatedly was not beneficial in multiple ways.

Knock knock

It seemed like she had many visitors today. Within an hour of waking up, two people had already come to visit, which was quite a lot.

"...Who is it?"

"It's me. Leonardo."

The voice was strangely ambiguous, but the tone gave away who it was.

"Is it Chris?"

"...Y...Yes."

Although his voice was trembling, it wasn't particularly strange, so Leonardo went to the door and opened it herself.

"Good morning, Chris."

"...Reading in the morning? You've become much more intellectual in the past four years."

Chris looked genuinely surprised as she looked at Leonardo. The book she was holding, both by its title and cover, seemed to be a highly academic one, and the glasses she wore made her look even more intellectual.

"Studying is important, so I've been reading. It's quite an interesting theory. Would you like to borrow it?"

"...No, I prefer to focus on martial arts over magic."

In fact, she disliked reading and felt dizzy just looking at books without pictures, but Chris didn't say that out loud.

"Is that so? When I saw your library before, there were a few books by the same author, but this one is quite theoretical."

"...That's true. Theory is important, but ultimately, it's the practical application that decides the outcome."

For example, theoretically, it's like putting a few books on the shelf for show when the purpose is to read them, and the practical application is the appropriate example.

"So, is there a reason you came?"

It might seem too direct, but considering Chris's usual behavior, it was a natural question.

"...Well... it's... about..."

Her hesitant and unusually out-of-character attitude was striking.

Normally, even a simple "Are you okay?" would have been met with a dramatic response like "As the one known as Darkness, I have come to inspect the shadow in your soul."

"...Is it possible to get advice on love?"

"...Advice on love?"

The tone was calm, but the fact that it had become a military-style tone indicated that Leonardo was flustered. The idea of Chris, the one known as Darkness, seeking advice on love from her was more shocking than if Hyun-jae had claimed to have dating experience.

"...From me? Haven't you asked anyone else?"

"...Well..."

"Just follow the script. Just follow the script."

Through the piercing, Lios's voice could be heard. She had attached a communication magic device to the earrings she usually wore.

This allowed the group on the other side of the room to eavesdrop on and direct the conversation with Leonardo.

"...You know, the people in our family."

There was no need to say more. Sometimes, a short sentence could be more convincing.

"...But... what about Sir Serica?"

Leonardo's words also implied that the family members, except for Serica, were not reliable enough to consult on such matters.

Some of the people involved in the eavesdropping, excluding Serica, were angry but also understood the content. It was part of the plan to write the script this way.

"...Serica is already out. She's been busy with new social gatherings with the new merchant guild recently."

It was a complete lie. The Serica on the other side of the room was actually busy with the eavesdropping group's social gathering.

"Is that so...? But I, being not good at love, can't really give you advice."

<I do know.>

Everyone added their comments through the eavesdropping device, mostly criticizing Leonardo for being good at seduction but completely defensive.

"...I just want to hear your opinion. After all... this is almost my first time in this area..."

Her unnatural attitude, when associated with love, paradoxically enhanced Chris's performance. Although her true feelings were that this conversation