Chapter 59

‘Ah, why did this guy have to come in! I wanted to keep things at a polite distance, but what a humiliation this is!’

I felt like biting my tongue and dying.

Unlike me, who wanted to die, Klyebe was in an uproar.

“Kyaa, Lord Clyde!”

“Just as I thought, my luck is good when I’m with Lady Terese! I even got to see Lord Clyde this early in the morning!”

“Your face is glowing today… Truly, the most handsome man in the empire…!”

Ding!

[Throne ‘Face Discriminator’ has donated 10,000 coins.]

[Ah… A face that could have been merely pretty, but with a touch of wildness and a clear T-zone… Truly, my main character is Clyde…]

Clyde looked at the squealing young ladies with disdain.

“Will they ever come to their senses?”

“Your cane-wielding is sexy too! Do more! Insult me!”

“Why don’t you shut up?”

“Kyaa, you’re so cute when you’re angry!”

…At this point, I was more afraid of Klyebe.

Clyde, tired of dealing with the young ladies who didn’t understand words or common sense, nervously ran his fingers through his bangs and beckoned to me.

“Come here.”

“Why?”

This distance is just right.

“If the student council president calls you, it’s obviously to talk about student council business, isn’t it?”

“Oh… I see… I didn’t know…."

I never thought I’d experience a boss’s tirade here, something I never experienced on Earth.

With a gloomy face, I approached Clyde and glanced at Lumio.

‘His expression seems more normal than before.’

Seeing a faint blush on his cheeks, I thought he probably wouldn’t summon a demon today.

Clyde suddenly said, leading the way.

“Follow me.”

I wanted to ask where we were going, but Lumio was still watching us with a terrifying look.

It seemed better to follow Clyde obediently rather than stay here.

I walked as close to Clyde as Terese would, but then I quickly moved away, fearing he might have a fit if I got too close.

Glancing back, I saw Lumio still observing my every move with a scary expression.

‘Maybe staying close is safer for now.’

Demonic contract or three black hearts.

That is the question.

As I kept getting close and then suddenly moving away, Clyde stopped abruptly.

He glared at me with a frown.

“If you’re going to walk beside me, come to my side, or stay back. Don’t be annoying.”

I thought he would tell me to go away, but unexpectedly, he gave me a choice.

Of course, I would choose the option that’s better for me.

“Then… can I come to your side? I’ll just walk with you and won’t do anything.”

Clyde responded with a menacing command.

“Come quickly.”

I hurried to his side before he changed his mind.

Then I heard a low murmur from above.

“You’re unpredictable.”

What did he say? Did he insult me?

I glanced up, and our eyes met.

“What are you looking at?”

If I game over before finding paradise, it will definitely be because of this guy.

Clyde and I arrived at the student council room.

Click.

But the room, which I thought would be empty, had a visitor.

It was Iliya.

“Oh, Professor?”

Iliya closed his book and looked at me with a refined gaze.

“You don’t look well.”

His words reminded me of what happened the day before.

Thinking about it again made me feel queasy.

But I couldn’t casually reveal what happened with Justis, so I forced a smile.

“I guess I’m still recovering from indigestion yesterday.”

He suddenly extended his hand.

“…?”

There’s no book to give today, so what is it?

I tilted my head, and Iliya took my hand and chuckled.

“I wanted your hand today.”

[Some thrones strongly support the ‘Iliya’ route.]

Iliya put his other hand, which he had inserted into a subspace, into my palm. It was a potion.

“Drink this, and you’ll feel better.”

Potions were extremely expensive medical items.

This small bottle would cost several gold coins.

‘With two red hearts, he can just hand these out like this.’

I didn’t refuse.

“Thank you, Professor.”

Then Clyde sneered.

“You seem close to Terese.”

Iliya, as if realizing something, took out another potion.

“Here, you take one too.”

It was as if he was dealing with a child who was upset for not getting a potion.

Clyde, who seemed to share the same feeling, took the potion reluctantly.

“…Thank you.”

“Hmph.”

Oops, I tried to hold it in, but I couldn’t help but laugh.

Clyde sent me a sharp glance.

‘Hmm. It seems like he’s asking if I want to die.’

“Everyone, sit down.”

To ensure my safety, I sat as close to Iliya as possible.

Clyde openly sneered at my obvious intention.

Iliya continued.

“The Bernstein Dukedom has a secret request for the student council, so I called you here personally.”

‘A request from the Bernstein Dukedom at this point.’

This was undoubtedly the ‘Monster Attack’ event that happens at the Bernstein Duke’s birthday party.

‘But this is supposed to happen on the day of the event, right?’

It seemed the event had been accelerated due to my presence.

I had business at the Bernstein Dukedom anyway.

One of the remaining dimensional doors to paradise was in the main characters’ homes.

‘The school is the fastest place to check, but opportunities to visit the Bernstein Dukedom are rare.’

To visit when the dimensional door opens, the birthday party event is necessary unless you have three red hearts.

“Recently, a monster has been continuously intruding into the magical plant garden managed by the Bernstein Duke’s residence.”

But Iliya’s next words were puzzling.

He wasn’t the type to struggle with just one monster.

If he wanted to eliminate it, he would have found and killed it long ago. The fact that he was asking the student council meant it was beyond his capabilities.

Clyde asked, looking doubtful.

“Was it a ‘Ghost’?”

“Yes.”

Ghost.

It referred to the ethereal form of a magical animal that had flowed in from the Celestial Realm.

Powerful and pure magical creatures could shed their physical bodies and be reborn as ethereal forms.

The semi-transparent and powerful Ghosts could be contracted, but only by celestial beings.

“I don’t have purification magic. If I were to act, I would have to kill the monster, but a Ghost is already dead and cannot be killed.”

Even if a purification magic user were to try, it would be almost impossible for a human to purify a Ghost.

Ghosts are supposed to exist only in the Celestial Realm.

However, as the dimensional boundaries weakened, Ghosts began to occasionally cross over into the human world.

Crossing over is one thing, but the problem is that Ghosts can be corrupted by dark energy.

A Ghost turned into a monster.

This was considered as serious as the appearance of a demon.

Moreover, Ghosts are highly reactive to magical plants, especially rare and difficult-to-grow ones.

‘The magical plants grown by the Bernstein Dukedom are medicinal ingredients for the Duchess’s illness.’

Clyde asked to gauge the difficulty of the mission.

“What kind of animal’s Ghost was it?”

At this point, Iliya, who had maintained a blank expression, frowned.

“It was a whale.”

An ethereal Ghost ignores the laws of nature.

It could live in any environment and fly without wings.

So, a semi-transparent whale flying in the air could exist… This was purely the claim of a team member who was a whale enthusiast.

And not just any whale, but a massive humpback whale.

What did he say?

“A humpback whale is the guardian angel of the sea.”

This guardian angel seemed to be wreaking havoc in the human world.

Iliya said,

“Spreading the news about the Ghost monster would only cause unnecessary panic. Father wishes for a few trusted magicians to handle it quietly.”

Ding!

[Quest: The Bernstein Duke’s Request]

▸Reward: +1,000,000 coins

▸Failure: Clyde’s affection decreases

※If you refuse the request, it will be automatically considered a failure.

Oh, this time the reward is quite substantial in coins.

But isn’t the penalty for failure too harsh compared to the reward?

‘Moreover, this quest can’t be completed without white magic.’

That’s why it’s impossible to progress the scenario without Rive.

‘But I can’t refuse the request either. If Clyde’s affection decreases here, it will increase to four black hearts.’

I experienced a male protagonist with four black hearts just yesterday.

‘I never want to go through that state again.’

Compared to that, Clyde with three black hearts is much more gentlemanly.

Clyde warned me.

“No matter how thoughtless you are, if you reveal the mission, you should be prepared for expulsion from the student council and even expulsion from school. I will make sure it happens.”