Nellin's reaction made Troll and Presia laugh.
"Hahaha, seeing you react like that makes it worth using magic."
"Hehe, exactly."
"Hm?"
As the two of them laughed, Nellin tilted her head in confusion.
If you listened closely, you'd notice that Presia's voice hadn’t gotten younger.
"What on earth did you do?"
"I used illusion magic. This way, even if soone sees , no one will recognize as a lich."
"I-illusion magic? But…"
At Troll’s words, Gracie looked shocked and doubted her own eyes.
It was certainly possible to use illusion magic to change one’s appearance.
However, it was usually only used to hide stationary objects, to show a pre-prepared illusion to scare soone, or to change one’s own appearance slightly.
Even when you changed your appearance, at most you could make your mouth move slightly.
She had never seen illusion magic that changed even expressions in real ti like Troll’s did.
And to think it could even be cast on other people simultaneously without any problems!
"Ah, this is a modified illusion spell I worked on myself, so it’s natural you wouldn’t know about it, Gracie."
"I-I see!"
'As expected of Lord Ventus! He’s amazing!'
"I’ll teach you too when there’s ti later."
"Th-thank you!"
Gracie's respect for her ancestor soared vertically within her.
"By the way, Lord Ventus, how did you resolve the aura of death? I don’t feel it at all."
"I’m taking care of that. Paladin Paulen."
Presia explained that she had applied a modified version of the holy technique she had used on Troll.
"So it could be used that way too. I never would have thought of that."
"Hehe, it’s not the original intended use, after all. Alia, have you been well?"
"Y-yes! Saintess Presia! Thanks to Nellin and everyone else, I had no trouble eting—m-eting Squishy!"
"Squishy... That’s the na the sli chose for itself, right?"
"Yes. You knew that too, Saintess Presia?"
"Ventus told ."
"Ah, you said you could see Squishy before. Did you see it then too?"
"Yes. I was watching when you reunited with Squishy."
"Hmm~, really? Oh. You better watch yourself going forward."
"What do you an?"
Nellin pointed at Alia.
"She said she sotis bathes with Squishy. Don’t you dare peep~. Got it?"
Seeing Nellin teasing him with a sly grin, Troll shook his head.
Sigh, Nellin, what do you think I am? Do you think I’m such an indecent guy that I’d spy on sothing like that?
In fact, whenever Jessie or Alia was about to bathe with Squishy, Troll would close the broadcast screen for a while.
"That’s right, Nellin. Ventus would never do that."
'Even when Nellin and I were bathing during our journey, he never once peeked. That goes for Katshal and Aldor too.'
"True, the coward Ventus wouldn’t dare."
"Who are you calling a coward?"
"Anyway, since your aura of death has been taken care of, can’t you walk around town now? Why not just join us while you're at it? Let’s go teach that Brooks or Blues guy a lesson together."
Troll shook his head at Nellin’s suggestion.
"No, I’ll have to pass. If I join you and it gets found out that Presia is still alive, it’ll beco complicated in many ways. Besides, I’m currently researching a way to stop the aura of death from leaking without relying on Presia’s holy technique."
Of course, that wasn’t the only reason.
'There’s always the chance that other viewers might figure out my true identity.'
Even if they did, there was a high chance it wouldn’t cause too much chaos.
But there was always the possibility that so unpredictable troublemaker would appear and cause havoc.
'And the Sli Queen would interfere like crazy.'
Even when he was in the workshop with Squishy, she would flood the chat, complaining he wasn’t taking good enough care of Squishy and clearly showing her jealousy.
If she found out he was traveling alongside Squishy, she would definitely start bombarding him with all sorts of demands, telling him to do this or that, almost like a barrage of annoying custor complaints.
Of course, if he blocked her, she wouldn’t be able to say anything or even watch the broadcast, but Troll didn’t want to go that far.
"I see? Well, do as you like when you feel like it."
"I’ll do that."
"Hehe, even if we can’t travel together forever, we can et again whenever we want, so don’t be too sad, Nellin."
"Who said I’m sad? Besides, you seem even more excited that you’re not coming with us, Presia. You like staying by Ventus’s side that much, huh? Enjoying yourself next to your lo~ving honey?"
Nellin’s teasing shifted from Troll to Presia.
But.
"Yes, every single day is so joyful."
Presia, who had beco honest about her love, wasn’t fazed at all.
"You know what, Nellin? Ventus built a house so I’d be comfortable. It’s on a secluded hill overlooking the sea, and the scenery is absolutely beautiful."
"Uh... I see."
"Yes. And because I can hide Ventus’s aura with my holy technique, lately we’ve been going from village to village, spending ti together just the two of us. It’s a sha that Ventus, being an undead, can’t eat food with , but just walking around and enjoying the scenery together is so delightful. Oh, and surprisingly, the feel of his hand bones isn’t so bad. Oh! The first ti I held Ventus’s hand, his reaction was—"
Instead, Presia’s desire to share her happiness only grew stronger, and she began to talk endlessly about her mories with Troll like a flowing stream.
"Wow…"
"Saintess Presia is so…"
As they listened to Nellin’s unintended salt-in-the-wound talk, Alia and Gracie looked at Presia with slightly pounding hearts.
The usually kind and warm Presia, who always smiled like the sun, now had the expression of a woman completely imrsed in love and happiness.
And with the illusion magic making her appear as her younger self, the effect was even more powerful.
Just looking at her made one wonder, "How happy must she be to smile like that?" and even made people uninterested in romance think, "What is love like?"
"I wonder… will a day co when I can smile like that too?"
Alia absentmindedly muttered.
“W-well, even if I don’t have a chance, don’t you think the Saintess definitely could?”
“Huh? M-? Why?”
“Well…”
Gracie glanced quickly at Paulen.
“Ahh, Saintess Presia. I’m so moved. To see you so happy.”
Paulen was staring at Presia, tears of emotion streaming down his face.
Seeing Presia, whom he respected more than anyone, so happy was truly a blessing for him both as a follower and as an individual.
Because he was so focused on that scene, Paulen completely missed the conversation between Gracie and Alia.
Alia, realizing where Gracie’s gaze was heading, hurriedly whispered.
“P-Paulen and I aren’t like that!”
“Really? But as your escort, he seems so…”
“That’s only because Paulen is acting as my paladin bodyguard! Besides, Paulen is only interested in muscles. He has absolutely no interest in won.”
From Alia’s perspective, Paulen treated her as soone to be protected.
Of course, having traveled together for a long ti, they had grown close, but Paulen looked at her like family, not as a woman.
In other words, Alia was convinced that Paulen saw her as a little sister.
And to Alia, Paulen was nothing more than an older brother hopelessly obsessed with muscles.
‘ and Paulen? That could never happen.’
Even after seeing Presia’s smile, Alia couldn’t imagine the possibility of being together with Paulen at all.
“Speaking of which… doesn’t Gracie have anyone like that? Soone from the Magic Tower, maybe…”
“Hahaha, Saintess. In the Magic Tower, which is overflowing with old-fashioned natural wizards, there isn’t a single sweet story like that for an artifact wizard like .”
“I-I see… But still, you’re really pretty, Gracie. Maybe there’s soone who has feelings for you.”
“Thank you for the complint, but generally, mages at the tower prefer pretty natural wizards over pretty artifact wizards.”
“Is it really that bad?”
“Yes. That’s why I’ll succeed even more. I can’t wait to see the twisted, humiliated faces of those jerks who looked down on and ridiculed ! Heh, heh, hehehehe… I will definitely make it happen! I have our great ancestor, Lord Ventus, by my side!”
Watching Gracie let out a dark laugh, as if releasing years of pent-up frustration, Alia started sweating nervously.
“Uh… g-good luck.”
“Ahhhh! Enough!”
At Nellin’s shout, Alia and Gracie turned their heads.
“I get it! You’re all overflowing with your sweet nonsense, so stop already! Ugh, it’s worse than my grandma’s nagging!”
“Oh my, sorry. I only ant to say a little, but I just kept talking without realizing it.”
“Hey, look at Ventus over there. He’s so embarrassed he can’t even lift his head.”
Just as Nellin said, Troll, who looked like his pre-death self thanks to illusion magic, had his head hung low.
Because he was so embarrassed!
Even Troll couldn’t handle the flood of praise from Presia.
He was happy she spoke so fondly of their ti together, but talking about it endlessly in front of Nellin made him feel an unprecedented level of sha.
“Yes, I know. Even that embarrassed look is so cute, isn’t it?”
“Ugh.”
But Presia even used Troll’s embarrassnt as more fuel to show off her love.
Nellin couldn’t take it anymore and gagged.
‘This won’t do. If I don’t change the topic now, she’ll keep going on and on.’
“Hey. Anyway… what about that thing? You know, that talk about becoming an undead. Are you really going to turn into a pile of bones too?”
“If it ans being with Ventus, I don’t mind. Besides, if we use illusion magic like this, it’s fine, isn’t it? Even with just bones left, Ventus’s expressions are so lively.”
“Well, it’s pretty convincing. But… are you really okay with becoming an undead? Aren’t you afraid of divine punishnt or sothing?”
“Hehe, Nellin, I believe Lord Lutinus isn’t that narrow-minded. Rather, I believe he would bless us for finally finding love.”
“If God blesses you, wouldn’t you just ascend right then and there?”
“We’ll only find out when the ti cos.”
“Nellin, why don’t you stop nitpicking and just congratulate them instead?”
Nellin responded to Paulen, who jumped into the conversation.
“I’m not nitpicking. You’re a bit worried too, right? Who knows what could happen if the Saintess becos an undead.”
“I believe everything will work out. Lord Ventus will surely protect Saintess Presia.”
Ahem, of course, I’m making sure there won’t be even a single hitch. Oh, right—Gracie.
“Y-yes! Lord Ventus!”
"Sorry, but I’ll have to start teaching you magic in earnest only after we’re done with the Magic Tower matters. I’m busy researching magic for Presia right now."
“I-I understand! I’ll work as hard as I can so I can reveal Lord Ventus’s truth to the world as soon as possible!”
"Thank you."
Hearing Ventus’s words, a new goal sprouted inside Gracie.
‘I’ll definitely create an artifact that allows to talk with him even from afar… I’ll make it happen, no matter what! So I can receive even more of Lord Ventus’s teachings!’
User Comments
0 comments from readers