Chapter 344: Evil God Subjugation — End (3) |
Legal wife battle, you say.
Kaya had a face full of doubt, Luce glared with eyes that said “What nonsense is it this time,” and Alice with a generous smile, all looked at Dorothy.
Meanwhile, White was trembling with her head down like a small fish caught in a group of sharks.
“Why even me…?” she mumbled in a voice so small that no one could hear.
“What is that?” Luce asked cynically.
“I’m sure you’ve all figured it out and accepted it by now, the President likes all of us. So, if we all ended up with him, what kind of problem would arise?” Dorothy asked like a quiz show host at an event.
Luce frowned and answered irritably, “Doesn’t matter, Isaac is mine.”
“Dear, don’t you get it?”
“What?”
“…”
When even Alice chimed in, Luce glared at her.
At that moment, Kaya coldly expressed her opinion, “Legal wife or concubine… Isaac wouldn’t rank us like that, would he? If we marry Isaac, of course, we’d all be his wives.”
Though the Yggdrasil’s Seed was gone and she could no longer use [Yggdrasil].
Kaya had reached new heights after using [Yggdrasil] once.
Now Kaya had the strength not to shrink back, even against Dorothy.
Dorothy clicked her tongue and waved her index finger left and right with a smiling face.
“You don’t get it. Of course, Isaac would take us all as wives. But then, which ‘wife number’ will you be?”
“…!”
Kaya’s eyes widened.
“Even if we all get married together, the ranking will inevitably be set. In other words… the ‘first wife’ will implicitly have the value of a legal wife, while the others will have the value of concubines,” when Alice explained kindly, Dorothy nodded in approval.
Kaya couldn’t argue. Even Luce, without realizing it, acknowledged it.
Among them, who would truly be Isaac’s first?
This was a deep question, no different from asking who would become the main wife.
“We can’t just ask the president who likes all of us, ‘Which one of us do you like best?’ So! Let’s decide the rankings among ourselves.”
“Indeed… this is a serious issue.”
Kaya broke into a cold sweat, seriously accepting it.
“But, um…”
When White nervously raised her trembling hand, everyone’s eyes turned to her.
“Why did you bring me along…?”
“Huh? You’re involved with the President, I mean Isaac too, right? Like a mentor and student? That sort of thing.”
“That’s true, but…”
“Do you dislike Isaac?”
“No! Absolutely not! Never!”
White was startled and shook her head violently.
Her head moved so fast, it left an afterimage.
“Alright. So, you do like him, right?”
“…”
White’s face was turning as red as a beetroot.
She lowered her head deeply again and faintly nodded.
“Oh wow, so refreshing…”
“White is still young, unlike us.”
“That comment is a warning. It makes us sound like fossils.”
“Get real. We’re about to be in our second year after graduation, so we are fossils.”
“No way, I’m still in my youth! Avoid such old person expressions!”
“Heh, that’s cute.”
When Dorothy got upset, Alice chuckled.
“So? How do we compete?”
When Luce showed interest, Dorothy exclaimed, “Oooh~.”
“My friend, you up for it now?”
“Isaac is mine. I’ll make you all admit it.”
“Nihihi. I like your confidence!”
Luce was a soon-to-be graduate.
After opening her heart to Isaac and going through many experiences at the academy… Luce’s social anxiety had greatly lessened.
Thanks to that, it became natural for her to hold normal conversations now.
As with all of them, Luce had a great desire to monopolize Isaac.
However, the women gathered here were formidable opponents she couldn’t easily deal with.
So, it would be best to crush them all in today’s competition and establish herself as Isaac’s first woman, someone no one could dispute.
Luce decided.
“Then, the event is this!”
Bang!
Dorothy used starlight magic to bring a large barrel of alcohol, five glasses, and some snacks from another room and set them on the table.
Except for Alice, who was smiling, everyone else looked shocked.
Dorothy tapped the huge barrel and spoke, “A drinking contest. Let’s have a round with alcohol!”
“S-Senior Dorothy, I object! Deciding the legal wife by a drinking contest? This is too…”
“Is there any other event as healthy, fair, and persuasive as this? Or what, should we play rock-paper-scissors? That’s disgustingly boring.”
“Well, not that, but…”
Kaya got scared in front of the mountain-like barrel.
“I agree. For once, I’m on the same page as Dorothy.”
“Can you not say we’re on the same page? It makes me feel gross.”
“You rascal.”
Alice laughed nonchalantly.
At that moment, Luce grabbed a glass and slammed it down on the table, drawing everyone’s attention.
“Pour me some.”
It was a commanding tone.
“You’re proactive! I like it!”
Dorothy laughed as she filled each glass with alcohol.
White looked at the large amount of alcohol in front of her and trembled.
“Let’s start! Come on, everyone, cheers!” Dorothy shouted while holding out her glass.
The heat of the competition spread throughout the room.
“C-cheers… huh?”
White tried to genuinely toast by holding out her glass, but the other women, as if by agreement, didn’t clink glasses and immediately gulped down their drinks.
“Huhhh…?”
White, noticing this, hastily drank her own.
Four loud bangs echoed simultaneously.
Kaya, Luce, Dorothy, and Alice all slammed their empty glasses down on the table at the same time.
White, grimacing belatedly, joined them.
“Alright, next!”
As they continued to drink with such determination, half of the large barrel was soon emptied.
Kaya, her face flushed from the alcohol, swayed side to side like a tumbling doll, Luce silently held onto her composure, and White, looking exhausted, sipped her drink with her head down.
On the other hand, Dorothy and Alice were still only slightly flushed and seemed relaxed.
They enjoyed drinking so much that they were known as heavy drinkers.
“What’s this, everyone? Tired already?” Dorothy asked playfully as she poured more alcohol into her glass.
“Of course not!”
Kaya thrust her glass forward with both hands. Dorothy smiled contentedly and said, “Drink, drink!” as she filled her glass to the brim.
Kaya gulped down her drink without hesitation, slammed the glass down on the table, and held back a burp.
Suddenly, Kaya hiccuped and weakly scanned the other four women with her dazed eyes.
“But, you know… aren’t you all being way too, arrogant?”
“Huh?”
At the unexpected outburst, everyone focused on Kaya.
Kaya, swaying, continued speaking, “Isn’t it true? In this academy, the first woman to be involved with Isaac was me. I was the first to join Isaac’s plan, and the first to figure out his identity was me…! So, obviously, I should be the first! Logically!”
An appeal to being the first connection.
However, Kaya’s argument didn’t hold much persuasive power.
“What does that have to do with being the legal wife?”
“Huuuh?”
“It’s not like you spent your first night with Isaac. What’s the big deal about being the first to get involved?”
Alice, with her eyes closed, calmly retorted while drinking.
At Alice’s provocative words, Kaya’s face turned even redder, like a well-ripened apple, but she responded vigorously.
“Coming from a terrorist who attacked the academy! And I! I-I’ve spent a night with Isaac, you know?!”
“What?”
At Kaya’s sudden claim, everyone except White showed a surprised reaction.
“Once, we camped together. After defeating the demons, just the two of us, enjoying the sound of the stream trickling and the warmth of the campfire… we shared a tent!”
The experience of sharing a tent. Kaya revealed her second card.
“First night together…!”
Dorothy was astonished.
Kaya was the first to be involved with Isaac.
In other words, it was revealed that Kaya was the first to experience spending a night with Isaac.
“Even when I was pretending to be asleep… he secretly told me I was pretty…! That means I was the first to win Isaac’s heart!”
“Your delusions are psychotic.”
“It’s true. Luce Eltania, do you want me to hit you?”
When Luce brushed it off, Kaya narrowed her eyes and firmly reiterated her claim.
However.
“You literally just slept together, right?”
“T-that’s…”
“Even if my baby really said you were pretty, nothing much would have happened.”
“…”
“You’re giving too much meaning to it, Dear.”
Just as Alice pointed out, they only slept together.
That was all.
“And my baby finds everyone pretty. So, you can’t judge anything just because he called you pretty.”
“…What are you trying to say?”
“The important thing is who loves him the most.”
Alice smiled her characteristic gentle smile.
“For example, even if I had to take care of my baby’s, um, feces and urine, my love for him wouldn’t change one bit. It’s already happened before.”
“What disgusting thing are you talking about…? And what do you mean it already happened?”
“Gross.”
Dorothy and Luce frowned, expressing their disgust.
“It means I can accept him as he is, everything about him. That’s how much I love him…”
Bang!
“Isaac doesn’t have such things as bodily secretions!!” Kaya suddenly exploded in anger and shouted.
Everyone was shocked, even Luce.
“What? Feces and urine from the sacred Isaac? Your words are outrageous!”
“No, I didn’t mean it like that…”
“That’s blasphemy!! Isaac is practically a god!”
“But, Baby is still a person…”
“Isaac has transcended the realm of humans! Even if he did have bodily secretions, it would be holy water! Not some filthy, trivial excrement!”
Kaya was not only in love with Isaac but also his fervent devotee.
Because she was drunk, Kaya’s true feelings flowed out like water from a faucet.
“Uh, I see… Calm down, Dear. I’m sorry.”
In front of Kaya, who was preaching with fervor like a cult leader, Alice admitted she had spoken rashly and backed down.
“Nyahaha!! Right! The President is a God! That’s blasphemy!”
Dorothy laughed loudly and pointed at Alice, supporting Kaya’s claim. Of course, Dorothy was just joking.
“Haa, how ridiculous…”
Luce took a sip of her drink, sighed, and muttered in a tone that suggested she found it pathetic.
“Hiccup…”
“Huh?”
What quieted the noisy atmosphere was White’s hiccup.
White set her glass down on the table, then lifted her head.
Her half-open, already-glazed eyes stared into the void.
“What’s with those eyes? Why are you being so creepy?”
“Hiccup… Senior Isaac issss…”
White’s voice dragged out.
“His Majesty Carlosss… wants to bind me to Isaac! This is a national matter…! This isn’t something for us to debate like this!” in the now-silent room, White squeezed her eyes shut and shouted, her voice echoing loudly.
“She’s bringing this into a public matter…”
“This girl is using her authority…!”
Alice and Dorothy were flustered.
“Pffft!”
“…?”
Suddenly, someone burst into laughter.
Silence fell again.
The atmosphere shifted with just one laugh because the person laughing was unexpected.
It was Luce. She lowered her head, hiding her face behind her rose-gold hair, stifling her giggles.
“My friend, you laughed…? Wait, you know how to laugh?”
Dorothy found it fascinating to see Luce laughing.
Fueled by alcohol, White stared at Luce with newfound courage.
She decided to push her luck.
“Senior Isaac and I are bound by the nation’s will…”
“Fuhaha!!”
Luce couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing.
“Even His Majesty Carlos decided we should marry…”
“Stop! It’s too funny…! My stomach hurts…!”
Luce laughing while holding her stomach was enough to startle the women in the room.
Soon, Kaya, Dorothy, and Alice joined in, laughing because White’s serious, drunken voice was hilarious.
After that, as the night deepened, they spent the time happily, clinking their glasses.
They talked about their past adventures.
And openly shared what they wanted to do with their lives moving forward.
***
“Baby, come on in.”
“Huh…?”
When I arrived at the promised location Dorothy had mentioned, Iris Hall, Alice opened the door and greeted me.
It was extremely noisy inside the room and a wave of anxiety washed over me.
Finally, when I went inside, a horrific scene unfolded before my eyes.
“Huwaaah…! I’m trash… I’m an incompetent piece of garbage…!”
“Worship Isaac…!”
“Isaac, if only, only… you would look at me… it would be nice… Lock me in the basement… If he just craved my love, that would be enough… we’d be so happy…”
“Nyahaha! What a mess!”
W-what is all this…?
The smell of alcohol was overwhelming.
I had no idea what kind of conversation they’d had, but White was sobbing and self-deprecating, Kaya was worshiping me like a god, Luce had her head buried on the table muttering something, and Dorothy was holding her stomach, laughing uncontrollably.
It was a scene of utter madness.
I saw a large barrel on the table. It was completely empty.
How much did they even drink…?
“Explain, Alice.”
“We had a drinking party.”
Alice answered with a smile.
“And you’re fine?”
“No.”
Suddenly, Alice hugged me tightly.
The strong smell of alcohol wafted from her too.
“Darling, I have no strength… I’m hot… help me take this off…”
“Stop pretending to be weak.”
“I’m serious. Opening the door was the last bit of strength I had.”
It seemed like a lie, but Alice really was leaning on me weakly, like someone completely drunk.
So she only looked fine on the outside.
“You’re here, Sir Isaaaaac…”
Kaya, who had been praising me, crawled on the floor and grabbed my leg.
“President, you’re here? Come on in.”
Dorothy tilted her head and smiled widely. She didn’t seem normal either.
“…”
Eventually, a small smile crept up on my lips.
It seemed like everyone had gotten closer.
I took off my coat, hung it on the rack, and asked Dorothy, “Dorothy, is there any alcohol left?”
“Nihihi, there’s some left! You want to join us, President?”
“Yes. I’ll drink too.”
“Great!”
That night, I drank heavily and shared many stories with them.
But most of those “many stories” had no context, no meaning, and were things I wouldn’t remember after waking up, just stories that were funny in the moment.
I drank so much that my head spun, and it was hard to keep my balance.
After covering the five people who had fallen asleep all tangled up with blankets, I turned off the lights and laid down in the empty space.
“Mmnh…”
Dorothy, turning in her sleep, muttered and hugged me.
Now that I think about it, back when she was living on borrowed time, she got rid of her teddy bear, trying to get rid of attachments.
After we took down the Floating Island, she brought the teddy bear back out.
Well, being Dorothy’s teddy bear wasn’t so bad.
Dawn was breaking outside the window. This was the first time I’d stayed up playing like this since I transmigrated.
I had no worries at all.
It felt like all the iron shackles around me had been loosened, and a sense of freedom, along with the deep intoxication, flowed through my entire body.
Smiling, I closed my eyes and quickly fell asleep.
In my dream, I met the first timeline Dorothy and the Candy House Witch.
I told Dorothy I loved her, and I thanked the Witch.
Suddenly, I also saw my mother, who had passed away while I was preparing for my exams.
She told me she was proud of me, and her smile was more loving than anyone else’s in the world.
They walked toward a distant horizon, glowing with light.
I endlessly gazed at their retreating figures.