Chapter 10: Rumor (2) (2/2)
It was then.
[A Villain’s Fate: Death Flag avoided]
“……What is this?”
A Villain’s Fate had been triggered.
However, the other day it said “Overcome” and now it’s “Avoided”.
That meant that the conversation I had with Ganesha just now was also a ‘Death Flag’…….
* * *
“Oh…… The chocolate is flowing out like water out of a fountain.”
Julie opened her eyes wide seeing the current “Hot Item” of the socialite world, the chocolate fountain.
“Riley, look at this. It’s amazing.”
Then, a relative, Riley, who stood by her side, grabbed her by the arm and dragged her away.
“Ah, for Pete’s sake. Stop this and come here…….”
“……Why do you do that whenever I say something?”
“It’s not like I want to do that, but your words are just too crude. Knight Julie, please save your face! You don’t have to pretend to be surprised, just look at it calmly. Calmly.”
“I didn’t even want to come to this place originally.”
Julie glanced at Riley curtly before focusing on the chocolate fountain again.
Bubble, bubble, bubble-
It was interesting seeing the chocolate gushing out like that, but she’d rather eat the chocolate itself.
Dark chocolate. A type of sweet that makes one’s taste buds dance with joy…….
“Hm? What’s wrong with Ihelm?”
However, beside the chocolate fountain.
In a corner of Julie’s view, she spotted a livid Ihelm by himself.
“Who knows? He was just talking about something with Professor Deculein. Why is he acting like that all of a sudden?”
“…….”
Deculein, Ihelm, Sirio, Rappel, George, etc…… Also known as the Continent’s Golden Generation, were all of the same age and Julie’s seniors at the Imperial University.
Deculein was pretty much no different from those times, Ihelm, however, was like a parasite, always sticking to Deculein’s side.
However, due to some incident, they completely fell out with each other.
“By the way, how are things these days?”
Riley asked sensibly.
“What do you mean?”
“With Professor Deculein. There’s been a lot of talk going around these days.”
Rumors spread quickly among high society. What one said in the morning would be known even by the lowest nobleman’s dog by evening.
Riley asked openly, knowing how much she hated him. After all, she also hated Deculeina as much as Julie.
“……It’s never good.”
She answered in a quiet but clear voice.
Perhaps, everyone in high society perked up their ears just to hear these words.
–However, is this also a trick of fate played by the social scene?
Deculein, who had been away for a while, appeared from the stairs to the second floor.
His exquisite appearance had fantastic timing.
“That guy…… He still looks the same. I heard he’s 33 now. Why isn’t he getting older?”
Deculein was an aristocrat possessing looks and style that were welcomed in any social circle unconditionally.
Even those who hated Deculein had no choice but to admit that.
That’s why Deculein always remained until the very end of social events showing off his dignity, however……
He was behaving strangely today.
He was walking towards the exit.
He even had his jacket on already.
The nobles were blankly watching Deculein deviating from his usual behavior.
Tok, tok.
The loud sound of footsteps echoed through the splendid venue. The crowd of nobles cleared the way for Deculein.
Many questions arose in everyone’s mind left behind in this quiet place.
What is Deculein doing?
Is he trying to go back?
Already? He’s leaving already?
But it hasn’t been long since the sun has set though?
Why?
Oh, was it because of Julie?
Everyone was just blinking at such an unexpected situation.
Deculein went out the door, leaving behind total silence only interrupted by the bubbling sound of the chocolate fountain. No matter how long they waited in that hall, he didn’t return…….
Deculein’s sudden departure seemed to coincide with Julie’s remark.
With this the party began to heat up with this gossip as its firewood.
* * *
[Side Quest Completed: Attend the Social event “Flower of the New Year”]
The servants looked at me in surprise when they saw me returning before sunset. Looks like I got hime much earlier than they expected.
I asked the servants if there was a spacious, unfurnished space, such as a warehouse, somewhere around to which a middle-aged maid guided me hesitantly.
On the expansive site of this mansion, there was not only the main house where I stayed, but also the mountains behind it, an ornamental forest, a garden and the servant’s quarters, as well as an abandoned building that had been used as a warehouse previously.
“……How dirty.”
The warehouse was about half the size of a soccer field, but it looked like it hadn’t been used for a long time and was full of cobwebs and dust. I didn’t bother covering my mouth and acted as if the dust didn’t bother me. Just the act of covering my mouth with my hands or coughing after inhaling the dust was against Grace after all.
“Is there anyone outside?”
I straightened up and sent my voice out. The servants quickly ran in.
“Clean this up. Also, bring the metal ingots to this place.”
“Yes.”
I watched them cleaning with my hands behind my back. Deculein’s servants were excellent at cleaning. They were able to clean this huge space to perfection in just 15 minutes.
“The steel ingots are here. If you want any furniture delivered–”
They also brought the ingots with them quickly. It was stamped with a seal, proving that it got airlifted from the smithy.
“It’s fine. Go rest now. However, if I haven’t called for you or given you permission, do not enter this place.”
“Yes, we understand.”
The servants stepped back without showing their backs to me.
After confirming that they had completely left, I took off my clothes and hung them in the air one by one. This was called the psychokinetic hanger.
I dropped a steel ingot on the floor. Then I used “Basic Metal Bending” that I learned the other day. The steel my mana touched soon elongated and soon took on a familiar form, a ‘Metal bar’.
The moment I grabbed the bar and was about to start exercising.
“······.”
Just in case, I used [Midas’ Touch] on the metal bar. I poured in 3000 mana points, the most I could.
──「 Metal bar 」──
◆ Description
：Metal bar made using Bending Magic.
：Support has been improved using [Midas’ Touch]
◆ Class
：Equipment ⊃ Fitness
◆ Special Effect
：If one were to exercise with this device, one can expect better efficiency.
[ Midas’ Touch: Level 3 ]
────────
It increased the efficiency of training.
It had indeed a special effect fitting of the category ‘Fitness’.
“······A very versatile trait.”
Satisfied, I reached out with both of my hands and grabbed the bar. Keeping my pose, I straightened out my arms and started lifting myself up.
One, two, three······.
My arms trembled and my hands slipped off. I did three chin-ups.
It was frustrating.
“I used to be able to do it five times, but I couldn’t…… No. I could. Maybe it’s because I haven’t worked out in a while.”
Well, even with the trait [Iron Man] I was only focusing on magic. How could I have been so stupid.
Fortunately, my muscles recovered quickly, so I grabbed the bar again.
Now for the second try.
One, two, three······.
Going beyond three, four, five, six······.
A total of 6 times.
The numbers increased dramatically.
With just one set, my physical abilities had significantly improved.
This was the effect of [Iron Man].
In just two sets, Deculein surpassed Kim Woojin in athletic ability.
“That’s rather embarrassing.”
I didn’t know whether I should laugh or cry.
I smiled and reached out for the bar again.