Shortly after.
“The noise stopped. Looks like things got handled over there too.”
“Yep. You’re not just cute, your ears are sharp… that’s my little sister for you!”
“Because your strategy worked perfectly. You’re seriously amazing!”
“We pulled it off because you caught the demon. My Delin is incredible!”
‘Hey, I’m the one who made the plan, you know? And I’m the one who blocked all the demon’s attacks!’
Anyway, the Lucid sisters were so busy hyping each other up that they didn’t notice.
When I looked closer, both their eyes were puffy and red.
‘They’re kind of adorable like this.’
Like lion cubs yowling at each other.
I figured they’d earned a special head pat. They really had been through it.
Pat, pat.
I ruffled Rodelin’s head with my left hand and Lowell’s with my right.
Man, the height gap made the pose awkward. Would’ve been nicer if she’d gone up on tiptoes.
“…”
Smack!
“Ugh!”
A sharp pain lanced up my shin out of nowhere.
I crumpled on instinct and grabbed my leg. Lowell shoved her face right up to mine.
“Do you want to die? Are you out of your mind?”
Right. This one was the older sister.
With her baby face, short height, no usual makeup, and that disguise uniform, it was easy to mix them up.
I wasn’t teasing her on purpose, either.
“Tsk tsk. Kids these days are hopeless. Don’t you know attitude matters more than looks?”
“Keke, but if we’re talking speech and manners, Senior Rodelin is the adult here.”
“She’s just mature for her age! I’m perfectly average for mine!”
If that’s “average,” then every adult in this country is dead. What, are the people walking around zombies?
“And you think my Delin is only mature? She’s got a kid’s heart too! She remembers offhand promises from ages ago, loves dolls, likes me best in the whole world, and also…”
“P-Please calm down!”
Rodelin slapped a hand over Lowell’s mouth. Still, Lowell couldn’t stop bragging and started ventriloquizing Rodelin’s childhood stories.
While Rodelin screamed to drown her out, Alex and Knight Pjol walked over.
Lowell’s expression flipped in an instant.
“What is it?”
“May I have a moment to finish this?”
Pjol was staring at Baron Kelven’s corpse.
He was asking for time to deal with the body. Left alone, it’d probably get burned with the demon.
“Why bother with a guy like that?”
“I want to carry out my last duty. Since… I can’t live as a knight anymore.”
“Quit talking crap and sit qui—”
Lowell was about to shoot him down, but she froze mid-sentence.
Sparkle sparkle!
Because Rodelin’s eyes were shining.
“…quietly handle the cleanup. It helps us too, since it cuts our workload.”
“Thank you for allowing it.”
Pjol started tending to Baron Kelven’s corpse.
“Cleanup” was generous. He just separated the demon from the Baron, reattached the severed arm and head, and wiped away the blood.
He did it so solemnly that no one even thought to help.
“You granted a knight’s final wish and saved us work. You really are the best, sister!”
“Well… this is easy stuff. Bare-bones basics.”
Lowell lifted her chin, basking in Rodelin’s praise.
That confidence didn’t last long.
“Um… can I ask something?”
Alex raised his hand.
Everyone looked his way.
“How did a guy like that beat you?”
“Huh?”
“I know ranged attacks didn’t work on him… but he didn’t look strong enough to push you that far, Lady Lowell.”
Before we got here, Lowell had been a hair from dying.
Alex had fought him himself, so he knew.
Orobas was a real threat for someone at Alex’s level, but for Lowell…
He was fodder she could’ve popped one-handed.
“…I just let my guard down. That’s all.”
“Isn’t the gap too big for it to be just a slip-up?”
Maybe protagonist plot armor comes with good instincts, because Alex’s read was sharp.
Lowell slid the pale-faced Rodelin behind her and spoke.
“What are you getting at? Say it.”
“In ‘Demons: Everything About Those Vile Creatures,’ it says if someone overwhelmingly stronger loses to a lower-rank demon… you should suspect a contract or a curse.”
Alex is probably the only academy kid who reads that kind of thing.
“Zero, what do you think?”
“Keke, not sure. People die from carelessness all the time.”
“True… but I don’t think Lady Lowell is the careless type.”
Lowell begged me for backup with her eyes, but I wasn’t exactly on the sisters’ team.
Because…
‘It’s the story.’
Yeah. Alex slowly uncovers the Lucid family’s secrets and eventually gets tangled up in ‘that incident.’
The one that leaves Rodelin with a massive emotional scar.
This was the setup for that arc, so there was zero reason for me to step in.
‘Alex is saying some wild stuff, too.’
But Lowell didn’t know any of that, so she had to react on pure emotion.
“So what? If you’re planning to blackmail us…”
“I’ll help you.”
“What?”
“I said I’ll help you.”
Lowell just stared.
People had gotten close to the Lucid family secret before.
Retainers, soldiers, outsiders—you name it.
Plenty of times the secret almost leaked, and every time they got threatened for it.
‘Because the Lucids are the top family in the Empire.’
Just dropping their name in public or getting their backing could make you famous continent-wide.
‘Most people didn’t survive long enough to cash in, though.’
Sometimes the Lucids dealt with it directly, but more often people ruined themselves out of greed.
But Alex…
‘Instead of blackmailing, he straight-up offered help.’
No wonder Lowell was rattled.
“Why? What do you get out of it?”
“Because… we’re comrades. Important comrades.”
Alex scratched his cheek, a little red in the face.
“Zero, you’ll help too, right?”
“Keke, I’ll think about it.”
“I know you will even if you say that. Don’t worry. Zero’s actually a really kind kid, no matter how he looks.”
Alex said that while slinging an arm around my shoulder.
I really wished he wouldn’t. It felt like his art style was rubbing off on me.
Full-blast shoujo manga vibes—bright enough to force my squinty eyes open.
Lowell glanced between us, then looked at Rodelin.
“My little sister’s pretty popular.”
“Th-that’s not it!”
“But a guy like him is a no-go, got it? The nicer a guy looks, the higher the odds he’s a pervert.”
Then I guess I’m safe.
Maybe her mind is that of an adult even if her body is that of a kid. Her judgment’s solid.
“Of course, someone who walks around with ‘I am a pervert’ written on his face is even worse!”
“I know. I’m always careful, so don’t worry.”
“That’s my Delin!”
“That’s my sister!”
“…?”
You two are praising each other, so why am I taking damage?
Yep. Another day in this damn squinty-eyed life.
“Come to think of it, you’re fifteen…”
Lowell muttered after the praise fest. She was thinking about what to do with Alex.
Persuasion, threats, murder, the usual menu.
Normally you pick one and move on, but the protagonist’s weird charm had her hesitating.
Rodelin was part of the reason, too.
Kill a student to protect the family secret?
Rodelin would probably blame herself to death. Literally.
“I’ll trust you. But don’t get involved. It’s not something you can handle.” (TL Note: In Korean, You (너) is singular)
And with that, the first arc between Alex and the Lucids wraps up and the next one starts next episode…
“Is Zero an exception?”
“Huh?”
“You said ‘you’—singular. In a situation like this, wouldn’t you say ‘you guys’?” (TL Note: As such, you need to add 희 to it, which roughy translates as You Guys (너희), or the polite form Everyone (여러분))
“That’s…”
Lowell scratched the back of her head, suddenly nervous. She’d caught her own slip.
Alex still had his arm on my shoulder, and he stared at me.
“Zero… you already knew?”
Every alarm in my head started wailing.
Alex and the Lucids were supposed to warm up to each other slowly.
If he figures it out here, the plot goes off the rails.
So in moments like this…
You play dumb.
“Keke, I have no idea what you’re talking about. Lady Lowell just misspoke, right?”
“A misspoke…?”
“Hey, I’m used to it. Comes with the face. Some teachers don’t even call my name during roll.”
Discrimination because I look like I’ve got squinty eyes!
I winked one eye at Lowell. Translation: back me up.
Wait. Can I even wink with slit-level squints?
“Ah… right. My bad. I meant ‘you guys.'”
So she decided it was better to look like a bigot than admit we had a secret tie?
Lowell went along fast.
“Even if you’re Senior’s family, I won’t let it slide next time. Zero’s a person too.”
“Right. I’ll watch it.”
“Zero, cheer up. She’s apologizing, see?”
Alex patted my shoulder, flashing that golden smile.
Yeah, and I wish you knew my bad mood is because your face and mine are on different servers.
“Anyway, forget what happened today. You don’t want to die young, right?”
“Helping a comrade is only natural.”
“You’re pretty clingy, huh? Don’t you know guys like that aren’t attractive?”
“Is that so?”
Alex fired off the golden smile again.
“…No, you’d be popular even if you were clingy. I get why Delin fell for you.”
“I-I told you it’s not like that!”
“Relax. Even if it were, this big sister wouldn’t let him get away with it!”
“I see! As expected, you’re amazing, sister!”
If you won’t let the boyfriend get away with it, what part of that is “amazing,” exactly?
While I was silently mourning Rodelin’s future boyfriends, Lowell picked something up from the ground.
A top-grade magic stone.
“By the way, are these really top-grade magic stones?”
“Yep, they are.”
“Hmph~”
Lowell hummed as she looked at me. No clue why she was staring.
“Keke, why are you looking at me like that? If this is a confession, I’ll have to pass.”
“I’m the one who’d pass, alright? More importantly, do you have a job lined up after you graduate?”
“Yeah?”
“I just realized you’re more useful than I expected.”
Did her affection tick up? She wasn’t just fond anymore—she was pushing.
“If it’s a job where we have to kill ‘him’ together, I’m gonna politely decline.”
“I refuse your refusal. Come work for me after graduation. I’ll treat you well.”
Getting recruited by Lowell was unheard of, but not exactly shocking.
Nothing’s more convenient than hiring someone who knows the family secret.
‘And being stupidly overpowered probably helped.’
“What are you waiting for? Why aren’t you accepting? A chance like this won’t come twice.”
She wasn’t wrong. The Lucids were the most prestigious family, period.
And since it was post-graduation, she wasn’t dragging me off today.
‘Info, elixirs, artifacts… I could snag gear that’s normally a pain to find.’
A job after graduation? I didn’t even need to think. This game ends before then.
Meaning I could freeload off the Lucids.
Just as I was about to grab Lowell’s hand.
“You two better lower those hands.”
A voice so cold it raised goosebumps.
We turned toward it. And there he was.
Caron, red eyes shining brighter than ever.
–TL Notes–
Tired of seeing Ads? Then please support me on Patreon! Any tier of subscription will make it so you won’t get any ads!
If you want to support me or give me feedback, you can do it at patreon.com/InsanityTheGame
Join my Discord! https://discord.gg/BWaP3AHHpt
Oh my…Caron will not accept the baby rat being snatched away!
And to think that even after significant increase in Lowel favoribility Zero still got pummel for patting her head! If it was before he might become a goner
And Zero also have avoid another route where Alex suspect him? Alex getting clise to Lucid family and Rodelin emotional scar…Is this when the Lucid scapegoat her?