Chapter 262: Side Story – The Agony of a Playboy (2)
tyLThe deep father-and-son discussion with Doggo gave me an insight into a miraculous possibility.axvC
Ul6Harem.OIYW
aXQepYes, I just had to make a harem.1jOvyG
2OiuNa5If I choose everyone, no-one will become unfortunate!0VgL
29f“I have decided. It has to be a harem. I will make all of them my wife!”yjTQom
rj6“……!”MEL
daQ“……!”yPCK
ivWGFGuardians Office.45DjE
MDLJaeger and Lark were shocked to hear my harem declaration.fyt
TPloRzLark had the biggest reaction; taking off his glasses with his trembling hands and placing it down on the desk, he erupted in anger.nj2Nuy
MbVlG1“You piece of trash! Enemy of women! Enemy of men! Actually, you’re just the enemy of humanity!”HThCc9
OZI“I saved the world, though…”5sk
Bme“Now now. Calm down.”Ulc
lJ7xJaeger gave a few claps to draw the attention before turning towards me.oKBj
Vy5ln“You see,” he then said. “I’ve been saying you’re a playboy and a son of a bitch and whatnot this whole time… and I wasn’t wrong. You really are a piece of fucking trash.”xHAPS7z
ivyPN“I know! I know!”0my
5eu6YQNBut what do I do then? I would die if I didn’t do it, on top of everyone else becoming unhappy!KAR
IL19Cc“I would gladly take in all the criticism, but this isn’t something I can choose,” I said.qWe
74erJy“…Damn, he’s serious.”D59y8q
udfEZ“He is saying that for real! What a piece of…”QRnD5
GEA“You guys were the ones who said marrying the Arden sisters or the Princesses was the best!”Upoa
mllQHw“It was just a joke…”2qeFh
q2Qw“And plus, you are saying you will marry all seven, not just two,” Lark added.KYndVa
tVl“Do you have any conscience left inside?” Jaeger asked.3nWC
34t“Probably not,” Lark answered again. “It wouldn’t have come to this if he did.”Xg1Od
bJ6The two of them were getting increasingly harsher with their words. It’s not like I could talk about my Precepts either…vobi2
VTIO8qX“Give me some more realistically helpful advice. I’ll die if I don’t make a harem.”EQ8QAWF
03dE“I guess you’re right,” replied Jaeger. “They’re not the type of people to just sit back if you chose someone else…”S2hQb
uSKLeW“Aren’t they all pretty nice though?” Lark asked while tilting his head.KY3UH
vuA7xiy“They are,” Jaeger answered after shaking his head, “but they are all… a bit different in a bad way.”MTZvN1e
8Dm2wcr“What do you mean?”HfKeJq
Eyc“I… saw it. Marie-sunbae…”E7CMWZ
iosnWGJaeger trembled while recalling a certain memory from the past. He scanned the surroundings before continuing with a shivering voice.qdHhNJO
SdSEjIs“Professor Lulara wanted me to move something to the laboratory so by chance, I went into Marie-sunbae’s lab and…”uxxhQ
8n2O“Oh? She doesn’t let many people in there—”u1x
MQ3u“She was cooking blood soup there.”Fne0m
8WmLv4“Kuhup…?!”PA3
kn4YClotted blood soup. I knew the identity of that, but Lark didn’t seem to catch on, wondering what the issue was.MNWPKe
ZoMh“And what?” Lark asked. “Not many people like it but it’s still… Wait, a mage was cooking that in the lab?”hZKk
0Awri1CMage, lab, a soup with blood.5QEfRn
MHFybBLark arrived at the shocking truth upon assembling those keywords.hSuRBS
sJzu“Is she using… her own blood? It wasn’t just the black pudding?”17VWf
yY5gAh, now that I think about it, I did tell them before about the blood sausages. Technically the blood soup came first though.7RW8
ypl“Did you see Marie-sunbae give it to anyone apart from Korin?”Eq00y
rRUe“…!!”KW8gDB
O41zQRLark shivered from shock.8wzs
fUbzf6“K, kuhum…”ENCr
cbGAzWell… It’s been quite a while anyway.CtEab
BMB“She boils a soup out of her own blood to feed him. Do you think she will just watch Korin marry some other girl? And vampires are that, right? If they feed you their blood…”Kkpvnne
2y2eOhE“Vampirification…!”sxT
zdN2aHe appeared greatly shocked about the true nature of his future boss, as he looked at me with eyes of sympathy.Xfw
efC“K, kuhum… Anyway, what’s important is that I have to persuade Marie, Alicia, Hua Ran, Princesses Estelle and Miruam, Lunia-ssi and Master Erin. Yeah?”c0c
vtN4S“…Nothing new but hearing them at once reminds me just how much of a piece of trash you really are.”WT1
B0jN6aW“But are you sure it’s only seven? From what I know—”y6WZZn
EsiY1Y“Shut up! Don’t let me be ‘aware’ of anyone else apart from that! It’s none of my business!”Cyr
D24SQOg““What a piece of garbage.””jig93iv
9j8Seven is already enough! Like, one is supposed to be enough already, and my plan was to just date one of them!4OVnnQ8
UIdWith little regard to the thoughts spiraling in my head, Jaeger murmured.FR1y8
i1Idtut“First off, I think the Arden sisters will be quite open in that regard.”zCuu8a
r1Ed“Oh right, yeah. Those two – their view on marriage is a bit…”IauDCu2
Il3fx“Quite strange. Probably runs in the household.”wf3GtJd
XLcjos6It seemed to be quite a famous story judging from how Jaeger and Lark were saying it. To be fair, it made sense because it had hit the newspapers already.NyH2Xx
eHcCxhl“In that same logic, Her Highnesses should be okay with it as well, right? His Majesty gave his permission after all,” Lark commentedtWH4C
m7r2uHe was right. King David was openly urging me to take both the two sisters already. They might be more okay with harem than I thought!w4XGpRa
o1WO22“But that’s just what His Majesty said,” Jaeger refuted. “Her Highnesses might have a different opinion. Besides, what His Majesty said is based on the assumption that he was marrying ‘only’ the princesses, right?”sqJ
MhhoYbz“Hmm… that’s true. He probably has to persuade the two of them separately.”MSFRN
hRxEstelle and Miru, huh.SPlV
icsI honestly had no clue what they would think about harem. At first, they didn’t seem that discontent about both of them getting married to me but…OPLhBe
vLwn“Try persuading Marie-sunbae first. She’s… probably going to be the biggest hurdle.”KAa2xr
IgObT“Hmm…”L1dgZM8
PD9NVDReally? I know she might seem like that at times, but Marie was still a kind-hearted girl that always stood on my side.qul
QT3Personally, I couldn’t even imagine her refusing my request but…8QK
R348iVx“Alright. I will try persuading Marie first.”43bPZ4S
uVKJFor survival! And for everyone’s happiness!RPQsSw
KUksFor harem!!Pq0U
wvm92****xBH59pW
BOPx3 pm.RWXPdJ
XApmgMarie was usually at her laboratory during this time.iaoNBb
WkZnLgShe was in her 4th year already, which meant she was due to graduate. The graduating cohort could replace their studies with an official employment but Marie chose to submit a research.PBcp
sZ5d58UThe topic of her research was about lengthening the expiration dates of fresh produce and safe calorie consumption, and was going to be submitted to the Guardian Association, and was tailored for its associates who had to leave and spend time outside for long periods of time.kJZN
GHquZzE“Marie-sunbae, are you inside?”JMR
VCni0xx“Aht? Korin? What is it?!”ZOe
NvZRRShe appeared to be in the middle of her experiment, and came running out in her white coat.djIzmVf
e1COt“How is the experiment going?”V1F6q1y
n31X“Un. No real issue. I am a bit stuck on the expiry date though.”j9ZMx
aSeOS7D“Take it easy. We’re the higher-ups so we can just pass it.”kvhs
ye7swH“Hehe. That’s corruption you know!”gYNck
kdc“But who are we again?”zG2
51Qr“I’m the Manager of the Southern Guardian Association, and you’re the Chairman~”OKEIIj
zvN1“Huhuhu.”EJxFfqc
t2foWSo what if she failed the experiment a bit and the outcome wasn’t as satisfactory? I was the Chairman and Marie was the manager of the southern branch.27j
OeowhXkBut Marie herself seemed quite keen about this research.NmpC
eYjL“I want to be successful with this research though, because it’s directly related to the profit of the south.”zmYC7O
ss6C“You’re using potatoes for the research, right? You really do love them don’t you?”U7AYQ
pVcm“Potatoes are the best crops that can suit all needs after all!”5fH0HL3
pz199Although she was kind and innocent most of the times, it was times like this that really showed her deep insights as the young lady of a dukedom.uYykE
EQRThe ability to lengthen the shelf life of potatoes meant a broader line of sale. Not only could it be used as preservative food for guardians, but it could also be used in various other situations like the military.fRmv5
eGpOcD“Kuhum… by the way, sunbae.”UGZRM
uW9fBut that wasn’t the important part right now. I had something to receive the full agreement of from all the girls that loved me.yRygfT
Q7BiMIcThe Harem of Korin Lork.Yw5Wm
hIb3aOFirst on the list was the acceptance of Marie Dunareff.gyCw0jH
ErnP“Yes, what is it~?”riUW
5bROMarie constantly had a wide smile on her face.XAZKMC
Z3SSnIt had already been a year since she first confessed her feelings for me. To think this was my reply after making her wait for a year… I really felt bad for it.xrZ3DS
rO72e4I went straight to business. She still had a smile on her face after listening to my proposal to ‘all date together’.AEkdd
j1F“Sun… bae?”7qOeOPq
DByShe was smiling. Marie was smiling despite my heavenly abomination of a suggestion!on2I
kqA2This was looking good! Right? She was giving her agreement, yes? I knew it! I knew Marie would gladly accept the—lqY
mSp“No.”TFffd2
ThD“???”tZHD
CEbFps“Korin. Was that what you’ve been thinking these days… running away from me?”wxs
IaUGuShe brought her hand to my waist and slowly brushed it up.skYbu
OBuT“Kuhk…”1Kg2E
keiLjrTightly clasping on the hem of my shirt, she pulled it up with an insane amount of force. Before I could even retaliate, my vision was filled with her cold, ‘red’ eyes.LM9W7
wccMc“No.”O2ipZ
DNtqRg“S, sunbae… There are circumstances that…”Zt3
zJpkU“Korin.”Hidv
qEUODQ0“Heek!”MYBWDC1
qURCold. Her eyes were blisteringly cold.BfIife
JaXkITqWithin those eyes was still her love towards me, but she was as firm and resolute as I had ever seen her.ZSz3
6yZx“If you don’t choose ‘only’ me… I don’t know what I might end up doing.”WeQ1doX
NUzU1“S, sunbae? What do you mean…”bY787b
OtUdMGxW, what are you going to do, i, if I don’t choose you?w20
RLE4U“You know, I have a lot of money.”Eaz2i
GbVetUa“Huh?”IxNYjj
G6KgpaI, I know that. Of course.j4vSxGL
qyWb“And I also have 500 mages under me.”OhTVFhM
qqvYou mean them ‘Chunsik’s? Weren’t we uhh… sharing them together?icp
2XhiucT“I don’t know… what I might do with them.”4KZWa
7lpvH“…”TZn
LfYEX0XIt was a scary warning.VJV
8mzMmLaThe wealthiest of this continent, the Potato Empire… even built the new Tower of Mages after taking in the mages of the old Tower.IRBimTd
Jg9RSAuthority, wealth and strength. The Dunareff had all three of them… and what if they carried out actions that weren’t ideal?dlmt
EeSlAo“S, sunbae… It’s a joke right? P, please calm down…”3v0JAs
vssFQS0“Did it sound like a joke?”dXHYF
qOVSlS3“Hugekk…”Idn
PA0qIt’s not a joke!assFn
yuGnYou can’t fake those eyes!Po3RX
MZqcI can’t believe Marie would say such scary things! Who are you! Where did you take my Marie!?Qkss
QE3mt“Sunbae, you are not that kind of person! This isn’t who you are!”HsR
iNsZCWhere is the farm girl Marie, who used to hand out boiled potatoes to juniors and joke around with a smile!? Give me back my Marie…!w3Hl15J
kqoYX5“You changed me, Korin. You… you’re driving me crazy…”fjHQQ
mXI4bdOpening her mouth, Marie revealed her sharp fangs. By force she pulled me towards her and dug her teeth into my neck without even asking for my agreement.qcdN2hx
k0r71U2It was the first time she was sucking my blood without permission.1Iz
LP2MMxFWhat happened to my kind Marie!?ul5
QjiTzm****DKFWe
IOS0JPersuading Marie ended up a failure.NIzxr2X
iFDNMAtShe was dead serious about her disagreement with the harem plan and even half-threatened me, saying she didn’t know what she might do if I didn’t choose her.c4ZF
qmdm“Ugh… Marie-sunbae… What happened…”mBJ
xkXvwU7Huaang… There’s no way my Marie could be so scary. It’s impossible…aXjXNP
PKkMI certainly wasn’t expecting her to make such a declaration. Choosing one person was impossible already, but even if the Precept wasn’t there, it still would have led to a life-threatening situation.n1V
UQABhnN“Fuu…”BD2
XTVIPBut I couldn’t give up like this. I wasn’t carrying out the harem plan for my own happiness.7Rd
9pGbChoosing one meant the misfortune of the rest, and that came as a penalty for myself. It was an S-ranked quest – six of them at that, and the only way for survival was a harem.Haq
yKrk“L, let’s put Marie aside for now.”Sk9Dx
fRyvJQ2I had no idea she would be so against it. It would be better to put her aside for now and start off by persuading other people.ZzdU6
sl1rDIF“…What are you doing?”mBS
MzKI was barely climbing up the hill while feeling light-headed when I found a girl wearing nun-clothes walking down from uphill.LqA
j7Qo“Hua Ran huh…”yu4M9QK
RJg“You seem tired.”2r4
PVf“T, there have been some circumstances you see…”aQ3u0
w1aM7JHua offered to lend me her shoulder.D6NUz
HU5LIt felt like it was yesterday that this jiangshi girl used to be indifferent to everyone but now she knew how to be considerate of others.CYb5k
NcZf7Fuu… It brings back memories.OsfxKu
tKCObm‘Right, I have to persuade Hua Ran as well. She should be easier than Marie.’KSl2
2mNEiHwTechnically Hua Ran was two separate personalities, Hua and Ran, in one body. The sisters didn’t feel repulsed by the idea of sharing me with each other, which might extend to other people as well.e4L
SFL86Z“Hua Ran. I have something to ask the two of you…”9aaAZ2s
DvxrrX“What is it.”QN1M5
aR0iN6Hiding my rising hope, I talked about my harem plan, and Hua Ran stayed there blinking her eyes and tilting her head before…ZN5EHat
TOk– Kuwaaaaaaaa—!!sNRnWl
gDK7Z5lWait.KULGy
Iidk2LShe’s raising her hand.i5P8x
yQ6Hold up. Let’s see. Her palm was travelling upward, diagonally, towards me – towards my cheek to be precise.XjiJNr
QlmWhat was her expression like? Indifferent? No, there was a slight frown which was a big change considering the faint changes in her emotions.AiueqW
SnEKQEven at this moment, her palm was travelling at a threatening speed.031
Jp7The conclusion was that her palm was going to slap me on my cheek.HuYCx5
m36ckpFRight. It’s true that she had all rights to be angry. As a gentleman, there was nothing I could possibly say when being slapped for giving such a shameless proposal.m4JUpzJ
0pX6hThe issue however, was that it was Hua Ran who was slapping;Oeq
6r8s0pShe was the Heavenly Yaksha;CZPG
A9pzHer Aura Rank was at Upper Unique, the highest this world had ever seen;uOATB3T
aY6OOKPlus the fact that she had unconsciously put in Aura into her palm;W1j
mziP0And lastly, the fact that it was travelling at 2,722 km per hour, roughly 2.2 mach.Uk5Q9ql
iadBd2gWhat would happen if I were to get slapped by that palm?W7EYSS
8VHWould it just end with a wound? I don’t think that would be a fitting description to what would happen to me after coming in contact with that hand. I might even cross the river of no return.LrwpK
m16But what if I were to dodge that palm? I learned you shouldn’t dodge a girl’s slap. It’s not about etiquette, but how dodging would make them more mad and give you a higher chance to getting follow-up attacks.xa73hF
6tucDodging didn’t seem to be a good option.yMzO9z
bLyiWhich meant I had to get slapped. But what twould happen then? Let’s calculate the force of the impact.hcud
ryQqUHua Ran’s Aura Capacity was a bit over 105,000. But the amount she could spend at once was less than a thousand.n3Tsa
GQrTViEThe basic attack of Demonic Aura was 18,500; 44,400 in a critical strike. Let’s assume, and being hopeful, that it’s not a critical hit – two of those attacks would be required to destroy a piece of rock weighing 35 tonnes.lWr8Nk
sSDPLet’s say the resistance level of the rock is X, and the force of the 2,722 km/h super attack is Y—F2Gw
Tb6ZBy the time I thought up to that point, her palm was 0.5 mm away from my cheek.inrVM
4t38gwAh, it’s too late.iU8qt
4a4NI’ve been thinking way too much.N2Gcl
X96“Hel—”cLd6
4bjlH– SLAPPPPPPPPPP—NC7xzwp
59i– KWANG! KWAGANG! KUGUGUGUGAAAKK!!MqDAETs
IalQ“……Hmph!”VRuK0
8LGyfUk****4Q6
17lAfter the final war against Tates, everyday at Merkarva Academy was relatively relaxed. The students were back, and it was decided that this year’s freshmen students would mostly be doing practical lessons for this semester.Dx60
qimLXUGBecause half of the semester was spent in the so-called ‘War of the Sun’ against Tates, there wasn’t enough time to plan out a detailed curriculum.7JYchT9
SujZAhThanks to that, Erin had quite some time in her hands.dwARZCM
HkG“Fuu… Maybe I should go see Korin.”u3JliQe
bUqooC“Should I drop you off?”8wzo
jgiRNBp“Heek…!”JjmqmcZ
LDqErin realized belatedly that Josephine was right next to her when she mumbled that, and dropped her head in embarrassment.i9K6
xm70mr“Huaah…”XK2h
VJxHow scary was late love? Josephine smiled seeing the adorable first love of her motherly figure. As such, she wanted to cheer her on. Even though she had challenging competitors, she still hoped for Erin’s victory.crHp
u9hK3‘Well, Erin doesn’t fall short of her competitors either.’4t3MO
iG0JYShe had a deep connection that the others didn’t have.VAPmM
lJGZA cherishing memory from the future, and a deep bond as a master and disciple. She was Korin’s precious person whom he had been hoping to save this whole time, which theoretically meant there was no possibility of losing this battle.zpjdf1I
3rnAPQAfter all, that was what she saw in a romance novel. It was called, ‘I disappeared after raising the male lead’.dPWL
dgxeHmm hmm. Yep. Erin’s not someone who would lose to anyone—10J5
MgpX83Q“Masterrrr…!”GGj9Ird
gmNgNO“Hiht? K, Korin?!”b5J
sS9sSpeaking of the devil.C95
6Hv0Korin kicked the door open and ran into Erin’s arms with his cheeks swollen like a balloon for some reason.zTp5T
nwVJ“Korin? What happened to your face? How did this happen!?”eFww6w
OkjpSHe hugged her while acting like a child. This guy… he was a bit shameless at times.edMAM3o
5QkrVo“C, Clara…! Medicine! Bring me some medicine!”TUlp3M
lOUNQ0l“I am sure he will regenerate soon enough considering his regeneration speed.”VI6pT
VClpjp“Eggs! At least give me some eggs!”fhB
IDiXjAn“…I am telling you he is probably fine.”YWDE
W2I0iErin was panicking in contrast to the nonchalant Josephine. Meanwhile, Korin continued sniffling while burying his face deeper into Erin’s legs.hiq
vzCf“Why! Why does nobody understand? I’m just trying to make everyone happy!”SR2Wz
f6jFh“Y, yes. I am sure you have deep plans, Korin. It’s the fault of the people that don’t see your kind intentions.”UGVyMYf
6Cfa3“…Erin. Even your children will grow up rude if you raise them like that.”i1p6AUM
CYrd“K, Korin will grow just fine.”wwa
PuarThat was the typical sight of a parent saying, ‘My child’s different!’L9PpVS
QpVny‘Haa… Erin. You should be aiming for the lover position, not that of a mother.’N0rpqV
ZLo“Master…” Korin said. “My chest; it hurts.”8AUo
XVn“Does it hurt a lot, Korin? Do you want me to rub it?”nbycYj
DVMATHJosephine sighed before asking a question.2fUl3dn
tRnI“What exactly happened?”3Qh58
aehz“I got bitten by Marie… and got hit by Hua Ran…”zcko
dEwjBy those two?lfBt8
mLB9dThose two girls who loved everything about Korin?GdnWq
LnfJosephine and Erin looked on with confusion. What in the world did he do, they wondered.vpfC
2pvWjRI“Actually…”kCYwW
PI1lIKorin honestly shared his harem plan. Choosing one will make everyone unhappy, so let’s marry all of them! That will make everyone happy right?3I2
LATtqBN““………””RWs
lF1The Chairman’s room turned increasingly colder the more he continued talking. Breaking through the chilling silence was Erin.UEKPvj
fR3B9AV“That is a terrible thought.”LJGyw2m
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HaydenZeMan
VIP Qi RefinementTruly tough read, you’re a piece of trash Korin!