Chapter 34

He had always been a greedy person. But greed wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, greed could also be seen as having ideals and ambition. After all, ideals and ambition had always driven human progress. Though now, having obtained near-immortality, he could hardly be considered human anymore.

“Right… is that girl still waiting for me there?” Shoyo suddenly remembered. Hadn’t he tricked Jeanne into going out there earlier? Knowing her personality, she was probably still waiting. It was already past eleven o'clock, almost his bedtime.

“Perfect. I learned a new magic. Let's see what she's doing.”

Stretching out his hand, Shoyo began casting. First, water magic, a calm, mirror-like surface appeared in mid-air, undisturbed by even a ripple.

“And then this.”

After a small adjustment, the image shifted. The scene outside Kuoh Town came into view.


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Outside Kuoh Town

Jeanne’s high heels tapped endlessly against the ground, her watery eyes burning with shame and frustration.

“Why! Why! Why hasn't he come yet?!”

She stomped hard, the ground trembling beneath her. Cracks spread out from where she stood, marking the force of her fury. Dozens of deep pits surrounded her, some overlapping, some fresh.

“By the count, if she’s stepped in a different spot each time, she’s stomped 33 times,” Shoyo muttered, stroking his chin. “If she keeps wailing and causing earthquakes, people might start believing some kind of urban legend.”

This Jeanne wasn’t quite like the Jeanne from Fate series, but she was still a beauty. She had trusted him completely, and he’d tricked her into wandering into the mosquito-infested mountains. He felt a little guilty. But more than that… amused. (Chuckle.) Under the system’s task influence, he was developing a rather twisted sense of humor.

“Ah! Why hasn’t he come yet? Did that fallen angel kill him? Or did he run into someone he couldn’t fight?”

After venting, Jeanne started to mutter to herself. Her goodwill toward Shoyo was clearly high, she hadn’t even considered that he might’ve tricked her.

Shoyo scratched his head, feeling mildly embarrassed for misleading someone so adorably naive. But... that’s exactly what made teasing her so entertaining. (Wry smile.)

“It’s almost midnight! If he doesn’t show up soon, I’m going back!”

“Yare yare... Who’s making our Miss Jeanne angry?”

A voice echoed through the space.

“That’s... Georg’s voice?”

Jeanne immediately recognized it, it belonged to Georg, the one who’d sent her to Kuoh Town to investigate.

“Hmph! I’m very upset today!” Jeanne pouted, puffing her cheeks like a child. That guy hadn’t come! Did he get lost? Was he killed?

“Oh? What’s making you so unhappy?” Georg asked curiously. He left out the rest of his thought, Tell me, so everyone else can laugh too.

“Wasn’t I here today to investigate those phantoms that appeared in this town?..."

Jeanne began recounting her day: asking townspeople if anything strange had happened, casually taking down some fallen angels, beating up a few thugs who hit on her... and, of course, meeting Shoyo, the supposed inheritor of the hero Rama.

As Georg listened, his expression turned odd. He nearly burst out laughing midway.

“Uh... hmm... well…”

“Hah!” He took a deep breath and stared Jeanne in the eyes. “I think... you may have been tricked.”

It was a bit cruel, but Georg felt he had to say it. It’d be too pitiful if Jeanne didn’t even realize she’d been deceived.

“Tricked?! How could that be!?”

Her eyes widened. Tricked? By that handsome guy who claimed to be Rama? No way!

“Jeanne, let me ask you. Do you have his address?”

“Uh... no.”

“Then, do you have his contact info?”

“Um... no.”

“Can you even find him again?”

“Waaah, no...”

A flicker of panic crossed her face. She had no way of locating Shoyo!

“So... were you tricked?”

Georg rubbed his forehead, sighing. As expected, Jeanne was truly a product of the French countryside, naive and hopelessly sincere.

“I... I... I...”

Tears welled up in her eyes, almost spilling over. No! Baby Jeanne! You have to stay strong! You're a hero’s descendant! she told herself, but the tears refused to stop.

“Waaaaah! I was tricked! Georg, I was deceived by a man!!”

She finally broke into loud sobs, riding off on a dust cloud of her own despair.

“Yare yare...”

Georg scratched his head and activated his Sacred Gear. Dirty laundry shouldn't be aired in public. Time to go back to base, where everyone could laugh at her together.

Outside Kuoh Town, amid the collapsed mountain range, where even the ley lines had sunk slightly, Jeanne and Georg vanished into the fading red mist. Watching through his magic, Shoyo slowly deactivated the viewing spell.


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“As expected from the magic circle in Ajuka’s offline tutorial,” Shoyo muttered. “Though Georg’s carelessness played a part, its concealment really is strong.”

Hmm! Ajuka’s Offline Tutorial, everyone who uses it says it’s good!

“It’s already the next day... I should get to sleep.”

To help instill good habits, his daily sign-in always refreshed at 7 a.m.

“Hwang.”

Just as he lay down, green light flickered from the ceiling.

“Ajuka’s magic circle? What’s he doing contacting me this late?”

Shoyo recognized it instantly. Unlike a regular projection, this was transfer magic. Ajuka was about to personally arrive!

Yawning, Shoyo adjusted his pajamas and stood in front of the circle. Moments later, a Super Devil-class Maou with soft green hair descended into the room.

“Sorry to disturb you this late, Shoyo-kun,” Ajuka said with a trace of apology. “But this is important. I’ve just prepared the new testing equipment. Can you come with me for a bit? It’ll only take about thirty minutes. I need the data from all your current powers to update my teaching plan.”

“Test my current powers?” Shoyo asked, tilting his head. “But my power’s been growing rapidly. Wouldn't the data become outdated very soon?”


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