The Damn Family Is Back Again

252. Designation of Sponsors (5)

‘Hmph!’

How can my mood change so drastically?

Just a moment ago, I was filled with worry.

I was anxious about what Carsein might hear when called by his family.

I was even nervous about what would happen if he were to be punished.

—

I never expected my feelings to change in an instant.

Especially at that moment when I had just returned, quenching my parched throat with a sip of cold water.

‘Someone was worried sick, yet here he is, surrounded by women, laughing it up?’

Seeing that scene made me inexplicably irritated.

Even now, I could feel the air rushing into my cheeks.

Harnie glanced back subtly.

Carsein was scratching his head, fidgeting restlessly.

“…Um. Harnie?”

Perhaps thinking this was his chance, he opened his mouth.

“Uh… Did I do something wrong…?”

“Don’t say anything!”

“Um… If I made you angry…”

“I said I’m not angry, so don’t say anything!”

Seeing him like that made my insides boil again.

The image of the noble ladies clinging to Carsein just moments ago kept replaying in my mind, preventing me from shaking off this feeling.

“Hmph!”

Turning my head, I began to walk the path in silence once more. Lost in thought, Harnie continued down the path.

“───? ───!”

…Why is this man so popular!

In the past, he was treated like a problem child, causing all sorts of trouble, but now he had established himself as the greatest lord, having perfectly revived two territories.

His abilities were already flawless, and his status was that of the Duke of Bagrand. Although he was an adopted child, he belonged to a family that any noble lady would be interested in.

His appearance was no different.

Tall with a solid build. His balanced muscles and dramatically changed looks… it wouldn’t be strange at all if he captured the hearts of countless women.

There was no way the noble ladies would let such a prime catch slip away.

“───, ────!”

Still. I was the first.

I still held the upper hand as his fiancée.

When asked if he would continue our relationship after the contract, he had answered affirmatively.

Then I just needed to find a way to not be taken away.

Yes. That’s right. They are just ordinary women.

—

She just needed to become more special than those ordinary ladies.

She needed to become someone more special to Karsein.

To do that…

“Harnié!”

“Eek?!”

Suddenly, she was pulled from behind.

Harnié, flustered, was about to ask why, but the sight in front of her revealed the reason.

– Plop.

Lost in thought, she had walked right up to a pond.

“Ah…”

In short, she had almost stepped into the water on her own.

“What are you doing walking so carelessly without looking ahead?”

“…”

“This is unacceptable. I understand you’re upset, but this is hard to forgive.”

“W-wait a moment! Eek?!”

“Stay still.”

Karsein lifted Harnié effortlessly, ignoring any other words.

“L-let me down! I-I wasn’t trying to fall into the pond…!”

“You’ll face the consequences of your mistake later, so don’t move.”

“…”

Ah. Really.

Her mood had shifted completely.

It was as if she had become a capricious child, her feelings changing in an instant.

‘B-but this… might not be so bad…?’

Seeing him surrounded by other girls had made her sulk, but now, being held so tenderly like a princess, she felt herself melting away.

Harnié subtly leaned into Karsein’s embrace.

***

She had somehow managed to prevent herself from falling into the pond while walking in a daze.

‘…What do I do now?’

Now that she was in his arms, she wasn’t quite sure what to do next.

“Where should I sit you for now?”

After glancing around for a moment, I spotted a bench near the walking path and made my way over.

As I sat Harnié down on the bench, she suddenly tugged at my collar.

…Here it comes.

I swallowed hard, the tension making my throat dry.

Where should I even start?

Just as I was floundering in thought.

“Oops.”

She pulled on my arm. Naturally, my body leaned in that direction, and we ended up sitting side by side on the bench. Harnié then said to me,

“You should sit too. If you stay like that… we can’t have a conversation.”

“Uh… um… okay.”

That’s true.

Taking a breath, I cautiously asked Harnié,

“Are you still angry?”

“I told you I’m not angry.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

…But it seemed like she was angry.

I couldn’t help but think that as I scratched my cheek.

I had seen her eyes, which had once traced soft curves, turn sharp and piercing.

“Since it seems you don’t believe me, let’s do this.”

– Tap.

“…?”

“I’m just a bit tired. I’ll let you lean on my shoulder.”

I briefly wondered if this would really work…

But if she said this would ease things, I should stay quiet.

I extended my arm to wrap around her shoulder, allowing her to lean in more comfortably.

“…You really are something.”

“If you don’t like it… I’ll let go.”

“No, it’s fine. Who said I didn’t like it? It’s comfortable, so just keep doing that. More than that…”

For a moment, she wriggled in my arms before continuing to speak.

“Have you designated a sponsor for this martial arts tournament?”

“Yes. I have designated one.”

At that, Harnié suddenly lifted her head and asked.

“Already designated? The sponsor?”

“…Well, yes.”

Did something go wrong with that?

Her round, surprised eyes gradually sharpened.

“…Who is it? A famous person?”

“Haha. That’s unlikely. Just one of the ordinary vassals of the Duke of Bagrand. He’s quite capable, though.”

“Hmm. A capable person, you say. That’s good to hear.”

Uh, wait?

Harnié’s eyes became even sharper.

What’s going on? Was there something wrong with what I said…?

“Well, that makes sense. There must be quite a few women who would want to become sponsors after seeing your abilities.”

Hmm? Wait a minute.

That’s not it.

“It’s not a woman, though?”

“Pardon?”

“The person is Count Ptoah, and he’s a man.”

“…A man, you say?”

Ah. Now I understand.

There was that misunderstanding.

“I’ve read in books that sometimes a noble family introduces a daughter from another family as a sponsor. Is it possible that you have a fiancée and are worried about misunderstandings if you bring in another female sponsor?”

“Eh? Ah, well, that…”

Hmm. If that’s the case, I can understand.

I briefly explained about Count Ptoah and clarified that there was no such situation.

“Oh, I see. I didn’t know that…”

“It’s alright. I had forgotten about that too; I should be more careful.”

Right. I should avoid getting entangled with women as much as possible.

Even if it’s a business matter, what would our contract mean if it leads to misunderstandings with my fiancée?

“Anyway, you can rest assured—”

Thud.

“Wait, I’ll just stay like this for a moment. Ah, please don’t say anything!”

“Uh… okay…”

Harnie said that and leaned against my shoulder again.

What is it? I just can’t figure it out.

Maybe it’s just my imagination, but Harnie felt warmer than before.

I tried to shake off this question while gazing at the stars.

Just as I started to think it was time to head back.

“…She’s fallen asleep.”

Harnie had drifted off.

Breathing softly, she was soundly asleep.

Gently brushing her violet hair with my fingers, I recalled her words.

‘She said she was tired earlier, didn’t she?’

She’s someone who usually lives a busy life, but today must have been even more so.

She probably woke up at dawn to get ready.

To appear like this, so beautifully.

Still, sleep should be in a bed, Harnie.

Holding her as she slept peacefully, I stood up from the bench.

Before long, I reached the place where Harnie was staying.

Deciding it was best to avoid the Teresia Marquisate as much as possible, I lingered a bit longer, and one by one, the staff who recognized me began to gather.

But…

“Oh my…!”

“Shh, you guys!”

“Oh my goodness.”

What’s with their reactions?

Is it that strange to come in holding my fiancée? They’re whispering and gasping, covering their mouths.

“Um…”

“Our lady has finally…!”

“Ah, I’m happy.”

No.

Just tell me where it is!

I can’t do anything else.

I have no choice but to ask directly.

“Where is Harnié’s bedroom?”

““The bedroom?””

…Why are they reacting like this?

Is it really that big of a deal?

“Uh, um. Why do you need the bedroom?”

“I need to lay her down. I can’t just keep her like this.”

“Miss’s bedroom? That’s—”

-Wham.

What was that?

Someone just fainted all of a sudden.

“I’ll tell you instead. You remember me, right?”

“Uh… yeah.”

“Just go straight over there. After you make a left turn—”

Finally, I found out where the bedroom was.

Though, it felt like everything was spinning a bit.

What’s with all the winding paths they had me take?

…After quite a while, I was finally able to lay her down on the bed.

“All done.”

I laid her down, sound asleep.

I even covered her with a blanket, so everything was settled now.

“Mm… Karsein… thank you… for helping…”

“What kind of sleep talk is this?”

I couldn’t help but chuckle softly.

Now, I should head back and rest a bit.

‘I had to be careful about the condition-related deterioration for the Hwangryong Martial Arts Tournament.’

The deterioration of my condition was visibly lowering my stats, so I could resolve it by checking my status window frequently.

I had just checked my stats.

…But something was off.

Lv. 70

▶Strength 6.53

▶Agility 7.81

▶Endurance 8.09

▶Health 6.39

▶Immunity 1.65

▶??? 70%

The condition deterioration status hadn’t appeared yet.

The stats I had steadily trained were normal.

However, a significant change was evident.

‘Level 70… is it?’

The high level of 70 felt strange.

Since it adopted some elements of RPG mechanics, the required experience points for the next level increase as the level rises.

Thus, at this point, leveling up becomes quite difficult. Even if I chose a route to hunt monsters and cleared side episodes to secure additional experience points, I couldn’t reach that level.

The last level I had seen was 63.

Going straight from 63 to level 70? I hadn’t even progressed through any episodes to gain experience points!

That doesn’t make sense.

Today, my schedule only involved activities at the exchange hall.

…In other words, this was the only source of experience points that could have raised my level.

There’s no way such experience points could have come from a situation that wasn’t a main episode clear. Additionally, the note indicating that the SP I held between the strength stat and level was used for the ??? stat had disappeared.

The ??? stat had initially been a decimal value, but at some point, it began to rise by 1% in accordance with the level. Precisely.

In other words, this situation suggests that my level has risen to increase the ??? stat.

That’s the conclusion I can draw.

Focusing on this speculation…

The conclusion emerges surprisingly clearly.

“Surely not.”

My gaze returned to the peacefully sleeping Harnié.

—

Yeah. Looking back now, there were many strange points.

In this game, every character has something called a intimacy box.

Even if they are enemy entities, there exists a level of intimacy, and while it doesn’t show when they have completely transformed into foes, at the very least, a gray box appears beforehand.

Of course, there were characters like Heron and Shaden who seemed not to have any intimacy displayed, but upon closer inspection, it was confirmed that they could meet certain conditions to reveal their intimacy.

However, that wasn’t the case with Harni.

She didn’t display any intimacy box at all, and there was no related information. No. Was there even any connection to the episode in the first place?

Not having intimacy displayed, or being a character I had never seen in the game. In many ways, she was a figure shrouded in mystery.

‘If that’s the case…’

Could it be that she really has something?

It was at that moment the question arose.

-Ding!

▶??? You have uncovered the secret of the stat.◀

▶You have completed the hidden condition and will receive a reward!◀

【 This time, can you save her? 】

“…!”

Upon seeing that phrase, I immediately realized this was no ordinary reward.

But my thoughts became tangled.

“Can you save her this time?”

What kind of nonsensical statement is that?

What does it have to do with the secrets of this world?

“No. Forget it.”

In front of that window, which only provided more questions, I resigned myself.

After all, I had gathered enough information.

The undisclosed stat of misinformation was linked to Harni.

Through a character I had never seen in the game, who didn’t even have an intimacy box, I could raise the ??? stat.

That might, perhaps, be connected to the way to clear this game.

…If there was one thing that bothered me.

“Hmm… Karsein…”

It was her.