Chapter 11
The emperor of the mightiest nation on the continent, the Heroides Empire, Albrecht Heroides, clutched his head in despair.
“…How did this happen? Sending Iris to Babulus was supposed to bring Adam back, right?”
But not only did Iris fail to bring Adam back, she ended up settling down in Babulus instead!
To make matters worse, just a year after being the empire’s savior through some gacha summon, another new hero ends up getting summoned by a foreign country. And to top it all off, one of the legendary heroes even got dragged into the deal as a bonus!
If you’re not getting a headache from this situation, you’re not fit to be an emperor!
Not that Albrecht’s headaches are limited to this…
“Stop blaming me, Your Highness. I said it had a high possibility, not that it was guaranteed!”
Responding with a pout while clearly flustered was Saska, formerly known as the Mad Witch.
Officially stripped of her royal title and exiled, she was the former princess of the empire.
Still, when asked how they can stand to face each other, the answer is simple – the emperor’s human too.
Though, her crimes were unforgivable, so clear boundaries must be maintained.
“Don’t call me that. You’ve lost the right to use that title.”
To which the witch simply smirked in response.
“If you didn’t want me calling you that, you shouldn’t have summoned me in the first place.”
“I called upon your wisdom as a last resort. You shouldn’t even be allowed to set foot in this land.”
Saska turned away, inwardly scoffing at his pathetic excuses.
“Since you’ve said all you needed to say, I’ll be taking my leave then. See you later, Your Highness.”
As she stepped out, leaving behind the emperor’s long sigh, the witch’s expression turned cold.
According to her calculations, if Adam didn’t return, Iris should have at least taken her own life.
While having both return would have been ideal, she wasn’t holding much hope for that possibility from the start.
“How did they end up together?”
No matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t comprehend the process or outcome.
What she couldn’t understand made her uneasy.
She needed to uncover the cause.
Because ultimately, the person destined to become Adam’s master was none other than herself.
“Don’t people who suit each other belong together? Isn’t it only right that the next empress’s husband be the strongest man?”
With ambition burning in her eyes, magic manifested in Saska’s hands.
And with that, she vanished from the palace.
—
“A-Adam, did I really give her permission to live with that woman?”
“That’s right.”
“W-Was that really what Adam wanted…?”
“Yes.”
“S-So he does need to take care of me properly, right?”
“Of course.”
With that, Lucy let out a desperate cry.
“P-Please do something about that woman!”
“Impossible.”
As I’ve always known, I’m terrible at teaching anyone anything.
Not that I don’t have excuses – I’ve always learned everything through direct experience and practice myself.
That’s why I teach knights by beating techniques into them physically.
Same goes for teaching Lucy to read – I could only give her textbooks from the bookstore and tell her to memorize them. Which led Iris to step in when she couldn’t bear seeing it anymore.
On a side note, unlike my more relaxed approach, Iris has rather strict teaching methods.
“Hey, stop slacking off and keep writing. Repetition is key to learning languages.”
“But my hand hurts…”
“Oh? Then maybe we should go back to reading practice then.”
After about three hours of non-stop reading until she nearly memorized the book, Lucy hesitated before picking up the pencil again.
“…I’ll keep writing.”
“Good job. Finish this and Adam will get you ice cream.”
Needless to say, Iris isn’t being strict just to torment Lucy.
In just a few days, Lucy’s reading and writing skills have improved remarkably. She can now smoothly read children’s books, despite not knowing any letters before.
And judging from how Lucy occasionally throws tantrums but never outright gives up, she seems to recognize the improvement herself.
“Hey Adam, is it true this girl’s mana level is S-rank?”
“Minimum S, apparently.”
“No way! That’s dragon-fighting level power. With proper growth, couldn’t she surpass you?”
“Could be.”
Upon hearing our conversation, Lucy stopped writing.
“D-Does that mean I could become stronger than Adam…?”
“As you’ve heard, magical talent isn’t common. Even being born into royalty doesn’t guarantee one can become a mage.”
Simply put, being born with magical ability is rare, and possessing exceptional talent on top of that is astronomically improbable.
“In all my years, I’ve never even heard of an S-rank mage. What about you, Adam? Were there any back in your time?”
“Hmm, probably not. Back then, it was more about how one used their given talents to survive rather than raw power.”
While there were plenty of powerful mages back then, they were strong because they survived, not the other way around.
This conversation made me curious – just how powerful could Lucy become if she fully developed her magical abilities?
“Uwaah, I suddenly feel interested in magic…”
“Yeah, yeah. We’ll talk about that later. Let’s focus on learning to read first.”
About two more hours passed before today’s lessons concluded, so I took Iris and Lucy out to the market.
While enjoying soft serve ice cream together, Iris suddenly brought up a topic.
“Let’s pick out a new bed. I destroyed the old one, so I’ll buy us a new one with my money. Something big and luxurious!”
“A-Are you saying it’s mine and Adam’s bed?”
At Lucy’s suspicious question, Iris turned her head slightly.
“Actually, I was thinking if there’s space, we could all sleep together peacefully…”
“N-No way! You sleep in a different bed!”
“Why not! We already sleep next to each other in the living room anyway! What’s the difference!”
Despite arguing all the way there, once they arrived at the furniture store and started choosing beds, they began bickering over who should compromise instead.
“This one looks good, shall I get this?”
“H-How are three people supposed to fit in that size!”
“You were just saying you wanted to sleep with Adam alone!”
“D-Don’t be so cruel!”
“Don’t make me look like a brat!”
If I’m not mistaken, Lucy and Iris seem to genuinely enjoy their arguments.
Watching them get along like this makes me happy, though I honestly have no idea when they became friends.
Is it because neither of them had friends before?
“A-Adam, which one do you prefer?”
“One that fits all three of us.”
“T-There you go!”
“Geez, after all my thoughtful consideration…”
Ultimately, we ended up choosing an even larger R-rank bed than before.
We considered carrying it ourselves like last time, but since we still needed to buy dinner, we decided to have it delivered.
As we were leaving, the shopkeeper approached us with something.
“There’s a lottery going on in the market right now. This coupon is for customers who’ve spent a certain amount on gacha draws. Would you like to try your luck?”
We received ten coupons in total. Apparently, ten coupons make up one draw.
“Only one chance huh…”
“Since we’re passing by anyway, let’s give it a shot?”
Curious Luzy and Iris followed me to where the lottery gacha was being held.
Surprisingly, there weren’t many people, likely because most couldn’t collect the required ten coupons.
“What are the prizes?”
“Let’s see. Oh, there’s no participation prize or blanks?”
Grand Prize: Ardeo Aqua Hot Spring City Stay Voucher
First Prize: SR-Rank Restaurant Gacha Ticket
Second Prize: Guaranteed R-Rank Bedding Gacha Ticket
Third Prize: Premium Tableware Gacha Ticket
Fourth Prize: Miscellaneous Goods Gacha Ticket
Fifth Prize: Ludi Briyum Bear Doll Gacha Ticket
As I was reading through the list of prizes, Lucy reacted to something.
“B-Bear doll…”
“Huh? Do you want a doll? Speak up.”
Even though I bought enough to fill a room.
“Hehe, it’s not that kind of thing…”
“Really now? Are you saying you, a grown woman, wanted a doll?”
At Iris teasing smile, Lucy fidgeted with her fingers.
“I-I’ve never had one before…”
“…Adam, draw it. Quickly. Get that accursed bear before I die of guilt or run off to a toy store!”
Fair enough, I am the best candidate in this situation.
My luck is F rank.
Not to brag, but I’ve never gotten anything below colorless, no matter what I draw.
Without blanks or participation prizes, getting the bear is practically guaranteed.
For the first time in my life, I thank my F rank luck as I handed the coupons to the attendant and spun the gacha machine.
The spinning gacha machine emitted light.
It was supposed to be colorless…
“Blue?!?”
“Impossible! Adam drew it?!”
Stunned reactions from me and Iris. But that wasn’t the end.
The blue light shifted to gold, then transformed into dazzling rainbow hues as a bead rolled out of the machine.
“Winner! Congratulations! Since you’ve won the grand prize, here’s your voucher for a stay at the Ardeo Aqua Hot Spring Resort!”
Dazed, I accepted the voucher handed to me.
Seeing it, Iris shouted.
“We absolutely cannot go there!”
“Eh? Why can’t we go…?”
Looking genuinely confused, Lucy tilted her head at Iris, who regarded her as if she were asking something obvious.
“You don’t get it? Adam drew it!”
“Don’t be so definitive. I’m hurt.”
“B-But couldn’t it just be low probability good luck…?”
She had a point. It’s not like I bring misfortune wherever I go, so something like this happening is possible.
Thinking back on it now, that was quite naive of me.
“EEEEEEK?!”
At the hot spring city of Ardeo Aqua, where beings from all over the world gather, I saw numerous dragons panic upon spotting me and let out screams.
It was then that I finally realized my mistake.
