Chapter 73

73 – Everything is a Choice and the Chance Meeting of Two Lem-Fans

First things first, I lead Nicola to a chair. With almost no resistance, she followed and sat down with a thump.

「Uhm…would you like some tea? I only have the instant kind, though.」

「…yeah.」

「One for me too, please.」

「…Of course.」

Since Nicola arrived, Milla was giving me an icy stare but after looking at Nicola again and noticing the tear stains around her eyes, she seems to have reigned back her attitude.

Her subordinates in the Demon King Castle may fear her for some reason, but I like her for her ability to worry about a complete stranger.

I boil water with a Magical Energy-equipped kettle and a few minutes later, the black tea is prepared. I don’t have anything like a tea set here so I just pour it into paper cups. I put the cups on a tray and carry them to the table.

「Thanks…」

Nicola absent-mindedly picks up the cup and brings it to her lips.

「Warm…」

Nicola let out a sigh.

I’m not sure when, but Milla was sitting directly opposite Nicola, sipping the black tea.

There are only two chairs in this room, so I guess I’m standing.

「So? What brings you to Lem’s room so late at night? It is unusual for one’s eyes to be swollen if your aim was to sneak in for a booty call. If you’re here to ask for help then hurry up and spit out the name and location of the perpetrator. If, in fact, you were sexually assaulted by a man, I shall deal with it personally.」

The incident that led to Milla and I meeting two years ago.

She did some heavy drinking and ended up getting drugged and sexually assaulted by three men.

They’re…well, they’re not dead, but they definitely won’t do something like that ever again. Bat Demi-Beasts sucked the life force out of their nether regions and their…well…that, withered.

Perhaps being reminded of that ordeal, Milla’s tone of voice turned cold, but her gaze towards Nicola was full of concern.

「Assault?…Oh, no, nothing like that. This is because…my brother…huh? Wait a minute, who are you anyway?」

Nicola seems to have regained enough of her composure to finally notice Milla’s existence.

She didn’t react at all to Milla, clad in only a bathrobe, opening the door. She seems to have calmed down since then.

「I’m a friend of his. A friend who came to spend time with him in one room, together.」

「…you mean…」

Nicola’s face went red.

「Am-am I being a huge hindrance right now?!」

「This is a misunderstanding. Just as Milla said, she is a friend. More accurately, she’s my co-worker.」

Milla looked at me with a shocked expression on her face.

She doesn’t know Nicola saw through my disguise and knows who I am, so her reaction is only natural.

「Co-worker…who’s a beautiful female vampire…ah. You’re the Vampire Queen Carmilla?」

Milla kept looking at me, waiting for an explanation.

「For the moment, I believe I should explain the situation. This is Nicola. A Hero in a 99th ranked party. When she tried to Clear the Beginner’s Dungeon, it seems she realized that I was Lemegeton.」

「…When I looked at him directly, I realized that he had the same eyes.」

「Hm? Eh? Wait, are you telling me that you made the connection that Lord Lemegeton was Lem by simply looking at his Avatar?」

「Ah, yes…I’m, a Lem fan… Although, I’ve only been a fan for about two years. I did watch a lot of his videos, however…」

Milla’s eyes light up.

「A fan? …I see. Hm. Favorite video?」

Nicola was confused at first but soon understood the question.

「Hm? …I guess that would have to be the Advanced Level – Hellfire Dungeon video. Generally, Fenix’s fiery face-off with the Monster is the highlight of the video, but for the others, it was a close fight due to the pillars of fire rising up from the floor and Lem was able to safely dodge them all. I was amazed that not only was he fully aware of his surroundings and could predict the pillars, he also tirelessly trained his body despite not having the Aptitude for it. …Although, you can only see him dodge three times in just under two seconds though, and within those three, one of them was behind Lily, out of focus, and another time was when the camera was on Alba, Lem was cut off by the corner of the screen. The last one was where they showed a series of scenes of each party member’s best-looking dodge, but he didn’t get any attention at all.」

I’m not going to point out that she’s out of her Prince character right now. She probably doesn’t have the composure for it.

At any rate, I’m happy that there’s someone who paid such close attention but it’s also kinda embarrassing.

Milla closed her eyes, nodded, and opened them.

「Very good. Incidentally, the one that I happen to watch over and over is the video of the Intermediate Level – Setsuna Dungeon. The reason being-」

In the next moment, they both spoke at the same time.

「-it’s the one where Lem had the most screentime.」

And then they both chuckled.

…huh, are they…bonding?

「I’m Milla. As you already know, I work in the Demon King Castle.」

「I’m Nicola. Nice knowing you…ah, should I address you more formally?」

They shook hands.

「Talk however you are comfortable with.」

「Thanks. S-so I guess you…you two are really…」

Nicola turns red once again. She seems a little uneasy.

「I am sad to say, very sad to say, that we do not have that kind of relationship.」

「I-I see…」

「But I am hoping it does one day and I am negotiating with him daily.」

「I…see.」

「That being said, I would appreciate it if you refrain from seducing Lem with your ample bosom. I am glad to know another fan but…so long as you don’t cross the boundaries of being just a fan. I wouldn’t want to acknowledge a precious fellow Lem-fan as an enemy.」

Milla smiled sweetly.

「Se-seduce him…」

Nicola crosses her arms in an attempt to hide her breasts. I hope no one noticed me staring at the shape of her breasts changing and bulging with her movements.

「…You’re a dangerous person. I can’t rely on just the written report, I must ask Cashew directly about what she thinks of her.」

I thought I heard a kind of disturbing voice.

「Oh, that’s right, Lem. Where is little Cashew sleeping?」

「She’s in the room with another fellow co-worker-uhm, Milla?」

「She already has influence over Cashew? …she’s a larger threat than I thought.」

…Milla? Hello?

The sight of her looking away and muttering to herself is scaring me a little.

「Ahem.」

I cough intentionally to change the subject. Or rather, to return to the main subject.

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「Nicola.」

「Y-yes. I wasn’t seducing you, not at all.」

「Uh, yeah, I get that.」

「…really? Oh…」

Nicola’s voice sank.

「If you feel better now, do you mind talking about why you came here?」

「…Right. I’m glad that you’re willing to listen to me. Perhaps, that is why I thought about coming here.」

「Should I excuse myself? I’ll just be standing by outside with my ear pressed against the door to hear for any funny business that might happen.」

Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of leaving the room?

And so, Nicola talked about the discussion she had with Philip and company.

◇

「I see…」

After listening to the conversation, Milla was silent with a gloomy face. It seems she doesn’t plan on saying anything for the time being.

That is the correct stance to take.

It’s bad manners to interfere with another party’s business. It’s like meddling in someone else’s family trouble.

We should not intervene unless something happens that cannot be overlooked.

Regarding this one, outside of how Philip speaks and carries conversations, the topic of discussion and the conclusion is not odd.

Of course, he could have worded it better. Less harsh. And treating her with more respect.

But what would be the meaning of that? I’m sure Nicola didn’t come here just to lick her wounds.

「I…I don’t know what’s going on with me.」

Even she can’t bring herself to say that she hates her brother.

It’s because of her self-awareness.

She’s aware that she was the one who went along with her brother’s plans when she was unpopular and feeling depressed.

You don’t have to see through your chosen path to the end. Sometimes it’s good to find another path.

However, if there are others walking the path with you, splitting up will inevitably affect both sides.

When I left the party, the Fenix party changed considerably and I joined the Demon King Army.

In Nicola’s case, it’s purely because no one did anything wrong that is the difficult part for her.

There’s the fact that wearing a mask is difficult for her, but at the same time, there’s the fact that wearing a mask brought adoration.

It’s just that, she endured it. She did her job while holding in all her concerns.

I’m sure that the trigger was the words that I spoke to Philip.

I pointed out that something was troubling her, and my meddling brought about that discussion.

「I think you have to choose.」

「Huh…?」

「There’s nothing wrong with doing anything you can to gain popularity. However, there are people who do that and have no difficulties, and there are also people who have difficulties like you, Nicola. It’s just that, no matter what you do, it’s not going to be for everyone.」

「Yeah…I thought the same thing.」

「Do you continue as the currently rising in popularity Prince character? Or do you shift course toward the image of the hero that you originally aimed for? It’s up to you to choose.」

「Th-that…」

「If there’s something you really want to do, then do it. Nothing wrong with that.」

「But…but then the others…」

「You could leave and form another party. That’s one way.」

「…」

「You might fail, and your old party might have trouble reorganizing, but you have every right to make a choice. …But, I’m sure you don’t like the sound of that, right?」

Because despite being saddened by her brother’s words, she never said anything about disbanding the party.

Even with her fleeting emotions, she didn’t want to even speak of the possibility.

「If so, then following your brother’s scenario is another possible choice. You may have to suffer being a fake, but the excitement aroused within the hearts of the audience is very real. The applause that occurs after shows are nothing but praise to your magnificence.」

To other people, her worries may seem like a luxury.

This is an industry where many people go through trial and error and still not gain popularity, forced to abandon their dream in throes of despair.

Knowing that might be the sole reason that she has never spoken her mind up till now.

「Yeah…I suppose…you’re right.」

Nicola cast her eyes downwards, sadly.

「Or…you can prove it.」

「Huh?」

「What your brother said isn’t wrong, but it isn’t absolute. If there was an absolute, sure-fire method to become popular and sell well, unpopular parties would not exist.」

She raised her head.

「Trends are ever-changing, even if you follow one trend, that doesn’t mean that those who don’t aren’t looked upon. In any era, there are always those that become popular without following trends, I mean, circumstances have changed since the past and now, right?」

「Circumstances?」

「If you compare the past when people weren’t fighting for the sake of entertainment, and now, where we now have tons of fans here to watch your challenge, the number of people watching is different.」

「B-but if I fail, we’ll lose our fans and in the end, we’ll…」

You’ll put your allies in a bind, huh?

Nicola thinks about her allies. She also understands that her brother is not trying to control her out of spite. The desire to not cause trouble is something that won’t go away.

I’m worried.

Not about the method.

But about whether or not I should say this.

My case is rather unique, but if I were to recommend it to a Hero, it would be unprecedented.

「In that case, why don’t we give it a test run?」

Said Milla, breaking the ice.

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「There is a Tag Tournament being held here, yes? There is a fair amount of attention focused on it. I think you should participate, while hiding your identity, of course.」

「Wha-?」

「Oh that’s right, what do you think about remodeling your Avatar to look like a Monster? No one will ever guess it’s you and you can fight however you want, right? You can take this opportunity to see whether or not that would excite the audience.」

Milla said her piece.

Nicola then…