Act 3: Chapter 41: Aftermath
Two days after the turmoil caused by the 《Red Authority Cane》.
I went toward the headquarters of 《Mithril’s Cane》 along with Pomera and Philia for a meeting with Gannet.
「Why something like this always happen to Pomera…」
Pomera looked dejected as she spoke.
In these two days, Pomera’s name resounded again as the hero of Manarak.
The matter about her healing the injured people in Manarak aside, there was also the heroic story about her driving out the 《Black Reaper, Lovis》, restoring the destroyed building to the point that it look like newly built building with her white magic, and killed 《Alice of The Corpse Doll》, one of the 《Humanoid Dragon》 with a single blow on her head.
「Pomera, ish super awesome!」
Philia sang a praise on Pomera.
「Thank you, Philia-chan. But, Pomera isn’t happy at all…」
「Are you really the one who restoring the building, Pomera-san?」
「That feat is beyond me, Kanata-san… That’s…」
Pomera suddenly halted for a moment, squinting her eyes as if she found something was amiss.
「Is something the matter, Pomera-san?」
「Well, it’s nothing but… Kanata-san, I never knew that you have such earth shaking beauty among your acquaintances. You’re hiding about that person from Pomera, right?」
「… Eh?」
I was caught off guard by her sudden question.
I mean, Pomera was my first real acquaintance after I left Cocytus.
Both Kotone and Rosemonde were top class beauties in their own category but Pomera already knew about them.
Was she referring to the female member from Lovis’ team?
「Why are you trying to dodge my question, Kanata-san?」
Pomera brought her face closer to mine, emitting a pressure rivaling the Red King.
「W-Well, I hide nothing from you…」
「Pomera, scawry~!」
For some reason, Philia became more and more elated.
「She has white hair with red tinge on the tips of her hair, and odd eye o—」
「Ah, you mean Lunaire-san! So she’s still in Manarak… That’s a relief.」
I met her before right after I subjugated the demon king of spider, that’s why I thought that she had already returned to 《Cocytus》.
But, I guess she was still somewhere around in this city.
And Pomera coming into contact with her was the last thing that I had expected.
「This Lunaire… Is the one who taught you magic, and save your life, right?」
「Yeah, I told you about her a while ago. But, I see… You met her, eh? What are the two of you talking about?」
Pomera’s face frowned the moment I asked her that question.
I cocked my head, wondering about her reaction.
「… Kanata-san, you told me before that Lunaire-san is an eighty years old woman, right?」
「Eh, no, tha—」
That moment, I finally remember a certain lie I told to Pomera.
Yes, back then, I felt it wasn’t a good thing to let Pomera know that Lunaire was a thousand years old lich, so I told Pomera that Lunaire was an eighty years old woman.
「I did say that…」
「Look, it’s not like what you say! You say it! Why are you telling such lies to Pomera! Now tell me the truth!」
「M-My bad about that, there’s a reason why I can’t tell you more about her… B-But, I don’t think it’s a big deal, so you don’t have to be that angry about this matter.」
「I, AM, NOT, ANGRY! I just want to hear more about her! Now fess up!」
「A-About that, now is a bit…」
「What now! Are you trying to shift the topic!?」
Y-Yup, she really pissed off after all.
I glanced at Philia, begging for her to save me from this situation.
Philia looked at Pomera and I, seemingly enjoying this situation.
「Welcome Kanata-dono, Pomera-dono, and Philia-dono too. Since I happen to see you so I might be as well as greeting you.」
Gannet greeted us.
Pomera’s face flushed red and she got away from me.
「M-My apologies, Kanata-san… I just got a bit too excited.」
I nodded to Gannet to express my gratitude.
Gannet replied with a thumbs up, smiling as if he said “Don’t worry, it’s not a big deal.”.
Yup, just as I had expected, he butt in once he saw Pomera’s state and I who was troubled by her state.
「I have already gathered everything that you requested from me before. Shall I send it later to the inn that you used?」
「Thank you for your consideration but, let me to take it back myself since I can stow them with space-time magic.」
It seems he managed to gather all the side ingredients for 《Ether》 in the list that I gave to him before.
With this, we can start the mass production of 《Ether》, and restart Pomera’s power leveling plan in the 《Distorted World of Cursed Mirror》.
「And there’s the matter of 《Yggdrasil’s Droplet》 too but… We have already confirmed their quality. The market price will collapse if we sell them at once but, if we play it right we should be able to sell that amount for at least 200 millions gold.」
Gannet lowered his voice when he spoke the latter part of his sentence.
「T-Two hundred… Millions gold!?」
The passerby around us got startled and looked at us.
I snapped right away and then lowered my voice.
「M-My apologies, I just…」
Since we had that much money, I guess that solved our monetary problem.
Honestly speaking, I had to thank Urzottle for this.
… Let’s give them a premium grade next time.
「And there’s also the matter of Kotone-dono’s manga that we discussed before, it’s already circulated in Manarak’s market.」
「A-Already!?」
「Yeah, even though it’s still in the experimental stage, both works should’ve already been circulating in the market. Since my staff have also come to like it, it might become popular. I don’t think everything will be this easy if not for Kanata-dono’s cooperation. We will definitely give you some reward for your tip.」
Gannet’s action was really fast.
He did say that he had to do something about the gloomy mood in Manarak, but I had never expected that he already prepared everything to release the manga.
「My cooperation is insignificant. And thank you very much for helping Kotone-san to realize her dream.」
「Nonono, I’m sure that Kotone-dono will be delighted too.」
Gannet replied with an extremely delighted smile.
I was glad that I cooperated with him, was what I thought before something about his previous remark caught my attention.
「… Eh? Wait a minute, both work? Shouldn’t it just one?」
「Well, albeit the second one, about the bond between youth… Is a bit crooked, some people like it. I thought it’s an unfinished story but it got really popular among a small part of the female staff in 《Mithril’s Cane》, they told me that a short one should get published too. So I decided to let it circulate in the market too.」
The moment I heard that, I covered my face with both of my hands.
Reason being I knew that even if Kotone enjoyed that kind of work, it didn’t equal her wanting to publish it.
I mean, doujinshi aside, manga didn’t even exist in this world before Kotone published her’s.
「I-Is that one aren’t supposed to be published?」
「… If I had to say, it isn’t the kind of thing that should be published.」
That moment, I heard loud footsteps from afar.
I was left dumbfounded when I turned around and saw the person who made such loud footsteps.
Reason being the other party was someone whose features I was already familiar with, glossy black hair, slender built, and the peculiar metal gauntlet.
Yup, it was Kotone.
But, her face was flushed red and she lost all her usual aloofness, and most of all, she was on the verge of crying.
「You’ve woken up, Kotone-san!」
Naturally, I was moved to tears too.
To be honest, I almost gave up on the chance of Kotone being able to wake up again.
Kotone glared at Gannet, pulling her arms covered in gauntlets.
Colour drained from my face the moment I saw her making such a gesture.
If an S-rank adventurer like Kotone punched Gannet for real, the latter would die for sure.
I hurriedly rushed in between them and caught Kotone’s wrist.
「C-Calm down Kotone-san! Let’s talk this out! Or could it be that you’re still under the influence of 《Puppet Coffin》…!」
But, Kotone didn’t stop, her other hand moving like a snake and strangling my neck.
「Y-Y-YOU TOO, KANATA! EVEN THOUGH I WENT ALL OUT TO HIDE “THAT”! WHY “THAT” HAVE TO BE RELEASED!? YOU SHOULD KNOW AT GLANCE WHAT IS “THAT” RIGHT!」
I see, she really was pissed off about her manga huh.
I should at least insist on a delay of the release for a few more days.
No, I should stop the release of that BL manga at all cost.
「Sorry, Kotone-san… I’m really sorry about this!」
「N-Nothing will change with your apology! Even though that is the last thing I want to show to everyone! I’LL KILL YOU GUYS AND THEN KILL MYSELF!」
「I’M REALLY SORRY ABOUT THIS, KOTONE-SAN!」
Kotone was crying as she strengthened her grip on my neck.
「P-Please stop, Kotone-dono! P-Please forgive Kanata-dono!」
「Please stop Kotone-san! I’m serious, please release Kanata-san! I-I don’t know what happen but, L-Let’s talk things out!」
Both Gannet and Pomera tried to pull Kotone from me.
It seems both Balot and Garan had also woken up.
It seems that the mage in charge of researching a way to heal them cocked their heads seeing the trio cured from something akin to eternal sleep.
I had no idea how this happened but I’m really glad that Kotone was safe.
… Later on, Kotone’s BL manga was withdrawn from the market. Her other manga, on the other hand, set a new fad in Manarak. As for Kotone, I had no idea whether she was happy with this fact or not.
She ended up shutting herself in her own room for one whole week and refused to go out no matter how much Gannet and I tried to persuade her.
===THE NEW PROJECT:
Journey of The Childhood Friend Who Got Betrayed by Sword Saint
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