This Isn't an E*otic Game?-Chapter 115: Additional Personnel

The Saint’s chamber inside the Magic Tower temple.

The four women were silently watching me.

Iomene looked somewhat angry, Almene appeared cold.

Erpa’s eyes were filled with tears, and Kanya’s face said she had no idea what kind of expression she was supposed to be making.

And me—I had my head bowed like a sinner.

“You were planning to die? You were going to have your soul destroyed?”

Erpa asked after a long silence, her voice still heavy with moisture. I nodded.

Erpa let out a short, disbelieving laugh.

“...So that’s why you kept pushing us away.”

“I’m sorry.”

At my apology, she stepped forward and hugged me tightly without a word.

“I’m the one who should be sorry. I didn’t even understand what you were going through... and just kept pushing our feelings on you. I’m sorry. Truly.”

I gently patted Erpa’s back as she trembled.

Honestly.

Given the things they’d done to me while I was still stuck in my spiral of life-or-death despair... this reaction made sense.

But still. It’s funny.

“You know... when I was in pain... the memories I had with you guys actually helped more than I expected.”

They really did help me.

Given the way I am, I probably never would’ve accepted their feelings through normal means.

And if that had been the case—

If I’d never known what it felt like to share warmth with someone in this world, never lay in a bed and have stupid little conversations—

I don’t think I would’ve made it this far.

“It might’ve started as something forced... but choosing to accept you all—that was still my decision. So you don’t have to cry. Okay?”

At my words, Erpa buried herself deeper into my chest.

I kept patting her back.

Seeing that, Iomene and Almene came over too.

“You did well, Amayel.”

“Just... don’t hide anything from us anymore. Tell us everything.”

“I will. I’m sorry for making you suffer all this time.”

I hugged the two of them as well.

As we stood there, arms around each other—

Kanya, who had been left standing alone, suddenly rose with a tense expression.

“What about me?”

Her quiet question drew everyone’s attention in the room.

“Amayel. What about me?”

Kanya.

Thanks to Belia’s bombshell earlier, all of her feelings had already been laid bare to me.

And honestly, I still hadn’t given her an answer.

I stood up.

“Kanya.”

“You already know how I feel. Lady Belia made sure of that, didn’t she? You know it all. So—what about me, Amayel?”

I looked at her in silence.

So many thoughts were spinning in my head.

The coming war.

Asmodeus.

Hell.

And the Evil God.

Hell hadn’t even deployed Lucifer directly yet, and the Evil God still had many cards hidden up his sleeve—Belia had said as much.

There was no way those two would sit back and let me retrieve and ascend the two remaining divine Thrones.

Thinking that way—it made sense to push her away.

Just like I’d pushed away Iomene, Almene, and Erpa.

Kanya should be pushed away too.

Because if something really did happen to me...

Even if I didn’t want that kind of ending, if Lupiel’s prophecy did come true—

I didn’t want Kanya to be the one left in pain.

“Kanya. I’ll be honest. I’ve never thought of you as a woman.”

Her face froze at my words.

“There’s something I didn’t mention back in the banquet hall. Lupiel once gave me a secret prophecy. I think you all deserve to hear it.”

Since there was no more reason ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ to hide it, I slowly spoke the unforgettable prophecy Lupiel had once shared with me.

“My fate is to die at the hands of those who love me. I asked Lady Belia. I asked the Pantheon too—to help me avoid that fate. But if—if there’s even the slightest chance it comes true...”

I still had no idea how or why the ones I love would end up killing me.

But whatever the reason—

Even if I’d be the one to die and disappear, the ones left behind—the women I love—what would they do, left with that kind of memory?

“I don’t want you to experience that. I—”

I had only just said that much—

When Iomene, Almene, and Erpa all suddenly stood up.

“Then what about you? Amayel—what about you?”

“You push everyone away, take all the burdens onto yourself, suffer through it alone—and then what? Break apart in the end?”

“And what are we supposed to do? Just stand there and watch?”

The three of them weren’t holding back anymore.

“The future isn’t set in stone! And what if you just misinterpreted the prophecy, Amayel?”

“It could mean you’ll live a long and happy life with us and die of old age while having sex!”

“Yeah! It could be death-by-sex!”

“Prophecies change depending on how you interpret them! And even if the worst-case version does come true—if all the gods of the Pantheon band together, what can’t we do? We might even be able to save you!”

At their words, I had no choice but to lower my head.

“But what if it is true? What if a moment comes when you have to kill me with your own hands? I might not love you—if I were still able to say that. But now... you’ve all become too precious to me. The thought of you having to live on, carrying a memory like that—!”

“We won’t let that happen. Ever.”

Erpa declared, her voice like she was coughing up blood.

“No matter what, we won’t let you die. We’ll never let it come to the point where we have to kill you. Even if I have to sacrifice my own soul—I won’t let that future happen.”

“We feel the same, Amayel.”

“We won’t just stand by and watch that happen. Never.”

Then Kanya added her voice to theirs.

“Please. Lean on us too, Amayel. How long are you going to carry everything by yourself? If we’re together, we might think of solutions that didn’t even exist before. Believing in hope is the only way we can survive. If you keep living like the prophecy is all there is—without hope... you’ll break. You’ll absolutely break.”

Kanya stepped forward and firmly took my hand.

“Let’s face it together. I’m not weak. Whatever enemy comes your way—I can hold my own. I’ll make sure you don’t collapse. Let’s prove that the prophecy—and the god of the future—were wrong.”

Kanya forced a smile.

This girl—younger than me, and who had suffered through things far worse than I had—was trying her best to comfort me.

And somehow, that comfort actually reached me.

I lowered my head.

“I just want you to be happy, Kanya. You’ve been through too much pain and suffering. You spent your whole life as one of the Demon Lord of Sloth’s collectibles—tortured endlessly. Even if it’s not me, I’m sure there’s a man out there who could love you. But if you stay with me, danger is guaranteed. A peaceful, quiet life might never come.”

“It has to be you. Always. This is my choice. I’ll never live with another man. You might reject me—that’s your right. But if you do, then I’ll just stay single and live with my sword.”

“You’re really okay with me? You won’t regret it?”

“Never.”

At Kanya’s firm reply, I turned my head.

Erpa, Iomene, and Almene were watching me with bitter smiles.

“...I want to make Kanya happy. Is it okay if I do?”

I said it with an apologetic expression, and the three women let out a sigh.

“We were the ones who forced things in the beginning anyway. Our whole relationship with you started off half-forced. If Amayel brings in someone else, we don’t really have the right to stop it.”

That was Erpa.

“I was saved by you, Amayel. So who am I to say another woman, saved just the same, isn’t allowed to love you?”

That was Almene.

Iomene didn’t say anything at first—she just walked over and gently hugged Kanya.

“I went through a time when my life was nothing but pain, cursed by the Evil God. Kanya’s just like me. I... I want her to be happy too, Amayel.”

The three women had given their blessing.

Somehow, things had turned out like this again.

After giving their consent, Erpa, Iomene, and Almene quietly stepped aside and gently patted my back, telling me to go to Kanya.

I approached her.

“We might not even get the time for a proper wedding.”

“When everything quiets down, we can do it then.”

“I might end up hurting you again. A lot.”

“I can handle it.”

“You’re such an idiot.”

At my words, Kanya carefully opened her arms.

I pulled her into an embrace.

“Says the guy hugging me.”

She gently took my face in both hands and pulled me toward her.

I didn’t resist.

The height difference wasn’t much—Kanya simply stood on her toes.

It was a shy, clumsy first kiss.

“I love you, Amayel.”

Her trembling voice filled the air.

This time, I cupped her cheek and kissed her back.

“I’ll make you happy, Kanya. I’ll do everything I can so you’ll never have to be sad again.”

I said it with everything I had.

Kanya buried her face in my chest and gave a small nod.

I stroked her hair, then looked over at Iomene, Almene, and Erpa.

“Take good care of Kanya for me. She doesn’t know much yet, so she’s going to need all three of you. She’s never even had a proper meal before.”

At those words, the complicated looks on the three women’s faces shifted.

“...She’s never had a proper meal?”

“I explained it briefly during the banquet. She spent her entire life as one of the Demon Lord of Sloth’s belongings. She’s never had real food. While we were climbing the Rock Mountains, I’d describe all the food I’d eaten in the past to her.”

At my words, Kanya lowered her head in embarrassment—but even that small gesture seemed to break the other three’s hearts.

“It is mealtime, now that you mention it. Should we all go out for dinner together?”

“Kanya, what kind of food do you like? Say anything. There’s no restaurant in the capital we can’t get into.”

“We’ll get you any dessert you want too.”

The four women quickly bonded into one unit.

“I’ll come too—”

“Stay here, Amayel. Tonight, we just want girl time.”

“Yeah. Just for tonight, let us have this.”

It was a firm rejection.

I could only nod and step back.

“Amayel.”

Kanya, tucked between Iomene, Almene, and Erpa as they were leaving the room, glanced back at me.

She gave a soft, beaming smile.

“Thank you.”

I waved back at her.

“Have fun. Girls' nights out can be a lot of fun.”

The women left the room.

They were just talking about how they couldn’t live without me a moment ago, and now they were kicking me out.

It stung a little.

But still... I figured it was important they had some time to themselves, too.

****

That evening.

“Kanya.”

“Yeah?”

“Did you have fun?”

“I did.”

“You ate a lot of snacks and good food?”

“Mm-hmm. Next time, you come with us.”

“Sure. You went shopping too, right?”

“Yeah.”

“What’d you buy?”

“Lingerie.” frёewebnoѵēl.com

“...Sorry, what?”

“They bought it for me to use tonight. You’re my deal of the day, Amayel.”

“...”

“I’ll show you.”

Kanya’s eyes gleamed in a strangely glistening way as she began undressing.

Only then did I finally understand—

Why they insisted on going out without me.