Maria, I brought your medi—
Maria!
Are you all right?!
M-My chest...
The curse... It's gotten this strong already.
Someone, please... save Maria.
#05 "The Future of This Harem"
Let the Harem Pride Event commence!
Hurry up and start!
We'll judge you!
We'll beat you to a pulp!
Wh-What's going on?
While the crowd insults you and yells defamatory remarks at you,
they rate your harem.
As you can see, it's pretty messed up.
Talk about bad taste...
It'll be okay. I believe in these girls.
There's nothing to be afra—
Get out here already!
I'll yell at you!
Where are the uggos?!
I'll curse you!
There's nothing to be afraid of... I think.
All right, let's get yelling at these normies to vent some stress.
Entry number one! Let's have the harem step forth!
I'm Mira! I work at a restaurant!
Smoochies!
Wh-What's going on?
Barf...
I'm gonna barf! Horf!
Come on! Do something about that oinker of a nose!
God, you're ugly!
You should get reincarnated again in another world!
At least you've got pretty hair! But the rest of you sucks!
You'd make any meal taste gross!
True, that kiss she blew earlier would be equivalent to littering.
Right?!
You're absolutely right!
Th-This may be harder than I thought...
That's so mean...
Hey! That's enough, you jerks! This is why you can't even get girlfri—
We don't want any!
If we had to walk around with that uggo there...
...we'd be better off walking an actual bitch.
Leave, uggo! Leave, uggo!
N-No one could possibly survive this...
One moment!
They don't get to leave until I score them.
And now for the scores...
Out of 1,000...
Thirty!
Twenty-six!
Five!
Bringing the total to 61 out of 3,000!
This place is harsher than any dungeon...
Now I wanna go home!
Emma...
Feel free to leave at any time.
Noir can still count on me.
I-I'm not going home! I can handle insults like that!
Good job, Lola. She got Emma back in the game instantly.
Disappear! Disappear! Disappear! Disappear!
After that, the rest of the teams had to face a storm of insults.
Yikes!
That last uggo was way better!
The more rounds that passed, the harsher the crowd got.
The insults just kept digging deeper.
God, my eyes are rotting!
You never looked in a mirror before?
Who let you out in public?
And then, team number 9 flipped it all around...
Th-That's...
What is it?
That's an adventurer team from our rival guild, Lahmu.
Huh... They've got some hotties on another level.
Oh, Noir.
Now's not the time to be admiring them.
Yeah, because we need to beat them.
A total of... 2,700 points.
Huh... They actually do score hot girls high.
What can we do?
Let's hold off until the next ones.
The crowd's frustration is building.
What should we do? If these girls...
end up humiliated like that...
W-Wait! I can't lose confidence here!
And now, let's have the final team come forth!
C-Crap... I'll need to tease Emma's weak spot.
Emma, let's take it easy. Don't worry.
I've got your back.
Noir...
Well, come out here and show your stuff!
Okay!
Right, let's do this!
Yeah! She's got a spring in her step!
She's got some springs in a few other places, too...
I-I'm Emma! I just started at the Hero Academy!
I, uh... I'm still really new at this, so I might not be much help,
but I can at least hear out your problems.
S-So feel free to talk to me anytime!
...plode.
Huh?
Explode!
If I could bury my face in her boobs, all my troubles would vanish!
And she's an elite from the Hero Academy?
She has a nice personality, too! Awesome!
Th-Thank goodness.
I'm Luna. I'm an adventurer and a cleric.
If you're ever sick or wounded, let me know.
I have a healing bullet with your name on it.
I-It's Lady Luna!
She has a boyfriend?
Please heal my wounded heart!
I'm Lola!
I'm a receptionist at the adventurer guild Odin.
To all of you future adventurers out there,
we'll be waiting for you at our guild!
Sh-She pointed at me!
Don't be stupid! She pointed at me!
I'll do it! I'll sign a contract with you to be your adventurer boy!
And now for the results...
Wh-What? A total of 2,925 points!
The highest score in our history?!
We...
We did it!
We won, Noir!
Yeah!
No, not yet.
It's only just begun.
Correct!
Don't get too excited yet!
We're still... just getting started!
You can only win this event if you manage to satisfy everyone in this venue!
What?! That's not fair!
Silence! Those are the rules!
Now the harem members will be presented with a scenario
and have to show their love for their master!
There are three scenarios.
1. It's a cold night, and your master is shivering. What do you do?
2. What do you do when your master catches a cold?
3. Prove that you are the best harem ever.
Th-Those are really detailed.
Can we have time to hold a meeting?
Very well. You get thirty seconds.
So what are we going to do?
We need some fresh reactions, so we should keep these secret from Noir.
Okay!
Whisper, whisper, whisper...
What?! We're doing something that bold?!
Our first scenario!
It's a cold night, and your master is shivering. What do you do?
Go!
W-Wow. It's cold. I think I might die.
Oh, are you cold?
You'll be okay now.
We'll warm you right up!
Ah, it's like they're trying to calm a child...
But what's this?!
They're rubbing their bodies against his to produce heat?!
C-Crap...
If they did that to me on a cold night...
I'd die for a completely different reason...
Th-Th-Th-That's enough! Next scenario!
What do you do when your master catches a cold?
You'll have to use a prop this time!
You're always working so hard.
You need to rest when you have a cold.
Open wide, Noir.
She's blowing on it! Even though it's cold bread?!
Even if it's not hot at all?!
Sh-She's doing it so naturally!
Does that mean she's always feeding him freshly baked bread?
Th-This isn't like any cold I've had before... What's with them?
M-My wife and daughter used to also...
Next scenario!
It's your last chance to show how powerful your harem is!
Prove that you are the best harem ever!
This is suddenly pretty vague.
What are the girls going to...
Huh?
Ready, and...
My eyes! My eyes are sweating!
Please stop! I'm getting flashbacks of my wife and daughter!
Don't remind me of a past that I can never get back!
Here's your reward!
We'll just say you won! Now get out of my sight!
We did it!
We did.
Yeah.
So we actually got the one million rels!
Since I got to feel like I'm actually in a harem, plus the fact that we won...
Noir Stardia
I've done everything I can.
That was scary...
The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter.
This must be it.
What a gorgeous mansion.
Well, she is a duke's daughter.
Amane...
Noir? What are you doing here?
Sorry.
I ended up having a peek at Miss Maria's stats with my skill.
What? Then...
Yes. I know about the curse. That's why we're here.
Miss Maria still has time.
She hasn't turned sixteen yet.
I knew ever since I was little...
that it was my fate to die before ever becoming an adult.
The one who cast the curse was a sorcerer who was defeated by my ancestor.
The curse didn't afflict everyone in my family. Just me.
Maria...
Maria! Wake up!
Why was God so cruel to me?
No matter how much I struggled, I couldn't escape this curse.
In that case...
In that case, I wanted to live my life proudly
as a duke's daughter until the very last moment.
That's why I decided to go to the Hero Academy.
And that's when I met...
Pardon me.
I've brought guests.
Amane, who is this?
It's an honor to meet you. My name is Noir Stardia.
I apologize for just showing up at this hour.
I'd like to talk to you about Miss Maria.
Y-You're...
I apologize for last time.
Could it be... that you've come to lift my daughter's curse?
Yes.
But... you said that it was impossible to lift this curse.
Well, it's not exactly impossible to lift it.
I did have a reason for declining your request, though.
And what might that be?
You see, I can lift curses, but at the cost of taking part of my lifespan.
But that would mean...
When the curse was weak, I was usually fine.
But the curse that plagues Miss Maria is very powerful.
Even though my elven blood allows me to live longer than humans,
that still wouldn't be enough.
I see... So that's why...
We couldn't possibly ask you to do that.
No, it's all right.
I used my skill so she'd lose her finances instead of her lifespan.
And we've raised more than enough money to make up for it.
So you don't need to worry anymore.
Leave this to us.
You're just as Maria expected.
Huh?
She figured you had some kind of special power.
You've managed to pique Maria's curiosity ever since entering the Hero Academy.
You were skilled enough to defeat such a powerful monster.
So she knew that I defeated it?
Yes.
Perhaps it's because she was always ill from her curse,
but she is skilled at reading others' emotions.
Noir?
Miss Maria, we've come to save you.
Wh-Why would you...
Why? Did you forget?
When we first met in class, you accepted me with open arms.
And even during battle training, even though I'm the son of a baronet...
You didn't even hesitate to talk to me.
You're the only one who acknowledged me.
You have no idea how happy that made me.
I could never thank you enough...
Noir...
So today, I wanted to repay you for your kindness and lift this curse...
Noir! What's wrong?
Oh, sorry.
I ended up using quite a bit of LP to do something about this curse...
LP?
Oh, uh... Basically, my life force.
Your life force?!
You went so far as to do that for me?
Oh, but as long as I satisfy my hunger or desire for material things...
o-or my lus... I mean, if I get to interact with a charming lady...
Huh?
M-Miss Maria?
O God, you truly are cruel.
Giving me the pleasure of living through a curse of death...
Oh, my.
Um... Do you feel a little better now?
Y-Yes! Of course!
Ahem.
I will now lift the curse. Close your eyes.
O-Okay.
Don't worry! I'll be right here.
All right, here we go.
Miss Maria, you can do this!
Damn you! How dare you resist? J-Just...
Miss Maria?
Noir, I...
How do you feel?
The pain in my chest is gone!
One moment!
m 0 0 l 0 -10 l 37 -10 b 39 -10 40 -9 40 -7 l 40 7 b 40 9 39 10 37 10 l -37 10 b -39 10 -40 9 -40 7 l -40 -7 b -40 -9 -39 -10 -37 -10 l 0 -10
Maria Fianna Albert Lv.30
16 years Skills: [One-Handed Swordsmanship (Grade B)] [Charge] [Heal]
I was able to confirm with my skill.
The Sixteenth Year Death Curse is gone.
Thank goodness.
Maria!
Amane.
We did it.
Yeah. Now no one has to suffer.
Th-Thank you so much. Truly...
No, please allow me to thank you.
I finally feel at ease, now that I've lifted your curse.
Noir.
I could never thank you enough.
I will spend the rest of my life repaying this debt to you.
R-Really, there's no need...
All of my yesterdays managed to open up the door to Miss Maria's once-closed future.
I guess it feels really nice being able to help someone out.
Miss Maria totally fell for him.
Now we have another rival.
She's fallen for Noir's charms, all right.
Actually, I sort of did, too...
Noir, you doofus! You manwhore!
What? What's going on?
I actually aggressively agree with Emma just this once.
Indeed.
And so, we were able to successfully lift the curse.
Yeah, and it's all thanks to the skills I gave you.
Thanks for everything, ma'am.
Uh, what's with that? Talk about distant.
We literally butted our heads together.
Did we?
But man, Noir, you smell!
I smell girls all over you more than ever!
Well, that's probably because...
We kissed a lot.
Say what?!
O-Of course, it was to gain LP.
I don't care about the reason.
In that case, give me a kiss, too.
Huh?!
Kiss me.
I'm the only one who hasn't gotten one. It's not fair!
W-Well, about that... I'm usually the one getting kisses,
so I'm not actually used to giving them myself...
Well, I obviously can't do it. My body won't move.
W-Well, yes, you've got a point...
So go on. Kiss me, Noir.
Pfft. You call that a kiss?
Boo!
Th-This is all I can manage!
Next time, I'll need a real kiss that can actually satisfy me!
Make sure you get plenty of practice with others!
Alice Theater
Alice Theater!
Oh, Brother Dearest. Where could you possibly be this late at night?
Your well-adjusted little sister is so worried that she can't sleep...
I sense something!
Three...
No, four.
Big Brother... I am very worried about you.
Next time, "The Tulip Lion."
#06 "The Tulip Lion"
Illustration: Korie Riko