Chapter 49 : Still not Enough

Sheryl’s world had collapsed.
Schiller had disappeared from the secret room.

“Gone, gone!”

Sheryl repeatedly rubbed her eyes, but the scene before her remained unchanged.

The empty iron bed was desolate, with only a few lonely dust motes drifting upon it.

“Schiller! Where are you?”

“…”

Dead silence.

Sheryl immediately activated her magic detection, but the basement, filled with the scent of both of them, made her head spin. She steadied herself with the bed frame and took a deep breath.

“Schiller’s scent.”

The scent was too strong, making it impossible for her to determine where he had left from.

The entire basement was empty. Like an ant on a hot pan, she turned the entire basement upside down, but found no trace of Schiller.

The girl herself was not good at thinking. She couldn’t have imagined that this seemingly impregnable secret room might have a clever hidden mechanism.

Thinking of this, Sheryl grew angry. The unventable frustration turned into an out-of-control torrent of magic that smashed into the surroundings:

“Why!”

“Honestly! Why did you run away!”

“Was I not good enough (in bed)?!”

At this point, she began to reflect on whether she had—not completely drained his magical power, thus giving him a chance to escape.

She had thought he couldn’t use any decent magic, but he was hiding his skills.

“Is it not enough to just take off his clothes and restrict his freedom?”

‘Then what should I do? Cut off his legs, and make him…’

‘No, let’s not do that.’

She sat on the edge of the bed in a huff, her gaze accidentally falling on the book that had fallen to the floor. It was a book she had been reading frequently recently.

Under Schiller’s guidance, she had begun to learn to read, and this was part of her learning process.

Perhaps it was fate, or perhaps it was divine intervention, but she opened the book, and on that page, was Schiller’s handwriting.

“The way of Yuri lies within.”

Beside it, he had drawn a rose.

“Young lady, your punishment is that you are not allowed to actively seek me out.” The handwriting on it was indeed Schiller’s.

“Hmph!!” The girl slammed the book on the ground, then carefully picked it up and gently caressed the words.

She couldn’t even control herself from putting her nose to the words, just to gently search for his scent. This sight must not be seen by him!

Otherwise, he would surely think she was a cheap and strange woman.

‘How annoying! If I don’t see Schiller for a day, don’t hear his voice, don’t feel his presence, I get so angry I want to… destroy something.’

Perhaps she was already hopelessly ill, but how could that be her fault?

Alright, even if she had one percent of the blame for forcing Schiller, Schiller was also at fault.

The girl murmured, biting her lip, whispering to that invisible “punishment,” her voice laced with a twisted accusation and obsession: “Aren’t you the one who made me like this?”

However, the girl’s heart could not be calmed for a long time between conflict and contradiction. On the one hand, there was the urgent need for Schiller, and on the other hand, Schiller’s command made it difficult for her to continue searching.

Moreover, she was really afraid of “being disliked.” If she was really disliked by Schiller, then everything would be over.

‘I want to chase! But I can’t!’

The girl was like a small dog on a leash, frantically wanting to move forward but firmly pinned in place.

“Honestly, honestly!” The girl silently cleaned up the battlefield and sulked in her bedroom.

Under her lay Schiller’s clothes, the only thing that could give her comfort at this moment. The girl, while fantasizing about sweet dreams, fell into a deep sleep.

“Lil, did you know?” Schiller lay on the bed, his internal alarms blaring at full volume, aimed at Ophelia.

And the target was rustling and leaning against his back, as if declaring her territorial rights there.

“What?” Her voice was a little low, probably already a little sleepy.

“There’s an anime that’s all about girls camping. It’s really good.”

“Heh heh… what’s so good about girls camping? Schiller, you’re so funny.”

‘Hey, apologize to me, who’s joking?’

“But, camping, we’re camping right now.” She raised her hand and made a tent-pitching gesture.

“It’s just that this man is a bit unreliable.” She giggled, teasing Schiller playfully.

‘Oh my, Miss Opheliel, is that really okay? I’m the best at telling midnight stories.’

“It is said that on a moonless night…”

“Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa idiot!!!!!!!!” Ophelia rolled over and buried her head in Schiller’s chest, her hair trembling cutely.

After a minute, she lifted her face and looked at Schiller pitifully.

‘Heh heh, I won’t let you off so easily.’

Seeing Ophelia like this also aroused a little bit of sadism in Schiller.

“It was a story about a swamp man…”

“Waaaaaaaaaaah, what are you doing!!! Idiot idiot idiot idiot!!!! Pervert pervert pervert pervert!!! Schiller Schiller Schiller!!!”

‘Hey, that last one was a personal attack.’

This time, the girl buried her head even more forcefully in his chest, refusing to come out no matter how Schiller called her. Schiller felt he had gone a bit too far.

He gently patted the girl’s hair and calmed her down in a soothing tone.

“It’s okay… it’s okay, there are no ghosts here.”

“Re-really?” The girl peeked out slightly, her face even had a hint of tears. It seemed she was genuinely scared.

‘No way, the setting of Ophelia being afraid of ghosts, even in the game, didn’t exist!’

But, according to her overpowered blessings, even a real ghost would have a hard time getting close to her.

“Really, look.” Schiller gently let go of her. The girl trembled slightly at first, then relaxed when she realized there were really no ghosts.

“Honestly! Idiot Schiller…” she complained, patting Schiller’s chest, then gently lay on him. “Don’t scare me again!”

“Oh… oh…”

“Th-that…”

“Although I just said that, I’m not angry at you…”

“So, so I…”

“That, that… that…”

The girl suddenly became shy. She blushed and didn’t know how to speak, but the considerate Schiller had already seen through her intentions!

“Going to the bathroom? I’ll go with you!”

“I-idiot! Why did you have to say it out loud! Idiot Schiller!”

That night, Schiller was subjected to the octopus punishment.