I Will Not Fall For the Villain’s Flirtations - Chapter 63

Does he think he can escape like that spy if he was caught? What is he relying on?

I found it absurd, but no one seemed to question the unidentified priest’s words. Perhaps it was because he was wearing priestly robes.

Even Mullion, who was from the Magic Tower, hadn’t noticed anything yet. He remained distant during the priests’ chatter but finally spoke up when Rancho said, “Well, with that kind of personality, he would definitely cheat.”

“That’s a pointless assumption. That guy isn’t interested in women at all.”

“Oh, really?”

If he’s not interested in women, then maybe…

Suddenly, I remembered the incredibly handsome young man I had seen at the Magic Tower. The man who had effortlessly subdued Jayton despite the significant size difference. He was also said to be a sexual minority.

There seem to be many gays in that place. Even the Magic Tower Master is gay.

I mumbled to myself in amazement, but Keene, who somehow heard it, immediately corrected me.

“Absolutely not.”

For some reason, his tone was oddly emphatic.

“Absolutely.”

“……”

Judging by how strongly he denied it, the Tower Master must have often been seen playing around with women, causing jealousy.

Seeing me remain silent, Keene sighed, frustrated.

“It’s true. I once thought he might be asexual.”

“…Asexual? Really?”

I was inwardly impressed, thinking that someone so unique must have an unusual sexual orientation.

“But now I don’t think that’s the case either. If I had to categorize, maybe he’s pansexual.”

“Pansexual?”

Instead of answering, he suddenly fixed his gaze on me. His purple eyes sparkled through his half-lowered eyelids, reflecting my face. The familiar silhouette curved into a crescent shape.

“It seems like he would find anyone cute, not just women.”

His smile was sweet, almost as if he were trying to seduce me.

Having regained his composure like a well-fed lion, he gently brushed my hair aside as he spoke. His slow, oddly lingering touch reached my skin.

His fingers spent more time on my face than on my hair, tracing shapes on my skin, as if he was drawing on it. The sentences I was trying to grasp in my mind scattered before they could fully form.

Though it was his usual behavior, for some reason, his soft smile and unusually gentle voice today stirred strange feelings in me…

“Ha! Absolutely not.”

At that moment, Mullion, perhaps having heard something from Rancho, snorted loudly and denied it. The distant thoughts in my mind snapped back into focus.

“With that nasty temper of his, do you think his gender matters? He deserves to live and die alone!”

“……”

I couldn’t hear properly while whispering with Keene, but it seemed like Rancho asked if the Magic Tower Master’s preference was for the same sex.

Even while discussing simple sexual orientations, his clear disdain piqued my curiosity. What on earth happened at the Magic Tower that made him despise the Tower Master so much?

At that moment, Keene muttered as if it were a pity.

“That’s strange. I thought he did quite well.”

“Were you, um, acquaintances when you were at work?”

Even though he whispered softly, I felt uncomfortable mentioning the word ‘tower,’ so I rephrased my question. Keene nodded in response.

“Yes. I didn’t expect to come to the Holy Kingdom, though.”

Indeed, it’s surprising that someone who exudes such a priestly aura was once in the Magic Tower.

Unfortunately, the conversation about the Magic Tower Master ended there. Peidos, who had been silent for a while, ordered the resumption of work.

“That’s enough chit-chat. Focus back on the puzzle. Ali!”

“Yes!”

The atmosphere, which had been somewhat relaxed, suddenly became tense. The knight, who responded loudly to her superior’s call, moved sharply as if she had never been sitting slouched next to Pine. When she touched the softly glowing blue stone on the wall, the letters on the wall began to light up one by one again.

I also let out a shallow sigh and focused on the puzzle. Right, what does the Magic Tower Master matter now? If we can’t solve this, all our efforts will be in vain.

“Let’s see, the letters…”

Ten letters out of twelve months. And four seasons. A total of fourteen characters.

“It’s not letters but numbers…”

Even if that was the answer, it was still a mystery. If those characters were numbers, what were we supposed to do with them?

Was it some kind of code? But the characters that lit up kept changing with each cycle. There was no noticeable pattern.

“This isn’t it either.”

I watched Peidos, who was eliminating hypotheses one by one through the process of elimination. Despite someone occasionally presenting a convincing idea, the barrier of the ancient language made it difficult for many to come up with ideas in the first place.

As the hypotheses in the list ran out, a tedious silence fell again. Nizaz, who had no superiors to watch out for, was blatantly lying down and sleeping.

Would we all starve to death here without being able to get out? I let out a deep sigh, thinking pessimistic thoughts.

Rumble.

Small pieces of stone fell from the ceiling, and suddenly the walls started shaking.

“Did it open?”

Nizaz, who had been lying down and sleeping, woke up sensing the vibration. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the door to the relic that was moving.

“Whoa!”

A priest was pushed forward by the moving wall and screamed. Looking at where he had been standing, the passage we had entered was now blocked by a newly formed wall.

But the worst was yet to come.

“What is that…?”

The other walls also started thickening, almost like cell division. The area of the cave was gradually shrinking.

The priests’ faces turned pale as they watched the rapidly narrowing space. Amidst the chaos, one thing was clear: if this continued, everyone would be crushed to death before starving.

Sensing the danger, Peidos urgently commanded.

“Break through the wall! We need to create an escape route!”

But this damned ruin was not easy to deal with.

“The new formation speed is too fast! We need to hurry and open the door!”

The priests used their strength to break the wall, but it was futile. The broken parts quickly regenerated with limestone. Peidos gritted his teeth as he watched.

He roughly pressed the blue stone on the puzzle-engraved wall, seemingly trying to solve the riddle somehow.

The letters, or rather numbers, lit up one by one as before, but in a different sequence this time.

Numbers. Numbers. What can be done with numbers? If it’s not a code…

“An equation?”

It was as if a light bulb went off in my head, and a possibility suddenly came to mind. Keene, who grabbed my arm in a hurry, spoke urgently.

“Du, even if it means damaging the relic, we need to get out. We can’t hold on for long.”

“Wait a moment.”

The way to input the answer was to press the stone when the letters’ light went out and the blue stone blinked, then infuse holy power into the desired character little by little. Each time this was done, the character glowed faintly blue.

Glowing letters. They reminded me of something from my previous life.

Just like an electronic device.

“A calculator. It’s a calculator.”

“Du?”

“I said it’s a calculator!”

Of course, strictly speaking, it wasn’t a calculator. We had to derive the result ourselves. But the way to touch the characters was similar to pressing buttons on a calculator. In other words, if we input the result of an equation, the door to the relic might open.

“A calculator?”

“Yes. Not mechanical. Electronic!”

Of course, Keene couldn’t understand what I was saying. There were no calculators with electronic circuits here.

Generally, calculations were done manually or using mechanical devices with gears and cylinders. In the temple, most calculations were done manually because even creating a simple adding and subtracting calculator required a very complex structure.

“Forget what I said. It’s an equation. We need to solve an equation.”

“An equation?”

“The four seasons probably represent addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. For example, autumn is the season of sharing, so it would be division…”

Then what about the other three? As I anxiously continued my thoughts, Keene suddenly interjected.

“Spring, where something is created from nothing, would be addition. Summer, when greenery is abundant, would be multiplication.”

“That’s right! Then winter, when many lives return to death, would be…”

As soon as I lifted my gaze, I met his glittering violet eyes. Gaining confidence from the faint smile on his lips, I nodded in response and immediately ran to the wall.

“Sir Peidos, I’ve solved the puzzle!”

“Duna?”

Taking advantage of his surprise, I pressed the blue stone hard. I stored in my mind which characters lit up one by one.

But.

“How am I supposed to mentally calculate twenty-five thousand eight hundred sixty-one plus forty-seven times one thousand five hundred ninety-six divided by seventy-six minus two hundred nineteen…”

Moreover, in arithmetic, you have to do multiplication and division first. In fact, I felt like I had already forgotten the numbers I had memorized.

The cave felt hot as my companions gathered closely. Just as I despaired at the rapidly increasing limestone, someone tall stood beside me.

Soon, a low voice echoed.

“Press it, Du.”

“…What?”

He pressed the blinking stone firmly in my stead. Then he began to call out the numbers one by one.

Two, six, six, two, nine. As I infused holy power into the characters representing each number according to his voice…

Click.

With the sound of the lock disengaging, the door opened.