Chapter 150: ’Good Day!’

"(?_?) I thought we’d never see each other again—or at least not so soon."

"Ah! And do you think I wanted this? I’m really going to lose my mind! What were the odds?!"(??)

"If you’re going to talk about it, be clear—what odds are you talking about?..."

"Everything! Aaah! How the hell did this happen? Did you guys make out with some god of luck or fate or something!... That’s it, I quit! I can’t deal with you guys, you damn uncontrollable troublemakers. It’s not worth the pay if I go crazy first."(??)

"...Specifically, what’s the problem right now?"

There I was, facing a masked Iris who was complaining and didn’t sound like herself at all—and that was obvious because it wasn’t Iris; it was Mirror, whose farewell last time made it seem like we wouldn’t be seeing each other anytime soon.

"Problem? That’s an understatement, damn it! ah! Hey!, you! Don’t open that! Hey, stop your crazy wife! Don’t let her open that book or everything’s going to go to hell!" (Mirror)

Mirror said that while pointing at Iris, who was trying to open an unknown book—and possibly the reason Mirror had appeared.

I didn’t know what it was all about, but since even this possibly transcendental being seemed scared, I stepped in and tried to stop her.

Now, how we ended up like this—even I don’t understand it yet.

****Some Time Ago****

"Hmm... This really complicates things."

It had been more than three days since Olivia had left, and in that time, no customers had come in.

I get it—Azalea and Rose are busy, and I’ve personally prevented Amarillys from coming back—but it was unusual for the girls from the academy not to show up...

After all, before we parted ways, I’d already heard that the triplets would be back that very day, and Lys too.

In fact, that very day I thought it was strange, but I quickly concluded it was due to the terrorist attack.

In fact, when the Doppelganger went out to explore, he realized there were no civilians on the streets.

I thought it was a curfew as a safety measure because of what had just happened, but after three days, it’s already strange.

But I was able to figure out exactly what was going on without putting the Doppelganger at risk again.

And it was Amarillys. Obviously, this incident didn’t go unnoticed, and the news reached other kingdoms—and it reached Amarillys even faster because I told her myself.

And as expected, she contacted her daughters, and they told her everything that had happened from their perspective and what was currently going on at the academy.

And apparently, after that incident, all the students were barred from leaving the academy grounds, which was why they hadn’t returned.

That was one of my possible theories, so I wasn’t entirely surprised.

But there was something else I hadn’t expected: once this week was over and the semester ended, the academy forced all the students to return to their hometowns, and they weren’t allowed to do anything else.

I know this because during our conversation, Akane complained that this was preventing her from getting more massages.

That led to a conversation where Amarillys recommended me to Akane. She, just like last time, was skeptical of me, and the problem was that now it wasn’t just Akane on the call.

Momoka was also on the call, and it seemed like she didn’t know I existed; she was even more forceful, threatening me and all that.

Anyway, aside from that, they said that students could return as usual next semester, when they assured us everything would be back to normal.

That means I probably won’t see them again for over a month, unless, of course, they find the Sanctuary of Serenity when they return to their respective hometowns, which is even more worrisome, since that would force me to offer some explanations.

It might not happen, but I’ll think of a plan just in case it does. You always have to be prepared.

..

I was at the front desk waiting for any clients. Aside from the regulars, it’s been a while since we’ve had a new one.

The second mission for Cadenas de Letargo requires three people, and the time limit is two months.

Technically, there are already plenty of people around us, but you never know how long it would take to do it, and the more clients there are, the better the chances—since there might be cases like Amarillys’ that get resolved quickly.

Azalea, last time, because of the whole situation with Silvia and Amarillys, I couldn’t focus as much as I wanted to, and by the time she left, only the Emotional and Carnal aspects had been fulfilled and the necessary steps taken.

Only the Rational aspect was on the edge, which meant there’s one final step in that regard that needs to be addressed—something that’s really holding her back from moving forward.

Next time, I’ll figure out what it is, and I’ll definitely make sure to apply the stigma.

Rose is also someone who’s far along in that regard, but she must be too busy to come back. Still, I think we’ll be able to implant the Stigma in her in less than two months.

There’s only one more left, but none of them are far enough along to be certain, and I might not be able to see them in a month... which is more than half the time remaining, which i...

Plack, plack, plack.

I heard the sound of quick footsteps running across the wood floor, interrupting my train of thought—and it could be none other than my reincarnation of the goddess of chaos, Iris.

Bang!

She jumped down again, straight from the second floor. She seemed excited about something, which I don’t consider a very good sign.

I braced myself for the worst.

"Honey, I can feel it—it’s now or never."

"￣へ￣, are you talking about something sex-related?"

"Huh? No, honey, it’s something else—something bigger. I’ve been thinking about it, and we need to use everything we can to pull off something huge."

"?_?, what have you been thinking? I’m warning you now—if it’s something criminal or morally wrong, I’ll refuse."

The fact that she’s even thinking about it is the worst-case scenario, and if it has nothing to do with sex, eight times out of ten it’s something illegal.

"Oh, come on, honey, when have I ever done anything criminal? I’ve never been to prison. Oh, actually! Do you remember when we were allies of justice?"

"You haven’t been to prison because my mother-in-law and I have always managed to avoid it—sometimes by a hair’s breadth—and... (?_?), something like that never happened."

Iris really isn’t easy to handle, to the point that I remember how my mother-in-law, not long after our wedding, ’just in case,’ taught me how to dispose of a body.

I don’t know why she knew that or with what intention she taught me that, since, after finishing her lesson, she told me:

["My dear Astan, if it’s you, I’ll understand and won’t ask any questions even if my daughter simply disappears one day—just make sure, as I taught you, not to leave any evidence."]

That day I decided not to think too deeply about what that meant.

"Honey, don’t play dumb. Remember that I ordered the bat knight of the night and his sidekick costumes online."

Damn it, she just had to bring up that annoying moment.

"If you want to buy the cosplay set that’s in the store, I refuse!"

"Huh? Are there costumes of them in stores? Oh! I didn’t know that, honey—buy them!"

"...No!"

Ugh! I think I just dug myself into a hole there without meaning to.

I really don’t know what she was getting at now, but I definitely didn’t want to wear that Robin costume again—which wasn’t even the modern Robin, but the one from the early versions, which basically meant running around in my underwear.

I’ll never forget the feeling of wearing that on a cold night.

"Come on, let’s do it—and not to fight injustice. That turned out to be boring. I want us to have fun with them. I want to do it while you’re in costume. You know, you looked sexy."

"￣へ￣... Hmmm, well, if I don’t have to go out on the street in that, I don’t think I’ll... Wait! You’re going to buy the Batgirl one, right?"

"No, I want to be the bat knight of the night again."

"Why do you say it like that? Why don’t you just say ’Batm-’?"

"Shhh!, don’t say it—you know, there’s copyright stuff... Ah! Right, and to make it even more realistic, I want you to use the playing card diamond feature."

"No way!"

"Huh? Why, honey? This idea was coming together and it sounded great. It’ll be an interesting new experience."

"No! For starters, it’s a little weird that you want to do this as Bat-."

"The bat knight of the night and his sidekick."

"?_?, yeah, those two—that’s still okay. But what you want me to do with my cards is a resounding no."

"Think about it a little more. If you let me do this, later I’ll let you dress me up as your favorite adult film actress."

"...I don’t have anything like that (?_?)."

"You’re lying, honey. You considered it for a moment, and I know you definitely have one. And she’s... mngemenegh..."

"Wait! Ugh, first of all, is this what you wanted to tell me in the first place?"

She knew more than I thought, and I didn’t want to continue this conversation, so I covered her mouth.

Luckily, my words seemed to remind her that she had originally come to talk to me about something else, and when I realized she was going to bring up the subject again, I took her hand away from her mouth.

"Oh, right! Honey, right now, I don’t know why, but I feel really lucky. I want you to let me roll for 500 Myrr instead of 50 today. And I want to use one lucky card, not both. I can smell luck. Today is going to be a really good day!q(≧▽≦q)"