Chapter 528 – #111_Intimacy Work (2)
#528
1.
There are various leisure facilities in Akula.
A movie room where you can watch black and white foreign films without subtitles.
An arcade with game machines that are two or three times older than Siwoo at a glance.
Even a bathroom with a sauna that only R’lyeh has ever boasted about entering.
Among them, the place R’lyeh and Siwoo found was the arcade.
“How is it? The power of the Nukelavi Kingdom to use cutting-edge science and technology for mere games.”
“Amazing!”
“Mwahahaha!”
The game that the ever-confident R’lyeh chose was pinball.
Surprisingly, it was not a video game format, but a format that combined analog and digital, like pachinko.
Pressing the left and right buttons moves the lever, preventing the ball from falling down, and each time the shot ball hits various flippers, additional points are earned.
Occasionally, if you enter an event area, the position of the ball changes randomly and is fired, but anyway, if the ball falls between the bars, it’s death….
It was a familiar pinball machine.
In fact, there were many ambiguous parts to call it cutting-edge science and technology….
But R’lyeh’s common sense was mostly stuck around the Cold War, so I just accepted it.
Perhaps it was because she spent her apprenticeship as a witch during that time and traveled outside.
“You should try it first.”
“Okay.”
-Pyorong pyorong
The game started with crude sounds and flashing lights.
As I was catching the falling balls with a click-clack sound, one question came to mind.
“Your Majesty.”
“What is it?”
“Come to think of it, isn’t it strange that I’m a man?”
“What do you mean?”
Come to think of it, even after seeing the existence of a male witch, R’lyeh never once asked for an experiment or even asked to see magic.
Even in Gehenna, there was such a commotion.
“I am a man and I bear a mark, but I asked because you don’t seem to mind.”
“……”
For some reason, R’lyeh hesitated a lot.
But as if her own appearance was not befitting her dignity, she quietly replied.
“Aren’t you also a test subject of a witch?”
“…Yes?”
“If you are a subject of human experimentation, you must have your own scars. I am not a bad ruler to dig into that.”
It seems she misunderstood me as a human modified like a crew member.
Strictly speaking, I feel like I’m a test subject of Duke Keter, but there wasn’t really any trauma in the process of becoming a witch.
“And I am too busy acquiring the legacy left by my teacher. I don’t have the energy to pay attention to other things.”
R’lyeh, who changed the subject, as if she was uncomfortable.
This was a bit touching.
She is self-centered and selfish, but she has a side that is considerate of others in unexpected ways.
This point might be similar to the twins.
“Focus on the game. Have you forgotten? You are in a bet with me.”
“I understand.”
In the first place, Siwoo has superhuman reflexes.
Even while talking, he continued the game without missing a single ball, easily hitting them.
“Oops.”
The problem is that no matter how superhuman your abilities are, due to the nature of pinball, there are times when the ball falls into an unavoidable place.
Still, isn’t this a pretty high score?
“Not bad for a first try. Step aside.”
But seeing R’lyeh standing in front of the game machine without paying any attention, my confidence dwindled a bit.
“Look, at my skills.”
-Ping!
The game started with a ball shot from the lower right.
R’lyeh carefully watched the trajectory of the steel ball running around.
The moment she hit the ball with very delicate control.
“It is my victory.”
R’lyeh crossed her arms as if she was sure of her victory.
There are flippers on the pinball machine.
It’s a gimmick that bounces the ball back when it hits it once.
It gives a high score, but it is the biggest variable maker in pinball that can lead to a game over because it bounces the ball randomly.
But it was different in front of R’lyeh.
“If you send the ball to a certain area at a certain timing, you can score forever without a game over.”
-Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting!
As R’lyeh said, the steel ball was just bouncing between the three flippers and showed no sign of falling.
Of course, the score rose at a terrifying speed and quickly surpassed Siwoo’s record.
“I have named this technique ‘The Devil’s Triangle Zone.’ How is it?”
“A…amazing….”
It’s a kind of bug-like play, but putting the ball into that area at the right timing is a technique close to acrobatics.
Besides that, there were video games like Pac-Man and submarine shooting, and R’lyeh cleared them all with almost miraculous skills.
That’s because she is a high-level player who has played each of them thousands of times inside this submarine where there is nothing else to do.
“It is a skill that has been honed for a long time. How is it?”
“You are amazing!”
After about two hours of R’lyeh’s gala show.
R’lyeh, whose face was flushed with how hard she had worked, wiped a drop of sweat from her forehead with a refreshing look and revealed her white teeth.
I deeply sympathize.
It was the first time she had ever shown off a game she had been playing alone so diligently.
And since she was receiving admiring exclamations one by one, R’lyeh’s dimples were the deepest I had ever seen.
“I am sometimes afraid of my own genius skills.”
2.
After stopping by the restaurant and getting ice cream from the ice cream machine, the second place we headed to was a malt bar with a pool table and dart board.
“Wait here. I’ll go change into clothes that are good for playing.”
R’lyeh said a word and disappeared somewhere.
Siwoo leaned against the bar table and sipped Titanic whiskey.
No matter how big the submarine is, if you spend a week there, it’s the same place.
I was secretly impressed by R’lyeh, who had endured 10 years alone in such a confined space.
“Hup…!”
When R’lyeh returned, Siwoo spat out about half of the whiskey he had in his mouth.
This is because Her Majesty R’lyeh was wearing a clinging, seductive outfit.
A black skirt and stockings that accentuated her slender waist and hip line, and high heels that were scary to think her ankles might break.
The shirt that tightened her upper body, surrounded by a white shirt, like a corset, looked like a hunting outfit for women at first glance, and also like a dealer walking around a casino.
Anyway, it was the best.
My gaze involuntarily lingered on the black bra lace and cleavage that peeked out from the shirt.
Come to think of it, R’lyeh’s outfits had always been either flowing dresses or slightly loose-fitting uniforms.
I had been focusing on her personality and actions rather than the presence of her chest, which was lifting up her clothes, and I had roughly estimated that she was about the same size as the twins.
But unexpectedly, she had a mature figure, almost comparable to the teacher’s size.
While Siwoo was paying attention to where to look, R’lyeh, holding a cue stick, walked to the pool table, chalking it with a skillful hand.
“My pocket billiards skills are also the best in the world. Do you know how to play?”
“Yes, I’ve played a little when I was in college.”
In Korea, 3-cushion and 4-cushion billiards are the mainstream, but pocket billiards are popular worldwide, especially in North America.
I couldn’t say I was good at it, but I knew the rules.
“Good. I’ll take the break shot.”
R’lyeh, with her slender figure, leaned her upper body on the table and gently pushed the ball.
The balls, which had been neatly stacked in a triangular shape, scattered in all directions, and a natural conversation began between the two.
“You said college. Do you know much about the current world?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Hmm…. Tell me about the current world.”
It was the first time R’lyeh had started asking Siwoo questions about this and that.
“What would you like me to start with?”
“Start with the most powerful country. It can be used as a stepping stone for me to conquer the world in the future.”
Whenever this kind of topic comes up, it would be nice if I could dismiss it as R’lyeh’s absurd delusion….
But I can’t.
Even Bianca, who was one rank lower than her, would have been able to conquer the world alone if there were no other witches.
How can you deal with a witch who shoots merciless attacks that cannot be intercepted from hundreds or thousands of kilometers away, and even outruns hypersonic missiles with simple flight?
The gap between ranks widens sharply as the level of mastery increases.
I couldn’t imagine what would happen if a 23rd-rank witch who properly inherited all the magnetic magic went on a rampage in the current world.
What if R’lyeh starts a ‘war’ now that Duke Keter has gone into hiding?
R’lyeh, who seems innocent now, could become a young tyrant with uncontrollable power in her hands.
“…Just in case. May I ask you one question?”
“I permit it.”
“If you solve the trials, are you really going to start a war?”
“Of course. The blood of a ruler is boiling in my bones.”
“Did the royal teacher also think the same?”
At the sudden serious tone, R’lyeh stopped hitting the ball.
“My teacher was afraid of Duke Keter. She wanted to shake off her ambition, but she couldn’t. What’s wrong with me fulfilling the unfulfilled dream of my predecessor?”
“…Many witches will object.”
“All the riffraff can just be drowned.”
But strictly speaking, the witches of the deep sea are not public enemies, but exiles.
Although the classification of exiles and public enemies is ambiguous, R’lyeh’s remarks were clearly closer to those of a public enemy.
If she puts what she has decided into action, the result will be obvious.
She will cause fatal damage to the current world, and the witches at the location points will not stand idly by and will come looking for her.
As R’lyeh had assured, witches of a mediocre great witch level would not be able to cause damage, but if the situation became serious, the teacher would eventually come.
Even though my relationship with R’lyeh is short, I didn’t want to see her die or get hurt, so I couldn’t just stand by.
“Even Your Majesty will have a hard time dealing with all the witches who will come to subjugate you. And you will be immediately designated as a public enemy.”
“How dare you!”
R’lyeh slammed the cue stick down and shouted fiercely.
“How dare you question my divine authority and grand plan!”
“War is something that kills innocent people. I don’t want you to die or get hurt either.”
“How dare you….”
Just as R’lyeh was getting angry.
This time, a green lamp, not a red one, started to flash.
It seems something has happened.
R’lyeh, who was snorting and suppressing her anger, said in a sharp voice.
“I will postpone your punishment for speaking such nonsense. Stay in your room and reflect.”
R’lyeh stomped out of the malt bar.
