I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 709

Following the waiter’s confession, the surroundings descended further into chaos.

“What?! He likes her because she eats well?”

“Some people are just destined, I guess. Getting a confession for a reason like that!”

“Hey! I eat well too! Confess to me!”

The people at the gathering shouted, and the rumor of the public confession spread like wildfire.

To not miss this once-in-a-lifetime spectacle, heroes and soldiers from the front lines rushed over in droves.

“Popcorn’s here! Watch the show while munching on popcorn!”

The cafeteria owner quickly started selling freshly popped popcorn and beer at the entrance.

“So!”

“What’s going to happen!”

“Miss Evangeline! Give us a fiery answer!”

Everyone munched on popcorn, their eyes sparkling as they watched to see how this would play out.

“Uuuuh…”

The waiter, seemingly regretting his impulsive confession and sensing rejection, trembled, covering his flushed face with both hands.

And just as Evangeline, having internally decided on her rejection, took a breath,

“Don’t be ridiculous!”

Ash and Lucas burst into the cafeteria.

Ash, panting heavily from the rush, pointed at the waiter.

“To give my city’s next lord to some nobody… no, my SSR tank [Super Super Rare, a term used in gacha games to denote a very powerful character]… no, my little sister… no, is there no appropriate way to put this?!”

After a moment of thought, Ash roared, pointing.

“Anyway, do you think I’d give up my gluttonous subordinate?!”

“Senior, what do you even think of me…”

Evangeline chuckled, then her eyes met Lucas’s.

The face of that brazen knight, who had nonchalantly entered the cafeteria, taken a bag of popcorn from the owner, and was now stuffing his face with it.

“…”

Why was it?

The moment Evangeline saw Lucas’s carefree face, she felt a surge of irritation.

So, she changed the answer she was about to give.

“Waiter.”

“Y-yes…”

To the waiter, who looked like he was awaiting a death sentence and was even tearing up, Evangeline gave her answer.

“Actually, I don’t know you at all, and you don’t know me very well either, right?”

“Yes… that’s right… I’m sorry. I was completely impulsive…”

“So, how about we take some time to get to know each other?”

“…Huh?”

The surprised waiter looked up with wide eyes. Everyone gasped and stared at Evangeline.

Evangeline spoke once more.

“After we get to know each other a bit… we can decide whether to accept the confession, whether to date, or even just be friends… How does that sound?”

Evangeline smiled sweetly.

The stunned waiter couldn’t answer, but instead, the surrounding heroes and soldiers let out a mix of screams and shouts that were impossible to understand.

In the middle of the cafeteria, which had instantly turned into chaos, Evangeline glanced at Lucas.

“…”

Lucas, still with a blank expression, just kept munching on his popcorn.

Even more annoyed, Evangeline slightly bit her lip with her canine teeth and smirked.

And in the middle of this chaotic uproar-

“This is tampering! It’s invalid, invalid!”

Ash, who had collapsed on the floor, was still yelling like a baseball team manager.

“How could I have raised such an SSR! Ugh! Just kill me and take her, you bastard!”

***

After I forcibly disbanded the chaotic dinner party (?), we, the main party of five, naturally returned to the lord’s mansion and gathered in the drawing room.

“Hey, Evangeline!”

I pointed at Evangeline, who was puffing out her cheeks in front of me.

“If a stranger offers to buy you something and asks you to follow them, you should refuse! Why are you even considering it?! Did I teach you that?!”

“When did you ever teach me that…?”

Evangeline, looking dumbfounded, let out a sigh and scratched her chin, making a ‘hmm’ sound.

“But it was the first time someone confessed they liked me. Wouldn’t it be okay to talk a bit more?”

“W-what? Hey! It was practically the first time you met! And they just approached you out of the blue! That’s a new kind of multi-level marketing scam! They’re all trying to trick you!”

Even with my desperate persuasion, Evangeline just snorted.

“Oh, come on, Senior! Are you jealous because I’m becoming popular?”

“W-what did you say?”

“At the end of my blossoming teens! The time has finally come for my youth to bloom! Don’t be jealous, and please support me!”

Oh, no. Evangeline is already intoxicated with the idea of herself as a ‘popular person who received a confession.’

Look at her, making that annoying face… look at that arrogant expression and how high her nose has gotten… there’s no turning back now…!

“This isn’t the image we wanted!”

As I despaired, clutching my head, Evangeline smiled, running her finger under her nose.

“And I’ll be careful with dating. You don’t have to worry too much.”

“R-really? You’ll be careful? You won’t fall for any multi-level marketing scams?”

“I won’t, I won’t. I’ll be an adult soon. I can handle my own dating problems.”

I paused, startled. What?

“Adult? You?”

“Yes. My birthday is coming up soon, so I’ll be nineteen, you know?”

My mouth fell open.

‘Come to think of it, that’s right! She was sixteen at the beginning of the first year…’

Now it’s the end of the third year.

When her birthday comes… Evangeline will be nineteen years old. A legal adult!

Stupid words escaped my lips.

“This doesn’t make sense, this is impossible in all of Joseon [A historical Korean kingdom, implying something is unbelievable or absurd].”

I always thought she was a sixteen-year-old kid.

But she’s grown so much, she’s almost an adult now!

“Hehehe, in just a little while, I’ll be qualified to sit in the Margrave’s seat!”

Evangeline, with her arms crossed arrogantly, let out a mischievous laugh.

“Now that I’m an adult, I’ll date as I please, spend money as I please, and change the interior of this mansion to be covered in flowers and frills! And I’ll have about three husbands!”

“That’s insane!”

Faced with an unbearable future, I screamed and frantically looked around, then unfairly lashed out at Lucas, who was standing behind me.

“Why do you look so calm, Lucas!”

“Huh?”

I pointed at Lucas, who was standing there expressionlessly.

“Aren’t you worried that your little sister is being all giddy after getting confessed to by a stranger?! Can’t you stop her?!”

“Little sister…?”

Then Lucas scoffed.

“Evangeline? My little sister? That’s impossible.”

“You heartless bastard!”

“My mind is only filled with loyalty to my lord.”

“This chivalrous and loyal pretty boy!”

Evangeline, who was too eager to enjoy her youth, was a problem, but that tall knight behind me was also seriously problematic in a different way.

“Come to think of it, why are you so uninterested in dating? I get that you’re not interested in other people’s dating lives, but at least care about your own!”

More specifically, pay attention to Hecate! She’s liked you since the academy! She’s not doing well, so do something about it, you legend of obliviousness!

Then Lucas lowered his eyes slightly.

“I think my dating problems… can be considered later. There are more important things than my personal happiness right now.”

Hey, hey, if you keep putting it off saying ‘studying is important now, the contest is important, getting a job is important,’ you’ll end up a virgin forever like those old hermits in that other world!

‘Cough! Why am I the one hurting when I’m saying it?’

Anyway, since the topic came up, I was about to urge Lucas about Hecate’s situation when.

“Excuse me for the late hour, Your Highness.”

With a knock, a woman with short beige hair entered the drawing room.

“I came to tell you something… but.”

Speak of the devil.

It was Hecate.

Quick glances were exchanged among the people gathered in the drawing room. Lucas’s indifferent gaze, Junior’s bewildered gaze, and Evangeline’s complicated gaze each clashed with Hecate’s gaze before scattering.

“…?”

Unable to follow this subtle change in the air, I just blinked, and Damian next to me was just smiling kindly.

What is this atmosphere! Someone explain! Was I the oblivious one all along?!

“…Excuse me. Everyone was gathered here.”

Hecate, after a light nod, came in front of me, stood at attention, and immediately got to the point.

“Your Highness. I… and all of the Glory Knights, are planning to leave Crossroads.”

I was horrified.

“What? Why!”

“The Glory Knights, having lost their combat capabilities, are no longer of any help to Crossroads. No, it seems we are having a negative impact just by being here.”

I saw Junior’s shoulders tremble.

Without even glancing in his direction, Hecate nodded.

“The people needed on this front are those who can contribute to the great battles being fought here. We, the Glory Knights, are no longer that. Therefore, we request to be discharged.”

“…”

“We await your permission, Your Highness. Then.”

Hecate simply said what she had to say, bowed to me, and then turned around and left.

“Hey, what do…”

As I turned around in a panic,

“…”

“…”

“…”

Lucas, Junior, and Evangeline… all three were lost in thought in a strangely subdued atmosphere.

I held my breath and whispered to Damian next to me.

“Why is the atmosphere like this? Everyone’s acting weird today?”

Then Damian smiled brightly and whispered back.

“Well, they’re all young!”

“…”

No, you’re just as young… why are you smiling like an old man who’s lived a whole life and seen his grandchildren?…

I rubbed my temples, feeling a headache coming on, and nudged Damian’s side with my elbow.

“Hey, Damian. What about you? Don’t you have any fun dating stories?”

“Hehe. My memories with Ban are precious to me. I’m not going to worry about dating for a while.”

Then Damian looked towards the temple with a distant gaze.

“And right now… there’s a precious being I need to protect.”

“Huh, who?!”

A precious being to protect?! Who is it?!

“Our Podong. He’s almost three years old, so his body has become very weak. He needs care.”

“Ah, that…”

Well, hamsters’ lifespans are about 2-3 years on average, so you do need to take good care of him…

Anyway, I let out a small sigh, observing the complex and subtle atmosphere.

“Sigh, well, they say people who are meant to date will do so even in the middle of a war, and the old saying is never wrong.”

“…”

Then everyone at the table stared blankly at me.

I broke out in a cold sweat. What? Why are you looking at me like that? Huh?

‘W-well, of course, I’m also… kind of… in a dating mood with Serenade, but…!’

Ahem! Anyway, the monster front is not a matchmaking place! Of course, if you want to date, marry, or raise kids, I’m ready to give you my full support!

I groaned, observing the tangled threads of everyone’s hearts.

‘Love has struck on the monster front…’

I have no idea how it will end, as someone who has inherited the title of a forever-alone, old hermit, but.

Still, I hope you’ll be happy in the end, everyone.

I sincerely wished.