Conquest Complete, So Why Is the Affection Dropping? - Chapter 37
‘Wow.’
Though the description was a bit intimidating, I could tell at a glance that it was a special item. Even without any other explanation, the fact that it was a ‘bound item that cannot be traded’ already said everything. It’s a description that would never be attached to common items.
I couldn’t understand why this young child had such an item, though.
“You’re giving this to me? Thank you so much.”
I shook the key to show my gratitude and gently patted the child’s head.
“Ah, oh.”
The child flinched, perhaps sensing the warm divine power from my palm, then opened their mouth slightly and closed their eyes contentedly.
Blessing Lv.2
Shin Joo’s unique ability. Bestows blessings through divine grace.
While the skill description only mentions bestowing blessings and nothing else, making it seem like a useless skill that just fills space, they never give the protagonist skills without meaning.
Even if this game’s genre is a romance simulation rather than an RPG.
When the sparkling light flowing from my fingertips dispersed, Corin’s eyes flew open.
“What… did you do to me?”
“I gave you courage.”
I smiled brightly at the child.
“Next time, you’ll be able to greet people more confidently, Corin.”
“Ah…!”
Corin’s expression brightened. Though I wasn’t sure if the blessing skill actually had the effect of making courage well up, these things are really about willpower anyway.
“Thank you, Shin Joo…!”
Whether it really was a matter of willpower, Corin no longer stuttered. Though their cheeks were still flushed, they weren’t hesitant like before.
Your reputation has increased by 110!
Current reputation: 210
So using abilities on children increases reputation too. While 10 children giving 10 points each would only be 100, I wondered where the bonus came from. As I was looking at the status window thinking this, my eyes met Kaint’s through the window.
[Kaint]’s current affection level: 26
Blessing his sibling had increased his affection by 16 points.
‘As expected, targeting the siblings was the right answer.’
Though it still seemed far from romantic feelings, getting 16 points from one skill use wasn’t bad progress. At this rate, I might be able to hit the limit after four or five more meaningful encounters.
“Shall we play together then?”
“Yes!”
When I extended my hand to Corin, the child’s hand wrapped around mine. Though I expected them to be weak due to their small and delicate frame, Corin’s pulling strength was quite strong, and I had to focus all my attention on keeping my leg muscles tense to avoid losing balance and falling.
***
Now that I knew the strategy, I just had to follow the set path. The next day, I visited Kaint’s siblings again to spend time with the children.
“Should we play with dolls today?”
“Wow!”
“Eh.”
Though the boys showed disinterested reactions, once I gave them each an animal doll, their expressions softened, seemingly pleased with the soft texture.
“Now then, let’s try imitating the sound of the animal you’re holding!”
“Shin Joo, how does a lizard sound?”
“Hmm, maybe like ‘sss sss’?”
“Then what about a goldfish?”
“…Sorry. I’ll get you a different doll.”
Time flew by as we immersed ourselves in role-play, making seagull sounds. Though I felt like I might have lost something important as an adult, I decided to be satisfied seeing the children’s happy faces.
***
The next day when I visited the children, Ken, the eldest sibling, made a suggestion.
“Shin Joo, let’s play hide and seek today!”
“Alright. But no hiding in dangerous places, okay?”
After counting, I ran around looking for the hidden children. While finding them wasn’t difficult since there were only so many places they could hide, chasing after them as they ran away giggling proved quite challenging as their feet were surprisingly quick.
***
The next day, the twins Kate and Kiara brought colorful rings and targets for ring toss.
When I divided them into boys’ and girls’ teams, the boys complained it wasn’t fair they couldn’t be on my team. In the end, I had to work as a guest player, switching between both teams like a bat.
After calculating the scores afterward, I realized I wasn’t so much a guest player as I was a handicap. If I had stayed on one team, I would have brought down their average score so much I might have made the children cry.
***
The next day, I danced with the children. I had forgotten all the movements I learned as a child and was flailing around awkwardly when the children started pairing up to dance the waltz.
My partner was Karon, the third child. Though still young and not blood-related to Kaint, so they didn’t look much alike, they must have studied hard to imitate their brother’s mannerisms because the way they kissed my hand and smiled with their eyes was quite something.
***
The next day, I went swimming with the children. I was worried about going to the sea since they were still young, but I was humbled to find they were all better swimmers than me. Maybe I should have learned to swim too.
***
‘God, I’m dying…’
Taking care of one child is hard enough, but after playing with ten children every single day without fail for a week, my body felt like a wet rag.
I collapsed onto the bed and twitched my stiffened arms. It seemed I had developed muscle aches.
My body had been fine even after riding horseback to the outskirts of the Holy City, but now it was like this. It really proved that childcare was indeed the most challenging form of labor.
‘But it was fun. And rewarding.’
I received various gifts from the siblings, including the rare item from Corin. Above all, I liked that when playing with the children, I didn’t need to think about complicated things like conquest strategies – I could just focus on my own enjoyment.
‘So Kaint’s route might be physically demanding, but mentally, it seems to have a healing concept.’
Thanks to that, I’d be able to sleep well tonight. I sprawled out on the bed after finishing my bath.
[Kaint]’s current affection level: 41
Though I often missed our daily greetings while being busy playing with the children, his affection level steadily increased even on days we didn’t meet, perhaps because he was satisfied hearing about me playing with his siblings.
With Hexion, I had slipped up by impatiently crossing lines too quickly, but with Kaint, starting with his siblings and proceeding gradually seemed to prevent any drops in affection level.
If the conquest succeeds this way, even if we turn out to be incompatible like with Hexion, his feelings for me probably won’t cool so quickly.
“…”
Thinking of Hexion made my heart feel unsettled.
He was someone who had been consistently devoted to me even when he had no romantic feelings. They say you only realize what’s precious after losing it. Remembering how Hexion would lecture me with a serious face while still taking careful care of me made a corner of my heart ache.
‘Was I so terrible that not only did his feelings cool, but he came to dislike me?’
I missed Hexion, but I didn’t want to meet him again. More precisely, I couldn’t bring myself to try pursuing him again. I was afraid the same thing would repeat.
If I had to face him again and another system message saying ‘You are disliked’ appeared, I didn’t think I could handle it.
Remembering that time threatened to pull me into gloomy thoughts, so I tried to shake them off by burying my face in the pillow. When that made it hard to breathe, I turned back over to lie straight.
‘I wonder how Hexion is doing.’
Since he’s a knight who serves the Divine Master, is he worried about me, or is he resenting me for leaving the temple?
Or maybe, since he has no interest in the Divine Master anyway, he’s just maintaining his daily routine.
Since I’d been at the Admiral’s mansion from the moment I woke up, I hadn’t heard any news from the temple. But the priests didn’t even like me going to the outskirts of the Holy City, so they wouldn’t approve of me staying at the Admiral’s mansion.
‘They were already wary of the Admiral, I hope they won’t start picking fights openly.’
They even framed Hexion before, didn’t they? There was a possibility they might try to slander Kaint too.
‘Huh?’
Something crossed my mind but disappeared quickly. What was it?
It felt like I’d missed something important.
Even as I concentrated and stared at the ceiling, it was difficult to recall what I’d forgotten. I quickly grew tired, so I just sighed and closed my eyes.
‘Maybe I’ll remember after I sleep.’
Perhaps because my body was truly exhausted, falling asleep wasn’t difficult.
