Chapter 331: Beautiful Fantasy
"Kidnapping me is useless. When my grandmother saw my resignation letter, she locked me in the Fantasy Institution out of anger."
"Is that so?"
The music teacher was already attached to the world of Fantasy.
Therefore, she didn't run away and instead walked calmly with me.
Kidnapping her was like threatening a ghost with murder.
▷ Irritation: Junior! If she can't get back to me, lock her up so no one else can touch her. Send me my seven captured wives through the android in the shelter. This will conclude our agreement.
'Let me take my time, Fugitive Senior.'
The MAX-Class Hero had already given him Teacher Morals as a prepayment.
And by this time, I had already collected all seven teachers:
Math Teacher, Home Economics Teacher, Swimming Teacher, Chemistry Teacher, Gardening Teacher, Acting Teacher, and the Academic Affairs Department Head.
If we also included Music Teacher, then I had captured a total of eight of them. However, there was one small problem.
"Music Teacher."
"Call me Ssidiel."
"Okay, CD."
"I didn't allow you to give me any nicknames. But since I am older and I sing better than you, I will make an exception."
"Well…"
"Oops! My husband wanted me to pass something onto you. He said he lured all the teachers following grandma here so he can call an emergency meeting and put forward his candidacy for the vice-principal position without their interference in the voting process. Hehe! My husband is building a career!"
"Anything else?"
"Please don't hand the teachers over to the 'vile dictaphone.' Everyone except Bianca got married again and even have children now. To win the other teachers over to your side, you should never separate them from their families, got it? And I, who sings so well, shouldn't be touched either. After all, my husband is going to become the vice-principal!"
"…"
I wanted to hit this chicken, but I needed to talk to Fugitive Senior first.
Our agreement ran counter to Bakery's plans.
'You heard her, didn't you?'
▷ Confident: I don't care about their new marriages and children. And if you think so, aren't my children, whom they gave birth to earlier, more important? Don't forget our agreement, junior.
In exchange for handing over the teachers to him, he would provide us with new students.
Bakery's plan to get the teachers on our side was good.
But if there were no students in the school, the teachers would have no one to teach, making it difficult to justify our situation to the inspection team.
If the problem with our enrollees weren't resolved, I wouldn't be able to terminate the agreement with the Fugitive Senior.
At that moment, CD spoke up again.
"I work in the town hall, so I don't know much, but my husband said that many students would be admitted soon."
"… What do you mean?"
"I am not particularly interested in anything other than music and my husband, so I don't know the details. But a friend of mine at school, a health teacher, sometimes shares gossip."
I knew her.
She was the woman who gave me a lucky ring to be worn on my 21st finger.
▷ Suggestion: Junior! Don't listen to her nonsense and lock her up right now! If you do it, I'll double the number of new students!
'Haha! I need to listen to the opinions of all parties, Fugitive Senior.'
I inquired about her delirium.
"Speak, CD."
"I didn't even sing, but my throat still dried up. Let's go to a cafe."
"…"
"Kh?! What did I do wrong… Kh-kh! Why are you choking me?! Do you have any idea how important my throat is to me, a singer— Kkh?! Sorry! I was wrong!"
"You should start learning how to sing with your cervical vertebrae."
"I-I got it already! We won't go to an expensive cafe. We'll just go home— Kh?!"
"You don't sound like you understand!" I thought I figured out why her senior was scolding her.
Ssosia immediately intervened. "Do you see now how smart and useful of a wife I am, hubby?"
"This chicken is just weird."
"She's not weird. From my observations, Ssidiel is the most normal of all the women in Fantasy."
"… Ssosia."
"Hmm?"
"You're jealous again, aren't you?"
"What?!"
Why couldn't they grasp it?
Whenever I walked through the streets of City X, its female locals couldn't look away.
That was the standard here.
Hence, Ssosia and CD were the weird ones.
'What do you think of this, noble First Spirit? Do you agree with your cowardly niece, who keeps making up her own fantasies?'
"Your behavior is unbecoming of you, my niece!"
"Even you, auntie?!"
"Objectively speaking, the Savage Hero is handsome. And I am well versed in this because I am the noble First Spirit of the universe!"
"What kind of logic is that?!"
"This is terrible!"
"Tskl! Let's go home soon!"
Arriving on the outskirts of City X, Ssosia waved her wand towards the wasteland.
In a matter of seconds, a stone building was erected.
It was a three-story building that was twice the size of the town hall, the largest building in City X.
In other words, it was as excessive and vain as could be.
"That last remark was unnecessary!"
"Don't read my mind."
"I just don't want you to think about other women… Ah."
"… Ssosia?"
"Don't say anything unless you want to be bitten by Mollan."
"Mollan? Mollan!"
"How cowardly! Using Master Mollan is like activating a cheat code!"
"Whatever! Leave me alone!"
With a flushed face, my cowardly wife stomped her way into our house.
Freeing herself from my grip, CD laughed. "You get along well~♪"
"Shut up."
"Let's go inside quickly. My throat's dry. If left alone, it'll start to hurt, and if it hurts, then I won't be able to talk. That's why I don't only sing well but also play musical instruments perfectly."
"Oh…"
I rubbed my temples with my fingertips to relieve my headache.
▷ Warning: You will regret this.
'Wow! Fugitive Senior is amazing!'
He was the first person to warn me twice.
I entered the house after Ssosia and CD.
It was time to hear their plan to attract new students.
***
Before anything, I needed to learn more about the Fantasy Institution.
And by that, I didn't just mean financially.
Resources, technologies, personnel.
"There are only two resources that are especially valuable in the universe. The cold metal Solonium, born in a world full of solitude. And the warm metal Romantium, born in a world full of love."
The rest of the resources weren't that important.
Gold, silver, mithril, helium, ertel, hakontetrium, specialum, orichalcum, adamantium, lactotherium, galborn, hikhirokane, draconium, faeril, mercury, senehagaris, stadia, vibranium…
There were asteroids out there that were larger than the moon and were completely made of gold.
If only humanity could travel through space, then the prices of most metals considered rare and precious would plummet in price.
"Let's get straight to the point, CD."
"First things first. Fantasy isn't famous for its technology and personnel, but for its production of Romantium."
"Oh…"
I wanted to hear about how they planned on getting new students.
But CD kept talking about the resources of the universe instead.
"That brings me to the most important part of this conversation."
"Hmm?"
"Fantasy is full of love and friendship, thanks to which it is able to produce large quantities of Romantium. Now, a question for the student! Have you ever heard of low fertility, divorce, abortion, and an aging population here?"
"Didn't you get divorced?"
"My case with the 'vile dictaphone' is an exception!"
"… Then no."
But that still wasn't what I wanted to hear.
"I'm getting to it! Don't look at me like that."
"…"
"Students, traveling through the world of Fantasy, fall in love with companions and give birth to new life. That's why the institution prefers male heroes more. If female heroes become pregnant, they would be forced to suspend their journey for at least a year."
"And?"
I thought I already got the gist of what CD wanted to say.
But I kept my silence.
I wanted to confirm it through her.
"Where will the child born of a local Fantasy inhabitant and the hero go once the hero regresses, thus causing the world to restart?"
"I heard that they're stored somewhere."
Supervisor Bakery once told me that.
"That's correct. Suppose a student graduates from secondary or tertiary education. That would allow them to take their children as their reward. However, most students actually stop at the primary education course, leaving their children to remain in the system forever."
"… And it'll now be possible to awaken and enroll them in Fantasy as new students?"
"Exactly."
I closed my eyes and thought about it.
Problems such as parental consent or the humane side of the issue surfaced in my head, but the image of my son Chris, who was now studying at the Duke's academy, popped into my mind as well.
Ssosia interjected.
"I have a question, Ssidiel. Why hadn't the second generation of heroes been accepted as students up to this point?"
"Because they didn't know how useful they would be."
"Hmm…"
"But they couldn't just continue to collect them, so they began to release them little by little. They were born in the world of Fantasy, so they didn't begin their journey by being summoned. Rather, they were rebirthed into their classrooms, just like your husband."
"… why didn't I start by being summoned?"
I had always been curious about it.
Luke returned to Earth after graduation and died there. Whenever he regressed, however, he began not with rebirth but by being normally summoned.
Unlike him, I appeared in the womb of the princess of a ruined state.
What was the difference between us?
"Demon Lord Pedonar."
"Father-in-law?"
"The fault is ours, but it's more than just a mistake. The Demon Lord already registered you as his heir then."
"Oh! Damn!"
"But you should be grateful. If it weren't for the Demon Lord, you probably wouldn't have been summoned properly like the others, causing your soul to simply disappear. Having set a trap to kill the Demon Lord, the "vile dictaphone" definitely was the one who almost got you erased from existence."
"…"
'It's time to put an end to our old grievances, Fugitive Senior.'
▷ Consent: You're right, junior. It was just a misunderstanding, a mistake of your colleague who mistook you for the Demon Lord. There shouldn't be any hard feelings between us.
"Follow me, Ssosia."
"Where?"
"The most handsome husband to ever exist in the world of Fantasy wants to take a walk with you on the moon."
"A walk?"
"If you don't want to, then suit yourself."
"I didn't say I didn't want to. You should stop making things up."
My cowardly little wife wrapped her hands around me and pressed herself against me.
"You two get along well after all~♪"
"You're coming with us."
"I do not want to. I get to see this place every day, so I'm already tired of it."
"Suit yourself."
"I will never sing for rude men like you! According to basic and common etiquette, if a lady refuses you once, you should ask her again three times. Bianca taught you poorly… Hey! Wait for me!"
▷ Explanation: The younger generation they speak of will prove themselves to be useless. After all, they're the illegitimate children of foolish FFF-Class heroes who refused to kill the Demon Lord and created a family instead. Accepting them as students will just be a waste of time… Junior, are you listening to me?
I left Ssosia's house, which was filled with vanity.
After walking a little, I looked up and saw Fantasy amid the dark sky, covered in thick white clouds.
It was beautiful after all…
Now I understood why scientists on Earth dreamed so much about traveling through space.
"It would be selfish of me to admire such a beautiful landscape alone."
Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!
I pulled the beautifully packaged teachers out of the Demon Vault.
Math Teacher, Home Economics Teacher, Swimming Teacher, Chemistry Teacher, Gardening Teacher, Acting Teacher, and the Academic Affairs Department Head.
Their arms and legs were tied, but due to the absence of gravity, they floated safely.
"S-space?!"
"Where are we?!"
"Wait! Let's discuss everything…"
"… Sorry."
"Untie me… Ah?!"
"Help me! Please! I was wrong!"
"Disciple Kang Han Soo…"
They seemed to have a lot they wanted to tell me, but I'd rather they spent their time admiring this beautiful view.
[Human]
It would soon disappear, after all.
I aimed my hand towards the teachers who were hovering between Fantasy and me.
"Adios~♪"
Flash!
The MAX-Class Righteous Hero had destroyed the evil teachers!
I showed mercy, so they disappeared without suffering.
I left the rest to Ssosia.
"Aaaaaaaahhhhh! Stop destroying the planet! You can't just do whatever you want because you're handsome!"