Chapter 120: There's Still a Master Left
[Performing skill check...]
The two dice fell at the same time.
Eikou's heart was pounding as if it were about to burst out of his chest, his mind screaming countless times, "holy shit!"
Not only had his passive Disaster With Women activated, but it was a critical double check too?!
If both dice came up as great success, just how enchanted would Tomoe Gozen become? Would she even be able to stand? She didn't pee on the spot did she??!
He watched the two dice fall nervously.
"..."
The dice clattered and rolled, then slowly came to a stop.
On the first die, the number that appeared——
[Result: A, failure.]
"..."
The first die failed?
Eikou froze, thinking to himself — could it be that his Disaster With Women skill isn't actually EX-rank?
But that's supposed to be the highest rank — as long as you don't roll a great failure, it's guaranteed to succeed! How could it fail just from getting an A result?
Wait a sec...
Could it be because he stayed up late last night making that bug breeding box, and ended up getting hit with the debuff "Stayed Up Late", which temporarily lowers all skills — including Disaster With Women — by two ranks?
So that's why Disaster With Women EX got temporarily downgraded to Disaster With Women B?!
My god, so staying up late actually has its benefits too?!
In other words...
As long as this debuff remains active, his passive skill Disaster With Women (Married Woman) will no longer be a guaranteed success.
The destructive power it has on married woman Servants will also be drastically reduced!
Excellent! At long last, he's no longer a "sugar baby" cursed by the married-woman-type anymore!
So next, he just needs the second die to fail too — and he'll be safe today, at least for a while, not having to worry about falling victim to yet another woman-related disaster.
"No, even if one succeeds, it's fine. The effects of the two dice will just cancel each other out — it'll be as if nothing happened!"
In other words, Tomoe Gozen might not actually be charmed by him this time.
Thinking that, Eikou was suddenly overjoyed.
Woohoo~
Who would've thought he'd ever see a day like this — one where he could shout loudly, 'pure love banzai!'
The second die slowly came to a stop, revealing its face.
[Result: E, great success!]
"So it still came out as great success?! How's that any different from usual?!"
Thud!
Seeing the result, Eikou stomped the ground in frustration.
Even though his skill rank had dropped, he still couldn't escape this damn curse?!
[First check failed, nothing happens.]
[Second check great success — your catastrophic charm toward women begins to spread, and for any female Servants who had husbands or lovers in history or in the original works, your attractiveness in their eyes increases dramatically.]
[You feel a surge of joy — Wonderful, your 'Married Woman Collection' has gained another member.]
"Joy my ass! Don't you dare modify my emotions! What the hell is 'Married Woman Collection,' you think this is Love Sleeping or Pokémon catching?!"
Eikou sighed inwardly.
Haizz, in the end, everything went back to how it always was...
Even someone as devoted to her husband as Tomoe Gozen couldn't escape the fate of falling at first sight.
"You damn scumbag betraying love (referring to myself), just how far are you going to drag the purity of romance through the mud before you're satisfied...?!"
He cursed himself bitterly in his heart.
"Eikou, what's wrong?"
At that moment, Tomoe Gozen walked up to him and asked,
"You look pale, are you feeling unwell somewhere?"
"...No, my body's fine. Just torment me however you like."
Eikou had completely given up, deciding to resign himself to fate on the spot.
"Ha ha,"
Tomoe Gozen chuckled softly, her expression gentle,
"Eikou, you're truly an unpredictable man, but saying something like that to a married woman is a bit rude, you know? If I hear you say that again, I'll consider it sexual harassment — keep that in mind next time."
"Eh...?"
Eikou looked up at her in confusion.
[You feel that Tomoe Gozen doesn't seem affected by you.]
This female samurai from the Heian period wore a calm expression, her ruby-red eyes staring straight at him, utterly free of any suggestive emotion.
...What's going on? Is it actually safe this time?
No, I can't fall for this trap again... this might just be another one of those married-woman tricks.
She pretends not to be interested on the surface, but in reality, she's already plotting how to devour me whole.
However, when Eikou thought about it carefully, he found that it was impossible.
Tomoe Gozen didn't look like the type of woman who would play petty tricks or scheme behind someone's back.
She must be the straightforward, honest kind of person, incapable of coming up with such a plan.
Could it be that Tomoe Gozen possessed some kind of special constitution that counteracted "Disaster With Women"? Or perhaps her lingering attachment to her late husband was so strong that it allowed her to ignore his effect?
"!"
Eikou looked at her in astonishment.
Could it be that...
Due to the level of "Disaster With Women" being temporarily lowered, plus one failed dice roll, combined with Tomoe Gozen's innate resistance — all these factors together...
Tomoe Gozen... had stubbornly resisted the great success of "Disaster With Women" this time!
My God, this truly is a miracle of the pure-love warriors!
The white-haired girl walked step by step toward Eikou, her beauty exuding the calm grace and tolerance of a Yamato Nadeshiko.
"Eikou, although I don't know what you've been through before..."
Tomoe Gozen spoke calmly,
"But our meeting is also a form of fate. From now on, let's live together harmoniously. A little later, I have a very important question to ask you. When that time comes, please spare me some time to help complete an interview survey, all right?"
That pure, untainted gaze, that natural and serene tone...
At that moment, Eikou was certain that Tomoe Gozen truly wasn't affected by "Disaster With Women."
He suppressed the joy in his heart and pretended to ask seriously: "What kind of survey is it?"
"That matter, I'll tell you when we reach the campsite," Tomoe Gozen replied with a smile.
"I see, but that might be a bit inconvenient later, I still have to go up the mountain with the guys to catch insects..."
Eikou stopped mid-sentence, as if realizing something.
Wait a second, Tomoe Gozen wants to interview me?
In other words, soon I'll be able to have close contact with this beautiful, dignified Heroic Spirit — and I don't even have to worry about triggering any disastrous effects with women?
For the first time in his life, he could enjoy such a pleasant and safe opportunity to be near a beautiful onee-san.
But then, Eikou quickly frowned.
'But, I promised the guys we'd go up the mountain to catch insects.'
He thought to himself,
'——But if I turn down Tomoe Gozen this time, will there ever be another chance?'
Eikou reconsidered, unwilling to let this rare opportunity slip away.
Once he caught up on sleep and removed the debuff from staying up all night, and "Disaster With Women" returned to EX rank, he wouldn't be able to have a normal conversation with onee-sans anymore...
Being able to talk normally with a beautiful onee-san like this right now — this was a miracle that only happened once!
He lifted his head and looked at Tomoe Gozen.
Her long white hair tied into a ponytail, the soft and full curves around her waist, and those gentle eyes brimming with Yamato Nadeshiko grace — all of it radiated boundless allure toward him...
Eikou could only feel his heart pounding wildly.
But still, the guys are waiting for me...
Such a small amount of beauty couldn't possibly...
Eikou looked at the insect box in his hand, then at the boys in the distance, then at the white-haired woman before him, and fell into infinite inner conflict.
As for Tomoe Gozen, perhaps she wasn't very skilled in dealing with men, so when she slightly bent forward, her soft, alluring chest unconsciously became visible, forming a captivating posture that she herself didn't even notice.
Especially those round, plump, elastic breasts right in front of him...
Eikou's face instantly turned bright red.
"Ugh..."
He gritted his teeth and made a difficult decision.
Thud!
Eikou suddenly raised his foot and decisively kicked the box straight into the trash can nearby.
Farewell, I've graduated!
Compared to a beautiful onee-san older than him, childish pastimes like that were nothing.
"Please, Miss Tomoe, you must interview me personally! I don't care how long it takes!" — Eikou said with firm seriousness.
The boys: "Eikou?!"
"Haizz, this isn't the first time he's done something like that." — Gawain and Tristan sighed, "We're used to it."
[You and Tomoe Gozen had a very pleasant and harmonious conversation, and it seems that your "Disaster With Women" didn't cause any strange romantic debt at all.]
[Looks like today will be a peaceful day.]
[But is that really the case?]
[You can't help but feel like there's something you've overlooked...]
...
"What's going on...?"
At the same time, on the other side, Jeanne Alter, who was observing the situation, looked a bit confused,
"That white-haired woman actually managed to resist Eikou's charm, did my eyes deceive me..."
Could it be that Zenobia was the exception, and that truly virtuous married women like Tomoe Gozen wouldn't easily fall?
"Phew..."
For some reason, Jeanne Alter couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Honestly, she'd been worrying for nothing.
So that was all his charm amounted to. If every married woman who saw him fell head over heels, that would be way too ridiculous — no way such an annoying constitution could really exist.
That's great...
If Eikou were constantly surrounded by alluring women like that, it would've been such a hassle for her.
"Haa... haaa..."
Right at that moment, Jeanne Alter suddenly heard the sound of a woman's sweet, rapid breathing beside her.
Jeanne Alter and Marie Alter turned to look.
They saw one of the Twelve Paladins — Bradamante, the beautiful, pure White Wings female knight with an overly developed figure,
Her cheeks were flushed and burning, her fair, pure face completely covered in a rosy blush of embarrassment, and her slender hands nervously pressed against her chest.
Perhaps because of how nervous she was, her ample breasts rose and fell violently with every breath.
It was unmistakably the expression of a maiden in love.
Jeanne Alter stared blankly, following the direction of her gaze...
And to her horror, she realized that the young knight's fiery eyes were secretly fixed on Mochizuki Eikou in the distance!
"...Huh?"
Jeanne Alter was completely dumbfounded.
Crap, Bradamante's fallen for him?!
Why is it you of all people who's fallen, this has absolutely nothing to do with you!!
From this far away, you haven't even exchanged a single word with him, so why are you the one falling in love?!
"Wait, could it be that she's..."
Jeanne Alter froze for a moment, then suddenly remembered — in the original story, Bradamante also had a fiancé named Ruggiero.
However, since Bradamante had almost no interactions with Eikou and usually acted like an innocent, naïve maiden, everyone — including Eikou himself — unconsciously overlooked the fact that she also counted as a married woman.
This was exactly the case of "darkness under the lamp" — there was a hidden wife right beside him, yet Eikou was completely unaware.
And now, Bradamante had already fallen completely under his charm!
Jeanne Alter was utterly speechless.
I knew it — there's no way Eikou's "special attack against married women" would just suddenly stop working...
Turns out it didn't disappear — it just transferred from one target to another!
Perhaps noticing the gazes of Jeanne Alter and the others, Bradamante suddenly snapped back to her senses, her face turning beet red as she hastily explained:
"Don't— don't misunderstand! I-I didn't think Sir Eikou looked really cool when he kicked that box or anything..."
"What kind of stupid excuse is that?! No one would've misunderstood if you hadn't said it out loud!" Jeanne Alter shouted.
Seriously, the reasons these people fall for him are getting more and more ridiculous! Why the hell would you fall in love just because he kicked a damn box?! What on earth do you all like about Eikou?!
What part of that action was supposed to make your heart flutter? Are your feelings for your own husband weaker than Eikou's box-kicking skills?!
Jeanne Alter truly couldn't understand what went through these women's heads.
They didn't even bother to use the classic excuse like "his eyes are beautiful" to fool people a little!
As she stared at Eikou's back as he walked away, Bradamante's heart pounded wildly. She nervously swallowed.
"No, that can't be right… there's no way I could like him, this feeling must be a misunderstanding..."
Bradamante said, placing a trembling hand on her chest, her face flushed as if she had a fever:
"But for some reason, my heart's beating so fast… I can't even look straight at him anymore..."
"You're standing so far away you couldn't even see his face properly! Hey! Instead of acting like the heroine of some romance movie in front of me, how about you go to the hospital and check whether you're having a heart attack!"
Jeanne Alter spat out in fury.
But Bradamante — already lost in the throes of love — could no longer hear her. She only wanted to walk quickly toward Eikou.
The beautiful blonde knight seemed unable to contain herself any longer; she wanted to see him, to confirm what this strange emotion truly was.
Jeanne Alter shuddered and hurriedly blocked her path:
"Don't go! That's a hell zone over there... if you make contact with him, your love for your husband will be completely swallowed up by Eikou!"
[You feel like you may have overlooked something very important...]
[Those two dice that fell earlier — were they really aimed at Tomoe Gozen?]
[Though you still have many doubts, you eventually board the vehicle and depart.]
[After all, you've already wasted too much time during the preparation phase; if you don't leave now, it'll be dark soon.]
[Soon after, you quickly notice something strange.]
[The white-haired woman named Tomoe Gozen... seems to have come here to investigate your relationships with the other women!]