I headed to the village chief’s house.
Just as I had seen in the game, it was the largest house in the center of the village, so it was easy enough to find.
"Excuse me."
Perhaps because old people needed little sleep, the village chief was still awake despite the late hour.
"Ian? What brings you here at this hour?"
"I came to give you my answer regarding the marriage you mentioned."
"Did the goddess give you an answer?"
"Yes. Thankfully, Helia answered my prayer."
"Oh? Well, that’s remarkable."
At the claim that the goddess had answered my prayer, the village chief asked again with a slightly mocking edge to his voice.
"So what did the goddess say? Did she tell you to marry Isolde after all?"
"Helia told me to head to the mill with you."
"At this hour?"
"Yes. She said the answer would be there."
"Hmm... Very well."
The village chief looked doubtful at my response, but at the mention of the goddess’s will, he set aside his suspicions for the moment and headed to the mill with me.
And there, we saw it together.
‘Perfect timing.’
A man and woman kissing each other.
"What do you two think you’re doing right now?"
The village chief looked utterly shocked at the sight of his son kissing Isolde.
"Ah, Father... You see—"
John hurriedly tried to make excuses at his father’s reaction, but I beat him to it.
"Father? Village Chief, you’re going to have to explain what this is all about."
I leveled my iron sword at the village chief’s throat.
It was an old iron sword, but perhaps because Ian had maintained it well, its blade was keenly sharpened.
"I-Ian! Calm down."
"Calm down? You expect me to calm down? The woman you introduced to me was enjoying a secret tryst with your son!"
I let my fury show as much as possible.
That would put me in a stronger position when it came time to negotiate.
"I-It’s a misunderstanding. I never dreamed Isolde was seeing my son."
"You didn’t know which woman your own son was seeing, and you just happened to arrange for that very woman to marry an outsider like me? Village Chief, do you honestly expect me to believe that?"
"That’s..."
Unable to give a proper answer to my question, the village chief merely moved his lips soundlessly.
He knew it too.
There was no answer he could give that would explain this situation away.
"There was a reason the goddess led me here. I will tell everyone about what happened tonight."
"W-What?"
"The nuns will testify that Helia answered my prayer. Then everyone will learn what you and your son were trying to do."
"Ian! C-Calm down and think this over. Is there really any need to tell everyone?"
At my words, the village chief grabbed hold of my trouser leg.
The position of village chief was not inherited through bloodlines like a noble title. A man could only become village chief if every villager acknowledged him.
They had trusted that village chief and accepted the marriage arrangement, only for the woman in question to be enjoying a secret tryst with another man.
And that man was the village chief’s son.
Not only would he be subject to the villagers’ scorn, but he could even lose his position as village chief.
"I understand that you’re shocked. I’ll compensate you, so bury this matter in your heart."
"If that’s what you want, give me five gold coins."
"Five gold coins?!"
It took ten silver coins to make one gold coin.
And a farmer earned roughly ten silver coins from a year of labor.
In other words, I was demanding five years’ worth of wages as a settlement.
It was, naturally, an outrageous demand.
But I could force through even such an outrageous demand.
"A settlement requires a show of sincerity."
"Even so, five gold coins is far too much."
"Then let’s settle for ten gold coins."
"Didn’t it just become more expensive?"
"Because my anger is growing by the second. If you can’t pay, then there will be no settlement."
"Fine! I’ll pay, so calm down."
In the end, the village chief raised both hands and feet in surrender to my threat.
"But ten gold coins is a huge sum, so I can’t pay it all. Instead, I’ll give you land to use as a field and waive the mill’s usage fees."
Of course, the land in the village did not belong to the village chief.
Its true owner was the lord, and the village chief merely managed the village in the lord’s stead.
In other words, the village chief was trying to pay the settlement with village operating funds.
‘Like father, like son. This village chief is trash too.’
Well, as long as I got my settlement, I did not particularly care.
There was just one thing I needed to press him on.
"You said you’d give me land. Does that mean you’ll accept me as a villager?"
"It does. Once you get married, that is."
The reason the village chief was acting this way was probably to recover those ten gold coins.
If I settled in the village, he would be able to levy taxes on me.
But then a problem the village chief had not anticipated arose.
"No. I’m going to marry John."
"I-Isolde?!"
Isolde, who had been watching from the side, suddenly cut in.
She was trying to seize this chance to marry John.
‘Fucking lunatic.’
True to form for a bitch who could only be satisfied when everything went exactly as she wanted, Isolde acted without bothering to assess the situation.
Naturally, that made things even more awkward for the village chief and John, while putting me at an advantage.
"I have absolutely no intention of marrying an ugly bastard like him, so you can get that through your heads."
"This is driving me mad."
In the end, the village chief’s worries only deepened.
. . .
"What?"
After hearing the whole story, Adelia sat there in stunned disbelief, as though she had been struck by lightning out of a clear sky.
It had to be shocking news for her.
Her daughter had been enjoying a secret tryst with a strange man before even getting married.
And that man was the village chief’s son.
"Isolde, is that true?"
"Yes. I’m going to marry John."
Perhaps the sight of her daughter being so brazen had shocked her, because Adelia collapsed to the floor.
"I’m sorry. I’m so sorry."
Before the village chief and me, Adelia bowed her head with difficulty and apologized.
But no one accepted that apology.
"There’s no need to apologize. I failed to keep my own son in check as well."
"Village Chief..."
"But I have absolutely no intention of letting my son marry Isolde."
"Village Chief? What do you mean? You promised you would arrange Isolde’s marriage."
"Handle that yourself. And don’t resent me. I’ve paid an enormous price to clean up this mess as well. I believe I’ve done everything I can as village chief."
"..."
The village chief drew a clear line with Adelia.
From the beginning, he had not wanted his son to marry Isolde.
Partly because of Isolde’s personality, but more than anything, because of Isolde’s younger sister, Isabelle.
‘He wouldn’t want his grandchildren to develop an incurable disease.’
[Rose’s Punishment] was not a hereditary illness, but only players of the game knew that.
Naturally, the village chief, who was nothing more than an ordinary man, had no way of knowing it. That was why he had adamantly opposed John and Isolde’s marriage.
"I’ll be going now."
The village chief left first.
Judging from his expression, he would probably go home and beat the shit out of his son.
"E-Excuse me, Ian..."
Left alone with me, Adelia asked as though clutching at a straw.
"Isn’t it all right since Isolde said they only kissed? She’s still a virgin..."
"Do you really think that makes any sense?"
I cut away that straw without mercy.
"Even if she is a virgin, I do not want to make a wife of a woman who has already given her heart to another man. Any other man would feel the same. Who would believe that a child born to a woman who is not chaste was truly his?"
"Ah..."
At my answer, Adelia could not say a word. She could only suffer in silence.
As a woman living in this world, Adelia would understand.
She would know just how important chastity was for a woman.
Yet her foolish daughter had thrown it away and caused this entire disaster.
As a mother, Adelia must have been devastated.
‘Should I leave it at that?’
Figuring I had gained enough of an upper hand, I took Adelia’s hand.
"But I still intend to marry."
"N-No. I still love my husband."
"...I wasn’t talking about you."
Of course, Adelia was so beautiful that it was hard to believe she was the mother of two children.
But she still wanted to remain faithful to her dead husband, and I had no particular need to marry a widow.
‘What I need right now is a virgin.’
Pointing toward the woman beyond the curtain, I spoke once more.
"I want to marry her."
"Isabelle?"
Startled by my words, Adelia looked at me suspiciously.
To dispel her suspicion, I uttered a romantic line that did not suit me at all.
"I fell for her the moment I first saw her. Even now, her beautiful voice makes my heart flutter."
"B-But as you know, Isabelle’s condition..."
"It’s all right. I will take responsibility for her somehow."
At my confident declaration, Adelia avoided giving me an answer for the moment.
"Let me speak with Isabelle for a moment."
"Yes, I’ll wait."
Adelia went over to Isabelle and had a serious conversation with her daughter.
‘This has to work.’
I needed a virgin’s urine in order to obtain the Big-Dick Herb.
‘What the hell am I suffering through because of that fucking unicorn?’
It could not be just any virgin.
It had to be a virgin who met the insane condition of having a perfectly virginal mind, body, and spirit.
She obviously needed to have an intact hymen, but she could not harbor feelings for a man like Isolde, nor could she possess strong sexual desire like Reina.
Only the urine of a virgin who was truly ignorant of sex and had never yet fallen in love could break through the unicorn’s barrier blocking the way to the Big-Dick Herb.
‘It’s not easy to find a woman like Sumire, a virgin with a perfectly virginal mind, body, and spirit.’
Waiting for Sumire, the heroine of [Kunoichi’s Circumstances], was one option, but that was a last resort.
Fortunately, I did not need to wait in the forest for years. There was a virgin with a perfectly virginal mind, body, and spirit close at hand.
"Um... Ian."
"What did Isabelle say?"
"Well..."
As though she found it difficult to answer, Adelia fidgeted with her fingers before finally opening her mouth with effort.
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