Never Die Extra (Edited)

As a grand birthday party was organized last year for Evan’s coming-of-age, Evan’s birthday party this year was rather simple. His exclusive birthday planner, Maybell, wanted an opulent party this year as well but was left disappointed in the end.

“Master, we need to show your grandeur this year, as well.”

“This is quite enough. Maybell, this is all you get.”

“Yiiikes!”

Maybell, dressed up in a party dress, screamed like a manga heroine as she held her chest.

“Master, it seems like you’re trying to make my heart skip a beat lately, but it’s no use. I’m completely head over heels for you!”

“But you seemed happy to hear it. I wanted to see that look.”

“Kiyaaaa!”

Maybell was in agony while holding her chest as if she were about to die of her heart exploding. It was awkward, for he was the one to mention it, but Evan thought she was too vulnerable. And yet, it was an irony not to have their relationship advance to the next level.

“Maybell, your reaction is fascinating.”

“Ma-master became a total player once he’s gotten into women…!”

“Don’t you like it?”

“I love it…”

Maybell was so excited that she dropped the wine glass she was holding. Evan, who saw what was happening, thoroughly applied Heaven’s Press to apply pressure from all sides to receive the glass without breaking or spilling it. He succeeded in returning the intact glass to her.

“…No way, Master, did you learn some magic without my knowledge?”

“Nope, all I did was to apply the Heaven skills slightly. After all, the powers grow in their own ways, so lately, I’m trying to learn how to apply them delicately.”

Although he said it was late, it had been a while since he started this training. It’s because, like what he said earlier, the power of Heaven’s Press would become too overwhelming and harmful if he didn’t master everything. So, Evan has been making his advances with Heavenly skills, Heaven’s Press being the first he worked on subtly controlling his powers, and he could now show such a performance.

“Even after listening to your explanation, it just feels like magic…”

“Sure, I kind of think of it like magic, as well.”

Perhaps most people here wouldn’t have the slightest clue that this technique’s source was from a combat skill. Actually, Evan didn’t realize it when he received his unique skill, but his understanding increased as he learned more.

“Look, if you get used to the control, it will look like this…”

“Woooah.”

As Evan opened his palm, a small tornado arose in the center. It was almost like wind magic. Maybell stared at it blankly in astonishment. It was beyond the realm of understanding.

“I’m sure you know that pressure creates a flow, right?”

“Yes, though I understand it only roughly.”

“The air flows from the high-pressure area to the low one. On the contrary, if the flow becomes fast, the pressure lessens. And Heaven’s Press is a technique that makes it possible to lessen or strengthen the pressure.”

Thus, it meant that Evan could control the flow of air. As the pressure strengthens, faster airflow could be created, and Heaven’s Press worked in a way that amplified this simple pressure and the flow in the first place.

“Oh, wait, is it possible for you to lower the pressure?”

“Yup. It has been completed in a way.”

At this point, it seemed way beyond the laws of simple physics, thought Maybell as she tilted her head; she decided to give up understanding it in the end.

“So, it means the Master can dominate the flow.”

“It sounds very exaggerated, but if I try hard, that might be possible.”

“But you already do that, right? Just look at this tornado.”

“Hmph, that’s just a child’s play. It becomes harder when the capacity grows. A little bit more.”

As Evan was a petty alchemist who wanted to investigate phenomena and make changes without mentioning his attained modern-style education in the past life, it had been a while since he was aware of this fact. However, he had no plans to subtly control the pressure in the past. He could crush all creatures by just using Heaven’s Press or Heaven’s Throw once, so he had no reason to give it another thought. But, as mentioned earlier, training it for increasing the power was meaningless. He thought something new could be attained by learning how to control the pressure and not just its power, so he did this research.

“You look like a wind mage, Master…!”

So, his appearance was like a mage who just completed beginner wind magic. Evan smiled bitterly as he spoke.

“If anyone hears that I can create wind through this brute method, those wind sorcerers will get mad at me. Like Arisha or Mirole.”

“…”

For some reason, Maybell sealed her lips at that part. As she was looking around the party hall, it seems like she was looking for Mirole, but fortunately, she was in the middle of patrolling the city.

“Uh, Master. What do you think of Ms. Mirole…?”

“Someone I can trust and ask for a hand in work. But, well, I still feel a weird distance. It feels like she is definitely hiding something from me. If you ask me whether that’s how I became friends with her, it would be hard to explain.”

“Ahahaha, it looks like she hasn’t been hiding anything from the beginning…”

Maybell showed a rare bitter smile to Evan’s answer and replied. For Evan, her reaction was even more surprising.

“What, are you and Mirole close?”

“We do talk to each other at some length. And we both are the eldest.”

“Huh, you both are still girls—little girls.”

“That was quite nice timing, Master. But it was too much of a cunning move.”

“But Maybell, your crystal-clear eyes today are really…”

“Tsk, really! Do you want to see my heart explode right now!?”

Anyways the fact that Maybell and Mirole were acquainted with one another was unexpected. Maybell fixed herself more and asked again.

“So, how are you really doing with Ms. Mirole?”

“If you are asking for a relationship between a man and a woman, there’s really nothing at all. She has someone whom she vowed eternal love to in the first place. Ah, the fact that I know about it is a secret from her.”

“Eternal love, you say…is that so?”

“So, don’t be mistaken.”

“Mistake…misunderstanding. You mean misunderstanding.”

Maybell gently looked at him as she repeated after his words. As if she was drunk, her cheeks reddened a bit.

“Ah, just looking at you from the front is already dangerous.”

“You mean your heart?”

“And add a bit of mental malfunctioning.”

“Then that’s a problem…”

And after that, Evan humored her.

“If you are to live in the same house with me, every moment would be an endangering one.”

“Stop…stop saying such words!”

Maybell was startled, and she started jumping in place. Using this opportunity, Evan decided to convey his intentions which he wanted to relay wholeheartedly since the past.

“I mean it. When this scenario ends, I want to be engaged with you officially. I told you this before.”

“Yes, yes you did, but I thought you were joking…what a Casanova!”

“Eek.”

Evan’s heart almost stopped from that dialogue. It was because it was a regular dialogue from Maybell as she stabbed him in the heart in the game. Hearing it frightened him. It was that very moment that he realized trauma wasn’t to be overlooked.

“So, uh, so…don’t you like it?”

Evan utilized the gradually increasing control of Heaven’s Press to remotely massage his heart in order to gain his posture back and ask her a question. Maybell’s face reddened, and she replied while swinging her head.

“Not that I don’t like it. But…”

“Even if you don’t like it, I’ll go ahead with it. As the king appointed you as a viscount this time, he was thinking of how to recruit you to that faction.”

“Ah.”

Maybell’s consecutive advancement in the aristocracy was given already. As she held a crucial role because of her involvement with Evan, not only did she make contributions to the country, but it also became impossible to talk about anything without her since she made her presence in the business world growing day by day, as well as the trade with other countries. Someone even said that Maybell could be earless. That was said with an understanding of a significant gap between a viscount and an earl. But in order to make that happen, few minor conditions must be met, and those conditions were related to the ‘faction,’ which Evan just mentioned.

“Of course, His Majesty surely has a vain dream, but in order to avoid unnecessary troubles, it’s best to establish our relationship firmly. So, in conclusion, if you don’t want me, then you have to marry my brother.”

“I can’t marry another person except you, Master!”

“See.”

“Ah.”

Maybell covered her mouth as she realized her slip of the tongue. Evan continued as he giggled.

“Surely, such reasons are just for display. You may call me a womanizer, but I need you, Maybell. I want you by my side. So, come at me.”

“Bu-but, I still…”

Evan had no way to know why someone like her, who confessed to Evan daily, would show such a passive attitude at this time. But, as long as he was confident that she was deeply in love with him, he had no intention to leave her alone.

“I’ll officially propose after the scenario ends. I guess there are other things to attend to…”

As Evan concluded the discussion, Maybell suddenly spoke up.

“Demon King.”

“Huh?”

“When…the Demon King is defeated.”

Evan had no idea why Demon King was mentioned at this point, but he waited for her to finish.

“When the Demon King is defeated, then let’s get married. If then, only then…I’ll do anything for you.”

“Uhm…I didn’t expect you to come up with such a difficult condition.”

“I…I wanted to say something like that once in my life as a woman!”

Maybell proudly said those words, but her eyes were wavering faintly, which made Evan realize the depth of her words. Evan predicted her intention. It seemed like he knew her quite well, but he concluded that such a thing didn’t matter. What’s important was the relationship and the emotions between two people.

“Alright, I get it.”

Evan cleared his thoughts and gladly nodded.

“I’ll defeat the Demon King, then I’ll propose to you.”

“Proposal is fine! Rather, I have to do that to you!”

“No, I just made a decision. Your opinion on this doesn’t matter. I will prepare an amazing event that conveys my feelings.”

“Ah, you…!”

Maybell stomped her feet while feeling shy. She was adorable, although she would be 23 years old this year. But if Evan said this to her, he would surely get stabbed by her, so he decided never to say that.

‘No, wait. Even Serena asked for an amazing proposal, so how am I going to pull that one off too?’

Moreover, if he proposed to Maybell and Serena, would Arisha and Belois do nothing? Evan felt his words’ weight and shuddered as he realized the troubles he had gotten himself into by joking around.

“Whew, so we ended up talking about me instead of Ms. Mirole.”

“What more do you want me to talk about, Mirole?”

“Fine.”

Maybell slightly held Evan’s hand and spoke playfully with an excited expression as if she couldn’t handle the sudden happiness.

“When the Demon King is…defeated, the Master would know what I want to talk about.”