Reincarnated as the Final Boss of an Eroge, but I Just Want a Peaceful Life After the Game Ends - Chapter 14: Origins

Chapter 14: Origins

Some time had passed since Ivelia was declared dead after the duel.

In the royal capital Eterna of the Kingdom of Eternia, the Royal First Academy had already moved on—even though they had lost many of their high school students.

What should have been a tragedy was now just a forgotten memory, and peace had returned to the campus.

With the start of the new school year, several major changes had taken place.

Sidol Meltrix—once mocked as the weakest student, but in truth the most brilliant genius of his generation—had been expelled.

Ivelia Milenitrum—the girl hailed as a gifted witch with extraordinary magical talent—had supposedly died in a duel.

And Princess Fina Eternia herself…

“I won’t be attending this academy anymore. You can consider this my withdrawal.”

She had thrown her withdrawal papers directly at the headmaster.

However, they were not accepted, and her status was changed to a leave of absence instead.

There had been high expectations that elite newcomers like Saintess Hanna and the rising star Ars—famous for his heroics—would be assigned to the prestigious Class S.

But the reality was disappointing.

Both of them were hopelessly bad at academics, and so, even in their second year, they remained in Class D.

Despite that, the two of them acted like an inseparable couple at the academy—always walking close together, showing affection openly, and frequently ignoring school rules.

Still, this world was, after all, an eroge.

No one ever questioned or reprimanded Ars for his behavior.

There was never a single person who called him out.

Ars’s lifestyle had begun to spiral out of control.

He currently lived in the guards’ dormitory located within the Faustler family’s estate.

Ever since last summer—when he had his first sexual experience with Saintess Hanna—he had been indulging himself freely and recklessly, all thanks to his unique skill: [Virility★], which kept his desires constantly burning.

During the day at school, Ars flirted with all kinds of female students.

After classes, he would head straight to the grand cathedral where Saintess Hanna lived and spend his evenings indulging in physical pleasure.

But even that wasn’t enough to satisfy him.

On his way back from the cathedral, if he happened to pass by a woman—or even saw one working at a shop—he would approach them without hesitation.

Sometimes, he even acted a little forcefully to get what he wanted.

On rest days, he occasionally took on quests at the Adventurers’ Guild, partly to earn some extra spending money.

Though he did try to take those requests seriously, his habits didn’t change.

If the client was a woman, or the receptionist was a woman, or even if the fellow adventurer he talked to was a woman—just exchanging a few words would be enough for him to start hitting on them.

It had become a pattern he couldn’t seem to stop.

The only place in Ars’s life where he spent time alone… was the guards’ dormitory on the Faustler estate grounds.

One evening, before dinner, he returned to the dorm to freshen up and found himself bored.

And that’s when Luna Faustler came to mind.

They were the same age, and ever since Ars had started living at the dorms, he had grown closer to her.

She still had a youthful charm and a pretty face, and Ars had tried to invite her out a few times.

But each time—

“I’m sorry. I’d really love to spend time alone with you, Sir Ars… But I’m the daughter of House Faustler, and I’m already engaged. Even if it’s you, Sir Ars, I can’t be alone with another man.”

Luna always turned him down like that.

However, as Ars became more persistent and refused to take no for an answer, his skill—[Protagonist Privilege★]—began to activate and influence the women around Luna.

Even though [Protagonist Privilege★] was an extremely powerful skill, there were still cases where it had little to no effect.

The first case was women from the royal family.

Before spring, Duchess Salea Faustler had hosted a tea party, and Ars was invited to join.

But during that event, neither the queen nor the princesses showed any reaction to his skill—it had absolutely no effect on them.

Fina had been invited to the tea party too, but she declined and did not attend.

The second case involved high-ranking nobles—namely, Duke Doran Faustler and Sheena Meltrix.

In Sheena’s case, during the tea party, the effect of [Protagonist Privilege★] had started to wear off.

But while there, the skill reactivated and altered her thoughts again, making her return to viewing Sidol as an enemy.

Because of that reset, the months-long rift between Dorm Meltrix and Sheena was quickly resolved, and they reconciled.

As for Duke Doran Faustler, who remained highly resistant to Ars’s skill…

He now found himself surrounded with no allies inside his own estate—isolated on all sides.

After being repeatedly turned down by Luna, Ars shifted his attention to another woman who was always near her.

Doran’s wife—Salea Faustler.

Ars couldn’t hold back his rising desire and decided to make a move on Salea.

To his delight, his advances succeeded.

He lured her out and brought her into one of the rooms at the guards’ dormitory.

When Doran Faustler—who had no allies left inside his own estate—found out that his wife had fallen into Ars’s hands, he was crushed by despair.

Overcome with raging jealousy, Doran hated Ars so much he truly wanted to kill him.

However, most of the people in the estate now favored Ars.

In fact, the idea that it was “only natural” for Salea to fall for Ars had begun to spread.

Because of that, Doran had no choice but to bottle up his fury and endure it in silence.

(Why… why is this happening…?!)

Struggling to contain his emotions, Doran forced himself to act composed.

He decided to issue a formal order to the guards staying at the dormitory—Ars included.

The order was to clear out one of the dungeons located within Faustler Territory.

On the surface, it looked like a standard command.

But in truth, it was a plan to get Ars out of the estate.

The dungeon in question was designed for intermediate-level adventurers.

To make the mission sound legitimate, Doran labeled it as training and leveling for the guards.

He even allowed them to hire adventurers to assist in case their own forces weren’t enough.

(This should be enough to keep him away…)

That’s what Doran had thought.

But of course, things didn’t go as planned.

One day, Salea casually said,

“I have some matters to take care of at the manor in the capital. I’ll be staying there for a while.”

It came completely out of nowhere.

Her maids all agreed with her decision.

And the knights and guards around her also took her side without hesitation.

‘I want you to stay in the estate.’

That’s what Doran had wanted to say.

But from the expressions on the surrounding servants’ faces, he realized something—

If he tried to stop her, it might paint him as a petty man who wouldn’t even allow his wife a simple visit home.

Not wanting to damage his image further, Doran reluctantly gave his permission.

After that, Doran continued living at the Faustler estate in the capital with the children she had left behind.

He had lost the wife he loved, stolen away by another man.

Feeling utterly hopeless, Doran Faustler sank into the depths of despair, lamenting his life.

The gaping hole in his heart never healed.

And from that point on, nothing ever shook him again—not more than that moment had.

◆

Luna had been feeling unwell ever since the effects of [Protagonist Privilege★] had begun to weaken.

No matter what she did, thoughts of her former fiancé, Sidol, kept drifting through her mind.

“I love Ars.”

She tried to tell herself that over and over, but the words never felt true.

It was as if she was no longer Luna Faustler.

That thought wouldn’t leave her.

And maybe because of that, it always led to the same conclusion—

“But still… I…”

Her feelings for Ars began to fade.

And in their place, the face of someone she had loved in the past started appearing in her mind.

Whether it was fate or misfortune, it was around that time that Ars received the order to deploy.

One day, when Ars pressed her again with his usual persistence—

“I’m sorry. I would love to spend time alone with you, Sir Ars… But I’m the daughter of House Faustler, and I already have a fiancé. Even if it’s you, I can’t be alone with another man.”

She repeated the same refusal she had used before.

But this time, Ars gave her a shocking response.

“Then how about offering me a kind young lady to comfort me instead?”

The setting was Luna’s private room.

Luna had finally given in to Ars’s relentless advances and let him inside.

But letting him into her room was one thing—actually offering her body was something else entirely.

After a long back-and-forth, it was one of her maids who stepped forward and offered herself.

“In that case, I will fulfill that duty.”

The young woman’s name was Nana Nona.

She was just nineteen and had only recently been assigned as one of Luna’s maids.

Nana had already fallen for Ars under the influence of [Protagonist Privilege★].

In the original story, she was actually introduced as one of the main heroines.

“Alright then, I’ll leave it to you. We’ll use my room, okay?”

“Yes, of course, Lord Ars. Please, lead the way.”

“I’m sorry, Nana… I’m counting on you.”

“Of course, Lady Luna. I’ll serve him with everything I’ve got, so please leave it to me.”

And just like that…

Luna had allowed one of her own maids to be handed over to Ars.

◆

Princess Fina Eternia—the second princess of the Kingdom of Eternia—had essentially dropped out of the academy.

Ever since then, she had been conducting a full-scale investigation across the royal capital.

Sometimes she used knights.

Other times, she relied on people from the shadows.

But even with all those resources, there were many times when her efforts didn’t lead to anything concrete.

At first, certain people seemed trustworthy—

But later, they would start saying suspicious things that made her doubt everything.

In the end, she had no choice but to assume some of the reports she received were false,

And so, she had to restart the investigations again from scratch.

That kind of thing had been happening more than once.

There were a few things Fina had been particularly concerned about.

(Sidol’s ring…)

She had shown it to an appraiser, but it couldn’t be identified.

Maybe it was such a rare and high-tier item that even [Appraisal: 8] wasn’t enough to evaluate it.

The [Ring of Power (Mana Ring)]—which always rested on her left ring finger and never left her side.

It was that rare and special.

(Maybe something about it is written in an old record or biography…)

Fina began searching through the royal archive—

A special library that only royalty were allowed to access.

She dug through the shelves, flipping through countless old texts.

And when she finally found a passage that sounded familiar, she was overjoyed.

“[Ring of Power (Mana Ring)]…?”

The ancient manuscript even had an illustration—and it looked almost identical to Sidol’s ring.

“A powerful ring that protects the wearer from all forms of evil and malevolent spirits. Only three have ever been confirmed in history. The black gemstone represents absolute protection—and when exposed to dark forces, it shines a deep crimson.”

…Could it be that Sidol is still protecting me, even now?

Fina remembered the moment Sidol gave her that ring.

“If possible, I’d really like you to wear it all the time… It’s pretty, right?”

At the time, she had been hesitant.

The gemstone was pitch-black, and it looked a bit ominous.

But the more she stared at it, the more she found herself unable to look away—like it was drawing her in.

Strangely enough, it didn’t scare her.

In fact, it felt warm, almost comforting.

But in the end, she had tucked it away in her drawer—

Because she thought if she ever lost it, the sadness would be unbearable.

(So then… when it turned red at school, and again during Ivelia’s duel… does that mean this ring was protecting me the whole time?)

In reality, regardless of the [Ring of Power (Mana Ring)], Fina was never affected by Ars’s skill.

But after learning the ring’s true power, she wholeheartedly convinced herself that it was Sidol who had been protecting her.

Because the ring visibly reacted—changing color—it felt like undeniable proof.

She believed that Sidol’s gift was shielding her from the effects of Ars’s skill.

The truth was, [Protagonist Privilege★] had never worked on her to begin with.

Her naturally strong mental resilience may have played a role—but she never realized the skill had simply never touched her.

Unaware of the truth, Fina interpreted everything as Sidol’s doing.

That said, in the world of Violation of Eternia, status effects were countered first by items, before resistances based on stats kicked in.

That’s why the black gem of the [Ring of Power] would change color in real time.

After learning the ring’s true effect, Fina began to feel Sidol’s presence more strongly than ever.

(Sidol is always protecting me…)

Just thinking that filled her with warmth, as though he were wrapping her in a gentle embrace.

The very thought of him made her chest tighten with longing, and her emotions welled up so strongly that—

Tears started falling before she even realized it.

(I shouldn’t ruin the book with tears…)

She had found one answer she had been looking for.

And for now, that brought her peace.

But there were still more things she wanted to know.

“I need a trustworthy bodyguard… or someone from the shadows. If I had a proper knight, I could go outside the castle without issue. I guess I’ll have to start looking for someone who could become my knight.”

After that, Fina went to her father, the King, and requested permission to publicly recruit a personal knight.

◆

Meanwhile, deep in the dungeon of Bahamul Forest—

Ivelia Milenitrum, now awakened as a Grand Witch, was not the kind of girl who stayed home quietly waiting for her master to return.

She packed food and supplies, and dove into the dungeon alone.

In the past, she often entered the dungeon alone for revenge.

But now, dungeon crawling had slowly become something she actually enjoyed.

Her current goal was to get used to her newly acquired skill, [Chant Omission★], and to level up her Light Magic proficiency.

(With no food inside, I’ll need to break through the 50th floor, no matter what.)

As a [Grand Witch★]—a unique class marked by a ★—Ivelia gained the benefit of incredibly fast growth when it came to magic.

(So that’s how Sidol became so strong…)

As she got more comfortable with the feel of [Chant Omission★],

Ivelia started to let go of her reliance on structured spell formulas.

Instead, she focused on controlling magical energy (mana) directly through her own magical force (Od), trying to manifest phenomena without traditional chanting.

Little by little, she began to understand what Sidol had once mentioned so casually—about how important imagination and creativity were in magic.

(Sidol already understood this back in elementary school? How… where did he even learn that?)

Ivelia respected Sidol deeply—

But more than that, there were times when she felt genuinely afraid of him.

It was the kind of fear that came from awe—true reverence.

She had often watched him closely whenever he used magic.

(If the mana flows like this, then I should pour magical energy in this direction…)

In order to completely skip chanting, she tried to copy the way Sidol manipulated mana and channeled his magical power.

What she didn’t know yet… was that Sidol’s approach to magic was actually very different from hers.

Still, as she kept experimenting with different methods, her Light Magic proficiency gradually increased.

At the same time, her Non-Elemental Magic skill improved as well—

And she was genuinely amazed by how much stronger the effects became.

In the original game, Ivelia had been the final boss of the very first title.

Her level was extremely high, and she possessed what could be called the strongest magical power in the kingdom.

Even now, despite her Light Magic still being at a low skill level, she could obliterate ordinary undead monsters in a single blow.

And when she passed the 50th floor, it brought back memories of her old self—just one year ago.

For Ivelia, this was the true joy of dungeon exploration:

Slaying monsters, slicing them open, taking them apart, roasting them, and then eating them.

(Ah, but sometimes they’re poisonous…)

Using fire-element magic to cook the meat helped reduce the poison.

Even so, there were still times when she ended up getting poisoned anyway.

(Learning Light Magic really was a good decision. It’s all thanks to Sidol. But without him teaching me how to use status ailment recovery and intermediate-level healing spells, I still can’t pull those off on my own.)

Ivelia was fully aware of her current limitations.

At the same time, another thought crossed her mind.

(If it’s just a magic battle… I think I could beat Sidol. Now that I think about it, Karen can easily beat Sidol in a sword fight. I really think Karen should study more martial arts. She’s far too talented to be kept in Bahamul. Even just once—I’d love to see her serve as a knight in the capital…)

From around that time, Ivelia began thinking seriously about wanting Karen to study in the royal capital.

If Karen could return to Bahamul one day with the title of the kingdom’s strongest knight, it would be a great honor—

And without a doubt, it would also help Bahamul grow and prosper.

Ivelia truly loved her life in Bahamul.

◆

Eliza Gilmarie was an adventurer.

Though born into a noble family, she had never married.

Instead, she ran away from home and built a name for herself as a solo adventurer.

She didn’t really have any standout traits.

If anything, you could say she was a jack-of-all-trades—average at everything.

But she took pride in that.

Because she believed the reason she had made it this far solo… was precisely because she could do everything on her own, even if she wasn’t the best at any one thing.

Today, she was once again exploring a mid-tier dungeon solo.

This one was located near Faustler Fort, in the southeastern part of the kingdom, within Faustler Territory.

The dungeon was filled with beast-type monsters.

Since their meat was prized as food, bringing them back could fetch a high price.

(If I can bring back just one large monster, that should be enough…)

As Eliza continued her dungeon crawl, defeating monsters and reaching the middle levels, she suddenly heard sounds of battle echoing nearby.

“Heal! We need healing!”

“We’re out of potions!”

“Ars! Can you still fight!?”

“I can still go!”

“Sorry, Ars! Buy us some time! Wait for the right moment and retreat!”

“Yeah!”

Curious, Eliza followed the sounds to investigate.

What she found was a monster room swarming with bison.

On her way there, she had passed several men—just barely—and after noticing their armor, she quickly understood.

(Faustler’s soldiers…)

They must have entered the dungeon for training and accidentally wandered into a monster room, she figured.

Inside, one boy had stayed behind—wielding a large battle axe with incredible skill, cutting down bison after bison.

(He’s good…)

But even with that skill, it was clear he couldn’t hold out alone.

The bison’s attacks began grazing him more and more, and his movements were visibly slowing down.

“O Divine One… grant your healing blessing to this soul…”

Chanting softly, Eliza charged into the monster room.

She stabbed one bison, yanked her sword free, then repeated the motion while making her way toward Ars.

Once she reached him, she placed a hand on his body and cast an intermediate healing spell.

That should take care of most of his injuries.

“Let me help.”

“Thanks.”

Eliza moved with graceful precision, cutting down bison one after another.

She mixed magic into her attacks, chanting short spells mid-motion.

Her sword targeted vital points—mainly their heads—while she followed up with earth-element spells, pelting the beasts with sharp stones.

In no time, she had cleared out a good portion of the room.

“You’re really strong, miss.”

“You’re not bad yourself. I like your style—always going for the vitals. It’s efficient.”

Ars had a thought.

(She may not have much of a chest, but… she’s a good woman.)

His Unique Skill, [Protagonist Privilege★], was working just fine on Eliza too.