Chapter 182: Reunion, the married women of Singularity
[At that very moment, all memories flooded back into your mind.]
[When you won the Holy Grail War of Love before, you even thought you could shed tears while laughing, bidding farewell to those married women Servants...]
[Who would have known that those married women never intended to leave, and even secretly crossed over from the Singularity to Academy City...]
[Now, at last, they have reunited with you!]
["Eyes full of resentment, yandere-like behavior, and an arrogant attitude refusing to obey—it's confirmed they are truly top-tier in the married women world!" - Sir Tristan and Sir Lancelot]
Pollux, Medea, Kriemhild...
Just seeing that lineup from afar made Eikou's scalp tingle with fear.
Thinking back, the thing he feared the most was indeed this group of married women...
"Eikou-sama, are you going the wrong way?"
While the married women had not yet noticed, he turned to flee immediately without hesitation, but Britomart, not understanding, called him to stop.
"No, I just don't dare go over there..." Eikou said awkwardly, "I have some very complicated issues with them, I don't want to get involved."
"But the exit of the haunted house is already locked. If you want to leave the simulation, you can only go forward to find the key." Jeanne said.
"I see..."
Eikou wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, turned his head, and once again observed the group of married women.
That is...
They are guarding the exit of the haunted house, and the only key to escape is in the hands of these married women?
Damn it, outside I have to face a married women battle royale, and now inside the haunted house it's still a married women battle royale—so this haunted house trip is completely pointless!
But whatever, the atmosphere is indeed terrifying; Eikou's blood ran cold from fear.
"Y-you..."
At that moment, from the darkness around the corner, a weak voice suddenly called out.
In that pitch-black shadow, a large hand covered in blood could be seen reaching out.
"Hiss——"
Already tense as a string, Eikou was nearly screamed at the hand suddenly emerging from the darkness.
But thinking that the married women were standing nearby, he quickly covered his mouth, avoiding making any noise that could alert them.
[You try to calm down, carefully observing the hand in the darkness.]
[You realize that the owner of the hand is neither a monster nor a fearsome married woman Servant, but Lancer Diarmuid—someone beaten until his face is bruised, Luck E.]
[He is dressed in a zombie costume, surely a staff member of the haunted house, but judging by the desperate gesture, it's clearly not acting.]
"Diarmuid, who did this to you?"
As soon as he saw the other's face, Eikou asked worriedly.
Seriously, why would a haunted house staff member need to call for help from a visitor!
"...this voice, I remember you are a student of my king..."
Diarmuid struggled to lift his head, looking at the mechanical armor in front of him.
Immediately after, the handsome man grabbed the other's hand, as if confiding his last words seriously:
"Time is running out, if you can run, run now, absolutely, absolutely do not provoke the women ahead..."
"Did they do this to you?" Eikou asked tensely, "Aren't you also a staff member of the haunted house?"
"Umu, I was originally a horror NPC in the haunted house, until I encountered those extremely stubborn and dark widows..."
Diarmuid sighed and said:
"I didn't provoke anyone, yet as soon as they saw me, they beat me up. The reason they gave was 'just having this handsome face of yours is reason enough,' 'if you were in our pantheon, men like you would sooner or later die at the hands of women,' 'now that your face is swollen, you won't have to worry about women following you anymore'..."
"?"
Although what they said… was completely true, isn't that just outright bullying?
"Actually, I still consider myself lucky, but another staff member of the haunted house—Charles Babbage—was the one who got tortured the worst..."
Diarmuid cleared his throat and continued speaking.
"Babbage-sensei isn't a steam-powered armor, he doesn't even have a face, so how could they harm him?" Eikou asked in confusion.
"Because these married women, while hating men, don't hate absolutely. Especially Pollux—the one with the mildest symptoms, the most 'normal'—thought that if there were no men around to talk to, then she could just make one herself..."
Diarmuid said:
"She remodeled Babbage-sensei into a mecha armor 'Prototype Blonde Eikou – Siscon Type.'"
No, being able to do that isn't normal at all, why would she remodel Babbage-sensei like that!
Moreover, what did she stuff inside! She completely stitched me and her brother Castor onto Babbage! What kind of hybrid Servant is this!
"When Pollux was halfway through remodeling Babbage, Lady Kriemhild saw it..."
"Kriemhild stopped her?"
"Lady Kriemhild remodeled it into a killing machine, 'Dragon Slayer Norse Age Eikou - Balmung Combat Type.'"
"Why do they keep remodeling Babbage-sensei like this!"
Seriously, the number of things sewn onto Babbage kept increasing, what kind of Servant are they trying to create? Why do they like attaching me to it? Do they think I'm Frankenstein or something?
"Finally, the Witch of Greece—Medea—discovered their actions, and also joined the team remodeling Babbage..."
"Why add one more person! What exactly are they trying to remodel Babbage-sensei into?"
Before Diarmuid could finish, Eikou instinctively jumped in.
"This time, there's an eight or nine in ten chance it will be remodeled into a mecha like the Greek Gods, something like 'Greek Eikou Version · Argo Ship-Type,' or maybe skip acting altogether and directly turn into a personal attack on an ex-husband, like 'Jason getting killed by the ship's bow'?"
"It's much worse than that, Babbage was remodeled into 'Artoria Lily · Cheerleader.'"
"???"
By, is this really still called Babbage?
In the end, turning a killing machine into a cute girl, Medea really is always an Artoria simp!
"Seriously, isn't their job to maintain order and protect staff in the haunted house, why do they end up torturing the staff like this?"
The temper of these women doesn't change even in Academy City, their condition may even be worse...
"..."
Eikou swallowed nervously.
Even two people unrelated like Babbage and Diarmuid were tortured that badly, so how much would they torture him—someone involved with them...
Just thinking about it made Eikou break out in a cold sweat.
Can I survive and get out of here?
…