"No Marriage, Please! vs. Marry Me or Die: The Ultimate Love Showdown" - Episode 17

The great western power is the Kingdom of Levaris. The great eastern power is the Empire of Lagnas. And now, the invasion by the Empire of Lagnas had already begun.

Within the Empire, there were several assassination squads directly under the Emperor’s command.

One such unit—known as Ashen Flame—had already infiltrated the Kingdom.

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“It seems our collaborator is dead.”

“Hm? I see. Well, that ring had a self-destruction magic formula embedded in it. There’s no risk of information leaking.”

“Is there no chance that Cedwyn was tortured into giving something away?”

“He was never given any critical intel.”

“As expected of you.”

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Inside a room at an inn somewhere in the Kingdom, a man and a woman were calmly exchanging words.

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“By the way, what’s the status on the other matter?”

“You mean the light-attribute adventurer, Theo?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s being handled by a different unit. The one in charge is Mist, from the Shadow Fog Division.”

“Hmm… well, fine. This deployment is by the Emperor’s will. We just need to focus on our own tasks.”

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Even within the Empire, unity was a fragile illusion. Though the Emperor wielded absolute authority, the subordinate organizations often acted independently—not quite hostile, but certainly not collaborative.

This, too, was by the Emperor’s design, encouraging constant competition among his forces.

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“Have you already selected a target among the adventurers?”

“Of course. The prime candidate is the A-rank adventurer, Eve. Among the younger generation, she stands out clearly. Her fighting style seems to emphasize skill usage.”

“Skill-based combat, huh… Sounds troublesome.”

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The Empire did not underestimate the top adventurers of the Kingdom.

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“Also… this is just supplementary information, but…”

“What is it?”

“It seems one of the Saintess candidates has become an adventurer. It’s been a hot topic at the Church.”

“A Saintess candidate? Hmm. That’s irrelevant. Disregard it. Focus your efforts on gathering information on Eve. Eliminate her without fail.”

“Understood.”

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But what they didn’t know was that a being of overwhelming power had already been born within the Kingdom—a being known as the strongest Apostle. The original storyline of this world was already crumbling, and a new fate was beginning to unfold—centered around Yuri.

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†
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“Yaaawn… morning already?”

As usual, I got up at the crack of dawn. I rose from the bed and pulled open the curtains. Another clear, sunny day. Guess I’ll grab a quick breakfast and head over to the Adventurer’s Guild. If possible, I’d like to

team up with Eve… though, hmm…

Judging by how things went yesterday, she clearly doesn’t like me. Even back when we were living in the same mansion, we hardly spoke.

At that moment, there was a knock at the door—knock knock. No doubt it was Ria.

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“Good morning, Yuri.”

“Morning, Ria.”

“I’ve prepared breakfast.”

“Ah, thanks. That really helps.”

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I had planned to make something myself, but it seemed Ria had already taken care of it.

Freshly baked bread stuffed with ham, cheese, and some vegetables. A quick, no-fuss breakfast—and it tasted just fine.

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“Did you make this yourself, Ria?”

“Yeah. I just bought the ingredients and put it together.”

“Even so, I think it’s impressive. Compared to your first time, this is real progress.”

“Geez… can we please forget about that…?”

“Hahaha.”

“But if you have any preferences, don’t hesitate to tell me, okay? I’ll be handling all the meals from now on.”

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Ria stared at me intently.

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“Well, I’m not picky. I’ll eat anything. But I can cook too, you know.”

“Nope! That won’t help me improve! So please, let me handle it, okay?”

“Uh, alright… if you say so.”

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If Ria’s motivated, I have no reason to stop her. After finishing our meal, we moved on to discussing what comes next.

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“Yuri, I’ve been thinking… and I’ve decided to work solo for a while.”

“Solo? Really?”

“Yeah. Relying on you too much isn’t good for me. I also want to do some digging on the Empire myself. I’ll try raising my adventurer rank on my own too. Besides, you’ve got something to take care of with your sister, right? I won’t get in your way. But—can we still have dinner together? We can share intel then. How does that sound?”

“That sounds fine to me.”

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It was a very smooth and well-thought-out proposal. Honestly, she was surprisingly agreeable. If things continue like this, it’ll be exciting when Ria eventually joins Theo’s party.

Of course, after entrusting Ria to Theo, I don’t plan on joining their party. After all… I have my own death flags to deal with.

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And so, I parted ways with Ria and headed for the Adventurer’s Guild. To be honest, if Eve turned me down again today, I was planning to give up. I did want to help her grow stronger, but she’s already capable enough on her own—she is an A-rank adventurer, unlike Ria.

Upon arriving at the guild, I looked around for Eve—and spotted her standing in front of the quest board.

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“H-Hey, Eve! Morning!”

“Good morning, Brother.”

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Eve bowed politely but kept her tone indifferent.

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“What kind of quest are you taking today?”

“Let’s see… I’m thinking of accepting a high-ranking one. I need to complete more of them to become an S-rank.”

“H-Huh… continuing from yesterday, but how about we form a party together?”

“Brother, you’re still an F-rank, aren’t you? Even if we accept the same quest, it won’t affect your rank much.”

“I just want to see how strong you’ve become! As your brother, I care about your growth!”

“Is that so?”

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Ugh… still cold as ice. She shows me absolutely no emotion. It’s honestly kind of sad…

Also, in the Adventurer’s Guild, taking quests above your own rank is generally discouraged. If you’re solo, there are exceptions for exceptional individuals. But even if you join a party with higher-ranked adventurers, it brings no benefit to you. This is to prevent illegal boosting.

Still, I just wanted to see how strong Eve had become. I have no interest in raising my own rank. The more I stand out, the more likely I am to draw the Empire’s attention. And I’m already fairly certain the

Empire’s assassination squads are on the move.

I knew Theo was a target, but Eve might be one too. She could probably handle it alone, but I still wanted to support her—at least a little.

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“However… well, if you’re that insistent, I’ll allow it.”

“Really?”

“Yes. But if you can’t keep up, I’m leaving you behind.”

“Fair enough.”

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And with that, Eve and I formed a party and headed into the dungeon. Just before we entered, I heard her mutter:

“Well, you probably won’t be able to keep up anyway…”

Ahh… I see how it is. She’s letting me join just this once so I’ll give up for good. As I followed after her, I began thinking about how to handle things from here.