How to Save a Time-Limited Heroine

Deltain slept deeply for two consecutive days after that day.

Neither the embarrassment from Agnes’s strange behavior nor the shame from touching her bare skin could stop it.

Why wouldn’t it be?

It was hard to stay awake for 70 hours.

No, considering the pure research time was about that long, it was more accurate to say Deltain had been awake for over 80 hours.

If he had a sturdy body like the knights, it might have been different, but he was a magician.

It was impossible for him to shake off accumulated fatigue in a short time.

So, when his total sleep time had easily exceeded 40 hours, Deltain frowned and opened his eyes.

<166 days until the blossoming of Magic Flower Actrias.>

He dismissed the interface that appeared before his eyes and sat up.

‘I’m going to die.’

Was it because he had slept too long?

Deltain’s body was so stiff that even a small movement made him feel as if it was screaming.

He stretched widely and rubbed his eyelids with his fingers to wake himself up.

“Count, it’s time for your meal.”

The man who entered was the butler, Gerhart.

Deltain roughly waved his hand and grabbed the bread Gerhart offered and put it in his mouth.

It was a usual routine whenever he slept for such a long time.

“Any notable events while I was asleep?”

“Duke Levadine left words of gratitude. A letter and some jewels as well….”

“And the cuckoos?”

“No new information.”

“Useless bastards, how can they take that much money and have no results?”

“… it’s probably difficult for them as well, being told to find something with just a single name to go on.”

“That’s what their organization is for.”

Deltain muttered curses with a still drowsy face while chewing the bread.

Cuckoos.

That was the name of the organization he had commissioned to find information about the materials for the DLC.

Their ability to collect all the information existing on the continent was remarkable, but still, the difficulty of the DLC was the problem.

‘Excluding the magic flower I originally knew about; I’ve only found two in three months.’

The speed was slow compared to the money being poured in.

That was what made Deltain irritated.

He manipulated the interface with his eyes and opened the quest window.

Chambler’s Dream (Complete)
Heart of Gaias (Incomplete)
Token of Endless Winter (Incomplete)
Jewel of the Deep Sea (Complete)
Seed of Magic Flower Actrias (Incomplete)

The progress of the quest remained the same.

Deltain looked at it with a face full of frustration, then finished eating the bread and stood up.

“I’ll wash up and come out. Prepare some tea.”

“Yes.”

Deltain carelessly threw off his clothes and headed to the shower.

The cold-water shower without an attendant was also tailored to his preferences.

*

In the mansion’s library, Deltain sat with his legs crossed, staring at a black hole in the air.

The identity of the hole was subspace.

It was a miracle that existed as an inventory in the game, and now it was magic created by Deltain himself.

Inside the black subspace was a glass display case divided into exactly nine sections.

The peculiar point was that only two of the sections were filled, and the items inside were far from what one would typically display.

They were the quest materials for the DLC.

Deltain looked at the section labeled .

What was inside was the brain of a living creature.

Unlike a human brain divided into left and right hemispheres, it had four parts, divided into upper and lower halves.

‘Chambler’s Dream.’

It was a material extracted by opening the skull of the demon Chambler.

Next, Deltain’s gaze turned to the section labeled .

Again, the item on display was a part of a creature’s body, an eyeball.

The eyeball of a creature the size of a human head had a deep blue pupil that still contracted and expanded.

‘Jewel of the Deep Sea.’

It was a material extracted by killing a sea monster in the deepest parts of the ocean.

Deltain sipped his tea and continued his thoughts.

‘The names of the materials are intuitive despite being unheard of.’

Chambler’s Dream was the thinking organ of the demon Chambler.

The Jewel of the Deep Sea was truly a treasure from a sea monster.

Magic Flower Actrias was similar, though it took the form of mana, it was ultimately a flower.

‘If I know the etymology of the remaining materials, I should be able to find them too….’

Deltain’s gaze turned to the still empty section labeled .

‘… the one I can look for right now is that.’

The second item on the quest list was .

Deltain thought it might be another organ of a demon, similar to Chambler’s Dream.

However, there were too few clues to deduce the information just from the name.

In the end, Deltain couldn’t delve deeper into his thoughts and closed the subspace.

‘… right, this isn’t the most important thing right now.’

Deltain’s expression crumpled.

He had more urgent matters than identifying the locations of these materials.

Namely, extracting Magic Flower Actrias.

‘I’ve delayed the deadline. I need to slowly start the research again from now.’

He would look at the magic flower from a botanical perspective and test each characteristic.

Through that, he would find a way to extract the magic flower.

To do that, there was something he needed to do.

‘… that fucking bitch.’

He had to spend time with Agnes Levadine.

No, he even had to make contact with her.

– It’s beautiful. Really.

Suddenly, Deltain’s teeth ground together.

Though he couldn’t deny some of his anger towards Agnes, what really irked his pride was his own reaction of panic and running away that day.

As was often the case with misdirected anger, Deltain found himself rationalizing his actions.

‘Yeah, I was too tired that day. I had just completed over 70 hours of research and was drained of mana from surgery. I was in poor condition.’

If he went back, he wouldn’t show such a disgraceful act again.

Deltain steeled himself and stood up.

“Gerhart!”

“Yes.”

“We’re going to the Levadine mansion. Notify them in advance.”

Gerhart, puzzled by Deltain’s unusually angry demeanor, simply nodded and replied.

“Yes.”

After all, his master was a man who spent most of the year angry.

*

From Deltain’s perspective, Agnes Levadine was the same as ever.

She greeted him with the same smile, seemingly unperturbed by the extension of her life.

But one thing, the greeting was different from usual.

“Is there nothing different from usual?”

Deltain let out a hollow laugh.

“What, do you want to hear that your hair looks different today or something? Give it up. I’m not the kind of person who pays attention to every little change.”

“Pfft!”

Agnes laughed, shaking her shoulders.

As Deltain’s eyebrows furrowed even more at the incomprehensible reaction, she finally burst into laughter, patting the blanket as she spoke.

“Whoa, you’re really too much. You’re really a bad guy, huh?”

“… what nonsense are you talking about?”

“Anya isn’t here. You were probably guided by someone else all the way to this room, didn’t you notice?”

“Oh.”

Only then did Deltain realize that the maid who guided him today was different.

“Anya has gone to the estate. She’s going to become the head maid of the lord’s castle.”

“Well, that’s good.”

“Don’t you feel sad?”

“Why would I?”

Deltain was genuinely not sad about her departure.

In fact, he wasn’t interested from the start.

Agnes continued with a somewhat satisfied smile at his indifference.

“So, today is the fifty-second failure?”

“Not for the time being.”

“Why?”

“I’m going to investigate the magic flower.”

Deltain said as he sat in his usual chair.

“I have a rough idea of how to approach it. I’ll only do the next surgery after investigating the magic flower more.”

“So, you came today because you wanted to see me?”

“Do you have memory problems? I said I came to investigate the magic flower.”

“Sorry, I’m not generous enough to overlook such excuses.”

Deltain clicked his tongue and held out his hand.

It was the doctor’s signal to end the conversation and start the examination.

However, Agnes just stared blankly at his hand.

“Give it.”

When Deltain spoke in an irritated voice, Agnes replied with a sly smile.

“I feel like a puppy. When someone asks for my hand, I have to give it.”

“You bitch.”

“Whoa, now you’re really treating me like a bitch?”

Only then did Agnes place her hand over Deltain’s.

Then, in a playful tone, she uttered.

“Woof. Woof.”

“Shut up before I sew your mouth shut.”

“Tsk.”

Deltain was quite satisfied with the conversation so far.

He had thoroughly suppressed her without showing any signs of embarrassment like before, so it was only natural.

He thought that if he just finished the diagnosis and left, everything would be fine.

As his mind began to relax, Agnes spoke.

“By the way, you know. Did you enjoy it?”

“What?”

“When you touched my chest.”

Flinch.

Deltain’s body trembled.

Agnes, who was held by him, could clearly feel the vibration.

Her smile deepened.

“You said it was my ribs, but you also touched my chest. And you saw all of my bare skin.”

“… it was a medical act.”

“For saying that, your face was red before you left. Oh, that was a bit funny. You kept staring at my cleavage until you left.”

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

Deltain’s eyes were bloodshot.

He looked like he was about to explode in anger, but then he calmed his expression and responded differently with a twisted smile.

“Hey, do you like me? Why are you so desperate to get involved with me?”

Deltain didn’t want to show her that he was flustered.

Deltain Hebron was a man who enjoyed suppressing others rather than being attacked.

So, he tried to respond to her attack in a way that suited his personality and regained his composure.

Agnes blinked.

A hint of anticipation for what she would say next began to creep into Deltain’s mind.

However, if she were a woman who would easily succumb to such tactics, Deltain wouldn’t have had such a hard time with her in the first place.

“I won’t say.”

“It sounds like a yes to me.”

“Isn’t that what you want to hear?”

“Do you think I like you?”

“Yes.”

Agnes smiled brightly.

“And you will confess to me. Pathetically begging.”

Deltain let out a hollow laugh.

This time, it was a reaction born out of sheer disbelief rather than anger.

“What confidence is that?”

“I’m just stating a fact. Did it seem like confidence?”

“Do you have any basis for this?”

“Yes, because I’m beautiful.”

“Hey, if your self-love is that extreme, it’s a kind of mental illness. You should fix your head before your heart.”

“I don’t want to hear that from you.”

Deltain had a lot to say.

Most of it was accompanied by harsh words.

However, he felt like he would lose if he said it, so Deltain did something else instead.

He let go of Agnes’s hand and rolled up the sleeve of his shirt.

“Do you see this?”

“A tattoo.”

On Deltain’s exposed forearm was a tattoo shaped like a thorny vine.

It wasn’t just any tattoo.

It was a kind of protective measure he had engraved to protect himself from the demon of lust during the main story.

“It’s a tattoo that proves my chastity. I got it to ward off the demon of lust, and even after the demon died, the tattoo remains. Do you know what this means?”

“That you’re a virgin?”

“It means there hasn’t been a woman on this land who I found attractive enough to give myself to. None of the women who tried to seduce me were enticing enough to make me want to give myself to them. Do you think you’d be any different?”

“Yes.”

“What confidence is that exactly?”

“Because I’m prettier than them.”

“…”

Deltain was at a loss for words.

He unknowingly agreed with her statement.

Even in such a situation, Agnes just chuckled.

“But you know.”

“… what?”

“Will that tattoo disappear if you lose your virginity?”

“Yeah, but you can’t.”

“Hmm…”

Agnes’s smile deepened.

She felt great pleasure in Deltain flaunting his virginity.

After all, it meant she had gained another trophy that would become hers.

In her half-moon-shaped eyes, her cherry blossom-colored pupils etched the tattoo into her retinas.

There was no doubt that the expression was that of a hunter.