[Nightmare]

Chapter 40 [True Honorary Harem]

"Hi… Um… my name is Millie, and I don't know what to say." A voice announced between tears.

"Not just right now. Always"

Light laughter and giggles came from the otakus that could relate.

The small female was standing on a platform in a large ballroom.

She had light brown hair and glasses; she proudly chose a spirit beast as her gift.

"I…. Helix… was… um… a hero to me."

Many started bawling when they heard Millie's words.

"When I was anxious and scared, I looked at his confident demeanor and willingness to push forward to find strength…." Millie whispered.

Nodding heads and whispers followed her words.

"If someone didn't know he was under constant attacks, they would have just believed he was a person that sighed before helping people."

The young woman's puffy tears brightened with a giggle, and the others present couldn't help but join in.

"But for those that knew him, they only needed to look at E-Emelia to know he was wasn't so simple….

Helix… didn't just help people out of p-polite…ness….

H-He helped them because he was a g-good peer-son, and s-seeing E-Emelia's bright smile… proved that c-constantly…."

Millie burst into tears and spoke between sobs.

"Seeing E-Emelia's smile made me feel s-safe in Myriad….

It r-reminded me there was a-always… a-a reason to be s-smiling, and… p-people that found s-smiles im-important…." Millie sobbed.

Many started bawling when they heard her words.

"I-It was c-contagious.

A-After Em… E-Emelia showed up with her bright sm-smile… everyone wanted… everyone wanted… t-to be b-better to their s-servant.

T-Then we s-started becoming k-kinder people without knowing it.

W-We just woke up one d-day, and there were l-lots of smiling faces." Millie flashed a smile before sobbing again.

Many people giggled and joined in with her crying.

"Even though He… Helix was c-constantly under th-threat, he could make E-E-Emelia the h-happiest woman… i-in the w-world.

H-He p-protected u-us… ee-even th-though h-he was the p-person… that n-needed p-protecting the m-most…." Millie said between deep breaths.

The crying increased in intensity, primary among the women.

"T-That's… I-I'm glad that the K-Kingdom has… denoted H-Helix with the h-honorary title of [hero]."

There were over one hundred people in the ballroom, and they all had worn expressions.

While the Knights had mixed emotions, [every] servant displayed their heavy heart at the event.

"Me too!"

"He deserved it!"

"We didn't deserve him…."

Whispers passed through the crowd of his peers.

Millie started crying and bowed awkwardly to the crowd.

She was truly heartbroken by the loss of Helix, who was her source of inspiration.

"Thank you, Millie. Tanya, would you like to speak?" Marie asked.

Behind her, there was a traditional casket.

A painting of Helix Hellsworth Margrave's face was displayed.

"Yes." A goddess replied with gorgeous, nervous silver eyes and lush black hair.

She was holding a large card that was three feet tall and two feet wide in her hands.

"Um… I'm not good at speaking. I don't think any of us anti-social women are." Tanya started with a low voice.

Her face was downtrodden, but her eyes burned with resolve.

Light laughter filled the room between sobs.

"That's the thing that made Helix special, I guess.

None of us women were popular when we came here, and none of us had dreams of having a relationship with anyone." She said in a low voice.

A wave of empathy rippled through the crowd.

"When I chose the Eye of Beauty, I imagined that my social skills would improve, and I'd gain more self-confidence.

However, that wasn't the case.

I was still as awkward as ever, and I found it difficult to find friends.

Moreover, it made things worse.

People found me beautiful and unapproachable after changing my appearance.

So my isolation multiplied." Tanya confessed with sadness in her eyes.

Most of the men and women that had chosen the Eye of Beauty chuckled bitterly.

"You can say that again." A young woman whispered.

"Preach." Another whispered.

"For better or worse, Helix was different." Tanya asserted with a wry smile.

"People call Helix a simp, but he didn't care what someone looked like.

He took my hand to share information from the Myriad Library with an expression so indifferent I thought I could cry!" She confessed.

Laughter burst out into the audience.

"Me too! I was bitter after getting help for the first time." A young woman cried.

"Yeah, it was refreshing, but also brutal." Another chuckled.

"I was angry when he first spoke to me." A third confessed.

"Me too. I didn't forgive Helix for a week after he gave me directions." Someone laughed.

The men in the audience shared perplexed expressions that said, [Wait, that doesn't make sense]!

"Be careful what you wish for." Tanya giggled.

Giggles and laughter passed through the group of young men and women.

"However, we couldn't feel more inspired by Helix.

Us women felt guilty about talking to him." Tanya laughed bitterly.

Grave nods filled the room.

"As anti-social men and women, we knew better than anyone how much resentment people get by being popular despite being looked down on.

The less beautiful and charismatic you are, the more resentment people get when a beautiful or popular person likes you.

It's one reason we're fearful of making friends.

So the fact that we were selfishly talking to him despite knowing how much resentment we were pushing on him made us feel guilty." She whispered bitterly.

A dozen women burst into tears after hearing Tanya's words.

"But… he was the only person we could turn to when we felt scared or needed help." She said with a bitter-sweet smile.

The crying got louder.

"It wasn't that we feared the other men or women for something tangible.

It was just that we feared talking to people in general.

But Helix would never turn us away or resent us for any reason.

He often sighed and said, [I wish people would stop treating me like a search engine].

But then he'd answer our query!" Tanya laughed and burst into tears of joy.

Laughter and sobs collided in a biblical battle.

"Yet he never turned us away.

He complained and treated us like human beings.

Helix wasn't a simp, but he wasn't rude or disrespectful.

He treated us the way we deserved to be treated, and he did so as our friend." She explained.

"Yeah…."

"I felt that way too."

"I liked that about him."

Tanya's bloodshot eyes welled with tears as she looked over her peers.

"And… and… and… we felt safe because no matter how many times people tried to kill him, or harm him, or bad mouth him, he'd help us anyway!" She cried.

The crying became hysterical.

"So in light of that, we antisocial girls put together this card!" Tanya proclaimed as she held it in front of all of the faces of the audience.

Many people gasped in shock when they read the bold words on its front.

[Women and men that apply to join Helix's Honorary Harem].

Laughter and gasps of shock shattered the pressurized atmosphere.

"Over half of the women here and perhaps some men would gladly have joined a harem of Helix's.

Now that he's… he's… gone, we have the confidence to boldly claim how we feel." She announced with renewed vigor.

Many women in the audience smiled at one another.

Men looked away bitterly in shame and humiliation.

"I'd like to pull the men's attention to the note written at the bottom!" She announced while pointing her index at the bottom of the card.

The men's eyes widened and became gentler.

[*Many only joining because he's likely to swerve sexual advances].

Laughter detonated in the room again.

"Helix died for a harem that he never wanted.

So we felt it was only right for us to give him one after…." Tanya whispered.

"... he proved that he deserved one."

Clapping filled the auditorium, and tears of joy overtook the stage.

"Thank you, Tanya. Atlas, would you like to take the stage?" Marie asked.

Atlas nodded and slowly walked to the stage.

His light brown hair was neatly cut and combed to the side.

He wore his characteristic glasses on his face, but they self-adjusted to the room's lighting.

The tinting on his glasses was usually a dark, muted blue, but it was a lighter shade that darkened his blue eyes.

"Yo." Atlas announced while putting a flat hand in front of his face.

"For those who don't know me, my name is Atlas.

Despite being just as reserved as Helix, most of you don't know me.

I don't have an unjust charm attribute that attracts every form of attention against my will.

I'm what you would call [normal]."

Laughter burst into the ballroom, and tears of joy slid down everyone's faces.

"As many pointed out, Helix was a person that would help someone no matter what.

His only condition was that you didn't tell him what you were using his help for.

Helix's motto was, [I don't want to get involved in your business].

His reasoning? [It's a pain]." Atlas explained with a chuckle.

"Yup, that's him." A person said.

"Sounds about right." Another said.

"His fake laziness was legendary." Another giggled.

"Despite that, he always caused havoc wherever he went.

As a result, he was always caught up in our business despite not wanting it.

But he was the only person talented enough and willing enough to help us." He laughed.

Murmurs and chuckles spread through the crowd.

"I'll give you a prime example.

Behind me, there is a triple-layered magic circle called the Circle of Duplication on Helix's coffin.

Helix drew and activated two layers of the magic circle himself.

It has duplicated a certain Circle of Remembrance.

I owe him the embarrassment of triggering it.

Keep in mind that I have been granted prior authorization for doing so." Atlas announced.

The young man turned around and put his hands on the circle.

A rich green light swirled around the outer ring, and the whole circle lit up with a magic glow.

"I, Atlas Joshuafruit, formally acknowledge that I will not use this Circle of Vanity to trick my debt collectors into releasing me from my debt."

Laughter burst into the crowd, and bewilderment filled the eyes of everyone present.

"Helix was weak, sure. But boy, was he talented.

He could draw some mean magic circles with advanced magic.

And when it did, it tended to create some real havoc." He grinned.

Murmurs and excitement spread through the crowd.

Everyone wanted to know what these magic circles did.

"He was willing to help my sorry ass even though I didn't deserve it and never released proof of my actions.

Let me explain what these magic circles do.

The first can change your appearance.

The second, as you've learned, records a person's voice.

You can do mischievous things with this combination of magic circles.

I am not speaking from experience here; it's just a logical truth." Atlas claimed before turning his head and whistling lightly.

Laughter erupted between the chosen ones.

Bewilderment filled their faces, and excitement filled their eyes.

"He always recorded everything people did with his magic circles.

But was never willing to expose information on people's actions—unless it recorded proof of those trying to kill him."

"Enough!" A female voice screeched from the audience.

—

Disclaimer: Grammatical mistakes and minor inconsistencies = more content.