Chapter 498
Chapter 498
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 498
Chapter Title: Perfume Tycoon (5)
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1.
Sniffing a faint disinfectant smell, he underwent various tests, but it only took about thirty minutes.
Though he'd figured there was nothing to worry about.
Actually going through a proper health checkup like this made him quietly anxious anyway.
Above all, because Countess Kohav's expression hadn't been great at all throughout the examination.
Especially since this came right after they'd discovered the anomaly where mana amplification wasn't happening with Amelia anymore, leaving everyone on edge.
"Is that everything?"
"As far as what I can do, yes. Get dressed."
Si-woo dazedly put his clothes back on.
Countess Kohav took a pipe connected to a water reservoir from her pocket and lit it.
Long tendrils of smoke stretched out from between her thin lips.
She closed her eyes as if troubled, so he spoke first.
"Did you find something wrong?"
"...No. Nothing at all."
Countess Kohav said that much, then grudgingly added as if her pride had been wounded.
"There's no way sensory linkage could fail without reason. It must mean I just couldn't spot it."
At least in Countess Kohav's eyes, everything was perfectly normal.
The major blood vessels, capillaries, bones, muscles, and neural linkages were all complete, and the adaptation sites were cleanly handled too.
She'd even perfectly reconstructed the existing mana circuits throughout his body based on the astral body's mana pathways, mapping out and artificially building what had been there before.
Yet she couldn't guess why the sensory linkage was the one thing going wrong.
"The only thing I can speculate is that you lost your arm in null space."
"Does it matter where I lost it?"
"That place is an unobservable zone where anything could happen without surprise. My examination might not have caught some minute error in your astral body."
"So what happens then?"
A problem he'd brushed off lightly was starting to feel increasingly serious.
As Si-woo showed his unease, Countess Kohav cut him off bluntly.
"I provided the best procedure possible. The fee from Countess Jemernai covered from the elbow down on your lost left arm's prosthetic transplant. From here on, it doesn't seem like my responsibility."
"Pardon? I still can't feel anything yet."
"I told you. It's not my issue. I clearly transplanted it perfectly, assuming no major astral body problems. It was Countess Jemernai who didn't make that explicit."
Si-woo swallowed the urge to snap that it was bullshit.
He got what she was saying.
In simple terms, she wasn't doing more than what she'd been paid for.
But even karaoke places that take payment upfront threw in some service, and here his arm was on the verge of being crippled—yet she was just going to handle up to the paid portion?
As a patient, it was only natural to feel dissatisfied.
"Understood. If I pay additional fees, how much more would it be?"
But he wasn't close enough to Countess Kohav to argue, and on second thought, she had a point.
This wasn't like swapping a water purifier filter; he had no intention of leaving an arm replacement half-done.
When he expressed willingness to pay extra, Countess Kohav tossed out her response casually.
"I don't need money. Not sure it would even balance the scales."
"......"
"But I'm personally interested in your body."
Countess Kohav's eyes turned to Si-woo.
A subtle curiosity flickered in her pupils like candlelight.
"......"
"Let me study you, and I'll look into it as payment."
Was this her plan from the start?
Si-woo let out a sigh.
He'd had a feeling things were getting messy.
But he hadn't expected such a shallow scheme lurking.
It was obvious.
High chance was, Countess Kohav could treat it but was dragging her feet on purpose.
Just to study Si-woo's body, as she'd hinted.
He didn't know exactly what that research entailed, but becoming an experimental subject was a hard pass.
Still, asking wouldn't hurt.
"What kind of experiment?"
"An astral body is the perfect physique granted alongside the Stigma. Even among perfect ones, there are bound to be various differences between male and female. So I'll map your body overall. It's a necessary step for debugging the sensory linkage anyway."
"......"
Let's think about this calmly.
Was this really all bad?
Si-woo's astral body was full of mysteries.
Beyond mana amplification, there were all sorts of unresolved black boxes.
Cooperating with Countess Kohav's experiment could reveal things about his own body—not something he could call purely bad.
Unlike his slave days, if trouble came to Si-woo now, he had more than one or two close allies who'd rise up for him.
That said, there was a problem here.
Among Si-woo's unique traits: mana amplification during intercourse, the ability to steal or add Stigmas, and the new inheritance method he was researching with Countess Yesod.
No one could guarantee how much interest a witch would take in those elements.
That's why he was keeping them hidden from anyone but his closest confidants.
Si-woo didn't know what kind of person Countess Kohav was.
She might be content collecting samples now, but who knew how she'd flip if she learned all sorts of secrets.
Plus, the risk of truths leaking out and witches from all sides hounding him endlessly made him uneasy.
"...I'll think it over a bit more and get back to you."
"Do that. Off you go."
Surprisingly, Countess Kohav backed off without lingering.
Leaving her immersed in research again without farewell, Si-woo exited her workshop.
"Hm... Should I swing by Tarot Town?"
There was an issue with his astral body.
If there was a witch he could turn to for help, one came to mind.
Yebin Smirna, 19th Hierarchy, a healing specialist witch.
Though decisive healing had gone to Kether's hands due to Si-woo's fierce subconscious resistance, she was still the benefactor who'd mended his battered body—and an excellent physician.
That said, even though he thought he should visit, there was a reason he'd been putting it off.
"It's just... our relationship is a bit awkward..."
Si-woo and Yebin weren't quite lovers.
They'd shared a pretty bizarre first experience, but afterward, their interactions were just two days in bed.
And that was after he'd regained his memories, sunk in despair from the intense fallout with Amelia, when he impulsively fell for her seduction and hooked up.
But time had passed since then, and Si-woo now had several lovers by his side.
He'd even started thinking a bit about responsibility.
Unless Yebin reached out first, Si-woo—with multiple partners already—couldn't just casually drop by.
"Still, this is important..."
There was no guarantee meeting her would lead straight to something steamy.
The anomaly with his body absolutely needed addressing.
"Huh?"
Lost in such thoughts while descending the stairs without an escort, someone blocked his path.
Not that surprising a figure.
Duchess Erelim, 24th Hierarchy.
Full name Blanche Erelim, if he recalled.
Lustrous black hair cascading to her hips, and mysterious eyes blending silver and white.
A white dress that clung tightly, revealing her figure despite barely exposing skin—immensely seductive.
Other notable traits: height easily over 170 cm, and ample bosom.
He'd only seen her at the trial; this was his first time up close.
Facing her one-on-one, her unique aura hit him immediately.
He bowed politely in greeting first.
She was a duchess, after all, and this was her mansion.
"Greetings, Duchess Erelim."
Just standing there exuded a queenly presence.
Drier and more devoid of humanity than even Countess Kohav, her atmosphere dimmed even the kingdom-toppling beauty like a flower without scent.
Not that the duchess cared about any of that.
Truth be told, Si-woo found her uncomfortable.
Their points of contact weren't pleasant enough to foster goodwill.
Even if it was her duty as a duke, she'd hurled the spear of purge at Si-woo and Amelia, and her cold demeanor at the trial lingered in memory.
Among witches, she was especially rigid orthodox, and the leader at that.
Everything about her made her hard to deal with.
He wanted to go his own way right now, but her mansion was too vast to chalk this encounter up to coincidence.
She'd probably come to meet him.
"......"
But Duchess Erelim just stared at Si-woo silently, saying nothing.
"If there's no business, may I go?"
"So you're that male witch. The one who stopped Baroness Merigold's rampage."
"Yes."
When he asked while keeping maximally polite speech, Duchess Erelim slowly opened her mouth.
Hand on her chest, she gave a slight bow.
Her voice was like cool glass.
"On behalf of Gehenna's witches, my thanks for your devotion."
"Just doing what needed doing."
Since she was partly the culprit behind Amelia's frenzy, it stung inwardly.
He tried to exchange greetings and leave, but she showed no sign of stepping aside.
"Might I ask one favor?"
As if the thanks were concluded, Duchess Erelim cut straight to the point.
"I'd like to see your eyes."
"My eyes...?"
"The one behind the eyepatch."
Si-woo hesitated briefly.
Unlike other witches, Si-woo's Stigma was on his left eye.
Duchess Erelim seemed eager to inspect its appearance.
"It's not a difficult request..."
Compared to letting her study his body, this was nothing.
Si-woo readily removed the eyepatch and opened his eye.
Duchess Erelim stepped forward briskly.
She thrust her face so close it was nearly a kiss, forcing Si-woo to hold his breath.
High-Hierarchy witches' scents affected him easily.
He didn't know about 24th Hierarchy Duchess Erelim, but getting aroused here could spell disaster.
"......"
Her glass-like pupils stared fixedly at Si-woo's left eye.
Duchess Erelim's perpetually impassive face twisted.
He couldn't tell exactly why—shock, awe at the mystery, or curiosity toward the unknown.
"Th-that should be enough."
But seeing her pupils filling with growing passion, Si-woo carefully pushed Duchess Erelim away.
A chill cold enough to crawl up his spine swept over him, regardless of reason.
His heart pounded like it was gearing for battle.
"......"
Duchess Erelim murmured softly, then passed by Si-woo briskly.
No reason to grab her, and the atmosphere didn't invite words anyway, so Si-woo could only dazedly listen to her footsteps fading down the stairs.
"...Why not me?"
Si-woo voiced aloud the faint snippet he'd caught from Duchess Erelim's murmur.
Just as he couldn't grasp the direction of her passion, the meaning of her soliloquy eluded him too.