The Skeleton's Teasing

I brought the contract forward, and four heads immediately gathered around it. The party members read through every clause with meticulous care, nodding along until they reached one particular section and finally exploded.

"That fucking bitch! What the hell does she mean, cut? I'm going over there right now and—!"

As expected, Bae Jua was the first to blow her top. The one who stopped her from storming out was Arin.

"Just leave it. By my standards, she's already been punished plenty, y'know~"

"Ugh, you're so frustrating. What if that girl somehow gets her mana channels reopened? She'll come after you first!"

"Then I'll just get stronger! Besides, with this she'll rot in prison for years. By the time she gets out, she'll have forgotten all her abilities anyway, right?"

"Well... yeah, that's true, but it still feels gross..."

At Arin's insistence, Jua finally planted her butt back in her seat. She kept smacking her lips and glancing toward Heo Min-sol's house, clearly not ready to let it go.

I feel the same way, but since she said she'd handle it herself, I'll step back.

"It's too much. She isn't even thinking about what she did..."

"We need to take measures..."

"It's fine-yong!"

Arin had already told Heo Min-sol on the way here that she wouldn't touch her again, and I had simply acted accordingly. Honestly, considering what her little siblings had gone through, wouldn't a clean elimination have been the proper answer? Hmm. Well, she'll figure it out. Whether it comes back to bite her in a few years or fades away like this, the matter had already left my hands.

Fortunately, the rest of the contract terms didn't deviate much from what we'd expected, so we were able to continue the discussion in a calmer atmosphere.

"This should be enough as evidence. Ilwol, is the mana signature on this oath definitely Heo Min-sol's?"

Clack!

"Pffft— Perfect. Go eat some prison food, you bitch. Haha."

Jua let out a bright, refreshing laugh. Even though she hadn't been the victim, she'd heard so many stories from Arin that she seemed even more delighted than the person directly involved. Baek Arin finally let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank you-yong, Yeonhee!"

"Huh? Oh, no, I didn't really do anything. It was all Ilwol—"

"Ilwol belongs to you, Yeonhee. So it's basically the same as you doing it!"

"She's right."

At Jua and Arin's words, the corners of Yeonhee's mouth twitched upward.

"H-he's mine... yeah. Well, ahem—"

Yeonhee mumbled in a voice that grew smaller and smaller, then gently placed her hand over the back of mine. Even though she couldn't see, she found the exact spot without hesitation. Her detection abilities were improving by the day... Anyway, we decided it was time to leave the area.

Heo Min-sol would certainly be punished, but there might be a follow-up investigation regarding the theft. There was no need to linger here and invite unnecessary trouble.

*

That night, just like the day before, Yeonhee retreated to her room at midnight, but she didn't lock the door. Of course, she had stood in front of it for a while, clearly debating with herself. For the next thirty minutes, she lay under her blanket with her eyes wide open, mumbling something to herself.

She now knew ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that I could detect even the smallest sounds if I focused, so she kept her voice low. It was more like she was rolling words around inside her mouth. Since I'd pushed her away a bit while we were coming out of the gate, it was time to pull her back in. That said, I couldn't bring her to climax like I had a few days ago and make things difficult again. Still, I needed to create a situation that would leave her wanting more.

Another thirty minutes passed.

Ow, my head...

I clutched my throbbing skull and tried to organize the flood of information and piece together the memories that had surfaced. I needed to find another 'great villain' to obtain Nam Yong-seok's ability. Several candidates had come to mind, but not a single one was easy prey. Most of them had either reached full maturity in their growth or had already passed that stage. In short, none of them were opponents my current abilities could handle lightly.

There's one guy who seems somewhat doable... but I can't touch him right now.

I wasn't sure if he'd qualify as a great villain, but one annoying villain had come to mind. The guy who had made a name for himself as a villain who hunted other villains. The one known as the 'Mad Judge.' His plain white mask floated into my mind.

At first, people had cheered for him—even ordinary citizens—because he caught several troublesome villains. But as time passed, the crazy bastard began labeling hunters who were only ambiguously villainous according to his own standards and started killing them. Over two hundred of the hunters he killed were people who, by any reasonable judgment, hadn't done anything warranting execution. Many of them were high-ranking hunters, so he had certainly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠contributed to accelerating this world's destruction.

Hmm... He did earn quite the notoriety, but he's still far from Nam Yong-seok's level...

Even if he didn't meet the criteria for a great villain, catching him would give me a rough sense of exactly what kind of evil was required. He would begin his full-scale activities two years from now. For the moment, he was still hiding his true nature and diligently clearing dungeons. Calculating backward, his current rank was probably upper C-grade to mid B-grade. That meant that while I couldn't face him now, once I completed my third class change and grew a bit more, I might be able to try.

There was just one concerning factor.

Gravity manipulation... That might be pretty tough to deal with.

He possessed an extremely unique ability called gravity manipulation. There was a saying that hunters with rare abilities like that should be considered half a grade higher than their official rank. In the worst-case scenario, if he was truly mid B-grade, his actual combat power would be closer to the bottom of A-grade.

Okay. I'll keep this information for now. Who got caught today?

I activated Mimicry and checked the minimap to see where the specific group of perverts was located.

Huh? They're gone again. Starting to feel a little disappointed here.

It was the second day in a row of nothing. The perverted group was over ten kilometers away, and I couldn't sense any other foreign presence in our neighborhood.

Has this area finally found peace!

When I thought about how I'd contributed to that, a small sense of pride welled up. After clearing my throat, I tried speaking.

"Aa— Yeoni. I am Ilwol."

Good. It was definitely improving. I never expected to enjoy growth in language ability alongside combat capability. I nodded in satisfaction and looked at my reflection in the mirror.

Was my face always this pale?

But I wasn't interested in my face. I lowered my gaze to examine the clothes on my body. Necktie, suit jacket. Still the same. I'd tested it several times—anything I took off disappeared when I released Mimicry, and everything returned to normal when I used it again. I didn't know when I'd be able to use this, but I'd remember it.

After straightening my clothes, I naturally opened Yeonhee's door and walked in without hesitation.

"Eep...!"

At the sound of the door opening, Yeonhee sucked in a sharp breath and covered her mouth ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with both hands. Hidden under her blanket, she had curled herself into the smallest ball possible. I didn't bother pulling the blanket off her. I had no intention of embracing her today.

I lay down beside her and waited quietly. Eventually, Yeonhee peeked just her head out and glanced at me.

"......"

When I smiled at her, she flinched in surprise and quickly ducked back under the blanket. Like a meerkat. It was adorable. But when I didn't react, she slowly revealed her face again and finally met my eyes.

The awkwardness from before seemed like a distant memory. We recovered our original relationship surprisingly quickly. Even though we simply lay in the same space, looking at each other without any words or actions.

"Pfft... Hehe..."

Yeonhee couldn't hold back her laughter. I gradually moved closer to her, and we faced each other again at a distance that was neither too close nor too far. Her heart began pounding rapidly, but this much was within the acceptable range. It wasn't enough to make her uncomfortable yet.

I carefully placed my hand on her head and stroked it. The soft sararak sound was incredibly pleasant to hear.

"Ah..."

I gently brushed her hair back and lightly touched her ear as well.

"...!"

Yeonhee flinched at my touch and jerked her head back. Her reddened face and flustered expression seemed to ask, You're doing it again? I gestured downward at the distance she'd created, telling her to come closer again. She approached hesitantly. She was listening well now.

I placed my hand on her ear once more, caressing her earlobe. She still trembled, but she didn't seem to dislike it. She would wink one eye at my gestures, yet the corners of her mouth kept rising. I also touched her cheeks, which still held a hint of baby fat, and stroked her hair again.

Like that, switching between different spots, I poured affection into the skinship as if petting the world's cutest puppy. Gradually, her head began moving to follow my hand. Today I'd only use one hand, slowly... Should I touch somewhere else with the other hand? No, that would be too soon.

Yeonhee's breathing grew rough, breaking twice, then three times as she exhaled. Could I send her over the edge just by touching her face? If I had enough time, it seemed entirely possible.

"Haa... Ha..."

After a few minutes of making her feel good, Yeonhee was clearly starting to heat up. Before I knew it, her eyes were gently closed as she actively rubbed her face against my hand.

Then this is enough.

The moment I withdrew my hand without hesitation, Yeonhee looked up at me with round eyes as if she'd been woken from a sweet dream. She stared at me blankly for a moment, her expression clearly saying, Wait, that's it? It was the look of a child facing an unbelievable reality. I'd never seen that expression before. Khhup— Laughter threatened to burst out. I had to hold it in, but it wasn't easy. This was really fun. I never knew such entertainment existed.

But I stood up as if nothing had happened. Yeonhee unconsciously rose with me. The way she sat there awkwardly, looking up at me, reminded me of a baby bird waiting for food. Hmm... Should I give her just a little more?

I bent one knee and moved closer to her, then lowered my head toward her collarbone.

"Haaa..."

Yeonhee squeezed her eyes shut. I paused for a moment to savor the sweet scent rising from her neck, then did what I'd wanted to do.

Chu—

I kissed her cheek, which had bloomed with a spring-flower blush. Her eyes, which I'd thought couldn't get any larger, widened even more. When I tilted my head slightly and smiled, she covered her face with her tiny hands and bowed her head deeply.

"... Uu... Hiiiing..."

Yeonhee trembled as if asking why I was doing this to her, her voice tearful. I gently stroked the back of her lowered head with my fingertips. Her shoulders shook in time with my touch. The body heat beneath her hair felt warm enough to burn. I lightly scratched her scalp with my fingers.

"Eut...! Uuk...! Mmm..."

Twitch— Twitch— After stroking her head ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and ears a few more times, I left the room. I could feel her gaze piercing through my back as she secretly spread her fingers to watch me go. I'd tried to hold back, but it seemed I'd gone a bit overboard.

It's not easy.