Chapter 17
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: Misunderstanding
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I'd ramped up the time I spent on those magic formulas that had been progressing smoothly for the past few months.
Normally, deciphering the ones Rachel gave me wouldn't take more than fifteen minutes without any help—just looking up a few proper nouns.
But as I mentioned before, the real reason magic formula research had taken over such a huge chunk of my daily life was something else entirely.
‘Solving a magic formula and actually developing and executing one yourself are worlds apart.’
From the get-go, I had to figure out how to slip mana-disrupting drugs into things so seamlessly that even aura users wouldn't notice—making them completely natural, undetectable by taste, and impossible to spot. If someone with sharp senses like Dillon or the Family Head caught on, it would've been a total disaster.
And I had to hide the magic tools that assisted with all that in just the right spots. While requesting other tools from Rachel, I observed them closely.
So, what was the magic formula I came up with?
Simple.
Clap.
The chant was nothing more than a short clap.
Everything fell silent.
In the dark hush, the noise echoing from the ceiling was enough to seize their attention.
The Count with sword in hand.
The merchant clutching the doorknob to flee.
The retainer sprinting for the back door.
All of them stared at one spot, entranced, gazing up at the ceiling as if hypnotized.
"...What did you just activate?"
Yuria, who'd been watching the scene unfold, showed a level of shock beyond what I'd imagined.
This wasn't dismissal. It was a question laced with genuine awe.
Against regular folk, maybe it wouldn't stand out. But aura users and mages beyond the fifth circle had fallen into that state without even resisting. Yuria herself recognized this as magic worthy of acclaim even outside these walls.
Casting sleep magic on individuals isn't hard. Especially if they're not resisting.
But scaling that to one, two, then five hundred people in the banquet hall? That's an entirely different league.
No country in the world has that much mana on hand.
I'd just used a little trick.
"That deadly poison—the stuff that would've killed the merchants if they ate it. I dialed back the lethality a bit. Just in case, I had you double-check it, Yuria, and leave the non-lethal doses alone."
"...Yes, but there wasn't any magic in it. Let alone a scroll..."
Ah.
Yuria, lost in thought for a moment, let out a gasp.
The poison. The mana disruptor I'd commissioned.
A magic that theoretically works only with magic tools placed precisely. Without spot-on calculations, the tools and the drug in their bodies wouldn't react, and it'd fizzle out. She hadn't even considered it. But Ian's magic formulas covered that gap just fine.
Since she'd placed most of the tools herself, Yuria could roughly crunch the numbers in her head. She couldn't hide her admiration for Ian.
Yuria gripped the railing and peered down coldly.
"......Fifteen of them. Seven already subdued, and the rest waiting in the wings. All cloaked in hides or using subtle stealth spells. Without the magic tools, even I might've missed them."
The banquet hall was bright now. Bathed in pure white light.
The stark white magic tools I'd tasked Yuria with were emitting their glow.
Shadows flitted through the beams of light bouncing everywhere.
Just as those words hung in the air.
-Click.
Yuria's eyes narrowed at the faint sound of footsteps.
"...Master, they're here."
"Yeah. I know. I'm watching everything through the magic tools."
At that moment.
The thieves immune to the magic charged straight at us.
I turned my head as if I'd seen it coming.
"Knew you'd be the first. Yuria's the prettiest one here, after all."
A tiny magic tool on the building pillar unleashed a bolt of lightning.
Lightning arced out around me and Yuria. The thieves, caught without a chance to dodge, convulsed in their arms and legs before collapsing to the floor.
‘Nothing beats lightning for crowd control traps.’
But it didn't kill them. Bodies honed by mana and shielded by magic don't break that easily.
"...Tch, damn it! What the hell kind of house is the Count's...!!"
From their prone positions, they fired wrist-mounted crossbows. The lingering magic circle proved they'd been illegally enhanced.
‘Aura users and circle-boosted mages don't drop easy.’
But contrary to their hopes.
Right beside me sat the world's next top predator—a vampire who'd been happily guzzling blood throughout the feast.
A casual flick of her hand sent a wave of blood sweeping the arrows aside.
The second volley couldn't pierce that wall of blood. The thieves' breaths caught in their throats. Their ambush had failed from the start—we'd seen them coming all along.
Ian scooped up Yuria, who was suckling at the nape he'd licked that morning, and gazed down at them. The thieves watching clenched their jaws in humiliated fury—the grinding echoed all the way up.
"Y-You bastard!!!!! Flying a noble's banner while raising a m-monster like that... I'll kill you right now!"
One of them, shaking off the electrocution, rose slowly and drew a blade from his coat. Aura flickered faintly around him—definitely an aura user—but it wasn't forming an Aura Blade or even holding a sword shape. Pathetic.
Smoke rose from the lightning burns, and through the charred clothes, his identity was obvious.
Wrinkled skin, creased face, jaundiced whites of the eyes, pupils unnaturally skewed to the sides. Hunched back, single black front tooth.
That geezer was definitely the one who'd tried to assault Dillon's next heroine, Luciel, in the original story.
‘In the original, he tried forcing himself on Dillon's girl, got caught red-handed, and ended up in pieces.’
A classic NTR-challenging sacrifice in those "teach him a lesson" tropes.
Still, that didn't make it any less disgusting.
As his mana surged, boosting his ego, his true colors peeked through.
Yuria's brow twitched at the repulsive voice invading her ears.
"...Kekekeke, so young. Ripe. Nice rack too—right up my alley. Hurry up and—"
His laugh grated so hard that Yuria paused mid-gulp.
"........Can I kill that thief now, Master?"
Yuria curled her fist slightly. Her tell for Blood Magic. With my order or permission, his body would shred apart in an instant—no question.
‘Doesn't even register the chaos below, just leers at Yuria. What an idiot.’
Well, I won't argue her appeal.
Everything I was touching was warm and soft, after all.
"A guy like that won't mess up the plan. Just clean up neat."
"Understood."
Yuria slipped from my arms and extended one.
She clenched her fist. Blood spikes erupted from cracks in the floor like thorns, piercing the thief's skull dead-on.
The crossbow shooter below died without a scream too. Better to take two birds with one stone.
It didn't even surprise me anymore. Yuria was the final boss. With even a bit of growth, trash mobs like these die with a gesture.
I eyed the thief's limp, drained body.
Yuria irritably pulled me close, burying her face against my chest.
She rubbed between my lower belly and thighs, a silent demand for pets and praise.
"...I'm yours, Master. I'd give you everything. It's humiliating and disgusting for trash like that to even say my name."
"Yuria. You know we have to feed the familiar, even if you hate it."
"...Yes, Master."
Yuria wore a faintly sad look as she stroked the wolf-shaped familiar emerging from the shadows, then ordered it to devour the thief's cold corpse.
It wasn't the desecration of the body that bothered her. It was her kin touching filth like that.
To a normal person, it'd look gruesome. But my heart was beating with eerie calm. Maybe because I'd visualized this scenario a hundred times.
Up to here, everything was going to plan.
‘Plus, Yuria wiped out that annoying vice-captain's ability, so the thieves are in total disarray. Plenty of openings.’
Yuria crouched low, scraping the floor as she waited for the familiar to finish eating every aura-bearing human.
Meanwhile, I stuck to the plan.
And headed toward where Rachel was.
....
A wolf-shaped familiar stuck to my side. Blood dripping from its maw in steady drops.
No idea why, but it followed me like glue.
"Hmm...... The more I look, the more attached I get."
Did it understand? The one leading the way wagged its tail.
"How about Baduk?"
"..."
For a split second, I recalled Yuria's stone-cold face—the first time she'd ever looked pissed—when she heard that.
Shed seen the hologram warning my life was in danger. Total freakout.
Vowed not to name things carelessly again.
But come on—it's pitch black. Perfect for Baduk. What's wrong with that?
"Yuria named it...... Lovel, right?"
"Definitely Baduk's better."
-Woof!
You dog or what.
It barked happily, like it approved of Yuria's pick over mine.
Loved head pats, did tricks—late-game Phantom Fenrir-tier monster? Nah, more like the neighbor's mutt.
"Grrr."
Halfway down the dim corridor, the wolf split into three.
Three enemies ahead.
Yuria's familiar could divide up to a hundred bodies, regenerating fully in a day as long as the core survived.
Crossbows bounced off thick hides.
Mages? Breath alone neutralized them.
Sub-aura, sub-circle? Too slow to track.
Each one packed insane prowess. In this plan, they weren't even getting scratched—just eating humans and powering up.
Obviously. Episode 1 trash versus final boss minions? No contest.
Probably only Rachel the Ice Palace Lord or Carman could fully take one down in this mansion—regeneration and all.
As expected, screams rang out from arms torn off or bodies mauled by dozens of wolves.
"Wh-What the hell are th—"
"Gaaah!! M-My arm...!"
"Brother Russ, these things.... Gahk!"
They died without meaningful resistance. Felt downright satisfying.
‘Yuria's powers are so convenient. One familiar wipes half the variables I'd planned for.’
I'd prepped Yuria with faces, traits, even hair scents of every noble who'd visited. Fakes? She'd sniff 'em out.
Hiding blood scent's easy, but memorizing markers like this? Bulletproof.
Any whiff of blood, and it pounced mercilessly.
Sure enough, passing a table, it chomped a "noble's" head clean off.
Close inspection confirmed: assassin in noble skin, knocked out by the feast.
‘Still no sign of the boss. Supposed to be near Dillon.’
Needed to handle him before offering the rest as demon fodder.
The mass sleep served multiple purposes: Yuria's secrecy, demon absorption, blocking body-snatching sacrifices.
Bonus: combat XP and safety.
Dillon fights here—dragging everyone in, not holding back.
Perfect bloodbath for demons.
Current Yuria couldn't beat a mid-tier demon.
And demons hate vampires.
Bad blood from way back. Spot her noble vamp origins? They'd prioritize her kill.
‘...Ah, there.’
Luckily, mid-recap, the wolf signaled Rachel's scent trail.
I scooped her up on sight. Surprisingly light for her height—170cm frame, maybe 50kg.
Rachel was fine. Just the intimate contact in this hug was the issue.
Like sleep-talking,
she wrapped her legs around my waist in my arms.
Head on my shoulder, arms around my neck.
Her lower belly grinding rhythmically against mine.
Does she do this position with Carman? Nah. Last time was birthing me—ages ago.
They'd drifted far as a couple.
This was dream-her with someone...
Right on cue, a voice that blanked my mind white rang out.
"Haaah, I-Ian, n-not th-there... We're..."
...Is she getting a massage from me or something?