Chapter 171: A Favor
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 171: A Favor
After meeting up with Sylvia, I immediately cast an invisibility spell on her.
Perhaps because she’d experienced it once before, Sylvia naturally suppressed her presence.
It struck me again just how absurd it was for an Aura Master-level expert to be under an invisibility spell and completely erase their presence.
Even though she was close enough to touch, all I could feel was a faint sense of dissonance.
If I hadn't been the one who cast the spell, I wouldn't have noticed even that.
‘…Still, should magic work this easily on her?’
It would be one thing if she were an ordinary person with no resistance to mana, but Sylvia was undeniably an expert who had reached a higher realm than me.
She should have a natural resistance to mana, so for the spell to take hold twice without any resistance felt strange.
‘Well… I guess it’s safe to assume she didn't resist.’
It wasn't a problem worth dwelling on.
I spoke to Sylvia via a telepathic message.
—Let’s go.
I took the lead and entered the mansion through the back door used by the maids.
Creeak. I opened the door cautiously, revealing a large, bathroom-like space. It seemed to be the laundry room.
As expected, no one was there.
Most of the mansion's staff had been requisitioned for the auction party, so only a few would be left.
Sensing my surroundings, I carefully opened the next door and found a long, wide hallway. It was also empty.
—No one’s here.
After letting Sylvia know, I headed straight for the stairs. I had memorized the mansion's blueprints beforehand, so there was no risk of getting lost.
We ascended the stairs smoothly and reached the third floor in one go, where I felt a rather intense aura.
I had felt something similar from Henriot Hessler's escort. This had to be Viscount Hessler's guard.
However, it bothered me that he was projecting his aura so strongly when we weren't even in a combat situation.
‘…Are we caught?’
There was no way a mere high-level Aura Expert could detect our infiltration.
But I knew of a tool that could overcome differences in skill.
‘An artifact.’
Just as Melissa had used an artifact to deceive Iris and me, it wouldn't be strange for the knight guarding the viscount to have an artifact that detected intruders.
Sylvia must have sensed the change as well, as she stopped suppressing her presence.
Shing. Without a word, she drew her sword and walked toward the office.
I sighed inwardly and activated my mana detection. A surprise attack was off the table anyway.
“There’s no one else on the third floor. The viscount is inside his office.”
I didn't mention the guard's location. There was no need; Sylvia would know his position better than anyone right now.
What was more surprising was that the viscount was just sitting still in his office. Things would have gotten complicated if he had tried to run.
As Sylvia's aura grew sharper, I placed a hand on her shoulder.
Smack!
“…”
Before my hand could even touch her, Sylvia slapped it away with incredible speed.
I couldn't see her because of the invisibility spell, but I could guess the expression she was using to glare at me.
“Sorry, I was just trying to cast a support spell.”
“…Please inform me beforehand next time.”
At her sharp tone, I just shrugged, not bothering to reply. After all, she was the one accumulating bad karma, not me.
“If you really don't want me to, at least give me your arm.”
Support magic required physical contact to be cast.
“I’m fine.”
Just then, the invisibility spell wore off, revealing Sylvia. The third floor was generally dark, with the moonlight from the window being the only source of light.
For a moment, her snow-white hair, glowing softly in the moonlight, captivated me.
“I’m not asking for your permission right now. And this is certainly not the time to be childish.”
Even if our infiltration had been discovered, the situation was still manageable.
As long as we could deal with the viscount before others arrived, the plan would not be compromised.
“…My apologies.”
Sylvia, who had been quietly pursing her lips, finally extended her arm.
Of course, she was still making it painfully obvious that she disliked it.
I glanced at her furrowed brow before taking her arm. It was slender and soft, yet firm.
[Strength]
[Haste]
[Balance]
An excessive boost in physical abilities would only be a hindrance, so I cast the spells with moderation.
The output was also about half of what I normally used.
“This is…”
Sylvia clenched and unclenched her fist a few times, looking quite surprised.
Her eyes, which were always sharp except when she spoke with Iris, softened for a brief moment.
“I’ll cast the invisibility spell again, too. Ten minutes should be enough, right?”
Even if the guard had noticed our presence, not being able to see us was another matter entirely.
If Sylvia truly hid her presence while also being invisible, could the knight possibly block her surprise attack?
“I’m fine.”
Sylvia refused again.
Her demeanor was quite different from when she had been stubborn just a moment ago.
“I will finish this within one minute.”
The moment she finished speaking, her figure vanished, and the sound of metal clashing erupted from down the hall.
─!!
The sound of swords colliding was followed by an immense gust of wind that swept through the corridor. The aftershock alone nearly shattered the windows.
One clash, two, then three.
After several exchanges, the reverberations of battle ceased. It was over so quickly that it felt like no time had passed at all.
I wiped my sweaty palms without realizing it and headed toward the office.
At the end of the hall, I saw a man lying on the floor with a hole in his chest.
Next to him stood Sylvia, flicking the blood from her sword as if nothing had happened.
“He’s been dealt with.”
I was at a loss for words, her skill far exceeding my expectations.
I had only cast a few support spells, but for a moment, I felt an aura reminiscent of Kang Cheolho, the Hunter Association branch manager I had met.
‘…Should I consider her an A-rank on the verge of becoming S-rank?’
If I were to fight Sylvia in her current state, I’d be lucky to escape by sacrificing a limb, let alone win.
“Good work.”
I walked over to the man’s cold corpse and stored it in my inventory.
I also cleaned up the blood splattered across the hallway.
Of course, a detailed investigation would easily uncover the bloodstains, but the case would be closed once Lina Hessler ascended to her title anyway.
It was enough to create a situation where the missing guard would be the prime suspect for a while.
After finishing the cleanup, I looked at the firmly shut office door.
Using Detection, I could see the layout of the office clearly. My mana detection picked up Viscount Hessler hiding under his desk.
It seemed he hadn't built a secret passage in his office like in novels or movies.
Just as I reached for the doorknob to finish the job…
“Do you know who is behind Resilia?”
It was a question I couldn't possibly ignore.
Startled, I turned my head and met Sylvia’s indifferent gaze.
“Malefis. They are the ones who orchestrated the rebellion with Resilia.”
“…What?”
*
I had always wondered.
Who on earth had Resilia joined forces with to stage a rebellion when she had neither justification nor backing?
“Malefis’s goal is to build temples to worship their god throughout Peledeia and gather followers.”
After a long moment of stunned silence, I stared at Sylvia. At the very least, she didn't seem to be lying.
Now I finally understood why Sylvia had tried to kill Melissa.
My mind was in turmoil. If what she said was true, then Malefis were enemies I would have to kill someday.
“…Let’s talk about this again later.”
I couldn't give her a ready answer.
Had I grown attached after sleeping with her? Even knowing Malefis was the enemy, a part of me still didn't want to kill Melissa.
Sylvia’s gaze remained as cold as ever, as if she had expected this.
For some reason, my chest felt tight.
I kicked open the office door, killed the viscount by reversing the mana in his body, and slipped out of the mansion unnoticed. I took a deep breath of the cold air, but the tightness in my chest showed no sign of disappearing.
Sylvia and I walked through the deserted garden.
It was Sylvia who first broke the quiet stillness.
“It has been a short time, but I have come to understand your disposition to some extent, Royal Consort.”
Sylvia sat on a bench in a corner of the garden and stared at me.
“You seem to be no different from any other human male… no, perhaps your sexual desires are even stronger. So much so that you are not satisfied with Lady Iris alone.”
As I listened seriously, I felt that something was off.
Was she just taking a jab at me?
“I don’t want to admit it, but Lady Iris’s affection for you, Sir Hyun-woo, is not something I can persuade her out of. Well, she has admired the idea of a prince on a white horse since she was a child, so it’s not entirely incomprehensible…”
“What are you trying to say?”
“From now on, I ask that you do not turn your eyes to any other woman besides Lady Iris.”
“What?”
I thought she was going to ask me to break up with Iris again, like last time, but her request was completely unexpected.
“Please love only Lady Iris.”
“…I’m sorry, but that’s not something I can decide.”
The only reason I could confidently have sex with other women was because Iris not only allowed it but actually wanted it.
That was the case with Luna and Elly, and the same went for Belly and Grace.
It wasn't that her tastes were twisted, like NTR or anything.
—The more family, the better.
When I’d asked her out of curiosity, she had answered with a bright smile, and I had been left speechless.
“…I expected you would say that.”
Sylvia shot to her feet, sighed, and approached me.
“A request without compensation is nothing more than futile begging.”
As if she knew this would happen, she pulled a small scroll from her waist and handed it to me.
It was a contract.
“If you grant my request, Sir Hyun-woo, then in the future, when Resilia is driven out and everything is back in its place, I will arrange meetings for you with noble ladies. Of course, whether you can take them as concubines will depend on your abilities, but whether it’s five or nine, as many as you desire…”
The contents of the contract were absurd.
Sylvia Mervis Winterbane (Party A) will arrange blind dates with noble ladies for Kang Hyun-woo (Party B) until the day he dies.
Reading the ridiculous terms, I found it increasingly difficult to hold back.
“Pfft.”
I tried my best to contain it, but in the end, I burst out laughing.
“…What do you find so amusing?”
Perhaps my laughter sounded like a sneer, because Sylvia’s brow furrowed and her voice dropped low.
“My mistake, my mistake. Well… I’ll sign the contract. But I’d like to change the terms a bit.”
“…What terms are you referring to?”
I extended a finger and pointed at Sylvia.
“I’ll sign it right now on one condition: you’ll be the one to handle me for a year.”