Chapter 493: Am I Fucked...?
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 493: Am I Fucked...?
How would you feel if you realized the noble lady you were trying to hit on was actually the lord's wife?
And how would you feel if you were caught in the act by the lord himself?
I can tell you with confidence.
You’d feel truly and utterly fucked.
With every breath, I could feel the icy air sinking deep into my lungs.
The man standing before me was the head of the Astrein family and the Lord of Arcana.
I'd been caught red-handed trying to seduce the wife of a man who was practically the king of the 1st Floor. It wouldn't have been the least bit strange if the knights had moved to arrest me on the spot.
‘...Should I run for it?’
Just leave the 1st Floor and never come back.
Thinking about it rationally, that was the wisest choice.
Losing the Clan House would be a shame, but it’s not like I was short on money. Maybe this was a good opportunity to set up a new base on the 10th Floor.
‘The city wall is about 0.5 kilometers away. If I reverse-engineer the barrier around the castle with Weakness Insight, then make a run for the portal in the center of the city...’
I quickly calculated an escape route in my head.
Just as I was pondering how to shake off any pursuers...
Whoosh-!
“?!”
Marseilla suddenly grabbed my arm without any warning.
The completely unexpected situation left me more than a little flustered.
“Calm down for a moment, dear. You’re frightening Mr. Hyun-woo.”
The biceps and triceps I had so lovingly cultivated were buried and lost in her aggressive bosom.
“...What?”
As expected.
The lord’s expression twisted into a foul scowl.
Anyone could see he was furious. I couldn't for the life of me understand why Marseilla was fanning the flames.
I could only focus on the soft sensation of her chest against my right arm.
That’s right.
I was escaping reality.
“You’re telling me to calm down? After seeing my wife fooling around with another man?”
“Yes.”
“...What?”
“Frankly, I’m the one who’s curious. Since when did you harbor such affection for me? I’m rather baffled. Besides, you’re not actually angry, are you?”
“...”
‘...?’
The lord fell silent at Marseilla’s words. I darted my eyes left and right, trying to read the situation.
Only then did I get a proper look at the lord’s face, which I hadn’t been able to see clearly until now.
How should I put it?
He definitely seemed angry, but if you looked closely, the tension in his facial muscles was strangely awkward.
When one reaches the peak of mastery, all five senses naturally develop.
The most inconvenient part of that was how it made watching movies or dramas difficult.
Why?
Because no matter how brilliant the actor, you could always tell they were acting.
The emotion in their eyes, the movement of their facial muscles, and the vitality of their corresponding gestures.
You just knew, whether you wanted to or not.
In that respect, the lord boasted acting skills so superb that even a seasoned actor would be hard-pressed to compete. So much so that I hadn't noticed until I focused on him.
Naturally, one question popped into my head.
‘...Why?’
Why was he acting?
This was a situation where anyone would be furious.
The one to answer my question was none other than Marseilla.
“Mr. Hyun-woo, you don’t have to think so hard about it. He and I were simply in a political marriage, devoid of even a speck of love. We're in a business relationship, bound only by a contract called marriage. My stoic husband, far from caring for his wife, was always too busy running around outside, so our marital relations naturally grew more distant.”
As I just said, reaching the peak of mastery naturally develops one's five senses.
And depending on the person, some even awaken what is called the ‘sixth sense,’ the realm of the unconscious. I was one of them.
In other words, even without anyone telling me, I could tell that a subtle anger was beginning to creep into the voice of Marseilla, who had seemed like a pure noble lady.
As her gaze toward the lord turned strangely murderous, Marseilla defiantly hugged my arm with all her might.
Her large breasts were naturally squashed.
“...”
The lord glared at us, his mouth shut, while Marseilla curled her lips as if to mock him.
At this point, I was essentially caught in the middle of a noble couple’s fight, so screaming internally would have been the normal reaction.
But I wasn't normal.
Now that I knew Marseilla had approached me to get under the lord’s skin, the fault was no longer mine.
Which meant all I had to do was enjoy the feeling of her chest and watch the situation unfold.
“You were just pretending to be upset so you could try to squeeze something out of Mr. Hyun-woo, weren’t you? It’s painfully obvious.”
“...”
“And fooling around with another man? You go too far. I dare you to find another noble wife in this world as faithful as I am. To say that to me, who pretends not to notice her husband sneaking out to meet his young lovers at every opportunity... it's a little upsetting.”
“......”
The lord’s silence stretched on.
But Marseilla smiled.
Amidst the uncomfortable silence, it was the lord who spoke first.
“Huu... Let’s postpone this conversation. Wife, you may return to your room.”
“Are you trying to get rid of me because you have nothing to say?”
“Unless you truly intend to run off with him in the middle of the night, let’s stop this.”
At the lord’s firm voice, Marseilla seemed to ponder for a moment, then turned her head slightly to stare at me.
I felt an unidentifiable anxiety as her gaze slowly swept over my eyes, nose, and mouth.
“Hmm... With Mr. Hyun-woo, it might not be so bad?”
“...Excuse me?”
And my anxiety soon became reality.
Grind—
The moment Marseilla finished speaking, the lord’s face contorted viciously.
Unlike before, it was now obvious that he was genuinely displeased.
“I’m joking. So please, smooth out that frown. You’re already intimidating enough without having to act like that in front of a guest.”
“...Go up to your room. Now.”
“I don’t want to. I want to stay with Mr. Hyun-woo a little longer—”
GRIND—!
“...Lady Marseilla, I apologize, but I have an urgent matter to discuss with the Lord. Would you please excuse us?”
Noticing that the lord’s patience was reaching its limit, I decided to mediate.
As someone who needed to collect his commission, it wouldn’t do me any good to get on my employer’s bad side more than necessary.
Although I think I’ve already made quite the impression.
“Huu... I suppose I have no choice. But I’ll send you an invitation to the next salon I host, so you must promise to come, okay?”
“Of course.”
With a look dripping with disappointment, Marseilla walked toward the mansion with her maid.
Having resolved that issue, I glanced at the lord.
“Even if I receive the invitation, I will politely decline, so you needn’t worry.”
The lord didn’t answer and simply sat down, but I could see his expression relax ever so slightly.
I inwardly sighed in relief and sat across from him.
‘Guys like him are surprisingly petty. If you don't placate them, they'll come up with all sorts of excuses to cut your pay.’
“So, how did the dungeon raid go?”
The lord spoke before I could even lift my teacup.
Just as I thought. He was acting composed on the outside, but he was dying of curiosity on the inside.
Well, it was a natural reaction.
Knowing his personality, he must have sent informants to the 8th Floor, and they would have witnessed our return to Sanctelium.
With the commander and many of the paladins missing, the other paladins, except for the vice-commander, returned wrapped in bandages instead of armor.
It was only logical that he’d be curious about what happened.
“Well...”
“What is it?”
“No, it’s just that the commission we originally agreed upon seems a little insufficient.”
“...What?”
I rubbed my fingers together with a friendly smile.
“The information fee has gone up quite a bit, you see.”
Of course, according to the contract, the lord had no obligation to raise my pay.
But there are always exceptions.
And a man like the lord would surely know that.
“...What is it you want?”
“How much are you willing to offer?”
At that moment, the lord’s brow furrowed.
I suppose a noble wouldn’t be pleased to have a mere player trying to bargain with him.
Nevertheless, I was confident.
Confident that I could squeeze more out of the lord than the initially agreed-upon fee.
“Aren’t you curious about what happened inside the dungeon?”
“I have no intention of wasting my family’s fortune over mere curiosity.”
“A waste... You could certainly see it that way. But couldn’t that perspective change depending on what I saw and heard in that dungeon?”
“...”
Tap, tap, tap—
The lord stared at me intently, tapping the desk with his fingertips.
“...I hear in the world of players, there is something called a movie. And before a movie is released, the production company piques the audience’s interest with a trailer, correct?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Then shouldn't I get to see a trailer before I decide whether or not to buy a ticket?”
I chuckled to myself.
He was quite a trendy fellow for someone of his status and demeanor.
I quietly lifted my teacup, pausing for a moment.
‘How much should I tell him...?’
As they say, the bait should be neither too much nor too little.
Clink.
Setting down my teacup, I turned my head for a moment to look at the garden.
“Gehenna.”
“?!!”
“How about it? Has your interest been piqued?”
The Twilight Holy Society had asked me not to speak of this to outsiders, but that was none of my damn business.
As I’d said before, putting the Twilight Holy Society in a difficult position was exactly what Lucifer and I wanted.
“...I will open the family treasury to you. How does that sound?”
“The treasury?”
“I cannot grant access to the secure areas, but there should be plenty of items that you will find useful.”
“Hmm...”
The treasury of the Astrein family, a family that wielded power equivalent to a king’s in the lower floors below the 10th.
It was undoubtedly an attractive offer, but at the same time, I couldn’t completely rule out the possibility of it being a trap.
His refusal to open the secure areas meant he had no intention of handing over any truly valuable items.
To put it bluntly, it might be filled with nothing but C-rank or lower items.
“You may inspect the treasury first and then decide.”
“Let’s go right now!”
Snap.
The lord snapped his fingers, and a butler approached with quick steps.
After a moment of thought, the lord handed the butler an ornate key and added a few words.
“Open it up to the third section.”
“Understood. Mr. Hyun-woo, would you please follow me?”
I immediately followed the butler toward the mansion.
After passing through a series of complicated security procedures, we finally arrived at the treasury, located deep in the mansion’s basement.
I had been in the treasuries of other noble families a few times before, but the Astrein family’s was just as impressive in scale.
I glanced around for a moment before looking at the butler.
“Where are the weapons and armor?”
“This way.”
He led me to a place where various weapons and armor were neatly displayed.
Every single one was a high-quality piece made by a master craftsman.
But this wasn’t what I was looking for.
“Hmm... Is there anything else?”
“There is one sword, but...”
“Oh? Where is it?”
The butler hesitated for a moment, then bowed his head and disappeared somewhere.
He returned shortly after, holding a sword that practically reeked of the Orient.
Tiring—
「Activating exclusive skill, ‘Incomplete Moon's Eye (B-).’」
「Wind Dragon Sword (風龍劍)
Category: Item
Rank: B-
A sword forged from the bones of a dragon.
It is harder than steel and sharp enough to slice a maple leaf fluttering in the wind.」