Chapter 551: D-2
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 551: D-2
Flop—
After the lesson with the Tower Lord, which was akin to mental torture, I returned to the mansion and collapsed onto the bed.
It was certainly a beneficial and meaningful time where I learned a lot, but that aside, I was completely exhausted.
It was inevitable, considering more than half the lesson consisted of her pointing out my mistakes.
Thanks to that, I learned that the Tower Lord's expectations for others are ridiculously high.
She also seemed to find the concept of needing to see something more than once to learn it completely foreign.
‘...Anyone else would have run away long ago.’
The training was that grueling.
If Iris was the kind of private tutor who was like the girl next door, gently embracing your mistakes with a kind smile, the Tower Lord was the very definition of a ruthless college admissions coordinator who valued entrance exam prep over character.
Still, thanks to her, I was able to learn a lot in a short amount of time.
Of course, it was a forced march of cramming new knowledge into my head, so you could say it was an entirely expected result.
“...Still, I have a dilemma.”
There were two paths before me now.
Now that I'd awakened to ice magic, should I take this opportunity to master the other derived elements, metal and vibration, to securely reach the 6th Circle?
Or should I forge a new path to the next realm through my own enlightenment?
Of course, there was no right answer.
There was only a path that was infinitely closer to the right answer.
For the record, I didn't know which of the two was closer to the right answer either.
Because they were paths I had yet to walk.
At first, I considered asking the Tower Lord for advice, but I figured I'd just get the same perfunctory advice as last time: to trust my own judgment and move forward.
Not that her advice was wrong, of course.
It wasn't like I planned to just camp out at the 6th Circle forever. If I wanted to one day reach the 7th and 8th Circles, and even the realms beyond, I would absolutely need my own signpost, one untainted by anyone else's personal opinions.
“...I'll aim for the latter for now, and if it doesn't work out, I'll switch to the former. After all, it's not a bad thing to be able to handle other derived elements anyway.”
Now that I knew I didn't have to go through insane training for the resonance process, there was no reason to hesitate learning other types of magic.
The only minor problem was how to learn them...
In truth, the way I awakened to ice magic was more of a shortcut.
Countless ice elements, drawn by the gravitational pull of the massive celestial body that was the Tower Lord, had combined with my elemental affinity and caused a change.
But that kind of trick wouldn't work for the other derived elements.
‘To create a gravitational pull strong enough to attract elements from the atmosphere, I'd need to be at least a 7th Circle mage...’
The problem was, as far as I knew, there were no 7th Circle mages who handled metal and vibration magic.
It would probably be faster to look for one in another world than on Earth.
“Hoo... So I'm stagnating again...”
Honestly, I thought I'd be able to reach the 6th Circle soon after meeting the Tower Lord.
But reality wasn't so easy.
It was true I'd grown stronger by awakening to resonance, but I was still just a 5th Circle mage and a martial artist at the peak of his craft.
To others, it might look like I was growing at an absurdly fast pace, but I couldn't help but feel impatient.
At this rate, I had no idea when I'd ever be able to clear Iris's name, storm the Heavenly Demonic Cult to avenge Yeo-hwa's mother, and get back at those pigeon bastards who stabbed Lucifer with a spear.
‘Heh, even I think I'm being pathetically gloomy.’
Perhaps because some symptoms of my magic power deficiency remained, I was getting uncharacteristically sentimental when...
Slam—
Suddenly, the door burst open, and the Tower Lord, now in casual clothes, entered the room.
The moment her eyes met mine as I was sprawled out on the bed, the Tower Lord's gaze turned as cold as it used to be.
“You have it easy. I trust you've finished your review before lying down?”
“...”
Review...?
When I gave her a look of complete confusion, the Tower Lord furrowed her brow and touched her forehead with her fingertips.
“Haa... Of course. It can't be helped. There's still plenty of time until dinner, so I'll personally oversee your review.”
“No, you really don't have to—”
“There's no need to refuse. No matter how much of a handful you are, I'm not so heartless as to cast out my first-ever disciple.”
Though I wished from the bottom of my heart that she would cast me out, the Tower Lord stubbornly sat on the edge of the bed and started the lesson right then and there.
Thanks to her, my head was already starting to throb.
‘...At this rate, I don't even have time to be sentimental.’
I focused on the lesson with a bitter smile.
No, I had to focus if I didn't want to take a naked dip in a frozen lake.
*
Chirp, chirp, chirp—
I opened my eyes to the sound of birds chirping outside the window.
As usual, I sat up, my body stiff, and scratched the back of my head.
‘Is it morning already...’
As I rubbed my dry face, the Tower Lord came into view, sleeping soundly, oblivious to the world, her pale, naked body on full display.
She was a veritable demon during our lessons, but when she was asleep, she couldn't be cuter.
Poke—
“Nngh...”
When I playfully touched her nipple with my fingertip, a coquettish moan escaped her lips.
Was it because I'd tormented her too much all night? Her body still seemed sensitive.
‘Hmm... It hasn't even been that many days since I came to the mansion, but I've already gotten quite used to waking up in the same bed.’
In the past, this would have been unimaginable.
Who would have ever dared to imagine that I'd be greeting the morning in the same bed, like lovers, with none other than the Tower Lord, the woman known as the Witch of the Snowfield?
Besides, the Tower Lord's personality had changed a lot.
Just last night, for instance, she showed a completely different side to her, a 180-degree turn from before, embracing me and diving into sex the moment she stepped out of the bathroom.
Thanks to that, my entire back was a mess of nail marks, but I decided to think of them as glorious wounds.
‘What's on the schedule for today again?’
I recalled my schedule while kneading the Tower Lord's large breasts.
Anastasia's treatment, and the magic lesson with the Tower Lord.
In a way, it wasn't much different from yesterday, but today, unlike usual, I had to make a quick trip into the city.
Because my stock of Holy Water in my inventory had run out.
It was a bit of a hassle, but the one saving grace was that this was Russia.
In Eastern Europe, Russia is a place where the church's influence is quite strong. If I was lucky, I might even be able to obtain some high-grade Holy Water.
‘Normally, you'd need to be acquainted with a high-ranking cleric like an archbishop or a cardinal from the local diocese, but if I drop the Tower Lord's name, I should be able to manage somehow.’
Within Russia, the name Valentina held more prestige than even the master of the Kremlin.
It was only natural.
A hero who single-handedly subjugated a demon that had slaughtered tens of thousands and nearly destroyed a city, versus a dictator plagued by endless scandals throughout his rule.
There was no need to even think about which of the two had the people's support.
“By the way, aren't you getting tired of this 'pretending to be asleep' routine?”
“...I wasn't pretending.”
When I poked her pale cheek, the Tower Lord retorted grumpily.
I chuckled and tucked her hair behind her ear.
“It's already nine. It's about time we got up and had something to eat.”
“...You go on ahead. I'll stay in bed a little longer before I get up.”
I don't know what she was so embarrassed about, but the Tower Lord pulled the blanket up to her chin and turned away abruptly.
Seeing her act like a shy young girl, I barely suppressed my laughter as I got out of bed.
The moment I pretended to leave the bedroom.
Whoosh—!!
“?!!”
I scooped her up, blankets and all.
“L-Let me go!!”
“What's the point of having a disciple if not for this? Let's wash up together. I'll wash you thoroughly.”
“I-I don't need that...!!”
The flustered Tower Lord struggled, but her heart wasn't in it.
As proof, her struggles lessened the closer we got to the bathroom, and soon she quietly wrapped her arms around my neck.
‘This is why I call her cute.’
I swallowed a laugh and entered the bathroom with the Tower Lord.
Naturally, we skipped breakfast again today and had a second round in the bathroom.
And once again, the Tower Lord was unable to walk out of the bathroom on her own two feet.
*
“Schlorp, slurp, schlick, schlick.”
“Hngh, ugh, ngh...?!!♡ S-Sir Hyun-woo...!!♡”
Even though the Tower Lord and Anastasia weren't related by blood, the two of them had quite a few things in common.
For example, their nipples were sensitive, they got very wet, and they were especially weak to cunnilingus.
“Schluuurp, schlick, schlick, gulp, gulp!”
“I-If you suck it like that... Hnnggh?!!?!!♡”
Twitch, twitch...!!♡
I held Anastasia by the pelvis, pushed my tongue inside her, and licked her pussy.
At that, Anastasia grabbed the back of my head and shuddered, reaching orgasm.
Thanks to her, my entire face was drenched in her love juice, but in my line of work, that's a reward.
I slowly sat up, gulping down the juices pouring from her faintly convulsing pussy.
‘The fact that her juices have a cool, refreshing taste is just like the Tower Lord.’
“Aren't you a little too wet?”
“Hngh, ugh, ngh...!♡ I-I'm sorry...♡”
As if her orgasm wouldn't stop, Anastasia's hips trembled as she begged for forgiveness in a pitiful voice.
I stroked her head and chuckled softly.
“I'm kidding. I like women who get very wet, anyway.”
I wiped my face with a handkerchief and stood up.
I'd already had Anastasia drink my semen with her mouth three times, so her treatment for the day was long since finished.
The cunnilingus was purely for my own enjoyment.
In the first place, to pass up the chance to eat out a white-haired, sickly, big-titted beauty would be a disqualification as a man.
“Good work today. Oh, and since I'm going into the city, I'll buy that snack you mentioned last time as a gift, so you can look forward to it.”
“Th-Thank you...♡”
After kneading Anastasia's large bottom for a bit, I quietly left the room once she had fallen asleep.
Afterward, before leaving the mansion, I stopped by the greenhouse for a moment.
Using the master key for the barriers the Tower Lord had plastered everywhere, I stepped inside, and a refreshing wave of magic power greeted me.
Thanks to the spirit tree, the concentration of magic power inside the greenhouse was comparable to that of a top-tier Gate.
Just standing inside the greenhouse made me feel full of magic power.
‘This is why mages are so desperate for spirit trees.’
Of course, a high concentration of magic power doesn't bring about any drastic changes. After all, absorbing mana from the atmosphere requires several processes, like filtering out impurities.
But depending on the person, it might give them a slight sense of omnipotence.
“Oh, it's really ripe now, isn't it?”
The spirit fruit, which had ripened lusciously thanks to the magic power the Tower Lord had infused into it the other day, caught my eye.
It really looked ready to be harvested now.
On top of that, Anastasia's condition had improved far more than I'd expected.
I had originally planned to break the curse in two days, around evening, but at this rate, I thought I could move the curse-lifting ritual up a bit.
‘Tomorrow evening... no, around dawn should be fine.’
I could already picture the Tower Lord's happy face.
Besides, what was that saying? A wife's joy is her husband's joy.
I found myself feeling happy along with her for no particular reason.
‘I'll tell her as a surprise later, during dinner.’
I stroked the lusciously ripe spirit fruit a few times before leaving the greenhouse.
Then I went to the mansion's garage, picked out a suitable car, and started the engine.
The Tower Lord had said I could drive any of them.
For the record, I didn't bother to mention that I don't have a license.
Vrooom—!!
The luxury sedan cut through the wind as it sped down the road.
It was my first time heading into the city in a while, but I wasn't particularly excited.
If anything, I just hoped I wouldn't get caught up in any unnecessary trouble.
And exactly two hours later, I was once again reminded that my fate was just damn rotten.