Chapter 105
Chapter 105
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 105
Chapter Title: Illusion Magic in the Barracks
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"What is this item?"
"It's a device for simple magic. A massage machine for recovering fatigue."
"...Is that so?"
"Yes. It's for women, but would you like to try it once?"
The sex toys I had brought along had lewd purposes, but their outward appearance was so cute that no one would ever suspect it.
"...No, thank you."
At the mention that it was for women, Jeko took a step back and shook his head.
A man among men, a knight among knights—the vice-captain of the 1st Knight Order would find it too embarrassing to use something for women.
"These all seem perfectly normal items."
Jeko nodded as he examined the scrolls and various adult toys I had brought.
"But why would an illusion mage carry such things?"
"Illusion mages don't make as much money as you'd think. To earn a living, we do whatever it takes."
"...Is that so?"
Jeko seemed to accept the explanation quite readily and took the lead.
'It looks like Yuris didn't badmouth me after all.'
I had worried they might try to strong-arm me with talk of arrest or something.
"Follow me. I'll guide you."
I headed with Jeko toward the barracks where the 1st Knight Order's offices were located.
The barracks were filled with facilities dedicated solely to the 1st Knight Order: training grounds, dormitories, and buildings for various administrative purposes.
This massive complex, large enough to house two regiments, was for just around 200 knights.
And considering that members of the 1st Knight Order could, if they wished, live in private homes outside the barracks and commute, it was an enormous facility relative to the number of knights.
Of course, there were also quite a few squires, laborers, and clerical civil servants to support the knights, but even adding them all up, the total personnel didn't reach 500.
'I had no idea they provided facilities like this for a single knight order.'
The knight order's barracks were a space I, as a mage, had never had occasion to enter.
There had been no reason or need for me to go there.
If I had turned the interior of the knight order into a stage for illusions, it surely would have shattered Yuris's immersion.
'My imagination couldn't have conjured up that the inside of the knight order was structured like this.'
With such thoughts in mind, I carefully surveyed the interior of the knight order.
Knights training, laborers handling their training supplies, imperial civil servants bustling about with documents, and maids cleaning the interiors.
Not even a major noble's mansion could be built on such a scale.
It was a moment to freshly appreciate the empire's prestige.
The wealth to grant a single knight order a space like this in the capital, complete with buildings and sophisticated training grounds.
Just a few of the decorations on these walls would be enough to live on comfortably for a month.
"Follow me."
I strolled through that vast barracks alongside Jeko.
Knights who spotted Jeko placed hands over their hearts and gave the knights' salute.
"Vice-Captain."
"Who's the one behind you?"
They asked upon seeing me following in Jeko's wake.
"A guest invited by the Captain."
"Oh."
At Jeko's words, all the knights' eyes turned to me.
"The Captain inviting a man? Could it be... that kind of relationship?"
"Wasn't it that she seemed to have a touch of feminine charm lately?"
"Yeah. She's been wearing makeup, and her scent has become so fragrant."
Their eyes gleamed like those of predators who had spotted prey.
Eyes full of anticipation that some juicy gossip might be brewing.
"Not for that reason. She's a personal guest invited for private business, but not the kind of relationship you're imagining, so give up on that."
Jeko dismissed the knights' excited fussing.
They were all familiar faces.
Men and women whose faces had appeared at least once in Yuris's illusions.
Seeing in reality the faces of those people who had wept tears of blood in the illusions while being violated by enemy generals from other nations felt strange.
Did they know?
That the captain they followed so loyally had used them as background props.
'Of course not. Unless they peeked inside Yuris's head.'
This made me feel unnecessarily guilty.
Meeting the subjects of those fantasies in person made it feel like I had done something deeply immoral.
In the illusions, they had merely been extras watching me—or rather, a foreign general in my likeness—engage in messy, intense sex with Yuris.
Yuris's expression from back then was still vivid in my mind.
Her face slack with ecstasy, lost in the pleasure chemicals from the sense of depravity, grinning lewdly as she spread her legs.
"Come on, Vice-Captain. 'Personal' business has to mean that kind of thing, right?"
One sly-looking knight snickered.
Sharper than I expected.
To catch right away that Yuris had called me for 'that' reason.
Though she had half-forced me here via Jeko, I had a rough idea why she had summoned me—a mere illusion mage—to her knight order workplace.
'There's only one reason she'd call me.'
Illusion magic to relieve her lust.
Otherwise, the Goddess of Victory had no reason to summon someone like me.
She could just come to the shop herself, but there was a reason she couldn't.
'It must be because of Reina.'
Having realized that an acquaintance had visited the shop for a similar purpose—to indulge in pleasure—she was too embarrassed to show up.
As the specially treated Goddess of Victory in the empire, Yuris had no choice but to be especially sensitive about such matters.
However, unlike the quick-witted knight, the upright Jeko cut off the sly knight's words bluntly.
"Hanson, if that mouth of yours blabs one more time, I'll give you a taste of hellish special training today. Remember that."
Jeko glared murderously at his subordinate with a chilling voice.
"But Vice-Captain, the Captain is a woman too. You know what it means when someone like her invites a man for 'personal' reasons."
"You're not unaware of how important chastity is to the empire's nobles, are you? I can let other jokes slide. The Captain is generous enough to forgive them."
Killing intent began to creep into Jeko's voice.
"But insulting the Goddess of Victory—who defends the empire in the Captain's absence—in that manner is something I absolutely cannot tolerate. You know that."
At the grim warning, the sly knight's smirk faded.
"I'm sorry, Vice-Captain."
"If you cross the line one more time, it won't end with a warning."
"Yes, sir."
Jeko looked at me.
"We've shown you an unsightly display. My apologies. Please follow me."
"Yes."
Hmm, this makes me feel unnecessarily guilty.
What Jeko just said felt oddly directed at me.
Sorry, Jeko. It is that kind of business.
Leaving the tense scene behind with Jeko, I arrived at Yuris's office.
Yuris was reading documents with a stoic expression.
Her eyes moved rapidly left and right as she worked with perfect posture, back ramrod straight.
Then.
Thud.
She stamped a document and moved on to the next.
Even knowing that Jeko and I had entered, her gaze remained fixed on the papers without lifting.
"I've brought Max-nim."
Only then did Yuris glance briefly at Jeko and me before returning to her documents with a curt expression.
"Good work. You may go."
"Yes, sir."
She dismissed Jeko in a cold, businesslike tone.
'She's a charismatic captain within the knight order.'
Of course. She was a war hero who had always racked up victories on the battlefield.
To them, she was an ever-sharp sword and an impenetrable shield.
Perhaps she was especially strict because they fought in a battlefield where a moment's lapse could mean death.
'In the illusions, she felt a bit more casual with them.'
Maybe she was deliberately putting on an act.
Step, step.
"......"
Yuris said nothing until Jeko's footsteps had long faded away.
And soon after.
"Sorry. For calling you so suddenly."
Yuris spoke in a relaxed voice.
Her tone was as stiff as before, but compared to how she spoke to Jeko, her voice was soft—almost gooey.
"You said you'd have me arrested if I didn't come. I had no choice but to follow."
At my words, Yuris cleared her throat awkwardly.
"Sorry. It was a bit urgent."
"What could it be that the Goddess of Victory has to summon an illusion mage all the way here?"
I already knew what her answer would be, but I played dumb and feigned ignorance.
"......"
Yuris looked at me, her face slightly flushed.
I wondered what Jeko would have said if he had seen that expression.
Would he have thought the sly knight was right after all?
"W-Well, could I perhaps experience an illusion here?"
As expected.
I thought as much at Yuris's immediate suggestion.
It was just as I had predicted.
"Yuris-nim, have you lost your mind?"
I gave the pre-prepared reaction.
"Eh, wha?"
Did she not expect rejection?
Yuris stammered in a flustered voice.
"You know full well what kind of content my illusions involve. And how long it takes to draw the magic circle. Illusion magic in a place without one pre-installed?"
"Ah, th-that's..."
Yuris bit her lower lip hard.
"Since I, uh, ran into an acquaintance at the shop..."
"Is it because of Reina?"
Yuris nodded silently.
"Wasn't that day just an accident? It won't happen again."
"I know. I know, but... still..."
Running into an acquaintance at the shop and not being able to go.
So enjoying illusions while surrounded by her subordinates in these barracks was fine?
'She's not even considering the chance of getting caught by her men.'
I had already prepared everything knowing she would want to indulge here.
Sex toys perfect for enhancing the illusion's sensations, of course, and even a magic item that could deploy a magic circle by tearing a scroll.
If it had been me a few days ago, an outcall service like this would have been absolutely impossible, but now I could manage it.
With the right equipment prepared.
But still.
'A bit of push-pull to raise the price.'
On top of that, this was the 1st Knight Order's barracks.
How hard was it to use illusion magic undetected amid knights with keen senses?
"Do you really want to do this?"
"...Yes. I do."
"Sigh. Then there are conditions."
I let out a sigh with the acting skills honed from numerous illusion sessions.
As if it were truly troubling.
As if this shouldn't be happening.
I furrowed my brow and wrinkled my forehead.
At the end of a deep exhale, I slowly opened my mouth.
"First, I need extra payment. Installing and retrieving the magic circle costs a lot."
"Don't worry about that. I have plenty of money."
"And one more thing."
"What else do you need?"
"A sincere request."
"What...?"
"You need to show your resolve. Prove how desperate you are. Show me how badly you need the illusion."
"......"
Yuris's face turned red.
She fidgeted with her lips, then took a deep breath.
"M-Masturbating alone isn't enough. S-So... make me feel good already."
"I don't feel the desperation."
"I want the illusions you provide. Last time alone, I couldn't have it at all."
"Don't you think you need to be a bit more polite?"
In Yuris's eyes, I could see myself smirking with a twisted lip.
Like a vile mastermind.
"P-Please. I beg you... sh-show me the illusion."
There was not a trace of the Goddess of Victory's dignity in Yuris's pleading face as she looked at me with teary eyes.
"Understood. I'll do it. But please make sure no one in the vicinity can approach."
"Ah."
With Yuris's exclamation, I tore the scroll inscribed with the magic circle.
Rip.
A complex magic circle spread across Yuris's office.