05. The Human Causing a Stir
05. The Human Causing a Stir
+++
"I'm back."
"Welcome back."
Bari had returned.
It was still before lunch.
Sihwan had gotten a heads-up through telepathy(?) ahead of time, and the report was that Bari had ambushed and captured Jin Seong-hyeon right as he was heading off.
Who could just sit still after hearing news like that?
Sihwan waited for her in the hall.
"No injuries anywhere, right?"
"Of course not. Who do you think I am?"
"My Bari."
He tossed out a line that was a bit cheesy, then wrapped his arms around her waist and picked one of the nearby empty rooms to duck into.
It might look like he was about to get up to some steamy business, but nope—that was just to check the results.
With Yuina and Eleonore around, it wasn't easy to do it out in the open.
Luckily, her mansion was huge, with rooms to spare.
An empty space.
Sihwan closed the door, locked it, and even double-checked.
"The lock is secure. No listening devices, no related magic or Artifacts."
"Good. Now take it out."
Bari pulled a small glass box from her pants pocket.
A square box filling the palm, about the height of a hand span.
Inside, Jin Seong-hyeon—minus his arms—was slumped against the back wall, passed out.
"You even shrank it down."
"Easier to handle that way."
"Amazing."
Sihwan took it and examined it from every angle.
No matter how you looked at it, just plain glass.
But the ever-thorough Bari wouldn't trap a dangerously powerful Noblesse in a simple glass box.
Probably some special treatment.
Sihwan sat on the bed holding the box, and Bari sat beside him.
"Shall we wake him? He won't bust out or anything, right?"
"Of course not. Escape is impossible."
"We can talk to him, though?"
"Yes. As much as you want."
Good, Sihwan nodded, then shook the box once.
Inside, Seong-hyeon's unconscious body smacked against the Dimension Glass with a pak! and unfortunately, he woke up.
-Ugh... Wh... What happened...
A tiny voice to match his shrunken body.
At least it was audible.
"Hey."
-...Uh... Yeah?
Having barely come to, he freaked out at the sight of Sihwan's massively huge face.
-Wh-what the hell!!
"What do you mean? It's the King of Hell who's got your life in his hands."
"You human!! What the fuck did you do!!!"
"You can understand if I tell you?"
Sihwan snickered, openly mocking Seong-hyeon.
Seong-hyeon sensed something was seriously wrong.
He'd definitely been walking home after getting kicked out of the Academy...?
'I don't remember after that.'
Wait, it just came back.
The memory of chills running down his spine at the sight of that eerily beautiful doll came flooding back.
That doll must've done something freaky.
"Bari, so what're we gonna do with this guy now that we've caught him?"
"First, make him pay the appropriate price. He dared to bare his fangs at Master, after all."
"Ooh, scary? Bari."
Soft and squishy.
Sihwan freely groped her body without hesitation, and Bari just let him.
Seong-hyeon was genuinely furious at these two flirting after turning him into this pathetic state, but there was no outlet for it.
He could only bang on the Dimension Glass with his body.
"After punishing him a bit, I plan to dissect him."
"Dissect?"
"Yes."
"We can just scan him."
"We could, but interpreting the scan results requires knowledge we don't have yet on Noblesse. If we dissect him once, we can reference it forever."
"I see."
"Who knows? Maybe he'll have a pouch or something that stores Nobling or mana."
"Yeah. So after that's all done, what then?"
"Hmm... Won't he be dead by then? No anesthesia, after all."
A brutally savage conversation.
Seong-hyeon couldn't follow it all, but he sure as hell caught "dissect."
-Dissect?! N-nooo...!
His bravado deflated in an instant.
He wasn't cocky anymore.
Just sweating bullets in a pathetic state, missing his arms and all.
"What I care if you hate it? Manage your mental game in there. Who knows? Maybe there's a sliver of hope."
Sihwan teased him to the bitter end.
Then,
"Ah! Wait, no. We can't kill him for a while. Got a super important use for him."
"To keep him nearby when you bed Yuina-ssi?"
"Whoa, you nailed it."
"Hehe. I know Master better than Master knows himself."
"Yeah, spot on. Still, he's Yuina's acquaintance, so even if he dies eventually, he should at least get one look at his crush's skin, right? We can do that much. Heh heh."
No idea when it'd happen, but Yuina would end up in his arms eventually.
And if Seong-hyeon had to watch? Perfect fuel for excitement.
"If Yuina finds out, it'll be trouble, so black it out so he can't see inside, and make sure his voice doesn't leak. You can do that, right?"
"Of course. Piece of cake. Guess I'll have to be careful with the dissection."
Of course, using him like that wouldn't change his ultimate fate.
-You crazy bastards!! You think you'll get away with treating me like this!!!
"Yeah. Way too safe."
Sihwan shook the glass box wildly with a wicked grin.
-Aaack! Aaaah!! Stop! I said stop!!!
The pathetic screams echoed.
But he didn't stop.
It wasn't a woman, it was a guy—a guy who'd been hostile to him. No interest in his pleas.
After toying with him like that for a bit, Sihwan handed the exhausted, collapsed Seong-hyeon back to Bari.
"Handle it from here. I'll let you know if I need him later."
"Yes."
+++
A tense evening.
Killing time idly, dinner rolled around before he knew it, and the four living in the mansion full-time (Sihwan, Bari, Yuina, Eleonore) sat at one table.
Luna and the other servants bustled about serving the food.
"...."
"...."
A chill hung over the table.
Thanks to Sihwan's words around lunchtime, Yuina was seriously sulking.
"Starting tomorrow, classes resume normally, and of course, your training continues."
Her tone laced with emotion.
She was gearing up to beat the crap out of him under the guise of training.
"Hmm...."
"So far, we've only focused on physical training, but you're my husband—no way that's enough. We'll do magic lessons too."
"That might be too much."
"What're you worried about? You've got me and that doll."
"No, my body's not gonna hold up."
"We'll heal it."
"...."
Had she learned from Sihwan? Pushing relentlessly.
"Hmph. Treating me like some kid. This is all for your sake."
"Yeah, yeah, sure it is."
"To survive in the Tower, you gotta hone your own strength."
"But after I graduate, you gonna follow me?"
"......"
The sudden topic shift landed; Yuina, mid-rant, shut her mouth.
A thoughtful face.
It was about her future, so she had to be cautious.
"...Not sure. What about you? Heading up?"
"Well, long-term, I plan to conquer the Tower."
"Conquer the Tower?"
"Yeah. Don't care about some war with God or whatever—I'm making this Tower mine."
"Cough!"
Shocked enough to choke, Eleonore—who'd been quietly sipping soup beside them—coughed repeatedly, thumping her chest.
"...You serious?"
Yuina stopped cutting her meat, staring at him with wide, stunned eyes.
"I'm always serious."
"......Haha. You think that makes sense?"
"Impossible's not in my dictionary. I can do anything. Just gotta do it."
"......You're not just your average lunatic."
Unfathomable.
He'd always been weird, but after sticking this close, you figure you'd learn something. Yet Ryu Si-hwan just got more mysterious by the minute.
What the hell was with that personality and confidence? What made him like this?
'He's really... not a normal human....'
+++
After dinner, personal time.
Sihwan went out to the city with Bari for a light date.
By the time they returned, it was full night.
Not their first night together with Yuina, but their first night together with Yuina.
Probably separate rooms for the time being.
The key was where Eleonore would sleep.
The lunchtime spat hadn't resolved. Yuina had gotten properly pissed after hearing that bombshell midway.
Of course, Sihwan had no intention of backing down. After all that teasing and tormenting from Eleonore, he could finally claim her—no way he'd give up now.
Plus, unlike Yuina, bound by marriage, his thing with Eleonore only lasted till graduation. Max four months left. Had to tame her thoroughly in that time, make her fully submissive, or there'd be backlash later.
"Eleonore, sleep in my room."
"......Yes."
Before heading to their rooms, Sihwan took Bari and Eleonore to his.
Yuina's icy glare followed him from the hallway.
"Good night."
"...."
She stared wordlessly.
Biting her lip with a look screaming she hated it, she finally turned away.
"Hmph."
Sihwan's win(?).
She'd realized she—a normal person—couldn't control a hardcore deviant like Sihwan.
Turning her head, she spun her whole body and stomped up to her room.
"Heh."
Her retreating back.
Sihwan flashed a victor's smile and draped an arm around Eleonore's waist.
The soft feel and elven fragrance already stimulating him.
"Time to pay for all that teasing and tormenting."
"...."
Leading the silent girl, Sihwan headed to his room.
It was on the same floor as Yuina's, so it looked like he was following her.
Right as they reached his door and he opened it,
Yuina—who'd gone into her room first—flung her door open and peeked out.
"Shake that waist hard. We'll see at tomorrow's stamina training."
Bleh.
"...."
What the— so childish....
She slammed the door before Sihwan could even react.