## Chapter 171 – 171. A Favor
#171. A Favor
Joining Sylvia, I immediately cast an invisibility spell on her.
Perhaps because she had experienced it once before, Sylvia naturally suppressed her presence.
It struck me again how absurd it was for an Aura Master-level expert to suppress her presence while under an invisibility spell.
Even though she was within arm’s reach, all I could sense was a subtle sense of incongruity.
Even that, I wouldn’t have noticed if I hadn’t been the one who cast the spell.
‘…By the way, should magic be this easy to cast?’
It would be one thing if the target was an ordinary person unable to resist magic, but Sylvia was a skilled individual who had undeniably reached a higher level than me.
She should have a natural resistance to magic, yet it was strange that she was being affected by the spell twice without any resistance.
‘Well… it’s probably because she’s not resisting.’
It wasn’t a problem worth dwelling on.
I spoke to Sylvia telepathically.
-Let’s go.
I took the lead and entered the mansion. It was the back door used by the maids.
Creak. As I carefully opened the door, I saw what looked like a fairly large bathroom. It seemed to be a laundry area.
Of course, there was no one there.
Most of the mansion’s staff had been drafted for the auction party, so there would only be a few left.
Sensing the presence around me, I cautiously opened the next door and entered a wide hallway. Again, there was no one.
-No one’s here.
After whispering to Sylvia, I headed straight for the stairs. I had memorized the mansion’s layout beforehand, so I didn’t have to worry about getting lost.
I smoothly climbed the stairs and reached the third floor in one go, where I felt a rather intense energy.
I had felt something similar from Henriot Hessler’s guard. It was most likely Baron Hessler’s guard.
However, I was bothered by the fact that he was strongly revealing his energy even though it wasn’t a combat situation.
‘…Have we been discovered?’
There was no way he could have noticed our infiltration with his Aura Expert Upper level skills.
But I knew a way to overcome the difference in levels.
‘Artifact.’
Just as Melissa had deceived Iris and me with an artifact, it wouldn’t be strange for the knight guarding the baron to have an artifact that detected enemy intrusion.
Sylvia must have sensed the anomaly as well, as she no longer suppressed her presence.
Swoosh. Without a word, she drew her sword and walked towards the office.
Sighing inwardly, I used magic detection. It seemed like a surprise attack was out of the question anyway.
“There’s no one on the third floor. The baron is in his office.”
I didn’t mention the guard’s location. There was no need for me to say it, as Sylvia would know it best in this situation.
More than that, it was surprising that the baron was just sitting still in his office. It would have been complicated if he had run away.
Seeing Sylvia’s energy growing sharper, I placed my hand on her shoulder.
Slap!
“…”
Before my hand could even touch her, Sylvia knocked it away with incredible speed.
I couldn’t see her expression because of the invisibility spell, but I could roughly guess what kind of look she was giving me.
“Sorry, I was just going to cast a support spell.”
“…Please let me know in advance next time.”
At her sharp voice, I simply shrugged my shoulders, not even bothering to reply. After all, it wasn’t me who was accumulating bad karma, but Sylvia.
“If you really don’t like it, just give me your arm.”
Support magic could only be cast if you were in contact with the other person.
“I’m fine.”
Just then, the invisibility spell wore off, revealing Sylvia’s figure. The third floor was generally dark, so the moonlight from outside the window was the only light source.
Her pure white hair, subtly illuminated by the moonlight, momentarily caught my eye.
“I’m not asking for your permission right now. And this is definitely not a situation where I can indulge your whims.”
Even if our infiltration had been discovered, it was still a manageable situation.
If we could take care of the baron before anyone else arrived, there would be no disruption to the plan.
“…I’m sorry.”
Sylvia, who had been quietly moving her lips, finally held out her arm.
Of course, she was still making it obvious that she didn’t like it.
I glanced at her furrowed brow and grabbed her arm. It was thin, soft, and even firm.
[Strength]
[Haste]
[Balance]
Excessive enhancement of physical abilities would only be a hindrance, so I adjusted it appropriately.
The output was also about half of what I usually used.
“This is…”
Sylvia clenched and unclenched her fist a few times, looking quite surprised.
Her eyes, which were always sharp except when she was talking to Iris, softened for a moment.
“I’ll recast the invisibility spell too. 10 minutes should be enough, right?”
Even if the guard had noticed our presence, not being able to see us was another matter.
If Sylvia was genuinely suppressing her presence and couldn’t be seen, could the knight really stop her attack?
“I’m fine.”
Sylvia refused again.
She had a different atmosphere than when she had been stubborn earlier.
“I’ll finish it in a minute.”
No sooner had she spoken than Sylvia’s figure disappeared, and the sound of metal clashing echoed from beyond the hallway.
─!!
Along with the sound of swords colliding, a tremendous pressure swept through the hallway. The aftermath almost shattered the windows.
One exchange, two exchanges, three exchanges.
After several exchanges, the aftermath of the battle was no longer felt. It was as if no time had passed.
Unconsciously wiping my sweaty palms, I headed towards the office.
As I reached the end of the hallway, I saw a man collapsed with a hole in his chest.
Next to him was Sylvia, dusting the blood off her sword as if nothing had happened.
“He’s been taken care of.”
I was speechless at Sylvia’s skill, which far exceeded my expectations.
I had only cast a few support spells, but for a moment, I felt an energy reminiscent of Kang Cheol-ho, the branch manager I had met at the Hunter Association.
‘…Should I consider her an A-rank on the verge of S-rank?’
If I were to fight Sylvia in her current state, I wouldn’t even be able to win, and I would probably have to give up an arm and a leg to escape.
“Good work.”
I approached the man who had become a cold corpse and put him into my inventory.
I also cleaned up the bloodstains scattered throughout the hallway.
Of course, it wouldn’t be difficult to find the bloodstains if you investigated closely, but it would be a closed case once Lina Hessler took over the title anyway.
It would be enough if I could create a situation where the missing guard was suspected of being the culprit for the time being.
After finishing the cleanup, I looked at the tightly closed office door.
Using Detection, I could clearly see the internal structure of the office. Hessler was hiding under his desk, as detected by magic detection.
It didn’t seem like he had a secret passage in his office like in novels or movies.
As I reached out to the doorknob to finish the job, I heard something.
“Do you know who is behind Resilia?”
It was a story I couldn’t possibly ignore.
Turning my head in surprise, I met Sylvia’s indifferent gaze.
“The Malefes, they led the rebellion with Resilia.”
“…What?”
***
It had always been a question.
Just what kind of guys did she team up with that Resilia, who had no cause or backing, could start a rebellion?
“The Malefes’ goal is to build temples to worship their god throughout Peledia and gather believers.”
After moving my lips for a long time, I stared blankly at Sylvia. At least she didn’t seem to be lying.
Only then could I finally understand why Sylvia had tried to kill Melissa.
My head became confused. If what she said was true, then the Malefes were enemies that I would have to kill someday.
“…Let’s talk about it later.”
I couldn’t readily answer.
Had I developed some kind of attachment to her in the meantime? Even knowing that the Malefes were enemies, there was still a part of me that didn’t want to kill Melissa.
Sylvia’s eyes were still as cold as ever as she looked at me. As if she expected it.
For some reason, my chest felt stuffy.
I kicked open the office door, reversed the baron’s internal magic to kill him, and slipped out of the mansion unnoticed to take in the cold air, but the stuffiness in my chest still showed no signs of disappearing.
I walked through the garden with Sylvia, where no one else was around.
It was Sylvia who broke the silence first.
“Although it was a short time, I have grasped to some extent what kind of tendencies the Royal Consort possesses.”
Sylvia, who was sitting on a bench in a corner of the garden, stared at me blankly.
“Like any other human male… no, it seems that you have an even stronger libido. So much so that you can’t be satisfied with just Iris-nim, dare I say.”
I was listening seriously, but then I felt something was wrong.
Was she just subtly dissing me?
“Although I don’t want to admit it, Iris-nim’s affection for Hyun-woo is not something I can persuade her out of. Well, I can’t say I don’t understand, since she’s been admiring a prince on a white horse since she was a child…”
“What are you trying to say?”
“I hope you won’t turn your eyes to other women besides Iris-nim in the future.”
“What?”
I thought she was going to ask me to break up with Iris again like last time, but what came back was a completely unexpected request.
“Please love only Iris-nim.”
“…I’m sorry, but that’s not something I can decide.”
In the first place, the reason I can confidently have sex with other women is only possible because Iris not only simply allows it, but also wants it.
That was the case with Luna and Ellie, and the same with Veli and Grace.
However, her taste wasn’t some distorted type like NTR.
-The more family, the better.
Looking at Iris, who smiled brightly as she answered a question I had thrown out of curiosity, I couldn’t say anything.
“…I expected you would say that.”
Sylvia, who had jumped up from her seat, sighed and approached me.
“A request without any compensation is just useless begging.”
As if she expected it, Sylvia took out a small scroll from her waist and handed it to me.
It was a contract.
“If Hyun-woo-gong grants my request, I will arrange meetings with noble young ladies in the future, when Resilia is driven out and everything is back in its place. Of course, it is up to Hyun-woo-gong’s ability to bring them in as concubines, but as many as you want, whether it’s five or nine…”
The contents of the contract were absurd.
Sylvia Mervis Wintervane, the first party, will arrange matchmaking with noble young ladies for Kang Hyun-woo, the second party, until the day Kang Hyun-woo’s life ends.
Looking at the ridiculous contents of the contract, I couldn’t help but feel increasingly unbearable.
“Pfft.”
I tried to hold it in somehow, but in the end, I burst out laughing.
“…What’s so funny?”
Did my laughter sound like mockery? Sylvia frowned and lowered her voice.
“It was a mistake, a mistake. Well… I’ll sign the contract. But I’d like to change the conditions a bit.”
“…What conditions are you talking about?”
I pointed my finger at Sylvia.
“If the condition is that you’ll be my partner for a year, I’ll sign it right now.”
