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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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As the train arrived at Clockwork City and came to a halt, a light rain outside pattered against the windows.
“Let’s get off.”
“…Pervert.”
We disembarked at the station and entered Clockwork City without any hassle.
There was no strict interrogation like last time.
That had been an anomaly, anyway.
All because that centipede had cursed the train, causing the guards to swarm us…
As long as you had money, you could go anywhere, even as a wanderer without a citizen ID.
Except for places like Hameln and Petenburg.
“Let’s get ourselves sorted out first.”
“…Pervert.”
Instead of heading straight to the mansion upon arriving in Clockwork City, we decided to take care of some things first.
I needed to get my sword sharpened.
“Could you sharpen this sword for me? Make it as sharp as new.”
“Oh my. Did you use this to chop firewood? It’s completely wrecked.”
“…Pervert.”
“Huh?”
It would apparently take at least half a day to sharpen the sword.
I ended up leaving it there and decided to come back for it later.
However, since I didn’t fully trust the blacksmith, I removed the mana stone from the hilt and took it with me.
‘I can always buy a new sword if I lose this one.’
The sword wasn’t important.
This black mana stone was the real treasure, impossible to obtain anywhere else.
The sword itself was just a cheap one made by a novice blacksmith near the Adventurer’s Village.
I only kept using it because I had gotten used to it.
Of course, it would be nice to invest in a good sword.
But I considered swords to be consumables, so I preferred using cheap, easily replaceable ones.
Getting used to cheap swords meant I could easily adapt to a new one if mine broke and I needed a replacement.
Developing an expensive, gourmet palate would only make life more difficult.
“…Bug. Waiting.”
“Are you finally done calling me a pervert?”
“…Pervert.”
“Sigh, fine. Let’s just go.”
I was thinking about exploring the city a bit more… but Undecided tugged at my sleeve.
She seemed to be worried about the Centipede Nun.
She disliked Transylvania, who was her fellow blood ghoul…
But seemed to like the Centipede Nun.
It was strange.
The sun was starting to set, and I was cold and wet from the rain, so we headed to Cern’s mansion.
Ah, it was my mansion now.
“Hmm?”
Something felt off.
Right before I crossed the main gate an unsettling feeling stopped me in my tracks.
But even with all my senses, including my sixth sense, activated, I couldn’t detect anything out of the ordinary.
Still, I had a bad feeling about this…
“Undecided, go in first.”
“…Okay.”
Undecided stepped forward without hesitation…
“…Ugh.”
“Oops.”
The moment she crossed the gate, she lost all strength and collapsed.
I barely managed to catch her as she fell backwards.
Undecided, who hadn’t slept in days, was now sound asleep, breathing softly.
“A sleep spell, huh?”
I sighed.
It seemed the Centipede Nun had cast a wide-range sleep spell around the mansion.
I wondered what she was planning to do while I was asleep.
I could just ask her directly.
“Does she not learn? I told her this wouldn’t work.”
I took out Kali’s soul fragment, which was trembling from hunger, and held it in front of the mansion’s gate.
Demonic energy seeped out from the entire mansion and was instantly absorbed by the fragment.
Considering it was spread throughout the entire mansion, the amount of demonic energy wasn’t much.
It was nothing compared to the curse that had enveloped the transcontinental train…
It was even less than the sleep talisman Undecided had used on me.
“That’s why I couldn’t detect it.”
If it was just this much, I probably wouldn’t have fallen asleep even if I had walked in, just felt a little drowsy.
I had put Undecided to sleep for nothing.
And if she was asleep, Guardian Knight wouldn’t activate…
“Huh?”
…Or so I thought, but Guardian Knight was still active.
I checked on Undecided, wondering if she was just pretending to be asleep…
“…Hmm.”
She was tossing and turning in her sleep, her cheek rubbing against my chest.
She was definitely asleep.
That meant Undecided, even while unconscious…
…Was subconsciously aware that she was being protected by me.
Was she that dependent on me?
“Oh no! The spell is broken! Haaa!”
At that moment, a loud crash came from the back door.
The Centipede Nun’s voice, sharp and clear, cut through the sound of the rain.
I used Sound Detection to locate her and applied Telekinesis…
“Aaaaaaaaaah!”
A giant centipede was pulled from behind the mansion by my telekinesis.
It levitated towards me and stopped right before my eyes.
The Centipede Nun transformed into a human form with a poof, as if she had been lifted by the scruff of her neck.
She must have figured that looking like a normal human would get her a lighter sentence than a creepy bug.
“Explain yourself.”
“W-Well… It would be a problem if a thief broke in, right? There are valuable clockwork dolls here, so… I cast a sleep spell to protect the mansion from thieves…!”
“That’s all you have to say?”
“S-Sorry. I was wrong…”
The Centipede Nun finally lowered her head and begged for forgiveness.
I sighed.
She was so consistent that I didn’t even have the energy to get angry.
“Let’s go inside. It’s cold.”
“Y-You’re f-forgiving me?”
“I’ll let it slide this time, since you’re going to be my demonic energy factory.”
“Thank you so mu… Huh? Wait, did I hear that right? Did I? Answer me!!!”
I carried Undecided in my arms and floated the screaming Centipede Nun as we entered the mansion.
A familiar face greeted us with a polite bow and her hands clasped together.
[Welcome back, Master. Did you have a pleasant trip?]
“What? Are you going for a robotic persona?”
[Hehehe. I tried acting like my old, stiff self. How was it?]
“Hmm… I think I’ll be requesting this a lot.”
[Huh?]
Linda, who had been playing the role of a simple machine, tilted her head at my words.
Her stiff, emotionless, robotic demeanor was quite nice.
I would probably ask her to act like that often.
Making an artificial soul act like a machine… It felt extravagantly wasteful.
Like buying a high-end computer and then wanting to play retro games.
“Could you heat up the bath? I need to wash up.”
[Yes, Master. I’ll let you know when the bath is ready.]
“When can I get my essenc-”
“Essence? You don’t seem to need it.”
“Eek?!”
Thud.
I released my telekinesis, and the Centipede Nun fell to the floor.
I had come all this way because she supposedly needed more essence…
But she had been using that precious essence to cast sleep spells?
How infuriating.
And she didn’t even look that weak.
She had said that her body regressed as her essence depleted.
She must have had plenty left over from our last encounter, because she no longer looked like a little girl, but rather, a mature woman.
It meant she still had a lot of essence.
‘Come to think of it… Is ‘Centipede Nun’ still an appropriate name?’
Looking at her sitting on the floor with a dejected expression, I wondered.
She was never a real nun, just a fake and she wasn’t even wearing a nun’s habit anymore.
It seemed inappropriate to keep calling her a nun.
I had to call her something else.
But what?
I needed to think about it.
“You’re clearly overflowing with essence. I came all this way for nothing. Contact me again when you’re about to die from essence deficiency.”
“W-Wait! I have a reason! Please listen! I need a lot of demonic energy!”
“Let’s hear it.”
“I’m planning to develop a new curse technique. I got the idea from cursing the entire dungeon… What if I focused the curse on a specific part of the dungeon? The boss room, for example. By using a powerful curse to assassinate the boss and destroy the core, we could clear dungeons easily…”
I didn’t know if she had actually come up with this method, or if she was just thinking on her feet to avoid getting scolded…
But it was a pretty good idea.
If she had enough demonic energy and understood the dungeon’s structure, she could clear dungeons remotely without risking her life.
“So you tried to put me to sleep and drain my essence to get a large amount of demonic energy?”
“That’s right! That’s it! Huh? Wait? N-No? That’s… That’s not why I tried to put you to sleep…!”
[The bath is ready!]
The centipede… creature… was flustered and babbling.
It wasn’t like this was the first time she had tried to backstab me…
I just flicked her forehead and headed for the bathroom.
I would think about it after I washed up.
My clothes were also wet, so I asked Linda to wash them.
Linda stuffed the laundry into the washing machine and then headed for the garage, saying she needed to recharge.
“Ahh… This feels good.”
I quickly washed Undecided before she could wake up and start throwing a tantrum about being afraid of water, got her dressed…
…And then finally got into the hot bath myself.
This was the life.
Large bathtubs like this were rare in the South.
People usually filled small tubs and enjoyed their baths…
But soaking in a spacious bathtub like this was the best way to relieve fatigue.
“Can I… join you…?”
A hesitant voice came from behind me.
Moments later, accompanied by a rustling sound… a giant centipede slowly slithered into the bathtub.
It was a creepy sight, no matter how many times I saw it.
“How have you been?”
“I’ve been… well… Thanks to you.”
“That method you mentioned, using curses to clear dungeons… Do some research on that. It seems promising.”
“Y-Yes, sir.”
I had just assigned her an important mission.
Since she would be researching curses, I couldn’t use her as a demonic energy factory.
Charging Kali’s soul fragment would have to wait.
“But what should I call you?”
“Huh? You can call me whatever you like.”
“I’m trying to figure out what would be easiest. I used to call you Centipede Nun, but… you’re definitely not a nun. And ‘Centipede Creature’ sounds weird. I remember Linda called you a monster and a bug on the phone last time, and you seemed pretty upset.”
“That’s right. You remembered.”
“You don’t have a name, do you?”
“No…”
“It’s time for you to get a name.”
The centipede… creature… slithered through the water and settled down beside me.
I didn’t know what kind of expression a centipede head could make, but…
She seemed to be looking at me with anticipation.
It was time for me to unleash my amazing naming sense.
“Just focus on absorbing my essence for now. I’ll think of a name while you do that.”
“Yes, sir. Slurp…”
She drooled, filling the bathtub with her saliva, and then opened her mouth wide.
The hand I offered was sucked into her mouth, and a strange, indescribable sensation enveloped it.
“Young-hee?”
“…”
Shake, shake.
The centipede… creature… shook her head, my hand still trapped in her mouth.
It was a classic name, but not very sophisticated.
“Mak-soon?”
“…”
Shake, shake.
I thought it was a good name, but…
“How about Eun-hye?”
“…”
Shake, shake, shake.
It was a beautiful name, both in meaning and sound.
I didn’t understand why she kept rejecting them.
“Sigh… I’d rather choose my own name. How can they all sound like names for old people from the countryside?”
“…”
She spat out my hand and casually made a snide remark.
Perhaps because she had absorbed quite a bit of essence, her body seemed to have swollen.
But it didn’t seem like she had absorbed enough yet.
Then, she slithered through the water…
…And slowly slid between my legs, pushing her mouth towards my face.
“What are you doing?”
“Well… It’s a shame about the low efficiency. When I absorb it through my hands, a lot of essence leaks out… But if I absorb it through my mouth, it’s almost 100% efficient…”
“You didn’t just make that up, did you?”
“O-Of course not!”
“So if the absorption rate is higher, I won’t have to give you essence as often?”
“Exactly! That’s it! I don’t want to see your face that often either! That’s why! It’s better to absorb a lot at once and then not see each other for a while!”
I instinctively frowned at her words, but…
…Thinking about it, it made sense.
If I had to come here every three months to give her essence, that would be four trips to Clockwork City a year.
Considering the travel time, it was a huge loss.
But if I could increase the absorption rate and reduce it to twice a year?
My productivity would skyrocket.
All I had to do was endure the unpleasantness of kissing a centipede… and I would reap enormous benefits.
“Then… Please bear with me for a moment…”
Crack.
The giant centipede slowly approached me, opening her mouth once more.
Seeing her up close, I was reminded of how creepy she was.
I felt nauseous and closed my eyes…
…Waiting for her chitinous armor, covered in slimy mucus, to touch my lips.
Ding-dong!
A doorbell rang in the distance.
“S-Should we ignore it?”
Ding-dong!
I tried to ignore it and finish the essence transfer, but…
The doorbell rang again, interrupting the flow.
I wondered why Linda wasn’t answering and then I remembered she was recharging in the garage.
Ding-dong!
“Damn it. I’ll have to get it myself. Get out.”
“Hmph…”
They wouldn’t give up after ringing the doorbell once or twice, so they were probably planning to keep ringing it.
If it was mail or a delivery, they would have just left it, so…
It must be a guest who came to see Cern.
I had to let them know that he had moved.
I quickly got out of the bath, dried myself off, and threw on some clothes.
Looking back, I saw the centipede… creature… had transformed into a human form and was peeking out from behind a corner.
Ding-dong ding-dong ding-dong ding-dong ding-dong ding-dong ding-dong ding-dong ding-dong ding-dong ding-dong ding-dong ding-dong ding-dong!
‘Could it be…?’
The doorbell was ringing incessantly, as if they were trying to break it.
I had a chilling premonition.
A premonition that it might be Jill, Yulia, or Yerina…
‘No way.’
The mansion was protected by a barrier.
Only authorized personnel could enter without triggering it.
There weren’t many people who had access to the barrier…
Cornelia, Mia, the centipede… creature… Linda, Undecided, Cern… and…
“Alicia?”
“…”
Creak.
I opened the door, and the sound of heavy rain poured in.
Standing in front of me, soaked to the bone, was a young girl.
Her long ears were drooping…
Her expression was gloomy…
And her eyes were lifeless.
Only after I called her name did she slowly raise her head.
“I… I was caught by my sister…”
Her body trembled as if she was about to burst into tears…
A rain-soaked rabbit looked up at me with pleading eyes.
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[Lmaoooo like one of those cheating wives videos damn alicia is cooked if yerina is after her now]
Nooo Alicia what happened
Her sister is coming?