It was morning.
As I was finishing my breakfast of cereal with milk, the troops sent by Elaine arrived in the village.
Over 100 people came. I was surprised by the larger-than-expected number.
The soldiers and knights, as if accustomed to such tasks, began loading the bandits into transport carriages. The bandits' faces were pale with fear. They understood their situation and what awaited them.
"Young Master, a guest has arrived."
While I was sitting in a chair in my room, waiting to depart, a knock came, followed by Hassent's voice.
I was about to respond informally as Hassent's master but stopped myself. A guest's arrival meant there were others around.
"Come in."
Creak!
The door opened. The guest who entered with Hassent was a man who appeared to be in his thirties. He had silver hair, a tall, slender build, and a fox-like face.
As soon as he saw me, he immediately curved his eyes into crescent moons, smiled, and bowed deeply.
"The humble commoner, Treville Blurke, greets Eugene Pruckus."
I knew that name.
"You're the branch manager of the Information Guild's Pterus branch."
"Yes, that's correct."
He straightened up and spoke. I stared at Treville for a moment, then turned my head to the side.
"Head Butler, how are the preparations coming along?"
"They're almost done. It should take about five more minutes. I've also made sure to pack Young Master's new sword without fail."
My new sword. He was referring to Yuria.
I turned my head back to look at Treville.
"I'll give you exactly five minutes. Finish your business within that time."
"Oh my. Time is short. I wanted to have a chat with you, Young Master Eugene, but since time is limited, I'll get straight to the point."
"And the point is?"
"My apologies, Young Master Eugene. This request was a complete mistake on our Information Guild's part."
As expected. I had thought the branch manager would try to apologize in some way, but I didn't expect him to come in person. I had made the request to the Information Guild through Hassent. I hadn't acted directly. Hassent wouldn't have revealed anything about me… Did the guild deduce it?
'No. Thinking coldly, it wouldn't be hard to deduce. I came to Artel Village myself to eliminate Ferek's bandit group.'
I looked at Treville. His crescent-moon smile was quite annoying. There was also a chance he had figured out that I was the one who had secretly hired the torture expert.
I couldn't afford to make an enemy of the Information Guild. The best course of action was to accept some compensation and let it go. Treville likely came knowing this.
"I'm not interested in apologies without action."
"Since it was our mistake, we will naturally compensate you. We'll return the advance payment for the request, and as a bonus, we'll provide you with one piece of special-class information, free of charge."
Special-class information refers to information worth over 10 billion nerl. And it's not something they sell freely, even if you have the money.
'This is a huge win.'
For reference, in the original story, the special-special-class information was about the existence of dragons. There will come a time when I'll urgently need such information.
"Fine. I'll let your mistake slide this time."
"Thank you for your generous decision."
"Is that all?"
There's a saying that you shouldn't engage in long conversations with members of the Information Guild. They'll take information about you.
Treville clearly wasn't an ordinary person, so I didn't want to deal with him.
"One more thing. I heard you captured a traitor from our guild. Could you hand him over to me?"
"No."
I said firmly.
Although I held the power of life and death over the 32 captives, they all belonged to Yuria. If I handed even one over to Treville, my deal with Yuria would be nullified.
"It's been a while since a traitor appeared. We need to make an example of him. I'll pay for it. 1 billion nerl. How about it?"
"I already said no."
"...What if I throw in free access to special-class information?"
"Are you trying to fool me?"
I frowned. My relationship with Yuria was more valuable than the immediate gain in front of me. I had no intention of being betrayed by Yuria.
"...My apologies. Then, I'll purchase the traitor's corpse for 500 million nerl."
"That's fine. But is the traitor's corpse really worth that much?"
"As I mentioned earlier, it's for making an example… but we also have our own customs when it comes to dealing with traitors."
"I see."
I didn't probe further. How traitors are treated is obvious. I'm not interested.
"When is the execution scheduled?"
"Hmm. Maybe a month from now? Or it could be years later."
"...Young Master Eugene, you're a terrifying person."
I simply chuckled.
***
In the carriage, I discussed with Hassent what to do with Yuria.
First, I decided to make Yuria my personal maid. In the original story, Yuria was a cold, ruthless woman.
Although she said she had given me everything, words are easy for anyone to say. It was too risky to keep her at arm's length, and I was also concerned about the Helbrit Duchy.
Hassent agreed to vouch for Yuria's identity. She would be introduced as the daughter of a distant relative. The story would be that I noticed her living in poverty after her village was attacked by monsters and took her in.
Elaine wouldn't suspect Hassent, who had served the family for a long time, and the head maid had less authority than Hassent anyway.
I asked Hassent to teach Yuria assassination techniques. Hassent readily agreed, saying he liked the look in Yuria's eyes.
Through this, I learned that Hassent wasn't just an assassin but also a shadow mage.
'Shadow magic… That's the same magic Yuria used in the original story.'
Could it be that in the original story, the retired Hassent and Yuria had a master-disciple relationship?
'…Since the author is dead, there's no way to know.'
It's possible. In cases where the author didn't set specific details, they're left to interpretation.
'Let's teach her the Yeongcheon Style too.'
The Yeongcheon Style could also be considered an assassination swordsmanship.
And I was curious to see how far the world's greatest genius, as acknowledged by the author, could go.
***
As soon as I arrived at the mansion, I greeted Elaine and headed to the bath with Yuria.
The Pruckus family's private bath was so luxurious that I bathed almost every day. The bath alone surpassed my home in the real world.
I brought Yuria not just to wash her but also to have her attend to me.
'If she's my personal maid, she must attend to my baths.'
It's an important task, so she needed to be trained from the start.
There were dedicated bath maids, but they were elderly, so I had refused their service.
In the bath, I casually threw my clothes aside. The servants would tidy them up later. Hassent would bring fresh clothes shortly.
"Take them off."
I said to Yuria, who was standing still.
"…Yes."
Yuria knew her place. She hesitated slightly before starting to remove her tattered clothes. I crossed my arms and watched her undress.
Soon, both of us were standing naked, facing each other. Yuria couldn't look me in the eye and hung her head low. Her face was flushed with embarrassment. It was her first time, so it was understandable. She'd get used to it eventually.
I looked Yuria up and down, examining her body.
I had expected her to be dirty from wearing old, ragged clothes, but surprisingly, she wasn't that filthy.
"When was the last time you bathed?"
"Two months… ago."
It showed.
My gaze drifted to her chest.
'In the original story, she was described as busty… Is she really going to become busty?'
Her nipples were pink. The problem was that there was no breast tissue at all. She wasn't even an AA cup. Her ribcage was visible where her breasts should have been.
Her waist was incredibly thin, and her hip bones jutted out.
'...She's so thin it's pitiful.'
I looked at her pubic area. There was a light blue hair. It was so sparse that I couldn't even grab it with my fingers.
'As expected, silver hair means silver pubic hair too.'
Below that was a tightly closed pink slit.
Her legs were practically just bones.
'...Hmm. My dick isn't reacting at all.'
I didn't know what the future held, but at least for now, she wasn't my type.
"Follow me."
"Yes, Master."
I led her to the wall with a mirror. Next to it was a marble water channel. Warm water flowed from it toward the bath.
'It's some kind of magical tool, right? It's fascinating every time I see it.'
In this world, anything related to magic eliminates primitiveness. Even sewage treatment is handled perfectly.
"Wait a moment."
"Yes."
I brought my smartphone. Carefully avoiding getting it wet, I retrieved some items from my inventory. They were bath products I had just brought from the real world.
I sat Yuria down on a simple stool commonly found in real-world baths.
'The bathing culture in this world is quite developed… So, the only thing I can sell here is shampoo, right?'
Even shampoo probably wouldn't sell well. The Magic Tower already sold soap specifically for hair.
"Um, Master."
"Hmm?"
"I can bathe myself."
"This is a demonstration. I'll do it for you this one time, so remember it well. Next time, it'll be your turn to bathe me."
"…Yes, I understand."
I first scooped water with a ladle and poured it over Yuria's head. The ash clinging to her hair washed away, revealing its original color.
This wasn't my first time washing a woman. I had done all sorts of things in the Vampire Detective world.
I used shampoo to wash her hair. After repeating the process three times, her previously dry hair was gone.
"Oh, your hair is beautiful."
Her light blue hair was beyond imagination. I reached out and played with her hair.
"...My mother used to say that too, but I hate this hair."
"Because of the Helbrit Duchy?"
"Yes. I once tried to cut it."
"I guess it didn't work. If you had, it wouldn't be this long."
"My mother stopped me."
"Why?"
"...She didn't say. I think… she wanted me to live like an ordinary girl."
I soaked a shower towel with body wash and began to wipe Yuria's body.
'This is quite fun.'
With each movement of the towel, the dirt on her skin disappeared. Seeing her become clean gave me a strange sense of satisfaction.
As I washed Yuria, I kept talking to her. Conversation is important. Trust isn't built blindly. And I needed to know more about her.
"You said you've read books? They must have been expensive. How did you manage to get them?"
"There weren't many. They were old, worn-out books that were hard to read."
Yuria could read and write. She also had some knowledge of history. It seemed she had learned arithmetic as well.
"Did your mother teach you the mana breathing technique?"
"Yes. After I learned the mana breathing technique, I stopped fainting from hunger. I also gained the ability to move my body."
"What level have you reached now?"
"Two weeks ago, I reached the highest level of an aura user."
"I see."
The highest level of an aura user!
It's clear she hasn't lived a normal life… But she's still undoubtedly the greatest genius in this world.
"What did you learn from your mother? Swordsmanship?"
"I did learn swordsmanship, but mostly I learned how to survive. How to run away from people and monsters, knowledge about edible plants, mushrooms, and herbs. What to do when your body gets cold. How to be cautious in the city, ah…"
Yuria's words trailed off. My palm was washing her intimate area.
'Since it's a sensitive area, I should wash it with my palm.'
But Yuria's reaction was more intense than I had expected. Her eyes were restless, and her body was trembling, curled up. Despite that, her arms and legs remained still, and she didn't push me away, which was commendable.
'...An interesting thought came to mind. After trimming her pubic hair, I could compare its growth with mine. After all, my own hair started growing about a month ago. It's a growth competition! Well, with my high stamina stat, I'll probably win!'
I looked at Yuria, who was trembling. Her reaction was more sensitive than I had anticipated.
[Yuria's Erogenous Zone: Clitoris]
'As expected. The clitoris is the erogenous zone.'
I didn't stop my hand. My intention was purely to wash her. As proof, my own area wasn't aroused at all.
"The intimate area is sensitive, so always keep it clean."
"...Yes, yes."
Still, this reaction is a bit strange. I had no intention of caressing Yuria there. My hand movements were solely for washing.
"Yuria, have you ever masturbated?"
"Ugh… Wh-What is masturbation?"
I stopped my hand. She was already clean. Yuria's body quickly regained its composure.
"...Do you know what sex is?"
"I've learned about it. Sex is the sexual act between a man and a woman."
I asked in detail. It seems she received proper sex education from her mother. Well, considering her mother ended up pregnant and had to flee, it makes sense that she taught about it to her daughter.
'Hmm. It's understandable that she doesn't know about masturbation. It would be strange for a mother to teach her daughter about masturbation.'
***
Hey readers!
Want to read ahead? 📖 Join my Patreon for early access to 30+ advance chapters! Your support helps me write more and bring the story to you faster.
🔹patreon.com/aarvan🔹