As the train arrived at the Clockwork City and came to a stop.
Outside, it was drizzling lightly, tapping against the window.
“Let’s get off.”
“······ pervert.”
After getting off at the station, we were able to enter Clockwork City without any significant inspection.
There was no intense interrogation this time like before.
Last time was an unusual case.
That centipede creature had put a curse on the train, which is why the guards came rushing in······.
Even wanderers without citizen cards can go just about anywhere as long as they have money.
Unless it’s places like Hameln or Petenburg.
“Let’s get ourselves sorted first.”
“······ pervert.”
Instead of heading straight to the mansion as soon as we arrived in Clockwork City.
We decided to sort things out first.
First, I needed to get my toothless sword fixed.
“Please sharpen my sword. I want it sharp like new.”
“Oh my! Did you chop firewood with this or what? How did it get so wrecked?”
“······ pervert.”
“Huh?”
It takes at least half a day to sharpen a sword.
In the end, we leave the sword there and plan to come back to pick it up later.
However, since it isn’t a reliable blacksmith, I took the mana stone from the sword’s hilt with me.
‘I can always buy a new sword if I lose this one.’
What matters is not the sword.
This black mana stone is a priceless treasure that you can’t get anywhere else.
Anyway, that sword is just a cheap one made by a beginner blacksmith near the Adventurer Village.
I’m only using it because I’m already familiar with it, so it feels wasteful to throw it away.
Of course, it would be nice to spend a lot of money on a good sword.
But I prefer to think of swords as consumables, so it’s more comfortable to just use a cheap and easy-to-find sword.
Getting used to cheap swords means when it breaks, I can easily adapt to a new one.
If you get a taste for luxurious things, everything in the world becomes dissatisfying.
“······ bug. I’ll wait.”
“So, are you gonna stop with the pervert comments now?”
“······ pervert.”
“Sigh, fine. Let’s just go take a look.”
Just as I was considering wandering around the city a bit more, Mi Jeong tugged at my sleeve tightly.
She seems worried about the centipede nun.
Despite disliking her fellow tribeswoman, it seems she kind of likes the centipede nun.
That’s strange.
It’s starting to get late and with the rain soaking my clothes, I hurry towards Cern’s mansion.
Ah, it’s my mansion now.
“Hmm?”
But something feels off.
Just before crossing the front gate, I felt a strange sensation and stopped.
Even with all my senses and intuition combined, there’s nothing abnormal to catch.
But I still have a bad feeling.
“Mi Jeong, go in first.”
“······ okay.”
Without hesitation, Mi Jeong stepped inside.
“······ ugh.”
“Oof.”
As soon as she stepped over the gate, Mi Jeong’s body went limp and she collapsed.
I barely caught her as she tried to fall backward.
Mi Jeong, who hadn’t slept for some time, had closed her eyes and was softly sleeping.
“Is it a sleep curse?”
A sigh escaped me.
It seems that the centipede nun had laid a wide-ranging sleep curse around the mansion.
What was she planning to do while I was asleep?
I could just ask her directly.
“Does this one have no learning ability? You can’t pull this kind of thing on me.”
I pulled out Kali’s soul, trembling with hunger, and placed it in front of the mansion’s front gate.
Immediately, demonic energy began to emerge from all over the mansion.
In an instant, it was sucked into Kali’s soul.
Considering the entire mansion was covered, the amount of demonic energy is still quite low.
It’s nowhere near the amount that had covered the Transcontinental Train last time.
Even less than the sleep talisman that Mi Jeong used on me.
“This is why I couldn’t detect anything.”
In fact, with this level, I probably wouldn’t have fallen asleep myself if I had walked in directly.
It would turn out Mi Jeong was the only one who ended up asleep.
With this, the Guardian Knight wouldn’t activate either.
[Stats]
[Strength: 17(x5) *Guardian Knight effect active]
[Stamina: 39(x5) *Guardian Knight effect active]
[Magic: 49(x5) *Guardian Knight effect active]
[Agility: 22(x5) *Guardian Knight effect active]
[Luck: 11(x5) *Guardian Knight effect active]
“Huh?”
Just as I thought that.
The Guardian Knight was still functioning perfectly.
Could it be that this one is pretending to sleep? I took a closer look.
“······ huuu.”
Mi Jeong was tossing and turning in her sleep, rubbing her cheeks against me.
No matter how I look at it, she’s definitely asleep.
Then it means while Mi Jeong is sleeping, she’s unconsciously aware of being protected by me.
Does that mean she’s relying on me that much?
“Oh no! The spell has been broken! Hyaaa!”
Suddenly, a loud noise came from the back door.
Cutting through the sound of rain was a clear voice, that of the centipede nun.
As I concentrated to track her position using telekinesis, I felt something being grabbed.
“Aaaaaaaah!”
And then, from the back of the mansion, a gigantic centipede was dragged into view through telekinesis.
It floated up in midair and stopped right in front of my eyes.
The centipede nun transformed into a woman with a puff, as though she had been caught by the nape.
She must have thought it was more advantageous to present herself this way rather than as a disgusting bug.
“Make your excuses.”
“Th-that’s because… What if there’s a thief? There are precious clockwork dolls here, so I was trying to protect the mansion from thieves with sleep magic······!”
“Is that all your excuses?”
“I-I’m sorry! I made a mistake······.”
Only then did the centipede nun bow her head deeply and apologize.
A deep sigh escaped me.
What a consistent nuisance, I couldn’t even be bothered to get angry.
“Let’s just go inside. It’s cold.”
“Are you… forgiving me?”
“Anyway, you will become a factory for extracting demonic energy, so I’ll overlook this much.”
“Thank you very much······ huh? What? Did I hear that wrong? Is that right? Please give me a response!!!”
Carrying Mi Jeong, I entered the mansion while the centipede nun blew a fit beside me.
Soon, a familiar face welcomed us, hands together in a respectful manner.
[Welcome back, Master. Was your journey enjoyable?]
“What’s this? A machine concept?”
[Hehe. I tried to be a bit stiff like the old days. How was it?]
“Hmm… I think I’ll be asking you to do that often.”
[Huh?]
While pretending to be a simple machine, Linda tilted her head at my comment.
I think I’d like her to host me in that model more often.
It feels somewhat extravagant to have an artificial soul act like a machine.
It feels similar to wanting to play old games after having bought the latest computer.
“Warm up the bathwater. I need to wash up.”
[Yes, understood. I will finish preparing the bath and let you know.]
“When will I get my life force—”
“Life force? Seems like you don’t need that now, do you?”
“Ugh?!”
Clunk.
As I released telekinesis, the centipede nun fell to the floor, flopping down.
Although she had come to deliver my life force, it was quite infuriating that she had laid a sleep curse instead.
Moreover, her current status doesn’t seem to indicate any lack of life force.
I remember hearing that the more life force diminishes, the younger the body becomes.
Because I had received some life force when we parted last time, she was no longer in the appearance of a young girl but a mature woman.
That means she still has a considerable amount of life force left.
‘But is it still right to call her centipede nun?’
Watching her pout on the floor made me wonder.
Thinking about it, she was pretending to be a nun, and her outfit isn’t a nun’s anymore, so calling her a nun feels inappropriate.
Then I’ll have to call her something else.
What should I use as a title?
I need to think a bit.
“Clearly looks plump. What a wasted trip. Contact me again when you’re on the brink of dying from lack of life force.”
“Wa-wait! There’s a reason! Please listen! I need a lot of demonic energy!”
“Let’s hear it.”
“I’m planning a large-scale curse. I got the idea from the last time I cursed the whole dungeon, to limit the range to a specific part of the dungeon, namely the boss room, and try to assassinate the boss with a powerful curse, breaking the core and easily destroying the dungeon······.”
I’m not sure if she genuinely came up with this idea or just thought of it on the spot because she was afraid I’d hit her.
But the idea itself seems reasonable.
If there’s a lot of demonic energy and the dungeon structure is understood, it could be possible to remotely destroy the dungeon without taking risks.
“So, you put me to sleep with a sleep spell to suck my life force dry to get a lot of demonic energy?”
“That’s right! That’s it! Huh? Ah! No, that’s not what I meant!”
[The bath is ready!]
The centipede nun began to panic and ramble incoherently.
This isn’t the first time she’s tried to hit me in the back of the head.
I just needed to give her a mild flick and head to the bathroom.
Let’s wash my body first, and since my clothes are soaked, I’ll ask Linda to do the laundry.
Linda shoved the laundry into the washing machine, saying it needed charging, and headed for the garage.
“Ahhhhh. So refreshing.”
I hurried to wash up before the now-sleeping Mi Jeong woke up and caused a fuss about the water.
After quickly getting her dressed, I finally got to soak in the warm bath.
This feels so good.
In the Southern Region, we rarely have such large baths, usually just small tubs to enjoy a bath.
Indeed, soaking in a wide bath like this seems to truly relieve the fatigue.
“Can I… join you…?”
“Come on in.”
A cautious voice came from behind.
Shortly thereafter, I heard the rustling sound as the giant centipede slowly inserted itself into the tub.
No matter how many times I see it, that visual is just disgusting.
“How have you been?”
“Yes… thanks to you.”
“Think well about that method of using curses to conquer dungeons. It might prove helpful.”
“Yes, I will.”
I’ve assigned this centipede girl an important task.
Since she’ll be studying curses, it would be unreasonable to also use her as a factory for demonic energy extraction.
It seems like Kali’s soul charging will be delayed a bit.
“But what should I call you?”
“Huh? Just call me whatever you feel comfortable with!”
“I’m in a dilemma over what’s comfortable. I used to call you centipede nun, but you clearly aren’t one anymore. It’s kind of weird to call you centipede girl. I remember how Linda got mad when she heard me refer to her as a monster or bug.”
“That’s right. You remembered.”
“You don’t have a name, do you?”
“I don’t······.”
“It seems like it’s time for you to have a name.”
The centipede girl wriggled through the water toward me, taking a seat beside me.
I’m not sure what kind of expression a centipede head could have, but it seems like she’s expecting something.
It’s time for my dazzling naming sense to shine.
“How about Younghee?”
“······.”
Shaking her head.
It’s a steady seller, but not necessarily a chic name.
“How about Magsun?”
“······.”
Another shake.
I thought that one was fine.
“How about Eunhye?”
“······.”
Another shake.
Isn’t it a pretty name in both meaning and sound?
I really don’t know why she keeps saying no.
“Ugh·····. Maybe I should just name her myself. Why does every suggestion sound like a name for an old man in a village in the Northern Region?”
“······.”
Spitting my hand back, the centipede girl nonchalantly retorted.
Having absorbed quite a bit of life force, her body appears somewhat plump now.
But it doesn’t seem like she’s absorbed enough life force yet.
Then, the centipede girl smoothly maneuvered through the water.
Slowly, she entered between my legs and leaned in to present her mouth to my face.
“What are you trying to do?”
“Well… the absorption rate is really lacking. If I suck it with my hand, too much will leak out, but if I do it with my mouth, I can absorb almost 100%·····.”
“You didn’t just make that up, did you?”
“I-I didn’t, really!”
“Anyway, if the absorption rate is high, does that mean I won’t have to supply you often in the future?”
“That’s right! That’s exactly it! I don’t want to see your face often either! So it’s better like that! Once I suck it, we can avoid seeing each other for a while!”
Hearing that made me cringe and frown immediately.
But thinking about it, it does seem somewhat convincing.
If I supply her once every three months, I’d have to buy a Clockwork City ticket four times a year.
Considering the travel time, that’s a huge loss.
But, if I raise the absorption rate and reduce the trips to two a year?
The productivity would skyrocket.
Enduring the absurdity of kissing a centipede would give me tremendous efficiency.
“Then······. Please hold on for just a moment······.”
As the giant centipede slowly approached and opened her mouth again.
Looking at her up close made me feel a fresh wave of disgust.
The moment I stared, my stomach churned, and I ended up closing my eyes.
I waited for the slimy and gooey mucus to touch my lips.
-Ding Dong!
A distant bell rang.
“Should we… ignore it?”
-Ding Dong!
As I was about to ignore it and finish the life force supply,
The bell rang again, cutting off the flow of everything.
I wondered why Linda wasn’t responding.
Then I remembered Linda was currently in the garage getting charged.
-Ding Dong!
“Damn it. I guess I should go out myself. Come with me.”
“Hiing······.”
After a couple of presses of the doorbell without any response, it appears they’re determined to keep pressing.
If it were a delivery or something, they would have left it behind.
Then could it be a guest here to see Cern?
I should let them know the address has changed.
Quickly, I rushed out of the bath, dried myself off, and threw on some clothes.
Looking back, I found that the centipede girl had turned back into a woman and was peeking around the corner.
-Ding Dong Ding Dong Ding Dong Ding Dong Ding Dong!
‘No way?’
The doorbell rang as though ready to break down.
I felt a strange apprehension creeping in.
The feeling that it could be Jill, Yulia, or even Yerina on the other side of this door·····.
‘That can’t be true.’
Since there’s a barrier device surrounding the mansion, it can’t be them.
Only permitted individuals can enter without facing resistance from the barrier.
There can’t be many people who have access set for entering the barrier.
Cornelia, Mia, the centipede girl, Linda, Mi Jeong, Cern, and······.
“Alicia?”
“······.”
Creak.
As I swung the door open, a loud rush of rain greeted me.
Standing at the door was a girl soaked in rain.
Her long ears droop, her expression is gloomy, and her pupils lack lifelight.
Only after I called her name did she slowly raise her head.
“I… got caught by my sister·····.”
As if about to burst into tears at any moment, she trembled like a wet bunny, looking up at me with an adorable, sorrowful expression.
