"Co out."
Violet's voice was calm, like she already knew I was there.
I froze for a second, my eyes widening.
"Aestrea, I know you're up there." She glanced up at the ceiling where I had been hiding.
She was totally calm now.
Well, that makes one of us.
Plop!
I dropped down to the ground, the invisibility barrier around
disappearing.
"How did you know?" I asked, still a little shocked.
"My eyes." She pointed to her violet gems.
Ah...
I almost forgot about her damnly overpowered talent.
"You are the only one who has a completely silver color. No one else was like that."
And if that wasn't enough, she also explained the reason why she knew that it was
and nobody else.
Violet studied
for a mont, and then she gave
a tired, almost forced smile.
"I didn't expect you to be on the sa train as ."
"...I didn't expect you to be so easily threatened."
I replied back shortly.
Her smile faltered, just for a second.
"Ouch. That really hurts."
I just shrugged, sitting down next to her.
It wasn't like I had the ti to sugarcoat things.
"So… mind telling
what's going on with your mom?" I asked, getting straight to the point.
"Why is she in the Emperor's hands?"
Violet's face darkened.
She frowned deeply and let out a long sigh.
"It's all because of the Luxuria Family's success. The Emperor couldn't stand how much wealth we were making. He felt threatened by it, so he took my mom. Said he'd kill her unless we gave him 50% of everything we earned." She paused, looking away.
"He's been using her as leverage."
Her voice sounded defeated.
But she wasn't done.
"And of course, with him holding her, others jumped in to threaten us too. Just like the Pri Minister you saw earlier. They think they can get away with it because we're vulnerable."
"I see..."
"So, you're stuck. Can't even deal with the Emperor without putting your mom at risk." I gave her a sidelong glance.
"And no one's strong enough to back you up."
She gave a bitter laugh, but it didn't reach her eyes.
"Exactly. Even the Sword Duke is more powerful than my family. No one can stand up to him… except Eleonora."
Ah, right.
That damned cheat code of a Headmistress.
"Is that the reason you joined the Eternum Academy?" I raised an eyebrow, trying to keep my tone casual.
"...Partly, yes. I was hoping to get closer to her, build a good relationship so I could ask for her help later." She shrugged, shaking her head.
That made sothing click in my mind.
And that imdiately made sothing co to mind.
The reason she also approached .
The way she'd been acting around , all friendly and kind of flirtatious… it was all part of her plan.
"…Is that also the reason you ca after ?" I asked quietly, already knowing the answer but wanting to hear her admit it.
She didn't say anything right away.
Just stayed silent.
In the end, she was trying to use
as so kind of tool.
It made
sick to my stomach.
I stared up at the ceiling and let out a frustrated sigh.
I truly thought that she was interested in , but no, she was interested in my power.
It wasn't much different than my old world.
I should've known better.
Why had I let myself be so naive?
I was so stupid to believe in it.
Fuck...
"Anyway... How about we make a deal then?" I asked in a calm tone.
She looked at
curiously.
"What kind of deal?"
"If I save your mother, you let
take one item from your auction house. How about that?" I asked faintly.
Her eyes widened for a mont.
"Save my mother? Do you even understand how impossible that is—?"
"Almost impossible," I interrupted her, giving her a pointed look.
"But if there's even the tiniest chance, I believe I can do it."
I'm totally not putting all of my confidence in my Ti Attribute.
Still, I knew it would take ti.
More than I had at the mont.
"But of course, to do it, it will take a few months."
I still need to increase my mana to increase the ti that I use Ti Freeze.
Her brow furrowed slightly, and she looked at
with a weird gaze.
"The auction is in two months. Do you really think you can pull it off by then?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"...Probably."
I could try and get materials that might help
increase my mana, but they were ridiculously expensive.
My asly 4,000 platinum coins wouldn't even cover the cost of three.
Wait a second...
'System, is there any way to use the Scan function on more than one thing at a ti?'
I asked, hoping there was a way around it.
[Yes, but the selected information needs to be locked in order to do so.]
'...Alright then. For now, even though I can't use it, lock the information—Effects, Details, and Na.'
[Done.]
That's a start.
With that sorted, I realized I needed to make a quick stop.
It was ti to take care of a few things before moving forward.
I turned to Violet.
"One day before the auction, I'll make sure to bring your mother to you."
She brightened up instantly at my confidence.
Probably cause she knew that I was telling the truth.
"Deal."
She smiled and shook my hand firmly, like she trusted
completely.
I smiled back and nodded, then decided it was ti to go.
There were still other things I needed to take care of, so my trip to Silverleaf wasn't going to be a short one.
I glanced at the map and saw the next stop.
"Hellbrick?" I muttered to myself.
Weird na, but whatever.
I shook my head and turned back towards my cubicle, deciding to take a little ti to relax before we got there.
There was still an hour left.
ditation seed like the best way to kill the ti and clear my head.
I could think about everything later.
For now, I needed to focus and prepare myself.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
"Alright, let's go and search for a hotel."
I spoke solemnly.
We had just gotten off the train and arrived in Hellbrick.
And honestly...
It looked like the kind of place where shady deals could happen right under the sun. It had this cowboy kind of vibe
Like in Red Dead Redemption...
Ahem.
And yeah...
The people were indeed wearing cowboy hats.
It took a while, but we quickly found a hotel.
"Alaine, go ahead and check us in. Just let
know the room number later. I've got a couple of things to take care of," I told her, crouching down to pat Chaerin's head.
"I'll be back soon, okay?" I said with a smile.
"Mhm!" she nodded, her eyes shining.
I smiled back, then turned to leave.
"We'll be waiting, Master!" Alaine called out, and I waved my hand in response.
Then, I started looking around.
Hellbrick felt off.
The place was close to a volcano, so I figured there might be fire-related mana items around here. That was probably where I should head.
As I walked through the streets, I kept my eyes open for anything useful.
"Yo, lad," a rough voice suddenly called out.
I turned and saw a man with a cowboy hat, eyeing
up.
"Your clothes seem pretty expensive. How much for a share?" he asked, a grin spreading across his face.
I frowned.
An A-ranker in a place like this?
But soon, I noticed sothing on his neck.
A moon tattoo...
And that sohow...
Bothered .
"Hey... what's up with that moon tattoo on your neck?"
The words slipped out of my mouth before I could realize it.
"Hah?" The man raised an eyebrow before grinning.
"It's because I love the mo—!"
—BANG!
A shot rang out, a giant hole was blasted through his chest, effectively killing him.
Phew...
I lowered my gun slowly, blowing on the barrel.
"I'm sorry, but only I get to put moon tattoos on my body."
(A/N: Aestrea's way of saying... There can only be one of us in townnn...)
I had bought a mana revolver just in case I needed to use my gunslinger abilities.
"... Pathetic."
I mumbled, scoffing at his dead body.
I didn't know why I didn't like him having a moon tattoo...
Agh!
Fucking hell.
I really needed to figure out my relationship with the Goddess of the Moon.
Because that?
That was pure possessiveness.
After taking a deep breath, I continued walking, pushing the weird feeling to the back of my mind.
And then... I saw sothing interesting.
By the rocks, sothing caught my eye.
I knelt down and saw a small, glowing object.
[Na: Red Slayer's Dungeon Key]
[Effects: Opens the portal to the "Red Slayer Dungeon".]
[Details: Transfer mana into this key to open the portal to the high-level "Red Slayer Dungeon".]
High-level?
What did that even an?
[It refers to system grading. Low-level is F~E rank, Interdiate-level is D~B, and High-level is A~S rank.]
Ah...
So, this could potentially be an S-rank dungeon?
...There might be so good drops then.
Without wasting any ti, I grabbed the key and ford an invisibility barrier around myself.
The radius stretched out to about ten ters.
I pushed mana into the key...
—Whoosh!
A red swirling portal appeared in front of .
"Alright... let's see what's on the other side."
I jumped into the red portal.
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