Chapter 190 – Mutation – 1

“What took you so long to get here?”

As I rode in the carriage towards the mansion, Aurora came running up to me, her face bright with a smile, having been anxiously waiting in the garden. Lana had hopped down from the carriage’s driver seat and stood next to Aurora.

One knight mounted the carriage and took hold of the reins. Soon, they slowly disappeared behind the mansion.

“I had something personal to grab. But why are you out here? What about the guest?”

“That guest has been bothering me so much that I had to run away for a bit. This is all Delta’s fault for wandering around and not being at the castle on time.”

Aurora grumbled.

“How bad was it?”

“You know who came by since you heard it from Lana, right?”

“Yes. It was Lady Minerva, wasn’t it?”

“Exactly, it was Lady Minerva. But even if I have a way with words, I can’t outsmart her. Just look at her age, experience, and intellect—she’s way ahead of me.”

Despite her appearance, Minerva is a great sorceress who has lived for a staggering 400 years. There’s no way the young Aurora, around twenty, could match her wit.

“At first, it was just a normal conversation, but as you kept not showing up, it somehow turned into a discussion about my first experience.”

“That’s quite… impressive.”

“Yeah, by the time I realized it, it was already too late. They kept teasing me about it, so I decided to run outside, saying I’d wait for you to come back.”

Aurora shook her head in disbelief.

“You didn’t spill everything we did, did you?”

Upon hearing my question, Aurora’s face flushed bright red, as if that was the case.

“N-no, not exactly. It’s just that we, um, had sex. Was it good? To be honest, it’s a bit much to share all the details with others, right?”

Her words tumbled out in a flustered manner.

Well, it’s not exactly something you’d want to share, especially when it involves your first experience being turned into a comedy show by Lana, and ending up with your partner all flustered.

Lana, of course, is the exception.

“But I’m glad you got here quickly. If not, I would have had to go back to the reception room… ah.”

Suddenly, a blue orb appeared before Aurora, flickering and spinning around us. It was a pure mana sphere.

“I assume Minerva made that, right?”

“Of course. It seems she wants us to stop the chit-chat and hurry up. She’s in the reception room, so just head there.”

“Just me?”

“Well, I’d just have to come back out anyway. This is something you two need to discuss alone.”

“Understood.”

So it’s because it’s about the scroll that the general public shouldn’t hear. Nodding, I started walking towards the mansion when I paused and looked back.

“Lord?”

“Hmm? What is it?”

“Lana said you haven’t been able to sleep at night lately? You need to take it easy. Otherwise, you’ll end up hurting yourself.”

“What are you talking about? Why can’t I… sleep…?”

As Aurora started saying this, she quickly turned bright red from head to toe as if she caught on to my intent. A gasp slipped through her half-open lips.

Lana, standing nearby, was equally flustered. She hadn’t expected me to blurt it out like this, staring at me with wide eyes, as if I was a ‘traitor.’

Aurora shot a glance at Lana and turned away. Behind her, a woman’s anguished cry echoed, asking, “What all did you say?!” accompanied by Lana’s embarrassed sounds.

Having pulled off a light revenge on Lana, I made my way to the reception room of the mansion. There was a slight incident of Aurora getting swept into the mix, but it was her own fault for teaching Lana those kinds of jokes.

“Come in, Child.”

In the reception room sat Minerva. Just like before, her long white hair flowed down her back, and she wore a bathrobe that seemed ready to slip off at any moment.

Minerva flashed me her unique classic smile. The bathrobe precariously draped over her chest slipped slightly, revealing a hint of something pink.

“It’s been a while, Lady Minerva.”

I greeted her and started to sit down, but Minerva shook her head. She patted the space next to her invitingly. It was a clear indication for me to sit there.

When I silently questioned if she was serious, she nodded vigorously, as if asking, “Of course it is!” The sound of her patting the sofa echoed once again.

After a moment of hesitation, I sat beside her. I really had no choice. Just then, small plates and teacups appeared as if they had been waiting, and a teapot floated up to pour tea on its own.

“That’s right. It’s truly been a while.”

Minerva said, taking my right hand in hers.

Wondering what she was up to, she suddenly placed my hand on her thigh. Her hand felt warm and soft against mine.

My wrist was pulled further inside. Now, my hand was going past her thigh and under the bathrobe. The warmth encased my palm entirely. The soft sensation intensified.

Minerva finally stopped moving after pulling my hand close to her pelvic area.

“How have you been?”

“…Why are you doing this right after we meet?”

Even trying to pull my hand away was futile, as if it were frozen by magic, leaving only the soft warmth and gentle squeeze from her thigh.

“It’s a small token of thanks for the child’s gift.”

“This?”

“Since you have entered a place where no one has been allowed for 400 years, isn’t this a splendid gift?”

“…”

Even as I stared at her in disbelief, Minerva remained unfazed, closing her legs around my hand gently.

“Where did you find that scroll, Child?”

Since I had already anticipated this question, I tried to ignore the sensation from her thigh and explained what had happened at the ancient ruins.

Of course, I embellished the parts related to Fetch. Knowing Minerva’s nature, it wouldn’t be surprising if she tried to “bargain” for more information about the ancient ruins from Fetch.

Minerva listened and nodded slightly.

“Ancient ruins, huh… So there were scrolls there too.”

“Didn’t you once say you searched the entire continent with magic?”

“My research was limited to the mana waves emitted by the scrolls. A sorcerer of my caliber can’t just travel around everywhere. Plus, even if I found scrolls that weren’t ancient, I had no interest in them.”

Despite Minerva scouring the continent thoroughly, scrolls continued to be discovered simply because she had no interest in them.

She truly hadn’t found the ancient scrolls; she had just left other scrolls untouched.

That was the backstory regarding why one could find scrolls in so many places even when the Eternal Magician had searched the entire continent.

“But did you come all this way to thank me?”

My hand was still nestled between Minerva’s thighs, just a breath away from her most intimate parts. I wanted to pull it out, but it was stuck.

“Not at all. I came to tell you about the results of my research.”

“Regarding your research results… the Crystal Scroll, right?”

“Since you found that, you should be the first to know. You can be happy, since I haven’t told Kaiquilia yet. You are the next one in this continent after me to witness that magic.”

I already knew about the magic created when giving the Crystal Scroll, but I nodded obediently, not wanting to break the pleasant atmosphere as Minerva looked incredibly proud.

It was also possible that things had changed from what I had seen in the game. After all, Minerva coming here was already a sign of that.

Minerva smiled and withdrew my hand from between her thighs.

“Now, let’s go, Child…?”

Just then, her brow furrowed and my heart raced in sync. What could have caused such a sudden frown?

After a while of frowning, Minerva spoke with a slightly irritated tone.

“It seems something has happened at the Imperial Palace. I’m sorry to change plans, but could you hold off on heading to the Mage Tower for a bit, Child?”

“That sounds fine. I don’t mind.”

If something had happened at the Imperial Palace, then handling that should be the top priority. Besides, seeing Minerva like this meant something serious must be going on.

“Thank you.”

As she said that, we suddenly found ourselves in the hallway of the Imperial Palace. There weren’t even any visible magic circles or blue mana. The casting speed had drastically increased.

‘…Is this also a result of her research?’

While I was bewildered, Minerva strode ahead confidently. A few robed mages stood ahead. It seemed they had contacted Minerva.

Upon hearing our footsteps, the mages turned their heads. Their faces, previously pale, lit up with colors upon seeing Minerva.

“What’s going on?”

“The Knight Commanders suddenly…!”

Before the mage could finish, a loud bang! echoed from down the hallway. Shortly thereafter, a fierce roar accompanied it. Minerva’s face hardened even more.

With a flick of her wrist, Minerva teleported the mages to safety and quickly advanced down the hallway. I too followed her, gripping the Sword Sheath of the Wingless Nightmare tightly with my left hand.

The shouts grew louder. We just had to turn the corner to see what was ahead. Finally, as we turned the corner, the scene unfolded before our eyes.

In the center of the hallway stood a giant clad in golden armor, while silver and golden-armored knights were in a chaotic standoff, weapons drawn.

At the forefront stood Iris, next to her was Lize, while Claudia and Erica were on the opposite side. Iris’s voice echoed loudly, piercing through her helmet.

“You’ve completely lost it, Commander! I tried to refrain from interfering with the affairs of other knights, but killing your subordinates is an entirely different matter!”

‘Kill?’

The word was something I could never dismiss lightly. Minerva seemed to think the same, her already not-so-happy expression twisting even further.

“With such weak abilities, you cannot protect the Empress. If you can’t protect her, our honor is tarnished. Better to die by my hands than to have our honor stained. What went wrong?”

In stark contrast, the golden-armored knight spoke in a remarkably calm tone. His voice had an eerie lack of modulation, almost unnatural.

“Weak abilities? Ha, have you forgotten what happened when you came to our castle looking to spy on us?”

“That was then. But now is different.”

The golden-armored knight calmly brushed off Lize’s taunt as if it were nothing. There was again no variation in his tone.

Although things were slightly different from what I had seen in the game, I quickly grasped the situation.

‘So it came to this, huh.’

It was the mutation event of the Golden Dusk Knight Commander.