Chapter 171: Expanding The Garden (1)

The stimulation from having someone fiddling with her breasts seemed too intense for her, causing Bridgette to collapse on the bed.

"Ah, ngggh, aah...!"

She convulsed briefly, looking very uncomfortable as she twisted her body in various directions. Her breathing was unstable, and her focus seemed to be greatly disturbed as if she were in great pain.

Knock— Knock— Knock—

Young Lady, are you alright?

Concerned about Bridgette's sudden scream, the stern maid knocked on the door from outside.

"Uh, Young Lady, your maid is calling you from outside, so please respond first...."

I reached out my palm to calm the baron's daughter, Bridgette.

Seeep—

However, a black liquid-like substance began flowing out of her body.

It felt like the black paint that stained her whole body had been washed away by rainwater. That's why... her hair slowly lost its dark-black color, revealing a bluish hue.

What the hell is happening here?

As my heart wavered like someone who had just received a great shock, I heard a loud bang coming from behind. Someone had smashed the door of the room and entered inside.

"Young Lady, since there was no response, I have to come in and check."

It was Sydney.

Sydney forcefully broke into the sturdy entrance. The fact that the grim-reaper-like maid had the strength to smash the door like that astonished me to a great extent. I felt flustered, feeling as if I had been caught red-handed at a crime scene. To be honest, this moment was truly not very different from being caught red-handed.

Sydney, who broke into the room, scrutinized the surroundings to grasp the situation.

Her gaze immediately fell on Bridgette, who was in a disheveled dress, with partially exposed breasts rhythmically moving up and down. She was gasping for breath, as though suffocating, and an inky-black liquid was flowing out of her body.

"Mr. Healer, what's happening here...?"

"... Well, there were some circumstances."

"Are you saying you had these circumstances with our young lady?"

"No, not that kind of circumstance. It's a bit complicated."

"Did you form a relationship with our Young Lady?"

Hearing that, I fell silent. I felt that no matter what I said, it wouldn't get into the head of a completely bewildered person. I would only get entangled further, like a butterfly caught in a spider's web.

"Sidney, Sidney...?"

At that moment, Bridgette, who had collapsed on the ground, seemed to have regained her senses and gasped loudly.

"Young Lady, are you okay?"

Sydney, who had been probing me just a moment ago as if she would lop my head off any second, now approached the bed to check Bridgette's condition.

The maid who supported the noble's beloved daughter was seemingly unfazed by the damp, black substance on the bedsheet.

Indeed, she was a professional maid befitting a noble's employee.

"Young Lady, your eyes..."

"My eyes? After Mr. Healer pressed on them, my eyes felt incredibly refreshed. I feel like my vision has been cleared..."

"No, it's not that... your eyes have turned blue..."

"My eyes turned blue...?"

Bridgette touched her eyes, acting as if she couldn't comprehend what the maid was saying. Just then, Sydney took out a small handheld mirror from beneath her black-colored maid uniform and held it near her master's face.

As Bridgette received the small handheld mirror and stared at her projection on it, her eyes widened abruptly in surprise.

"What, what is this? The color of my eyes... my hair turned blue too? How could...?"

She looked at her transformation as if she couldn't believe what was seeing, and her eyes eventually turned to my masked face.

Her blue pupils seemed to be asking, "What happened?"— that was probably what she was asking me in her mind.

But how would I know what caused all of these?

I couldn't even fathom how human hair could be blue in the first place. However, there were people with blue, pink, and all sorts of hair colors in this barbaric world.

Maybe it was because of her mana or something.

"Young Lady, are you hurt anywhere? That Healer didn't harass you, did they?"

When Sydney asked that question, I couldn't help but tense up. Bridgette covered her dress and chest with her hand while slightly frowning.

"... Not really."

"I see."

Phew, that was really close.

#

In the grand villa's first-floor lobby, the living room,

Baron Fleur sat on a plush sofa, maintaining his silence.

His entire face and body were covered in a black veil and cloth, making it impossible to tell what expression he was making.

But one thing was clear— he was seriously contemplating something important.

Both the silence and this awkward atmosphere that settled because of that were extremely uncomfortable for me. He had summoned me to say something, yet he remained silent.

Forget about the gold bar. I just wanted to go home and rest.

I wanted to shake my legs due to the growing unease and tension, but I held myself back, afraid of giving away my nervousness. Finally, Baron Fleur let out a deep sigh and began to speak.

"My daughter's hair was black."

"That's right."

"But now it's blue."

"... That's how it turned out somehow."

Swish—

Baron Fleur took off his wide-brimmed hat, it was a hat similar to those worn by Mexican musicians. Of course, even without it, his face was still obscured by a black bandage-like covering, making him unrecognizable.

During the moment of slight tension, the baron suddenly asked me.

"Is it true that my daughter Bridgette's eyes are blue now?"

"Well, it did turn out that way..."

"Are her eyes similar to mine?"

_Srrk— Srrkk— _

Baron Fleur slowly unwrapped the bandage covering his face. As the cloth that was concealing his eyes fell away, his blue pupils were revealed to the world.

No, to be precise, it was more like a blueish glow in place of what should have been his pupils.

"Please tell me, are my daughter's eyes similar to mine?"

"Um, well, I'm not sure how to put it into words. It's... well..."

I found it difficult to give an immediate answer.

No wonder— because after Fleur removed the bandage and his face was fully revealed, what he had actually couldn't be called a face at all.

It was the blueish glow glinting from within a skull.

That was Baron Fleur's true identity.

This man was an undead.

A revenant, to be exact.

A fiend who craved life and loathed the living. Holy fucking shit! The Baron's true identity was that of an undead being.

That was why he deliberately covered his body with black cloth and hung heavy blackout curtains all around the mansion.

Undead creatures instinctively disliked sunlight, didn't they?

"Your karma has gotten all messed up after seeing me. It must be surprising, right? I, too, get surprised every time I look in the mirror. That's why I got rid of all the mirrors."

However, this baron and the undead I knew seemed quite different. He seemed perfectly conscious and could even speak in a refined manner. I wasn't sure if he was really an undead or not.

But I didn't dare to ask.

"Anyway, did she really have eyes like mine? I'm asking if my daughter, Bridgette, resembles me."

But fuck this shit, this eerie skeletal baron kept asking me if his daughter's eyes looked like his or not.

So, I mustered up my courage and looked at the skeleton's face with utmost focus.

If he was asking if her blue pupils resembled his, well, they certainly did in some ways. But fucking hell. These weren't even eyes, it was just a bluish glow in place of where the eyes should have been.

Still, this was a question with a set answer. So, I decided to give the baron a response that would please him.

"... Yes, a bit. But I think she resembles her mother more."

"I see. Indeed, aside from her hair and eye color, Bridgette looks very much like Clara. Anyway, thank you for your efforts. This is your reward."

Slide—

The skeleton Baron took out a gold bar from his loose sleeve and offered it to me. The shining gold made my eyes widen even more.

The reward he promised to me. Holy shit! I never imagined that a gold bar like this really existed in the world. My heart raced uncontrollably.

On the other hand, I couldn't help but wonder if I was allowed to accept the reward when I wasn't sure if Bridgette's breast condition would improve in the coming days.

Of course, the skeletal baron seemed to be indifferent to such concerns.

Well, considering he owned two such enormous mansions, he could afford to give out gold bars like this just for a few kind words, I reckon.

Now I understood why flatterers always attached themselves to high-ranking individuals.

Those lackeys indeed earned a pretty hefty living.

I tried to think of something to make the baron feel even better.

However, nothing came to mind, and I was afraid that saying the wrong thing might even end up in the gold bar I received being snatched away. So I decided to keep my mouth shut.

Anyway, it was a fucking gold bar.

Holy shit! A gold ingot.

It was truly incredible.

The gold bar in my hand was heavier than I expected. Heavy, solid, shiny— simply awesome. I felt like I understood why people were willing to go through so much trouble to obtain gold.

As I was admiring the gold bar, the baron spoke up all of a sudden.

"Even with that mask on, I can tell. You must like the gold I gave."

"Are there people who dislike gold?"

"Of course not. However, you seem to have a different vibe. You're undoubtedly a follower of Pluto. Pluto's devotees are generally fond of gold."

"I-Is that so?"

_Swish— _

The baron put on the wide-brimmed hat back to cover his face again. I felt relieved that I didn't have to endure that terrifying skeletal face anymore.

The baron continued.

"I, Fleur, was once a professor at the Ivory Tower— a skilled mage in the fields of sorcery and hell magic. I can boast about knowing more about those subjects than anyone else in the world. You, on the other hand, resemble the leader of the cultists I encountered here in Sodomora."

"The leader of the cultists?"

"Not much is known about him, but he was called Captain among the cultists. The fact that I am in this state and that my daughter is still alive is all thanks to him."

The Captain.

Could it be that Captain I met—

A vague feeling suddenly came to mind, yet it eluded me again soon.

After thinking about it, I remembered the time when I first went to the cultist gathering place. There was definitely a man standing in a dark corner with his arms crossed, looking rather imposing.

Didn't they call him Captain?

Holy damn! It turned out that we hadn't completely eradicated all the cultists from Sodomora. The most important figure among them, the leader, was still there.

_Thud— _

However, as soon as another gold bar was presented to me, all of those concerns seemed to disappear from my mind as if none of them mattered to me anymore.

"Here, this one symbolizes my sincerity. It's not related to your reward. Just please tell Captain I haven't forgotten our past agreement."

I had no idea what the agreement was about.

There was no reason to refuse a gold bar presented to me, so I again pocketed it.

I must say, gold bars were colder and heavier than one would think.

A solid feeling.

I liked it a lot.

#

"Hassan, where have you been? Why did you just come back?"

By the time Luna's cabin came into view, the sun was already gradually setting, and the evening glow was steadily fading away.

It was only when I saw her distinctive pink hair that I truly realized... I had returned from the noble's mansion, returning to my everyday life.

A sense of relief washed over me at the thought and... it felt like all the tension in my body had eased away.

"Hassan, you don't look too good. Is there something wrong?"

While observing me, Luna immediately wrinkled her nose and sniffed, just like always.

"You must've sweated a lot!"

"The weather is hot."

"Yeah, it was scorching today. That's why I planned to give you this when you arrived, Hassan. Ta-da~!"

Luna reached into her waistband and handed me a leather water flask. Water? Elixir? I didn't know what it was exactly but accepted it without much thought since I felt thirsty.

"Wow—"

I was genuinely surprised by how cold the leather water flask was. It felt like there was ice-cold water inside.

Without hesitation, I gulped it all down. The texture of the liquid was like konjac or jelly, unique and tasteless, but the coldness of the liquid made it delicious nonetheless.

"What is this? It's so refreshing and nice."

"It's Wildling Elixir! How is it? Feeling better? I worked hard to make it and wanted to give it to you first!"

"It's so awesome."

I knew Luna had been busy making elixirs for a few days. However, I didn't expect her to have time to create something as refreshing as this.

"You could probably make good money selling this."

"I'm not going to sell it. I only made it for us to drink. I made about three jars of it so that we can spend this summer comfortably!"

"Sounds good."

Surviving the summer required some wisdom in a world without electric fans or air conditioning. Luna already seemed to have a plan for this year's summer, utilizing the wildling we obtained from underground.

"If we plant some trees and vegetables nearby, we can create some shade and enjoy a cooler atmosphere."

Luna looked around with regret and started discussing her plans for the area around the cabin. Expanding the yard seemed to be her immediate goal, and she often talked to me about it.

Once again, I felt the weight of the gold bars hidden in my embrace.

Tomorrow, I should sell the gold I have received and expand the land a bit.