The Noble Lady of Lust

Chapter 388: Delayed Reasoning

”...”

When I looked in the direction where I felt the gaze, it was several kilometers away, but there was nothing there.

Neither where I felt it nor in its vicinity, as if they had simply disappeared.

Normally, even I, who was practising sharpening my senses, would not have noticed a simple glance, and I would have been too far away to perceive the mana of a spell or a surveillance device, but I was sure: I felt something, my keen instincts sensed it.

And now that I possess the ’Primal Regression’ skill , which I copied from Lily and which, as a side effect, gave me a kind of beastly seventh sense, there is a high possibility that I did not imagine it, but there was nothing there.

This was strange, and I don’t have enough experience with this skill; even so, I feel a strange pressure telling me not to waste time.

These are vague feelings that may well be just another thought, but I feel I must heed them and make sure.

I couldn’t waste any more time.

”Is something wrong? If it’s about Miss Lirena, I apologize for her. She’s acting a little strange today, but I’m sure she didn’t mean to offend or hurt you.”

”I-I also apologize. I don’t usually lose my temper like that, and besides, you are our benefactor and—”

”Stop, it’s not that. I just thought I felt something. Well, that’s enough, I’ve satisfied my curiosity. It’s time to say goodbye, I have to go check something.”

”...I understand, if you have something else to do, I won’t get in your way, but I still think that this alone is not enough to thank you.”

Hmmm, I was originally going to use the atmosphere and the moment to ask you guys for a few things, especially if anyone had obtained more items like the Ghost Vine or good materials, but I was intrigued, and now that everyone is free of poison, I’m no longer in a position to be demanding.

Not to mention that now I have to go see if this hunch was real or not.

”Well, I really don’t want anything else. Ah! If you want to do something for me, give this to those guys and take them away, then judge them according to the law, hue~.”

So, as a final act, I began to slip into the shadows along with my doppelganger, but not before throwing a mysterious potion at my brother.

It’s not like I want to save those bastard’s subordinates or help them; rather, I feel like it will make things better and more advantageous for me.

”Wait, not yet—”

”No, that’s fine, nothing else... ah, and be careful with that bastard lying there... he might ambush you or do something devious.”

I warned my brother to be careful with Saelis; that cockroach isn’t someone you can deal with by simply killing him once.

Although I will definitely kill him eventually, since he was on the elimination list, and now I will personally give him even more priority.

”Wait, what do you mean by—?”

”Huehue~, you’ll understand. Don’t let that idiot play dumb. Today you were definitely attacked by Saelis Aelenthyr. Make him pay for what he did to you.”

And with that last remark, my doppelgänger and I disappeared. I like that feeling of leaving the situation a bit mysterious, and since I didn’t have a chance to extort them, I came off as some kind of anonymous hero.

Being a hero sucks, but it’s not bad to do things like that once in a while.

And just because I thought it was fun and situational, the last appearance I took before going in was that of William.

I felt that I had achieved my goal by coming here, in addition to securing the Lunarite for Rosy, so there’s only one last thing left to do.

..

.

”Fweeet~, Fweee~I’m walking through this dark cave, not being followed by anyone, Fweee~ I went...definitely no one is following me...ah! let’s confirm that I’m here.”

I was walking while whistling and singing; I was at the fire amethyst mine. According to my memories, this must be where the sprout is, the thing I originally thought was the cause of my brother’s unfortunate event.

And in my defense, it’s not unusual for me to think so, because buds are really important things to begin with, since who wins or loses this continental battle depends on them.

The Middle World follows its own rules, some different from those of my world or those of the demons.

This world creates a kind of law of physical form, and it is the same law that causes the rifts to exist towards the human and demonic world.

And the physical form is these sprout, which are literally little plants.

if you get enough of them together, you can begin to interfere with the laws of this world, primarily with respect to creating rifts.

There are six seedlings on this continent, and you need those six to win this continental battle for resources, and both sides knew that.

That’s why it’s everyone’s main goal: to get the seedlings, as it would be equal to winning.

If the human side obtained it and closed all the cracks to the demonic world, it would isolate those inside with no chance of reinforcements or fleeing.

Not to mention that we could open stable cracks to the demonic world, being able to attack them in large numbers anytime, anywhere.

And the same vice versa: if they get the seedlings, we’d be more than screwed.

Although, under the regional contract, it was only enough to have a majority to claim victory and for the other side to retreat, so that a war would not start until the last one standing.

So, even if I didn’t control the laws, getting four was my goal-as did Willian on the alternate line-and that would inevitably serve as a bridge to Talunhai.

So, in my plans, it was critical to take possession of these; and, luckily, I know where most of them are, and that was enough to end this much sooner than I should.

But the problem is that, for concepts I don’t understand, these are still functioning as a real plant, and you have to wait for an auspicious time to take possession of it; otherwise I couldn’t take it, let alone use it in any way.

For now I just come to make sure it is here and put more security around it.

I would very much like to harvest it and take it with me, even though it is not yet time. Although I have a method in mind, I do not have the necessary materials.

But I’m not worried because I know the harvest time thanks to Willian and his luck on the alternate line.

’Ah, but that’s taking into account that this place becomes a hunting ground... hmm, will it take longer? Hmm, I feel like I’m overlooking something, what is it. Well it shouldn’t matter’

I guess now it just remains to take care of the rest and although I originally thought this was the reason for my brother’s crippling, I can’t always be right, and it was a good thing it wasn’t something more complicated than the pettiness of an unhinged bastard.

”You had to get through this wall and-”

Bang!

”Right! This is the first time I’ve felt it, but it has a certain aura of space runes... yes, this is it.”

Following the memories, I finally reached the place. After breaking through one of the mine walls, I entered a gigantic room; it was a natural dome and didn’t seem to be part of the mine excavation.

I remember that, by the time the bud is ready to harvest, this place is filled with many rare and beneficial plants, and I already see hints of some coming out, even if the only source of light is the faint one emitted by the fire amethysts on the walls.

I approached the sprout at the end of the room, which had no real protection as it seemed to have just emerged.

It was a small blood-red seedling coming out of the ground. In short, it was what I was looking for.

At that moment, I felt three presences behind me that also entered quietly, but when I looked at them.

’Shit! ’

’This is bad.’

’Very bad.’

”Oh, I really didn’t expect this. She’s just a six-metamorphosis girl... hmm, but her mana is also the same as the one who broke into Saelis’s affair—ah, she changed her appearance... that’s a good skill.”

”Yes, what His Imperial Highness says is true. She is the variable that Saelis did not expect; with how meticulous he is, it was a surprise that he failed, but even so, how could she interfere? No, she must have had more help. We didn’t see enough. There must be some other people who left by the time we observed.”

”More importantly, it doesn’t seem like a coincidence that she is here. She seems more precise than us, although I don’t understand why she came alone. If she had come accompanied by the whole group or her accomplices, we would have had no choice but to retreat as before.”

”What does it matter; she probably didn’t know about us and looked in our direction by coincidence. Hee~... but even though I know it’s probably not her appearance, and she’s human, she’s very cute. I think I understand those crazy people who occasionally make mixed-race babies. Really... it’s a great skill; I need her in my collection.”

They were the source of the gaze from before; in fact, I had already discovered it before entering the mine because they stopped being cautious when they saw me alone, and I pretended not to notice in order to lure them in and finish them off.

Now I recognized all three of them. I knew who they were from the memories of my alternate self, and how ridiculous it is that the three of them are together at this moment and place.

It made me realize many things: that I wasn’t entirely wrong in my deduction, how foolishly I didn’t pay attention to the second clause that Saelis made my brother sign, and that once again things are moving in a way that is completely unknown to me.

There were only three of them, but each one was a difficult problem to deal with on its own, and I’m regretting playing dumb and ignoring them even though I knew they were following me.

I thought that, at most, they would just be Saelis’ subordinates who stayed behind; they would be easy to deal with if I set a trap for them.

But I ended up getting myself into something bigger than I thought.

So I tried to calm down and needed to find a way to deal with this situation.

As they talked, I undid my morphogenesis and returned to my real appearance. That made one of them look at me with lust immediately.

Although I did it so as not to waste mana—since I’m considering the worst-case scenario—luckily it seems they didn’t see much, as I noticed them almost immediately and they don’t know what I’m capable of.

I could see the state of that so-called imperial highness, a turquoise-skinned demon, and I could only confirm that, unfortunately, he was who I thought he was; the others seemed tougher.

”Oh, but what is this!? Three handsome boys! Very powerful. Could you tell me what you want from this defenseless lady who only has six metamorphoses? Why don’t we talk calmly?”

I really needed to know what they were capable of if I wanted to get out of this, so I threw my dignity to the devil and spoke to them flirtatiously while trying to seduce them, activating the charm at the same time.

It worked: the second and only human fell; for me, he was the most problematic because of his abilities, and seeing his state confirmed it even more. Running away was not an option.

”Hahaha, beautiful lady, are you trying to seduce us? You’re doing well, but I need more than this to convince me. Why don’t you show us a more beautiful and voluptuous appearance? Then I’ll think about it some more.”

”Your Imperial Highness... I don’t think it’s a good idea to play along. She’s probably buying time and looking for a way out or something else.”

”Tsk! What nonsense. She could be problematic if she had the whole group or those faction leaders—as you call them—but now she’s alone and only has six metamorphoses. Besides, do you think I can’t notice something like that? In the end, what can she do against the three of us?”

”...”

”What His Imperial Highness says is true, Mitrass. Besides, His Imperial Highness would not be fooled and is only interested in her ability. I also think she is very good, although now she must be fake too. If I am not mistaken, that is what Princess Silvercrest looks like. As far as I know, she should be in the city of Alvidrin; in fact, I even heard that she was injured in an accident a few days ago.”

”Oh, come on, handsome guys! You can’t leave me out of your conversation... hmm, we see that His Imperial Highness asked for it, and you, big guy, don’t seem interested in humans. Why don’t we try—?”

I couldn’t miss the opportunity to be underestimated. Thanks to the problematic ability of the one who shouldn’t be here, they know my real rank even though I hide it, but that very fact made them lower their guard even more.

The only one left was the last one, named Mitrass, a gray-skinned demon who was over two meters tall and pure muscle.

Since my appearance didn’t captivate him, I quickly changed into the most seductive demon I knew: Aurora’s mother. In addition, I made my breasts bigger, to the point that they almost overflowed from my clothes, and finally:

’Good, it worked.’

”Definitely—” Crack! ”Something’s wrong.”

And just when I was feeling happy that I had understood these three, in an instant something I did not expect at all happened, a horrible pain overwhelmed me, and I began to fall.

I could only see the guy who had suddenly appeared behind me and had done the same thing to me that I had done to Sealis.

..

.