Chapter 31 31: Material for Face-Slapping
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Setting aside the bickering sisters, Lucian and Talvi had already spent the night engaged in an intense, passionate marathon. Her body was delicate, so he made sure to be incredibly gentle. Of course, there were wilder moments as well. For the very first time, he translated his long-held theoretical knowledge into practical combat, fully venting his desires. By the time everything settled down, Talvi was completely drained of energy, leaning happily against his chest.
"I'll be returning to Orario at daybreak. You should come with me," Lucian said.
Before she even had the chance to feel disappointed about his departure, Talvi heard his invitation. Her spirits instantly lifted.
"Okay," she replied, a bright smile spreading across her face.
She hadn't expected him to stay, nor did she harbor any extravagant hopes that he would take responsibility for her. She honestly believed that having just this one night would be enough. The pure maiden's impulsiveness had completely overridden her rationality, but Lucian's actions made her feel genuine, heartfelt happiness. He cares about me... Even if it felt a bit like simping, a successful simp is an absolute chad; only the ones who fail are just dogs.
Lucian's thoughts were much simpler. He hadn't expected to enjoy the feeling of someone willingly offering themselves to him. He could control his lower half perfectly fine, but just as Bell Cranel believed, rejecting a girl's feelings was a painful thing to do. He wasn't exactly a steadfast defender of monogamy anyway. Rather than leaving behind lingering regrets, why not just have it all? Why force both sides to suffer? His personal philosophy was straightforward: as long as he took responsibility, it was fine.
After all, who didn't envy Brother Makoto? As for whether Brother Makoto deserved to die, well, that was a resounding yes. His biggest flaw wasn't his inability to control his lower half, but his blatant refusal to take responsibility. That was the stark difference between Makoto Itou and Issei Hyoudou.
"I leave coordinates at the places I visit, allowing me to instantly teleport to those locations using magic," Lucian continued. "So, you are free to choose whether you want to live in Orario or Beltane. If you ever run into danger, you can directly teleport to this world, or even just live here permanently."
"This is our home."
It took Talvi a long moment to fully process what he meant. But none of those details truly mattered to her. As long as she could stay by his side, she was content. After giving her a few more instructions, Lucian noticed her struggling to keep her eyes open and decided to let her rest.
" Go to sleep, " he whispered gently.
He carefully slipped his arm out from under her, letting her head rest comfortably on the pillow. Who but a braindead idiot would let a girl use their arm as a pillow all night? Did they want to lose the limb?
"Mhm~" Talvi murmured softly.
Within seconds, she was fast asleep, a look of profound bliss painted across her face. Being careful not to get poked by her antlers, Lucian shifted his focus toward developing his new magic. As an artificial lifeform, Talvi's biological structure was highly unstable. Aside from the specially tailored magic she already possessed, she also had a fundamental flaw: the inability to grow. In other words, Talvi's stats would never improve, and she couldn't level up. Lucian needed to fix this.
He directly pulled up the [Game Board], adding a detailed character stat panel to highlight all of her underlying structural issues. To solve the problem, he first had to use [Annihilation Maker] and [Rule Creation] to construct a model of what her normal state should look like. Then, based on that model, he would use Life Magic to fundamentally adjust her life factors.
[Annihilation Maker] operated purely on the inherent power of the ability itself. For instance, a powerful magic beast created through it might not even have internal organs—just radiant magical energy. But a permanently created beast required fully functioning biological systems. By relying on [Rule Creation] to establish the biological model first, this approach was entirely feasible. In fact, he could use this exact method to cure the terminal illnesses plaguing the people of Beltane, as well as Alfia and Meteria.
However, this function was incredibly complex. The branching data sets and biological systems required meticulous, individual programming. His time was already stretched thin—optimizing the [Game Board], expanding his mental magic system, creating hidden dungeons, and more, all demanded his attention. Healing the sisters was supposed to be further down his priority list. But Talvi changed things. Alfia and Meteria were merely clients fulfilling a request, while Talvi was one of his own.
Even if it meant sacrificing time from his other projects, he had to grind this function out first. Not to mention, Lucian no longer needed sleep. His power of the mind was more than enough to sustain him as the ultimate grind god.
. . .
The night passed in the blink of an eye. Naturally, a few sharp-eyed people noticed Talvi's sudden disappearance. When the two of them finally re-emerged the next morning, Talvi's blooming, maidenly glow and newfound intimacy with Lucian instantly gave the others complicated feelings. Despite the underlying shock, no one jumped out to object; instead, they offered their silent blessings.
Thankfully, no one delivered the cliché threat of, "If you don't treat Talvi right, I'll definitely..."
Lucian despised that kind of posturing. He didn't accept threats—not even well-intentioned ones. Back before he transmigrated, reading lines like that in novels always made him cringe. Dmn it, do you really think I need you to threaten me to treat my own wife well? If he were the kind of scum who would mistreat his own wife, an empty threat wouldn't do a dmn thing anyway. If anyone dared to say that to his face, he would turn hostile on the spot.
Fortunately, the high-level adventurers present were perceptive enough not to touch that nerve. As for the ordinary villagers of Beltane, they revered Lucian too much to even consider speaking out of turn. They had emotional intelligence. Afterward, Lucian constructed a waterway channeling the water of the Spring of Life directly into a newly designated area within the village, complete with walls and bathhouses. That way, the villagers wouldn't have to wade directly into the main spring anymore.
With everything wrapped up, Talvi bid a cheerful farewell to the villagers. Lucian then activated his teleportation magic, bringing their small group straight back to Orario.
" To traverse such a massive distance in a single instant... " Alfia muttered under her breath, her eyes widening slightly.
It had taken them several days of grueling carriage travel to reach Beltane. Returning took less than a second. Her sharp tactical mind instantly realized how overwhelming an advantage this ability would provide down in the Dungeon.
"Don't forget about the expedition," Lucian reminded her.
"I know. The Familia should have the arrangements finalized soon. I'll notify you of the departure time," Alfia nodded faintly before leading Meteria away.
Lucian wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but Meteria's gaze seemed to hold a newfound fervor today, while Alfia seemed to be actively avoiding him. No... she wasn't avoiding him. She was actively shielding Meteria, seemingly desperate to keep her sister away from his influence. Dmn sis-con,* Lucian cursed internally.
Pushing the thought aside, he took Talvi on a tour around Orario. Compared to a small, secluded village like Beltane, the Labyrinth City was bustling and vibrant, and Talvi couldn't tear her eyes away from the sights. Her striking appearance and innocent, lively demeanor naturally drew a lot of attention. Fortunately, with the Zeus Familia and Hera Familia currently reigning at the peak of this era, the streets were relatively orderly. He didn't have to worry too much about random thugs causing serious trouble.
"Yo, unfamiliar faces. You two just arrive in Orario?"
Just as the thought crossed his mind, four shady-looking men stepped into their path, boxing Lucian and Talvi in. Good grief, could this face-slapping setup be any more obvious? Lucian sighed inwardly.
"Bad men?" Talvi blinked, tilting her head in confusion.
She had never encountered anything like this before. Rather than fear, she looked at them with sheer novelty. Speaking of which, wasn't this the perfect scenario for him to step up, show off his bravery, and impress the beautiful girl? It was practically free material for face-slapping served right on a silver platter.
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