Volume 1 – 33. Hobby
Nothing particularly interesting happened during the purification process.
Lynn did mention that Gregorius had wanted to speak with him, which Lucien had been hoping for as well. Of all the people in Temple Vigil, Gregorius was probably the one he was closest to. Unfortunately, the old man was still occupied with matters along the district's southern border and didn't have the time to meet him personally.
Lucien wasn't interested in lingering around for an opportunity that might not come anytime soon. After asking Lynn to pass along his regards, he left Temple Vigil and headed back toward the merchant's house.
“...Huh. You actually managed to get all of this?”
Now he was sitting in Seren's living room, leaning back in one of the mismatched armchairs. Across from him, Seren and Ava sat side by side on the worn green sofa, their attention fixed on the items spread across the table between them.
Ava looked impressed, one eyebrow rose as she picked up one of the Spider Hollow's claws and turned it over in her hand, inspecting the dark, curved material from several angles before giving an appreciative whistle.
“Not bad at all,” she muttered.
Seren's reaction couldn't have been more different.
She looked afraid to touch any of it.
Her gaze lingered on the marble-sized Corruption Crystal resting near the center of the table. After a moment, she slowly reached toward it, only for her hand to stop halfway there. Her fingers hovered uncertainly above the crystal before retreating a fraction, as though she was worried she might somehow damage it simply by making contact.
The hesitation was so obvious that Lucien couldn't help laughing.
“You can take that.”
“...Are you sure?”
Seren looked up at him, skepticism written all over her face.
Lucien opened his mouth to answer with an easy Yeah, sure, but paused.
His gaze flickered back toward the items on the table, taking in the single Corruption Crystal, the vial of Corruption Essence, and the five claws harvested from the Stage 4 Hollow.
If he sold those, he could probably buy quite a few useful things for himself, but he shrugged internally.
“Yeah, you can keep the Corruption Crystal and the Corruption Essence,” he said, waving a hand dismissively. “Just let me have some of whatever gets made from them.”
His eyes shifted toward the claw Ava was still examining.
“As for the claws, I'll talk to Edric later and see whether that dwarf we visited earlier can turn them into weapons in exchange for part of the materials.”
Seren continued staring at him for another second, clearly trying to determine whether he was joking.
When it became obvious that he wasn't, her expression softened slightly.
Slowly and carefully, her fingers closed around the Corruption Crystal.
“...Thank you.”
A faint grin tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"You're welcome."
His gaze drifted around the room.
“Speaking of which, where's Edric?”
“...He's out conducting a trade.”
“A trade?” Lucien raised an eyebrow. “Couldn't that be done here?”
Seren shook her head.
“It's a barter exchange. Sometimes Father prefers handling those in person so he can inspect whatever people want to trade before deciding whether it's worth it.”
“I see.”
That certainly sounded like Edric.
Before Lucien could continue the conversation, Ava suddenly leaned forward and rested an elbow on her knee, one claw still loosely spinning between her fingers.
“Setting the materials aside for a moment,” she said, turning toward Seren with obvious curiosity, “can you tell me more about that group of four people you mentioned this morning?”
Seren blinked and tilted her head slightly, a puzzled look crossing her face. Across from them, Lucien immediately found himself reminded of the encounter at the Market Floor earlier that day.
“Why do you want to know?” Seren asked, her curiosity evident in both her expression and tone.
Ava gave a casual shrug.
“I just have a feeling we might've run into some of them earlier.”
“Can you describe them?”
Ava nodded a little and proceeded to describe the two people she knew, focusing on their appearances and, more importantly, their reactions when they had seen Lucien.
By the time she finished, a strained smile had appeared on her face.
“The noblewoman was almost certainly Isolde,” she said. “She's one of the group's members. The other one would be the half-dwarf Thane.”
Lucien frowned slightly.
“Why does she hate Inferni so much?”
Seren let out a small sigh and shook her head.
“I don't know. I've tried finding out before, but she never gave me a proper answer.”
After a brief pause, she looked at him with obvious concern.
“What I know is that she has a sharp tongue. Lucien, if you do end up meeting her, you'll need to keep your emotions under control.”
Lucien raised an eyebrow.
“You're saying that to me?” A faintly amused smile tugged at his lips. “I have excellent emotional control, you know.”
As an assassin, emotional discipline was practically mandatory. Even before arriving in this world, he had spent years dealing with supervisors who seemed capable of weaponizing criticism. Most of the time, he barely reacted. Mild annoyance, perhaps, but very little beyond that.
Seren stared at him for a moment before slowly shaking her head.
“I know.”
Which was exactly why her next words caught him off guard.
“And even knowing that, I'm still fairly certain you could get provoked if you're not careful around her.”
Lucien's smile immediately turned strained.
Seren had known him for years. She had personally delivered her fair share of harsh lectures whenever his playboy tendencies or questionable habits got out of hand, and she knew better than most people just how absurdly difficult it was to genuinely offend him.
If she was saying something like that, perhaps he really should take it seriously.
“Talking about all this is boring.”
Ava abruptly stood up, stretching her arms overhead until her back gave a faint pop. A small groan escaped her lips as she loosened her shoulders.
Seren blinked.
“Where are you going?”
“You said there's a terrace upstairs, right?” Ava replied, already making her way toward the staircase. “It's getting dark, so I thought I'd do a little stargazing before we do the deed.”
She glanced back over her shoulder with a teasing grin.
“Or what? Am I not allowed to do that?”
“Uh...” Seren hesitated before shrugging. “You can, I guess.”
“Great.”
Without waiting for another response, Ava waved a hand lazily and continued toward the upper floor, leaving Lucien and Seren alone in the living room.
Lucien watched her go before turning back to Seren, a faint note of surprise in his voice.
“She doesn't strike me as the stargazing type.”
Considering her race spent most of its time underground, it wasn't exactly the hobby he would have expected from her.
“We don't know her circumstances,” Seren replied as she rose from the sofa. “You should stop judging people based on assumptions. You do that a lot.”
Lucien let out an awkward laugh, rubbing the back of his neck.
“I'll keep that in mind.”
Seren simply shook her head before walking over to one of the bookshelves lining the wall. After scanning the spines for a moment, she pulled out a book and turned back towards him.
“Do you want to read with me in the rear courtyard?”
“What?”
Lucien blinked, caught off guard by the invitation.
“I love reading fantasy books,” Seren explained, holding the book lightly against her chest. “If you don't know what to do while we're waiting, we could read together. You still aren't very good at reading Imperial Common, are you? I can read it aloud for you.”
Lucien’s eyes widened slightly before a soft smile appeared on his face.
“I'd be happy to accept that offer.”
Pushing himself out of the armchair, he walked over to her.
After all, reading had been one of his favorite hobbies in his old world.