Chapter 55
Chapter 55: Remember to Close the Door Next Time You Change Clothes
Early in the morning, Viktor was taking a stroll around the Manor.
Having already farmed the Heart of the Wise, he no longer needed to keep reading books to pass the time.
Level 1 of the Heart of the Wise was more than sufficient for now.
Leveling it up again would require 300 hours of reading—far too grueling to consider.
On top of that, with the Academy blown apart, he had no need to go in to work, and he found himself feeling mildly bored.
Not that he hadn't spent plenty of time slacking off even when the Academy was still standing.
He walked through the garden with Weija, treading along a path carpeted in pink petals, making his way deeper into the garden.
As he passed by, a small, familiar figure caught the edge of his vision.
It was Heni.
Heni was nearly swallowed up by the flowers all around her—buried among the blooms, she poked her little head up every now and then, like a lively and lovely flower fairy.
Lost in concentration, she had clearly not noticed Viktor at all.
Viktor had no intention of announcing himself either. He gave her a brief glance as he passed and was about to move on.
But Weija called out to stop him:
"Hey! Don't go yet—take a look at her."
Viktor followed the Crow's suggestion and turned his head, looking carefully toward Heni.
What he saw gave him considerable pause.
In Heni's palm, a small blue Magic Formation had taken shape.
Water trickled in a gentle stream—a thin current of water conjured from thin air in the center of her hand, and she was using it to water the flowers right there with Magic.
Viktor: "?"
Weija blinked in an equally baffled stupor, and said something entirely out of nowhere to Viktor:
"Your household...does it have any male Servants?"
Of course not. Viktor preferred quiet, so he had only brought a few Maidservants over from the Territory. The Royal Capital Manor didn't even have a Steward.
Viktor understood what Weija was getting at. Succubi were incapable of cultivating Magic Power on their own.
Yet it had only been a single day apart—how could Heni have possibly found anyone to be intimate with?
And more importantly, she was simply not that kind of person.
Carrying that puzzlement with him, Viktor walked over.
Heni was still experimenting with her Magic, constructing 1 small Formation after another in her hand—like a child who had just received a brand-new toy, delightedly trying everything she could think of.
"What happened?"
Startled by the voice from behind her, Heni jolted, and the Formation collapsed out of her control.
Viktor stood behind her—he had seen the whole thing.
He could tell that Heni's reserves of Magic Power were extremely thin, like a sheet of water so fine it barely coated the bottom of an iron bucket.
Once the fright passed and Heni turned around to see it was Viktor, her face lit up with joy.
She seemed almost unable to contain her excitement—bursting to share this moment with someone—and she blurted out at once:
"Professor! I have Magic Power now! I can use Magic!"
It was plain to see—she was thrilled, and very much hoping Viktor would say something to praise her.
This only deepened Viktor's confusion.
But Heni kept talking:
"I have no idea what happened—after you left yesterday, I just felt Magic Power awakening inside me."
Viktor fell into a strange, puzzled contemplation. When had he ever seen something like this?
Heni hadn't even appeared as a character in the game—this kind of anomaly was something he had no way of explaining.
Could it be that your judgment was off?
That was the only thing Viktor could think to ask. But Weija's reply was simple:
I am absolutely incapable of being wrong.
The stubborn Weija would never admit to an error—because a god was always right.
Viktor stopped dwelling on it. He looked down at Heni, gave a nod, and offered her a single word of praise:
"Not bad."
He reflexively reached out to pat Heni on the shoulder, but caught the expectant look in her eyes and paused for a moment—then moved his hand up to her head and gave it a gentle ruffle instead.
A rush of deep warmth surged to the top of Heni's head, and she felt that same wave of heat flowing from within her once again.
At that very moment, Weija fixed its gaze hard on Heni.
Highly attuned to Magic Power as it was, it sensed a distinct surge of Magic Power rising from within Heni's body.
What was happening?
Viktor ruffled her head and that increased her Magic Power? He rubs my head every day—how come I never feel anything.
Weija very much wanted to get to the bottom of this—but Viktor had already turned and walked away, taking it with him.
As he left, Heni cheerfully waved goodbye at his retreating figure.
Once they were a sufficient distance away, Weija leaned in toward Viktor and said:
"Something is off about her."
"You think I don't know that?"
Viktor muttered back with mild exasperation.
From a player's perspective, when a player made physical contact with an NPC—or entered combat with one—they could see the other party's Level.
Since she had no Magic Power, Heni's Level had always been zero.
But today, the instant Viktor made contact with Heni, the Level he saw was LV1.
And the moment his hand left the top of her head—
Ding—she leveled up.
Viktor thought back to the day before, when he had given Heni a brief hug just before leaving. That had also been physical contact.
Could it be that Heni's leveling was connected to physical contact with him?
Weija offered a suggestion from the side:
"It might be a coincidence. Even so, I'd still recommend trying it once more next time."
Try it once more?
The thought of Heni perhaps coming to him every single day from now on asking for hugs and head-pats—combined with her Succubus race running through his mind—
For reasons he could not quite name, it all felt strangely off.
"A pure-hearted Succubus?"
Viktor muttered under his breath, decided not to think about it any further, and left the garden.
On the way back into the Manor, Viktor passed by Leah's room.
The door was left slightly ajar. He glanced inside out of curiosity, and happened to catch Leah holding a formal dress up against herself in the mirror.
A voice rang out from the doorway without warning:
"Remember to close the door properly next time you're changing."
Leah: "..."
"You're off work and you come here to bother me? Are you ill, Viktor!?"
An outraged shout erupted from inside the room. Leah flung the dress onto the bed, puffed up with indignation, and stormed over to the door.
"I was choosing a dress—a dress! I hadn't even started changing yet!"
"And another thing—why are you still wearing that same tired old black Coat? Do you not know what today is!?"
Viktor naturally knew.
To celebrate the victory in the battle against the Demon, Emperor Aubrey had arranged this evening's Banquet.
It was a grand occasion without precedent—the kind of scale that only came around for major holidays or the Emperor's birthday.
All nobles holding a title in the Peerage System were, of course, required to attend.
Viktor had no great desire to go. Banquets held little interest for him.
And whenever he thought of a Banquet, he was reminded of the day before he had Transmigrated here.
What exactly had caused him to confess to Erika—whether it had been an accidental misunderstanding or someone's deliberate doing—remained an unsolved mystery to this day.
Of course, another possibility could not be entirely ruled out: that the original Viktor had simply been a lecherous man.
So he said:
"Why can't you go on your own?"
"Don't even think about it! Viktor—you represent the Clavena Family, do you hear me?"
Leah jabbed a finger at Viktor's chest in warning.
"Besides, you are the guest of honor at today's Banquet. Since when does the guest of honor not show up?"
And that was simply the truth—every noble in the Royal Capital knew it.
This Banquet was ostensibly a celebration of the victory against the Demon, but in reality, it was also a signal from the Royal Family to draw Viktor in closer.
The youngest 4th-Tier Mage. Someone who could summon a falling meteorite from the sky—who had held a Demon at bay entirely on his own.
This had made the entire Royal Capital acutely aware of Viktor's extraordinary Combat strength.
The Emperor naturally would not overlook Viktor's value.
Viktor was also aware that, while the Emperor's previous attempt to reward him had been declined and left pending, there was no way it would be deflected again this time.
The Emperor was hosting a grand public Banquet—the whole point was to publicly bestow rewards upon Viktor and project the image of the Royal Family and Viktor on friendly terms to the outside world.
There was no real downside to it. Getting ahead of things by forging ties with the Royal Family held certain advantages for Viktor as well.
He knew the old Emperor didn't have many years left—but until then, Emperor Aubrey was still useful.
"Hurry up and get changed. The Banquet is at the Palace, and we need to leave this afternoon."
Leah pressed him impatiently, a look of irritation on her face.
"Why so early? The Banquet doesn't start until evening."
Leah's eye twitched at Viktor's still thoroughly relaxed demeanor.
"I still need to choose a dress, do my makeup, and as your family I'll need to have a private audience with the Emperor alongside you beforehand—and I haven't even finished processing this month's financial report from the Territory!"
All of these things were waiting on Leah to handle, while Viktor had nothing at all to deal with and drifted through every day without a care.
The contrast left Leah feeling utterly hopeless—and then she saw Viktor still standing right there, motionless, which made her temper flare all the more.
"Go get change—"
Before Leah could finish, a vivid crimson flame ignited along Viktor's Coat and swept around him in a full circle.
When the flame died, the Coat had transformed into a black formal suit.
Tiny points of red were inlaid across the black fabric, and streaks of crystal-red traced along every seam of the suit.
On the right shoulder hung a light chain threaded with several clusters of red crystal, while faint sparks of flame seemed to drift and float around him.
Leah blinked. She looked at Viktor in formal wear, and without realizing it, found herself staring.
"So handsome..."
Leah murmured.
They say clothes make the man—Viktor was already someone you could never take your eyes off, and this formal suit brought out the refined elegance of nobility in him all the more.
Viktor answered without so much as a twitch of embarrassment:
"Thank you for the compliment."
Leah's face flushed slightly. She rolled her eyes and argued back:
"I meant your Magic—it really is impressive and convenient."
Viktor thought so too.
Magic that could dress you automatically was genuinely impressive.
Gulton's Fire Core was capable of solidifying Fire Elements into all manner of physical forms—this outfit was, naturally, composed entirely of Fire Elements as well.
With the Fire Core, Viktor never had to worry about the tedious business of changing clothes ever again.
Whatever he wanted to wear—he simply wore it.
After taking all of this in, Leah physically pushed him out of her room.
"Alright, alright—get out, I haven't sorted myself out yet!"
Bang—the door was slammed heavily shut, startling Weija so badly that all its feathers stood on end.
Viktor stood outside the door, gave a slight shrug, tugged at his suit jacket, looked himself over, and asked the Crow on his shoulder:
"Impressive?"
"The way you changed into it was definitely impressive."
***
That afternoon, Viktor stood on the Training Ground.
He held an ordinary iron sword in his hand, swinging it with fluid ease.
Each stroke was light and graceful—someone who didn't know better might have taken him for a seasoned swordsman.
That's right—Viktor had started practicing swordsmanship.
With the books finished and nothing in particular to do, Viktor had decided to start training in skills from other classes.
As he practiced, he caught sight of Leah hurrying toward him.
"Finally found you."
Leah let out a breath of relief, then asked with a puzzled expression:
"What are you doing with a sword? Aren't you a Mage?"
Viktor offered no lengthy explanation. He simply slid the sword back into its scabbard, hung it on the wall, and turned to face Leah:
"What is it?"
Leah's expression was somewhat off. She got straight to the point:
"You'll have to go to the Banquet alone tonight."
"I need to make a trip back to the Territory first."