Early in the morning, Viktor was taking a walk around the manor.
He had just unlocked the Heart of the Sage, so now he didn't need to keep reading books just to kill ti.
A level-one Heart of the Sage was completely sufficient for the mont.
To reach the next level, he'd have to read for three hundred hours, that was way too torturous.
And since the academy had been blown up, he didn't have to go to work there for now, leaving him feeling sowhat bored.
Although, to be fair, he used to slack off pretty often even when he was there.
With Vega perched on his shoulder, he walked along the garden path of his estate, stepping over a trail covered with pink petals and heading toward the inner part of the garden.
As he passed by, his peripheral vision caught a familiar, petite figure.
It was Henny.
She was almost swallowed by the sea of flowers, her head buried among the blossoms. Every now and then, she'd pop her little head up, like a lively, beautiful flower spirit.
Focused as she was, she clearly hadn't noticed Viktor's presence.
Viktor didn't call out to her either. He just gave her a glance in passing and was about to leave.
But Vega called out to stop him, "Hey! Don't go yet, look at her."
Viktor followed the raven's advice and turned back, studying Henny more closely.
And that's when he noticed sothing that wasn't ordinary at all.
A small blue magic circle had ford in Henny's palm.
Water trickled from it, a gentle stream conjured from thin air, as she quietly used magic to water the flowers.
Viktor, "?"
Vega blinked in confusion, and then muttered sothing strange to Viktor, "Hey, uh… do you have a male servant in your house?"
Obviously not. Viktor liked peace and quiet, so he'd only brought a few maids from his territory. His residence in the capital didn't even have a butler.
Viktor understood what Vega ant, succubi couldn't generate magic power on their own.
But it had only been a single day since he'd seen her last. How could Henny possibly have found soone to… do that with so fast?
And more importantly, she wasn't that kind of person.
Confused, Viktor walked closer.
Henny was still experinting with her magic, forming one small spell circle after another in her hands, like a child who'd just gotten a new toy, playing around with pure joy.
"What's going on?"
Hearing the question from behind her, Henny jumped in fright, causing the magic circle to disperse.
Viktor, standing right behind her, caught the entire scene.
He could tell that Henny's magic reserves were very low, like a tal bucket with only a thin layer of water inside.
Startled, Henny turned around, and when she saw who it was, her face lit up with happiness.
Eager to share her joy, she quickly said, "Professor! I have magic now! I can use magic!"
It was obvious how excited she was, clearly waiting for Viktor to praise her.
But that only made Viktor even more puzzled.
Henny went on talking nonstop, "I don't even know what happened! After you left yesterday, I just… suddenly felt magic flowing inside !"
Viktor fell into deep thought. He'd never seen such a situation before.
Even in the ga, there had never been a character nad Henny, so he couldn't explain this anomaly.
'Could it be that your judgnt was wrong?'
That was the only possibility Viktor could think of, but Vega quickly shot back, 'I can't possibly be wrong.'
Stubborn as ever, after all, gods are never wrong.
Viktor decided not to dwell on it. He looked down at Henny, nodded slightly, and praised her, "Not bad."
He subconsciously lifted his hand to pat her shoulder, but when he saw the expectant look in her eyes, he hesitated, and instead, rested his hand on her head, gently ruffling her hair.
A rush of happiness surged up through her body. Henny once again felt a warm current spreading from within.
But at that mont, Vega's sharp eyes stayed fixed on her.
Being extrely sensitive to magical energy, it could feel Henny's magic power increasing.
'What just happened?'
Viktor just patted her head, and that made her magic stronger? Then why didn't he feel anything after Viktor patted his bird head so often?
Vega wanted to look deeper into this mystery, but Viktor had already turned away and was leaving with it.
Before he went, Henny cheerfully waved goodbye.
A bit farther down the path, Vega leaned closer to Viktor and said, "She's not normal."
"You don't say?" Viktor replied dryly.
From a player's perspective, when a player touches an NPC, or engages in combat, they can see the NPC's level.
Since Henny had no magic, her level had always been zero.
But today, the instant Viktor touched her head, her level showed as Lv.1.
And when he withdrew his hand...
Pop. She leveled up.
Viktor recalled that before leaving yesterday, he'd also hugged her once. That counted as physical contact too.
Could Henny's level-ups actually be tied to physical contact with him?
Vega suggested from the side, "Could be coincidence. Still, I'd recomnd testing it again next ti."
'Test it again?'
Thinking about how, from now on, Henny might co find him every day asking for hugs or head pats, and rembering that she was a succubus, he couldn't help but feel that sothing about it all was… off.
"A pure succubus, huh?" Viktor muttered under his breath, then stopped thinking about it and left the garden.
———
When he passed by Liya's room on the way back to the mansion, he noticed her door was slightly open. Curious, he glanced inside, just in ti to see Liya holding a dress up against herself, comparing it in front of the mirror.
A voice suddenly ca from the doorway, "Next ti you're changing clothes, rember to close the door."
Liya, "…"
"Don't have work today, so you decided to co bother ? What's wrong with you, Viktor!?"
Her angry shout ca from inside the room. Liya tossed the dress onto the bed and marched to the door, fuming.
"I was picking a dress, picking! I hadn't even started changing!"
"And you, why are you still wearing that sa old black trench coat? Don't you know what's happening today!?"
Of course, Viktor knew.
To celebrate the Viktory in the Demon War, the Emperor was hosting tonight's grand banquet.
It was going to be a spectacular event, the kind usually reserved for major holidays or the emperor's birthday.
Naturally, every titled noble was required to attend.
Viktor wasn't exactly thrilled; he'd never been fond of banquets.
And the thought of them brought back mories of the day before he transmigrated, how he'd confessed to Erica. Whether it was a misunderstanding or soone's deliberate sche was still a mystery.
Though, to be fair, it was also possible that the original Viktor had just been a flirt.
So he said, "Why can't you go by yourself?"
"No way! Viktor, let remind you, you're representing the Clavena family!"
Liya jabbed her finger into his chest in warning.
"Besides, you're the main guest tonight! How could the main guest not show up?"
She was right. Every noble in the capital knew it.
While the banquet was officially a celebration of Viktory, it was really a gesture from the royal family to draw Viktor closer.
The youngest fourth-tier mage, soone capable of calling down a teor from the heavens, soone who singlehandedly held off demons.
His overwhelming power had stunned the entire capital.
Naturally, the emperor had noticed his value.
Viktor also understood that while he'd managed to decline the emperor's previous reward, this ti there would be no escaping it.
The emperor wanted a public occasion to bestow honors upon him and to show everyone that Viktor and the royal family were on friendly terms.
Not that it was a bad thing. Getting closer to the royal family could be useful later on.
He knew the old emperor didn't have many years left, but until then, the Emperor was still valuable.
"Hurry up and get changed. The banquet's in the palace. We need to leave by this afternoon," Liya urged impatiently.
"What's the rush? The banquet's not till evening."
Seeing how relaxed he looked, Liya was about ready to lose it.
"I still have to pick a dress, do my makeup, et the emperor early with you as your family representative, and process this month's financial report from the territory!"
All of it fell on her shoulders, while Viktor had absolutely nothing to worry about, free and easy every day.
The comparison made her feel hopeless, and seeing him just standing there drove her mad.
"Hurry up and get cha..."
Before she could finish, bright red flas flared up around Viktor's trench coat, swirling once around his body.
When the flas faded, the coat had transford into a sleek black tuxedo.
Tiny crimson fragnts shimred along the seams, glowing faintly with fiery red patterns.
On his right shoulder, a light chain of red crystals hung gracefully, and faint sparks of fire seed to drift around him.
Liya froze. Staring at Viktor in his new attire, she found herself montarily dazed.
"...You look good."
As the saying goes, clothes make the man, and Viktor had always been easy on the eyes. Now, dressed formally, he exuded the elegance of true nobility.
Viktor, calm as ever, simply replied, "Thanks for the complint."
Liya's face flushed a little. She rolled her eyes and stamred, "I ant your magic! It's cool and convenient, that's all!"
Viktor agreed.
A spell that could automatically change clothes was pretty cool.
The Fla Core of Guldon could solidify fire elents into any form, so naturally, this suit was made entirely of condensed fla.
With the Fla Core, Viktor never had to worry about trivial things like changing clothes again.
Whatever he wanted to wear, he could just will it into existence.
After that, Liya physically pushed him out of her room.
"All right, all right, go away! You're ready, I'm not!"
Bang!
The door slamd shut, making Vega fluff up in alarm, every feather standing on end.
Standing outside, Viktor shrugged, adjusted his suit, and glanced at Vega on his shoulder.
"Stylish?"
"The way you changed clothes was definitely stylish," Vega replied.
———
That afternoon, Viktor stood in the training yard.
He held an ordinary iron sword, swinging it with practiced ease.
Each stroke was light yet precise, an elegant rhythm that could have fooled anyone into thinking he was a seasoned swordsman.
That's right, Viktor had started practicing swordsmanship.
With no more books to read and nothing else to do, he figured he might as well train so other class skills.
While he was practicing, Liya ca running toward him in a hurry.
"Finally found you," she said, letting out a breath of relief before asking blankly, "Why are you holding a sword? Aren't you a mage?"
Viktor didn't bother explaining. He simply sheathed the blade, hung it back on the wall, and turned toward her.
"What is it?"
Liya looked uneasy as she spoke quickly, "You'll have to go to the banquet alone. I need to return to the territory ahead of ti."
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