Chapter 75 – Damn, I’ve Been Played
"Three months?"
"Yes, three months."
Midway through stuffing bread into my mouth, I froze and turned to look at Nella.
Three months unconscious?
I quietly placed the bread back onto the plate and lifted the blanket to inspect my body.
I could hear Nella clearing her throat, but I didn’t have ti to worry about that right now.
Firm, well-defined muscles in all the right places, and skin so elastic it felt like it had been slathered with premium lotion.
Was this the body of soone who hadn’t eaten for three months?
"Are you sure I didn’t eat anything? My body looks like this."
"Yes."
"No one fed anything… directly?"
"That absolutely did not happen."
When Nella frowned and shook her head firmly, I gave her an awkward smile and stuffed more bread into my mouth.
Fine, if she says no, then no. But why was she acting so offended?
‘A body that stays perfectly fine even after not eating for a long ti….’
It didn’t make any sense, but then again, this entire world was already beyond the bounds of common sense. No point in overthinking it.
All I needed to do was figure out the cause. Most likely, it was the influence of the Heart.
Of course, there was one thing I absolutely needed to confirm.
The presence of the Heart itself.
Whether or not I was its owner.
"I’d like to et with Lady Fenry."
"The Master isn’t in Beneta right now."
"Did sothing happen?"
"There was… an incident. But it’s not sothing I can speak about just yet."
"Then did she leave any ssages before she left? Surely she must have."
"One mont. There is a note."
Nella reached into her pocket and retrieved a small note.
As I accepted it, I took a closer look at her attire.
The first ti we’d t, she’d been wearing a revealing dress, but now her outfit was plain and casual—almost like pajamas.
Her tousled blonde hair was tied up with a large ribbon, and the sight of the red ribbon sparked a sudden thought.
"A red ribbon, huh."
"And what about it?"
"Do you… like Lily Base?"
"……."
Lily Base.
At the ntion of the Witch of Ordor Forest, Nella froze montarily but remained silent, simply staring at .
Since she didn’t outright deny it, it seed she had a fondness for Lily.
"That ribbon is famous, you know."
Unlike humans, non-human races often admired or even idolized Lily Base, and they were known to wear red ribbons, her symbol, to express that.
"So… have the Blue Rose’s aesthetics changed? Looks like you’ve swapped the sexy concept for a friendly younger-sister vibe."
"This is my pre-business attire. Don’t get the wrong idea."
Her glare turned icy.
Her guarded expression puzzled . Why was she looking at like that?
Shrugging it off, I opened the note from Fenry and began to read.
[Just like you asked, I fed it to you.]
[Wash your neck clean and wait.]
"…Damn it."
Well, that confird it.
The Heart was definitely in . Fenry must’ve done as I requested and fed The Heart of Retonicalus. That explained why my body was perfectly fine despite prolonged starvation.
The Heart of Retonicalus was an Immortal’s Heart, granting its owner superhuman survival capabilities.
Resistance to hunger must be one of those abilities. The rest would reveal themselves in ti, but the real problem was the second line in the note.
Wash your neck clean and wait.
Coming from soone as short-tempered as Fenry, those words sounded downright terrifying.
"Would you say she’s very angry with ?"
"I’m not sure. But I will say that when you snored, she sotis pulled out a weapon."
"……."
The image of Crow’s gleaming blade flashed in my mind, and I swallowed hard.
I needed to get out of here before she returned.
Her murderous intent seed to linger in the air, even in her absence.
But those worries were soon forgotten.
After finishing a light appetizer, the staff brought out an endless array of dishes. srized, my hands automatically reached for the food.
I hadn’t felt particularly hungry earlier, but the mont at entered my stomach, my vision turned red, and a deep satisfaction washed over .
Thump—
My heart pounded.
My mind scread for more food, craving it desperately. It was as if my appetite had exploded beyond control.
I felt as though I had lost all sense of reason.
"…What?"
When I finally regained my senses, Nella was gone, and three beautiful elf attendants were busily tending to .
"Wha—what’s going on?"
I looked around at the towering pile of empty plates next to the table, my expression bewildered.
In both hands, I was clutching large chunks of at.
There was no way… I couldn’t have eaten all of this, right?
It felt like my mories had been partially erased. I couldn’t recall anything.
I had genuinely lost control.
Was this normal?
Of course not. Which ant there was only one cause.
Finishing off the at in my hands, I rubbed my chest where the Heart was located.
‘It feels like I’ve just picked up another problem.’
The Heart of Retonicalus had clearly brought about significant changes to my body.
A human body, yet no longer fully human. My mind was also affected.
I needed to figure out what I’d gained, what the cost was, and what I might have lost in the process.
"Are you finished eating?"
"Ah, yes."
"Then here…"
"What’s this?"
"The bill."
One of the lovely elf attendants handed a piece of paper with a bright smile. Written on it was the total amount due.
258 gold.
For the food.
Blinking, I looked up at the attendant, who only smiled brighter in response.
"…Did I order all of this myself?"
"We asked, but you didn’t respond, so Lady Nella ordered on your behalf before leaving."
‘…That scheming witch!’
Why could I vividly picture Nella walking off with a smug grin?
I had montarily forgotten sothing important:
This place was the Blue Rose, a den of devils where even your soul could get swindled if you weren’t careful.
"Um… do you offer credit?"
"You’ll have to discuss that with Lady Nella. Should we also put the additional charges on credit?"
"…Additional charges?"
"There’s the cost of your VIP room stay, which hasn’t been settled yet. It’s for three months."
"……."
"And there’s a storage fee for your belongings. If you’d like them back, you’ll need to pay extra."
There’s a scene in the movie Tazza 2 where the protagonist gets scamd in a gambling ga.
He gets so thoroughly played that he even loses his kidney.
Yeah, that’s what this felt like.
Damn it, I’ve been played.
***
"Those damn bastards! Thieves! Loan sharks would cry at this level of robbery!"
11,800 gold.
That was the amount the Blue Rose demanded from . A single night in a VIP suite apparently cost 100 gold.
When calculated for three months, it totaled a whopping 9,000 gold.
The worst part? I had no mory of staying in that suite for more than half a day. It wasn’t until this morning that I realized I had been in a VIP room.
No wonder the room had been so extravagant.
At this point, it was practically fraud.
I stord off to confront Nella, but found an unpleasant surprise waiting for in her reception room.
The Black Roses were there with her.
As soon as I brought up money, they began drawing their weapons, glaring at as if daring to push my luck.
If I said the wrong thing, I’d be skewered on the spot.
Had Fenry anticipated this too?
Fenry… that terrifying woman.
"…Fine. I guess it’s a small price to pay for my life."
For the life she saved, 11,800 gold seed cheap. At least, that’s what I told myself to feel better.
Even so, my chest ached as I left the reception room and descended the stairs in a rush.
I needed to figure out how to make money imdiately. Thankfully, with my abilities, the amount wasn’t unmanageable.
Once I decided it wasn’t a big deal, I felt a bit more at ease.
The building was quiet, likely because it wasn’t business hours yet.
Descending from the fifth floor to the first, I passed by several stunning elves. At least the scenery here was easy on the eyes.
"They said there’s a private training area, right?"
Hopefully, they wouldn’t charge for that too.
Fortunately, VIP guests were allowed to use it for free.
Since there was sothing I urgently needed to check, I approached the male elf at the front desk and requested a private training room.
Surrounding the Blue Rose building were countless storage units, so of which seed to double as training facilities.
The elf guided to one such room and politely asked, "For our VIP guests, we can send over so lovely attendants to assist you. We can also provide training equipnt. Should I call them?"
"No, that won’t be necessary."
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely."
While the Blue Rose appeared to be a saloon offering drinks and entertainnt, its true nature was closer to that of an information network run by the Black Roses.
Offering attendants for the training rooms was likely a way to assess a guest’s skills or abilities.
Though the master of this place already knew my capabilities, I preferred to avoid unnecessary exposure.
Once the guide left, I was alone in the empty training room.
The room was modest, about the size of a small playground, with equipnt neatly arranged like a display. Various weapons and even steel armor were available, making it perfect for solo training.
Hoo―
Letting out a short breath, I began to run.
Full speed.
***
By the ti shadows stretched across the training grounds, the bright morning sun had long since faded.
Night had fallen.
When the training area grew so dark that I could barely see, I finally stopped running.
"Huff, huff, huff…"
Panting heavily, I groped around for a lamp. Each movent made the sound of tal scraping against tal echo in my ears.
My entire body felt like a soaked sponge—heavy and sluggish.
When the lamp flickered to life, I caught a glimpse of myself in its reflection.
I was wearing full steel armor.
"…Wow, this insane stamina."
Unbelievable.
But I had actually done it.
From lunchti to sunset, I had been running non-stop while wearing heavy steel armor.
Though sprinting the entire ti was impossible, I was confident I could keep running all night if I paced myself.
I tossed the heavy armor aside with so effort and collapsed onto the ground in a large "X" shape, gasping for breath.
My breathing cald quickly.
I wasn’t just impressed by my stamina—I was astonished by how fast I recovered.
"In a battle of endurance, I’m unbeatable."
That wasn’t the only thing.
The poorly-fitted armor had chafed my skin, leaving cuts and bruises.
But my body, though bloodied, had already healed completely.
Regeneration and recovery specialized for survival.
For soone like , whose main goal was to stay alive, this was the ultimate ability.
The main event, One Hundred Hearts, which even Kal, the protagonist, avoided due to its difficulty.
The reward had been worth it.
Totally worth risking my life for.
‘But there’s bound to be side effects.’
Having witnessed others with the Heart—Crystal Mimic, the Red Monster, and Arena Huaton—I knew this better than anyone.
Every host of The Heart of Retonicalus t their end in death, succumbing to its control one way or another.
This was why I had tried so desperately to remain conscious when I detonated the Boom spell, though the explosion’s intensity had knocked out regardless.
"At least it seems I avoided full possession."
It had been a calculated gamble, aided by the ntal barriers I had established.
And with a reward this imnse, the risk had been worth it.
Still, the fact that I had montarily lost control during the al earlier was concerning. If it happened again, I’d need to seriously reassess the situation.
‘The best solution would be to work within the abilities I already have.’
I began listing my skills in my mind.
ntal Barriers.
Enchantnts.
Ancient Glyphs.
Sacred Power and the Hunter of Divinity’s abilities.
And now, The Heart of Retonicalus.
With so free ti on my hands, I decided it would be best to test these abilities one by one and assess the state of my body.
After all, I was a completely different person now compared to three months ago.
Looking out the window, I noticed the night sky was thick with clouds, obscuring the moonlight.
The dim light of the lamp was the only source of illumination in the dark room.
I was gazing at the flickering fla when I suddenly sensed soone’s presence behind .
"What an unpleasant night."
It was Nella, the mistress of the Blue Rose, who had co to find .
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