episode_0099

“Masterrrrrrr~!”

Lia immediately hugged me the moment she saw me.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

Elris checked me over with concern.

“Just in case, I’ll perform some basic first aid.”

Sophia cast healing, detoxification, and purification spells to restore my body.

I wasn’t injured,

but she meticulously examined me from head to toe, just in case I had been poisoned or cursed.

…Is this what she calls “basic first aid”?

Hmm…

I kind of wanted to nitpick, but…

I stayed quiet.

“Phew… Done.”

“But what exactly happened? A kidnapping?”

The question came the moment the treatment ended.

Good.

If I answer this well, I can protect both my honor and my right to wander around alone.

…Or so I thought as I replied.

“I lured them into kidnapping me.”

“Lured them? Why?”

“There were things I needed to extract from these guys, and it’s better to catch them while I can to avoid future problems.”

I gave a brief explanation.

About what the descendants of the Shadow Clan were.

What items they had that I needed.

I explained everything.

Then—

Elris didn’t understand—no, she immediately refuted me.

“Even so! Using yourself as bait is way too dangerous!”

“Right! If you die while kidnapped, we can’t even resurrect you!”

“I also think this was far too reckless.”

All three of them spoke with clear dissatisfaction.

If I just nodded here, they’d try to follow me the next time I said I was going out alone.

So I countered immediately.

“It was a plan I executed because I judged it to be 100% safe.”

“100% safe?”

“I had defensive items, escape items, items to send a distress signal, and even the option to summon Hayang to fight with me.”

“Still, you could’ve at least told us beforehand…”

“If I had, you would’ve objected.”

“……”

“You would’ve opposed me using myself as bait, and even if you didn’t, you’d have insisted on escorting me.”

In that case, the plan would’ve failed.

The Shadow Clan descendants would’ve been wary of the escort and never kidnapped me,

and we wouldn’t have found their hideout.

Not telling them in advance was the core of the plan.

…Or so I explained.

“So it was necessary, right?”

“Exactly.”

“Sigh… Fine… If it was a necessary plan… and safety was guaranteed… I won’t say more…”

Elris hugged me as she spoke.

“But if you die doing something this dangerous… I’ll really get mad… I’ll bring you back even if it costs me my life… So don’t you dare die… Got it?”

“Got it.”

Sophia also hugged me and said,

“My lord. We’re going to have many children and live happily for a long, long time. So please, don’t take on dangerous missions like this unless absolutely necessary.”

“Got it.”

Lia hugged me too and said,

“Master…”

“Yeah.”

“If you keep wandering around dangerously like this… I’ll have no choice but to lock you up somewhere… and keep you tied up until you defeat the Demon King…”

“Uh… huh?…”

“Ah!… Just talking to myself, so don’t mind it!”

Don’t mind it?!

You’re saying I shouldn’t mind you threatening to kidnap and imprison me?!

No way?!

I’m VERY bothered by that?!

…Or so I thought,

but dragging this out wouldn’t end well, so I let it slide.

“First, let’s find the . That was the goal, after all.”

“Okay!”

Lia, Elris, and Sophia scattered to search for the .

‘It should definitely be here.’

While ransacking the place to retrieve my stolen weapons, I also looked for the scroll,

but it was nowhere to be found.

‘Since it’s a clan treasure… it’s probably hidden somewhere safe…’

The problem was, I had no idea where.

Just as I was starting to wander aimlessly—

“Found it!”

“?”

Lia casually sliced through a wall.

Then—

A hidden passage was revealed behind the broken wall.

“It’s probably here, right?”

“We’ll know once we go in.”

Click!

I turned Hayang into a makeshift flashlight to illuminate the passage.

“Grrr…”

Hayang growled in protest at being treated like a tool, but—

“I’ll give you a treat, so stay quiet.”

Munch munch.

She quieted down after getting food.

Good.

Let’s move forward.

“Whoa…”

The inside was surprisingly spacious.

There was a reading area,

and even a training ground for practicing various techniques.

So?

There must be books here, right?

…Or so I thought as I searched around, but—

“Got it!”

I found a vault that looked like it definitely contained the .

‘Found it, but…’

Ting! Ting!

It was ridiculously sturdy,

with multiple layers of security magic.

‘Ah, the infamous vault from Prophecy RPG.’

This vault.

It repels most physical attacks,

and most magic attacks too.

…But that’s not the real problem.

The real issue is that it explodes if you try to force it open.

To get the items inside, you’d have to gather materials and hire a professional vault cracker.

Which makes it a huge pain.

But.

The reward is just as reliable as the hassle.

So opening it is always worth it.

…Or so I thought as I tried to move the entire vault, but—

“Master?”

“Yeah?”

“Aren’t you opening it?”

“I can’t.”

“You can’t?”

“It’s ridiculously tough, has defensive magic, and even a self-destruct spell if forced open.”

“Hmm…”

Lia examined the vault for a moment.

Then—

She stabbed her sword into the keyhole.

“Uh… huh?… HUH?!!”

It looked like she was trying to pick the lock with her sword.

No!

That’ll make it explode!

It’s designed to explode if the wrong key is inserted!

Even with the right key, you need to input a special code, or it’ll still explode!

That’s why you need a professional!

And special items too!

And you’re trying to brute-force it?!

…Or so I thought as I tried to stop her, but—

“Opened it!”

“?”

“Here! This book is the , right?”

“Uh… Yeah, but… How?…”

“I just ‘insta-killed’ everything, and it opened.”

“Insta-killed?”

“Yep! I ‘insta-killed’ the vault and all its magic, dismantling it without triggering the explosion!”

“Uh… Huh?…”

What the hell.

She safely opened the vault by insta-killing all its magic?

Wow…

I never knew such a simple method existed…

That’s insane.

“Did I do well?”

“You did great. Really great.”

“Then pet me.”

“Sure.”

I patted Lia’s head.

“Hug me!”

I hugged her.

“Kiss me!”

I didn’t kiss her.

‘A kiss is too much.’

It’s not that I dislike Lia—

she’s the woman I’ll marry and share a bed with once everything’s over.

Instinctively, I do want to kiss her and take her to bed!

I do want to grope her and do lewd things right now!

‘But I must resist.’

Because I have a best girl waiting to give me my first experience.

So I held back.

“Tch…”

Lia pouted slightly,

but since I wasn’t going to kiss her,

she quietly sat down and opened the book.

‘In Prophecy RPG, it was written in an ancient cipher… You had to decode it step by step to learn the skills… I wonder how it is now…’

I have a translation ability.

It’s why I can talk to people in this world without issues.

But here’s a question:

How far does this translation ability go?

The continent’s common language?

All languages?

Ciphers?

Technically, ciphers are a form of language, so it might translate them,

or it might only handle the common tongue.

‘Well… Either way, it doesn’t matter.’

It’d be best if it could translate the cipher in the ,

but if not, it’s fine.

This world has cipher experts.

With enough money and time, they can decode anything.

‘Though their personalities are so awful they’ll refuse any request that doesn’t interest them…’

But who am I?

A Prophecy RPG veteran!

I know how to use even the most insufferable guy at least once.

‘Not a method I can reuse, though…’

It’s fine.

I’ve memorized the other cipher contents, so I don’t need further decoding.

Once the is deciphered, I won’t need him again.

…Or so I thought as I read the book, but—

“The text is so easy to understand?”

It’s translatable.

My translation ability is a magical skill that even converts ciphers into Korean.

Serena, as expected.

The isekai protagonist’s bonus skills are insane.

So I gave her an extra snack.

“Nom nom.”

Serena munched on the treat I gave her on the desk,

while I skimmed the book and thought:

‘In Prophecy RPG, no one ever fully decoded it… I wonder… what kind of monster would be born if someone mastered it 100%…’

I heard even the Shadow Clan descendants could only read about half.

But.

Even half its power was terrifying.

They were so dangerous that Serena personally hunted them,

and so stealthy they survived to this era, evading her eyes and ears.

‘And all of that was just the power of the …’

Half its power alone was this much.

So then?

What if someone mastered it 100%?

How strong could they become?

…I wondered as I used shadow magic.

Swoosh.

Thanks to the ‘Shadow Magic (C-rank)’ skill I stole from the Shadow Clan descendant,

I could now use the techniques in the .

What kind of technique, you ask?

Heh.

This one.

“Go! Shadow Hand!”

A hand made of shadow stretched out and retrieved a dagger from the corner.

That’s right.

A technique to create a remotely controlled hand.

With this, I can grab the remote while lying down!

Or turn off the lights from bed!

What?

You thought this was a technique so dangerous even gods would fear it?

You think this is dangerous?

‘It is.’

When I use it, it’s just a lazy way to grab things.

But if someone like Elris used it,

a hundred hands could wield a hundred swords and wreak havoc.

So.

Let me make this clear.

This is a dangerous technique.

The contains even more dangerous ones.

It’s just that—

when a D-rank like Cain uses it, it looks pathetic.

Kinda sad, but…

Anyway, that’s how it is.