“You like what you see, Headmaster Astoria?” Vaan boldly asked without shame. Instead, an amused smile hung on his face.
Astoria blinked for a moment before she peeled her eyes away with a bit of embarrassment.
“Cover yourself up, Teacher Raphna. You’ll taint Tia’s eyes with your family jewels,” Astoria stated.
Nevertheless, Vaan didn’t need her to tell him that. He quickly took out one of his spare outfits and changed into it.
Although the casual brown t-shirt and pants made him look like a poor commoner, they were comfortable and didn’t restrict his movements.
Furthermore, they were expendable. Thus, they were quite suitable for traveling.
Shortly after, Astoria uncovered Topaz’s eyes before the little earth fairy flew over to Vaan to check on his condition.
“Kyuu?”
“I’m alright, Tia.”
“Kyu, kyuu!”
After Topaz finished her inspection, she flew over to the Magma Wyrm’s huge carcass and gave it a few kicks.
Of course, her kicks didn’t inflict any damage. Heck, the carcass didn’t even budge.
However, she did succeed in venting her feelings.
Topaz’s antics amused Astoria, but she quickly shifted her attention back to Vaan after glancing at the Magma Wyrm’s motionless carcass.
At that moment, Vaan had already returned to his original form as his long white furry hair became short black once more.
“How did you kill the Magma Wyrm, Teacher Raphna? Are you sure your body’s all right?” Astoria inquired.
“You don’t have to worry about it coming back to life, Headmaster Astoria. I’ve destroyed its heart after tearing my way inside, as you could have guessed from my loss of clothes,” Vaan said before adding, “And I am all right. So you don’t have to worry.”
“Just some superficial burns that have already been healed by my body’s natural regeneration,” Vaan added.
“I see…” Astoria uttered before falling into silence. Then, a few breaths later, she asked, “Are you a human or a demon?”
“Are you asking because of my Lycan Transformation? Well, that depends on what you view as a human and a demon. Do you see the members of the Assembly of Silent Night as demons or humans?” Vaan nonchalantly replied.
“They are natural humans,” Astoria answered with a frown before adding, “However, the nature of their work makes them not much different from witches. At least, that is the case towards witches.”
“Human by birth but demonic by nature, huh?” Vaan casually uttered.
“In other words, the evils committed toward witches is what makes one a demon?” Vaan shook his head with a soft snicker and said, “However, the evils committed against witches result from today’s extreme matriarchal society. The witch supremacists and their discrimination against men have made them enemies.”
“Nevertheless, I was born human but gained the power of demons and killed a witch. So by your standards, I am a demon,” Vaan calmly stated.
“That’s not the same, Teacher Raphna. The witch you killed deserved death, whereas the Assembly of Silent Night hunt witches for a living because they enjoy it.” Astoria shook her head and said,
“Nevertheless, I still committed evil against a witch. Thus, that makes me a demon, does it? Those were your words. Evils committed against witches make one demonic.” Vaan repeated.
“While I did say that, why are you emphasizing that point? You know what I mean, Teacher Raphna, or are you saying you are an evil person?”
“Well, I’m certainly not a good person,” Vaan replied indifferently. “And there’s a chance I could turn to the demon’s side.”
“Don’t say that, Teacher Raphna. I don’t want to be your enemy,” Astoria stated.
“I don’t want to be your enemy either, Headmaster Astoria. That’s why I am being transparent with you,” Vaan seriously said before adding, “If humanity doesn’t turn their back on me, then I would have no reason to join the demons.”
“Humanity won’t; I won’t,” Astoria firmly stated.
“Then, it shouldn’t matter what I am, right? You only need to know that I am on your side, Headmaster Astoria,” Vaan said with a smile.
“That’s true,” Astoria nodded.
After much was said, the Astoria reaffirmed Vaan’s stance. As long as they didn’t give him a reason to be their enemy, he wouldn’t be their enemy.
Simply as that.
“We should get going. The others should be waiting for us,” Astoria said shortly after.
“Of course, but without this big guy,” Vaan acknowledge with a nod before pointing to wyrm’s carcass. “This thing is a mountain of treasure.”
“That’s true. But I’m afraid that even I would have trouble fitting such a large carcass in my storage space,” Astoria mentioned.
“You don’t have to worry about that, Headmaster Astoria. I got this covered,” Vaan claimed.
Shortly after Vaan placed his palm on the Magma Wyrm’s carcass, it was slowly sucked into his Heaven-Swallowing Space.
Although the carcass was much large than Vaan’s palm, he didn’t have a problem devouring the carcass due to the distortion of space.
From another person’s perspective, it looked like the carcass was shrinking in his hand. It was quite a common phenomenon among spatial storage tools.
Nevertheless, Astoria was surprised, nonetheless.
After all, the wyrm was not small.
“You’re full of surprises, Teacher Raphna. Just how many more secrets are you hiding?” Astoria casually asked with curiosity.
“Curious?” Vaan smiled before teasing her, “If you become my woman, I might consider sharing with you.”
“Okay,” Astoria uttered indifferently.
Vaan didn’t expect such a response from her. Thus, he was mildly stunned by it.
Nevertheless, it was exactly the reaction she was looking for. Astoria’s lips curved into a smile before she asked, “Surprised?”
“Well, I can’t say I’m not,” Vaan wryly smiled before saying, “It wasn’t quite the response I was looking for.”
“So, you’re only joking? If you’re serious, my answer would be serious too. However, the question is, do you dare?” Astoria narrowed her eyes with a sly smile.
Suddenly, his casual teasing had backfired and turned into a test. There were multiple meanings in Astoria’s words.
Thus, he had to pick wisely.
Nevertheless, he could sense that he stood to lose more than he would gain if he truly committed to making her his woman.
“Let’s not turn it into a business exchange,” Vaan said wryly.
When Astoria heard that, she kept a calm smile. However, she felt relief inside her heart. In fact, she wasn’t sure what she wanted.
She wanted to love but was also afraid of loving.
Perhaps she wasn’t ready for love.
…
Nevertheless, sometime later, Vaan and Astoria took the path back to the surface and found Aeliana and Hester waiting for them by the earth tunnel.
At the same time, the Volcan Wolf’s body could be seen beside them.
“It didn’t make it?” Astoria asked.
Hester shook her head with a sad look.
“Let’s give it a semi-burial. We can’t bring with us nor return it to its kin, so we should bury it where it can’t get eaten by wandering beasts. We can come back and return it to its kin later if we finish our objective,” Vaan stated.
“Alright,” Hester agreed.
Shortly after, Vaan telepathically instructed Topaz to make a new cave roughly six hundred yards away before he placed the Volcan Wolf inside.
Nevertheless, before he sealed the cave, Vaan glanced at the Volcan Wolf’s warm yet lifeless carcass and paused in thought.
If one didn’t look at the Volcan Wolf’s pulse, they would think it was still sleeping.
“Teacher Raphna?” Astoria and the other glanced at him, wondering what was causing him to delay the burial.
Vaan didn’t say anything and reached out his hand.
After his nails sharpened into claws, he made a cut on his finger and dripped a few blood drops into the Volcan Wolf’s mouth.
As everyone wondered why he did what he did, Vaan casually said, “Just an offering.”
“My blood also has strong regenerative powers, so it should keep the body from decaying and possessing a stench until we return to collect it,” Vaan added.
However, he was actually just conducting a test.
“Alright, no more delays,” Vaan stated a few breaths later.
After the cave was sealed, Astoria noticed Hester’s gaze lingered on Vaan’s hand and knew what she was thinking about.
“Teacher Raphna is not our enemy,” Astoria stated.
“I know,” Hester calmly uttered.
“Oh?” Astoria expressed her surprise before asking, “Then, what are you thinking about, Lady Hester?”
“I’ve never doubted Sir Vahn,” Hester stated.
“However, his ability is quite strange. It seems like a product of assimilating Furhengir’s bloodline like the members of the Assembly of Silent Night, but he seems to have complete control over it.”
“I wonder if Sir Vahn acquired Furhengir’s blood from the slain members of the dark organization during the punitive expedition?” Hester asked shortly after.
“You can say that,” Vaan nodded.
He wasn’t exactly lying.
After all, he did collect Furhengir’s blood from several slain wolf-men in order to awaken the Immortal Lycan Bloodline.
Nevertheless, when Astoria heard Hester’s question, she felt ashamed of herself for suspecting he was a demon.
She should have realized that Vaan could have acquired Furhengir’s blood during the punitive expedition and tamed its power using his profound wisdom.
Alas, it seemed her faith in Vaan wasn’t as strong as Hester’s.
Little did Astoria know, Hester didn’t care if Vaan was a demon or not; she couldn’t live without him—or more precisely, his D.
She was completely addicted to it.
“Thanks to the Magma Wyrm’s disturbance, we didn’t get to rest,” Vaan mentioned before seeking the party’s opinions, “Shall we pitch a new camp and resume our rest or proceed ahead to the upper regions?”