Vol 2. Chapter 73: Riddle-Master Aesphyra

That same presence from before had the nerve to return—that genuinely surprised Aesphyra.

She hadn’t expected something so brainless to pull such a reckless move, where the risk-to-reward ratio was completely lopsided.

Perhaps she had overestimated the opponent.

Which meant this whole incident wasn’t orchestrated by some brilliant mastermind pulling strings in the shadows after all—there was no sign of intricate planning. For all she knew, the enemy had come up with this plan on the fly, smacking its own head like, “Yeah, this’ll do.”

Aesphyra hadn’t seen any red-haired woman on the fence. From her perspective as an outside observer, it had been a straightforward magical ripple—an illusion trap—that had dragged Vinny into a hallucination. His mind muddled, his clarity dulled... and just as she was about to intervene, Vinny had somehow broken free on his own.

That, she had not expected.

To escape an illusion spell cast by an enemy stronger than oneself—it proved he possessed a willpower and spiritual strength far beyond the norm.

Once the residual force and aura had faded and she confirmed that Vinny was unharmed, Aesphyra quietly returned to her room and shut the door behind her as though nothing had happened.

She walked back over to her magically constructed bath basin. With a dainty flick, her pale white feet slipped out of her brown loafers, toes stretching straight as they sank into the crystal-clear warm water.

Why was she so sure that thing wouldn’t return?

Because doing so would be idiotic.

To reappear while their guard was up would only expose its previously hidden identity. Its mystery would vanish, replaced by actionable clues.

By this point, Aesphyra had already deduced what kind of creature was causing trouble in this village.

Why had the magic serpents in the nest split so clearly into two groups?

The first group had clearly been wild monsters that attacked the village.

But the second wave... those had been switched out, swapped with ones raised by demons.

They followed commands. They had been sent in with purpose.

Which meant they were fundamentally different.

Aesphyra had already made her judgment.

An expert illusionist. A controller of serpents. One that preys specifically when targets are isolated—and possessing a very distinct magical aura.

There was only one kind of species that fit all of that.

Meanwhile, in the backyard, Vinny had been spacing out for a long time before finally muttering to himself with a weird look on his face:

Did I seriously just get caught in an illusion spell just now?

Damn. There really was something nasty hiding in this village.

Still, during that illusion... there had been something familiar about it.

Like he’d experienced that exact kind of scene before.

No, wait—how could that be?

His life hadn’t exactly been full of wild adventures. There was no way he’d gone through anything like that before.

Vinny figured this must’ve been his first time getting caught in an illusion spell.

So where had that flash of familiarity come from?

So weird.

He let out a quiet sigh.

After all that, his interest in bathing had evaporated.

He rinsed himself off quickly, dumped the rest of the water, and glanced up at the top of the wooden fence again.

Still nothing.

After giving the courtyard a quick once-over, Vinny returned to his room to tidy up and get some sleep.

The next morning, there was no sunlight. The sky was veiled in mist.

Vinny gnawed on some bread and stepped outside—only to find Aesphyra already up and chatting with the old man.

Curious, he drifted over and started eavesdropping.

“Young lady, last night I saw you two returning from the northwest. Forgive an old man’s prying... but did you go to the magic serpent’s nest?” the old man asked, leaning on his cane.

“We did,” Aesphyra answered without hesitation. “We needed to investigate the root of this incident, and the serpent nest was the obvious place to start.”

The old man let out a long sigh and shook his head. “Allow this old coot a word of advice: you’d best stay away from places like that.”

“Oh? And why is that?”

“It was a monster den, after all. Danger lingers there,” the old man said. “Best not to get too close. As you’ve seen, our village is peaceful now. There’s nothing else unusual going on.”

“But we found some suspicious signs in the nest yesterday,” Aesphyra tilted her head.

“Suspicious? Young lady, there’s nothing suspicious about that place,” the old man replied, his voice a bit quieter than before, and his expression... subtly shifted.

None of that escaped Aesphyra’s notice.

“Well, last night, we found evidence of alchemical potions being used in the cave. We even smelled traces of lingering alchemical fumes. Obviously, serpents don’t have the intelligence to craft or use such things. Which leads me to suspect that someone—someone with bad intentions—was there.”

Her tone was serious, professional.

Vinny furrowed his brow at that.

Didn’t they detect scroll magic yesterday?

When did it turn into alchemy evidence?

Still, he didn’t say anything.

Aesphyra make a mistake? Not likely.

She was deliberately lying to the old man—for reasons of her own.

“Alchemical potions? Maybe you misidentified the scent?” the old man replied, startled. His voice was hushed, and he casually glanced around the courtyard.

“No, that’s impossible. I’m an alchemist myself. I couldn’t have mistaken it. I have to get to the bottom of this.”

The old man sighed again, saying nothing more.

He understood the stubbornness of youth. He’d been the same way once.

“Young lady, some things are best left untouched. Sometimes... playing dumb is the wiser path.”

“Old sir, is there something you’re not telling me?” Aesphyra pressed.

“What could I possibly know? I’m just an old man with one foot in the grave. All I care about now is making sure my grandson’s looked after once I’m gone.”

He turned and walked off, cane tapping the ground.

“Aesphyra,” Vinny stepped up once the man was gone.

She glanced at him—he didn’t even need to say it aloud. His eyes already asked the question.

She answered with a look: patience.

Then said aloud, “We should go back to the serpent nest tomorrow. Maybe we missed something.”

“Ah. Oh.” Vinny nodded, already starting to understand what she meant.

Why tomorrow? If it was urgent, why not go today?

She hadn’t lowered her voice when saying that.

Clearly, that line wasn’t for him.

“Right, thinking back, we really were too hasty during our last search. Lots of things still don’t add up. We should check again,” Vinny added, keeping up the act.

The two of them returned to their room with silent understanding.

They spent the entire day sitting across from each other.

“So... what’s the situation now?” Vinny asked in a hushed voice.

“Tomorrow,” Aesphyra said, flipping her silver hair with practiced elegance, wearing that ever-confident smile. “All will be revealed.”

Seriously? Still playing riddles at this point?

This white-haired shortstack had to enjoy making him guess, dangling bits and pieces in front of him just to watch him go crazy trying to figure it out.

Ugh. Whatever.

He was the one coasting to victory here. Let her worry about everything.

That evening, the old man came back to warn them not to go out at night—he claimed wild beasts roamed around at the borders.

Yeah, something was definitely out there.

But whether it was a beast... was debatable.

Vinny and Aesphyra wandered the village a bit and noticed that many of the locals still looked totally blank—like soulless shells, wandering around without purpose.

The whole village felt... dead.

Another night passed.

The next afternoon, someone knocked on Vinny’s door.

Yawning, he threw on some clothes and stepped out. It was Aesphyra.

“Sleep well, Vinny~?” she asked sweetly.

Fully dressed, hair sleek and silver like polished silk under the sunlight, her makeup flawless.

She looked like a glittering gem—poised, graceful, serene.

Vinny, with his messy hair and crumpled expression, looked like a total slob by comparison.

He couldn’t recall ever seeing Aesphyra look disheveled even once.

“Eh. It was alright,” he answered lazily.

“‘Alright’? You slept [N O V E L I G H T] till afternoon, you know~?”

“So what, we’ve got something planned today?”

“Once you freshen up, we’re going to meet with Priest Farkas.”

“Oh.”

He didn’t ask why.

Didn’t ask why it had to be this late in the day, either.

Aesphyra would handle all the thinking.

He just had to follow.

A bit later, after throwing himself together, he and Aesphyra headed out.

They arrived at the church and knocked on the door.

“My dear guests, what brings you here again? Please, come in.”

Farkas greeted them warmly and ushered them in.

“Lord Farkas, we’re here today to inform you—we’ve made progress in our investigation,” Aesphyra said after sitting down.

Vinny sat beside her like a silent bodyguard.

If it wasn’t his turn to talk, he might as well play the part of the mysterious, unshakable young man.

“Oh? New developments?” Farkas raised a brow. “Young lady, do you have something to add?”

“Not just add—I believe we may have jumped to conclusions too soon about the serpent situation,” Aesphyra replied with a smile.

“Too soon? What do you mean?” Farkas asked.

“Well, Lord Farkas, the past two days we’ve conducted further investigation at the magic serpent’s nest. We discovered what appear to be traces of alchemical potion use. I also detected the lingering scent of those potions.”

Same lines she’d used on the old man—now delivered to the priest.

Vinny sat silently, already used to it.

No reaction.

Just quietly surveyed the crude little church.

“Is that so?” Farkas looked genuinely surprised.

“But when I took the villagers there last time, I didn’t smell anything. Did I just overlook it?”

“It’s unlikely I’m wrong,” Aesphyra said, resolute. “Though we don’t have concrete evidence yet. The sun’s setting, so we’ll resume the search early tomorrow morning. I believe we’ll find something.”

Her tone was righteous, youthful, sincere—like a naïve student on a quest for the truth.

Mmm. Classic Aesphyra. Acting skills top-tier.

Everyone in the room bought it... except Vinny.

“We came to you hoping you could contact your affiliated church and request that they send professionals to assist us. This is very important. It concerns all the villagers of Lake Village. I believe this situation is more complicated than it seems.”

“I see. Understood. Don’t worry, I’ll reach out to the church as soon as I can,” Farkas agreed readily.

“Thank you. Carillian Academy is far from here—we have no one else to rely on.”

“Don’t mention it. It’s my duty, after all.”

With that, the two of them stood and took their leave. Farkas escorted them to the door.

Once they returned to their lodging, Aesphyra’s expression immediately shifted—from righteous student to sly little fox.

Click click.

Vinny smacked his lips at the sight.

Her acting and instant face-switching would put the best of Shikondell’s kin to shame.

“So, what are you actually planning?” Vinny asked.

“Tomorrow~ The fox tail will show,” Aesphyra said with a grin.

“I don’t know about anyone else’s tail, but yours is definitely out already,” Vinny muttered. “Smiling like a damn fox.”

He didn’t bother asking about her plan anymore.

If he did, she’d just feed him riddles and half-truths, leaving him to stew.

Ugh, protagonists.

“Well then, Vinny, make sure you wake up early tomorrow~”

“Yeah, yeah.”

The next morning, they returned to the magic serpent’s nest.

Vinny had thought Aesphyra would search carefully this time.

Instead, once they entered the cave, she wandered around a bit, poked at a few corners, then conjured a chair out of thin air and gracefully sat down—playing with her fingers.

“...?”

Vinny stared in utter confusion.

What was this girl doing?

Was there some kind of investigation that could only be done after dark?

She sat there for ages.

And then, when the sun finally set, she stood up.

“Let’s go, Vinny.”

“Huh? We’re leaving already??”

“What, were you planning to sleep here tonight~?”