Chapter 279: I want you.
"Eleonor, how long can you stay here?"
"…Why the sudden question?" Eleanor looked at Victor with a strange look.
"It"s nothing. I"m just asking." Victor replied in a neutral tone as he read a book on mythologies that Ruby lent him.
When reading about the world tree, he became quite interested in Norse mythology since he had nothing to do other than hang out with the girls and wait for his dear mother-in-law to "train" with him.
He decided to hara.s.s Eloenor, after all, she was the only one who seemed to be relatively free.
Her... And his maids.
Kaguya was always with Victor, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and she didn"t leave his shadow. Unless, of course, Victor specifically ordered her to do so.
But as long as he doesn"t say anything, she won"t bother stepping out of his shadow.
Victor really wondered if she didn"t get bored of being in his shadow.
He once even questioned Kaguya about it, but the only thing he heard from Maid herself was.
"I like being in the master"s shadow... It"s comfortable..."
That day Victor didn"t understand anything, "what did she mean by comfortable?"
He wondered, but when he saw his Maid, he ignored that subject. If she likes to be in his shadow, just let her do what she wants.
On the other hand, Maria, Bruna, Eve, and Roberta were walking around doing various things.
Sometimes Eve and Bruna would help Ruby with something.
Sometimes, Roberta and Maria would "teach" the new Maid what it"s like to be a Maid.
... Victor had a bad feeling when Roberta and Maria approached Roxanne since, to be honest, he recognizes that the two are not mentally stable.
Little did he know that the two Maids were teaching the woman the rules of the "cult" that Bruna created...
"Hmm..." Eleanor looked at the man with a suspicious look.
"…why are you looking at me with that look?"
"I don"t know, I"m just on guard, I don"t want to be kidnapped again."
"Oh...?" Victor"s smile grew:
"You talk like you can avoid me."
"I am sure." She patted her chest with a victorious smile, "If I hadn"t been off guard, I wouldn"t have been kidnapped in that disgraceful way."
"...Pfft...Hahahahahaha~."
"... Why are you laughing?" She narrowed her eyes.
"Just know that the outcome would be different if I had defended myself!"
"Yes, yes." Victor rolled his eyes with the same smile on his face.
A vein popped in Eleanor"s head when she saw Victor"s face; he was clearly underestimating her.
"Fine! Let"s decide that now!" She decided she was going to show him who the boss was.
"Nah, I don"t want to, I"m just lazy."
"... Eh?" She completely lost all her momentum.
Victor leans back more comfortably on the couch and starts reading the book again.
"...." An awkward silence fell over the room.
Eleanor just watched Victor with a shocked look as she didn"t expect him to back down.
"Tsk." Eleanor goes back to the sofa and sits down.
"Eleanor, just know one thing." Victor suddenly began to speak as Eleanor sat down.
"Hmm?" Eleanor looked at Victor, but he was no longer there!
"Where is he!?" She used her senses to try to find him, but she didn"t find anything!
"If I wanted to kidnap you, you wouldn"t be able to react."
She heard a voice right next to her ear, her whole body tingled, and she quickly turned away.
And all she saw was the small smile on Victor"s face.
"After all, I am inevitable."
"When did you get here?"
"..." Victor didn"t answer, as he just leaned back on the couch and started reading the book again.
"Hey! Do not ignore me!"
"Eleonor, how long can you stay here?" Victor asked his question again.
"Two days...Wait." She really can"t believe she fell into his rhythm again!
"Two days, huh?" Victor touched his chin.
"Well, I think that"s enough time." Victor suddenly closes the book and stands up.
"Come, follow me. I need to show you something, I prepared something for you."
"..." Eleanor looked at Victor"s back with a dry look.
This man really just does what he wants!!
She really didn"t want to follow him! That hateful man!
But she was very curious about what he wanted to give her.
"Ugh." She grumbles a little to herself, gets up from the couch, and starts following him at a considerable distance.
Victor suddenly stops walking and looks at Eleanor, "Why are you so far away?"
Veins began to pop in Eleanor"s head when she saw the hateful smile on the man"s face.
Not wanting the reaction for him anymore, Eleanor just picked up the pace of her feet and walked past him.
"...." Looking at Eleanor"s back, Victor"s smile grew a little s.a.d.i.s.tically. She really was an excellent target to tease.
"You"re going to the wrong place." Victor suddenly spoke up.
And as if she had been hit with ice magic, Eleanor"s whole body seemed to freeze, and her face turned a little red.
"This way." Victor pointed to a hallway and started walking.
"..." Eleanor turns and sees the man walking away.
Her eyes narrow a little as she looks at Victor"s back, but then she lets out a big sigh and follows him again.
...
The two walked through some corridors until they reached a seemingly normal room.
"Hmm... Ruby said she left it here...?" Victor"s eyes were gleaming unnaturally as he looked around the room.
"What is he doing?" Eleanor asked herself curiously.
Victor walked around the corners of the room as if looking for something, a few seconds pa.s.sed, and it didn"t take long to find what he wanted.
"Oh, it"s here." Victor pushes the "wall", and soon a small tremor happens.
And as if out of a spy movie, the wall in front of Victor disappears completely and shows a pa.s.sage that seems to lead down to the underground.
"Come with me."
Victor started walking again.
"..." Eleanor nodded obediently and, this time, didn"t protest too much since she was really curious about what Victor wanted to show her.
"Is this place new? I don"t remember having anything like this in the royal capital mansion."
"Yes, I asked June to create this place... Even though Ruby designed everything, June was just the bricklayer who built everything." Victor flashed an amused little smile when he talked about June.
"What is the purpose of this place?"
Victor doesn"t answer Eleanor"s question and, instead, he starts talking, "... When I was in Greece, I wasn"t just making enemies, I also collected a very rare item, an item capable of making a whole nation of G.o.ds my enemies."
"..." Eleanor narrowed her eyes when she heard what Victor said.
"I heard from the girls that it was in that place that you became the enemy of the demons."
"Oh...?" Victor looked at Eleanor.
"Who told you this?"
"Violet."
"…Violet told you?" Victor asked with his eyes open a little in shock.
"Yes?"
"Well, that"s rare." Victor turned around and continued walking again:
"Violet isn"t exactly someone who trusts someone easily, if she told you did she think you were trustworthy?"
"...." Eleanor remained silent, as she really didn"t know what to say. After all, this was information she just received in a casual way when she was talking to Violet.
Walking down a dark hallway for a few minutes, the two suddenly arrived at a warehouse that looked more like a mausoleum.
And inside that mausoleum, there were six statues.
"Heh~, Ruby really likes that kind of thing." Victor laughed amusedly.
"...?" Eleanor looked at the statues, and she recognized the people in the statues.
"Is that You?" Eleanor asked, a little surprised as she looked at the statue of Victor.
"Of course, who else would be that handsome?"
"..." Eleanor rolled her eyes.
She looks at the other statues and immediately recognizes the people in the statues.
"Ruby, Sasha, Violet, Annasthas.h.i.+a, and Scathach... Just what kind of twisted taste is this to make statues of yourself?"
Victor approaches the Scathach statue and extends his arm towards the "air".
And as if by magic, a weapon appeared in his hand, and it wasn"t just any weapon.
It was a gigantic hammer.
"That"s..." She opened her eyes wide as she felt the energy in the hammer.
"The statue has something similar to the magic that Sasha"s ancestor frame had, it only activates when it recognizes a specific type of "energy signature"."
"If that energy is not recognized, they are just normal statues for people." Victor looked at the hammer in his hand and threw it towards Eleanor.
"And that also means that this is a great place to hide something that shouldn"t be shown to the public so easily."
Eleanor raises her hand and unconsciously takes the hammer.
"!!!" Realizing what she"s just done, she quickly drops the hammer to the ground.
"Are you crazy!? Why did you throw such a divine artifact at me!?"
"Hahaha~ Victor laughed amusedly since he didn"t expect this reaction from Eleanor.
"Stop laughing!"
"Yes, Yes~." He flashed a smile that made Eleanor angrier, and he pointed at the hammer, "Don"t worry, that hammer is fake."
"...?"
"It"s just a copy of the original." Victor turns around again and brings his hand closer to the Scathach Statue, and soon, another hammer appears in his hand.
"See?" He showed it to Eleanor.
"...." The woman opened her mouth in shock.
The woman looks at the two hammers several times, and suddenly, she takes on a serious expression:
"What is your purpose in bringing me here?"
"Didn"t I already say? I will give you something." Victor"s smile slowly started to widen, and he spoke:
"I will give you 69 copies of the divine hammer of Hephaestus." Victor looked at the hammer:
"Despite being a copy, the hammer alone has great power and can do a lot of damage over a large area if used as a "missile"." Victor spoke ambiguously on purpose.
"If what he said is true, I can use it to eliminate those pests... But..."
"…And what do you want in return?" she asked in a serious tone.
Victor"s smile widens, and he slowly raises his hand and points to Eleanor:
"You."