When he showed his red eyes, he looked entirely like the hot sun, but with his eyes closed and immersed quietly in the water like this, he looked like the moon floating on a lake.
His chest was entirely filled with fluttering excitement.
Especially since he was smelling such a good fragrance….
‘……Fragrance?’
Ranshel’s eyes, which had been resting his cheek on his knees and soaking in a touching sentiment, slowly widened.
How could a fragrance emanate from a cavern dug out of the ground?
He lifted his head sharply and focused on the scent drifting in the air.
The scent, which was subtle at first, gradually became sweet and thick like honey, then grew so strong that it was suffocating.
The entire interior of the resting place was covered in this peculiar, sticky fragrance.
Ranshel urgently got up and sought the source of the fragrance.
Then, he found an incense burner faintly emitting smoke among the wax candles that gently illuminated the cave and knocked it over to extinguish it.
Even after the wick’s fire was out, the strong scent stimulating his nose did not stop.
Ranshel, poking the incense burner with a candlestick he picked up from a corner, found a sticky, pale green mucus on the surface and sighed in dismay.
Ranshel had developed resistance to poison through the training of the Nameless.
He did not react strongly to drugs that intoxicated the mind, and he was dull to stimulants that excited the body.
Therefore, the ‘Seduction Fragrance,’ which awakened humans’ primal instincts and aroused lust, did not have a significant effect on Ranshel.
However, there was someone else in this place besides him.
Ranshel rushed to Zavad, who had been unusually quiet for a while, and crouched down close to the pond.
“Young Master!”
“……Hmm?”
Zavad responded to Ranshel’s voice and pushed up his closed eyelids.
His gaze, which was somewhat hazy and blurred, was directed at Ranshel.
When Ranshel put his hand on Zavad’s forehead, he felt a slight fever.
“It’s a little… hot.”
His murmuring voice lacked energy.
Ranshel sighed in relief as he checked his condition.
‘He’s fine with this much.’
Although he was slow in his movements and his mind was dull from the fragrance, this was quite manageable.
In a normal case, he should be losing his mind with fever and revealing excitement, but he was maintaining a very calm demeanor compared to the drug’s intended effect.
This seemed to be due to his rigorous physical and mental training.
The Seduction Fragrance was originally an object used only in the bedrooms of couples experiencing a rut, as it stimulated fundamental human desires.
Because its effect was so strong, it was difficult to use as a light auxiliary agent, and it was even used in the treatment of those suffering from impotence due to problems with sexual function.
Such a primal tool was mixed into the sacred ritual of the Great Temple.
This time too, someone had targeted Zavad to commit a crime.
‘Stop it already, you bastards….’
Ranshel’s head felt hot with surging anger.
At this moment, his body temperature seemed higher than Zavad’s, who was under the influence of the fragrance.
Since he had extinguished the fragrance, the fever would naturally subside after some time.
Ranshel placed his hand on the shoulder of Zavad, who was slowly blinking his eyes while immersed in the pond.
He was about to suggest that Zavad get out of the water until the effect of the fragrance wore off.
But before he could even utter the words, the system hastily displayed a window.
[!A powerful curse skill is activated nearby!]
…Huh? While Ranshel paused his movement at the system window’s sudden announcement, a burning heat surged over his hand.
Ranshel slipped his gaze to the strong grip that brushed his hand and seized his wrist.
The person who had been moving slowly like someone caught in sleep and staring blankly into a dream was gone.
In his place, only a savage beast, fiercely gleaming with unfocused red eyes, remained.
Ranshel flinched and tried to withdraw his body with a chilling premonition, but the hand gripping his wrist allowed no distance, instead pulling him tightly closer.
Ranshel barely managed to keep himself from slipping into the pond.
As he struggled with all his might to avoid falling into the water, the strength in the hand gripping his wrist gradually intensified.
His brows furrowed involuntarily.
The heat and strength of the hand clutching his wrist were extraordinary.
“Young Master.”
“…….”
Zavad had grabbed his wrist many times before, but never with such fierce strength.
There was no mercy in the grip that felt like his flesh was being constricted and twisted.
Ranshel gritted his teeth and desperately racked his brain.
‘The Archbishop made a move.’
Because the resting place, which was created in a cave, connected to the underground, the Demon King’s core seemed to be able to exert its power even here.
The curse didn’t work on Ranshel thanks to the blessing of the system or whatever it was, but Zavad, unlike the other Agents, had not received Frey’s blessing skill.
The effect of the Seduction Fragrance itself was minimal, but the influence on his body seemed to have been amplified because the Archbishop cast a curse.
“Young Master, can you hear me?”
“……Yeah.”
It was an extremely low voice. Ranshel parted his lips.
The tip of his tongue, which was about to continue speaking, failed to produce any sound.
Zavad’s hazy eyes were clearly fixed on him.
His pupils were blurred, but the fierce desire directed at Ranshel was complete.
Ranshel’s face instantly flushed, but he could not forget that every part of the emotion Zavad was showing now was completely tainted by falsehood.
“……ce.”
“……al, if you do….”
Ranshel jumped and turned his head at the sound of voices coming from the entrance of the resting place.
The sound of several people’s footsteps was heading toward them.
This was by no means a closed space, and Zavad had to perform the ritual for the initiation ceremony.
Ranshel, who regained his composure, tried to shake off the hand gripping his wrist, but the harder he tried to escape, the stronger the pressure, like a claw trap, constricted him.
“Ugh….”
Ranshel let out a groan through his teeth from the pain that felt like his wrist was about to break.
Then, the fingers, which had been completely immovable like iron handcuffs just moments ago, suddenly released him with a snap.
“……Ranshel?”
Splash, Zavad recoiled from the edge of the pond and withdrew deeper into the water.
Ranshel, seeing his trembling eyes, concealed his wrist with his other hand and stood up.
“Wait here for a moment. I’ll be right back.”
Zavad might lose his mind again at any moment.
Ranshel urgently ran toward the entrance of the resting place.
The faces he knew were slowly entering the cavern.
Ranshel blocked their path to prevent them from advancing further inside.
Those who paused their steps in confusion soon recognized Ranshel’s face and looked surprised.
“Oh, Brother Ranshel?”
“It’s been a long time, everyone.”
Ranshel put one arm behind his back and forced a smile at them.
It was the first time he had met the believers since the incident of the monks’ poisoning.
Ranshel was known to have resigned because his health deteriorated after being falsely accused and interrogated that day.
“Is your health better now?”
“Yes. Thank you for your concern. You’ve come to assist with the ritual, haven’t you?”
Ranshel tried to remain as calm as possible while organizing his complicated thoughts.
He was sweating cold beads down his spine, worried that an irrational Zavad might rush out to the entrance at any moment.
“Yes. We’ve come to give the holy oil to the Knight who will be initiated.”
