Chapter 68: Some Peaceful Days
"No."
I said through my teeth. There was no lie here. It was the truth that we had not
kidnapped anyone from Serenia whatsoever.
"We did not, nor did we have any reason to. It is not like we head to Serenia
frequently at all, you know?"
"Is that so?" Adam said, looking at his sister. His sister was staring straight
at me for some reason, with a soft smile on her lips.
Fucking hell. Was this really about Nea? I felt bad about leaving her alone, but
it was a thing of the past. There were more important matters to look after
these days.
Adam didn’t push the question any further after that, and we maintained our
peace.
For the next few days, all of us were going to stay in the Grim Palace.
—CLANG! CLANG CLANG!
"Wooh! You’re fucking great."
"..."
It was a peaceful afternoon. Weiss had decided she was going to stay in her room
for the time being and continue studying to refine the potion. She disliked the
taste, and now that it had worked out twice, she had more reason to do so.
There was something very important that she wanted to do—figure out how exactly
this potion she had made for something completely different ended up curing
corruption so reliably. With that, our genius shut-in Witch Queen decided to
shut herself in again.
So, naturally, we were left with a lot of free time.
One way it was spent was right here. Adam Reinvelt decided to train here with
the living armors and Treska.
Treska was no match for Adam, but Jake and John were also in a league of their
own.
Adam was a magi-knight, using a mix of magic spells and swordplay to fight.
Blades of water formed around him, floating about as he used them to cut and
slice. John, who was currently fighting him, parried every attack with great
skill and flair.
Sitting on the porch, where a table and chairs were set up, were Arlene and I,
while Delka stood nearby. He wanted to fight, as well.
"You want to train?" Arlene asked me. "I can teach you a trick or two."
"My mother advised against violence."
"Hah. There’s no way THE Phantom can’t hold his own in battle."
I couldn’t. What are you going to do about it?
A thump resounded as Adam fell on his back. He stood up, pushed his hair back,
and chuckled. John, too, leaned back.
"Your swordsmanship is unlike anything I’ve seen. It’s so balanced, with
controlled movements."
"..."
"That’s right. Master John’s swordsmanship is unlike anything else."
Treska was acting like an interpreter for them. Not that John and Jake got
tired, either. Adam’s eyes were still purple and his body sore, but it wasn’t
enough to make a knight swing his sword any softer. After John, Jake came to the
center.
I poured more tea into my porcelain cup and sipped it.
"HAAP!"
Their match began. If John was a controlled blade, then Jake was wild and
ferocious. While John’s swings countered every hit, Jake didn’t even allow them
to land. Offense became defense for Jake.
Seeing this continue, I got up and went through the windows back into the
palace. Taking the spiral stairs up, I reached the now open-terrace library.
Shelves lined both sides of the stairs, going deeper into the structure. Tables
and benches to sit at were also everywhere. From beanbags to easels, they had
everything one could need.
"Should I arrange some books?" I stretched my hands and started putting our
latest haul onto the shelves. This wealth of information was my favorite part of
the Grim Palace.
And one of my main reasons for staying.
There wasn’t much worthy of theft in the Grim Palace, nothing much beyond
knowledge. As a thief, wasn’t it necessary for me to keep my activities up?
That was simply the reason behind this task, as well. My first task was to put
back the teleportation books we had just bought. I went and placed them in the
same place as the other books.
It was then, from behind one of the shelves, that I heard a voice.
"Miss Arlene?" I said, without turning around.
Arlene stepped out from her hiding place and walked over, smiling.
"Hey," she said. "Is it okay if I am here?"
"Of course. There’s no place really ’off-limits’ in the Grim Palace."
"That’s great..." She put her chin on my shoulder. "Hey, you are the one whom
the armor ’kidnapped,’ right?"
I sighed.
"Yeah..."
"Hahaha... Poor Nea."
"Don’t say that. It is not hollow. I was just never from Serenia or living
anywhere in Serenia. What was I to do if one of my people was in harm’s way?"
"That’s good, but you came back and never even checked on her. Plus..." Arlene
wrapped her arm around my other shoulder, leaning closer against my body. Her
breath brushed against my neck.
If so far I had been around girls I had to woo, this was a rather different
situation.
"...It seems like you and the Witch are very close."
"That goes without saying." I put the book back in and moved. Arlene, too,
unhanded me and let go as I moved to the next part of the library. She followed
behind, hopping along with her hands behind her back.
"You seem just like a player, not a thief. I don’t buy it at all."
"You may believe whatever you want." I shrugged. You know what? Maybe I’ll bite.
It was, at the end of the day, a way to get stronger. I turned around, leaned on
the shelf, and looked into her eyes.
"What would change your mind, hm?"
"I don’t know. Show me something impossible," Arlene said. She then glanced down
and looked up again. "Maybe I’ll believe you if you really do manage to steal my
panties."
"The black lacy ones you’re wearing?"
"Hah! How did you know?" Arlene quickly reached down to check, then looked up
again.
"Hahah! Why are you checking?"
"I don’t know—what if you already took them?"
"Please. I am the best thief, but I am also human. I am how I am because I am
human."
"So it’s not possible?"
I stepped closer to her. My hand slowly went around her waist, sliding past her
side to rest on her back.
I leaned down and slowly, softly, kissed the base of her neck and her
collarbone. Arlene shivered.
"I like men like you," she said. "Bold. Smart. Smart... I like smart."
With my hand, I unhooked her bra.
