“What’s… going on?”
Sophie walked to Lynn’s side holding a purple crystal core, handing it to him and breaking the somewhat awkward atmosphere.
She looked at the two women who were at each other’s throats, her large eyes filled with confusion.
Sigh.
Lynn sighed helplessly.
Sophie was still too young, after all.
Unlike Lynn—an outstanding youth proficient in the art of reading people and dark psychology—he had already seen through everything.
The reason they were arguing must be because both played a key role and were afraid they wouldn’t get their fair share of the rewards.
It was the classic case of “fear not scarcity, but inequality.”
Just kidding—he, Lynn, was a pioneer in spreading equality, a man who would one day engrave the concept of equality into the hearts of people worldwide.
How could he allow such a thing to happen before his very eyes!
“Don’t fight, don’t fight. You won’t get any gold coins if you fight.”
Lynn slowly stepped between the two, preparing to showcase his superb conflict-resolution skills.
But before he could continue, Livia suddenly spoke, interrupting his train of thought.
“Mr. Lynn…” Livia asked ominously, “Exactly what kind of contact did Felica have with you just now?”
She had already planned it out in her head.
If Felica touched Mr. Lynn with her hands, she would cut them off.
If Felica really went all the way behind her back…
Then she would chop her into little pieces and throw them into the sea to feed the fish.
Damaging her strength?
Shaking her foundation?
Only those who survived had the right to talk about such things.
Looking at Livia, who was radiating a cold, dark aura, Lynn found it a bit strange.
Why was Livia asking this?
But a moment later, as a flash of inspiration hit him, Lynn felt as if he gradually understood everything.
Was Livia trying to determine how much help he had received from Felica so she could negotiate better for him?
As expected, Livia was such a kind-hearted child who cared for others!
Lynn’s gaze toward Livia held a hint of approval and relief.
“I did indeed receive quite a bit of help from Miss Felica,” Lynn nodded.
“However, considering I did Felica a huge favor in the end, we’re basically even. She doesn’t need to pay me any extra gold for it.”
Hearing this, Livia, who was just about to strike, slowly stopped her movements and froze in place.
“A… huge favor?” She tilted her head, looking at Lynn with confusion.
“Yeah,” Lynn nodded.
“I happened to save her life.”
“Oh, so that’s how it was.”
Hearing this, Livia couldn’t help but sigh in relief.
The negative emotions and killing intent overflowing from her body vanished instantly, as if nothing had ever happened.
Then, as if suddenly remembering something, she looked at Felica, who had a mischievous smirk on her face, and anger began to swell in her heart again.
“You wicked woman, you’re tricking me again!”
Livia pointed at Felica, speaking huffily.
“Sorry, I just really love seeing you get flustered,” Felica said with a slight bow, her voice sounding very sincere.
“Besides, I didn’t actually lie to you.”
“Darn you, you jerk!”
Always teasing me for her own amusement… I must get her back properly this time!
With that thought, Livia slowly took Lynn’s hand in hers.
Livia had gradually discovered a pattern.
As long as she acted cute toward Mr. Lynn, he would always pat her on the head.
This was the perfect opportunity to stake her claim and gross out Felica at the same time!
“You aren’t hurt, are you, Mr. Lynn?”
Livia’s watery eyes blinked repeatedly.
“I’m fine. Thanks to Felica using her heart’s blood to draw a life-saving magic circle on me,” Lynn laughed.
Upon hearing this, both women froze.
Especially Felica; her cheeks were gradually overtaken by a deep blush.
Feeling the burning heat on her face, Felica clumsily covered her pretty face in a panic, unconsciously turning her head away.
Her heartbeat was suddenly thrown out of rhythm, accelerating rapidly.
Like a child caught doing something wrong.
This was a phenomenon that had never occurred before.
S-s-so Lynn knew all along?
Felica’s thoughts were suddenly in a jumble.
She had originally thought that the “second chance at life” Lynn mentioned referred to some other safety measure.
Who would have guessed that Lynn knew about this the whole time!
He won’t… distance himself from me because I lied, will he?
At this thought, a small seed of worry began to grow in Felica’s heart.
On the other hand, there was Livia.
Her face was also red.
Red with rage.
As a fellow witch, Livia naturally knew exactly how high the price was for Felica to do such a thing.
Of course, more importantly… To draw a life-saving array with heart’s blood, Felica would have had to take off Lynn’s clothes, bite her own finger, and draw it on his chest.
Just thinking about Felica’s slender index finger continuously caressing and moving across Lynn’s body, she couldn’t help but clench her fists, her whole body trembling slightly.
She hated it.
She hated that it wasn’t her!
She dreamed of having such intimate contact with Mr. Lynn.
But in the end, had Felica beaten her to it after all…?
It was one thing for her to compete for first place in everything back at the Witch Academy.
But now that she finally had someone she liked, was she going to compete for him too?
Felica, you really are a troublesome opponent.
In that case, I’ll see this through to the end!
I’ll make sure you can only watch from the sidelines when I’m tumbling in the sheets with Mr. Lynn!
“…”
Lynn looked at the two who had gradually quieted down and nodded with satisfaction.
As expected, once the issue of distribution was clarified, the two naturally resolved their disagreement.
Equality—indeed, only equality was the root of peace.
“Hmph.”
A moment later, Livia was the first to leave the secret realm in a huff.
Felica followed closely behind, leaving as if she were in a hurry to escape something.
For a moment, only Lynn and Sophie remained in the secret realm.
Before leaving, Lynn examined the purple crystal core in his hand.
It was filled with the rewards obtained after conquering the secret realm.
Naturally, it also contained Lynn’s main objective for this trip: the Heart of Nibelung.
“It seems like I have everything I need,” Lynn muttered.
“It’s time to go.”
Lynn lightly shook Sophie, who was dazed.
After a slight pause, Sophie finally snapped out of it.
“Th-that…” Sophie looked at Lynn’s departing back, hesitant to speak.
“What’s wrong?”
Lynn turned around and asked curiously.
He always felt like Sophie had something on her mind today.
After all, under normal circumstances, she should have been happily following right behind Livia by now.
Sophie hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward and grabbed Lynn’s hand.
“C-can you do me a favor!”