Chapter 166: Castle at Night

After dinner, Shilok and Hill were taken to a room on the fourth floor of the castle’s west wing.

It was a suite—one shared living room connected to two separate bedrooms.

“You’ll be staying here while you’re in the castle.”

At Inaifa’s urging, Hill stepped into the living room.

“Wow, what an amazing room! It’s way bigger than the one I slept in earlier.”

She immediately ran toward the large window at the far end of the room, shouting in excitement. Only then did she seem to notice the doors on both sides of the walls. After glancing back and forth between them, she turned around with a subtle, meaningful expression.

No, no, no—separate rooms tonight.

Shilok shot her a warning look. Hill responded with a mischievous grin, casually picking up a pair of cotton slippers provided in the room and swapping them with Shilok’s.

As Shilok pondered the meaning behind his sister’s smile, Inaifa’s voice came from behind:

“Listen carefully. Don’t leave your room at night. If you’re unfamiliar with the place and accidentally trigger the traps on the floor, you’ll die without a trace. I won’t use resurrection magic on you. Though… as an alternative, I could consider turning you into my familiars.”

She covered her mouth with her small hand and giggled, a faint blush appearing on her cheeks.

“Familiars… vampires, rulers of the night, kings of shadows, slayers of anomalies…” Hill muttered to herself.

“Calm down, sis. Don’t let movies and shows mislead you. Those titles sound cool, but they come with a ton of trouble. Being an ordinary person and living as yourself is more than enough.”

“Y-You’re right… I almost thought about giving up being human. If you died before me, brother, it wouldn’t mean anything anyway.”

Shilok steadied his sister, who had nearly been swept away by her chuunibyou fantasies.

Seeing her joke had landed well, Inaifa laughed:

“Heh, heh. Alright then. Since we have guests, I’ll be staying in the room next door tonight. Come find me if you need anything. Good night.”

The door closed, and her light footsteps gradually faded away. The room was spacious enough to accommodate twenty people with ease.

“Phew…”

Hill flopped onto the long sofa in satisfaction.

“Brother, could you rub my stomach? It feels a bit bloated.”

She lifted her shirt, revealing a soft, round belly rising and falling gently with her breathing.

Shilok hesitated briefly, then took off his coat, hung it up, and sat beside her. He reached out, feeling the soft, warm texture beneath his hand, and began gently massaging her stomach using pressure-point techniques.

Unlike Kass or Breed, whose abs sometimes showed faint lines, Hill’s stomach was incredibly soft. It felt less like he was touching her and more like his hand was sinking into it… almost addictive.

“Ah… your hands are so cool, brother… it feels so nice…”

Hill’s face melted with comfort as she slumped into the sofa. “It feels like playing a pregnancy game.”

“Did you eat so much you’ve gone delirious?”

“Hehe… burp—”

After letting out a loud burp, her body relaxed completely, sinking into the soft sofa like a lazy orange cat.

Shilok wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but her stomach seemed slightly smaller already. Maybe the massage worked—or maybe her metabolism was just that fast.

“Hill, do you want to take a bath later?”

“Huh? Really? You’re bathing with me? Let’s go now.”

“No, I mean—you might feel better after soaking since you ate so much.”

“Aww…”

Hill, who had already stood up, immediately flopped back down in disappointment. She grabbed Shilok’s hand again and continued pressing it against her stomach.

“If we get the chance, I’d like to try the big bath here,” Shilok thought. “But for tonight, we’ll just use the bathroom in the room.”

“Hill… what do you think of Inaifa?”

“What, are you planning to do something naughty with her?”

That escalated quickly. Though… she wasn’t entirely wrong.

“Do I look like some desperate animal to you?”

“Well, you do have a track record. You wanted to lick a girl’s feet the moment you met her.”

“Because I genuinely wanted to at the time.”

Hill looked at him with disdain, her gaze drifting over her own well-trained, pearl-like thighs.

“…Then do you want to lick mine—”

“No.”

“That was fast!”

“Things like that are only interesting when you feel like it. I’m not in the mood right now.”

“So strict.”

Hill pouted, then sighed and picked up a pink fruit with purple stripes from the table, taking a bite. Shilok grabbed one as well. The milky-white flesh was crisp, tasting like a mix of apple, lychee, and cantaloupe—surprisingly good.

“Hill, back to Inaifa. If you had to choose between liking or disliking her—”

“I like her, of course.”

She answered without hesitation.

“She’s small, just like me, and she’s blonde too. Her attitude’s a bit arrogant, but that’s just part of her personality. The important thing is, she doesn’t seem interested in you, so she’s not a threat.”

Interest? Threat?

“As long as you don’t challenge her to a one-on-one fight, she won’t hurt you. There’s no real danger.”

“That’s exactly why I like her.”

An easygoing, likable girl.

For the next few weeks—or maybe longer—they’d be living in this castle with Inaifa. It was reassuring that Hill liked her; it would make things much easier. After all, if those two ever clashed, Shilok’s only option would be to grab Hill and run for their lives. There was no way he could beat Inaifa.

Honestly, since both of them had blonde hair—one light gold, the other pure gold—he had expected some kind of rivalry.

Hill placed her hand on Shilok’s head, gently patting it with a mature smile.

“Don’t worry, brother. I won’t argue with her, and I definitely won’t fight her. If things get out of hand, I’ll just run. I still remember the dungeon rules you taught me.”

It was as if she had read his mind.

…Strictly speaking, those rules were taught by Breed.

Looks like I worried too much.

Hill was no longer the novice who had been terrified by a man-eating plant on her first day in the dungeon. She had already defeated two cultists. She knew how to adapt to people—and to monsters.

“…Good. That’s all I needed to hear.”

Shilok’s hand grew gentler as he continued rubbing her stomach. Hill reached out with her other hand—he thought she wanted a hug, but instead, she started braiding his long hair into a three-strand plait, nodding in satisfaction.

“Perfect! Add glasses and you can cosplay as a literary girl!”

…Yep. Still the same Hill.

Afterward, Hill went to the bathroom to shower, reminding Shilok to dry her hair when she was done and not to wander off.

I’m not a kid staying in a hotel for the first time.

Grumbling internally, Shilok sat on the sofa near the floor-to-ceiling window—a perfect spot to get sniped, if anything. He glanced at the blue moon in the night sky, touched his braided hair, and opened his wrist device to check the time.

May 21st.

They had successfully moved into Inaifa’s castle. Timing-wise, it was acceptable. Things would get busy again in a few days.

Shilok reviewed his plans, marking “Andre” and his group as “human is dead,” saving the records and estimating the potential consequences. He took out Andre’s phone and, using coded language, sent messages via LINE to two infiltrated cultists.

After finishing, he closed the interface and put the phone away. Then he opened his own LINE—there were already quite a few messages. The pinned chat from Belen had reached double digits.

Bathed in the pale blue moonlight, the “literary girl” with long dark hair smiled faintly.