So he is a noble.

Although Thyvin didn’t know anything about this ‘Faust’ Family, at least he confirmed that Walter indeed had a last name, a privilege preserved only for the nobility. This put Thyvin at ease. That was one of his original fears eliminated.

After telling Thyvin his name and intentions, Walter soon spoke up again.

“But before we begin, would you like a cup of coffee? I would gladly order another one for you.”

“No thank you.”

In response to Thyvin’s declining reply, Walter chuckled slightly as he sipped his own cup of coffee before he responded.

“Suit yourself.”

Walter didn’t say anything after that and instead continued sipping his coffee. It would seem that he was waiting for Thyvin to speak up. Of course, Thyvin would oblige, he had already confirmed that Walter was a noble that came here with a proposition, now it was time to question him about it.

“So Walter. This proposition of yours. I doubt that it has anything to do with me teaching you the art of necromancy.”

“Hm? Why do you think so?”

Walter neither affirmed nor denied Thyvin’s statements as he stopped sipping his coffee and placed it back onto the saucer. Nevertheless, Thyvin still explained himself.

“Your magic aura. If you wanted to learn necromancy from me then you should have practiced it at least once before. Magic casters like myself should be able to sense the aura of those who practice the same type of magic. However, you emanate no such necromantic aura.”

Walter did a single nod when he heard Thyvin’s explanation before he made an offhand remark.

“‘Magic resonation’ is it? I forget what these terms are called.”

“Its name changes depending on where you live but yes, it is known as magic resonation within Valha and most other nations associated with the Kingdom.”

Once again, Walter did a single nod before proceeding to bring his cup of coffee back up to his mouth as he spoke.

“I see. Anyhow, I must admit that you are correct. I have come to you with a different kind of proposition.”

He paused for a few seconds to take a single sip of his coffee before he continued.

“Tell me Thyvin. How is your research going along?”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

Thyvin felt a mixture of both confusion and anger upon hearing Walter’s question, he couldn’t help but feel that the man from the Faust Family was insulting him. Yet Walter only replied indifferently.

“I mean it in the most obvious sense. How is the speed of your research? Any breakthroughs? Any shocking new discoveries?”

“That… I…”

Much to his own shock, Thyvin found that he was unable to answer Walter’s question. The few skeleton knights at the castle who were comparable to the family knights in terms of martial skill were indeed testaments to his achievements. But he also knew that these ‘achievements’ were only scratching the surface of what could be accomplished with necromancy.

“Admit it. You’re unable to efficiently research and develop your necromancy, not with the tools at your disposal. It’s no secret that your family hinders your research at every turn. You of all people should know why you personally visit the black market or occasionally complete subjugation quests for the Adventurers' Guild despite not being registered as an official adventurer.”

Despite the sarcastic undertone in Walter’s words, they were also bluntly true. There was nothing that Thyvin could do to rebuke anything Walter said. Thyvin couldn’t even allow himself to visually show his anger.

“There are rumours that go around of adventurer parties finding dungeons already cleared out, pieces of broken bones and shattered blades littering the place. Most monster corpses were found to be already in an advanced state of decay. It was almost as if someone ripped their souls straight out of them. Only a necromancer could be responsible for that.”

Walter chuckled and sipped more of his coffee as he recalled the rumours about the dungeon clearing necromancer.

“All dungeons that were found like this had their completion attributed to ‘someone who would like to remain anonymous.’ While no one is willing to say it out loud in the open, everyone knows who this ‘someone’ is.”

Thyvin opened his mouth to respond but he was stopped by Walter’s flat open palm. After taking more sips of his coffee, Walter continued.

“I must admit that your tenacity is admirable. You still persevere despite the fact that both society and even your own family act against you and your endeavours. Yet you also must admit that your options are limited.”

Walter placed his cup of his coffee back on the saucer when he concluded his speech, thus finally allowing Thyvin to reply.

“So you’re saying that you’re here to offer another option?”

“Of course, I wouldn’t have called you over here if I didn’t.”

Walter chuckled slightly as he leaned back onto his seat and finally told Thyvin the reason why this meeting was even happening in the first place.

“We both know that you could use your necromancy to easily clear out low level dungeons by yourself.”

Walter paused for a short moment and glanced at the guarding knight before he leaned forward and whispered something in Thyvin’s ear.

“But have you ever thought about using your necromancy to create dungeons?”

…

Walter placed his empty coffee cup back onto the saucer as he glanced back at the open space between the market complex and the castle walls. There he could spot Thyvin accompanied by his golden-caped knight as they returned to the castle. Walter couldn’t stop himself from smiling at this sight. Although it was only in its infancy, his plan was slowly coming into fruition.

Now that the deed was done, he no longer had a reason to stay here. He had already agreed to a second secret meeting with Thyvin. This time, it was in a place where they can both guarantee is out of the sight of prying eyes instead of a commercial pleasure palace which was open to the public.

With that in mind, Walter prepared to stand up–

Clap.

Clap.

Clap.

“I must admit Walter. You really are an interesting specimen.”

Walter felt a cold shiver go down his spine when he heard three separate and slow claps that were soon followed by a distinct female voice. A female voice that sounded eerily familiar to him.

Could it be?

“How long has it been since we last saw each other? About a day and a half? Well a day and a half for you anyway.”

He soon traced the female voice back to its owner, a woman who wore a white modern day business suit with red outlines on the trims. She had long silky white hair and fair white skin, both of which matched her suit. The irises of her eyes were scarlet red in colour and a set of two curved horns protruded from her temples.

The horned woman strutted in a confident manner over to Walter, her mouth twisted upwards into a self-assured and self-confident grin. Her posture and disposition was overly graceful, making her seem pompous and arrogant. Yet that very graceful demeanour still underlied an undeniable air of superiority and inherent strength.

The last time Walter saw this woman, was when he was dead.

“Hello Walter.”

“Hello Lucile.”

With that grin on her face, Lucile, the Devil, took Thyvin’s seat as her own. When she sat down, she raised her hand up, her middle finger and thumb pressing together–

Snap!

With a snap, a small flame materialised a few dozen centimetres above her hand. Said small flame quickly grew in size before it ‘transformed’ into a bottle of red wine. That bottle of wine floated down into Lucile’s left hand as she pulled a wine glass out of seemingly nowhere with her right hand.

“Would you like some wine?”

“W-what are you doing? You can’t be seen doing these things here.”

Walter was thrown completely off guard by her audacious actions. While magic still existed in this world, it had its limitations. Creating a bottle of wine from nothing with a mere finger snap would still be considered a miracle in this world. He quickly scanned his surroundings, checking if anyone has noticed this peculiar occurrence.

But to his complete and utter surprise, no one was reacting. No. No one was even moving. They didn’t continue on their conversations nor were they eating their meals. They didn’t even blink. It was as if they were all frozen in place, frozen in time. It didn’t take him longer than a few seconds to figure out what happened.

Another few seconds later, the Devil broke into laughter prompting Walter to face her. When their eyes met, she curbed her laughter and spoke.

“Ahaha, do you like what you see Walter? I fucking stopped time just so we can have this cute little chat. Now please, answer my question. Would you like some wine?”

He was left speechless upon hearing her nonchalant yet cordial remark. Yet he still forced himself to maintain a calm outward appearance as he replied.

“No thanks. I prefer coffee.”

“That can be arranged.”

Snap!

Walter felt a light weight in his right hand when Lucile snapped her fingers. When he gazed downwards, he found that he was suddenly holding his coffee cup again. Not only that but the cup was filled to the brim with black coffee too. Not long after, the bittersweet aroma of his favourite kind of coffee found its way into his nostrils.

“This is?–”

“Your coffee before you drank it. I wasn’t bothered to ask what kind of coffee you preferred so I just ‘borrowed’ from your past self.”

While reluctant, Walter still accepted the coffee and sipped it before he questioned Lucile.

“Why are you here? How are you here?”

Lucile let out a dry laugh, poured wine into her glass and drank it before she responded.

“Ahaha, I am not obligated to explain anything to you. Not after the shenanigans you pulled the last time we met.”

Walter placed his cup of coffee back onto the saucer and leaned back onto his chair before he made a reply.

“Is that so? Then I hope that this meeting has nothing to do with the one before it. I dislike it when things get personal.”

“Personal? What do you think I am? A mortal? Walter, we’re beyond that.”

He quickly latched onto a keyword in her sentence, leaning forward as he questioned her.

“Wait, ‘we’re?’ What do you mean by tha-”

“Memory of a goldfish much? I am not obligated to explain anything remember?”

Walter involuntarily clicked his tongue in response to Lucile’s interruption. On the other hand, the Devil only laughed. Unlike before however, her laughter was not dry, instead it was a genuine yet mocking laughter.

“Ahahaha, you’re so cute when you’re frustrated. I love it.”

Knowing that there was no point in continuing to beat around the bush, Walter asked her another question. One that he was hoping she would answer.

“Tch. I assume that you want something of me?”

“Starting to ask the right questions now. Good. Very good. See this is what I like. ‘Progress.’”

Lucile paused to drink more of her wine until there was only a third of it left. After wiping her mouth with a cloth she got out of nowhere, she suddenly went into what seemed to be a tangent.

“Progress like how I made progress with my wine. Progress like how this world advances in culture and technology with each passing day… Progress... like how you made progress in your schemes… in your ‘monopoly.’ That is exactly what I like. However… progress is also a double edged sword.”

However, it didn’t take long for it to be made apparent that she didn’t go in a tangent. She stopped speaking to drink the rest of her wine before she continued.

“Because progress can also mean the end of things. Like the end of the wine in my glass and my enjoyment of drinking it. Unfortunately, progress also has a tendency to end things. That I do not like.”

Suddenly, her figure vanished. Time resumed its normal pace. And then a quiet voice whispered gently into Walter’s ear.

“Your progress better not lead to your end.”