Chapter 232: Silvermere Mansion

Of course, it was only a viable method for people who possessed Tamer skills, could make a slime their tamed monster, and were capable of communicating with that slime.

"I have identified the room. Shall we proceed?"

Viktor said this as he took out his staff and began drawing something in the air with it. At the same time, a soft glow began to spread around Qiu Nuoya and the others.

Huh? Isn’t this different from the teleportation magic he usually uses?

Qiu Nuoya felt a slight unease in the back of his mind, but before he could think about it any further, they were enveloped by a ring of light.

He instinctively closed his eyes.

When Qiu Nuoya opened them again, they had been transported to a dimly lit basement.

The room was dimly lit, but the moment Qiu Nuoya and the others appeared, the lights suddenly brightened as if they had sensed their arrival. Perhaps magic had been used to install something similar to a motion sensor.

There were no windows. Just as Viktor had said, this must be the basement.

There was a door in the room, but it was not locked. Well, considering how thoroughly the mansion’s security had been designed, they probably had never imagined that anyone could infiltrate this far.

"Viktor, does anyone live here?"

"If my father currently has a mistress, then perhaps someone does."

"Uh..."

"I have not kept track of my father’s activities lately, so I cannot say whether anyone is living here or not. As far as I know, this is merely a secondary residence, and it has also been used as a residence for his mistresses. If he currently has one, then she may be staying here. Ah, there should at least be a caretaker. Since Xiao Tao and the others seem to be being treated as guests, he may have also sent several servants here from the main residence."

Keeping a mistress at a separate residence... That feels rather decadent.

I wonder if having money and being a noble makes people want to have relationships with several different partners.

Qiu Nuoya could not really understand that mindset. He had no particular desire for a harem of his own.

He had once been taken to a hostess club at night, but he had never been comfortable with women fawning over him.

Viktor himself had said that he was the son of a mistress, so perhaps Viktor’s father was simply the type of man who always kept several mistresses around him.

Come to think of it, Qiu Nuoya remembered Xiao Tao saying that when someone had apparently inscribed the magical crest on him, he had been touched in a way that made him uncomfortable.

"I wasn’t asking about any of that. I just wanted to know whether it was safe for us to sneak in. Doesn’t he have any bodyguards or something?"

Igor awkwardly scratched his cheek with one finger.

"As you can see, the mansion’s security is already quite thorough, so only a minimal number of bodyguards are necessary. There are probably only two or three, at most."

"Well, that’s fine then. Still, a mistress, huh? Must be nice to live that kind of life."

Viktor did not respond to Igor’s remark. Instead, he simply said, "Let’s go," and headed through the door.

Beyond it was a staircase. As they climbed, a long, brightly lit hallway appeared before them, exactly as Mochi’s fragment had described.

Qiu Nuoya had not seen it earlier through the fragment’s low field of vision, but a portrait now hung directly in front of them.

It depicted a man who looked remarkably similar to Viktor, sitting beside a beautiful woman who smiled warmly. They looked like a close and affectionate couple.

The man resembled Viktor in both appearance and build, but his hair was a different color. His was blond, while the woman’s hair was a silvery blond very similar to Viktor’s.

The moment Viktor saw the portrait, he clicked his tongue.

"Tasteless."

He muttered the word under his breath before continuing on.

It probably would be wiser not to ask for details.

Qiu Nuoya and the others looked down both sides of the hallway. Since there was no sign of anyone nearby, they continued down the hallway to the right.

Mochi’s field of vision was low to the ground, so its fragment had mostly been able to see the hallway itself. Now that Qiu Nuoya could see from a normal height, however, he noticed that the furnishings lining the corridor appeared to be quite expensive.

There was no sign of anyone, yet everywhere they looked was spotless. The mansion certainly gave the impression that someone lived here.

That was what made the complete absence of footsteps or even voices so strange.

They reached the end of the hallway, turned the corner, and climbed another staircase. At the landing, another portrait appeared.

This one had a similar composition to the previous portrait, but it depicted two children.

In the earlier portrait, the woman had been seated in a chair while the man stood behind her. This time, a small boy dressed in fine clothes sat in a chair with his feet dangling above the floor, while a girl in a dress, presumably his older sister, stood beside him and smiled sweetly at them.

Viktor frowned deeply the moment he saw the portrait.

"What was the point of putting something like this here...?"

"Viktor, is something wrong?"

"No. Let’s go."

At the top of the stairs, a hallway extended to the right. Xiao Tao and Warren were supposed to be in the third room straight ahead.

"We got here so easily that it’s almost anticlimactic. Is this really okay?"

Viktor did not answer Igor’s question.

It was true that they had not encountered a single person from the mansion on their way up from the basement. There was not even a guard standing outside the room where the two captives were supposedly being held.

Things had gone so smoothly that Qiu Nuoya was beginning to worry that they were walking straight into some kind of trap.