Chapter 53: Papa, is it time to aura farm?
Annalise’s voice quivered, soft and uncertain."I... I don’t understand," she said, taking a hesitant step back. "W–What act are you talking about?"
Sebastian just sighed. It wasn’t a dramatic sigh, not one of anger or exhaustion, more like disappointment. The kind you give a child who still thinks peek-a-boo is clever.
’Still pretending,’ he thought. ’You really don’t know when to quit.’
He raised his arm lazily, azure mana flickering along his fingertips, and without a word, he threw Sacha.
The glass blade spun through the air like a streak of blue lightning, cutting through the red-leafed forest with a high, singing hum.
Annalise yelped, stumbling back. "W–Wait!"
Her hands shot up instinctively, blue mana bursting to life. Dozens of thin strings materialized around her weaving through the air like spider silk, ready to intercept the incoming weapon. Her control was sharp, beautiful even.
But not fast enough.
Sacha blurred, piercing straight through the web before the threads could tighten. Annalise’s pupils shrank. She barely had time to gasp before the sword was inches from her face.
She closed her eyes, bracing for impact.
But there was no pain. No impact. Just silence.
For a heartbeat, she thought Sebastian had stopped the attack, but then a wet, guttural sound came from behind her.
She turned slowly.
An E-rank beast, something hulking and canine with a mouth full of fangs, was impaled clean through its chest. The glass blade shimmered, blue veins of frost crawling up the monster’s body like living rot. Within seconds, its flesh froze to ice.
Annalise stood there, wide-eyed, her mana threads still floating uselessly in the air.
Behind her, Sebastian walked forward, his expression unreadable, his hands in his pockets.
The last of the monster’s remains turned to ice and snow.
Sacha materialized back in Sebastian’s hand, her glassy surface pulsing faintly with light.
"See," Sebastian said casually, turning his gaze back to Annalise, "I told you to stop pretending. You could’ve just said thanks."
Annalise’s trembling stopped. The fear in her eyes didn’t vanish, it shifted. Hardened. Something calculating glinted behind that fear now.
She understood.
This wasn’t someone she could manipulate with tears or trembling lips.
This was someone who saw through the lies.
And smiled anyway.
Annalise blinked once, then twice, and all traces of fear vanished like someone had flipped a switch.
Her trembling lips curved into a bright, playful smile. "Well," she said, brushing imaginary dust off her dress, "that was... dramatic."
Sebastian stared at her blankly. "Dramatic?"
She nodded cheerfully, as if the last two minutes hadn’t involved her nearly dying. "Of course! I had to make sure you weren’t some scumbag who takes advantage of poor, defenseless maidens lost in the wild."
He just blinked at her. Once. Twice. Then tilted his head slightly. "...You threw that entire performance for a background check?"
"Exactly!" she said, her voice brimming with confidence. "You passed, by the way. Congratulations on not being a terrible person."
Sacha, from her sword form, made a faint chime, almost like a snicker.
’Papa, this one lies like she breathes,’ she said in his mind.
Sebastian’s lips twitched. You’re telling me.
He looked back at Annalise, who was now smiling up at him like she hadn’t just made the worst excuse in the history of excuses. "You do realize that no one, in the history of human civilization, has ever used ’I was testing your morality’ as an excuse for faking terror?"
"First time for everything," she said, grinning proudly.
Sebastian sighed dramatically, crossing his arms.
"You know, it’s deeply insulting that you thought I, of all people, would take advantage of someone. I’m a gentleman. Refined. Elegant. Pure of heart."
She gave him the kind of look that could peel paint. "You literally smiled while a monster froze into a glacier two minutes ago."
"That was appreciation for art."
"That was murder."
"Artistic murder."
Annalise pinched the bridge of her nose and muttered, "I should’ve stayed scared."
Sebastian smiled smugly. "Too late. You’ve already joined the exclusive club of people who’ve witnessed my charm firsthand."
"Yeah, it’s very exclusive. Population: delusional."
Sacha let out a musical laugh in his head.
’Papa, she’s funny. Can we keep her?’
’No,’ Sebastian replied. ’We already have one mouthy companion. I can’t handle two.’
He turned back to Annalise and gave her a mock bow. "Well, Lady Astraeus, since you’ve deemed me morally acceptable, I assume you’ll now grace me with your noble presence for the rest of this little exam?"
She smirked, flipping a lock of hair behind her ear. "Oh, please. Don’t flatter yourself. I just figured you’d make a great meat shield."
Sebastian grinned, raising a brow. "Ah, so you do see my value."
Annalise sighed. "Remind me to pretend to be terrified again next time. You were more tolerable then."
He smirked wider. "You like me."
"I tolerate you."
"Same thing."
Sacha giggled again in his mind.
’Papa’s flirting!’
’I’m not flirting,’ Sebastian thought quickly.
’Papa’s definitely flirting,’ she sang in a teasing tone.
Sebastian ignored her, though the faint twitch at the corner of his lips betrayed his irritation.
Annalise was still muttering something about "artistic murderers" when the ground beneath them began to tremble.
Sebastian stopped mid-step, his expression sharpening. A low rumble spread through the forest floor, faint at first, then growing louder, like an approaching tide of tiny feet.
Annalise’s smile faltered. "...Tell me that’s not what I think it is."
Sebastian turned his head, eyes narrowing as the first dark shape burst from the underbrush a massive ant, black as oil and the size of a large dog.
Then another. And another. Within seconds, the forest around them was crawling with them, dozens upon dozens, their mandibles clicking, antennae twitching as they encircled the pair.
"F-rank monsters," Annalise said, surprisingly calm, drawing thin threads of blue mana between her fingers. "A swarm of Ironclad Ants. Lovely."
Sebastian chuckled softly, resting Sacha’s glass blade form across his shoulder. "Lovely wouldn’t be my first choice of words."
Annalise tilted her head, appraising the swarm with detached poise. "I’ll take the ones from behind. You deal with the front. Try not to die, it’d be annoying to explain that to the teachers."
Sebastian smiled faintly but didn’t move. Like hell I’m trusting a snake like you who lies as easily as breathing.
He looked at her with a pleasant expression that didn’t quite reach his eyes. "No need for that."
She blinked. "Excuse me?"
He smiled wider. "We’ll handle it my way."
The ants hissed, closing in black shells glinting red under the eerie light filtering through the crimson leaves.
Sebastian’s voice dropped, quiet but certain. "Sacha," he said. "It’s time to do that."
There was a pause, a hum in his mind soft, eager.
’Papa means that, right?’
Sebastian’s grin turned sharper. "Yes, that."
The air around him pulsed once, as blue mist began seeping from the glass sword in his hand. The ants froze mid-step, their instincts screaming danger as the mist thickened, swirling upward like a storm about to break.
A small, familiar growl echoed through the air as a shape began to take form, white fur shimmering like frost, blue veins pulsing faintly beneath.
Then, with a sound like a breath of winter, the mist burst outward.
Sacha landed gracefully beside Sebastian in her tiger form, eyes glowing a deep, icy blue, her fur rippling with ethereal cold. Frost spread across the ground beneath her paws, and the air itself grew heavier, sharper.
Sebastian rested a hand on her head, a small smirk playing on his lips.
Annalise’s mouth fell slightly open, her earlier confidence faltering for the first time.
Sacha growled low, her voice resonating through both air and mind.
’Papa, is it time to aura farm?’
Sebastian’s eyes gleamed with amusement. "Yes, my dear, it is."