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“To be strong enough to stand up against those threatening your interests in this world… That means you must be as strong as people like Her Majesty, Henrietta, and Aura King Varan. How long do you think it would take to achieve your goal?” Astoria asked.

Vaan contemplated for a moment before he calmly replied, “Within a year.”

“Within a year…” Astoria and Hester’s eyes turned solemn after they heard Vaan’s answer.

His words sounded like the nonsense of a foolish dreamer out of touch with reality. However, Vaan possessed a certain charm that made them believe it was possible.

After all, even Astoria, who has lived for more than three hundred years, was only an Early-stage High Witch. But that was also mainly because her growth had stagnated for far too long.

If her bottlenecks didn’t exist, it would have been hard to tell how much stronger she could have grown.

Although Vaan was a man, his bottlenecks were unlikely to make him stagnate for long, given his inhuman learning ability and depth of knowledge.

Nevertheless, one year was just a safe estimate for Vaan.

After all, he had already reached the strength of a Rank 4 Extraordinary Human in under a month of activating the system.

The only thing stopping his fast growth would be a lack of opportunities, which was also something he didn’t lack since the system was bound to him.

It was as if the system itself had rewritten his destiny and changed his luck.

Vaan felt the system was shrouded in a deeper mystery and had a greater origin than he could fathom due to his humble background.

The answer he sought lies somewhere in Gehenna.

“Alright, that’s enough about me. Since we’ve finished our meals, we should rest,” Vaan objectively stated before adding, “We can’t keep Eniwse waiting.”

“Teacher Raphna has a point. Let’s call it a night,” Astoria agreed.

Hester had no complaint, and even more so for Aeliana. She was looking forward to ‘resting’ with her Lord.

Astoria kidnapped Topaz and retired to the rightmost room, the furthest from Vaan’s chosen cave.

She did not want to be mentally disturbed by his night activities, nor did she want the innocent little fairy to be corrupted by his carnal practice.

“You don’t have any complaints about me taking Tia with me, right? Teacher Raphna?” Astoria sought Vaan’s approval.

She quickly disappeared into her cave room after she saw Vaan shake his head.

“Kyuuu—!” Topaz cried.

Nevertheless, Astoria quickly placated it without Vaan’s help and convinced her to stay with her for the night. She told her it was better than staying cooped up in Vaan’s body, not knowing when she’ll be let out again.

When Topaz heard such reasons, she reluctantly agreed.

“Kyu, Kyuu,” Topaz uttered with an attitude.

She was trying to convey to Astoria that just because she agreed to stay with her, it didn’t mean she liked her.

Although Astoria didn’t understand what she was saying, she had a vague idea.

“You don’t like me, Tia? I thought we were friends? Boohoo… I’m so sad,” Astoria replied with a pitiful yet playful look.

Nevertheless, she succeeded in making Topaz feel guilty.

As such, Topaz flew onto Astoria’s shoulders with her wings drooping down. Then, she tried to console her by patting her shoulder.

“Oh my, you’re so precious!” Astoria tried to Topaz’s cheeks with her own, but not without Topaz resisting desperately.

She pushed back Astoria’s cheeks with her two small hands, and she was helpless to resist with her meager strength.

She could only succumb to her fate of being showered in Astoria’s affection.

…

Meanwhile, shortly after the entrance to Astoria’s cave room was closed, Hester glanced at Vaan and said, “Then, I will also retire to my room, Sir Vahn.”

“I hope you will be considerate of your poor neighbor and keep the noise down,” she added.

“I’ll try, but it’s not up to me,” Vaan slightly chuckled before turning his attention to Aeliana. “Do you know sound-cancellation or noise-reduction magic?”

“I do, Lord Vahn,” Aeliana admitted with a nod.

Nevertheless, she thought it was a pity that she wouldn’t be able to torment Hester with her pleasant cries of joy.

Hester silently lamented when she saw Aeliana’s slight disappointment. She wasn’t trying to steal Vaan from her, but she didn’t have the energy to explain.

She was truly tired due to the lack of rest.

As such, she was prepared to cast a sound-insulation spell on her room for insurance.

After Hester retired to her middle room, Vaan and Aeliana were left in the main cave with the Volcan Wolf.

Aeliana quickly looked at Vaan with anticipation and almost seemed like she was about to pounce on him.

When he saw her eagerness, Vaan softly sighed.

“Alright, let us retire to our room.”

“Yes, My Lord!”

…

Shortly after Vaan and Aeliana also disappeared into their cave room, the Volcan Wolf resting by the campfire suddenly came to life as it shot to its feet.

After checking each of the three closed caves, the Volcan Wolf glanced back at the pot with leftover beef stew and licked its lips.

It carefully lowered the pot from the campfire before it took its bite.

Awrooo!

The Volcan Wolf immediately howled with joy after tasting the goodness of the beef stew.

However, its heart quickly skipped a beat the next moment as it was startled by its actions; it quickly shot its gaze towards the three cave doors again.

Only after watching the three cave doors for some time did it feel some relief.

Shortly after, the Volcan Wolf continued to dig into the remaining beef stew in silence and licked the pot clean.

…

Meanwhile, Aeliana quickly wrapped her arms around Vaan’s neck after entering their cave room and soundproofing it.

She looked into his eyes with a gentle gaze, ready to receive all of his affection.

Without a word, Vaan wrapped one of his hands behind her to support her back and head before he sealed her lips with his own and gently laid her down on the soft white bed.

At the same time, Aeliana immediately closed her eyes with fluttering long eyelashes to savor the taste of his kiss.

“Mmm…”