Chapter 11: Evaluation.

The Villainess, Lucia.

A few things about her came to mind.

In the game, as the story progressed, certain routes would unfold.

One of them involved the protagonist and the main heroine getting together, which inevitably led to Lucia—branded as the villainess—acting out of jealousy.

She would supposedly drag the heroine through all kinds of harassment and sabotage.

“But, from what I remember, it didn’t really seem like sabotage.”

Hearing snippets of the game’s story over time, I had come to suspect that the real villainess wasn’t Lucia—it was the so-called “main heroine.”

“No, seriously, just listen for a second!”

The supposed heroine in the story spread her net wide, playing the field, and the protagonist ended up as the final “winner” of that mess.

Meanwhile, the “villainess,” Lucia, had been engaged to one of the other men ensnared in that web of deception.

In the end, that engagement was broken off, leaving the “main heroine” as the true cause of all the drama.

“Doesn’t that make the heroine the real villain?”

“No way! Our Chloe isn’t that kind of woman!”

Whenever I brought this up, my friend would always deny it vehemently.

Anyway. That wasn’t what mattered now.

The quest itself described Lucia as the villainess, and while I didn’t fully agree with that label, the title “villainess” carried an unavoidable sense of foreboding.

“Mr. Silly?”

Lucia tilted her head slightly, calling out to me with a curious expression.

“Silly? Really?”

I recalled our first interaction.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to speak with you for a moment. I’ve taken an interest in you, you see.”

“Excuse me.”

Yeah. That line was definitely the problem.

“…I don’t think we’re close enough for you to be using my name so casually,” I said flatly.

“Oh? Is that so? But would you mind sharing it anyway?”

Despite my cold response, Lucia smiled warmly, her expression radiating charm.

Her enchanting smile was captivating, but her eyes brimmed with genuine affection—an intensity that felt hard to handle.

“…This is a bit much.”

One thought nagged at me.

How could there be a guy so easily ensnared by another woman’s games when someone like Lucia existed?

“What kind of idiot are we talking about?”

I couldn’t help but feel curious about his face.

Not that it mattered.

All I wanted right now was to get away from here as quickly as possible.

“Judging by your attire, you must be an adventurer,” Lucia said.

“That’s right.”

“You look tired. I hope I’m not bothering you. Oh, do you have a place to stay? If not, perhaps…?”

“I do. My party’s all staying at the same lodging.”

“I see. Well, if anything happens to your accommodations, feel free to visit Fairy’s Rest in the city center. Just mention my name—Lucia.”

She smiled sweetly, her voice soft and melodic.

Her cheeks were faintly flushed, and she looked at me with eyes full of unmistakable warmth.

If the word villainess was ever associated with someone capable of enchanting men, then yes, it certainly fit her.

At the same time.

“She doesn’t seem so bad.”

Lucia was supposed to be obsessed with me, and yet she seemed surprisingly normal—polite, even.

“Lucia Filihart.”

“Hm?”

“If you ever run into trouble, come find me. Believe it or not, I hold quite a bit of sway around here,” she said with a playful smile.

To me, her words felt like a subtle jab: “Hiding your name won’t be much fun, you know.”

I let out a dry laugh and sighed inwardly.

“Han Yuseong.”

“Han Yuseong… That’s a lovely name.”

Lucia’s faint smile deepened slightly.

It wasn’t a bad exchange.

If the plan I was working on failed, I needed an escape route.

And then there was the matter of her.

“She’s supposed to be obsessed with me.”

What kind of obsession it was, I didn’t know.

But in a different light, it could be interpreted as her having a certain level of goodwill toward me.

“Well then, since you must be tired, shall we part ways for today?” Lucia suggested.

“Let’s do that.”

And just like that, we went our separate ways.

However, as I would later come to realize, her obsession far exceeded my expectations.

Among the spoils of this adventure, one thing was more important than anything else.

I needed to retrieve something.

“Rishiel’s body.”

The reason was simple: to use her soul for negotiations.

“You can really recover my body?”

“Yes.”

“Then right away—”

“Why should I trust you?” I interrupted her.

Rishiel’s voice wavered, trembling slightly.

“W-what do you expect me to do, then?”

It wasn’t a complicated request.

I tapped my finger against my temple and said, “I want knowledge.”

“Knowledge?”

“Yeah. I lived in the mountains before coming here. I don’t know much about how this world works.”

“What…? Someone like you?”

“Someone like me? Don’t make me laugh.”

“Well, isn’t that obvious? From what you’ve shown me, I thought you were one of the Hero Candidates…”

Rishiel’s voice carried a tone of confusion, as though she couldn’t comprehend otherwise.

“Hero Candidate, my foot,” I thought.

Technically speaking, I was a Hero Candidate—and from the looks of it, one of the stronger ones at that.

But then a realization hit me.

“Wait a second. If even someone as clueless as Rishiel knows that…”

Am I more exposed than I thought?

Still, there was a faint hope left.

I could, theoretically, live quietly as an adventurer.

“Not a chance.”

Meeting Lucia had already dragged me deeper into the spotlight.

My headache worsened as the list of complications in my life continued to grow.

For now, I decided to shelve those concerns.

There were more immediate issues to address.

Since I knew so little about the foundations of this world, I needed to wring as much information out of Rishiel as possible.

And there were two critical tasks at hand:

First.

“I need to train until I’m skilled enough to subdue her in an instant, no matter how much she resists.”

That was non-negotiable.

Second.

“What do I do with her body?”

Preserving Rishiel’s body was the next problem.

Normally, in fantasy settings like this, storing a corpse in a subspace would automatically freeze time for it.

“Would that work here too?”

I turned to Rishiel and asked.

“Yes, it works. A subspace essentially places items into another dimension where time doesn’t flow.”

But then she added.

“However… subspace abilities are incredibly rare. Even among the entire elf race, only one person possesses such a skill. That individual is a truly great figure.”

“Is that so?” I replied, intrigued by the rarity of my own ability.

A subspace skill is that rare, huh?

I glanced out the window, where Theresa was dragging a brown bag containing Rishiel’s corpse toward the building.

“M-my body!! You—you!! Could you not take better care of my precious body?!”

Rishiel’s wail echoed in my head.

Ignoring her cries, I headed downstairs to meet Theresa.

“…You know, it’s kinda mean making me do all this work. It’s exhausting,” Theresa grumbled as she arrived.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make it worth your while,” I replied casually.

“Wow, you’re so kind,” she said, her tone instantly shifting.

“What a quick change of attitude.”

Still, I figured I could discuss it with Erme later and throw Theresa a bit of extra compensation.

That should smooth things over.

“Though, I did keep Whisper of the Wind for myself…”

If that sword turned out to be more valuable than my share of the loot justified, it might cause problems later.

“If push comes to shove, I could always sell it.”

“Since you’re already here, could you help me get it up to my room?” I asked.

“Fine.”

Without much fuss, Theresa agreed, carrying the bag with the corpse into my room.

“I thought she’d ask questions.”

I had prepared a plausible excuse: I’d tell her that while fighting Rishiel, I noticed something unusual about her body and wanted to check for hidden items or clues.

“That would’ve been convenient for me, but…”

To my surprise, Theresa didn’t ask anything.

She just set the bag down and left the room without a word.

Well, I wasn’t about to complain.

I placed the bag in the corner of the room and opened it, revealing Rishiel’s lifeless body.

“Cold.”

That was my first thought as I looked at her.

Rishiel’s body, cold and stiff as though lifeless, lay before me.

Her golden hair shone faintly, and her blue eyes stared blankly, wide open.

The lifeless gaze bothered me, so I gently closed her eyes.

“I’m not dead yet!” Rishiel wailed indignantly in my mind.

I ignored her protests and pulled out Whisper of the Wind.

The rapier’s silvery blade gleamed faintly, its elegant design radiating a sense of power.

When infused with mana, it could summon blades of teal wind—a truly remarkable weapon.

“Hmm.”

As tempting as it was to use, Whisper of the Wind had one critical flaw: it stood out too much.

If I used it, there was a good chance the other elves would immediately recognize it.

Besides, I already had the Blood-Soaked Dagger.

While Whisper of the Wind was an excellent weapon, the dagger, ranked B, was a tier above it.

Its growth potential alone made it far more valuable.

The only drawback to the dagger was its gruesome requirement: it needed to kill living beings to unlock its latent powers.

While inconvenient, every unlocked ability would make it even stronger.

“Time to sort things out.”

Rishiel’s body couldn’t just stay here forever.

I decided to reorganize my hidden space:

Slot one would hold the items I used regularly.

Slot two would be for other practical items.

Slot three would house miscellaneous things—including Rishiel’s body.

To test the capacity of the hidden space, I started small.

I placed a general-purpose bag I’d bought in a village before coming to the Cradle into the space.

“Good, it fits.”

Encouraged, I tried storing the bag containing Rishiel’s body.

Shhh.

Without any resistance, the corpse disappeared into the hidden space.

“The capacity is bigger than I thought.”

I tried tying the bag containing Rishiel’s body together with the general-purpose bag from the shop and then attempted to store them as one unit.

“…”

It didn’t work.

The general-purpose bag was immediately ejected from the hidden space.

I stared at it, frustrated.

“Is that a subspace Gift?” Rishiel asked curiously.

“No, it’s unrelated to Gifts,” I replied.

“Then did you pick up an ancient Skill Book to learn it? You must be an incredibly lucky man.”

I nodded noncommittally, letting her believe whatever she wanted.

“Ancient Skill Books are powerful, but many of them have major flaws. Be cautious if you’re using one,” she warned.

“Flaws?”

“For example, imagine a Skill that lets you summon flames. It might produce fire capable of burning down an entire mountain, but it could also burn your own body in the process.”

“…”

“That’s… seriously flawed.”

“Exactly. That’s why ancient Skills can be dangerous. Make sure you only learn from proper Skill Books.”

I made a mental note to be wary of ancient Skill Books and then moved on.

I began organizing my hidden space:

Slot One: Weapons and combat essentials.

I packed the Blood-Soaked Dagger, Whisper of the Wind, my bow, a quiver of arrows, and some throwing daggers. “Just in case I ever need them.”

Slot Two: Special items.

I placed Rishiel’s Soul Stone and Lucia’s Obsession in a pouch and stored it here.

Slot Three: Rishiel’s body.

With that done, I decided to experiment further with the subspace.

I tried withdrawing a weapon from Slot One to test its efficiency.

“Let’s see how this works.”

“This works.”

The throwing dagger.

Even though I’d packed it deep inside the bag with everything else, I could still retrieve it instantly.

“If this hadn’t worked, I’d have been stuck carrying all this around with no room for anything else.”

That was a relief, to say the least.

After putting all the weapons back into Slot One, I kept a single sword and a throwing dagger with me.

The Blood-Soaked Dagger was a bit longer than the throwing dagger, but I’d manage. It wasn’t ideal, but I’d make do.

“You… were the one who requested knowledge as part of the deal, weren’t you?” Rishiel asked.

“That’s right.”

“Then what about swordsmanship?”

“Swordsmanship?”

“Yes, the swordsmanship you ‘stole.’”

What? Stole?

Ah.

She must mean that.

I thought back to my fight with Rishiel.

I’d never formally learned swordsmanship, relying only on the information granted by Thief’s Pinnacle to guide my movements.

But during my battle with her, it had felt like I was learning as I went.

Every time she swung her blade, it was as though knowledge poured into my head, piecing itself together until it became a part of me.

That knowledge had allowed me to adapt mid-fight, creating something that felt like my own swordsmanship.

At the time, I’d thought I was losing my mind—my head felt hot, my body was overwhelmed with excitement, and there was a strange thrill in watching myself improve in real time.

“Unbelievable.”

I chuckled to myself, a bit dumbfounded, as I headed out to train with the sword.

“Me, the guy who never worked out in his life, suddenly taking up training willingly? What a joke.”

As I made my way outside, Rishiel stopped me.

“…?”

“Have you ever considered learning dual-wielding?” she asked.

“Dual-wielding? Me?”

“That’s right. If you’re interested, I can teach you the Darkmoon family’s secret swordsmanship.”

“If I learn it, you realize I’d be putting myself in danger, right?”

“…Actually, no. You wouldn’t.”

Rishiel hesitated before continuing.

“Because that swordsmanship has already been forgotten.”

“Forgotten? How do you know that?”

“Not even the elves remember it anymore. So, are you interested in learning?”

Rishiel’s expression was unusually serious.

“She doesn’t seem to be trying to harm me,” I thought.

Her top priority was survival, and that survival depended entirely on me.

If I didn’t let her go, she had no chance.

I saw no signs of her scheming against me for now.

“I’ll think about it,” I said, deliberately evasive.

It sounded beneficial, but there was no harm in making her sweat a little.

“She’ll probably teach me something worthwhile if I keep her on edge.”

For now, though, I decided to focus on what I came here for.

I wanted to get out to the open area and stretch my body a bit.