Reincarnated as The SSS-Rank Villain Magus: My Arcana Evolution System

Chapter 19. Ready for What? (Review Bonus)

After checking, or, more accurately, peeking in, on Seris and Lily, I went straight to my chamber.

Both were fine.

The eastern-wing attack had been handled. The injured servants were receiving treatment, the remaining monsters had either been killed or driven away, and the mansion had returned to that peculiar kind of controlled chaos that followed an attack on a noble residence. Guards moved through the corridors. Servants carried damaged furniture. Someone was already complaining about a broken window.

Normal disaster management.

Which meant I could address my own immediate emergency.

I smelled like a slaughterhouse.

I was a civilized magus.

Not some mountain warlock who lived inside a cave, collected human skulls, and considered rain an acceptable substitute for bathing.

I appreciated cleanliness.

Very much.

So after making absolutely certain nobody else was currently dying, being kidnapped, poisoned, cursed, eaten, sacrificed, or otherwise creating additional work for me, I returned to my chamber and headed directly toward the bathing room.

The behemoth core came with me.

I wasn’t leaving an A-rank monster core sitting somewhere servants could accidentally move it.

I placed the amber-brown orb carefully inside one of the drawers beside my desk. Not ideal. A mana-preservation container would have been better.

Actually...

Rey should have had storage equipment.

The memories were still somewhat disorganized, but I vaguely remembered spatial containers among his possessions. Ring, perhaps. Or an enchanted inventory artifact. Rey collected ingredients constantly during his travels, and there was absolutely no chance a Royal Magus had spent years carrying necessities around in ordinary sacks.

I would find it later.

For now, drawer.

I closed it.

Then bathed.

Old magic tech water manipulation made the process embarrassingly convenient.

No faucet, plumbing system comparable to my era or even a temperature regulator.

Didn’t matter.

Water gathered from the enchanted reservoir, spiraled through the air, heated under controlled mana, and poured over me.

Blood disappeared first.

Red streams ran from my hair, shoulders, chest, arms, and legs before swirling toward the drainage channel.

There had been considerably more blood on me than I’d realized.

Some of it had dried behind my ear.

Wonderful.

A piece of behemoth tissue had apparently survived near my collar.

Even better.

I stared at it for several seconds before washing it away.

Once the water finally ran clear, I remained there for another minute simply enjoying the heat.

My body felt different tonight.

Better.

Not healthy exactly.

The curse had spent too long chewing through him for one successful conversion to magically undo everything. But the constant pressure beneath my skin had lessened. My muscles didn’t feel like they were fighting invisible restraints anymore. Even breathing felt easier.

Eventually I shut the water off.

Well.

Same principle.

Different century.

I dried myself and chose simple clothes.

Dark trousers, loose black shirt, comfortable enough to sleep in and respectable enough that if another assassin burst through my window I wouldn’t have to murder them half-dressed.

Practicality.

I looked into the mirror.

Much better.

The man staring back at me still looked dangerous.

That apparently came naturally with Rey’s face.

Dark hair falling loosely around his forehead. Sharp jaw. Pale skin. Eyes that seemed permanently designed to make innocent people reconsider whether they’d committed crimes recently.

But the shadows beneath those eyes had thinned.

The exhaustion wasn’t carved quite as deeply into his features.

For the first time since waking in this body, Rey Valen looked less like a corpse stubbornly refusing to lie down.

I left the bathing room.

Ariel still wasn’t there.

My eyes moved toward the door.

Nothing.

I checked the time mentally.

She would come.

I’d specifically asked her.

More importantly, I needed her to.

I sat on the edge of the bed.

Immediately my thoughts became less organized.

What exactly was I supposed to say?

The wives weren’t afraid of me the way the servants were.

Not exactly.

Lily had fed me.

Seris had tried to carry me.

Ariel had held me while I nearly tore myself apart from the curse.

They loved me.

That much was painfully obvious.

But there were moments.

Tiny ones.

A hesitation before touching me.

A glance toward my hands.

A slight tightening when my voice changed.

Fear.

Thin.

Almost buried beneath affection.

But there.

And I hated that I noticed it.