"I have something I want to discuss with you, Baron Vygil." The witch suddenly adopted a serious expression. The raven flew off her shoulder again, landing directly on the windowsill.
Sean didn't understand the point of this—was it to keep watch? But this was his own home turf; there was no way anyone else could be spying.
"And yet you've tied me up. That's hardly an attitude for an equal conversation." Sean looked at her. Though it was late at night, he could still make out her appearance clearly in the candlelight—completely different from how she looked during the day. Even though she was still wearing a thick coat, he could see her graceful figure. He even wondered if she had some kind of disguise spell.
"Oh, this? It was just to test you... You really are different from others. You're not even afraid of a blade at your throat, so you must be a good partner to work with." The witch said with a smile.
She had a nice smile, but Sean just felt like she was messing with him. If he couldn't see that her friendliness level hadn't changed, he would have run off long ago! He wouldn't have waited for her to hold a knife to him.
As he was thinking this, she lightly tapped the ropes on him with her wand. The ropes came alive, breaking apart on their own and falling to the ground.
Magic!
This was the first time Sean had seen something truly different in this world. If Luke's flintlock pistol had given him a glimpse of forces beyond cold weapons, then magic was an entirely separate system of power. Though stories and books often described wizards, seeing it firsthand was beyond comprehension.
[Restraint: 9:59]
That was the magic effect he'd seen when the ropes were tied around him. Now she'd undone it before the effect even expired... Sean picked up the fallen rope and examined it. It was different from ordinary ropes, with a special pattern at two points. The effect lingered for a few seconds before fading. Behind [Restraint Spell], a timer read 0:00 and then disappeared, indicating the effect was gone.
"Do you have a hobby of collecting ropes? By the way, this rope was tied around my waist before." The witch said this with a completely straight face, as if she wasn't joking at all.
What do you take me for? Even if it was tied around you, I wouldn't want it!
"I'm just interested in magic... Anyway, back to the point—did I hear you say 'cooperation' earlier?" Sean asked, looking at the witch's fair face.
She really was like a different person from daytime... No one seeing her now would connect her with that archaeology team girl from earlier. If he couldn't see her health and mana bars, he wouldn't believe they were the same person! She definitely had a transformation spell.
"Yes, cooperation." The witch pulled a parchment scroll from her waist and laid it on the table, adjusting two candle lamps to make the image clearer.
"This archaeology team's site might be a tomb from two hundred years ago, but it seems someone's already been there. Not much is left. But you're the lord here—you should be able to find some clues. I want this... Can you help me find it?"
The parchment revealed a disc drawn with graphite powder. It looked like a plate, or something like a UFO from sci-fi movies in his past life—a very strange shape. It had no name, only some indecipherable characters carved around its edge.
"What is this?"
"An ancient magical artifact. It might be useless to you, but it's very valuable to me." The witch said.
Sean looked up at her tall wizard hat. No sign of lying appeared above her head, meaning she was telling the truth.
"But why do you think it's here?"
"I'm not sure. I read in some records that it appeared in the south, so this area is possible. After I followed the archaeology team's Kerry into the mountains today, I found signs that someone had already entered the tomb."
Sean had already considered this. If even the townspeople had found the tomb, let alone bandits. The Vygil family had ruled this town for centuries and recorded many bandit incidents. Realizing it now, they'd only be picking over leftovers.
"But how do you expect me to help you find it?"
"You're a noble. If this item came from your territory, you should be able to track it down, right? Don't you know everything that happens in this town?" The witch asked, eyes wide.
Uh...
That question stumped Sean. She probably had never been a noble or local ruler. Besides major events that reached his ears, many small matters were handled privately and never came to his attention. He had no memory of any smuggling or black-market dealings like this.
"Just find it and bring it to me. Or tell me where it went... I'll pay you accordingly."
Watching her speak with such confidence, boasting about sufficient payment to a baron, showed she was wealthy too—and with her abilities, even robbery would make her rich. If he weren't in a position to cooperate with her today, staying alive might have required buying his way out.
That meant she, like he'd guessed, had temporarily joined the archaeology team... As for her goal, it was clearly this magical artifact.
Since Sean didn't understand this world's magic, he didn't dig deeper into the subject.
But...
Wasn't this a perfect chance to learn about magic?
"That's not hard, but I don't like cooperation. I trust transactions more. I can help you find this—I'll send people to ask around tomorrow... But I want something in return, something you can do." Sean replied.
She looked at him with confusion. The water-drop necklace on her neck was very eye-catching, and he couldn't help glancing at it sometimes.
That gaze probably didn't escape her notice.
She instinctively leaned back, and above her head appeared a string of statuses: [Nervous!], [Dissatisfied!], [Anger!], [Shy!], and so on.
Huh?
Wait.
It's not what you think. Why are you nervous when you're so strong?
"Not that. I want you to teach me magic!" Sean said.
Instantly, all those statuses vanished, replaced by [Surprised!].
She probably hadn't expected him to make that request.
"Alright, if you can learn it."
She actually agreed. He'd thought she'd make excuses, and he'd prepared a follow-up line, but it wasn't needed.
No conditions at all...
This really was another world. All those movie scenes with kneeling and bowing three times or waiting at the door all night were skipped!
"Then the deal is done. But I have one more question."
"Ask quickly." The witch said.
"What's your name? I need to know it so I can find you later."
Her big eyes rolled around...
"You can call me Lucille."
Can?
Great—this name might be fake too. She really was good at hiding things.
"But I don't know you either. How did you figure out my identity?" This was probably what had bothered Lucille all night. None of her planned moves had worked.
"Your scent. You have a very special smell." Sean said without thinking.
This made Lucille instinctively sniff herself!
What smell? There was nothing.