Chapter 16: Playing Both Father and Mother

Gwen and Victor stood at the doorway, looking inside the room.

“Why did you agree to this? We should’ve asked more questions or waited a bit longer…”

Victor glanced at her and then said,

“Remember why you came here.”

“You’re not here for a vacation or to sleep.”

Hearing Victor’s words, Gwen shook her head and finally calmed down.

The situation was obvious. A man and a woman staying in the same room for the night—it was a bit…

And there was only one bed. A large one.

Gwen furrowed her brows, struggling with the thought for a moment before she took the initiative to suggest,

“I’ll sleep on the floor.”

Victor nodded and agreed.

“Alright.”

Gwen was stunned for a moment.

As a knight, she was used to sleeping anywhere, even in armor.

But Victor’s reaction…

It made her a little annoyed.

She couldn’t quite understand why. In her memory, there was no such thing as courtesy in such situations.

Victor was a mage—he was more fragile than her. It made sense for him to take the bed.

However, after a long day of traveling, Gwen could feel the stickiness of her armor.

To be honest, she really wanted a bath.

She had endured long missions before, but maybe because there was a man in the room this time, she suddenly became conscious of whether she smelled bad.

She patted her cheeks, trying to shake off those unnecessary thoughts.

Gwen wasn’t the kind of person who insisted on the impossible.

Given the size of this inn and the time of night, it was obvious that a hot bath wasn’t an option.

But all this sweat… what if she really smelled?

She was torn, so much so that she forgot she was still in full armor, making noise with every slight movement.

Meanwhile, Victor was using magic to scan the surroundings and set up a soundproofing spell at the door.

Once he confirmed there was no danger, he heard the sound of clanking armor and frowned. Turning around, he saw Gwen looking troubled, biting her finger, her face full of distress.

“Why haven’t you taken off your armor yet?”

Hearing his words, Gwen suddenly felt embarrassed, lowering her head slightly, her cheeks turning faintly red.

…

“You’re saying you want to take a bath? In a place like this?”

Victor sat in a chair, holding his forehead.

There were no partitions here, let alone an actual bathroom.

The entire room only had one big bed, two chairs, and a table.

Too simple.

And yet, under these conditions, Gwen said she wanted a bath…

“An unreasonable request.”

Hearing Victor’s words, Gwen became even more embarrassed. She had just been speaking casually. She had even resigned herself to sleeping in her armor.

It would be uncomfortable, but she could endure it.

As a knight, she could put up with some sweat. She just had to bear with it until she got home.

She missed her warm bathroom and soft bed.

A soft emerald glow suddenly flared before her eyes. Gwen looked up to see Victor constructing a peculiar magic circle on the floor.

The emerald halo overlapped as the patterns grew more intricate.

[First-Tier Spell: Wood Carving]

As soon as the magic circle was completed, vines sprouted from it, followed by wooden branches intertwining and binding together, forming the shape of a bathtub.

The spell even smoothed the bathtub’s surface, leaving it polished and shining darkly.

Gwen blinked, staring at the bathtub that had suddenly appeared in front of her.

Victor wasn’t done yet.

Blue and red magic circles rotated between his hands, shining brightly as the air in the room grew warm.

Victor clapped his hands together, merging the two circles into a completely new array.

A dual-layered spell?

Gwen had never seen such advanced spellcasting before. Then again, she wasn’t a mage.

What was Victor trying to do?

The answer was clear.

The air turned humid, water formed out of thin air within the magic circle, and as it touched the red magic array, its temperature rose instantly.

Scalding hot water, as if squeezed from an invisible sponge, poured into the bathtub.

Gwen was completely stunned, her eyes wide in astonishment.

“This… is magic?”

She had seen mages before, but none had used magic so effortlessly.

For the first time, she realized how convenient magic could be.

“If you trust me, go ahead.”

Victor snapped his fingers, activating a ring on his hand. A small black magic circle appeared, and a thick black fog surged forth, forming a curtain that separated the room in two.

From this side, nothing could be seen of the other.

Watching Victor complete his setup, Gwen suddenly had a thought.

Having a mage on a mission…

Might actually be quite nice?

She wasn’t a delicate person. Victor had already gone this far for her, and she had been keeping her sense of justice active the whole time.

So, she removed her armor and undergarments and sank into the tub.

…

Victor flipped through a book, sitting in his chair, indifferent.

From the other side, Vega eyed him with a look of mild disdain.

“I can’t believe you wasted your magic just for this.”

Victor took out a blue potion and drank it in one gulp, replenishing his mana.

On a journey, he needed to stay alert and in top condition.

Lowering the empty bottle, he replied to Vega,

“You wouldn’t understand.”

“Sure, sure, I wouldn’t understand.”

Vega mocked him flatly.

“I’ve never seen you care this much about a woman before.”

Victor shook his head, recalling the Valkyrie Gwen from the game.

That relentless figure, one who killed gods and demons alike, was etched in his memory.

She had been the hardest boss he had ever faced.

If he could avoid fighting her, who would choose to be her enemy?

Just as he was lost in thought, a faint rustling from the other side reached his ears.

Victor: “…”

On a certain level, he was still a normal man.

The sounds from the other side distracted him. The book in his hands became unreadable.

Was it too late to add another soundproof spell?

Would Gwen notice?

He lowered his head.

[First-Tier Spell: Self-Suggestion]

His gaze sharpened before finally calming down.

…

Later, Gwen emerged, towel-drying her washed clothes.

“Hey, I also washed my clothes. Can you…”

Before she could finish, Victor activated another spell.

[First-Tier Spell: Hot Wind]

A red magic circle flared up beside Gwen, filling the air with warmth.

“Thanks, I can dry them myself.”

Gwen shrank back, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Victor closed his eyes, maintaining the last shreds of his sanity.

“Aren’t you going to bathe?” Gwen asked.

Victor sighed, rubbing his temples.

“I have a Wind Repelling spell. I don’t get dirty.”

“And if you’d like me to use the same water you just bathed in, I can join you right now.”

Gwen: “…I’m sorry. I got carried away.”