Alexis looked at the paperwork he had received as he slowly made his way to his room.

Mission to Exterminate the Kernos

Eliminate the rebels, but disguise it as the work of the head of the Kerno tribe and then eliminate both of them.

Details of the mission were written below.

The imperial family was wary of insurgents who rebelled against them. Their stronghold was in the frontier because they had the Kerno chieftain’s full support.

The head was wealthy and was originally from the imperial family of Eldras. However, the entire rebel army had now assimilated into the Kerno tribe. They honestly thought of each other as family.

If the revolutionaries succeeded in their rebellion, the throne might pass to the head of the Kerno tribe.

And while they were a minority, they were hard to get rid of.

“I’ll have to see her before I go.”

He became depressed with an ominous feeling that it would continue for the whole month. If things went as planned, he wouldn’t be able to see Aselia for a month.

It was for this reason that he deliberately took Aselia away when it would go unnoticed, mainly when the other ranks were asleep or busy.

So he went to his room and then to Aselia’s room.

When he arrived at Area A, he couldn’t control his sense of smell and instinctively followed Aselia’s body scent. The aroma was very mouthwatering and sweet. It was a strange odor that smelled like a flower but also smelled like exceptionally appetizing food, and it felt like it would be delicious even though it was a flower.

Besides, whenever he touched her, her scent passed over him and made him feel good. As if injected with hallucinogens and pleasure-inducing aphrodisiacs.

He knew why, but he had no idea he was feeling this way.

Strangely, though he had been exposed to aphrodisiacs a few times before, it had never excited his body. Instead, he had only felt a little hot.

-Beep.

He opened Aselia’s door with his card. She was wiping the moisture from her hair with a towel looking damp and surprised at his sudden appearance. Fortunately, she was in the form of a man.

“Oh, Alec… ?”

A sweet body scent mixed with the faint smell of blood.

“You hurt your neck.”

“Oh, ah, I fell down.”

When Aselia spoke to him, she was looking down. Because she was lying.

“Shall stay here, or do you want to go to my room?”

She pondered a little on his words and then decided:

“I want to go to Alec’s room.”

He then took the towel she was holding and wrapped it around her head so her face would not be visible to others.

The only thing he could trust here was that enemies surrounded him.

“Hold on tight.”

“Alright.”

He said that as he hugged Aselia. Then, he moved quickly, using his magic powers.

Afraid of moving so fast, Aselia involuntarily made a ‘gasp’ sound and hugged his neck tightly. It felt like she would fall if she didn’t hold on. Feeling afraid like the door of a speeding car opened, she pretended not to be frightened but was trembling.

The place where they arrived was not Alexis’s room.

“Here… .”

“My room is so stuffy.”

He continued to use mana while receiving stability from Aselia. He sensed that no one was around. Since his second awakening was imminent, he was able to see through walls and sense living things in the building by concentrating his mana.

He could even see movement beyond the building like an infrared camera with heat detection.

He brought Aselia after confirming that there was no one around.

“It’s the first time I’ve been out of the lab.”

This was a forest near the laboratory.

Ordinary A-grades were only allowed to bask in the sun. They were ordered to stay still in a designated area with skylights for about 30 minutes daily.

But now, even though the sun had set, they were stepping on the grass. Aselia felt a strange thrill and a resounding palpitation as she stepped on the grass after only stepping on the hard surfaces.

“It smells like grass.”

“Because it is grass.”

“Wow, the forest… I can hear birds chirping.”

Aselia felt overjoyed at the birdsong that she didn’t know she even missed while in the lab. Even though it was nighttime birds were chirping. 

“Hand.”

He requested it because he felt she would leave him and go somewhere else. Then, with Aselia looking excited, she gently took his hand. Her heart skipped a beat in trepidation when she glimpsed his stoic face, not knowing what it meant. It was difficult for her to hold his hand.

“What are you doing?”

“You wanted to hold hands… .”

“I told you to hold it, but why are you holding on to it like that?”

She didn’t know if she could really grasp it, so she grabbed his outstretched finger. Alexis stared at her as she held only two of his fingers.

“Catch them all.”

“Ah, yes.”

At his order, Aselia wondered if she might have upset him and shot him a look. Her tense heartbeat pounded in Alexis’ ears.

“It feels good.”

“That’s a relief.”

She didn’t really understand what he meant, but she answered anyway. Every time he spoke, her heart throbbed with fear, but Alexis laughed in delight at the way she was affected by him.