I regressed and became the Sword Ice King

"..you don't talk much". Raph said, breaking the silence while Elsie smiled a little.

"I don't need to. You have everything covered". She replied.

"....then What if I wasn't here?" He asked with a raised brow.

At that moment, Elsie slowly rolled to face the ceiling, which was also made of wood, with a large magical lamp, the shape of a simple chandelier taking place there.

"Well, for starters, a contract with Ziza is nice, but my brutal approach would have forced her to give in whether she wanted Something from me or not". She said. "....and Then, well for now. I feel it's best I watch".

Raph had always had this thought since a while ago, but Elsie wasn't a simple-minded girl as he assumed her to be because of the way she acted around him. He felt his presence only made her feel relaxed enough to show this side of her because, in her Beast form, how she spoke and acted was different.

'....well, she is the daughter of a chieftain'. He thought before drifting his thoughts elsewhere.

"Let's get this whole thing over with and get back to the academy….the Festival plans will begin soon'.

Elsie chuckled slightly. "And then the exams….I heard practical is what matters mostly…so I'm sort of excited about it". She said with her legs in the air.

All this time, she had been putting on Raph's cloak and long-sleeved shirt without a proper outfit. After all, she damaged hers with her transformation, so her pale legs were laid bare for Raph to see.

Surprisingly for him, he found himself occasionally staring at it, perhaps far longer than he anticipated since Elsie's sudden gaze snapped him from his thoughts.

"Who's bathing first?" She asked.

Raph blinked for a moment, his mind still picturing her legs before sitting up. "You, go ahead". He said. "I'll get proper clothes for us".

Elsie hummed sweetly before jumping off the bed with a sudden swoop. "Alright". She said, as she suddenly dropped the cloak on the floor.

Raph's gaze widened slightly while Elsie began to pull the shirt that stopped around her thighs.

"Hey Hey! What are you doing, Elsie?!" he cried out in protest as he covered his eyes with both hands while his cheeks flushed in embarrassment.

Elsie chuckled slightly, her tail wagging while it raised the shirt upwards from her thigh, posteriorly, and the shoulders fell slightly downwards. She was backed away from Raph, and her gaze lingered on him as she looked behind to get a better reaction.

"You're so cute when you're flustered".

Raph attempted to peak, but the mere sight caught him off guard yet again, forcing him to turn around.

"El–Elsie!" he stammered while the image replayed in his head over and over again.

"Okay, Okay" She teased as she walked towards the door while giggling. Soon, the door closed behind her, giving Raph the go-ahead to look.

He sighed in relief while he glanced downwards at a protrusion.

'....damn…I knew she was sexy…but that is too much even for me'.@@novelbin@@

Another heavy sigh escaped his lips before collapsing on the bed yet again. His gaze shifted to the ceiling, while he lost himself in his thoughts. But at some point, his pupils flickered and it shifted to a specific corner of the room.

His right brow arched in curiosity as he stared at the right corner of the ceiling, his thoughts reeling in.

'....are We being watched?' He wondered, confused by the thought. '...more importantly…how do I know?'

His gaze flickered, and his white pupils shimmered as a smirk formed on his lips.

"I see you". He said, before turning away.

In the white room where Merthy had taken them, Ziza remained, floating in the air, her eyes closed in a meditating position. At that moment, her eyes opened and landed on Merthy, who was standing in front of her.

A moment of silence ensued between them, and a concerned expression crossed Merthy's face.

"What's wrong?" Merthy asked, but Ziza simply remained silent, perhaps lost in her thoughts. And she was.

Her mind was boggled with the same question, over and over again. 'How did he see me?'

She slowly floated down while a round glass table and two chairs teleported in the middle of the room.

She took a seat on one, and Merthy did the same at the other, silence still suffused between them.

Merthy was used to this; after all, there were a lot of weird traits possessed by Psychic mages. She was aware of that and simply waited for her Guild Master to spill the info she had collected while watching Raph and Elsie.

'...yes, watching…not spying'.

It's not called spying when it's done under your rough, but instead watching, to ensure the safety of all parties.

"What were his abilities? You said you were at the last Rankings battle" Ziza suddenly spoke up as a cup of tea appeared on the table in front of her, while a mug of beer appeared in front of Merthy.

Merthy glanced at the mug, before chuckling and grabbing it.

"It seems like he surprised you once again".

"Well, sort of. For instance, I don't remember any of the descendants of the Great families being this polite".

"Polite? You do realize he exuded his aura force on us?" Merthy asked with a sip of her alcohol, while she enjoyed the refreshing sensation of her throat burning.

"True….but that was only because we decided to use force in getting information out of him".

"He's our enemy….or was our enemy. We always use force to get what we want….this world doesn't ask for anything less".

Ziza remained silent for a moment before sighing and picking up her cup of tea. "He saw me….I don't know how….but he was able to see. He was able to see me watch him" she said.

A moment of silence suffused between them but Merthy suddenly dropped her mug.

"...I do remember a particular fight. Raffaelo Jun and Ciara Merlin".

"Oh? The house of magic and the house of swords….I'm guessing the house of swords won".

"Yes, he did. But from the looks of things….it seemed like he had greatly underestimated her abilities".

Ziza chuckled. "Well, they do tend to do that…".

"Well, yes…but the problem was how he won in the end".

Ziza raised a brow in curiosity as she looked up from her cup of tea. "How did he win?"

At that moment, Merthy looked up from her mug, a weary look in her eyes as she recollected the scene. It was so eerie, and uncomfortable that she nearly forgot how she felt at that moment.

"It was like he had put her under a hex? With his eyes perhaps…..I'm only guessing because he looks blind…but he's not".

"True…." Ziza nodded in agreement. Raph could be easily mistaken for a blind beauty if he wasn't built well as a man and was frantically a boy to the core. But if he decided to act as a woman…perhaps as a disguise, there was no doubt that it would have worked, perfectly….depending on how good he was.

"Well, he somehow…controlled her…and instructed her to lose".

Ziza raised a brow in confusion. "Control?" She asked, "like psychic?"

It was uncommon to find psychic mages….but they had heard of a few who were under the Merlin Household, but the Jun household had absolutely nothing to do with magic….until recently.

"Not psychic….but just….Control?" Merthy muttered, and another moment of silence descended between the two.

They seemed stuck in their thoughts, contemplating their conversation, until Ziza sighed.

"Never mind that. I got a letter from Neuj Rakarf".

"Oh….that son of a bitch. He's lucky his ladies in arms came to rescue him because he would have made a great trophy".

"He's one of the Five leaders, Merthy. Pay him the respect".

Merthy scoffed in disgust. "That womanizer?". Your next journey awaits at My Virtual Library Empire

Ziza turned her gaze elsewhere. "There's no proof of that". She tried to stand up for him, but she was aware from her many previous attempts that it was futile. It was just nice to argue with her Assistant now and then.

"He's a merchant…and his guild and merchant union are made up of women….over a hundred members, and they are all women…including CHILDREN". Merthy stretched out the last word to remind her perhaps of the kind of man she had tried to stand up for.

Ziza giggled. "Alright, but he's called for a meeting".

Merthy raised a brow. "What could it be about?". She asked, though, at the corner of her mind, she had a reply to the question.

"Of course, it should be about Raph. Though, he knows him as Kael". Ziza replied.

".....I'm actually surprised that he's been able to keep his identity so far….though, his hair is black".

"Yes….He simply looks like a blind boy with special abilities that enable him to see"

"Well, yes….but his fighting style….if he had truly fought against the Mountain Baby as Azby's teammate claimed, then"- "He fought against what?!"

Ziza cut into Merthy's statement, her gaze filled with disbelief and shock.