Volume 1 - Prolog - Debt Knock

Behind the darkness of the night approaching dawn, a small lantern could be seen walking along the narrow streets of the Royal Capital of Belfast. The light source of the lantern came from two mysterious figures covered by black cloth hoods.

 Passing through a narrow alley filled with dirt and dust that had accumulated on the street, they walked as if heading towards something.

 Their footsteps suddenly stopped in front of a small house that had a wooden board that said "Rabbit Hole".

 A place that looked like a two-story shop building as a residence and business house.

 Took!!

 Toook!!

 A small knock on the door was heard loudly and echoed in all directions. It was breaking the atmosphere of the silence of the night that felt cold and tense until waiting for the sunlight to appear.

 Kreeeek!!

 The door in front of them slowly opened with a slightly hoarse deafening sound. From behind the door was a young man wearing a thick blanket to warm his body that looked cold.

 Seeing a familiar figure, the young man wore a dissatisfied expression when he understood the figure of the guest who knocked on his front door in the early hours of the morning.

 "L-Long time no see, Arthur," said the mysterious figure in an awkward tone.

 "Arthur, we need a little help from you for some urgent matters that have befallen me," said the mysterious figure in a tone that required compassion.

 The young man's reaction looked cold and annoyed again. He only gave a small gesture with both hands to enter his house.

 The two mysterious figures slowly opened their hoods and followed the footsteps of the young man named Arthur until they entered his house.

 Arthur grumbled a little when their arrival had disturbed the quality of his sleep that was wasted. For some reason mental and physical health, he had to save the quality of sleep that was hard to get when he was busy with business.

 As far as his life experience, Arthur understood two types of guests that he hated the most when visiting his house.

 First, the figure of a guest who came without notice like a royal noble who relied on honor and position as a ruler of the region.

 Second, the figure of a guest who came when they needed something like a high-level Alchemist potion but had limited time to make it like concocting a hundred bottles of high-quality recovery in a day. That was the request made on behalf of the order of Duke Grimhall.

 In his mind, Arthur could already guess about their arrival in the early morning.

 Before the sunlight woke Arthur up, he was awakened by the sound of their noisy knocking on the door which disturbed his sleep.

 Arthur took a long, heavy breath. He then went to his kitchen to prepare simple food and drinks that he could find in his kitchen storage cupboard.

 Arthur returned after taking two small cups from the cupboard and pouring water and dry tea leaves into the magic teapot to boil the water into hot tea.

 "Niko, I told you. Don't visit someone's house at night! Your bad habit always disturbs someone. I almost fell asleep earlier!" Arthur said in an annoyed tone.

 "Please forgive me, Arthur. The problem I'm experiencing this time is very complicated and I need your financial help!" replied the young man named Niko.

 "Uggh.." Arthur grumbled a little after hearing that sentence.

 Arthur's gaze was only focused on a teapot that was flowing with magical energy and slowly making a loud sound along with hot steam evaporating out.

 Thanks to the temperature control using the liquid thermometer beside it, the magic teapot stopped producing steam while showing a hot temperature of 100.

 Because the part of the house where Arthur lived was very narrow, he used the dining room next to his kitchen, he didn't have any other room left to be a living room.

 So, the dining room of his house would always be the living room in every situation.

 The rest of his living space only accommodated one large bathroom, one large bedroom, a storage room for Alchemist shop equipment, an Alchemist goods sales area, and a wide kitchen that could be a dining room or living room depending on the situation.

 His dining table was also simple, more or less it could accommodate five people to eat together.

 Arthur poured hot tea from his magic teapot into a small cup, he then sprinkled additional dry tea leaves and stirred it with a small spoon filled with honey.

 Two warm drinks were ready to be served to his impolite guests, Arthur then brought the two cups to the dining table while holding back his drowsiness.

 Taaak!!

 Taaak!!

 "So, what's the problem?"

 "If I'm not mistaken, today is your first night after undergoing the wedding ceremony, right?" Arthur said while sitting on a chair.

 Arthur's gaze was now fixed on the girl sitting next to Niko. Realizing Arthur's gaze, the girl was a little uneasy when stared at by a man other than her husband.

 "Ahaha.. something has happened," Niko replied in an awkward tone.

 "Of course! I'm not surprised by that," Arthur replied quickly.

 "Ahaha.. hahaha.. by the way.. do you have emergency savings?" Niko asked without trying to hide his main purpose of being in debt to Arthur.

 Arthur's expression was now flat.

 He had expected this before. Every guest who visited his house and small shop had the same goal, which was to borrow Arthur's savings for their urgent needs.

 "Haaaaah…" Arthur took a deep breath.

 "How much?" Arthur continued.

 "Uh.. a thousand gold pieces?" Niko replied without any guilt.

 "Huh! Do you want to borrow that many gold pieces? For what?!" Arthur who heard Niko's words could only be amazed. Deep in his heart, he wanted Niko's words to be just a joke.

 "Uhmm ... You know ... There were some small problems that happened when we wanted to have dinner at a restaurant before our honeymoon."

 "Ugghhh ... You caused trouble again?" Arthur patted his head as if he couldn't believe Niko's actions.

 "Accidentally, we met the kingdom's rebel troops. Uuurk ... long story short, I accidentally helped them attack the royal members."

 "Huh? Eh? HAAAH?!" Arthur was at a loss for words after hearing Niko's short explanation.

 "I will undergo a military trial and pay a fine for accidentally helping the kingdom's rebel troops. I don't know the exact amount, but a thousand gold pieces seems like it should be enough to pay for the fine for the losses I have made."

 "I don't care about the fine. But, how could you help the kingdom's rebel troops before your honeymoon with your wife?!" Arthur asked in surprise.

 "Ehehe… we accidentally opened the entrance of a restaurant that was being used by the royal family and coincidentally behind us rebel troops were preparing to attack the restaurant."

 "Aaahh… your luck is as bad as ever huh," hearing Arthur's explanation filled with misfortune, Arthur felt a little pity and guilt towards him.

 "Well… I do have a thousand gold pieces in my savings. However, I want to use it to expand my house and my store's warehouse capacity!"

 "Eeeeh… please help your childhood friend, Arthur. Do you like seeing me suffer in the cold bars of the royal family's underground?"

 "Kuuh! You should also know about my efforts to take care of this small Alchemist shop!"

 "Arthur… I beg you," Niko said with a pitiful face.

 "Just this once!" Arthur stood up from the chair and rushed to his bedroom.

 When Arthur entered his bedroom, he smiled a little as if planning something for the next few days.

 "Niko, huh? My troublesome childhood friend. Compared to you, your wife is much more deserving of being helped out of your bad luck. It would be such a waste to have such a beautiful wife by your pathetic side."

 "Hmm… I think I have a good idea for this one."

 Arthur returned to the dining room while carrying a cloth bag containing a thousand gold coins.

 Braaaaak!!

 Arthur placed the cloth bag on the dining table, surprising Niko and his wife.

 "Thank you, Arthur! You are my best friend!" Niko said excitedly.

 "Well… I need collateral for this thousand gold coin debt," Arthur's tone became serious and his sharp gaze was fixed on Niko.

 "Uhhh… uuumm… P-Please don't overdo it, Arthur. I will return in three days to take care of my debt to you!" Niko replied.

 "Heeeeh… Sounds fishy to me. You don't intend to run away, do you?" Arthur said in a sarcastic tone.

 "I already knew you would say that. So, I will use this as collateral for your debt!" Arthur took out a magic contract letter that was kept in his shirt pocket.

 "Please read this slowly, Niko," Arthur said as he handed over the magic contract letter.

 Niko swallowed his saliva and read the contents of the magic contract letter. Niko understood Arthur's behavior of always being careful about money and debt. As his childhood friend, Niko understood Arthur's calculating, meticulous, and tenacious nature.

 "Arthur, do you want Yuuki to work here as a personal maid for a while?" Niko asked after reading the entire contents of the magic contract.

 "Uhuh! I've been having a bit of trouble cleaning my house lately. You can see how messy my house is, right?" Arthur replied shortly.

 "That's right, your house is a bit messy. The last time I visited, your house wasn't this messy," Niko said while observing his surroundings.

 "Yuuki.." Niko looked at his wife Yuuki.

 "It's okay, I can do it. The important thing is, please solve the problem that is currently affecting our new family," Niko's wife replied while forcing a small smile.

 "Of course! Arthur! We'll go now and thank you for the debt you gave!" Niko shouted.

 "Hey! Sign first!" Arthur snapped while holding back Niko who was almost running away with his thousand gold pieces.

 "Oh… Ah… Yes… I almost forgot to sign the magic contract, Hehe…" Niko seemed to stutter as he signed the magic contract that Arthur had made using his magic mana identity.

 Pam!!

 Pip!!

 A magic contract bound by magic mana has been agreed to by both parties. The magic contract now marked the paper with a magic formation that indicated the authenticity of the contract that had been in effect.

 "Then, we'll take our leave!" Niko exclaimed to immediately rush away after getting his thousand gold pieces debt.

 "You want to leave after getting your debt money huh," Arthur said in a sarcastic tone but his tone sounded joking.

 "Ehehe… don't take it to heart," Niko replied with a cheerful smile on his face.

 Arthur then guided Niko and his wife towards the exit.

 "We'll go first, Arthur. Please take care of my wife after our magic contract takes effect."

 "You should worry about yourself first before your wife. I'll take care of her like my own wife when you're not around."

 "Ahahaha… Yuuki is my wife, not yours. Is this your new joke after you've lived here for a few years? Your humor has improved like fathers who gather to enjoy alcohol at night, Arthur."

 "Yes, that's just a joke people around here make when their wives are left alone by their husbands. Doesn't that sound funny?"

 "Funny enough, well, we're going to prepare for the military trial that accused me of collaborating with the rebel forces."

 "Niko, please be careful on the road. Your bad luck always worries me."

 "Umm, you're quite emotional when you see me in trouble, huh."

 "Is that bad?"

 "Not really, I was just surprised to see you like that."

 "Shut up!" Arthur kicked Niko's butt when he saw him slightly touched by Arthur's words.

 "See you later, Arthur."

 "Yeah, see you later, Niko."

 After a few goodbyes were said, Niko and Yuuki left Arthur's house.

 "Hmm… Yuuki Shina… If she has become someone's property. That means my nightmare skill will activate."

 [ Netori System has found a capture target! ]

 [ Netori Target: Yuuki Shina. ]

 "As expected… the curse of this Succubus will awaken after seeing me meet a woman who has been possessed by someone."

 "Moreover… that girl is my childhood friend's wife."

 "This strange power has taken control of my life at will."

 "Damn it!"

 Arthur stared at a transparent screen floating in front of his eyes. It was a curse that made him a high-level Alchemist but at the cost of the pain of winning the heart of a girl who already had feelings for someone.

 [ Creating a conquest target scenario… ]

 [ Counting the number of sexual intercourses with the target: 0. ]

 "Heeh… she's still a virgin? How interesting…"

 "It's rare to find a girl who's still a virgin these days. Especially with the virginity restoration potion that I just patented."

 "Should I use that again?"

 Under the blanket of the cold darkness of the night, Arthur stared at the transparent screen floating in front of him. A curse and the source of his power as an Alchemist like a double-edged sword had toyed with his life for a long time.

 The sound of crying from the screams of pleasure of an unfaithful wife.

 The sound of moans of pleasure from a fiancée who was stolen by another man.

 The sound of a noble girl's betrayal to be satisfied by her overflowing passion.

 Until the sound of a Queen who was captivated by his manhood to the point of leaving the kingdom in ruins because of the struggle for the King's throne.

 [ Netori Status: Newlyweds ... triples the quality of the reward. ]

 [ Like: Cleaning, Deep Kiss, and Cooking.]

 [ Dislike: House Bugs.]

 [ Affection: 0.]

 "Affection doesn't increase after the first meeting, apparently ..."

 "Uhh ... it's going to take a long time to win the heart of a newlywed wife."

 "Even this strange power tempts me with a reward three times than the usual. Could it be that Yuuki is the type of wife who is loyal to her husband until death?"

 "Interesting, a challenge like this won't come a second time.

 "Well… I'll have fun tomorrow. Observing Yuuki closely and looking for a gap to make her submit to this cursed power."

 The slight smile that grinned in the darkness became a sign of the beginning of the destruction of someone's household that happened slowly.

 The betrayal of a loyal wife is due to the pressure of the cursed power possessed by Arthur.