"Viktor!!! Do you just want to be scolded that badly?!"

A roar that echoed throughout the courtyard came from inside the mansion.

The servants outside the door, hearing this, shrank their necks in fright.

They whispered to each other secretly: "Mr. Viktor is arguing with the young miss again."

"It's been a while since we've heard them argue..."

The two shook their heads; they were long used to this.

As long as Viktor was home, Miss Lia would definitely have an argument with him.

Lia angrily pointed at Viktor's nose and scolded, "I've been waiting for you for so long, yet your first words upon coming home are to ask if I'm hiding someone in the room?"

"How narrow-minded are you to think of such a thing!"

Viktor stood at the doorway, his expression still a poker face, listening to Lia's scolding without retorting.

After ranting for a while and venting her displeasure, Lia sighed, touching her head.

She had thought it wouldn't matter even if she didn't explain, but as if possessed, she still added an explanation.

"It was a subordinate from the territory, who just came to report some things. When you came back, they had already left."

Viktor nodded.

"I see."

From the moment he entered the room, he had smelled a faint fragrance.

That obviously wouldn't be a man's scent.

He had intended to add a couple of sentences after saying "Are you hiding someone?" to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings from Lia.

Unfortunately, Lia's speed in starting to scold him was too fast, like an instinctive reaction. He didn't even have time to react before he was scolded.

And then?

Then he just let Lia scold him.

If she could vent her anger by scolding him, Viktor naturally didn't mind being scolded a bit.

This was also a way of communication between the two; he was long used to it.

Viktor sat back down at the desk, not asking Lia if she had encountered any difficulties recently.

He believed Lia could handle everything well.

If there were problems she couldn't solve, Lia would speak up on her own.

Sure enough, although Viktor didn't ask, Lia brought up the shop's situation somewhat embarrassedly.

"The item shop isn't doing very well."

"The explosive popularity you expected didn't happen."

"Oh? What's going on?"

Viktor tapped the desk; this was somewhat unexpected.

He was interested in hearing Lia's explanation of the reasons.

Lia reported on the financial income of the item shop.

"Except for selling some on the first day, there haven't been any customers in the following days."

Viktor was a bit puzzled. According to his marketing strategy, theoretically, this situation shouldn't occur.

Because there should always be discerning people coming to buy.

Lia also said that potions were sold on the first day.

Word of mouth from those who used the potions should have created a viral effect.

Was there a problem with the player's potions?

That was almost impossible.

Issues with shop management?

Also impossible. If Lia couldn't even manage such a shop, she wouldn't have been able to develop their territory so well.

So, there must have been unexpected circumstances.

"So, what happened?"

Lia began to explain:

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"On the first day of opening, the Duke's daughter bought some potions."

Hearing this title, Viktor's eyes slightly raised.

"Erica du Cloie?"

Lia glanced at Viktor, sneering.

"Oh, still thinking about your little sweetheart?"

"Even remembering her name so clearly."

"That joke isn't funny. Continue."

Viktor actively stopped Lia's mockery.

Lia crossed her arms, pouting.

"I thought that with Erica's fame, the effects of the potions would soon be revealed, and a large number of mages would naturally come."

"But on the second day, something happened at Mount Vesuvius."

At this point, Lia noticed Viktor's hand tapping on the desk paused.

She got some answers to her guesses.

However, she still patiently explained to Viktor.

"A large number of mages went to the volcano, leaving only some ordinary first-tier mages in the capital."

"Let alone whether these people could afford it, even if they could, these things would be too wasteful for them."

In simple terms, first-tier mages didn't deserve to use these things.

"A few days later, these mages all came back, but then they started to unite and collectively impeach the Duke."

"Even the Emperor personally stepped in, summoning the Duke and those noble mages, preparing to make a final decision."

Saying this, Lia sighed helplessly.

The main target audience for the potions was mages, and with the recent chaos in the capital, the mages were all busy. Who had time to visit the shop?

Viktor listened to all this with an expressionless face.

He had been fighting with Guledon inside the volcano, naturally unaware of what had happened in recent days.

No wonder, after fighting with Guledon, when he appeared at the volcano's mouth, the first person he saw was Erica.

He thought he was hallucinating, especially since he had no subsequent memories after that.

When he woke up, it was Vega who told him why he had experienced symptoms of fainting.

'Vega's ability should be used as little as possible in the future.'

Viktor thought to himself.

After this battle, he had been unconscious for a full four days.

Adding the three days of fighting with Guledon, it was exactly a week.

However, the battle with Guledon affecting the real volcano was something he hadn't anticipated.

Although the volcano didn't erupt, the impact of this incident spread to the capital.

At this moment, Lia was still complaining on the side: "Others are saying that Duke Levi stopped the release of the magic array because his daughter went missing."

"This is ridiculous. Let's not even mention whether war magic would tear his daughter apart, if the volcano erupted, wouldn't Erica, who was still on the mountain, die anyway?"

Viktor didn't speak, but in his heart, he agreed with Lia's words.

During that time, Erica climbing the volcano was undoubtedly seeking death.

The difference is that under the war magic, only Erica herself, who appeared at the mountaintop, would die.

But if the volcano erupted, all the mages and residents at the foot of the mountain would have to die with Erica.

He didn't believe the Duke didn't understand this logic.

Lia finished speaking and shrugged.

"Oh, one more thing."

"The Emperor's decree has already been sent to our doorstep. On the day of the summons, you also need to go to the palace."

"You came back just in time. If you had come back a day later, you would have missed it."

"Why?"

Viktor was a bit curious, although he already had a guess in his heart.

"You want a reason? Alright."

"Before the volcano erupted, who was the only accompanying mage who disappeared without a trace?"

Just as expected.

Viktor's expression remained unchanged after getting the answer.

Seeing this, Lia didn't ask further. She yawned and walked to the door.

"Looks like you already have a plan. I'm going to bed then."

"I'll lock my room door well. Don't sneak into my room in the middle of the night just because we haven't seen each other for a long time."

With a bang, she slammed the door shut.

Viktor: "......."

Do I look like the kind of bad guy who likes to knock on girls' doors at night?

Thinking carefully, he had actually done this before.

Maybe Gwen said something to Lia.

Viktor didn't pay much attention to this. Compared to this, he was more curious about why the Duke would do such a thing.

Suddenly, Vega's voice abruptly sounded.

"If the volcano had erupted, everyone there would have died, including Duke Levi himself."

"Only that little girl, only she could have survived."

"But if the magic array had fallen, she would definitely have died."

Viktor narrowed his eyes and asked calmly:

"If I had failed, the volcano would have erupted, and Guledon would have been released."

"Do you think a second-tier little girl who was also seriously injured could survive under the natural disaster caused by the Fire Calamity?"

Vega looked up, gazing at Viktor with deep eyes:

"She can talk to Calamity."

Hearing Vega's statement, Viktor was slightly stunned. This time it was his turn to be confused.

Vega quickly caught Viktor's reaction, and was pleased.

"This is the first time I've seen you so surprised."

Vega obviously knew something, because it was certain that Erica wouldn't die.

"Actually, I'm very curious about what kind of being that Duke had her with."

"By the way, have you ever seen that little girl's mother?"

Viktor became even more silent.

Once in the game's storyline, this Duke's daughter was also an astonishing genius.

If nothing went wrong, she would—in two years, at nineteen years old.

After Viktor's death, she would enter the ranks of third-tier mages, breaking Viktor's genius record and becoming the youngest third-tier mage in imperial history.

It was also because of this that when the imperial regime changed and the new emperor ascended the throne,

Erica du Cloie, because of her talent, protected the Duke's family who supported the Crown Prince.

For now, Viktor could only think of these plot points.

But hearing Vega say this, it was indeed the first time he had noticed.

For such a fairly well-known NPC, no player had ever seen her mother.

There wasn't even a trace in the background story.

Was she dead? Or...

The information Viktor could gather was too little; he couldn't guess either.

Vega looked quite satisfied seeing him like this. So there were things even Viktor didn't know.

It opened its beak and chirped:

"So, what do you plan to do?"

"Tomorrow's summons, not only the Duke but you also have to go. Why not think about how to get through this difficult situation first?"

"No one can help you."

Viktor looked out the window, the moonlight falling on his cold, handsome face, looking somewhat worried.

"Those who follow the right path have many helpers, those who don't have few. This is normal."

"All in all, as a father, Duke Levi is quite remarkable."

That's right, he stopped the great array, willing to let himself and the mages all perish in the natural disaster, even able to abandon innocent civilians.

All to let his daughter survive.

Apart from this, the Duke's actions were indeed infuriating.

"The Emperor won't let the ministers who have followed him for a long time feel disheartened, but he also needs to give everyone an explanation."

"The worst outcome would be nothing more than stripping him of his title and retiring him from office."

"And that's if I don't intervene."

Hearing Viktor's last sentence, Vega let out an interested 'Oh?'

"You want to help him?"

"This is called sending charcoal in snowy weather."

In Viktor's eyes, a cunning light like that of a merchant flashed.