Immediately, he balanced on the sofa comfortably. Vines instantly shot out, first wrapping around his waist, and just as quickly, another wrapped around his neck, drawing it back.
The thorns on them were incredibly sharp, drawing a sting of blood from his neck.
As he stretched out his arms to grab them, two more thorned vines shot out toward him, wrapping around his arms and pulling them apart.
Two more vines emerged from the lower part of the seat, wrapping around both ankles of Ryuk’s legs before rapidly spreading upwards.
Eventually, he was completely wrapped up in those thorny vines, his movements locked completely.
When he tried to struggle, he witnessed the vines tightening even more, drawing an interesting smirk in Ryuk’s head.
"Interesting. A really interesting home protection mechanism."
In the next instant, Ryuk felt a green flash of light. As he turned his eyes toward the center, he found that the formerly glowing red fireplace, which had been burning gently, was now flaring with a green energy.
Alas, it wasn’t a fireplace, but rather the power source that continued to empower the vines, making them thicker and heavier—more difficult to escape from.
Most interesting of all, Ryuk could feel his own mana getting sucked away by the vines, seemingly weakening him with every passing second.
The sound of the doorknob twisting open echoed as a figure slowly walked out of the door. It was none other than Lydia, carrying a tray with two steaming hot cups in her hands.
"Well, coffee is here, just like I promised..." Lydia said as she settled the tray on the table.
She took one cup before settling down on the sofa opposite Ryuk, looking at his bound-up figure with an interesting smile.
She watched as the human looked at the steaming hot cup of coffee and then back at his own bonded hands.
Unconsciously, his hand tried to move toward the direction of the coffee, only to instantly retract as the thorny vines tightened even more, locking his arm down—drops of blood dripping onto the seat.
"Unfortunate that you can’t reach the coffee, isn’t it?" Lydia asked, taking a sip of hers.
"This isn’t what we agreed on..." Ryuk stated, only for the vines on his neck to tighten further.
"Of course, what we agreed on. Let’s discuss that..."
Lydia leaned back slightly.
"You ’saved’ me from those thirsty bastards of your disgusting human race," Lydia said as Ryuk raised an eyebrow.
"I’m pretty sure their leader was a werewolf?"
"And after ’saving’ me, you requested a million star notes. Hahaha."
She gave a cold chuckle before continuing.
"Tell me, did you really ’save’ me? Or are you just hungry for money? Would you have really left me to those guys if I didn’t have a million to offer? You would have let them rape a girl, so long as you were paid, even if it was just a measly 50,000 notes?" Lydia asked, a disgusted expression on her face.
Ryuk looked at her for a while before chuckling.
"You’re right about many things and wrong about one." He leaned forward slightly.
"First, yes, I saved you."
"Or else, you’d be bleeding all over your private parts right now."
"I’ve seen werewolves before, and I know the rage that runs through their blood. When they rape, they won’t be gentle."
"But here you are, sipping coffee, with your legs crossed over each other. I’d say you’ve been saved."
"Secondly, am I just hungry for money?"
"Actually, I need to get to Grade A, and to do that, I need a bus—which needs money. So yes, I am hungry for money. 50,000 star notes? A million star notes? Yes, I’m hungry, and I would take it if I were paid with it."
"Thirdly, would I have let them rape a girl for 50,000 star notes?"
"No, I wouldn’t. I’m not that pathetic of a human. I would have come to the rescue. The money was just a way to get paid for my ’hero’ job. Not a deal tool." Ryuk stated sharply.
The vines tightened even harder on his neck, and Lydia snorted.
"Only a fool would believe all you just said."
"I didn’t know humans were untrustworthy too..."
"Not all, but most of them are. They’re pathetic survivors, after all."
"They will lean toward whatever keeps them alive, throwing away any principle they might stand on, so long as they get to survive. That’s how pathetic humans are, and you seem to me to be doing just the same."
She took another sip of her coffee.
"Trying to sugarcoat everything because now you’re in the weaker position."
Lydia smirked as Ryuk raised an eyebrow, pondering her words—which, surprisingly, seemed to have a bit of sense in them.
"So, um, how about the million?" Ryuk asked.
Lydia paused mid-sip, looking at him as if he was a fool.
"Are you really that dumb or just pretending to be naive?"
"I’m throwing you out to the enforcers tomorrow. Entering the house of the Mistress of the Salvatore Royalties is enough to get you in jail for your entire lifetime."
"A million? Hahaha. Nature, it’s been a long time since I’ve laughed so hard. Don’t make me start now."
"Welp, now that’s a bummer..." Ryuk sighed, seemingly resigning himself to fate.
Lydia raised an eyebrow.
"Anyway, you mentioned needing to get to Grade A just now, didn’t you? You said you needed to get there quickly and needed a... um, bus?" Lydia asked.
"I’m curious—just where are you really from?" She asked.
"Because... what type of human thinks Grade A is a place you can get to by bus, or train, or jet?"
She leaned forward, her eyes narrowing slightly.
"Grade A is banned from every Enderathian, except for a very low few!"
"Even if you have a billion, there’s no guarantee you’ll be allowed into Grade A. Even the people who know where it is located can be counted on one hand..."
"Yes!" Lydia said, rolling her eyes as she sipped her coffee.
Ryuk furrowed his eyebrows.
"Now that makes some sense. Grade A is unlike the other grades. In fact, only the Ascension Academy I know is in Grade A. Titan City... Grade A was what Madwhite’s tracking showed me. Is there a Titan City in Grade A? The real Titan City should be in Grade B, shouldn’t it?"
Ryuk mused to himself, but then his eyebrows furrowed once more as he realized another important truth.