Chapter 260: The Elf Corrupted by a Novel
When Rhodes returned to his residence on the top floor of the Magic Association tower, it was already dusk.
Through the massive glass windows, the lingering glow of the setting sun painted the room. Soon, once the sunlight vanished completely, the magical light fixtures in the room would need to be activated.
Serie was sitting on a wide, plush chair. Piles of magical tomes were stacked behind her, giving her a passing resemblance to the image of the petite Great Mage sitting on her throne in later eras.
She was focused intently on the book in her hands, her long golden hair tied loosely in a low ponytail that draped over her waist.
Hearing footsteps, she looked up. Her golden eyes turned to Rhodes, carrying a trace of inquiry. "You are later than usual. Did something delay you?"
Ever since this magic tower was built, Serie rarely went out. Apart from researching magic, her days were spent devising difficult questions for the hopefuls coming to take the Mage Exam.
Usually, Rhodes ran all the errands.
This time, he had simply gone out to buy some magical materials. Theoretically, it shouldn't have taken him this long.
Rhodes walked over to her and sat naturally on the wide armrest of her chair. "The shop was out of stock, so I had to go to another one. And I ran into a small matter on the way."
He briefly recounted his encounter with the blue-green haired woman, Ariel, and their short discussion about magical knowledge.
His intention was simply to share an interesting anecdote, hoping Serie might pay attention to the woman later and perhaps identify the source of his suspicion.
After all, Serie's sensory abilities were an innate talent, far superior to his reliance on intuition and magic.
But Rhodes did not expect Serie's reaction.
After listening, she fell silent for a moment. Then, she suddenly raised her eyes, looked at him with extreme seriousness, and spoke directly.
"According to my recent research, this behavior in human males... is this not the precursor to an affair?"
Rhodes: "..."
The expression on his face froze instantly. Imaginary black lines seemed to drop down his forehead.
He looked down at Serie in disbelief, suspecting he had misheard.
An affair?
How could such a word come out of the mouth of this elf who had lived for countless ages and spent most of her time researching magic?
"Where did you learn a word like that?" Rhodes asked, laughing and crying at the same time. Subconsciously, he reached out to take the book from Serie's hands. "Let me see what kind of magic books Fidel sent over..."
He assumed Serie was joking, or perhaps the term had just popped into her head.
But thinking about it carefully, that didn't make sense. Serie shouldn't have been exposed to such vocabulary. Had Ela or Flamme taught her?
While his thoughts ran wild, Rhodes somewhat forcefully took the "magic book" from Serie's hands. Although he encountered a little resistance—the elf's reluctance—it quickly vanished.
However, when his fingers touched the cover, the texture was not the rough, ancient parchment of a grimoire he expected. Instead, it was smooth, cheap paper.
Rhodes paused and looked down.
The cover of the book Serie had been reading was colorful and garish. It depicted a muscular human man and a woman locked in a tight, exaggerated embrace.
Above them, the title was written in flowing, flowery script: The Domineering Mercenary King's Petite Wife.
This wasn't a magic book at all!
This was clearly a trashy, melodramatic romance novel found on street corners everywhere!
Rhodes's face turned completely black.
He held the book up to his eyes, his tone even more incredulous. "W-What is this?! Where did you get this kind of book?!"
Serie seemed displeased that her book had been snatched away. She frowned slightly but answered honestly, "Fidel sent it."
"Fidel?!"
Rhodes's voice pitched up an octave. He couldn't imagine the Emperor sending something like this. Was it intentional? Was he trying to corrupt his elf? Or did he have some other motive?
Rhodes began considering whether he should teach the Emperor a small lesson on behalf of his ancestor's comrade.
But just in case, he patiently asked, "Why would he send this? Shouldn't he only be sending magical tomes? Or at most, some historical records?"
Serie tilted her head, seeming to think Rhodes was overreacting. She explained calmly, "It seems the craftsmen responsible for organizing and transporting the books got them mixed up. This one was sandwiched between the grimoires."
"I found the cover illustration interesting, so I took it out to read." She paused, then added with a very serious tone, exactly as if she were discussing profound magical theory, "Moreover, this is an excellent sample for researching the concept of love among humans. I thought I could learn from it."
Rhodes: "..."
Holding the hot potato of a novel, he was rendered speechless.
How, in the blink of an eye, had his elf started reading trashy romance novels?
And had human culture in this era really developed to this point already?
This deviation was a bit too ridiculous!
Serie seemed completely unaware of his speechlessness. Instead, she pointed at the novel in his hand and continued her serious analysis.
"According to the plot arrangement in this book, the human male protagonist seems very popular with other human females. A series of intense conflicts even unfold around him. I believe this situation bears a high degree of similarity to our current circumstances."
She looked at Rhodes. "I recently had a duel with Flamme, thoroughly crushing her unrealistic delusions with my strength."
"This perfectly matches the behavioral pattern of the female protagonist in the book. Relying on her own advantages—of course, in the book she is a royal princess, and while I am not, I possess absolute power—she defeats all competitors."
"Thereby ensuring she can permanently occupy the sole position beside the male protagonist and focus his attention entirely on herself."
She even nodded, seemingly very satisfied with her analytical comprehension. "Furthermore, Flamme's recent behavior aligns with the subsequent development of the defeated supporting character in the book."
"She no longer engages in pointless entanglement and maintains a certain distance from you. This is sufficient proof that the guidance of this book is highly effective."
Listening to her apply the plot of a melodramatic novel to reality—and analyzing it so logically—Rhodes felt his temples throbbing.
Serie really treated Flamme as the "losing heroine." He wondered how Flamme would feel if she were here right now.
Rhodes didn't want to go through another round of mediating a fight. It was exhausting.
Both sides were people he didn't want to hurt. Being caught in the middle was truly a dilemma.
Unless he was heartless enough to beat Flamme up and sever their master-apprentice relationship, perhaps that would end her thoughts completely.
But if that resulted in raising a final boss... that would be awkward.
Serie wasn't finished. Suddenly, her tone shifted. Her golden eyes narrowed slightly, adopting the vigilance of the so-called "female lead" described in the book.
"However, according to the plot progression laws of this book, after resolving one major competitor, the male protagonist usually encounters a brand new 'chance encounter' romance plot with another human female very quickly."
"Therefore, the Ariel you described—who took the initiative to strike up a conversation with you and showed abnormal interest in the Association's library—is highly likely to be a new character introduced by the plot."
"Thus, following the standard response procedures of the female protagonist in the book, I am questioning you on whether you are having an affair."
Rhodes, having listened to this long string of seemingly logical analysis, didn't even have the energy to retort. He was left with a deep sense of powerlessness.
He rubbed his forehead and sighed. "Serie... that is just a made-up story. You cannot take it seriously! I only exchanged a few words with that Ariel. I don't even know who she is yet. We are ten thousand miles away from a so-called affair!"
Rhodes tried to steer the topic back on track. "Besides, the reason I told you about Ariel is that I felt she was a bit strange."
"She has a special feeling about her that I can't quite describe, and the mana fluctuations around her are very peculiar. I couldn't judge them immediately."
Hearing this, Serie tilted her head, seemingly switching from "novel analysis mode" back to the attitude a mage should have.
"Is it not normal for a mage to carry mana fluctuations? After all, once a mage is approached in close combat, it is difficult to resist. So most mages will keep a small defensive spell active at all times, or use magical items. That is not strange."
"It is not that factor," Rhodes shook his head. "Mainly, the aura on her feels wrong to me. There is a sense of... unreality."
Faced with Rhodes's answer, Serie offered a simple, direct suggestion. "Since you suspect her, just use the highest-tier True Sight magic. You will definitely see her clearly."
This spell was an improvement Rhodes had made on detection magic. It had an effect similar to perceiving True Names, but it was too potent—it saw too clearly—so Rhodes had only taught it to Serie and Ela.
"I am not that bored, nor do I have a reason to use that level of magic on a random person. Besides, she seems very interested in the grimoires in the library. As long as she wants to get in, she will appear again. It won't be too late to observe and test her then."
Serie stared at Rhodes for a long while. Just when Rhodes thought she understood his meaning, she suddenly blurted out another sentence, emphasizing her tone:
"You are not allowed to have an affair."
It seemed the aftereffects of that romance novel were quite severe. The elf clearly hadn't fully emerged from that melodramatic worldview.
Rhodes had intended to ask her to keep an eye on the woman named Ariel during the exams, but clearly, Serie hadn't grasped that point.
Laughing and crying at the same time, he shook the novel in his hand. "I think this book is to blame. Confiscated! You are not allowed to read this kind of messy stuff anymore!"
These words seemed to flip a switch in Serie.
She instantly stood up from the chair. Forgetting even to put on her shoes, her bare, fair feet stepped onto the soft carpet as she rushed up to Rhodes in a few steps, reaching out to snatch the book back.
"No! Give it back..." Her tone carried a rare urgency. "My research is not finished yet!"
Rhodes hadn't expected such a big reaction and subconsciously raised his arm high.
Even standing on her tiptoes, Serie couldn't reach the novel he held aloft.
"Damn it!" Serie got a little anxious. She even tried to jump, practically throwing herself onto Rhodes, struggling to reach the book that was so close yet so far away.
While steadying her to prevent her from falling, Rhodes said helplessly, "What is so good about this kind of book? It is all fake. Don't treat it as real."
"I am not treating it as real! But this is currently the most popular novel in the capital. It has value as a research sample!"
Serie argued logically, trying to reclaim her research subject from this audacious human.
"This book helps me understand those complex human emotions very well, and... and it is interesting!"
She said the last part a bit quietly, but it was her honest thought.
Those exaggerated plots and direct emotional conflicts were a novel experience for her.
Looking at the usually cool and aloof Serie now flailing on him like a child for the sake of a trashy romance novel, Rhodes felt both amusement and exasperation.
He lowered the hand holding the book and used his other arm to steady her waist firmly.
"Alright, alright," he softened his voice deliberately, adopting a soothing tone. "Don't read this kind of book anymore. If you want to understand human emotions, I will teach you, okay? Practical application is much more effective than reading books."
Serie froze. She looked up at him, skeptical. "Practical application?"
"Mn." Rhodes patted Serie's small head. "I can tell you very clearly right now, my dear Elf. No matter what is written in novels, in reality, my gaze will only ever fall on you alone."
His romantic words were very direct. Serie was slightly stunned, and a barely perceptible blush seemed to rise on her cheeks.
She blinked. The urgency in her heart slowly subsided, replaced by a sense of satisfaction.
"...Really?" she confirmed in a small voice.
"Truer than the magic system itself," Rhodes promised with a smile, taking the opportunity to quietly stuff the trouble-making novel behind his back.
Serie seemed to notice his little action and glanced at him, but ultimately didn't insist on asking for it back.
Perhaps for her, Rhodes's declaration just now was indeed more attractive—and more reassuring—than that book.
She gave a light "Hmph," silently acquiescing to his handling of the situation.
Watching her, Rhodes laughed inwardly. It seemed the best way to deal with an elf poisoned by melodramatic novels was to overwrite those fake plots with even more direct, sincere words.
Only then would the elf realize that the plots in the book couldn't be taken seriously.
As for that mysterious Ariel... Rhodes's gaze darkened slightly.
I hope she really is just an ordinary human woman who loves magic.
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