Outside the office.

A servant in a neat uniform was waiting for me.

The servant also had black hair and two horns.

"I will show you to your room."

“……Yes.”

The servant led the way respectfully.

I hardened my face in response.

It was because I realized that I had no right to refuse.

……He's really going to make me stay here.

The servant's words.

In them, I could see Crete's intention to take me in as a guest.

He must have recognized the potential of the talent that Adel possessed and wanted to invest in it.

Furthermore, my ability, Position Exchange, would be useful for rescue operations, so it seemed like he intended to have me protect Rene as her escort.

'I feel like a sucker.'

I was not used to this kind of treatment, and it left a bitter taste in my mouth.

But in truth, I should have been grateful that he had spared my life.

And above all else.

For some reason, I felt like I was riding the wind.

I had a feeling that this situation would work out very well for me.

Perhaps it was my imagination.

However, my intuition as an 'author,' which had served me well so far, was telling me

That this was by no means a bad situation...

While I was lost in thought and following the servant around the Bares family’s mansion.

Thud.

The servant stopped walking and looked back.

“You will be staying here from now on. We will provide you with three meals a day.”

“I understand.”

I replied curtly.

More important than food was the room that I had been assigned by Crete.

Contrary to my expectations, Crete’s office was not that different from a human’s and was rather old-fashioned.

So even in the Demon Realm, my room would probably be normal.

“Then please get some rest.”

As the servant left after saying his last words, I opened the door.

Creak.

The sound of wood and metal rubbing against each other echoed in my ears, and soon the interior of the room was revealed.

‘Not bad.’

The furniture made of wood gave off a rather luxurious vibe.

As I looked at the bed in the corner of the room, I felt like lying down and closing my eyes right away…….

However, it was still too early to go to sleep.

“……I should get rid of that guy first.”

The Gu poison that settled near my heart.

If I don’t get rid of it, the range of my activities will be extremely limited in the future.

Getting rid of Gu poison was essential for me.

“I really hope it works…….”

In fact, I was still half-hearted.

I wondered if I could really get rid of Gu poison this way.

If I failed, I couldn’t even imagine what Crete would do to me.

But I had no choice but to try.

“Designation.”

I designated the Gu poison that was dormant in my body as the ‘target’ of the Position Exchange.

I could see an arrow as thin as a thread stretching out from my fingertips and piercing my chest.

The Position Exchange skill judged the Gu poison that was made of Mana as a ‘non-living thing’.

So I rolled up my lips and spat out the incantation.

“Move.”

Then my vision reversed.

Thud-.

Gu poison that had popped out of my chest landed safely in my palm.

If I had dropped it, the signal would have gone straight to Crete, but the Gu poison was still asleep with its eyelids closed.

‘For now, I’ve put out the urgent fire.’

Now, all that’s left is to do something before Gu poison opens his eyes.

The thought of killing Gu poison crossed my mind, but I immediately dismissed it.

The moment I threaten him, a signal will be sent to Crete.

Then, the only method left is…

‘I guess I have no choice but to coax him…….’

However, I didn’t have a proper way to coax him.

What Gu poison likes is Mana imbued with pure magic power.

But there’s no way that the guy who was eating Crete’s Mana would enjoy the low-quality Mana of a half-Demon.

As I was urgently racking my brain.

Slice-.

Gu’s closed eyes began to slowly open.

Gu was about to wake up from his sleep, having noticed that the supply of Mana from my chest had been cut off.

What should I do?

What should I give him to satisfy Gu’s picky taste?

I tightly shut my eyes as I was worrying.

Let it be as it may.

“Try eating this.”

I extended a drop of Mana condensed on my index finger, adding the trait of darkness to it, and offered it to Gu poison.

Gu, who was about to send a signal to Crete, stopped and began to sniff.

- ……?!

Gu’s eyes widened as he smelled the black droplet.

Then, he extended his tongue and began to lick the droplet.

Before I knew it, Gu poison had eaten the entire droplet and let out a satisfied purr.

…….

And then, he fell back asleep.

“I succeeded…….”

I satisfied Gu using a small amount of Mana and the trait of darkness.

With this, I could say that I had somewhat removed the noose around my neck.

From now on, whenever Gu wakes up, I’ll just feed him a droplet imbued with the trait of darkness and put him back to sleep.

“Whew.”

I felt like all the strength had left my body.

Not much time had passed since I possessed Adel’s body.

But how many times had I faced the crisis of death…….

Thud.

I collapsed on the bed as if I had been thrown.

And I brought up my Status Window to check my condition.

【 Arsene Adel 】

: Race - [ Half Demon ]

: Tendency - [ Chaos ]

: Talent - [ Position Exchange ‘Ⅰ ⇒ Ⅱ’ ]

: Trait - [ Interest ] [ Absorption ] [ Killing Intent ] [ Darkness ] [ Mana Manipulation ] [ Eye of Arrogance ]

: Mana - [ 341 ⇒ 241 ]

Even though my maximum mana had decreased by a whole 100, my proficiency in Position Exchange had actually increased.

‘I did use Position Exchange a lot.’

That was probably why my level had increased so quickly.

However, Position Exchange’s growth will become slower from now on.

That was because the proficiency required increased as the level got higher.

‘For now, I should focus on increasing my maximum mana.’

Even compared to ordinary people, my mana was still quite low, but now that I had become Rene’s escort, I needed to increase it.

After all, the main characters in my novel had an unfathomable amount of mana.

‘What should I do?’

There were many ways to increase maximum mana.

Such as finding a hidden artifact…….

However, I was too weak to obtain them at the moment.

‘Ugh, what am I going to do?’

Maybe I shouldn't have used my maximum mana as collateral…….

I tossed and turned in frustration before finally falling asleep.

***

And a few days later.

I unexpectedly found a ‘certain’ way to increase my maximum mana.