Ruvian sat on the soft and expensive sofa, but even with how comfortable it was, his body could not relax at all.

Behind him, he could hear small sounds of cloth moving and water lightly touching skin, as Irene was wiping Silvena’s body.

The departure date kept coming into his mind again and again, and the thought of Silvena not getting better before that time made his chest feel tight and heavy.

He even thought of going there with just Irene.

But no.

He did not want that.

He needed Silvena there with him.

’It would be a huge problem if she couldn’t come along.’

Then, the sound of footsteps made him come back to his senses immediately.

Irene walked out, still holding the cloth, her hands slightly wet. Her face looked calmer than before, but there was still some worry left. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Ruvian straightened his body a little and looked at her.

"Is there any reaction on her body?" he asked.

Irene nodded.

"Yes. On the back of her neck, her veins appeared bluish. It’s very apparent."

She frowned a little before asking, "What is that?"

Ruvian let out a sigh of relief.

"As I had suspected, it seemed like she got bitten by a Veliscar Bug," he said.

Irene raised her eyebrow.

"Veliscar Bug?"

Ruvian leaned back slightly, then began to explain in a calm voice.

"Yes, it’s a Wretched-class Voidspawn," he said. "It is very small, about the size of a dragonfly, it looks harmless, but it’s not. It moves very fast... at a speed which most people will not notice at all."

Irene listened carefully, her expression becoming more serious.

"From what I know, it usually does not attack humans without reason," Ruvian continued. "So I guess... this is just probably her bad luck."

He paused for a moment, then continued.

"Anyway, back to your question, if you’re bitten, the venom goes into the blood and can cause a strange change. As for the bluish color, it’s because it reacted with that liquid to identify the spot where she got bitten."

"If we do nothing, the fever will get worse and it can also disturb her mana flow, which will make things more dangerous."

Irene’s face tightened a little when she heard that.

But then Ruvian shook his head.

"But there is no need to worry too much," he added. "Now that we know the cause, it is not difficult to treat. So, it’s good that I came here."

Relief appeared on Irene’s face.

"I will write the medicine and the cure for her," Ruvian said as he leaned forward. "So, give me a paper and a pen."

Irene looked at him for a short moment, and there was a bit of admiration in her eyes.

’How did he almost know everything?’ she silently thought.

Soon, she nodded.

"I’ll get it now."

Watching her go, a memory suddenly resurfaced.

Ruvian remembered that Zian Herga, the protagonist of this world, had also suffered the same thing after being bitten by that creature.

The description of that scene was clear enough that Ruvian could recognize it without mistake.

That’s why he was very sure that this was not a normal fever. He recognised the signs and symptoms very well.

If no one treated it, it would not just stay the same, but would slowly become worse.

Normally, the best approach was to go to the academy infirmary.

But strangely, Silvena did not go.

Ruvian lowered his gaze, his face tightening as he thought about it. It was not hard for him to understand why, and that only made him feel more frustrated and guilty.

Knowing her, she would ignore her own condition and focus on her task first, even if her body was already getting worse.

He let out a sigh.

’You should take care of yourself first,’ his thoughts sounded annoyed, but there was also something softer hidden inside.

Anyway, once Irene came back, Ruvian took the paper and the piece of pen from her.

Then, he began writing.

The names of herbs, the way to prepare them, how to balance the medicine to remove the venom and fix her mana flow...

Ruvian finished writing and slowly put the pen down, his eyes scanning the paper one last time to make sure nothing was missing.

After that, he handed the paper to Irene without delay.

"Here. Bring her to the academy infirmary and give them this paper," he said firmly.

"They should understand what this is, and ask them if they are able to prepare it. Normally, they should be able to. This is one of the greatest academies after all. If not then you have to be the one to prepare it."

Then, Ruvian stepped closer to the bed.

Silvena was already asleep, her breathing soft and uneven, her face still slightly flushed from the fever.

It was clear that she had not been getting enough rest at night.

Ruvian watched her for a brief moment, his expression quiet.

Then he spoke again, his voice calmer this time.

"Also, tell her not to worry too much and to focus on her recovery," he said as he slowly unfolded his sleeves.

"You and I will take care of the preparation for this trip. If she follows the medicine instructions properly, she should recover in time and be ready before this weekend."

"As for the details of what we are going to do outside the academy this weekend, I will keep track of everything and update you tonight," he continued.

"For now, just make sure she gets enough rest."

"Also... Silvena always has nightmares whenever she falls ill."

Irene already knew this well, though lately, as Silvena grew older, she had hidden it, insisting she had already overcome that trauma.

"...So stay with her through the night. She will need you."

Irene simply listened and nodded.

"Understood."

"Good. I’ll be going now." (+200PP)

With that, Ruvian reached for his coat, putting it on smoothly before turning toward the door.

Without another word, he stepped forward and left the room.

*****

Later that evening, until it became very late at night, Ruvian stayed inside a small training chamber for lower-class scholars.

The room was simple and had almost nothing inside, only a practice target dummy in the middle, but it was enough for him.

He did not need anything else.

Just a target was enough.

Now that he had many recovery potions and mana training enhancement potions, his goal was clear.

He wanted to improve his control over his Wind Affinity and also get better at using his [Night Eyes] spell.

So Ruvian kept training without stopping.

He kept casting his spells again and again, repeating the same thing many times until his Mana Essence became empty.

After that, he drank a potion, felt his energy come back, and then started again.

Again and again.

The pressure on his mind felt less now. Even if it was not, he would still continue. He did not worry too much about mental strain thanks to his blessing.

After around five hours of training, his Mana Essence increased from 300 to 350. For him, this was already a very big improvement in such a short time.

And because of that progress, Ruvian let out a tired smile on his face.

’Well, this is already a good progress for tonight.’

’I need to at least reach 1000 before this weekend.’

That was his goal.

If he wanted to be able to fight toe-to-toe with a demon, he needed to have that much Mana Essence.

After a while, Ruvian finally came to stop his training.

"Well... it’s getting late," he said under his breath, more to himself than anyone else.

"This should be enough for tonight."

"I can’t exert myself anymore than this."

He reached for a clean cloth and wiped the sweat from his skin. For a brief moment, he stood there in silence, gaze drifting, weighing something.

"Tomorrow’s going to be... quite chaotic."

Truthfully, it wasn’t an idle remark.

If anything, it was an understatement.

Because tomorrow marked the point of no return, the moment he would finally set things into motion.

All the quiet preparations, the careful observations, the restraint he had maintained until now... they had all been leading to this.

Tomorrow, Ruvian would flip the switch on Julian.

There was no need for him to hide under Julian’s radar anymore.

──────── ✦ ────────

[Chapter 130: Partner in Crime (5)]

Plot Points= 18,430