AKM Act 11-7.1

Act 11-7: Scent Magic
TL : Cnine
ED/PF :
R1[1-2], R2[3-4]

Part 1
　The mansion of the bewitching sage Sabina was located at the outskirts of the magic city, Saria.
　The mansion was quite large, reserved only for those who held the title of sage.
　The people currently in the mansion were Sabina's direct disciples, students, and servants.
　Most of the students were magicians, and the servants were mostly non-magicians.
　The students of Sabina in the mansion were compounding scent magic.
　Kuroki observed Sabina's students.
　The scent magic compounded by the students was similar to those in the mansion of the Archwitch Heqat.

（Heqat's disciples used to carry this kind of scent magic with them. But still, what is Sabina trying to do?）

　Kuroki was thinking about Sabina, who was currently absent from the scene.
　Sabina had offered her services to become the guide for Kuroki and Kyouka.
　Her goal was obviously to get closer to Kyouka.
　Kyouka hesitated at first, but when Sabina whispered something to her, making sure Kuroki couldn't hear it, she suddenly changed her mind and accepted Sabina's offer.
　Kuroki tried to catch what Sabina whispered, but in the end, he chose not to.
　He felt it was impolite since it might be related to Kyouka.
　And so, Kuroki and his group ended up strolling around the city of Saria alongside Sabina and her followers.
　Since Sabina's guidance and conversation skills were exceptional, and Kyouka seemed to be having a great time.
　However, Kuroki couldn't help but notice Sabina's disciples whispering among themselves as they glanced at him while walking.
　And then, there was Mitsuami, the biggest victim of this situation.
　She didn't seem to get along well with Sabina's disciples and appeared rather uncomfortable around them.
　Even so, she likely chose to accompany them because her master had asked her to guide Kyouka.
　The relationship between a magician and their apprentice was similar to that of a master and servant, with the apprentice typically serving their master and obeying their commands.
　Sabina's disciples had no choice but to follow their master's lead, resulting in the large group walking through Saria before finally arriving at Sabina's mansion.
　Upon arriving at the mansion, Sabina invited Kyouka and led her into one of the rooms.
　Kuroki and Mitsuami were unable to enter that room and were left waiting in another room.
　Although he felt uneasy about leaving Kyouka on her own, seeing Sabina's attitude, Kuroki decided to let it go, as it seemed unlikely that she would cause any harm.
　Naturally, if he found out later that there was something wrong with Kyouka, he wouldn't let it slide.
　Kuroki looked at Mitsuami.
　Maybe because she was wary of the scent magic, Mitsuami had her hand pressed to her mouth.
　In fact, a pleasant scent was drifting through the room where Kuroki and the others were.
　Since scent magic could also be mixed with sleep inducers or paralyzing agents, it was understandable for Mitsuami to raise her guard—especially in the mansion of someone you're not close to.
　Nevertheless, the scent in the mansion contained no sleep inducers nor paralyzing agents.
　However, Kuroki found something else in the mix.

（The problem being what the scent is trying to hide...）

　There were types of scent magic other than those that cause sleep or paralysis.
　For example, the incense used by Kuroki in the dead city Modegal to hide from lower-level spirits was one such type.
　Conversely, there were also types of incense that could conceal or partially dispel miasma.
　They were mainly used by necromancers.
　Undead creatures released miasma into the surroundings when they were active, and if living beings were exposed to this miasma, they could become sick or, in the worst case, die.
　That was the reason they used scent magic—to avoid affecting the surroundings and to prevent others from noticing.
　There were also various other kinds of scent magic that concealed different types of magical power.
　If she were an inexperienced perfumer, that would be one thing, but Kuroki thought that Sabina’s abilities as a sage were quite impressive.
　Someone with a keen sense of smell might be able to detect what was being hidden by the scent magic, but Kuroki couldn’t.
　It seemed he had no choice but to wait and see how Sabina would act.
　At that moment, the door suddenly opened.

「THANK YOU FOR WAITING, KUROKI-SAN!」
「!?」

　Kyouka appeared from behind the door.
　However, her outfit was different from what she was wearing when she first arrived here.
　Just like Sabina’s outfit, she wore predominantly black robes with a revealing design.
　She might be borrowing it from Sabina.
　Some time had passed since Sabina took her away, and it seemed she had changed clothes during that time.
　The problem was that Kyouka's curves were more pronounced than Sabina's, so it looked like her breasts might spill out from the deeply open neckline.
　Mitsuami was left dumbfounded, at a loss for words.
　Having changed to a more revealing attire, Kyouka looked every bit like a bewitching witch.

「What do you think, Kuroki-san? Does it look good on me?」
「Eh, aah, okay.」

　Kyouka’s alluring appearance left Kuroki at a loss for words, unable to take his eyes off her.

「Fufufufu, what do you think of the attire, Kyouka-dono? No man should be able to resist your charm, right?」

　Sabina, who was standing behind her, asked with an amused face.

（WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!?）

　Kuroki retorted in his mind.

「Oh my, words like that don’t quite convince me. What do you think, Kuroki-san?」

　Kyouka sat on Kuroki's lap as she asked the question.
　The soft sensation of her hips could be felt through his clothes.

（OH NO! MY BLOOD IS FLOWING INTO MY LOWER BODY!）

　Kuroki got flustered.
　Kyouka looked at Kuroki with a bewitching smile on her face.

「What’s the matter, Kuroki-san? Your face is as red as a tomato.」

　Kyouka leaned in closer.
　His face was red. It seemed Kyouka was embarrassed too.
　Perhaps Sabina had whispered something to her.
　Thinking that, he took a closer look at Kyouka and noticed her body was trembling slightly. It seemed she was nervous.
　While Kuroki was thinking about this—

「Hey! What do you think you’re doing?!」

　Suddenly, someone burst into the room.
　With Kyouka in the way, Kuroki couldn’t see who had entered.
　However, he recognized the voice.

「Eh? Chiyuki-san, what are you doing here?」

　Kyouka turned around and spoke.
　The one who came was Chiyuki.

「It’s not a matter of “What”!! This place blocks detection magic, so it took me forever to find you! Seriously! What on earth do you think you’re doing?!」

　Chiyuki closed the distance with Kyouka in large, powerful strides.

「Uh, well... I was just trying to seduce Kuroki-san...」

　Kyouka faltered upon hearing Chiyuki's angry berating.

「Is that why you're dressing like that?」
「Yes, because I thought this way would be better...」

　Kyouka looked at Sabina.
　Sabina, who was by the wall, was laughing amusingly.

「Hey, Sabina! Please don’t put weird ideas into my friend’s head!」

　Chiyuki complained to Sabina.

「Oh, I just helped Kyouka-sama with her wish. I simply taught her how to be liked by gentlemen.」

　When Sabina said that, Chiyuki growled.