Even Erwin himself hadn't realized just how terrifying his expression was.

Onen didn't know exactly what Erwin was referring to, but for some reason, he had a feeling that everything Erwin was doing had to have a purpose, and that it wasn't all just an act.

Furthermore, he had noticed something from what Erwin had said, and it was that his collaboration with the Universal Church didn't seem to be a very intimate one.

"If we're just talking Loonies and discounting all of my prized artifacts and rare books, then I still have around 1,000,000 Loonies left," Onen said as he cast a cautious gaze toward Erwin.

Erwin nodded in response. He knew that there was no way that this was the entirety of Onen's wealth. Instead, it was only the largest sum he was willing to offer at this moment.

However, Onen was quite surprised to see the calm look on Erwin's face. He had thought that Erwin would be stunned to hear this, but to his surprise, his declaration of 1,000,000 Loonies wasn't even able to draw the slightest reaction out of Erwin. Even though he was aware that Erwin was a noble himself, such a large sum would've been enough to astonish the average noble. However, Erwin remained completely unmoved, as if he had just heard a completely unremarkable number.

What Onen didn't know was that Erwin was already in possession of 400,000 Loonies. Furthermore, in contrast with his ambitions, Loonies were completely insignificant, so his lack of emotional response was completely reasonable.

As for Onean, she didn't even bother to raise an eyebrow upon hearing this. After all, she had once been the princess of a huge kingdom, so a mere sum of 1,000,000 Loonies was certainly nowhere near enough to impress her.

"Alright, I've heard all that I need to hear," Erwin said after a brief moment of contemplation. "All you need to do is hand over this sum of Loonies to me in my time of need, and I can assure you that you'll be able to lead a life far more glamorous than even back when you were a count. However, let me reiterate: this is a mutually agreed upon deal, and I haven't extorted or forced you in any way."

Erwin made his way over to the back of the sofa that Onen was sitting on before patting him on the shoulder as he spoke.

Onen nodded in response. He knew that this had to have been an extremely important matter, considering Erwin was visiting him in person. If he were to disagree with this arrangement, then he would've had to watch his own back at every turn. Firstly, he had to worry about the safety of his family. Secondly, he was dealing with a powerful magician in the form of Erwin, who also had a large number of troops under his command and a wife who was an even more fearsome magician. In his current state, he could no longer afford to make enemies out of people like them. Thus, even though he was very reluctant to admit it, he had no choice but to accept the reality, which was that he was no longer a match for this young man. Furthermore, he could clearly sense that the unease and lack of confidence that he felt in the presence of Erwin came from deep within his heart and was nothing something that could be suppressed.

I don't want to make this man my enemy, so it doesn't seem like a bad choice to make him my ally, Onen thought to himself. Besides, I'm really useful to him, so why don't I reconsider my options?

After weighing up his two options, which consisted of seeking refuge with Duke Eru or investing in this young and ambitious visionary, Onen decided that he would benefit the most from choosing the latter option. He didn't understand why he was so willing to trust Erwin, even though Erwin had been nothing but ambiguous to him, but the main reason why he was able to make the decision so quickly and decisively stemmed from his confidence in Erwin as a person. Furthermore, Onen could sense that Erwin didn't seem to be so content with siding with the church.

For Onen, this decision was akin to a gamble. His back was against the wall, and he was making one final roll of the dice. In reality, there were other options open to him, but Erwin's proposal was like a cup of delectable wine that was giving off an alluring gleam. As for exactly how the wine tasted, he would have to drink it to find out. Perhaps it was a cup of wine that was laced with cyanide, or perhaps it was a vintage wine that was the best thing that he had ever tasted. Without the courage to put his life on the line, there was no way that he would be able to find out the outcome.

Even though this was the lowest point in his life, Onen still possessed the courage to make this decision.

"Oh, by the way, I recall you were showing me a staff last time..." Erwin said as he put on a contemplative expression.

Onen faltered slightly upon hearing this, then immediately understood what Erwin wanted, and he hurriedly rushed over to his desk to search for the wooden box.

While Onen was searching for the wooden box, Onean cast her gaze toward Erwin to find that he had his arms crossed with a smug look on his face. At the same time, Erwin just so happened to be stealing a glance at her, and the two of them exchanged an amused smile.

Shortly thereafter, Onen handed the staff over to Erwin, and in doing so, he was indirectly agreeing to Erwin's proposal.

After accepting the intricate wooden box from Onen, Erwin opened it to confirm that the Everlife Chinaberry Staff was lying inside. He then turned to Onean before raising an eyebrow, as if to say: "You see? I promised that I'd get the staff for you, and I'm following through on that promise now."

Onean merely rolled her eyes at him in response.

"Even the finest of staves would be useless without a competent wielder. It would be a waste for me to be in possession of such a fine staff, so I may as well give it to you," Onen said with a smile, putting on a show of generosity. He knew that even though he hadn't officially forged an alliance with Erwin, they had at least made a private agreement with one another. In the future, he was going to be entrusting Erwin with 1,000,000 Loonies, and in contrast, the staff wasn't all that significant.

"How could I possibly accept such a precious gift?" Erwin said as he feigned a troubled expression, but he displayed no intention of returning the wooden box. Even he hadn't realized just how expertly shameless he had become. He was the one who had brought up the subject of the wooden box, yet he was now acting all bashful and reserved.

"Don't worry about it, it's just an insignificant gift from one friend to another," Onen hurriedly said.

"Alright, in that case, I suppose I'll be accepting this."

"Please do."

Erwin couldn't be bothered to maintain this act any longer. After all, he felt like what he was going to give Onen in return in the future was going to far outweigh the value of this staff and the 1,000,000 Loonies.

"Alright, looks like we've managed to establish an understanding with one another. I'm glad my visit wasn't in vain," Erwin said as he cast his gaze toward Onen with a smile. "In the next couple of days, I'll get some people to accompany your family out of the city, so you won't have to worry about your safety."

"I'll be in your care then."

"Where would you like to go?" Erwin asked as he glanced at Onen.

"I own several manors near the Mount Allure of Delair Dukedom around 100 kilometers north of here."

Erwin nodded in response.

"I can see that your wife seems to be very interested in my collection of books. How about I give her an introduction to my collection?" Onen asked with a smile, and at the same time, he gave Erwin a subtle look.

However, Erwin failed to immediately understand what Onen's intentions were.

Onean's attention appeared to have been focused entirely on the book in her hands, but she had been listening to the conversation taking place between Onen and Erwin this entire time. As such, she immediately understood Onen's intentions. All the books were readily available, so there was no need for an introduction. It was clear that Onen's actual intention was to divert Erwin away.

As Erwin passed by Onean, he caught a brief glimpse of a meaningful smile on her face.

...

On the other side of the second floor was another guest hall, which was situated directly above the downstairs guest hall.

Erwin had followed Onen's instructions to reach the guest hall, and inside the hall sat Countess Onen and her three daughters, all of whom were looking very concerned.

Seated on the single-seater sofa beside them was Countess Onen's younger sister, Baroness Klay.

Baron Klay was also present, and he was looking at the oil paintings in the guest hall to disguise his own unease. As soon as he saw Erwin enter the room, his unease instantly became even more exacerbated, and he didn't know how to greet Erwin.

In fact, everyone in the guest hall immediately became more uneasy and cautious as soon as they saw Erwin enter the room. In their eyes, Erwin was no different from a savage monster.

Faya was the first to rise to her feet, and only then did Erwin understand Onen's intentions.

He was rather amused by this, and he couldn't help but think to himself, Is he trying to use his daughter to seduce me?

The problem with that plan was that Faya was nowhere near beautiful enough to be a seductress.

"Mr. Erwin, may I have word with you in private?" Faya asked in a quiet voice as she approached Erwin.

Looking at the blush on the woman's face, Erwin couldn't help but suspect that she had told her father everything that had happened between them.

Before he even had a chance to reply, he was dragged away by Faya, leaving Countess Onen and her other two daughters to look on with stunned expressions.

Erwin was dragged all the way into Faya's room, and he was feeling rather bemused.

He quickly inspected Faya's room to find that it wasn't as lavish as he imagined, but it was very clean and orderly.

All of a sudden, his attention was drawn to a piece of artwork on the easel.

Is that supposed to be me? Erwin thought to himself as he looked at the man being depicted in the artwork.

In order to ensure that he wasn't misidentifying the subject of the artwork, he approached the easel to take a closer look, upon which he concluded that the image was indeed most likely depicting him.

The problem was that Faya wasn't a very skilled artist, so the artwork only bore a faint resemblance to Erwin.

Erwin turned around and was just about to ask whether the artwork was depicting him, only to have his lips sealed shut.

As it turned out, Faya had sprung forward as quickly as a seasoned martial artist before biting down onto Erwin's lips with incredible accuracy and precision.

Erwin was so taken aback by this that he forgot to resist, allowing Faya to hold onto either side of his face while gnawing at his lips as she pleased.

His eyes were wide with astonishment, and never did he think that he would be the one to be taken advantage of like this.

He was on the brink of asphyxiation, and he was pondering whether he should push Faya away, but thankfully, she released him right as he was beginning to grow a little dizzy.

In the wake of their kiss, Erwin was panting heavily, and he was thanking the heavens that he had clenched his teeth together to form a barrier. Otherwise, he would've been missing a section of his tongue.

As for Faya, she had turned around as if nothing had happened, but she clearly didn't dare to look at Erwin.

"What are you acting all embarrassed for? You're the one who took advantage of me," Erwin jibed as he looked at the deep blush on Faya's face.

"I'm a shameless, immoral woman, aren't I?" Faya asked as she turned around, but her head was lowered, and she still didn't dare to look at Erwin.

Erwin couldn't help but be reminded of their first meeting, and he consoled, "Well, I'm not much better in that department myself."

Looking at the lecherous gleam in Erwin's eyes, Faya knew that he was thinking back to that night, and the blush on her face became even more pronounced.

Erwin was rather amused by the sight of Faya's embarrassed display. He was genuinely interested in her, but that interest wasn't romantic in nature in the slightest.

All of a sudden, Faya looked up at Erwin with an earnest expression before asking, "Can I stay by your side? I'll be content even if I can only act as a sexual partner for you."

Erwin was truly caught completely off guard by this plea.