"Did you notice anyone suspicious among those who came out of the treasury?"

I asked without holding back. The Demon King had refused to answer my questions, and the others said Morvana was the first one on the scene, so I decided to ask her about those fuckers, the transmigrators.

I was sure the ever-cautious Morvana would have made some kind of list of everyone who came out alive, and that was exactly what I needed.

"Suspicious, huh?" Morvana said, her voice amused as she stroked her child. "There were far too many of them. Many races from the Allied Sovereign Species were present, and there were also some long-wanted criminals. So it depends... what kind of suspicion are you looking for?"

"Isn’t there a list or something you made of them?"

I asked, hoping she would hand it over but instead, she narrowed her eyes at me.

"How convenient of you to come asking me for information and help only when you need it." She leaned back in her chair, her gaze sharp. "At other times, you don’t even care about me."

I genuinely wondered what the hell she was talking about, but even my enhanced brain failed to make sense of it.

"What are you talking about, Mom...?" I said, softening both my voice and my smile. "I always care about you. You’re my family, after all."

Like always, lying was my second nature by now.

But Morvana just chuckled.

"Family, huh?" Her gaze grew heavy. "You call me family, and yet you haven’t shared anything about the Treasury? How can you even say that we are family when you don’t even trust me?"

So, that’s what this was about.

I understood immediately.

She continued.

"You went to Anciana at the perfect time, right before the Treasury descended, all because you knew about it. And yet, you didn’t say a word to me? You clearly wanted something from within it, and still you barged in without informing me..."

"...Do you know how worried I was? Thinking about what could have happened to you... or Arza inside that treasury?"

"Am I that untrustworthy?"

Her voice dropped to a pitiful softness as she got up from her chair and walked towards the massive glass window behind her table.

But honestly, if I had fallen for acts like that, I would’ve died ages ago. Her performance felt too real, her emotions perfectly aligned and yet something in my gut screamed that something wasn’t right.

And with her still hiding her true name... how could I trust her?

But an act was still an act. And I didn’t want to anger her unnecessarily and paint a big target on my back. So I opened my mouth to speak.

"I didn’t know about it. Trust me, Mom. It was just... something within me that pushed me to go to Anciana."

I continued in the same oblivious tone.

"I didn’t know what was going to happen there or anything else, I just knew I had to be there. I didn’t want to involve you in something so pointless, so I kept it to myself."

As soon as I said those words, she walked toward me and hugged me from behind. Warmth spread through my body. The scent of sweet lilies, mixed with something I couldn’t quite place, was overwhelming as she whispered softly into my ear.

"Don’t do such reckless things next time, okay? You call me Mom... so try trusting me for once. No matter how small it seems, tell me everything from now on."

Her voice remained gentle as she tightened her embrace. And strangely enough, my mind went blank for a moment before it was abruptly pulled back by a cold ding, followed by a holographic screen appearing in front of me.

[MOON CARD HAS RESISTED THE USAGE OF SKILL ????]

HUH?! What the actual fuck?

Did she just try to use some kind of mental manipulation on me? And here I was, actually thinking she trusted me.

Ahh... life. Always full of unexpected betrayals.

But I didn’t act like it hadn’t worked. Instead, I nodded like a mindless puppet. "Yes, Mom. I’ll share everything with you from now on."

Like hell I would.

As soon as I said that, she let go of me and walked back to her usual seat as if nothing had happened. I didn’t dwell on it either, even though my back still lingered with warmth.

She pulled out a file from beneath her desk.

"Here, this contains the names of everyone we found at the site. You can have it, but I want a complete report on what happened inside the Treasury."

Her voice softened slightly.

"I would have asked right away, but you seem tired, so get some proper rest before that, okay?"

I nodded and without hesitation, after a brief goodbye, I left her office and made my way toward my dorm.

Morvana is suspicious of me...

I could feel it. I had expected as much since I planned to enter the divine treasury, but her suspicion ran deeper than I had anticipated. Still, not everything was lost.

My foundation with her remained intact and as long as I kept feeding her enough useless carrots, I would be the one walking away with all the gold.

The walk back home was uneventful, as it rarely ever was. No arrogant young master wannabe blocked my path, Death didn’t try to kiss me like usual, and there definitely wasn’t any monster disguised as one of my friends waiting for me to exhaust myself with endless yapping.

Once I got back, the first thing I noticed was how clean everything looked. Then my eyes landed on the woman sprawled across the couch in my living room as if she owned the place. Her red hair spilled over the armrest as she snored loudly, clearly in deep sleep.

She wore her usual black martial artist cloak.

She was Fiola, Bearlo’s master.

But more importantly... What the hell was she doing here?