Investing in the Three Villainesses Gives Me Infinite Returns

Elias stepped farther into the basement, and his gaze immediately settled on the severed arm resting upon the wooden table.

The bleeding had already stopped, while the cut itself was unnaturally smooth because of Lastbane’s sharpness, making it possible to place the severed limb against the stump at Trons’s shoulder as though the arm had never been removed in the first place.

Benjamin followed him with curious eyes, keeping a respectful distance as he tried to understand what his master intended to do.

Elias held the arm firmly against Trons’s shoulder and focused his mind on the process he had learned from Monica.

He pictured the green life flame, its structure, its vitality, and the way it could be replicated and projected outside his body, then prepared himself to cast Heal.

Before he could complete the process, however, an orange screen suddenly flickered before his eyes.

[Zero-circle spell: Heal (B) has already been registered as a skill. The host can cast the spell without spellcasting by using the command ”Heal.”]

Elias blinked as he read the notification.

’I can cast magic without having to go through the tedious process of spellcasting?’

The realization left him genuinely stunned.

From everything Monica had explained, spellcasting was one of the greatest weaknesses of inexperienced mages.

A mage had to understand the structure of a spell, control their mana, construct the necessary pattern, and then carefully reproduce the desired effect. Even the simplest spells could become troublesome if the caster lacked sufficient experience.

Elias found the entire process unnecessarily rigid.

He had already learned that the arcane required extraordinary precision, but being forced to follow a set of complicated procedures every time he wanted to cast a spell sounded absurd to him. Fortunately, the system had apparently removed that inconvenience.

Still, Elias didn’t waste any more time thinking about it.

’Heal.’

A tiny green flame immediately appeared above his free palm, flickering gently in the dim basement.

Elias felt a subtle connection between himself and the flame, almost as though it were an extension of his own will. He focused on that sensation before thinking about moving it.

The flame listened.

It shifted slightly above his palm.

Benjamin’s eyes widened.

”Is that Healing magic?” he asked in awe.

Elias nodded.

Benjamin’s gaze moved toward Trons’s severed arm before returning to the green flame.

”You are healing him...?” he questioned, clearly surprised.

Elias nodded again before explaining, ”I made the decision in the heat of the moment, and I intend to stand by it, but taking a swordsman’s arm is no different from taking his life.”

He glanced toward Benjamin as he continued, ”If Berlic finds out that I attacked an Outer Night Watch knight, he would still have to establish a council and go through various procedures before he could do anything to me. However, if I leave Trons without his arm, he would not need to do any of that because he would have a direct justification to punish me.”

Benjamin remained silent as he listened.

Elias returned his attention to the green flame and carefully guided it forward.

The tiny flame floated through the air before settling over the narrow gap between Trons’s shoulder and his severed arm.

The moment it touched the wound, the green light spread across the damaged area.

Elias could perceive the changes through his connection with the spell.

Veins began reconnecting first, their severed ends extending toward one another before joining together. Muscles followed, their torn fibers gradually rebuilding as the healing energy restored them layer by layer. Tissues regenerated around them, while damaged nerves and smaller blood vessels slowly returned to their original positions.

Then the bones began reconnecting.

The process was strangely fascinating to Elias because he could sense every change occurring beneath Trons’s skin, almost as though he were watching the healing process directly through his own perception.

However, the green flame gradually weakened.

Elias frowned slightly.

’A single Heal isn’t enough.’

He summoned another green flame and directed it toward the wound, allowing the healing energy to continue repairing what remained damaged.

Then he cast Heal again.

And once more.

Each spell reinforced the previous one, gradually restoring the severed arm until the connection between the limb and shoulder became complete.

After several casts, Elias finally withdrew his hand.

The wound had completely disappeared.

The arm was perfectly attached.

There wasn’t even a scar.

Elias straightened Trons’s body before turning toward the table and reaching for the cuffs Benjamin had prepared.

”Even though you do not seem like it, you know politics quite well, my lord,” Benjamin commented as he watched Elias.

Elias chuckled while picking up the restraints.

”I simply said what Aemon Crimson did to Tristan Dorne,” he said.

Benjamin frowned.

”I do not recall a Crimson by the name Aemon.”

Elias turned around, with two pairs of cuffs hanging from his hands.

”I am talking about my great-great-grandfather, Aemon Crimson, the Broken Sword.”

”Ah...” Benjamin murmured, and a faint look of recognition appeared in his eyes. ”Now that you say that, I do vaguely recall something.”

Elias approached the unconscious Trons and removed their armor before securing one pair of cuffs around his wrists and fastening him to iron nails embedded in the stone wall.

He then moved toward Part and repeated the process, ensuring that both men were firmly restrained and unable to move freely once they regained consciousness.

”When I was a child, I had a maidservant,” he said as he secured the final restraint. ”She was the one who taught me how to write, read, count, and everything else.”

He moved toward Part and checked the restraints before continuing, ”She also held a strange fascination with history, so much so that she felt more like a scholar than a maid.”

Benjamin listened without interrupting.

Elias finished securing both men before examining them one final time.

Their wrists were bound tightly to the wall, leaving them almost no room to move, while their bodies, which were only covered in training attire, remained suspended against the cold stone.

He then reached down and picked up pieces of cloth from the table.

Without hesitation, Elias walked toward Trons and pushed the cloth into his mouth before doing the same to Part.

The two unconscious knights could no longer shout once they awakened, ensuring that whatever happened inside the basement would remain confined to the room.

Benjamin’s expression became increasingly solemn as he watched.

Elias stepped away from the wall and returned to the table, his gaze moving across the various tools Benjamin had prepared earlier.

His eyes eventually settled upon a large needle-like instrument.

He picked it up and examined its pointed tip for a moment before turning toward Benjamin.

The old butler stood silently near the table, waiting for his master’s next command.

Elias held the tool loosely in one hand as he looked toward the two unconscious knights hanging against the wall.

”Wake them,” he ordered. ”The night is going to be long.”