Ch.2727. The Negotiation Table

“Would you like some tea?”

When the maid who guided Karen and the Chancellor asked, Deus waved her away.

“No need. They are not guests worth entertaining.”

At the blatant remark about unwelcome visitors, the Chancellor gritted his teeth, forcibly suppressing the twitching of his facial skin.

He too was a man who held the position of Academy Chancellor.

Even when emotions ran high and judgment became clouded, he was a man who made rational choices in prepared situations like this.

“I apologize, Professor Deus.”

He began with a polite bow.

“Your dismissal was extremely unjust and proceeded without proper verification. We focused on mere rumors and skipped over the facts.”

This was also backed by the testimonies of reliable professors like Erika and Gideon.

Originally, he was just a visiting professor.

Moreover, since he was Erika’s connection and she had rejected him, they had lightly dismissed him, thinking there was no need to keep him around.

“No apology necessary.”

Deus stated emotionlessly. He truly appeared indifferent.

“I wonder if your doubts about my actions have now been resolved. That’s what I’d like to ask first.”

Despite knowing everything already.

Karen knew Deus was deliberately demanding this question-and-answer session, but from the Chancellor’s position, he had no choice but to respond.

After all, they were in an absolutely subordinate position right now.

“Yes, we now understand it was to resolve the evil spirits wandering around the academy.”

“…”

“We, we were inadequate in our response since such entities were new to us. I apologize.”

Evil spirits.

In a word, ghosts.

Quite mysterious beings, aren’t they?

Among Black Mages, there are those who manipulate corpses as undead.

These individuals are called necromancers.

They use corpses but cannot handle the souls contained within.

That’s why among Black Mages, those who manipulate souls—spirit masters—were even more rare.

Karen stepped in at this point.

“I have one question, Lord Deus.”

The Chancellor was flustered by this unexpected interruption, but Deus naturally shifted his gaze from the Chancellor to Karen.

“What is it?”

“I too have had many experiences crossing numerous battle lines. Among them were matters related to spirit magic.”

Deus nodded for him to continue.

“I understand that souls enter rest after death. They fall into eternal sleep. However, I’ve heard that occasionally those with deep grudges or strong egos awaken as spirits.”

Deus said nothing. It was an affirmation.

“I understand that most such souls cannot be seen, touched, or interfered with by us. If I had to specify…”

Glance.

Karen naturally observed the reactions as his eyes swept over Darius and Deia.

“Only a spirit master would be capable of that.”

Twitch.

Deia maintained her composure, but Darius showed a slight reaction.

‘Spirit master possibility 50%.’

Karen increased the probability in his mind and naturally continued speaking.

“I’ll be honest. We secretly brought in a spirit master to resolve this situation.”

Darius and Deia swallowed hard. Not only that, but the Chancellor was glaring at him as if asking why he would say such a thing.

But it couldn’t be helped.

He wanted to cause at least some disturbance to that man who maintained a poker face without showing any reaction.

‘Now, what’s the reaction?’

He wondered what kind of response he would show.

But.

“Huh?”

Seeing Deus’s expression, Karen exhaled in surprise.

Because.

He was angry.

With his features contorted intensely.

So much that a vein bulged on his white forehead beneath his black hair.

“What pathetic, nonsense.”

Deus spat out as if exhaling. His reaction was so fierce that it made Darius and Deia take a step back.

The air in the room changed.

A chill beyond mere coldness firmly settled in the room.

No one present was unaware that it was because of the man called Deus.

“I’m sure I wrote a letter. Did you ignore what was written in number 8?”

“…Number 8, number 8! That was the missing number you mentioned!”

At this, even Deus’s eyes trembled slightly. He closed his mouth for a moment, exhaled, and returned to the same emotionless expression as before.

“I see. So that’s why the situation escalated this far.”

Deus seemed to understand something on his own. Karen, curious, asked.

“What exactly was written in number 8?”

“…”

Deus glanced at Karen and tossed out his answer as if it no longer mattered.

“I wrote not to needlessly provoke them.”

“Ah.”

“After bringing in the spirit master, the situation worsened, I presume?”

The Chancellor quickly answered as if he had been waiting for those words.

“Y-yes! Because of that, both students and professors are suffering terribly now. Especially the many students who stayed on the second floor of the dormitory—they’ve fallen into comas and can’t wake up!”

At those words, Deia seemed to soften, swallowing and glancing at Deus.

No matter what, it was distressing that such a situation had befallen the students.

But Deus coldly declared:

“Enough with the emotional appeal. Let’s end the small talk and get started.”

“Ahem.”

The Chancellor had planned to use the students as his trump card strategy, but Deus cut him off with ice-cold directness.

Karen took out the contract from his bag and handed it to Deus.

After carefully examining the contract for a moment, he gently pushed it back and answered.

“This falls far short of my standards.”

“What? Whaat?”

The Chancellor’s voice rose in disbelief, his mouth gaping like a toad.

“N-no! This is truly the level that top professors receive! Lord Deus, you’re still a new professor without accumulated years of service! In fact, even this is an unreasonable amount!”

“Then let’s leave.”

Deus answered without any room for negotiation, making the Chancellor feel like he was burning inside.

If he couldn’t secure him now?

The complaints and screams already coming from the academy students. And the parents who would follow, demanding accountability.

Even the royal support being cut off.

Feeling dizzy, the Chancellor asked with trembling lips.

“Th-then how much more do you want? If you tell us the amount, we’ll try our best to match it.”

“200 million. Exactly 200 million gold is my agreement.”

“Ah…”

What did this madman just say?

It felt like his intestines were twisting. His sweat had already soaked his entire body as if he’d been caught in the rain, beyond what could be wiped away.

He sent a subtle signal to Karen for help.

After all, as a veteran who had negotiated compensation many times during his mercenary work, Karen would likely be better than the Chancellor who had only exercised his mind behind a desk.

Finally, Karen stepped forward and intervened.

“Even so, 200 million is too much. Professor Deus, honestly speaking, even I make 70,000 annually. Isn’t this excessive greed for a new appointee?”

“Hmm.”

“You should compromise to at least 150 million…”

“If you’re planning to haggle like at a market, let’s leave.”

Deus interrupted Karen, placing his hands on the desk and interlocking his fingers.

He showed no sign of backing down. Firm as a mountain, Deus gave his counterparts a strange sense of frustration.

With each word he uttered, the Chancellor looked like he might faint.

“No, it’s impossible! 200 million? 200 million, you say? What kind of unreasonable demand is that!”

“Hmm.”

To the Chancellor who was almost crying and begging, Deus picked up a quill pen from beside him and added something to the contract.

“Additionally, annual research equipment support.”

“Wh-what is this!”

Didn’t he just say it was impossible?

The Chancellor could barely distinguish between his profusely flowing sweat and his tears.

“P-please give us some room for compromise. 200 million is too much!”

“Hmm.”

Again!

Again! That “hmm”!

The Chancellor wanted to sew his mouth shut. He felt like his lifespan was decreasing by a year each time Deus opened his mouth.

“Privatization of research equipment used over four years. After all, what I’ve used can’t be reused by other professors.”

“Ah, aah!”

Was he saying he would take ownership of items purchased with academy funds after four years?

What an outrageous—!

“What nonsense is this! You want to privatize items purchased with academy finances!”

“Let’s add access rights to the restricted book list in the Royal Millennium Library.”

He felt like he was losing his mind.

Truly, the Chancellor was boiling with the desire to punch that bastard in the mouth, but.

Because of Darius, the Verdi giant, glaring at him from the side, he couldn’t go beyond clenching his fists.

“N-no. Please make a more rational judgment! I beg you!”

“I’ll also add quarterly private trips for research-related data investigation and field verification.”

“Aaaah!”

“Let’s be quiet for a moment.”

Karen urgently covered the Chancellor’s mouth. He was completely entangled with this person called Deus, about to give away everything including his liver and gallbladder.

Though Karen found the Chancellor’s sweaty palm on his hand unpleasant, he asked Deus:

“Let me just confirm one thing. If Lord Deus returns to his position, will the current situation truly be resolved?”

“Yes.”

A simple yet audacious statement. But that very boldness lent it more credibility.

It meant he was so confident that he didn’t need to add any further explanation.

Additionally, Deus coldly declared:

“You seem to be misunderstanding something.”

He slowly leaned back against the chair. If there had been tea, he would have created an atmosphere of elegantly and leisurely enjoying a sip.

“This is not a negotiation.”

It was absolutely correct.

This wasn’t a negotiation but a threat.

He was saying, quite gentlemanly in a way, that if they wanted to save the academy, they should pay as much as his side wanted.

It was a mistake to have started by viewing him simply as a professor. In fact, the fate of the academy was at stake.

Karen honestly admitted that they had been too fixated on the professorship.

That’s why Karen voiced the question that suddenly came to mind.

“Do you truly intend to return to your position?”

Deus paused for a moment, then.

“No.”

He answered firmly.