Ch.29Salary Thief (Interlude)

“This is exhausting…”

After posting a notice about uploading an explanation, I turned off my MagicPad and let out a deep sigh.

“This is impossible to figure out…”

From what I heard, the forum had been created hundreds of years ago, but there was almost no involvement in managing it.

At most, when a Magic Tower Master died, the next Tower Master would be assigned the role of administrator, and then left to figure out the rest on their own.

Even ordinary mages had never seen Eterna’s face, as she rarely engaged in public activities. Even the Magic Tower Masters, who had the most occasions to meet her, mostly encountered Eterna only in official settings.

It seemed that naturally, Eterna had been treated as having the image of a lofty sage who had transcended worldly matters.

‘Could it be…’

I remember when we first met, she mentioned the Transcendent Forum.

Considering she said she was busy with that and dumped the position of top administrator on me, I can only think the answer lies there.

The problem is…

‘I don’t know how to access it…’

I don’t know how to access this so-called Transcendent Forum.

It might be in the status window, but…

“I need to rest now…”

I’m too mentally exhausted to browse forums.

To be precise, my body wasn’t tired at all, but I was mentally drained.

Being in an administrator position here felt at least twice as heavy as being an administrator in the modern world.

Back then, users didn’t know who I was, and the perception of moderators was basically that we were volunteering as slaves for no pay.

Still, they were grateful people who maintained the forum in my place, so most users basically respected and appreciated my existence.

But here it was different.

Just being a Magic Tower Master alone brought enormous expectations.

‘No more free rides, I guess.’

I thought while lying on the bed.

It seems like free rides are a thing of the past…

*Knock knock knock!*

“Who is it?”

“Sister~”

“Irina?”

That voice is Irina’s.

She’s the only one who would come to my room so openly and knock on the door like this.

As soon as I answered that she could come in, the door clicked open and Irina walked in with a somewhat sulky expression.

She approached me, looked down at me lying on the bed, and then lay down beside me.

“What is it now?”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Huh?”

“About Eterna… what happened?”

Ah, so that’s what she came to ask about.

It made sense.

From Irina’s perspective, we went to the Aether Tower together, and while we were there having fun for a while, I had become the top administrator of the Aether Tower forum and came back with an enormous amount of money.

“Sigh… I wonder about that myself…”

I’m really struggling with how to explain this.

If I were to tell the whole truth, my pride would certainly be torn to shreds, so I couldn’t bring myself to do that.

“Were you… blackmailed?”

“B-blackmailed? What do you mean…”

That’s not entirely wrong.

She’s closest to the truth…

If blackmail doesn’t work, perhaps it’s because there’s not enough money…

Ahem.

“It’s not blackmail, so you don’t need to worry. It’s just…”

This really isn’t right.

Actually, the explanation is very simple.

Eterna gave me an enormous amount of money in exchange for taking over as top administrator to manage the forum in her place and calling her “sister.”

Those were the two conditions I had to meet, and she said she would send money every month.

Essentially, the moment I agreed to this, I wouldn’t have to worry about funds for the Blood Magic Tower.

Of course, she wouldn’t give the same amount I received this time every month. This large sum included support funds that had barely been given to the Blood Magic Tower until now.

But even without those support funds, it was still a huge amount of money.

It was the best solution that would make everyone in the Blood Magic Tower, including myself, happy if I could just endure a little, so there was no reason for me not to comply.

If only I sacrificed… my pride…

There, with this, we create a world where everyone is happy…

“Haah…”

I have nothing to say.

“Sister…”

Irina looked at me with a somewhat sad expression and then gently embraced me.

“I don’t like that person.”

“Who?”

“Lady Eterna.”

“Hey now, that’s disrespectful…”

If someone else had heard that, I would have scolded them severely for saying such things.

“But… she’s making you troubled!”

“I didn’t know you cared about me that much…”

Irina’s words made me feel a bit comforted, and a smile spread across my face.

Hmm… oh?

Suddenly, I became curious.

“Between Count Vladimir and me, who do you like more?”

When I asked with a grin, Irina’s eyes widened.

“Umm…”

After a moment, as if understanding my question, Irina’s expression began to contort.

“Uuu…”

After about 20 seconds of contemplation, Irina’s expression gradually began to crumble, and tears started to…

“N-never mind, you don’t have to answer.”

“Okay…”

I almost made the child who was comforting me cry…

“Is it that hard to choose?”

“Yes…”

Hmm.

I didn’t know it would be that difficult.

For this child, it was no different than asking a child who is deeply loved by both parents whether they prefer mom or dad.

Moreover, it wasn’t just anyone asking, but someone in one of the highest positions in the Magical Kingdom, a Magic Tower Master, asking whether she preferred the hero who created and spread Blood Magic in the past or the current Magic Tower Master representing the Blood Magic Tower.

‘Oh no…’

Thinking about it that way, I realized I had asked a question that put too much pressure on her.

“Ahem… I’m sorry. I didn’t consider your position…”

“It’s okay…”

Irina’s expression wasn’t very good.

Well, of course. Being asked by someone she calls “sister” and follows well whether she prefers me or Count Vladimir must have been a heart-pounding, nerve-wracking question for Irina.

I almost hit a critical point.

“Hmm…”

Right, I was going to do this for Irina anyway.

I might as well do it now, using this incident as an opportunity.

“Um… Irina.”

“Yes…?”

“As an apology, I’ll give you a gift.”

I sat up.

‘Vampires can turn others into servants by biting them or directly injecting their blood.’

That technique where vampires drink someone’s blood and turn them into their servants.

But having lived as part of the Hero’s party, I had already mastered most of the techniques that vampires can use.

And the most surprising thing was that I could strengthen others by crystallizing my power.

I named this the Blood Strengthening Art.

To be precise, it strengthens the blood throughout the body and helps it carry more magical power, aiding in blood movement.

For mages, since the magical power entering the blood increases, reducing the magical power they can handle, the efficiency would be low. However, Blood Magic, which was created following the Blood Claw Art, greatly helps in handling magical power like one’s own limbs, which is the foundation of the Blood Claw Art.

Among all my students, Irina has the greatest potential for Blood Magic.

“But… I should say, if we’re going to do this, we need to do it properly.”

I don’t want to hurt Irina.

But I also didn’t want to do a half-hearted job when there was a way to help Irina handle Blood Magic better.

Then there was only one thing for me to do.

Use the Blood Strengthening Art properly.

“Can you… offer me your neck for a moment?”

Irina is a precocious and exceptionally intelligent child.

At my request to offer her neck, Irina’s eyes widened.

“Are you… really going to suck my blood…?”

“Suck your blood… I won’t do such a thing. I’m just giving you my blood.”

When I answered Irina, who was asking with an expectant expression, telling her not to have false expectations, she immediately became dejected.

“Tch…”

Her expression soured.

“If you’re not going to suck my blood, I don’t want to do it…”

“W-what are you saying?! This will be a great help for your Blood Magic…”

“No! I want you to suck my blood, sister!”

“…”

Wh-what…

What is this… crazy…

‘She’s serious…’

This Irina.

She was dead serious.

If I didn’t suck her blood, she was going to struggle and break free even while I had my fangs embedded in her neck.

“…”

Well…

If she insists this much, what can I do?

It’s entirely up to me whether I kill someone or not, and whether I make them my servant or not.

In the old days, it wasn’t easy to resist that instinct, but since becoming a Transcendent, the urge to drink blood had disappeared.

I should be able to overcome the instinct without much difficulty.

“Fine…”

I surrendered.

Considering my future plans to make Irina the next Magic Tower Master so I could enjoy a comfortable retirement, I had to do this right now.

“I’ll… suck your blood.”

I decided to suck her blood.

Since it’s come to this, I need to make it clear to her.

Who she asked to suck her blood.

I bared my fangs.

It was feeding time.