Chapter 35: Transaction established

The academy raid incident was safely resolved.

The two men who invaded along with Isadora were captured alive through the cooperation of other professors, and Isadora herself also completely vanished after my final blow.

She’s probably not dead.

To be precise, she must be dead for now, but she’ll resurrect soon.

Isadora’s unique trait is immortality.

Of course, she’ll come back much weaker than before.

Since she died from getting hit with holy magic, the damage will be even more severe.

The proper strategy to defeat Isadora is to kill her several more times and then seal her when she’s weakened enough.

———————————————————————————–

[Status]
Name: Luke Richter
Level: 70
Gender: Male
Mana: 12,050

< Synchronization Rate: 13% >

————————————————————————————–

Although the experience points were minimal since it wasn’t a complete kill, reaching the formidable level 70 itself is a significant upgrade.

‘This is top-notch.’

I walked with a satisfied smile on my face.

My destination was the principal’s office—Stella had summoned me.

She’s probably going to ask about the incident.

But that’s not the important part right now.

The real issue is the fact that I used a 9-star magic.

In front of everyone, I nonchalantly unleashed a 9-star spell.

And not just any magic—it was holy magic.

Of course, thanks to that, I managed to suppress the raid, but a different problem arose.

“Your Holiness! Please allow me to greet you!”

Suddenly, my path was blocked as a man knelt and bowed his head.

It was George Arrote, the main villain of the second episode.

That guy is now kneeling in front of me, babbling nonsense.

I frowned and cut him off.

“Sorry, but I’m not a saint.”
“No, you are indeed the Saint. You don’t need to hide it from a servant of God like me.”
“What the hell… I said I’m not!”
“You must return to the Holy Empire. God is calling you.”

He’s completely out of his mind.

He’s one of those religious fanatics from the Holy Empire who cranked up their faith to the maximum level, making it impossible to communicate with him.

No matter what I say, his answer always boils down to “Saint, you must return to the Holy Empire.”

Is this guy some sort of saint macro?

“You must accomplish a feat befitting your position as a Saint. Please come with me.”

Crack—

I couldn’t hold my anger any longer.

I wasn’t planning on saying this, but I can’t take it anymore.

To hit him where it hurts, I casually threw out a line.

“Did you come all this way to kidnap Odette? Where are you planning to return to?”
“…How did you know? Ah, you must have received a revelation.”

What the f*ck? No matter what I say, he interprets it as divine will.

Are we even speaking the same language here?

“There’s no need to worry about that. All priorities change according to God’s will.”

So, in other words, the obsession he originally had with Odette is now redirected toward me?

“…Should I feel happy about this or not?”

From the perspective of future developments, this is certainly a good thing.

The justification for him to kidnap Odette has disappeared, and the likelihood of him turning into a villain has significantly decreased.

The problem, though, is that this obsessive and deranged fixation of his is now aimed at me.

First things first, I need to establish a hierarchy between us.

If this guy keeps following me around like this, it’ll be more than just a little inconvenient.

“What if I don’t want to go back?”
“Excuse me?”
“What if I refuse to return?”
“…I do not wish to resort to violence against the Saint.”

I scoffed openly at his response.

“Force? You think you can beat me?”
“There is no greater honor than death in the service of God.”
“……”

This lunatic doesn’t even flinch at a bluff.

Look at that resolute expression, as if he’s fully prepared to meet his death.

I clicked my tongue at his obsession, which bordered on madness.

Honestly, I’d love to just kill him, but the problem is that if I pick a fight with him at level 70, the one who ends up dead will probably be me.

“…I’ll go to the Holy Empire on my own, so don’t rush me.”
“On your own? You, the Saint?”
“Yeah, I was planning to visit during the break anyway.”
“Aah…! Finally, light shall shine upon the Holy Kingdom…!”

Overwhelmed with emotion, George Arrote clasped his hands together and immediately began praying.

Taking advantage of his distraction, I left him behind and continued on my way.

I don’t have time to waste exchanging pointless banter with him.

The fact that the future is starting to change is no small matter.

‘Was it a mistake to bring the Necronomicon?’

If the Necronomicon falls into their hands, the descent of the Demon God is just around the corner.

At least, the descent of the Demon God was an anticipated future, but now that the future itself is being messed up, even responding to it has become impossible.

I have no choice but to move up the plan.

I need to expedite the Necronomicon activation, head into the chapel, and hunt down demons to level up.

To start that process, I first need Stella’s cooperation.

To activate the Necronomicon, the use of demonic energy (magia) is essential.

“Hah…”

I’ll just confront her and see how it goes.

After that, future me can handle it.

---

Inside the Principal’s Office

“I owe you another favor.”
“At least you’re aware of it.”
“What reward do you want?”
“Obviously, money.”

Stella smirked lightly and nodded.

“Who would’ve thought, even for a dragon.”

She still thinks I’m a dragon.
I didn’t bother denying it anymore.

I’ve denied it multiple times already, but she never believes me, and honestly, being recognized as a dragon has its conveniences.

As our conversation progressed, I slowly brought up the real issue.

When I mentioned that I wanted to learn magia, Stella raised an eyebrow.

“Magia? What do you plan to do with that?”
“I need it because of the Necronomicon.”
“What, are you planning to enter the chapel yourself?”
“Yes.”

Stella stroked her chin, narrowing her eyes as she looked at me.
I sat calmly, meeting her gaze.

“Who would’ve thought—a dragon that seems to know everything.”
“……”

When it comes to in-game knowledge, I probably know more than any dragon.
No matter how much of a repository of knowledge dragons are, they can’t foresee the future.

“Teaching you isn’t the problem.”
“Then…?”
“But it’s going to be impossible anyway. Magia and mana are fundamentally opposing forces.”

It’s common knowledge that magia and mana can’t coexist.
They’re like oil and water—completely incompatible.

From Stella’s perspective, it makes no sense.
Why would a dragon, the progenitor of magic, give up mana to learn magia?

“It’s fine.”
“Fine? You’d have to empty everything and start from scratch.”
“I have a way.”
“…You have a way?”

But I don’t have to worry.

I have the system on my side.

‘I just need to learn magia as a skill.’

Instead of directly manipulating magia, I just need to acquire a single skill that utilizes it.
Magia automatically comes into play when using death attribute magic.

Of course, I can’t explain the system in detail here.
At times like this, insisting is the best strategy.

“What kind of method?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Wow, and you’re asking me to teach you like that? Is that really the attitude of a dragon?”
“You’ll have to teach me.”

I deliberately lowered my voice.
If stubbornness doesn’t work, I’ll have to move on to the next step.

“And if I don’t teach you?”
“Then the world will end. Sooner rather than later.”
“……”

Stella’s face twisted into a grimace.
But I couldn’t back down now.

Suppressing my swirling emotions, I stared her down.

“Sigh…”

Did I manage to assert dominance?
Stella clicked her tongue and let out a deep breath.

“I heard you used a 9-star holy magic to take down that lunatic Isadora?”
“……”
“A dragon with such strong faith wanting to control magia… There must be a good reason.”

From a dragon just out to play, I’ve now become a devout, holy dragon.
At this point, I’m not sure anymore. Maybe it’s better to just go along with it.

“Fine, I’ll teach you.”
“Then…!”
“But before that.”

A sly grin spread across Stella’s face.

“If you’re a dragon, you should know that nothing in the world comes for free.”
“Do you want something in return?”
“You’ll have to accompany me somewhere during the break.”
“Where…?”

A sudden sense of foreboding washed over me.
At the same time, a dangerous thought flashed through my mind.

No way…
It couldn’t be…

Gulp—
My throat tightened.

Then Stella parted her lips, her expression firm.

“Blackmoor.”

Sh*t.
I knew it. The worst-case scenario just became reality.

“We’re going to Blackmoor, and you’re going to help me.”

The City of Witches, Blackmoor.
Stella’s hometown and one of the final content regions.

The place itself is dangerous, but that’s not why I’m so alarmed.

“You’re going to bring back one of your fellow dragons sealed there.”

The Evil Dragon Fafnir, sealed in a cave at the heart of Blackmoor.
He’s the reason Stella eventually meets her demise, and soon he’ll break free from his seal and devastate Blackmoor.

Stella is essentially asking me to deal with him.

“A dragon should clean up the mess made by other dragons, right? I’ll teach you magia once we’re there. Besides, going to Blackmoor is a necessary step to learn magia anyway.”

My mind went blank for a moment, and I slowly blinked.

The Fafnir Raid.
A relationship quest that appears when Stella’s favorability reaches its peak, and a high-difficulty raid content that usually comes much later.

She wants me to kill Fafnir now? Is that even remotely possible?

But suddenly, a brilliant idea struck me.

‘Why not just throw the still-sealed Fafnir into the Necronomicon?’

If he’s too strong to kill, I could just use the chapel as a garbage bin.
Demons or devils will naturally show up and handle him.

My calculations were complete in an instant, and a faint smile tugged at my lips.

“Deal?”
“Deal.”

The transaction was sealed.