Vol 4. Chapter 117: Negotiations
Half a day earlier,
Inside the vice headmaster’s office,
Moses, the vice headmaster of Yexinlian Royal Academy, was sitting upright on the sofa with an extremely serious expression, his hands trembling slightly as he looked through the documents in his grasp.
After roughly finishing them and understanding the other party’s intentions, the vice headmaster could not help showing an angry expression.
The next moment,
Moses suddenly tightened his five fingers. Dense magical power burst forth, instantly blasting the documents in his hand into scraps.
Then, the short old man glared unhappily at the person in front of him.
“You... You must be joking! Aren’t you deliberately making things difficult for me?!”
His hoarse voice echoed throughout the office.
However,
faced with Moses’s roar, the lively young man sitting on the sofa opposite him merely waved his hand indifferently. He had short light-blue hair tied into a single ponytail, and the words ‘harmless to humans and animals’ might as well have been written all over his face.
With an innocent look in his eyes, he met Moses’s furious gaze.
“How would this be making things difficult for you, Mr. Moses? Isn’t this very simple? All you have to do is nod your head.”
“How is it simple?!”
Moses immediately retorted:
“Although Yexinlian Royal Academy is nominally completely independent, one of the academy’s largest sponsors is still the Crimson Leaf Empire’s imperial family! You know perfectly well what the current relationship between the Crimson Leaf Empire and the Sadik Empire is like. Making someone from the Black Rose Family a teacher? You’re practically forcing the Crimson Leaf imperial family to come invite me over for tea!”
“What’s wrong with drinking some tea? It could even improve your relationship. Wouldn’t that be a good thing?”
“You?!!”
The blue-haired young man—A-San, captain of the Ghost Star Flame Group’s Third Squad—gave a teasing smile.
“Hehe, all right, I’ll stop joking with you. Actually, there’s no need to worry. Hasn’t Yexinlian always claimed that it wants to promote diverse education? Hiring a teacher from the Sadik Empire isn’t that big of a deal. I’m sure our intelligent, capable, and reasonable Vice Headmaster Moses will have no trouble dealing with any questions from the Crimson Leaf imperial family.”
Upon hearing this,
veins bulged even more prominently across Moses’s forehead, and flames of fury seemed ready to burst from his eyes.
At that moment, the short old man angrily raised his cane and pointed it straight at A-San’s nose.
“You! That’s easy for you to say!”
“Hmm? Is it really that difficult?”
“Of course it is! Hiring someone from the Black Rose Family would already be one thing. If she were some exceptionally talented scholar, at least I’d have a reasonable excuse. But the person you’re talking about just happens to be some useless noble young... young... Hm??!!”
Huh?!
However,
before he could finish speaking, an eerie chill and terrifying murderous intent suddenly caused Moses’s words to stop dead.
His entire body instantly froze in place.
The words he had been about to say were forcibly swallowed back down.
What? What’s going on?!
At that moment, Moses was astonished to discover that although the Ghost Star Flame Group captain before him was still smiling as cheerfully as ever, faint rays of bone-chilling cold light had appeared at some unknown point within his slightly narrowed eyes.
𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶
Moses instantly shuddered.
The oppressive aura of a Seventh-Tier Mage Saint abruptly spread out, invisibly suppressing Moses until he could barely breathe.
And it was not only the atmosphere surrounding A-San that had suddenly changed.
The elderly Black Rose Family butler leaning against the windowsill also revealed an incomparably cold expression.
Although the other party’s strength was inferior to his own, the pressure emanating from him was inexplicably immense...
Even stranger was that,
perhaps it was merely Moses’s imagination,
but he somehow felt as though...
another wave of killing intent was coming from behind him...
Wasn’t there no one there??!
...
For a moment, a bead of cold sweat slowly slid down Moses’s forehead.
His wildly pounding heart even seemed ready to burst out of his chest.
Did...
I say something wrong?
Realizing this, Moses took a deep breath, hurriedly lowered his cane, and immediately changed his wording.
He did not know why, but he had the distinct feeling that if he continued speaking the way he had just been speaking, he would not merely have to withdraw from the education sector—
he might have to withdraw from the biological world as well...
“I... I... I didn’t mean it like that... I... What I meant is that the Black Rose Family’s young lady... has never taught at any academy before, nor has she obtained any kind of teaching qualification. In everyone else’s eyes, she’s also nothing more than a noble young lady who has spent most of her life secluded in the south. If someone like that suddenly became a teacher at Yexinlian Royal Academy—and even the lead instructor of the Star Source Comprehensive Class—I’m afraid many people would object. I wouldn’t have any reasonable justification for it either.”
“I see...”
After Moses changed his wording, the suffocating atmosphere around them gradually dissipated.
A-San chuckled again and waved his hand.
“You don’t have to worry about that. Our Miss Yu has a specialty of her own. According to Yexinlian Royal Academy’s rules, people possessing certain special skills can also be hired as exceptions, can’t they?”
“A specialty? Wh-What specialty?!”
“It was written in the documents you just read. Knowledge and skills related to Abyss Demons.”
“Huh? Stop joking. How could a noble young lady know anything about that?”
“Come on, Mr. Moses.”
Faced with Moses’s incredulous expression, A-San’s eyes gradually became cold, carrying a tone that allowed no doubt.
“I can’t really explain how she knows it. In any case, Vice Headmaster Moses, all you need to know is that she does.”
“No, that’s not the point. If she doesn’t actually possess that ability and I still let her in, once people investigate later, I’ll bear an enormous amount of responsibility!”
After struggling internally for a while, Moses continued shaking his head.
“Sorry, sorry, Lord A-San. Please tell Lady Karina that I truly cannot agree to this request. This is simply far too reckless...”
“Request? Lord Moses, I think you’ve misunderstood something.”
“Hm? Wh-What?”
“Lady Karina isn’t asking you to help. She’s ordering you to do it. If you’re unwilling to cooperate, the evidence of your embezzlement of public funds ten years ago, as well as the evidence that you caused the previous vice headmaster’s death two years ago, will appear at Tianyu Gate. You... should think about this very carefully~”
(Tianyu Gate: law-enforcement institution of the Crimson Leaf Empire)
“You?!”
Upon hearing those words, Moses’s eyes abruptly contracted.
Flustered and trembling, he raised a hand and pointed at the blue-haired young man.
“You’re... th-threatening me?!”
“Hmm? No...”
A-San innocently shook his head.
“It’s merely a suggestion.”
“The assassination two years ago—you people were involved too! If you expose me, aren’t you afraid the Crimson Leaf Empire will investigate you as well?”
“Hm? What are you talking about? I don’t understand a single word.”
A-San shook his head with an innocent expression.
“Our Ghost Star Flame Group has always obeyed the law and acted impartially. How could we possibly participate in something like an assassination? Mr. Moses, perhaps your memory has become a little muddled with age?”
“You people...”
Fuck.
Back then, you were the ones who actually killed people and set fires!
All I did was provide a little information!
And you have the nerve to pretend you’re completely innocent now?!
“You people really have no shame...”
“What would we have to be ashamed of? So, have you made your decision? If you cooperate, Lady Karina guarantees that for the next ten years, no one else will learn about anything you’ve done over these past years. If you refuse, I’m afraid that within a few days, you’ll have to visit Tianyu Gate to assist with an investigation.”
“...”
Moses fell briefly silent.
At that moment,
Saiboke, who had been leaning against a stone pillar and remaining silent for quite some time, finally spoke slowly.
“Vice Headmaster, if you agree to cooperate, our Black Rose Family will provide Yexinlian Royal Academy—and you personally—with a modest sponsorship afterward, as an expression of our gratitude.”
Hearing this, Moses’s eyebrows twitched once again.
“I already told you... I don’t care about any kind of sponsorship whatsoever............ Hm?!!”
However,
when Moses turned around and saw what was behind him, the vice headmaster immediately froze once again.
The words that had already reached his lips were sucked straight back down his throat.
At some unknown point, Saiboke had taken dozens of crates filled with Origin Stone Coins from his spatial ring and arranged them neatly throughout the office hall.
And besides that vast quantity of Origin Stone Coins, countless precious treasures and antiques were displayed before Moses in a dazzling array.
Especially when he saw that crystal-clear emerald gemstone radiating a faint draconic pressure, Moses’s eyes widened dramatically.
A...
A Dragon Pearl?!!
Something that precious...
You actually have one?!
Looking at the treasure he had dreamed of day and night, stars gradually began to shine in Moses’s aged eyes.
His entire body grew restless, as though he had the urge to rush forward, hug the Dragon Pearl, and rub his face against it.
Seeing this,
Saiboke continued:
“Well, Vice Headmaster Moses? As long as you agree to cooperate, all of these will belong to you. And if you want Dragon Pearls, giving you another two would not be impossible.”
“Hm?! R-Really?”
“Really.”
“All right!!!”
After repeatedly weighing his options, under the dual assault of temptation from the treasure and pressure from Karina, Moses finally nodded.
“I’ll arrange for Miss Yu to become a teacher at Yexinlian Royal Academy, and I’ll also make her the lead instructor of the Star Source Comprehensive Class.”
“A wise decision, Vice Headmaster Moses.”
“But...”
“Hmm?”
“If something happens afterward, the Black Rose Family has to guarantee my safety, as well as a wealthy life for me in the future!”
“Hehe. Naturally.”
Saiboke smiled elegantly.
“Then it’s settled, Vice Headmaster. ...Oh, right. Vice Headmaster, there is one more matter I would like to trouble you with.”
“Hm? There’s... something else?”
“Those secret documents concerning our Miss Yu that we showed you earlier...”
“Oh, those. I understand. I’ll destroy all of them and won’t tell anyone...”
“No. You’ve misunderstood me.”
“Hm?”
Hearing this, Moses frowned and asked in confusion:
“Then... what do you mean?”
In response,
Saiboke raised his hand meaningfully and patted Moses on the shoulder.
“What I mean is that I hope you will... ‘accidentally’ leak those confidential documents... to the Crimson Leaf Empire’s imperial family.”
“Wh... What??”
Moses could hardly believe his ears.
“Leak those secrets to the Crimson Leaf imperial family? Are you... serious? Aren’t you and the Crimson Leaf imperial family... enemies?”
“That is not something you need to concern yourself with. Oh, and if possible... please also ‘leak’ them to the Asumos Church while you’re at it.”
“This... What exactly... are you people planning...”