The Sorcerer's Handbook

Compensation for emotional distress.

Ashe had always viewed that concept much like "mandatory team-building on a workday," a pleasant corporate myth that didn't actually exist. Yet, for the first time in his life, it had landed right in front of him.

The problem was that he was the one expected to pay.

The official charge read, "When Mr. Iger verbally abused Ms. Evelyn, you remained silent and failed to intervene. This constitutes active participation in group bullying against Ms. Evelyn."

A common worker bullying a mega-capitalist. Ashe almost wanted to applaud the Gospel's sound legal system. What made it worse was that after spending one precious Gospel Point to fact-check the claim, he discovered the Gospel's laws genuinely judged it that way.

Ultimately, it fell under a civil dispute. If the victim didn't file an official complaint, the Gospel wouldn't pursue it. Even if they did, the actual legal consequences were fairly mild. The victim could make reasonable demands, but if the offender simply refused, the Gospel would only slightly dock their overall social ranking evaluation. Compared to the Blood Moon, which placed an extreme, almost fanatical importance on human rights and protected speech, the Gospel was surprisingly lenient with public expression. Unless a person caused a massive, disruptive social impact, even blatant verbal abuse went largely unpunished.

The Blood Moon strictly prohibited discrimination based on race, gender, and education because such prejudice ran rampant there. In contrast, the Gospel completely ignored public opinion because its people rarely held any malice, or at least, they hid it incredibly deep. Temporary outbursts and harsh words never gained any public traction anyway. Rational onlookers would simply criticize and correct the bad behavior. It was a classic case of the good driving out the bad.

In fact, after travelling through only a fraction of the Gospel's territory, Azura, Vanmura, and Montphera, Ashe and his companions had already realized that actual open PvP zones simply didn't exist here. Other nations might still harbor dark shadows beyond the reach of sunlight, but here, the Gospel's glory illuminated every single corner[1].

Under normal circumstances, a minor case of verbal abuse brought practically zero consequences for ordinary citizens. But Ashe and the others were no longer dealing with ordinary circumstances.

Now that they had fallen into the clutches of the Belldet Consortium, even the minor "emotional damage" claim was weaponized as a probing strike to break their psychological defenses. If Ashe dared to refuse the compensation, he could fully expect to dream tonight of himself turning into Miss Belldet's pet husky.

Fortunately, the Gospel still upheld a baseline of fairness and justice, meaning Evelyn couldn't make entirely outrageous demands. Instead, the detestable, blue-haired pint-sized gremlin made a modest request. Aside from Lys, Ashe and Harvey had to wear heavy training weights throughout the entire afternoon as a physical gesture of apology.

She spared Lys not out of any genuine kindness toward children, but because the Gospel had strict child-protection laws. Lys was legally a minor. A verbal apology sufficed. Adults could not hold children financially or physically accountable.

However, as her nominal guardian, Ashe was legally required to shoulder her portion of the penalty. That meant double the weight for him.

"Hah... haah..."

Mopping and dusting while saddled with twice his body weight, Ashe felt so exhausted he was on the verge of vomiting. He could barely lift the hand holding the rag. Every fiber of his being screamed at him to collapse onto the floor and rest, but he forced himself to stand, wring out the damp cloth, and continue wiping the dust from the endless rows of statues.

No one was actively supervising him, but he didn't dare slack off. The moment he accepted the cleaning task, he had effectively entered a binding contract with Evelyn, where he did the labor, and she paid him in Bel Points.

In theory, he could have slacked off and stolen her money anyway, exploiting the capitalist in reverse. The problem was, just because no human manager was watching didn't mean the Gospel or the Virtual World wasn't tracking his every move. Evelyn herself wasn't the truly terrifying part of this equation. The true terror was the unseen "Iron Fist" of the system backing her from the shadows.

The cardinal rule to not take advantage of the Belldets in any way applied to every single one of her employees. If Ashe accepted wages without putting in the actual work, he would violate the core tenets of his labor contract. The system would then force him to open up his mind, his very Palace of Thoughts, to Evelyn's influence. Before long, he would find himself mindlessly overspending on Spend Bel to buy ultimate divine weapons, ordering gourmet Lala Fat meals, and genuinely believing that living the rest of his life as a dog didn't sound like such a bad gig after all.

There were far too many statues in the grand hall. Ashe carefully wiped down a sculpture of a female sorcerer holding a staff, having absolutely no clue what ancient fairytale she belonged to. Dozens of similar statues lined the walls, representing a bizarre mix of different fantasy races and factions. He even spotted a veela dressed in full paladin regalia. Apparently, the Belldet family suffered from a severe collector's obsession.

As he struggled to clean the intricate grooves of the female sorcerer statue, his clumsy, weighted body lurched forward. He accidentally kicked over a nearby bucket. Soapy water splashed violently across the floor, making an already miserable laborer's situation ten times worse.

The cult leader let out a heavy sigh and dropped to his knees to wipe up the mess on the marble floor.

As he scrubbed, a pair of shoes suddenly appeared in his field of vision.

Ashe looked up, only to see a girl with wine-red short hair, dressed in a sharp butler's uniform, kneeling right beside him and already helping him clean.

Noticing his stunned gaze, she offered a warm smile. "It'll go a lot faster if we do this together, right?"

"What about your own assigned work?" Ashe asked, thoroughly surprised. This specific sector had been assigned exclusively to him. Normally, the servants in this estate wouldn't dream of wandering into someone else's zone unless they needed a restroom break. It wasn't just because they were busy. Their minds simply didn't generate thoughts like slacking off or chatting, which would actively reduce workplace efficiency.

"My job is to patrol the main estate and assist everyone in completing their tasks," the red-haired girl explained cheerfully. "You're new here, aren't you?"

"Hm?" Ashe wasn't wearing his distinctive Demonic Coat at the moment, but his Mask of Distortion was mandatory. Whether he wore the physical object or not, the curse made it so others would always perceive it on his face, making him incredibly easy to spot. Still, Evelyn had assured him that the regular staff in the estate wouldn't pay any attention to them, so he had chosen to trust in the absolute power of the Control Class. "What makes you say that?"

"I remember every single servant in this estate," the girl replied with a small, knowing smile. "It's wonderful to meet you. My name is Anphel."

"That's impossible. This brutal estate has eighty thousand servants. There's no way you remember all of them. You must just mean the staff in the main house, right?" Ashe clicked his tongue, shaking his head. "But yeah, I'm new. The name's Akamahi Habaras—"

"Ashe Heath."

Ashe froze. Hearing his true name exposed hit him like a physical blow.

Anphel merely blinked at him, her smile never wavering. "Don't worry. No one here is going to report you."

Curiosity stirred in Ashe. Is this the true power of the Control Class? Even if they know I'm Ashe Heath, they still won't report me?

He asked outright, "Why won't you report me? Don't you know I'm the number one art piece on the Art Ranking? The Empire is hunting me."

Anphel replied smoothly, "I know, but this is the Belldet Estate. Since you're working here, it means the head of the Belldet family has acknowledged you. We trust her judgment."

"The head of the Belldet family? You mean Evelyn?"

Anphel reminded him gently, "Mmhmm. We usually address her as Lady Belldet. Only those very close to her use her name directly. In daily conversation, it's 'Miss,' 'Master,' or 'Your Excellency.'"

Ashe hesitated, tried to stop himself, but ultimately couldn't hold back. "Do you know you've all been completely brainwashed?"

Anphel tilted her head. "Brainwashed? By the way, earlier you used the word 'brutal' to describe this estate."

"You may not feel it, but the Belldets have already enslaved all of you," Ashe said, launching into a brief explanation of the Belldet Consortium's conceptual domination over the populace. "It's because of her evil Control Class Miracles that you spend recklessly in your youth, work and consume endlessly in your adulthood, and then march off on suicidal adventures in your old age. All of it exists purely to feed her brutal, dictatorial empire!"

He leaned in closer. "The only reason you won't report me right now is that Evelyn has subtly hypnotized your minds, forcing you to let go of any natural hostility toward me!"

Ever since he had learned the dark secrets of the Belldet family from Annan, Ashe had been bottling this up. Fortunately, no one had approached him over the past few days to trigger his nerves, so he had managed to endure it. But now that he was talking to Anphel, the dam broke. He proudly showed off every shred of knowledge he possessed regarding the secrets of the Control Class, desperately trying to awaken a lost lamb.

However, he seemed to have forgotten one crucial detail. If he actually succeeded in awakening her and she stopped following Evelyn's commands, she would be completely free of her behavioral restrictions. At that point, she would be legally obligated to report him, a literal fugitive and a walking disaster zone.

Anphel nodded heavily, looking thoughtful. "Oh..."

Just as Ashe thought his words were finally sinking in, Anphel let out a soft sigh. "Mr. Heath, you..."

"Just call me Ashe."

"Mr. Ashe, you seem to have a great deal of misunderstandings and biases about us."

"What? Are you saying everything I just said was false? Was I misled?"

"No, everything you said is entirely true, but..." Anphel paused, considering her words for a moment before leaning in a bit closer. "Don't move. Look sideways at that floor-to-ceiling window."

Outside stood a lush sycamore tree. The green-tinted glass barely functioned as a mirror, but looking over, Ashe saw their reflections pressed close together, almost cheek to cheek. It was merely a trick of perspective.

Ashe caught her meaning. "You mean everything I said is true, but only when viewed from a single angle?"

Anphel nodded. "Let me ask you three questions. When you were young, didn't you have countless things you wanted to buy, places you wanted to visit, and experiences you wanted to try?"

"Yes."

"When you enter the workforce, don't you want a beautiful, gentle wife, a few mischievous but lively children, and weekends where you can all go out together to build lasting memories?"

Ashe, whose lifelong dream was to marry a beautiful wife and let his substitute do all his actual work for him, could only answer honestly, "Yes."

"And when you reach your fifties or sixties, your children grown and yourself weary of labor, wouldn't you want to see how the world has changed over the decades? To visit the grand, dangerous places you didn't dare explore in your youth, and take on one final, ultimate challenge in life?" Anphel shook her head slightly. "Granted, we're still young, so we can't truly answer for the elderly."

By this point, Ashe already understood her. "You're saying the people of Montphera aren't actually under the Belldets' control. They chose this lifestyle themselves?"

"I've visited other cities and learned how people live across the Gospel," Anphel said, continuing to wipe the floor. "When young people have the most energy and desire to experience life, they have all the time in the world but no money. When people reach middle age, they finally have money, but zero time. And when they grow old, after experiencing life and losing their passion, they often find themselves tied down by their descendants.

"If we could simply give the money of middle-aged people to the youth, many of society's problems would solve themselves. The young could grow up happily and without financial worry, enter adulthood fully fulfilled, and build stable families. When they grow old, they wouldn't need to fret over their children either, because those children would also be spending their own future earnings in advance."

Anphel spoke with absolute earnestness, "On the city satisfaction rankings, Montphera has consistently ranked in the top five. Excluding Vanmura, which actively cheats using stimulants, I firmly believe Montphera is the happiest city in the world. We live up to our youth when we play, live up to our dreams when we work, live up to our partners and children when we marry, live up to time itself when we grow old, and live up to ourselves when we die."

She paused, looking directly at him. "Yes, the Belldets do influence us exactly as you described, and they use the value of our labor to construct this massive estate. But tell me, which city has no domination, no rulers? Vanmura? Modora? Nabistin? Or perhaps the wilderness and the abyssal forbidden zones?

"The people of Montphera aren't ignorant, Mr. Ashe. We know everything. We understand everything. And yet, we still choose the life we prefer. Ask anyone born in Montphera, and they will tell you this, 'I can live my life to the absolute fullest. The Belldets have not wronged me.'"

Anphel let out a soft, melodic laugh. "All things in this world exist within cycles of control. Time, space, the past, the environment, bloodlines, race... Even the gods themselves may not dare claim they are truly free. We recognize reality, and we face it with courage. That is what defines us as Montpherans."

She smiled. "What do you think, Mr. Ashe?"

What do I think? I think you're making way too much sense! Damn it... I'm actually starting to feel convinced. Damn it, being Lady Evelyn's loyal dog suddenly doesn't sound so bad after all. Fine, that settles it. I'll just max out a hundred million Bel Points, live a carefree life of absolute indulgence, and let my substitute work for the rest of eternity to pay off the debt!

1. Explanation: In other nations, like the Blood Moon, there are "shadows beyond the reach of sunlight." These are real-world PvP zones, places where people can scheme against, exploit, bully, or legally ruin each other because the government doesn't see or care. In the Gospel, the legal system and the omniscient Virtual World act like a hyper-strict game moderator. The Gospel's glory reaches every single corner, tracking everything down to minor verbal insults and labeling them as crimes. Ashe is realizing that in this country, you cannot attack anyone, even verbally, without the system instantly punishing you. The entire nation is a heavily policed, absolutely safe zone where lawlessness and interpersonal conflict are structurally impossible. ☜