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nEven in his previous life, Eugene had never disliked accepting freebies. No matter how much he hated someone, as long as they were offering him something useful, he would still accept it. Besides, Eugene didn’t really have any hard feelings towards Melkith.

n‘Anyways, I shouldn’t have any need to use Wynnyd for the time being.’

nOf course, Eugene couldn’t just decide to loan Wynnyd all on his own accord. The Storm Sword was a treasure that belonged to the Lionheart’s direct line. Eugene was currently only borrowing it for a while.

n‘Though I don’t think the Patriarch will say that it’s not allowed.’

nAlthough he felt that he still needed to first ask for permission, Eugene wasn’t really afraid that Gilead would turn down this proposal. Despite being the Patriarch of the Lionheart clan, which heavily valued tradition, Gilead Lionheart had shown several times that he was more invested in being realistic and pursuing the clan’s best interests than in protecting such outdated traditions.

nAnd it wasn’t like they were just handing Wynnyd over to Melkith. Gilead shouldn’t have any reason to refuse if they could get something of value in return for lending it out for a few days if they could get that promise recorded in clear writing.

n‘And this works out for me as well.’

nEven as Eugene considered all this, Melkith was also lost in thought. She was busy recalling all the various artifacts she had collected for herself, as well as any magic books which were exclusively kept by the White Tower of Magic.

n‘…The magic books aren’t valuable enough,’ Melkith judged.

nSince Eugene was allowed entrance into Akron, the magic books belonging exclusively to the White Tower of Magic were no longer of great value to him.

n“…How about a staff?” Melkith suddenly spoke up. “Kid, you don’t have a staff yet, right? Although you might feel like you can already use magic quite well even without a staff, that’s just because all the magic you’ve learned so far has been simple.”

n“Is that so?” Eugene responded politely.

n“Of course, that’s the case,” Melkith insisted. “Did you think that wizards carried around staffs just to look cool? With the aid of a staff, you can easily fine-tune your mana, simplifying all your spell-casting techniques.”

n“Eugene. I have a lot of fine staffs in my collection as well,” Lovellian immediately interjected.

nTruthfully speaking, he was reluctant to allow Melkith to borrow Wynnyd.

nAlthough it wasn’t guaranteed that she would be able to summon the Wind Spirit King just because she was using Wynnyd as a catalyst, what if Melkith truly did succeed in signing a contract with the Wind Spirit King?

nThe White Tower Master, Melkith El-Hayah, was already the greatest Spirit Summoner in the history of magic. Before her, no other Spirit Summoner had managed to sign contracts with two Spirit Kings. If the Spirit King of the Wind was added to that… the power held by the White Tower of Magic would become far too strong.

nAs the Red Tower Master, Lovellian didn’t want the balance of power between the Towers to collapse. Who knew what would happen if Melkith, who was already so free-spirited and self-righteous, held more power than the other Tower Masters?

n‘With her personality, she won’t want to be involved in Aroth’s day-to-day affairs, but… it still isn’t good to allow too much power to be focused on one Tower Master,’ Lovellian believed.

nA current example of this was the Black Tower Master, Balzac Ludbeth. Even in Aroth, he needed to be treated with special consideration. This was because of the Demon King of Incarceration, who had signed a contract with Balzac and thrown his support behind the Black Tower Master. Balzac was both the Black Tower Master and, at the same time, Helmuth’s ambassador.

n“Why do you have to keep trying to get in my way?” Melkith demanded.

nLovellian replied with a question of his own, “Why do you have to keep being so greedy when you already have contracts with two Spirit Kings?”

n“This old man. Do you think that I don’t know what you’re really afraid of? Are you truly that worried that I might wreak havoc after signing a contract with the Wind Spirit King?” 𝑖𝘦.𝑐ℴ𝘮

n“So you’re well aware then.”

n“Hey! Even though we’ve known each other for decades, do you still not know me that well? Can’t you see that I’ve got no interest in the headache that’s meddling in Aroth’s state of affairs?”

n“Although you can say that now, once you obtain too much power, it might end up twisting you.”

nLovellian didn’t raise his voice. He just continued to stare at Melkith with calm eyes, and Melkith was unable to refute him and could only grind her teeth in frustration.

n“…You really are an amazing patriot. Since when were you so devoted to Aroth?” Melkith asked sarcastically.

nLovellian calmly replied, “I just don’t want to step aside and allow further disturbances to break out. Balzac alone is enough to give me a headache.”

n“Hah! From how you’re acting, someone might think that Balzac really was up to something,” Melkith snorted in amusement. “Lovellian Sophis, although I’m well aware of how much you detest black wizards, sometimes you just go too far. Don’t you think you should avoid misjudging people because of your preconceptions?”

n“Preconceptions?” Lovellian’s lips twisted into a mocking smile. “I lost my family due to a black wizard’s attempt at human experimentation. Right in front of my eyes, I was forced to watch as my mother, father, and sister writhed around as parts of a single chimera. If my master hadn’t saved me, I too would have undergone the exact same thing to become part of that chimera.”

n“…Ugh..,” Melkith grimaced.

n“So isn’t it only natural for me to detest black wizards and to have preconceptions about them?” Lovellian pressed.

n“…I’ve… put my foot in my mouth. Sorry,” Melkith apologized. “You have the right to detest black wizards. However… Balzac is still innocent, isn’t he?”

n“I can’t be sure of that,” with a snort, Lovellian shook his head. “Can you really say for certain that Balzac isn’t the mastermind behind the filth that goes on in Bolero Street? These days, several people go missing from Bolero Street each year. Such disappearances aren’t just taking place on Bolero Street, but in various other places throughout Aroth as well.”

n“…There’s no evidence that the black wizards are behind those…,” Melkith weakly argued.

n“Of course, there isn’t. That’s why I haven’t attempted to interrogate Balzac either. But there’s one fact that we just can’t ignore. As far as I know, the only ones who enjoy kidnapping strangers are the black wizards.”

n“…It’s none of my concern whether you hate black wizards or are suspicious of Balzac,” Melkith spat out as she rallied her anger. “I know what you’re trying to guard against. However, I swear on my mana that I have no desire to abuse my power and make a mess. Even if I do manage to sign a contract with the Wind Spirit King, I won’t do anything that disgraces my position as the White Tower Master.”

n“Alright then,” Lovellian easily accepted.

n“…What?” Melkith struggled to respond.

n“If you’ve sworn on your mana, then I guess I’ll just have to trust you, isn’t that right?” Lovellian smiled warmly as if his cold attitude from earlier was merely for show.

nSeeing this, Melkith couldn’t help but click her tongue, “Tch… this fox-like old man…!1”

n“Don’t be too offended. If I had just plainly asked you to swear an oath, would you really have agreed to do so?” Lovellian asked her.

nMelkith found herself unable to come up with any denials and could only raise her clenched fists in anger. If she had her way, she really wanted to go up to Lovellian, grab him by his collar, and squeeze his throat until his tonsils popped out2.

n“…Ah, but of course,” Lovellian recalled. “The choice is still up to Eugene. My apologies for going off-topic.”

n“It’s fine,” Eugene said politely.

nHe didn’t feel particularly offended by Lovellian’s cautious attitude. Instead, he was more concerned about the Head Wizard’s suspicions regarding Balzac. After all, Eugene felt the same distaste that Lovellian did for black wizards.

nWhen he first met with Balzac due to the previous incident with Eward, Balzac had drawn a line between himself and other black wizards, saying he had never committed any crimes. Eugene definitely couldn’t believe these words. All the black wizards he had ever known turned out to be right sons of bitches.

n“I’ve been thinking about it, but I don’t really want a staff,” Eugene admitted.

n“If anyone heard you say that, they’d think I was just giving it to you. Kid, I’m just lending it to you. You got that!” Melkith insisted.

n“Allow me to say this in advance, but I will only be able to lend Wynnyd to you for a few days,” Eugene clarified. “But if that means I will only be able to borrow one of the artifacts that Head Wizard Melkith owns for a few days at most, then we might as well not go through with it.”

n“You…. Just as I thought, you really are an annoying brat,” Melkith growled, her shoulders heaving in anger as she turned to look at Lovellian and then Eugene.

nNow that she looked back on it, it appeared that the two of them had already worked out what to say in order to take advantage of her.

n“…Let’s trade one year per day,” Melkith spat out. “And that’s the best offer you’re going to get. If you lend me Wynnyd for one day, I will lend you one of my artifacts for a whole year.”

n“So if I lend you Wynnyd for a week, you’ll let me borrow whatever it is for seven years?” Eugene confirmed.

nMelkith grudgingly acknowledged, “That’s right!”

nWith some surprise, Eugene asked, “Do you really have to go that far just because you want to borrow Wynnyd?”

n“Don’t make me repeat myself over and over again. I have to make a contract with the Wind Spirit King no matter what!” Melkith shouted with a growl of frustration. Having already confessed her desire, Melkith didn’t restrain herself any longer and continued, “What I’m saying is that ever since I became a spirit summoner, all I’ve ever wanted was to sign a contract with the Wind Spirit King. The Lightning Spirit King and the Earth Spirit King are great, but I have to make a contract with the Wind Spirit King!”

n“Why?” Eugene asked bluntly.

n“Why else! Because the Great Vermouth was the last one to have made a contract with the Wind Spirit King!” Melkith shouted once more. “None of the great spirit summoners who managed to contract Spirit Kings before me were able to make a contract with the Wind Spirit King. Although you might not be aware of this, among the spirit summoners like me, the Wind Spirit King is… um… he’s like a dream for us. This might not register with you because you were born to the Lionheart clan, but like how some wizards revere the Wise Sienna, some spirit summoners greatly respect the Great Vermouth.”

n1. Rather than fox, the Korean version of this insult uses a species of snake. ?

n2. The original Korean version of the idiom describes it as squeezing out the thrush in his throat. ?

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