Chapter 80: Her End of the Bargain

*** The Next Morning

“Ughhh…”

I woke up with an annoying headache, my body more drained than usual.

It was even worse than when I was still training light magic—it felt like I had just come back from a week-long war without a single break.

The cause was more than obvious to me; it was Evelina’s transformation, sucking me dry more than I thought it would.

[Major Healing]

But when I looked around my room, she was nowhere to be found at all; instead, in her place was a neatly written letter with her handwriting.

I picked it up, still grasping at my forehead as I read out the contents of the letter.

’Last night was fun… more fun than I thought it would be, but I’m sure you already know that. I’ll make it short: if you’re reading this, I’m already likely off. I had other stuff to do, so don’t wait up for me, kay?’

I let out a small laugh as I stand and stretch my aching, sore body.

She was still as busy as ever, I see.

“Huh…?”

I looked to the left, and unexpectedly, saw the system panel hovering silently, like it was just waiting for me the entire night to just wake up and see it.

[Apprentice: Lvl 2]

“I achieved a breakthrough?”

[Profaned Fireball]

I conjured a small spell on top of my palm, trying to make sure the balance between light and dark didn’t break.

Maintaining the sanctified modifier for my attunement far outweighed the benefits of having one stronger element.

“Ah—fuck!”

The casting made my head throb even more; the calculations it took to solve the spell formula were enough to strengthen the pain.

Succubi were dangerous for that exact reason; no matter the rank difference, once a being like that managed to absorb some of your life essence, its ability would scale to match its target.

Even someone like me with the profaned prince modifier would be affected, probably even worse if I didn’t have it.

Though I sure as hell didn’t regret anything yesterday, it was worth it.

And a mere headache was nothing compared to the pleasure and sheer joy that night brought.

[Profaned Healing]

“That’s better.”

I usually relied on simple light magic for minor wounds or pain. I did this mainly to train my attunement to light, which in turn allowed me to draw more power from darkness as it grew stronger.

But when I genuinely couldn’t stand the pain anymore, like this annoying headache, nothing was stopping me from using profaned healing.

And now that it was sanctified, it was two times as effective without any of the usual chaos downsides it usually had with it.

No reason not just use it.

This wasn’t pain from training after all; I had no reason to just let it linger like I usually do.

“I need to take a bath…”

*** A few minutes later

“Make sure to visit more often, young master!”

Miss Rose sent me off with a smile on her face, pride and satisfaction filling the faces of all the servants in my estate, knowing the child they raised for years had grown to be a respectable young man.

And while they weren’t wrong, I sure hope they don’t get their hopes up too much…

“Of course, Miss Rose.”

I waved them goodbye as I walked past the gate and once again returned to the city.

There was nothing out of the ordinary about it, other than a few airships that advertised the academy’s coming examination; it was fairly normal.

Of course, rumours about the murderer being caught by Julius and Lillian were also already circulating throughout the city.

People called them heroes, some called them reckless idiots; either way, their reputation took a more positive turn than it did negative.

Too bad I didn’t get a share of that reputation increase.

I sure as hell needed it more than them after all.

[Profaned Step]

I already saw enough of the city to decide to teleport back to the academy dorms, other than simple information gathering. Exploring the rest of the city would be pointless for now.

Besides, I still needed to wear my uniform and head to classes to check the examination’s coverage.

My room’s wardrobe back in the estate was already fairly barren after all.

“Ready as ever.”

I equipped the dagger launcher on my wrist after I finished changing, looking as neat as ever, don’t know why I even bothered with it, to be honest.

Not like it’ll change anything if it was slightly crumpled.

*** Academy Hallway

Just like with the city, the halls themselves were normal, at least, if you were used to people staring at you with weird curiosity.

And while that was the norm for a while now…

Their gaze definitely seemed more judgmental than before.

Did anything happen while I was skipping classes?

“Isn’t he the one who trained Lady Vivianne?”

“What training regimen did he put her through?”

So it was about that…

Right…

That reminds me, she still had her own end of the deal to finish.

I’m not going to let her go scot-free, stronger than ever, without taking something back in return.

That goes against my entire morals.

Quid pro quo after all.

FWOOSH!

Huh…? Did something just fly past my vision?

CRASH!

The hell is it this time…?

I looked behind me and, to my surprise, saw Count Marcus’s son lying unconscious on the ground, as if a powerful gust of wind had just slammed into him.

His entire uniform and his hair were a mess, but, surprisingly, he didn’t have any visible wounds.

The wind mage who blasted him away must have been incredibly skilled at controlling their magic to pull off something like that.

I could even count on my fingers the students who could probably do such a thing, but none of them were wind mages.

So what the hell was going on here?

“Oh my god! I’m so sorry!” Vivianne’s high-pitched voice pierced my ears as she moved right past me, kneeling beside the unconscious student as she checked his pulse.

Guess that’s my question answered…

“I told you not to be so pushy…”

Vivianne’s voice was a mix of irritation and worry. It was clear that the unconscious student was an admirer of some sort. An admirer who probably confessed to her and refused to take no for an answer.

[Photographic Memory]

It lined up with the random murmurs and gossip I heard around the school as well.

And all that resulted in… well, this shameful display.

But at least it was convenient; I didn’t have to go looking for her to fulfil her end of the bargain.

“Vivianne.”

She froze slightly at the sound of my voice, like it triggered some sort of trauma.

“C-Cael…”

She slowly lifted her head and, to her worst fear, it was me. It seemed Evelina’s ’threat’ had really gotten to her if the sight of me alone was enough to make her tremble in fear.

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