“You owe Teacher Yuno Vayne not just money and freedom,” Helga’s voice was like the final verdict of a trial, “but also her reputation and dignity.”
“You have one month to publish a public statement in the journal Arcane Frontiers, admitting that all works signed as ‘Selvis’ and involving core magitechnical theories are derived from Miss Yuno Vayne’s research, and to publicly apologize to her. At the same time, you must thoroughly calculate and return all improper gains you obtained by using her achievements.”
“Otherwise,” Helga paused slightly, and in the depths of her pale violet eyes, a cold light, like the extinction of stars, flashed by, “I will personally go to the Royal Capital Magic Association headquarters and petition the Sage Council to launch a top-level investigation into your ‘academic ethics’ and ‘abuse of contract magic.’ Trust me, the consequences are not something you want to bear.”
After finishing, she no longer looked at Selvis, who was as pale as death and trembling like a leaf. She turned and gently supported Yuno Vayne, who was still in utter shock and confusion.
“Teacher, let’s go.”
Her voice had returned to its gentle tone.
The gentle girl Yuno knew had come back, as if the scene just now had been nothing but an illusion.
Helga took Yuno’s hand and calmly stepped over the scattered mess, leaving behind the black magic tower that once symbolized oppression and despair.
Not until the figures of Helga and Yuno disappeared at the end of the street did a stifled groan echo through the deathly silent first floor hall of the magic tower.
Selvis slumped to the cold ground like a pile of rotting sludge, leaning against the crooked mahogany desk.
His luxurious purple robe was covered in dust and sweat, his carefully groomed hair was a mess, and his face was streaked with tears and snot, all mixed with dust into a filthy mess. There wasn’t a shred left of the dignity of a great mage.
“It’s over… all over…” he muttered absentmindedly, his body shaking uncontrollably.
A public apology? Return the profits? That would completely destroy all the reputation and wealth he had accumulated over decades!
But if he didn’t comply… a Sage Council investigation… that would be a humiliation and destruction worse than death!
After the ultimate terror came a venomous resentment and unwillingness that gnawed at his heart like a viper! Everything he had worked so hard for! His status! His fame! All ruined by that wretch Helga…
“No… I can’t just end like this… there must be a way… there has to be…” The bloodshot eyes of Selvis darted wildly, like a drowning man grasping at the last straw.
Suddenly, he thought of someone! Someone who had only recently appeared near Whitestone Town—a figure of utmost prestige, said to command respect even from the kingdom’s highest authorities! And as luck would have it, he and this person had some connections; in fact, he had even been invited to join this person’s team!
He scrambled and crawled toward the depths of the magic tower, to a communication chamber heavily protected by magical barriers.
With trembling hands, he activated the expensive crystal orb at the center of the room.
Ripples spread across the surface of the crystal orb, gradually revealing the outline of a figure sitting on a luxurious high-backed chair.
The figure seemed a bit impatient.
“Selvis? What is it? Didn’t I tell you not to bother me unless it’s important?”
A young man’s voice, clearly arrogant and impatient, came from the crystal orb.
“Your Excellency the Hero! I beg you! Please save me!” Selvis dropped to his knees before the crystal orb with a thud, clutching it like a lifeline, sobbing and wailing, “There’s a wretch! That wretch Helga! She relied on her status as a Sage Council member, smashed my magic tower, destroyed my priceless contracts, and forced me into utter disgrace! Your Excellency the Hero! Please uphold justice for me! Only you can stand against the Sage Council! For the sake of all the intel I’ve gathered for you in secret…”
“A Sage Council member?” The figure in the crystal orb seemed to move slightly, interrupting Selvis’s rambling cries, and there was a strange note of interest in his tone. “Helga? Are you talking about that girl with pale violet hair? The one who just came to your magic tower?”
Selvis froze, then nodded frantically, “Yes! Yes! That’s her! The one with violet hair! So arrogant! My lord, do you know her?”
“Heh…” A low, ambiguous chuckle came from the crystal orb, laced with amusement and the thrill of the hunt. “No, I don’t. But you all made such a ruckus in your tower just now, and I happened to be ‘taking a walk’ nearby, so I took a look from afar… Tsk tsk, that vast, abyssal magic power… those crisp, decisive moves, and that little tantrum when she tore up the contract… interesting.”
Selvis’s heart leapt with hope, thinking he might have a chance, and he hurriedly continued his wailing, “My lord! She—”
“Enough, shut up.” The voice in the crystal orb suddenly turned cold, dripping with unconcealed disgust and contempt. “A useless fool who can’t even guard his own tower dares to cry? You have no value to me anymore.”
The joy on Selvis’s face froze instantly, as if doused with ice water.
“Trash like you,” the voice in the crystal orb was ice cold, “is a waste of air just being alive. You don’t even deserve… to mention her name.”
The moment the words fell!
Hiss—!
A golden sword light, pure to the extreme and seemingly condensed from light itself, pierced through the reinforced wall of the communication chamber without warning! Like a hot knife through butter, it made no sound at all!
The sword light shot precisely into Selvis’s wide-open mouth before he could even close it, and burst out the back of his head!
The expression on Selvis’s face froze forever in that instant of shock, terror, and disbelief.
He didn’t even have time to scream.
The light in his eyes faded swiftly, his body swayed, and, as if all his bones had been pulled out, he collapsed to the ground with a thud, blood rapidly pooling beneath him.
In the shadows at the corner of the communication chamber, the air rippled like water.
A young man with handsome features, short black-purple hair, and clad in luxurious light armor edged with platinum, slowly emerged.
He held in his hand an ancient-looking longsword, its entire body flowing with a sacred golden radiance.
The deadly sword light just now had come from this very blade.
He didn’t even glance at Selvis’s corpse on the ground, as if he had merely squashed a noisy pest.
He walked to the crystal orb, and in its reflection, his ice-blue eyes gleamed with intense interest and possessiveness.
“The Tenth Seat of the Sage Council… Helga.”
He stuck out his tongue and gently licked his lips, revealing a smile full of predatory intent that could chill anyone to the bone. “An S-rank adventurer? Interesting… truly interesting… This power… this wild spirit… You’re qualified to become part of my collection. This is your honor, to become the Hero’s ‘companion’ and join me in saving the world!”
The image of that pale violet-haired girl, her icy profile as she tore up the contract, flashed across his mind, and his gaze grew even more fervent.
“Your Excellency the Hero❤” A sultry, obviously jealous female voice called from the doorway.
A red-haired woman with a voluptuous figure, seductive features, and a revealing pure white priestess robe leaned against the doorframe. Her enchanting eyes were full of dissatisfaction as she pouted, “You and your habit of falling for every pretty face you see—when are you going to fix it? It’s only been a few days and you’ve already set your sights on a new prey? Even though you already have me.”
The golden-haired man known as “the Hero”—Wandela Hart—immediately put away his predatory smile and replaced it with an awkward, ingratiating look as he turned to her, “Ah, my little rose, Iris, what brings you here?”
He walked over, trying to put his arm around the priestess’s slender waist. “It’s just… I appreciate talent! Did you see her powerful magic? Don’t you think it’s destiny for a Hero like me to meet her? She’s obviously meant to be a member of the Hero’s party! Our companion in saving the world! Just like you’re destined to be crowned as Saintess at the final Saintess Trial in a few weeks!”
The priestess Iris nimbly dodged his hand, rolling her eyes at him, a faint, sharp glint flashing in her violet eyes. “A member of the Hero’s party? I think you’ve taken a fancy to her, haven’t you?”
“Let me warn you, she’s in the same party as that Roswitha who’s competing with me for the ‘Saintess’ title. Someone like that would never willingly serve us!”
“Oh, that Roswitha’s friend, huh? By the way, Iris, the final round of the Saintess Trial is just a few weeks away. Are you confident you can beat that Roswitha? I hear even several bishops and His Holiness the Pope have taken quite an interest in her.”
Wandela leaned in close and whispered, “The Hero’s companion can only be the Saintess, you know.”
Iris draped her arms around his neck. “Don’t worry, Your Excellency the Hero, I’ve had my ‘plan’ ready for a long time. I guarantee that woman will be utterly ruined. In the meantime, just enjoy yourself around here. By the way, I heard that a bunch of ruffians from some place called Windmill Village attacked the Church’s knights the other day, and our esteemed ‘Crown of the Goddess’ Knight Order’s Captain Ingrid came back with her tail between her legs.”
“Oh, outrageous! Does this mean that village has already fallen beyond redemption?”
The Hero hefted the ‘Holy Sword’, a wicked smile appearing on his face. “Looks like it’s worth ‘purifying.’ If the knight order can’t act, then let me, the Hero, carry out justice myself!”
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