“Earl Suho, may I ask who your daughter’s love interest is?” Tia asked in a low voice.
Love interest? How could Suna have a love interest… Wait a minute— Suho immediately looked toward Truth, who was fiddling with her panel in the corner. Did she count?
Was it Truth? Tia decided to ask directly:
“Truth, are you in a relationship?”
“Nope. Why, are you finally agreeing to marry me?” Truth replied casually.
“What?! High Priestess Tia wants to marry you? Absolutely not, I refuse to accept that!”
Suna shot up from the floor, eyes turning red as she shouted, glaring at Tia like she was a sworn enemy, which startled her. Uh… it looked like someone just got super jealous.
What in the world did Truth do to trigger such a strong reaction from Suna? Did she also try something physical with her?
Tia shuffled a few steps back and asked Anderson, who had been hiding behind her watching the drama.
That’s when she heard about Suna kissing Truth by force.
“Truth…”
She couldn’t keep torturing herself over this. She had to get to the bottom of it! With determination, Suna approached Truth from behind.
Her timid hand wanted to make her turn around, but she didn’t have the nerve to touch her, so she just asked, choking slightly:
“D-Do you really have… like, a… a girlfriend?”
“Oh, that. Nope. Why do you ask?”
“Then why did that demon hunter say you do…”
“Ah, that.”
Truth’s clever brain quickly ran through the possibilities and finally realized she was the reason Suna was acting this way.
She had thought Suna was regretting making a pact with a demon and was crying her heart out over it.
At the very least, she should’ve been emotional about her father being saved. Why was everything about her, though? Teenage girls really were… way too intense!
“A lot of people think you’re my girlfriend now, you know, because of that rumor. And once a rumor spreads, it always gets twisted,” Truth explained, trying to comfort her and leaving room for Suna to imagine what she wanted.
Right! Maybe that demon hunter only knew Truth had a girlfriend but didn’t know who it was… With that thought, Suna’s mind cleared up a bit. So Truth didn’t actually have a girlfriend…
Wait a minute, there was still one more thing!
“Then what was that about High Priestess Tia marrying you?!”
Suna crossed her arms and kept questioning, looking serious.
“Uh…”
For some reason, Truth felt like she’d just been caught cheating. What was this feeling? Were they really that close?
She glanced at the puffed-up Suna, then at the others who were all waiting for her answer. Even Tia secretly gave her a look:
Don’t say anything weird!
So Truth could only shrug:
“What’s wrong with what I said? Anyone could tell it was a joke, right? Why are you reacting so strongly, Suna?”
Then she leaned in slightly, getting closer to Suna’s tear-streaked face and whispered:
“Don’t tell me… you actually like me?”
“W-What?!”
Suna’s face instantly turned bright red. No, it’s not like that! She just wanted to clear things up, that’s all!
That’s what she said, but deep down, Suna knew exactly how she felt. What was going on? Was she really jealous over Truth? Did she actually like her?
No way. There’s no way I’d fall for someone that easily. I mean, Truth’s just a little cuter than most, a little sweeter, and I kinda want to be around her more, and… Wait, where am I going with this?!
Suna’s brain froze again, like she was contemplating some monumental question. Truth was speechless.
“You know, instead of worrying about your dad or the demon, your head’s just full of silly thoughts.”
Right, she had just made a deal with the demon in Truth’s body… That snapped Suna back to reality. She still had a ton of urgent matters to deal with— like how to handle all this.
She knocked her head a few times to stay focused, then said:
“Father, I want to speak with you in private…”
Right now, the only one she truly trusted with the contract issue was her father.
Truth was out of the question— she still had a demon hiding inside her that even the Goddess couldn’t detect.
Tia was also not an option— she served the Goddess, and if she gave the order, Suna might end up on a pyre.
As for Reg and Anderson… forget it. Their unreliability was practically written on their faces.
Suho and his daughter temporarily left the hall, leaving only Truth, Tia, Reg, and Anderson.
Tia decided it was time to return to the academy— she still had to deal with someone’s corpse.
“Wait, Tia,” Truth called out.
“I told you not to be so casual when you call me!” Tia pinched Truth’s cheek as she protested. Truth went on:
“When will Deya City lift the lockdown? I want to go explore the mist again.”
“Probably within the next three days. But it might not be a good time to go right now. A lot of adventurers say there’s a group of bandits hiding in there lately. It’s really dangerous.”
Oh? That’s great! More XP to farm!
Truth had first met Suna and Reg when that same group ambushed her.
Seeing Truth suddenly get excited, Tia had to sternly remind her not to enter the mist alone, and even told Reg and Anderson to keep an eye on her.
Reg nodded repeatedly, while Anderson asked if there was any payment involved— but before he could finish, Reg elbowed him hard:
“You trying to make money off the dean too? If you’re that broke, go work as a gigolo at the Black Horse Club!”
Truth leaned in and asked:
“Are you guys really that broke?”
Reg shook his head. Anderson nodded— then immediately got held down by Reg to stop him from nodding again.
What, I’m not even allowed to be broke now?
Just as he was about to ask why he couldn’t nod, Anderson caught sight of Reg’s extremely tense expression… Oh right, he’d almost forgotten. Truth had been possessed by a demon earlier!
Seeing Anderson tense up as well, Reg finally breathed a sigh of relief. Looks like the guy got the message: whatever happens, never take anything from Truth.
After all, anything gained from a demon always comes wrapped in sugar but hides a bomb inside!
Unfortunately, Anderson misunderstood completely.
Reg was nervous because he was afraid the demon might still be in Truth, right?
Come on, the Goddess herself just purified her! To ease Reg’s concerns, Anderson asked Truth directly:
“Are you a demon right now, or a priest?”
Truth’s expression froze instantly, killing intent surging—t his guy actually discovered I have two panels?!
He cannot be allowed to live!
“Wait a sec!”
Sensing Truth’s murderous intent, Reg immediately jumped between her and Anderson, cold sweat pouring down.
He hadn’t expected one question from Anderson to piss Truth off so badly— kinda impressive, in a twisted way…
To save the idiot’s life, Reg glanced nervously at Truth’s barely visible claws and quickly explained:
“Anderson’s just scared you might hurt him, that’s all…”
“What? Shouldn’t you be the one who’s scared?”
Since Reg was blocking the view, Anderson didn’t notice the claws and went on nonchalantly:
“You were the one throwing me all those warning looks just now. Weren’t you afraid the demon in Truth wasn’t fully purified? You’re so dumb, that was divine power from a literal Goddess— it has to have worked!”
It didn’t work at all!
Reg slapped a hand over Anderson’s mouth. Shut the hell up already!
“Haha, that’s funny. So I’m Priest Truth now, huh? Are you saying I was possessed by a demon earlier?”
Truth withdrew her claws and asked with a sweet smile.
So they didn’t find out. What a scare.
“See? She doesn’t even remember being possessed. Why are you freaking out?” Anderson shoved Reg aside and answered Truth’s original question:
“Yes, we’re very broke.”
“Then I’ll go get you some money right now. Consider it your reward for protecting Earl Suho tonight.”
Truth skipped off toward the hall exit, and Anderson gave Reg a smug look: See? Instant payout! You should thank your awesome bro!
Reg didn’t feel like talking to him.
A few moments later, Truth came back carrying two small pouches of coins and tossed them to the two of them.
As they felt the heavy weight, Anderson peeked inside— and instantly his legs went weak. Reg was the same.
They were filled with… gold coins!
Judging by the weight, Anderson estimated there were at least a hundred coins per bag.
He’d never made this much money in his life, and Truth had just handed it to him like it was nothing!
So this is the benefit of clinging to a rich lady?
Actually, these two bags had nothing to do with little rich girl Suna.
Truth had just popped into Deya Bank earlier and grabbed a handful at random— the security there couldn’t stop her at all.
In a way, Truth had an unlimited supply of money. Same went for other high-tier powerhouses— but people above Tier 9 generally wanted things that money couldn’t buy…
Anderson had already started buttering up Truth. Reg was still holding his pouch, hesitating. What now?
A gift from a demon, just like when they got that payment from the tavern and he ended up cursed with black magic— what was the catch this time?
Reg’s rational mind screamed at him to refuse.
But Truth had given them so much… What if she genuinely meant well?
Wait a second— why was his brain suddenly defending a demon?! Reg gripped the pouch by the tips of his fingers like it was cursed, terrified it might really mess with his mind.
“Do you want it or not?” Truth asked. Why was this guy acting like she’d poisoned it?
“Yes!”
Reg quickly stuffed the pouch away.
He took two seconds to decide— there was no way he could beat Truth anyway, and this much gold was enough to buy his own life. If she offered it, he’d take it…
Just like at the tavern, Anderson gave Truth a barrage of flattery, then promptly ran off, leaving Truth a little confused.
“Why does he always run the moment he gets money? What’s he so desperate to spend it on?”
“No clue. He’s been like that for a while now. Maybe he’s secretly raising a dragon or something.”
“A dragon? Interesting. You, go follow him and see what he’s doing with that money.”
“Huh?”
Reg was dumbfounded. Seriously? Couldn’t she tell he was joking? She was the one making marriage jokes with Headmistress Tia earlier!
Fine, whatever. Truth is, he was curious what Anderson was up to. Reg hunched over and slipped out of the hall.
As he did, a familiar mark reappeared on the back of his hand, and he quickly wrapped it in a bandage in alarm.
He glanced back out of the corner of his eye— Truth was staring at him expressionlessly, like she was supervising him…
A chill ran down Reg’s spine, and he hurried to catch up with Anderson.
Twenty minutes later, under cover of night, Anderson navigated the back alleys with practiced ease, avoiding patrols until he finally returned home.
Reg quietly opened a corner of the window to Anderson’s room and widened his eyes.
Anderson’s bed was covered in valuables— jewels, magic items, silver and gold coins of all kinds!
He walked over, dumped the gold from Truth onto the pile, then stepped back and admired his collection, muttering to himself:
“Damn it, still feels like I’m way short. Why is it so damn hard to hatch a dragon?!”
That’s when Reg finally noticed— at the top of Anderson’s treasure pile sat a rare dragon egg the size of a barrel, glowing faintly with golden light.
This guy really is raising a dragon!
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.
Tftc!