Walking along the corridor still tinged with a faint scent of rust, Suna once again entered her own chaotic hall.
Truth was quietly seated on half of the sofa, so pure and untouched by her surroundings that she seemed completely out of place.
Suna swallowed nervously and cautiously approached Truth.
The latter tilted her head toward Suna, her stunning beauty making it impossible for Suna to imagine there was a demon lurking inside her…
Ten minutes earlier, Suna had told her father all the details about signing the contract.
Suho thought for a moment, then told Suna that, even so, he would still stand by his daughter unconditionally, giving her all the help he could to get through these hard times together.
Nothing in this world is perfect. No matter how powerful a demon may be, it must have a weakness.
So even after signing the contract, there’s no need to panic— there will always be a way to break free.
With her father’s trust, Suna finally gained a bit of courage to face Truth.
To defeat her opponent, she had to first understand her.
That’s why Suna was here now, trying to talk with Truth about the matter of the “Blessing Mark.”
Of course, Truth had overheard all of this through the wall.
Want to defeat me? Fine, I’ll give you the chance. Let’s see if you can find my weakness—so I can improve it.
“Truth, do you remember the Blessing Mark you mentioned? It’s gone now…” Suna showed Truth the back of her neck, clean and white, and asked what had happened.
“That means you’ve been acknowledged by my Lord. Congratulations!”
My Lord?! Suna was startled by the term. What did this mean? Wasn’t Truth supposed to worship the Goddess of Life?
Seeing Suna’s confusion, Truth pressed her hands together and continued reverently:
“You guessed right. I worship the great Mist. It’s my Lord who has granted us the supreme blessing, allowing us to survive every hardship.”
Yes, Truth was spouting nonsense again. As the only current follower of the Veiled Mist, her words were technically true, and she even sounded a bit like a seasoned charlatan.
Worship? The great Mist? Suna had thought her and her father’s suspicions were already grim enough— namely, that the demon within Truth was something even the gods couldn’t handle.
But the truth might be even worse!
Maybe what resides in Truth isn’t a demon at all, but an evil god…
“T-Truth… what does it mean to worship the great Mist? Is there… is there a deity in there?”
Suna asked in a trembling voice. The idea that there could be a deity hidden in the Newbie Mist was beyond her wildest imagination.
Could all those old records about the Mist be true? Divine treasures everywhere, King-ranked monsters at every turn, one of the five great calamities…
“Yes.”
“So, the one who helped me deal with Norton was…”
“My Lord. How about it? Even though I don’t remember anything, you must have felt my Lord’s gentle touch, right?”
Looking at Truth’s gentle smile, Suna’s heart nearly stopped. Gentle? Norton was sliced in half, the demon inside him smashed to bits, and then I was forced to sign a pet contract— how was any of that gentle?!
No, Truth must have been brainwashed into becoming the vessel for that demon! At this thought, Suna felt a pang of pity for the gentle little priestess before her, and for herself— she too had become a plaything of that demon…
Just then, Suna felt a strange tremor in her heart, as if she sensed something. Looking up, she realized Truth’s innocent pink eyes had, at some point, turned blood-red, her whole aura shifting.
The demon had possessed her again!
“Eek!” Suna instinctively tried to back away, but Truth pulled her back with a power she couldn’t comprehend, stroking her smooth black hair as a wild voice sounded:
“Let’s see how my new little puppy is doing.”
The gentle Truth was gone. Suna instantly realized the demon had returned.
Before she could come up with a plan, Truth’s little hand slipped into Suna’s collar:
“Hm… a bit small.”
As a young lady, shouldn’t you be eating well every day? How come you’re only a bit bigger than me?
Truth thought, switching to her assassin persona. Just like she had intimidated Reg, she now planned to command Suna this way from now on.
And to cop a feel while she was at it.
“Eh?” Feeling Truth’s rough little hand, Suna wanted to push it away, but didn’t dare.
She could only make a show of grabbing the hand that kept kneading her, her face burning red.
She’s… she’s a total pervert!
“Who are you, really?” Suna mustered her courage to whisper, “Please, stop kneading…”
“No manners. As a pet, don’t you know what you should call me?” Truth pinched harder, scaring Suna into covering her mouth, nearly crying out.
Honestly, bullying someone so openly under a different identity felt pretty good. Too bad she couldn’t do more than this.
Suna’s face was flushed as red as it could get. She bit her lip, forcing her rationality to overcome her shame.
So what if I have to call you master! For the sake of my own and Truth’s future, what’s a little humiliation now?
“M-Master…”
Wow, what an arousing way to call me. As expected, the strong must thoroughly humiliate the weak!
“Good girl.” Truth withdrew her hand, resting it on Suna’s head.
Suna suddenly recalled the nightmare she’d had when she fainted today. What if things really ended up that way?
Truth continued,
“As long as you behave, I’ll grant you those little wishes of yours.”
Wishes?
What? Suna thought she must have misheard. Grant my little wishes? Shouldn’t you be making me crawl naked through the streets with a collar around my neck, suffering everyone’s scorn while you admire my despair?
No, this must be some kind of temptation. She’s trying to give me hope, only to crush it and break me. How evil! But I’ve seen through your tricks!
So Suna kept her mouth shut. Seeing her determined expression, Truth just laughed. This was getting interesting.
If you won’t say anything, I’ll just give you something at random. With that, Truth stood up and slowly walked outside:
“Remember to get along with my follower. She can’t be harmed— not even a little. Otherwise, the consequences will be severe.”
With that, Truth disappeared into the East Manor. Suna peeked cautiously out the door but saw nothing. The next moment, “Master’s” voice echoed in her mind:
“Just a reminder— Truth likes girls with big chests.”
“What?!”…
Moments later, Suna staggered back into Suho’s office. Seeing his daughter’s gloomy face, Suho hurriedly asked what was wrong. Suna’s response left him completely baffled:
“Father, do you know how to make your chest bigger?”
“Has the demon scrambled your brains?!”
In a dim alleyway on Deya City’s east street, Truth rushed over after leaving the East Manor. Reg had just sent word— Anderson actually had a dragon egg!
After a knock, Anderson appeared at the door, his face bruised and swollen.
“Truth? What are you doing here? How did you even know where I live?”
“You got beaten up?” Truth asked in return. Was he mugged on the way home?
Just then, Reg, whose face was also bruised, came out to greet Truth. Anderson pointed at him and explained:
“I thought there was a thief lurking outside my window, so I jumped out and fought him in the dark. Turned out it was just Reg.”
Reg, holding his injured chin, said to Truth,
“The dragon egg’s in the bedroom.”
“Hah! So that’s how the little priestess found this place. You tipped her off, didn’t you? What, you two have something going on? Well, I guess women can’t really satisfy each other anyway.”
Anderson spread his hands, looking quite pleased with his deduction.
“Reg, hit him.”
Truth walked toward the bedroom, not even looking back as she gave the order. Reg immediately punched Anderson in the face, and the two started wrestling in the hall again.
“You just do whatever she says! You traitor!”
“I’m doing this for your own good!”
Inside the bedroom, Truth immediately spotted a pale golden dragon egg nestled among a pile of valuable treasures. She leaned in for a closer look.
“Oh? It’s actually a rare Mirage Dragon Egg.”
A Mirage Dragon Egg is a special kind of egg that can transform into different dragon species based on its environment.
Put it in snow and you get a cold, aloof Ice Dragon; put it in a volcano and you get a raging Lava Dragon.
Since Anderson kept it among treasures, it would hatch into a Silver Dragon that loves collecting valuables.
“You actually know your stuff. When I first found it, there was a label stuck to it that said ‘Ordinary Fire Dragon.’ Took some research to realize it was special.”
Anderson wiped the blood from his nose and introduced his dragon egg to Truth with great pride. He’d picked it up during an adventure, salvaged from a long-lost caravan.
It was already about a third of the way to hatching.
Once it hatched, he could sell it for a fortune. A rare Silver Dragon— nobles would fight over it, and he’d be set for life!
“So you just want to hatch it and sell it in the end?”
Truth said with disdain. She’d thought he wanted to raise the Silver Dragon to collect treasures from around the world, but his ambitions were so… petty.
“Come on, it’s a dragon. There’s no way I could afford to keep it.”
“How much do you want for it? I want to buy it.”
Truth suddenly said. She’d always wanted to try raising a Mirage Dragon Egg in a Calamity-level dungeon, and had stockpiled a few eggs for just that purpose.
But then she’d crossed over.
Now that she had another chance, she was determined not to miss it.
“You want to buy it? Heh, let me tell you, even the Earl Suho’s wealth couldn’t raise a dragon to adulthood.”
Anderson shook his head at Truth, intent on crushing her wild hopes.
Even if you’ve latched onto Deya City’s richest lady, there are some things you just can’t buy!
“I mean I want to buy the egg right now. Name your price. I’ll pay in full; you don’t need to worry about anything else.”
Buy it now?
Anderson thought about it seriously. Selling it now would bring in less profit, but it would really help his current financial troubles.
He’d been working nonstop to support himself for the sake of this egg and his future riches.
He even ate free soup with rice at the academy’s cafeteria to save every coin. Life was tough.
“Hmm… I suppose it’s possible, but I have one condition: payment in full, on the spot— money for the egg. If you agree, I’ll give you a price.”
Anderson cleared his throat and raised a finger:
“I want one thousand gold coins!”
One thousand gold coins— that’s like ten or twenty million yuan on Earth.
In this world, it’s enough to buy a young dragon with a few flaws.
And Anderson wanted that much for an unhatched egg? Even Reg couldn’t stand it:
“Hey, hey, that’s daylight robbery—”
“Deal.”
Truth nodded, stunning both of them.
It wasn’t that they couldn’t believe she’d agree, but that even the Suho family couldn’t produce a thousand gold coins in cash at once!
Could it be she’s not only gotten close to Suna, but also the richest ladies in all of Deya City?
Tftc!