“Hey, no matter what, I’m still a member of Dawn’s Edge. How can you talk about my captain like that?”
Litt put on a face of utter loathing, but Otto clearly wasn’t buying it.
“Are you really not laughing when you say that?”
“I’ve had professional training.”
“Heh~”
Hearing Otto’s laugh, Litt continued.
“So, what’s so special about that thing in Red’s hand?”
“Dear Priestess Letia, you’ve just never seen the world, so you don’t realize what Red is holding.”
Otto drained his glass of red wine, that mocking smile never leaving his face.
“I can say with confidence, that’s something capable of rewriting the common knowledge of all Artificers,”
“Even at the Magic Academy, the Artificers—even the professors—couldn’t imagine such an innovative creation.”
Listening to Otto’s endless, rambling speech, Litt rolled her eyes, sounding a bit impatient.
“Can you make it simpler?”
“Sigh… If you don’t start using your brain, it’ll really start to rust,” Otto sighed.
“Simply put, if you wrote a thesis about this thing and submitted it to the Magic Academy, all the professors would have to stand up and offer their seats to Red.”
“Is it really that impressive?”
Litt was momentarily stunned.
She’d examined the Bloodhunter Spider Red made, and its structure was so simple it seemed like a toy.
Wait…
Simple structure, but fully functional—is it the core Magic Circle problem?
Just as Litt guessed, Otto went on.
“The internal structure of that spider is extremely simple, but it can still process incredibly complex commands. This is mainly thanks to Red’s innovative Magic Circle Drawing Method,”
“Just that Magic Circle Drawing Method alone is enough to make every Artificer at the Magic Academy scramble after it.”
At this, Litt’s mind wandered.
What does that mean?
That means… it’s all pure, shining silver coins!
“That’s why I can’t help but wonder if your Dawn’s Edge captain is blind. Such a genius Artificer, and they just let him be a frontline meat shield?”
“Your captain’s been with him for at least three or five years—surely they noticed something unusual?”
“Uh…”
Litt recalled Liz’s personality.
Hmm…
Maybe it’s not so strange she never noticed.
After all, there’s a high chance Liz thinks of Red as her personal property.
“And Red probably doesn’t even know his own worth—only you and I are aware of this,”
“Whether or not you can seize this top-tier starting player depends on you now, Priestess Letia.”
Hearing that half-mocking, half-serious tone across the table, Litt really wanted to punch Otto right in the face.
But at that moment, she suddenly realized something.
“Wait, you just said the Magic Circle in Red’s hand would drive everyone at the Magic Academy crazy, and then you just offered ten thousand?”
“Didn’t you stop me?”
“The point is, even if I picked the second option, after hearing you now, I still feel like I lost out!”
One-tenth of the profits per quarter was way more than ten thousand Luens, but if she’d known about Red’s true value ahead of time, Litt would’ve pushed for at least twenty percent!
Yet Otto, as if reading her mind, drawled lazily,
“You don’t need to worry about that—after all, I specifically set aside a full ten percent profit just for you.”
“Well, then it’s all good.”
Litt immediately grinned.
“Your Grace, you really are my most considerate bishop.”
“…When it comes to changing faces and sheer thickness, you really take the cake.”
“Come on, I still have to learn the art of shamelessness from you.”
On both sides of the communication crystal, the two shared a tacit smile, like a pair of foxes who’d just split the loot and understood each other perfectly.
“Oh, right,”
As if just remembering, Otto casually added,
“Almost forgot—profit sharing will only settle after a full quarter, okay?”
Litt’s grin froze.
On the other end, Otto set the communication crystal three meters away and elegantly poured himself another glass of red wine.
The next second—
“OTTO! Damn you to hell!!”
***
“Tap~ tap tap tap~”
Inside the Dawn’s Edge base.
Letia hummed an unknown tune, though her face was still as cold as ever—no one could tell whether she was happy or not.
Bethany, on the other hand, wore a look of utter misery.
“Hey… Letia…”
“What is it?”
“About the operation plan… could you help me out?”
The past couple of days, this wretched matter had Bethany so worried she felt like she was losing hair.
She never thought it would be so hard until she tried doing what Red had always handled.
Turned out… it was even harder than she could have imagined.
Never mind anything else, just the intricate map of the Labyrinth alone was beyond her ability to decipher.
“Help you?”
Letia sprawled on the sofa, swinging her legs lazily.
“Didn’t you already ask Red?”
“How did you know?”
Bethany was shocked.
She didn’t remember telling anyone about it.
“A guess.”
Seeing Letia didn’t want to explain, Bethany didn’t bother to press—after all, the operation plan was much more urgent than idle chat.
“I did go to Red, but he wasn’t very willing to help.”
Bethany shook her head with a wry smile.
“Letia, tell me, why is Red so heartless now? He wasn’t like this before, but now he won’t even help me with something so small.”
At that, Letia’s brows furrowed slightly.
She dropped her lazy demeanor and sat up, leaning back against the sofa to look Bethany straight in the eyes.
Honestly, Letia thought Liz was already a lost cause.
But this one in front of her wasn’t much better.
After all that roundabout talk, it turned out she didn’t want to put in any effort either?
You know it’s hard for you—did it never cross your mind that it’s hard for others, too?
Red helped before because you were all teammates.
But now, frankly, you’re strangers—why should he help you at all?
What kind of abstract teammate is this?
With that thought, Letia looked at the still-sighing, oblivious Bethany and couldn’t help but ask,
“So, did you ever discuss a reward with Red?”
“……”
Bethany’s expression froze.
After a long silence, she finally said,
“But I wore a low-cut dress just for him…”
So you really thought that would count as payment?!
Faced with this woman who acted like she’d suffered a terrible injustice, Letia hesitated for a long moment before a mocking smile appeared on her face.
“Bethany, that sort of thing doesn’t work on every man.”
“Why?”
“You think you’re giving him a benefit, but what if Red is into lolis? Then it does nothing at all, right?”
“I see…”
Bethany seemed to get it, looking at Letia with a subtle expression.
After hesitating for three seconds, she finally spoke.
“Then… how about you go, Letia?”
“What do you take me for?”
Letia lay back on the sofa again, making it clear she was staying out of it.
“How about one thousand Luens?”
“I’m a priestess of the Holy Church. How could I sell my soul for a little money?”
Letia scoffed with disdain.
“Then… five thousand?”
“……”
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