Chapter 1086: 73. A Transaction
The white-haired, red-eyed loli tapped her forehead and acted cute.
The level of adorableness was almost enough to make someone ascend to heaven on the spot.
If it had been anyone else who liked lolis—especially white-haired, red-eyed little lolis—some degenerate might have already softened, set aside that tiny, insignificant grievance, and become lost in her shameless display of cuteness.
“But do you really think this ‘act cute and get away with it’ strategy works on me?”
Muen remained completely unmoved.
His heart was forged from steel.
After all, once you knew she was a foul-smelling old hag with a four-digit age, what was the point of pretending to be young?
“Thunderclap!”
Muen slapped the surface of the lake.
The violent vibration immediately sent up a great wave that crashed over Mela with a splash, swallowing her leisurely floating form.
Mela flailed her tiny arms and legs.
The sight of her spectacularly capsizing instantly filled Muen with a sense of revenge.
For once...
After being toyed with by you all this time, it's finally my turn—
“Oh my.”
Before long, Mela drifted back to the surface, brushing aside her soaked white hair.
“To think you'd try to see your teacher soaking wet. Have you become so desperate that you can't even suppress your beastly desires toward your teacher anymore?”
“Get lost!”
Muen's cheek twitched.
This damn old hag.
They hadn't seen each other for a while, yet her punchability had somehow increased.
She was a thousand-year-old archmage.
How was she even more annoying than a bratty little demon?
“How violent. You should be grateful this isn't the Flower Sea. Otherwise, based on all those things you were muttering in your heart, I'd have to send you flying through the sky for several hours.”
Mela stretched lazily and settled back into her adorable swim ring.
“Well, thank you very much.”
“Although, if my current mercy is making you uncomfortable, I do have ways to fix that.”
Mela smiled mysteriously.
“I may not be able to do it myself, but someone here certainly can. I could always ask her to help.”
“Heh.”
Muen sneered.
“Do you really think someone like me, whose heart is forged from steel and fears no danger, would be frightened so easily? Let me tell you right now, you damn old loli. Even if I starved to death today, even if I jumped from here, I would never surrender to—”
“Silence.”
The cold voice cut through his words like a blade.
And it cut through more than just his sentence.
The aftershock of Muen's attack was still spreading. Another huge wave was surging toward them.
Yet just before the spray could touch Mela—
Invisible ripples spread outward.
The entire lake abruptly returned to perfect stillness.
In a way that defied comprehension.
As though the lake itself had been sliced in half.
Only a flawlessly smooth surface remained.
“...”
Muen shuddered at the terrifying sight and immediately shut his mouth.
“Oh?”
Mela raised an eyebrow.
“What happened to that grand ambition? That heart of steel? Why did it suddenly wilt?”
“...”
Muen kept a straight face.
He couldn't care less about Mela's mockery.
Wilt?
What nonsense.
He was merely giving Miss Dragon some respect.
She was a senior, after all.
As the young master of House Campbell, noble etiquette had been a mandatory subject since he was three years old.
“Your skin's gotten thicker.”
Mela sighed.
Then a jade hand pushed her head into the water.
Glub.
Glub.
Glub.
“You be quiet too.”
Hamreign had appeared beside her at some point.
The blazing golden eyes were filled with cold disdain.
Old memories surfaced.
If this had been anything more than a projection, she would certainly have settled some ancient scores with this woman.
The grievances between them ran far deeper than something as simple as chest size.
Excellent!
Standing nearby, Muen applauded silently.
It seemed there really was someone in the world capable of disciplining this obnoxious old loli.
Go, Miss Dragon.
Punish this four-digit-aged brat properly.
Preferably—
“See?”
Mela suddenly appeared beside Muen and tugged at his sleeve.
Lowering her voice, she whispered:
“This mother dragon has quite the temper. Be careful. If you anger her later, she might casually neuter you. If you're planning to make a move against her, you'd better wait for the right opportunity. I could tell you her weaknesses—”
“...”
Muen nearly lost control of his expression.
Those terrifying golden eyes had suddenly turned toward him.
The pressure felt capable of grinding his soul into dust.
Fine.
You're both terrifying monsters.
I can't afford to offend either of you.
Could you please stop dragging me into your battlefield?
Turn off the spotlight, thank you.
“Good. At least you understand.”
Mela nodded approvingly.
“You're still far too immature to cause any real trouble. Come back and talk when you can crush a Crowned One with your little finger.”
“I... I'll work hard.”
Muen drooped his brows.
Please stop talking about crushing a Crowned One like crushing an insect.
That's horrifying.
“All right. Business.”
Having completed her customary disciple-tormenting routine, Mela floated weightlessly before Hamreign and crossed her arms.
“So. You're this impatient because you've finally found traces of those people?”
“Yes.”
Hamreign casually crushed the still-gurgling projection in her hand.
“I just found them.”
“Not easy.”
Mela stroked her chin.
“They're just a handful of survivors who slipped through the net. How long have you been searching?”
“Not long.”
Hamreign's expression remained unchanged.
“One hundred and three years.”
“That's not too bad.”
Mela nodded.
“With their ability to hide, I expected it would take another fifty or sixty years before you found them.”
“That was my conservative estimate. Originally, I expected it would take much longer.”
“Then you definitely have to seize this opportunity. If they hide again, the next chance may not come for another century.”
Mela sighed.
With her hands clasped behind her back, her ancient crimson eyes gazed toward the ruined city in the distance.
To her, a hundred years seemed no more significant than the blink of an eye.
Hamreign did not bother with such theatrics.
She merely shook her head.
“Even if it took three hundred years. Five hundred years. I would still find them.”
A certain twenty-year-old yellow-haired man:
“???”
What exactly were these ancient monsters talking about?
Was this really a conversation a child whose entire life wasn't even a fraction of theirs was supposed to hear?
Should he excuse himself?
Just listening to them felt like it was aging him by several years.
“Confused?”
Mela suddenly turned around and waggled her eyebrows.
“...A little.”
Muen admitted honestly.
After all, it was like explaining overtime, corporate exploitation, and workplace manipulation to a baby who hadn't even grown all its teeth yet.
Anyone would be confused.
“To be honest, I'm confused too. Before she told me about this, I thought she'd never ask anyone for help. Yet this time—”
Squish.
Mela was crushed by the jade hand again.
The molten-gold eyes stared toward a distant point.
The killing intent within them seemed capable of freezing the entire lake.
“All right, all right. I understand.”
Another white-haired loli popped into existence nearby and spread her hands helplessly.
“It's not asking for help.”
“It's merely an equal exchange.”
“Then keep your mouth shut.”
Hamreign snorted.
“Your foul mouth remains as irritating as ever.”
Muen:
“???”
An equal exchange?
Why was he the one doing all the work without receiving any benefits?
Oh.
Right.
He was the thing being exchanged.
That explained it.
“Relax. Even though the transaction was between me and this mother dragon, you'll definitely gain something from it too.”
Mela patted his shoulder heavily.
“Surely I wouldn't trick you a fifth time after already tricking you once, twice, three times, and four times.”
“...Wouldn't you?”
“...Probably not.”
“...Teacher Mela, please look me in the eyes when you say that.”
“Ahem. Anyway, back to business.”
Mela smoothly changed the subject.
Or rather, returned to it.
“Since you need him this badly, I'll leave the brat with you for now.”
“If possible, I'd rather have you act personally.”
The golden eyes fixed upon Mela.
As if examining.
Considering.
Evaluating.
“That would save considerable effort. And afterward, it would prevent that troublesome problem from remaining.”
“Oh?”
Mela raised an eyebrow.
“I thought you wanted to get revenge on me by stealing my disciple. That's not what you said last time.”
“I can steal him afterward.”
Hamreign lifted her chin proudly.
Muen:
“...”
So no matter what, his fate was to be abducted by an evil dragon?
Was this the script of a yellow-haired villain or the script of a yellow-haired princess?
After Ariel had become such a devoted wife-type, he should have completely abandoned the Muse Rudoen identity by now!
“What you're saying is true. If possible, it would be best for me to handle it personally.”
Mela sighed.
This time, Muen's eyes widened slightly.
Because unlike her previous theatrical sighs, this one carried genuine emotion.
Something complicated.
“However, that would only prevent me from accomplishing something far more important.”
She glanced at Hamreign.
“Don't look at me like that. I'm not saying your matter isn't important. But compared to the goal I'm trying to achieve... it's too small. Both you and what you're doing.”
Mela raised her hand toward the sky.
The hand was small.
The body was small.
Yet it almost seemed as if she wanted to grasp the entire heavens.
“...Naive.”
Hamreign's expression did not change.
She simply delivered a single cold word.
“You think it's impossible too?”
“I simply think you're too naive. Naive to the point of being pitiful, Mela. You've been trapped by the past for too long. That's why you've locked yourself inside that tiny academy. A thousand years have passed, and you still refuse to face the world's reality.”
“And what about you?”
Mela tilted her head.
“What are you doing?”
“I've always faced that reality.”
“Doing those meaningless things counts as facing it?”
“Aren't we all the same?”
Hamreign floated above the lake.
The water carried her black skirt gently.
She did not move closer.
Yet those golden eyes continued pressing forward.
“Before the final end arrives. Before the final answer is revealed. No one can know whether what we're doing truly has any meaning.”
“All right, all right.”
Mela waved her hand helplessly.
“You win this one.”
“We argue every time we meet. Honestly, I'm getting tired of it.”
She pointed at Muen.
“You can take the brat. Do whatever you want with him. Just be gentle. Don't break him. I still need someone to help me with my future plans.”
“Relax.”
Hamreign paused.
“He doesn't seem that fragile.”
“Probably not.”
“After all, there aren't many living creatures in this world who can remain intact after being held in my claws instead of instantly becoming paste.”
Muen:
“???”
Wait.
That's your standard for measuring strength?
That makes me sound like some pet kitten being played with!
“All right. I won't interrupt your conversation any longer. I'm leaving.”
Mela waved her hand.
This visit seemed to have been nothing more than a farewell to her beloved disciple.
“Wait.”
Muen suddenly stopped her.
“I still have questions.”
“Ask them next time.”
Mela did not turn around.
“But I haven't even said what I wanted to ask.”
“Is it really that hard to guess?”
“...”
Of course it wasn't.
After everything that had happened in the Kingdom, Mela undoubtedly knew exactly what questions he wanted answered.
“It's not that I don't want to tell you.”
She finally stopped.
“It's because you still don't have the right to know.”
“Follow this one. Go through what she has prepared for you. Return here whole.”
“Then I'll give you your answers.”
“And by then... I'll have many things to tell you.”
Then Mela smiled slyly.
“Still, don't say I didn't warn you, brat.”
“This time, what you're about to experience is very different from everything that came before.”
“You'd better be careful.”
“Dangerous?”
Muen frowned.
“Dangerous? Have you ever done anything that wasn't dangerous?”
Mela laughed.
“No. It's not that simple.”
“If I had to describe what awaits you in a single word...”
She spoke slowly.
Word by word.
“Cruel.”
“Incomparably cruel.”