Chapter 152: Service for One Year
"I will serve you faithfully for the next year, Young Master."
Inside the shuttle, the teacher knelt on one knee with his eyes closed, both hands held before his chest. Between his palms rested a small bottle containing a single shimmering orange droplet.
He had accepted the dragon blood without the slightest hesitation, even when Silas demanded an entire year of service in exchange.
’Even if you had asked for a decade, I would never have refused.’
The teacher was inwardly celebrating his fortune. The value of the dragon blood alone was astonishing, but that was not what excited him most. Someone capable of obtaining such a rare treasure could surely acquire more in the future.
Silas, however, had expected a completely different reaction. He had assumed the teacher would refuse, bargain, or at the very least complain about the length of the agreement.
’If I had known he would accept this easily...’
’I should have asked for a few more years.’
Silas silently regretted his decision. From what he had learned, Rune Masters were both rare and notoriously difficult to persuade. Finding one who was willing to work for nothing but profit was even rarer, and he had just wasted an opportunity to secure his services for longer.
"So, everything went as you wanted."
Cher entered the shuttle with Lara, followed closely by Terio, who immediately gave the kneeling teacher a strange look.
None of them had heard the conversation between Silas and the teacher, but they did not need to. The sight of the man kneeling before Silas was explanation enough.
"He is part of our little team now," Silas said casually. "He will serve us exclusively for one year."
"What?!"
Lara and Terio were stunned, but even Cher could not hide her surprise. She said nothing, yet her widened eyes and bewildered expression told Silas everything he needed to know.
"He really liked the item I gave him."
Silas shook his head at their reactions. He could not understand why they were so surprised when they already knew what he had intended to accomplish by meeting the teacher.
"It’s still..."
Terio seemed unable to find the right words.
"One year? Damn."
Seeing their disbelief, the teacher finally rose to his feet, his expression unusually cheerful.
"My services are usually limited to a single task," he explained. "In one year, I could complete dozens of jobs, so I would say this is a very fair deal."
His large belly trembled as he spoke, betraying just how pleased he was with the arrangement.
The students, however, clearly had no idea what his trembling large belly meant. Still, seeing the teacher’s enthusiasm, none of them had any reason to object.
"Then, what is the job?"
After the awkward silence stretched on for a moment, the teacher turned toward Silas.
"Just tell me what you need, and I, Bishlar, will do it for you."
Silas did not answer immediately. His thoughts had already shifted to something else.
"Where are Darius and Alfred? Weren’t they with you?"
He turned toward Terio.
The sudden question caught the boy off guard. With Lara and Cher also looking at him, Terio felt a strange knot form in his stomach.
He did not know where the two were.
Only now did he realize that he had been deliberately pushed aside, and that he had walked straight into the trap without even noticing.
’Those two...’
’Were they planning something behind my back?’
A faint irritation began to rise within him, but before he could respond, a voice suddenly came from behind.
"We were just taking a stroll."
Darius appeared through the shuttle’s doors, with Alfred following closely behind.
Unlike Darius, however, Alfred wore a complicated expression on his face.
What caused Alfred to look so uneasy was what Darius had told him before they reached the shuttle. The warning, combined with subtle hints about a great opportunity he would miss if he refused to comply, had left him uncertain about the entire situation.
He had not intended to come back and tell the others what Darius did. Still, he had considered telling Silas and letting him deal with the burden of worrying about it.
Unfortunately, Darius had been half a step faster.
His sudden warning had made Alfred wary. Despite Darius’s secretive and calculating nature, Silas did not miss the slight frown on Alfred’s face or the strange, overly cheerful attitude Darius was displaying.
’He is doing something again without telling me.’
Silas decided not to say anything for now. Instead, he turned his attention to Bishlar.
"Here."
Silas grabbed the backpack he had been carrying, took out a copy of the old piece of paper with drawings and instructions, and handed it to the Rune Master.
"I need you to make as many sets of these as possible. Can you do it?"
Bishlar glanced at the paper, and a wide smile almost spread across his face.
’Such primitive Rune Rocks.’
’I’ve hit the jackpot this time. Hehehe.’
As an experienced and shamelessly greedy master, however, he concealed his excitement and replaced it with a troubled expression.
"The materials might be somewhat difficult to acquire..."
"Cut the crap."
Cher immediately saw through his lie.
"You can do it. I know this is nothing for someone like you."
’Shit! I completely forgot she was here.’
Bishlar cleared his throat before straightening his back and putting on an expression of absolute confidence.
"Of course I can do it."
"Give me a few hours, and I’ll deliver the first set."
He glanced at the paper again, studying the drawings and instructions more carefully before his expression changed.
"But this is an old experimental theory..."
"Just do it."
Silas had no desire to explain himself to someone he had only recently recruited, especially when that someone was being paid to stand on his side.
"And make as many sets as you can."
His words left almost everyone puzzled.
The only exception was Lara, who continued stealing glances toward her babies outside. She was already missing them and wanted nothing more than for this boring meeting to end.
"Am I supposed to keep making them for an entire year?"
Bishlar looked genuinely surprised.
He had assumed Silas had gone through all this trouble because he wanted a large collection of Rune Rocks blueprints, but judging from his words, the youngster seemed to possess only a single set.
’Well, that isn’t too surprising, considering his background.’
The moment Bishlar remembered what he had heard about Silas from his students, the mystery disappeared.
"How about you make ten sets first, and then..."
"Make a hundred."
Silas interrupted Cher before she could squeeze the best possible deal out of the situation.
Cher frowned at the sheer number, surprised by how many sets he wanted. She already knew Silas intended to use them to cure himself, but his insistence made it clear there was something more to these Rune Rocks, something even she had yet to understand.
"Let’s start with a hundred, then," she said, smoothly adapting to Silas’s decision. "After that, you can make more sets out of the knowledge you’ve gathered over the years. How about it?"
The way Cher phrased the proposal made Bishlar feel a little proud of himself.
"Sure. Why not?"
He agreed without hesitation.
"I’ll retreat for now. I’ll send word once I’ve finished the first set."
With that, he turned and left, followed by Lara, who looked noticeably relieved to finally return to her babies. Terio followed them soon after.
Once they were gone, Cher crossed her arms and stared at Silas like a hunter examining its prey. The latter was in a great mood; he had just solved the problem of his cure. And now he could finally dream about removing this curse and getting back on track.
Yet seeing how others looked at him made Silas frown.
"Won’t you tell me why you want so many sets?"
"Isn’t it obvious?"
Silas shrugged as three pairs of questioning eyes settled on him.
"I already told Alfred and Terio that I’ve tested this method before. I know exactly what it can do."
He paused, remembering how effective cleansing his body was. Even if he used a different method, he expected the same result from the Rune Rocks.
"So..."
His calm gaze swept over the three of them.
"I intend to use it on every one of you."
Silence descended over the place.
Alfred’s expression stiffened, while the others exchanged uncertain glances, as though they had suddenly realized they might have agreed to something without knowing what it involved.
Silas only smiled.
Then, for some reason, that calm smile slowly turned into a grin that looked almost sinister to Alfred.
"You’ll thank me later."