Chapter 12

“How reckless. If you were so sure I was a Hunter, you should have been more careful.”

“And why is that?”

“There will be a major announcement from the imperial family soon. From now on, Hunters will be the first to be deployed whenever a gate opens. In return, they will be granted status and authority comparable to the nobility.”

The point was this.

‘Hunters will not be summarily executed, even if they commit a crime.’

It was practically a grant of immunity.

A new social class had been born into a world divided between nobles and commoners.

“Shall I put it more simply? It means that even if a commoner like me were to kill a duke’s daughter, I would not be punished.”

“That might be difficult. I’m a Hunter, too.”

“Just as not all nobles are the same, the same applies to Hunters. Ranks will be determined by the power one possesses. Or perhaps you need an explanation on how the strong devour all?”

“Pfft…”

I am one who reigned at the apex of the law of the jungle.

Not a strong person who preys on the weak, but a predator who preys on the strong—that was me.

But now, from a greenhorn who’s just awakened,

‘I am strong, and you are weak. That is the difference between us. Know your place.’

To be hearing this kind of nonsense, I couldn’t help but find it absurd.

I laughed out loud.

“Ahaha, how cute.”

* * *

“Ahaha, how cute.”

Kaiel’s gray pupils wavered.

It was a phenomenon that occurred when his magic surged.

“Ah, don’t misunderstand. I didn’t mean you were cute, Master of the Magic Tower. I meant what you just said was cute.”

As if sensing his killing intent, she waved her hands and made an excuse.

But the mirth in her voice remained. There was no trace of fear anywhere.

‘They said she wasn’t in her right mind. Is that why she doesn’t know fear?’

He wanted to wring that slender neck right then and there.

But he couldn’t move rashly.

‘Don’t touch that, you’ll be in big trouble.’

‘That’s not something you should touch.’

‘Touch it and you’re screwed.’

It wasn’t just because of the Constellations’ meddling.

It was because, from the moment he faced her, he felt an inexplicable sense of powerlessness.

As if facing a great mountain.

“Since you said something so cute, I’ll give you a piece of information. The monsters that came out of the gate yesterday probably weren’t all eliminated.”

“…The gate is closed.”

“You just saw it, didn’t you? The gate and the monsters are unrelated. The important thing is the boss. The gate that opened yesterday was just a tutorial, so there was no boss appearance. Ask the Constellations for the details.”

As if to say she was done with questions, Astell took the cores out of her inventory.

Fourteen cores tumbled out onto the desk.

A strange light glinted in Kaiel’s eyes.

“Fourteen indeed. Did you handle all of these by yourself?”

“Who knows? I only brought the usable ones and left behind those that were too crushed.”

Kaiel furrowed his brow slightly before quickly smoothing it.

‘So she handled at least fourteen of them.’

Even for him, a dark magician, that was no easy task.

‘She wasn’t a mage type.’

He wondered if he was mistaken and looked again, but it was the same.

He couldn’t feel any magic from Astell.

A perfect void.

It was the first time he’d been unable to even tell if his opponent had magic.

‘It must be one of two things. Either she has no magic at all… or she has so much that it’s undetectable.’

Even if she were a swordsman type, it wouldn’t make sense.

If she had used a sword, there would have been a sword mark, not a hole in the monster’s side.

What kind of class could she possibly be to pierce a monster’s side and retrieve its core?

“Use your magic to restore the broken cores and use them for a barrier.”

‘Creating a barrier with monster cores…’

Astell was truly an astonishing person. How could she have come up with such a revolutionary idea?

It was bizarre how the rumor of her being the Mad Princess had spread.

Kaiel hid his admiration and answered calmly.

“How is it different from a normal barrier?”

“If you create a barrier with the cores, monsters can’t get inside. Of course, it’s useless if a gate opens within the barrier. But if you’re that unlucky, you deserve to die.”

“To think the cores have such a function… I find it hard to believe. Did you hear this from the Constellations?”

“The source is a secret. But I can show you proof.”

“Proof?”

Astell took out a rolled-up parchment from within her robe.

“Here, I’ll show you just a small part. Don’t blink.”

She half-unfurled the parchment to show him, then rolled it back up.

“See? Do you know what it is?”

Undisguised astonishment spread across Kaiel’s normally cold face. He didn’t need to see the whole thing to be certain.

“…A formula. A magic formula for creating a barrier with cores…”

“Just as expected from the Master of the Magic Tower.”

“Where… did you get that?”

“From the shop.”

“What? The shop has formulas, too?”

“Of course. There are probably a lot of them, even. Look carefully.”

“This can’t be…”

Kaiel was certain he had opened the shop before.

But it was filled with text smaller than grains of rice, and just looking at it was so agonizing that he had closed it.

‘I haven’t looked at it since… That was a mistake.’

Kaiel swallowed his bitter regret.

“What is it you want.”

“I’ll lend you the formula. Use it to make the barrier.”

“Lending it to me… means you want a usage fee.”

“You catch on quick. The fee is eighty percent of the sales price.”

“There will be no profit with that kind of distribution.”

“You’ll have the formula, won’t you? Isn’t a formula more important than money to a mage?”

That was true. With just one proper formula, one could even create new magic.

“If that’s too much of a burden, there’s another way.”

“What is it?”

“Give me one percent of the sales price in points.”

It was an unprecedented offer.

‘The fact that it’s in points is a bit concerning… but one percent is manageable.’

“Very well. Let’s make a contract.”

As Kaiel reached for the parchment, Astell smiled and shook her head.

“We’re not finished yet.”

“What else is there?”

“Barriers made from cores don’t last long. Their duration depends on the monster’s level.”

“Barriers made from magic stones are the same, are they not…?”

“These probably won’t even last half a month. That’s why barriers made from cores need to be replaced periodically.”

Astell paused for a moment, then flicked a shiny core with her finger.

Kaiel snatched the core as it rolled across the desk and fell off the edge.

When he quietly placed it back on the desk, Astell gave him a smile that seemed like praise.

“This is my proposal. I’ll supply the formula and the cores. In return, you sign an exclusive contract with me.”

If she just lent him the formula, Kaiel could memorize it and use it himself.

That’s why the contract was important. To make him pay a usage fee on every item made using the formula she provided, right from the start.

‘This is what you call a patent.’

Astell thought to herself and smiled confidently.

Kaiel looked at her and let out a faint sigh.

Just a moment ago, she had seemed incredible, but it appeared he had been mistaken.

Astell Ruthius was just a naive, sheltered noble lady who knew nothing of the world.

She was clever, and the formula was astonishing, but that was as far as it went.

“Right now, you are the only one offering to trade, Princess. But soon enough, other Hunters will want to trade cores as well. If I sign an exclusive contract with you, I won’t be able to do business with them.”

“Of course.”

“Does that mean you can guarantee a quantity and quality sufficient enough to justify refusing them, Princess?”

“Yes.”

“The formula is useless without the cores. Show me proof.”

“I don’t have any yet.”

“You need to study the basics of business again. A deal is not something you make based on someone’s word alone. I refuse your offer.”

Kaiel took a blank check from a drawer. He wrote down a number, signed it, then stamped it with his seal and handed it to Astell.

“I will compensate you at the same rate as fourteen low-grade magic stones.”

“Hmm, alright.”

Kaiel looked at Astell again.

She was casually pulling her hood back on.

There wasn’t the slightest hint of disappointment on her beautiful face.

If anything, she seemed to be in a better mood than when he first saw her.

“You don’t seem disappointed.”

“You passed. Though I would have been more satisfied if there had been refreshments.”

“…I was referring to the payment?”

“Oh, the payment is fine too. I wasn’t expecting much anyway, since this was just to check the market price.”

“Then what do you mean by passed…!”

A belated realization struck him like a blow to the back of the head.

Astell had only made the proposal today; she’d had no intention of actually making a deal.

She had clearly shown him a glimpse of the formula just to see how he would react.

“…You were testing me.”

Astell shrugged.

“If you had accepted my offer based on my word alone, I would have left immediately. I can’t just make a deal with anyone, can I? You’re quite lucky, Master of the Magic Tower.”

In short, it meant she had been testing whether Kaiel was a suitable business partner for her.

Kaiel narrowed his eyes.

“I can just find the same formula in the shop myself. It would have been difficult if I didn’t know it existed, but now that I know it’s there, finding it should be easy.”

“Yes, do your best to find it.”

“…You seem to have an ace up your sleeve. What is it?”

“An impatient man isn’t very charming. You’ll soon find out why you have no choice but to deal with me, so just wait.”

Astell put the check into her inventory and stood up.

“When that time comes, you come find me. I’ll at least offer you a cup of tea.”

Kaiel couldn’t bring himself to stop her as she turned to leave.