The image was clear, and the voice even carried a slight echo, sounding particularly sharp in the spacious office.
A trace of mana lingered at Greg's fingertips to ensure the recording stone operated normally. He then raised his head and flashed a harmless smile at Olivia, whose smile had instantly frozen on her face:
"My dear Headmistress, don't you think this recording is of great collectible value? I feel that if a few copies were made and accidentally leaked out... it would certainly spark quite a lot of interesting discussions, wouldn't it?"
He paused, his smile deepening:
"So, there are two choices laid out before you:"
"A. We sink together. While I might not have an easy time, you can forget about using any pretext to squeeze a single copper coin from the academy's public funds to buy your precious wine ever again."
"B. You agree to one condition of mine. Once it's done, this precious footage will vanish from this world forever, and peace will reign between us."
"So, which one will you choose?"
Greg waved the recording stone in his hand, causing the magical light and shadow to flicker accordingly.
The smile on Olivia's face vanished completely.
Especially when she heard Greg state the possibility of "never buying wine with public funds again" in such a nonchalant tone, her pupils contracted imperceptibly, as if she had heard the most terrifying curse in the world.
She could even imagine the tragic scene of countless endless nights in the future, facing an empty wine cabinet with nothing to drink but plain water...
That picture was far too miserable for her to dare think any further.
Thus, she gave up all resistance. "Fine, I agree to your condition."
"Mhm, now that's more like it. You truly are a sensible person who sees the bigger picture, Lady Headmistress—Wait! What are you taking your boots off for?! Wait! Why are you continuing to strip—Holy shit?!"
His attempt to stop her was a step too late—or rather, Olivia's movements were simply too swift.
She neatly kicked off her tall boots, and then, right under Greg's dumbfounded gaze, her hands unhesitatingly moved to the leather belt around her waist decorated with a silver buckle. With a soft click, she unbuckled it.
"Hiss—it's actually purple!"
Greg gasped.
Olivia paused her movements, holding up her loosened waistband with one hand as she raised her head to look at Greg with a touch of confusion:
"Hmm? What's wrong? Didn't you want me to 'agree to one condition'?"
She tilted her head:
"Seeing you pull out that recording stone to threaten me with that confident look on your face... according to what I've seen... ahem, according to my life experience, isn't this what men always want at times like this?"
She even shrugged and added:
"Though it's my first time making this kind of deal and I lack experience... since it's you, I guess I'm not taking too much of a loss."
Greg: "But I'm taking a total loss here, alright?! Who said I wanted this?! Put your pants back on first!!"
Leaving aside the fact that his Excalibur was temporarily unusable for the time being, even if he could use it, he would never do such a thing with Olivia right now.
Because the disparity in their strength was far too severe.
After doing such a thing, the best-case scenario Greg could imagine was:
Olivia, the cowgirl in the prime of her thirties, once getting a taste of sweetness and experiencing the pleasure of it, with her bandit-like personality of taking whatever she took a fancy to, would in all likelihood imprison him directly as her private property to exploit day and night. At that point, let alone freedom, even his personal safety would be in question.
And the worst-case scenario: a few days after it was over, an obscure piece of news would appear in a corner of 《Academy Daily News》: "Second-year student Greg Sass of Glory Cael Magic Academy passed away in the dungeon after being shot in the back. The preliminary cause of death was determined to be suicide. Headmistress Olivia expressed her deep condolences regarding this."
No matter which of these two scenarios played out, the immense gap in strength would leave him completely unable to resist.
This meant his life and death would rest entirely on Olivia's mood afterward.
Greg absolutely did not want to place himself in such a completely passive and dangerous situation.
Lust was a blade hanging over one's head, and right now, this blade was hanging too high and too sharp—he couldn't afford to touch it.
Therefore, he clearly stated:
"My condition is that during the upcoming 'Hundred Academy Exchange,' no matter what happens, you must explicitly stand on my side and help me."
Regarding the Hundred Academy Exchange in Act Three's plot, Greg already knew of three difficulties.
First, he had to find an opportunity to approach the current Saintess of the Church of Light and figure out a way to get her to lift that damned Excalibur flash effect from him.
Second, he had to be extremely vigilant regarding Melina, the Primary Heroine who officially makes her entrance in Act Three but was clearly active in the shadows already, because it was now entirely certain that she was undoubtedly a very dangerous character.
Finally, he had to worry about how to use his pathetic reserve of theoretical knowledge as a delinquent student to achieve a score in the exchange that would at least qualify him to participate in the subsequent Five Academy Tournament, so as to fulfill his first deal with Olivia.
Just these three known difficulties were trouble enough.
And that wasn't even counting the various sudden accidents his -10 Luck stat might trigger on the surface...
So if he could use those 120 gold coins to secure Headmistress Olivia's help at this critical junction, for Greg, this transaction was not only not a loss, but a massive profit.
After all, gold coins could be earned again once lost, but he only had one life.
"That's it?"
As a result, upon hearing Greg's condition, an obvious look of relief appeared on Olivia's face.
She clearly had no idea about the complex troubles Greg was about to face and simply thought the condition was almost ridiculously simple.
"Sure, I agree."
She nodded with hardly any hesitation:
"During the Five Academy Tournament, as long as you don't do anything atrocious that incurs public wrath with rock-solid evidence, I'll cover for you on the academy's end. I still have at least that much clout."
Having said that, feeling that the transaction was settled, she leisurely dressed herself again and tied her bootlaces.
Then, as if suddenly remembering something, her hand casually swept over the leather holster on her waist that looked like a mere decoration—
Greg's sharp eyes noticed the grip of a revolver-shaped magic conduit engraved with complex magical patterns flash briefly between her fingers before she smoothly pressed it back into the depths of the holster.
Olivia raised her head to look back at Greg, her eyes shining with unhidden amusement:
"It seems that fool persona of yours in the academy back then really was intentionally put on just to hide that special power of yours, huh?"
"..."
Greg fell silent for a moment. He neither admitted nor denied it, merely responding vaguely:
"...Who knows. Maybe."
He silently raised a hand and wiped a fine layer of cold sweat that had unknowingly seeped from his forehead.
When had she drawn her magic conduit?
If I had really made any unreasonable demands...
Greg felt a surge of lingering fear in his heart.
He realized he had still underestimated this seemingly cynical cowgirl.
Her relaxed attitude and compromise were probably always built on absolute martial dominance and the confidence to turn hostile at any moment.
The worst-case scenario wasn't being liquidated after the fact at all, but being "suicided" on the spot without any warning.
Fortunately, he had a clear understanding of the situation and was cautious enough, which prevented him from heading straight toward a fatal ending.
Rate on N.U.
