CHAPTER 415: A CONTRACT WITH THE DEVIL

Alex’s alchemy class had just finished, and when he went out, he was met with a peculiar scene.

Daisy, Dim Dim, and Rex the forest wolf were on their regular patrol—nothing out of the ordinary.

Except for the unexpected addition to their merry group.

With a water sprinkler on hand, an old man walked alongside them. But the amusing part was that Dim Dim and Luthor were both wearing gangster sunglasses.

Since Luthor was blind, Dim Dim thought that giving the old man one of his sunglasses would make him look cool. Luthor was more than happy to accept the little bun’s gift, and he wore it without a second thought despite not knowing what it looked like.

The old man was still new to the academy, so Dim Dim thought it would be a good idea to give him an academy tour. What better way to do it than to follow their regular patrol routes?

For Dim Dim, this was like hitting two birds with one stone!

"Good afternoon, Sir Lex," Alex greeted the old man. "Good afternoon, Daisy and Rex."

"Moooo!"

"Grrrr!"

Dim Dim blinked once, then twice, before pointing at itself. Clearly, it also wanted to be greeted with a ’good afternoon,’ just like its friends.

"Good afternoon, Dim Dim," Alex could only smile at the little bun’s antics. But his greeting made Dim Dim smile happily, making his effort worth it.

"Dim Dim and his friends are kind enough to give me a tour of the academy," Luthor said. "I got to say, this is indeed a good place."

Although the old man still looked like skin and bones, having him wear gangster sunglasses made him look like one of those endearing uncles who wanted to impress the younger generation.

"It’s a good place, Sir Lex." Alex agreed. "Well, then. I still need to go to my other class, so I’ll see you guys later."

Alex hurried to walk in the direction of the Magic Knight Training Grounds, not wanting to be late.

Luthor didn’t want to give the impression that he and Alex were extremely close, so he asked Dim Dim to continue their tour of the academy.

Just as they were about to head to the gardens, the old man stopped walking, then gazed toward his right side.

Evangeline, who was hurrying to go to the Combat Mage Training Grounds, greeted Dim Dim before walking past them.

The old man didn’t say anything, but he clearly sensed that the young lady wasn’t a normal human.

’She smells like Nero,’ Luthor thought. ’... Could it be?’

After a brief hesitation, Luthor asked Dim Dim about the young lady who greeted it.

"Dim Dim!"

"Her name is Evangeline?"

"Dim!"

"... I see."

Luthor was half tempted to run after the young lady and ask her some questions. However, he decided that doing so would be a bad idea.

She still had classes, and the last thing that he wanted to happen was for Professor Rowan to nag at him for harassing one of his students.

"Can you tell me more about her, Dim Dim?" Luthor inquired. "Just the things you know are fine."

Dim Dim paused a bit and told the old man what it knew about Evangeline.

The little bun said that the young lady was one of the newest members of their club, Endless Horizon, and she liked to look at Alex in a subtle way.

"Interesting." Luthor played with his beard as if this was the only information that he needed to confirm his theory. "Okay, let’s go back to our patrol now, shall we?"

"Dim Dim!"

And with that, the group of four once again toured around the academy, helping Luthor grow familiar with the campus grounds.

He decided that there was no need to hurry to confirm his suspicions since it might draw unnecessary attention to him.

Professor Rowan had asked him earlier if Luthor could sense the internal aura of a person, which he admitted to.

"Go and find some spies of the Demon Worshipers in the academy," Professor Rowan said. "You don’t have to capture them. Just remember their aura and help me identify them when you return."

The Headmaster mentioned that there was a series of events involving the Demon Worshipers, targeting the students of the academy.

Professor Rowan also mentioned that these incidents had implicated the students who had found him in Slime Paradise a few times, prompting Luthor to take this mission seriously.

The last thing he wanted was for the Demon Worshipers to make the life of "His Highness" miserable in the academy, so he planned to root them all out.

Although Evangeline was technically one of them, the old man had other plans.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that he, Prince Aetherius, Evangeline, and Nero shared a complicated relationship.

He then subtly asked Dim Dim if Alex and Evangeline were close.

Dim Dim’s answer was that they weren’t that close, but it felt like Evangeline wanted to be close friends with Alex.

’Is this Fate at work?’ Luthor mused as he walked alongside his new colleagues. ’Still, it might be advantageous to Alex to form a good connection with Evangeline.’

He could still remember the two children playing together in that remote villa many years ago.

The two had been close, extremely so, and Luthor even entertained the idea that the two of them might become a couple in the future.

However, there was one problem.

It was Nero.

Although he didn’t show it on the surface, he cared for his daughter in his own way.

He only permitted Evangeline to stay with them at the villa back then since he had been busy roaming the continent to deal with various matters for the organization.

As they continued their tour, Luthor noticed that several of the students, as well as one Professor, held a very dark, imposing presence.

Clearly, they belonged to the terrorist group that he had been asked to sniff out.

When their tour ended, Dim Dim escorted Luthor back to the Grand Tower before heading towards Fran’s farm to eat with its friends.

"Welcome back, Sir Lex," Himea greeted the old man, who had just stepped inside the tower.

"Hello, Himea," Luthor answered before a frown appeared on his face. "Young lady, make sure not to listen to that little devil on your shoulder. It’s for your own good."

"Thank you for the advice, Sir," Himea replied. "Would you like to have coffee or tea?"

"Coffee," Luthor answered as he eyed the dark presence sitting on the young lady’s shoulder.

His "second sight," which he had honed during many years of blindness, enabled him to see things more clearly than those who still had vision.

He had no idea how Himea could act so perfectly calm in front of him. The devil whispering in her ear had placed ninety-nine chains around her soul, the sign of the contract she had formed with it.

"Does Rowan know about this?" Luthor inquired in passing as he followed behind Himea.

"The Headmaster knows," Himea answered. "He was kind enough to allow me to stay in the academy despite my circumstances."

"I see." Luthor played with his beard. "Is it a one-sided contract?"

The devil that was seated on Himea’s shoulder made faces at the blind man, which the latter ignored.

"It is one-sided," Himea answered. "But the one losing out on the deal is The Devil."

"Oh? Did you manage to trick it?" Luthor didn’t believe the young lady’s words for a minute.

How could he when there were so many chains that were firmly wrapped around the young lady’s soul?

It seemed that the Devil was very fond of her and unwilling to let her go.

"Well, the conditions were in my favor," Himea replied.

The young lady also felt that the old man didn’t believe her words, but she didn’t care enough about him to explain her circumstances.

After leading Luthor back to his room, Himea returned to her own room.

Tonight was going to be a night of suffering for her, but it was the price that she willingly paid to make her wish come true.

"That old man is full of sh*t," the Little Devil on Himea’s shoulder grumbled.

"Well, it can’t be helped," Himea answered. "You do have a bad reputation."

"One-sided conspiracy!" the Little Devil scoffed.

Himea no longer wanted to continue this conversation because the pain was starting to set in. She then lay down on her bed and curled up into a fetal position, enduring the pain that she had inflicted upon herself.