Chapter 79
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 79
Chapter Title: Business (4)
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I stared at her third eye for a moment, wondering what this woman's true intentions really were.
If it had been Instructor Seraphina, she would've immediately turned Doris Finch's illusion back into the real thing and tossed her right in front of my crotch.
Then she would've ordered me to ravage the bitch while she watched the pathetic spectacle, using it as bait to turn Doris into her eternal slave.
But this witch seemed to be a different breed from Seraphina.
Laufey was serious.
With a snap of her fingers, the illusion in the form of an innocent white woman melted away like wax, and in its place appeared the real Doris Finch—an alchemist in ragged clothes, trembling like a leaf in terror.
"Get down there."
"Y-yes, ma'am! As you command, Mistress!"
At Laufey's cold command, Doris crawled on all fours like a beast that had given up everything and prostrated herself at her feet. Laufey lifted her foot and placed it on Doris's back, using her as a footrest.
And then, at last, she got to the point with me.
"I heard your name from this vulgar alchemist's head. Knowledge that upends the foundations of alchemy... while being utterly efficient. I coveted the source of that knowledge, so I bought her."
She looked down at Doris trembling like a dog at her feet with utter contempt and continued.
"But this bitch claimed she didn't know everything. That you hold the true 'original' of that knowledge."
"So, Witch, are you saying you'd like to purchase that knowledge from me?"
I asked as politely as I could. Laufey's red lips curved into a satisfied smile.
"Heh, to put it bluntly... yes, you could say that."
I glanced down at Doris, prostrated like a dog at her feet.
She probably hadn't sold my information of her own will. Once turned into a slave, a master's command couldn't be defied, and the information in her head no longer belonged to her.
But.
Letting it slide here would be a foolish mistake that undermined my negotiating power.
I opened my mouth in a voice that had gone deliberately cold.
"But, Witch, what do you think about this woman arbitrarily selling off my precious knowledge? I trusted that alchemist and shared part of my secrets with her. Yet she betrayed that trust and sold my information like a commodity."
At her feet, Doris's shoulders began to tremble even more violently.
I finally laid out my true intentions.
"All the substitute elixir recipes I possess. Their value is immeasurable. In exchange... I'd like a certain percentage of the profits from all elixirs made with the recipes I provide, as royalties."
"......"
"And."
I pointed at Doris.
"Her collar. I'd like you to transfer ownership of it to me."
"Pfft."
At my bold demand, she burst out laughing. The laughter seemed amused, but her third eye remained icy cold.
Tap, tap, tap.
She lightly drummed her fingers on the armrest of her chair.
In that instant, everything in the room let out a creaking scream.
The wallpaper patterns writhed like living snakes, the room's right-angle corners crumpled like paper into impossible acute angles that seemed poised to stab at me.
The floorboards overlapped and dug into each other as they rose, and the chandelier on the ceiling stretched like melting candy, its candle flames splitting into hundreds of fragments that scattered chaotically.
This wasn't mere spatial distortion.
Along with vertigo as if gravity itself was twisting, pressure crushed my lungs from all sides.
"For a mere Academy student... do I really have any reason to pay such an outrageous price?"
Her voice now echoed grotesquely, like dozens overlapping. Part of her body swelled, her red silk dress tore, and a massive demon form with black horns and bat wings began to emerge from within.
'Fuck.'
But I knew.
This was her bluff.
The exact form she took when entering phase 2 in her game battle. But this wasn't a boss fight. It was just a negotiation table. The moment I showed fear here, I'd lose everything.
Instead, I drew up my essence and plunged into deeper, denser imagination.
Lewd thoughts.
Imagining that massive, intimidating demon body wailing like a bitch under my clone.
Imagining ripping through thick hide into scorching inner walls.
Imagining grabbing her horns and pounding like a beast.
Then, something bizarre happened.
The spatial distortion squeezing me stopped.
Her transformation into a horrific demon froze awkwardly in place, like a video on pause.
And the next moment, half of her began to morph once more under my imagination.
Into the extremely obscene, vulgar form I'd envisioned.
The red dress tore away, replaced by a black string bikini barely covering her ample breasts and hips. A black garter belt clung to one leg, sheer stockings hugging her smooth thighs.
Most tellingly, her face.
The demonic right side vanished, replaced by a woman's face flushed with shame and arousal, breathing raggedly.
"Wh-what... why is my domain...!"
Her third eye shook wildly in shock and bewilderment at the uncontrollable situation.
The reason this was possible even in her home ground, where she dominated everything absolutely.
It was because this powerful rule applied equally to the witch herself.
The stronger the ability, the stricter and more ironclad the rule. A brute-force skill like mine might be exempt, but spatial rule abilities capable of creating an entire small rift came with such penalties.
Otherwise, countless players in the game couldn't have figured out and conquered her gimmick.
'And of course, no 'masters' have ever experienced this.'
That's why she dies the moment she meets the protagonist.
If she'd known, she'd have prepared, idiot.
Laufey looked down at her half-vulgar, lascivious body in disbelief.
"What... what did you do to me?"
Her voice trembled faintly with bewilderment.
"Why are you so calm? Why aren't you surprised like everyone else? How did you know my ability, like you'd peered into my mind...? You knew?"
"Who knows."
I just shrugged nonchalantly.
As if I'd tell her straight.
"I just thought some lewd thoughts, that's all."
"Hah?"
At my shameless answer, she let out a short sigh, at a loss for words.
"Y-your head is filled with... nothing but such filthy things?! I should've noticed during dinner earlier...!"
Ugh...!
She bit her lip in frustration.
The intimidating witch was gone, replaced by a girlish expression of a girl who'd been bested by an unexpected pervert—cutely un-witchlike.
"Hoo, fine. I wasn't in the mood to fight anyway."
She sighed deeply in exhaustion and leaned back into her chair.
As she finally gave up and released her transformation, the remaining demonic half melted away smoothly. And... it fully transformed into the lascivious, vulgar form my imagination had crafted.
String bikini. Sheer stockings. Garter belt.
A perfect pervert's outfit that didn't even cover the pink areolas of her ample breasts.
She blushed in shock at her body but soon clicked her tongue in resignation and just sat there like that.
"Not once since conquering the Great Rift..."
She muttered softly to herself.
"Great Rift?"
It was a setting I'd never heard before.
"Yes. Long ago, before the Hunter Association became organized like it is now, I was one of the first-generation raiders who tackled Tartaros."
"......"
"My ability to dominate an entire vast space like this isn't solely thanks to some great font of knowledge. It's because of the monumental contributions I made."
Practically saying she'd been virtually imprisoned, but whatever.
I thought to myself but didn't voice it.
She shook her head with a self-deprecating sigh.
"This has never happened before. To think the perfect counter to my ability... would be something this lowbrow and vulgar. Ha... I can never tell anyone outside about this..."
She muttered, then suddenly glared sharply at me.
"You! Don't you dare breathe a word of this outside. Got it?"
Hearing that, I thought to myself.
'Pick one—honorifics or casual. Not both.'
Well, I got it.
Her perfect world had crumbled helplessly to a mere Academy student's 'lewd imagination.'
I was actually more worried.
I'd unintentionally dug too deep into her weakness too soon.
At this rate, when she inevitably turned hostile against the protagonist's party as per the game's scenario later, she'd patch this flaw and come at them with even more outlandish tactics.
'Difficulty's gonna skyrocket...'
If only I could make her an ally first.
Of course, turning a heavyweight like her into a direct subordinate was impossible. But as a 'collaborator,' that changed things.
She stayed silent for a long while, then finally spoke as if resolved.
"Fine. I accept your proposal."
Her voice carried deep resignation and weary inevitability.
"Never thought I'd sign a contract first with some lone individual instead of a massive outfit like Black Sun."
Her words reminded me of the Black Sun executive who'd exploded into a horrific mass of meat at the entrance earlier.
Hm.
If Black Sun found out, I might pull unnecessary aggro.
Since it had come to this, I reached into my pocket to hand her a freshly made, warm business card.
"I do have a business card, at least."
But.
As I rummaged in my pocket, along with a crisp business card, a few scraps of paper fluttered down onto the table.
"Ah."
Paradise coupons, crudely printed with silhouettes of suggestive women and phrases like '10% Off!'
The leftovers I'd tossed to that homeless guy earlier.
"......"
Her third eye stared at the scraps with even more contempt than when it'd taken my semen baptism moments ago.
I quickly scooped up just the business card and offered it to her, as if the Paradise coupons had never existed.
"Hoo, you know, you're really entertaining me after so long. Fine."
Laufey took the card I offered with a suspicious glance. Seeing the name of the brand-new guild, ink barely dry, she let out an incredulous scoff.
"Fine. But I have three conditions."
Her third eye pierced straight through me.
"First. Don't mention my name anywhere. Having Laufey on your ridiculous guild's collaborator list isn't my style."
That was actually fine by me.
I didn't want to link myself to this dangerous witch and preemptively make enemies like Black Sun either.
"Second. The moment the contract is signed, we share our status windows. A minimal safeguard to ensure trust in the contract."
This was a double-edged sword.
Exposing my status would reveal my core mythic-grade skill, Clone Creation.
But in turn, I'd get to peer into everything about her.
Her skills, traits, weaknesses. Information I'd only vaguely known from the game.
It might not help me much since I already knew her info, but...
'It's effectively a deterrent. Laufey the witch isn't the type to blab my abilities to anyone, and showing off a mythic-grade skill will keep her from underestimating me.'
Thinking long-term, there was no surer insurance.
"And third."
She pointed at Doris trembling at her feet.
"This alchemist remains my slave from now on. Of course, as per your demand, I'll transfer ownership of her collar to you. But her status stays as a slave bound to this estate."
The final proposal essentially kept Doris Finch in slave status.
Not a bad deal for me either.
After all calculations, I nodded without hesitation.
"Good. I accept all of them."
At my immediate reply, Laufey's third eye widened slightly in surprise.
She'd expected me to hesitate, especially on the status sharing.
Well, if she'd had any real faction, I might've thought the same...
'You're a loner. No friends.'
In the village of two-eyes, the three-eyed had no buddies.