The Principal's Leverage
Bluma was the first to speak.
"Of course. I know all about it. But I have no idea what that incident has to do with our cosmetics."
The item Zien had placed on the table.
It was a cosmetic made from the white snails of Ebes Mountain. The golden goose that had shoveled massive sums of money into Broom of Extermination's coffers. Zien fixed Bluma with a cold stare.
"Losing your giant snail farm must have been a huge blow."
'Oh, she went there?'
Bluma dropped her facade at Zien's provocation, her lips curling into a smirk. As Zien had pointed out, Ebes Mountain was one of the guild's primary revenue sources. All thanks to the white snails that had appeared when the mountain dungeonized.
"Calling the price whatever you want for those snails. It'd be a shame to kill the boss and purify the dungeon, wouldn't it?"
Bluma let out a scoffing laugh at Zien's mocking tone.
"That's a neat little theory."
"You were probably hiding the Haperus from the start. Not that I'm curious about your management methods."
Contempt flickered in Zien's eyes.
Yet despite his aggressive tone, Bluma responded with the calm precision of someone reciting from a manual.
"......Broom of Extermination is such a massive guild that we manage a ton of dungeons."
Bluma slid an envelope across the table.
And flashed another smile.
"With that many dungeons, one little 'mistake' here or there isn't so surprising, is it?"
Zien could clearly read the implication from Bluma's triumphant expression. This money was the price of silence.
But even knowing that, Zien feigned confusion.
"What's this?"
The envelope in front of Zien.
It was thin. Naturally so, since it contained only a single blank check.
"A modest token of appreciation. You purified the dungeon and neatly wrapped up what could have been a major scandal."
'Take the money and get lost!'
As Bluma gestured for him to take it, Zien reached out. And then—
Riiip.
He tore the envelope in half and tossed it to the floor.
"Thanks, I accept."
Bluma stared wordlessly at the fallen envelope. Her eyebrows twitched again. She no longer bothered hiding her growing irritation.
'......This little punk.'
Zien sipped his tea leisurely, as if to rub it in, despite Bluma's reaction. The tea was good, but it couldn't compare to the premium black tea the principal had brewed.
"This tea's great."
Bluma let out a long sigh, perhaps at her limit. She leaned back in her chair, stretching her legs out onto the table, hands folded over her stomach. She looked utterly relaxed.
"Ha! Dealing with a student feels like tangling with a sly fox."
Bluma dropped all pretense.
She flicked a piece of paper his way. It fluttered through the air on a thread of mana before landing in front of Zien.
"That's our report."
A report with anything damaging to the guild carefully excised. Bluma smirked bitterly.
"Looks like you're holding that flimsy deduction hostage to make demands. But do you really think the government will care about some kid's tip-off?"
Zien and Bluma weren't even in the same league to begin with. Bluma, holding the upper hand, pressed on.
"Or should they believe me instead? I was being nice because you're cute, but aren't you climbing a bit too high?"
As a 6th-rank Saber and the leader of a massive guild, Bluma had the power to make Zien vanish without a trace right there. Socially or physically, it was the same story.
An opponent he absolutely couldn't match yet. But Zien didn't back down.
"That might hold if it were just my word. But what if another 6th-rank Saber exposed all your corruption in detail?"
"What? A 6th-rank?"
Bluma scowled.
'I was going easy because he's cute. Where does he get off bluffing like that?'
As if he'd anticipated her reaction, Zien pulled out his phone.
"Yes, 6th-rank. I'm just a student at Arcana Academy, and a model one at that."
He pressed the call button firmly.
Zien grinned wickedly. To flip the board, it was time to reveal his hidden joker card.
"I'm on pretty good terms with Principal Selphis."
Click.
The call connected.
"Who is this?"
A voice familiar even to Bluma began emanating from the speakerphone.
"Het het het! I heard you went off-campus today?"
"That's right, Principal. Actually, a small problem came up."
"What?! The off-campus event is right around the corner, and you've got a problem?!"
Selphis sounded genuinely shocked. Zien replied in a subdued tone.
"Yes. A very small problem."
To the now-pale Bluma, Zien returned the exact smile she'd shown him earlier.
"So, Principal, could I ask you for a small favor?"
"A small favor? Anytime! Spill it!"
"Yes. I'll call you right back, Principal Selphis."
Zien emphasized each syllable of Selphis's name so Bluma could hear clearly. The principal of Arcana Academy—home to the chairman of the Mage Tower—carried enough clout to impress even Bluma.
Thud.
Like Bluma had done, Zien stretched his legs out onto the table.
"Hiding the boss, harvesting snails for cosmetics like mad, then using dungeon purification as an excuse to squeeze extra cash from the government. You're quite the penny-pincher."
Zien ticked off points on his fingers as he eyed Bluma.
'Let's see. How many screw-ups does this woman have exactly?'
Mana intimidation, threats, bribes. Corruption and embezzlement to boot. Plus, Brigo, Marceline, and Gale were all hospitalized.
"If Arcana's sitting principal exposes all that...... it'd be great for the school's image."
Another 6th-rank Saber. Not active duty anymore, but Selphis's reputation preceded him even to Bluma.
Bluma glared at Zien with murderous intent. But her posture changed. Like at the start when she'd been cordial, she lowered her legs, pulled out a contract, and sat up straight.
Their positions had flipped.
Bluma bit her lip hard, while Zien—hands folded over his stomach just like her earlier—spoke leisurely.
"Guild Master. Shall we begin negotiations?"
Bluma was left alone after the negotiations wrapped up.
"Agh......"
She let out a long sigh and reread the paper outlining the terms. It wasn't a legally binding contract. But it carried more coercive power than any government law.
"What the hell is this crap......"
A rough summary of the contents read as follows.
1. No further tampering with the dungeon.
2. Pay 300 million coins each to Brigo, Marceline, and Gale.
3. Promise guild-level support to Zien Russel.
4. Cede all dungeon rewards, including artifacts, to Zien, who defeated the boss.
How cunning.
Just agreeable enough not to feel bad about it. While scooping up everything worth taking......
Bluma was especially struck by point 3. A blank check in all but name, but labeling it "support" somehow softened the blow.
'Does he want to join the guild or something?'
Even after this mess, Broom of Extermination still topped the cleaning sector rankings. No guild could surpass them.
'Hmm......'
Bluma's assessment of Zien: No pedigree, but real skill. Guts and a silver tongue to stand up to a 6th-rank Saber like her.
'Gotta give credit where it's due. The Haperus escaping was clearly our screw-up.'
Even so, the kid was prime talent worth pursuing despite the bad blood. Scouting someone like that made this loss worthwhile.
'Sure, she got one over on me, but this is an investment.'
Not just as a guild member. He had potential for successor. Thinking that way made handing over two precious artifacts feel like a smart bet.
'If the principal's Selphis, he must be from Arcana...... Was it Irel who went to Arcana?'
Bluma picked up her phone.
'Too direct for an immediate scout...... Get the intel first.'
Bluma's interest in Zien had only grown after their one-on-one.
An unimaginable reward.
Opportunities for a student to take down a boss monster weren't common. And to monopolize the artifact rewards? Even in his past life, Zien's lips curled upward involuntarily.
'I never enjoyed luxuries like this even back then......'
A mystic-grade artifact in his first year.
Zien gazed contentedly at the two artifacts on his dorm table. Equipment collection had been his sole hobby in his past life, so he had every reason to feel good.
'One's useless to me. But the other......'
Zien had been eager to boost his physical mana just in time. And the perfect artifact had dropped from Ebes Mountain.
He'd had his eye on it from the moment he saw it.
'Perfect.'
The artifact's details, checked via his phone app, were as follows.
Mystic Grade
Elixir crafted by the great mage Pelleil of Zone 4 using Haperus's blood. A mystic elixir born from ancient alchemy and magic secrets.
Effect: Enhances physical abilities and mana.
Monster blood brimming with mana.
Refined via Zone 4 secrets into an easily absorbable form—that was the elixir. A potion that boosted max mana and physical prowess. Heirs of other noble houses grew up sipping elixirs like this.
'Of course, an original like this is impossible for anyone else to obtain.'
For Zien, on the cusp of Battle Survival, this elixir was a godsend. Relying solely on swordsmanship without a proper magic tool had its limits.
Gulp.
As Zien swallowed the elixir, scorching heat coursed through his body. The fearsome mana surge. Without focus here, the mana would scatter without direction, and only a fraction would be absorbed.
'Concentrate.'
To absorb as much mana as possible, Zien closed his eyes. He gathered the mana circulating through his body, urging it to linger as long as possible.
Three hours passed, and the meditation ended.
Zien opened his eyes to profound changes.
The effects of residual mana were gone entirely, his complexion healthy, and his mana—previously unusable for magic tools—had risen to the level of a 2nd-rank Saber.
Whoosh.
Blue flames of mana bloomed in Zien's hand. A feat typically requiring 4th-rank Saber prowess. But for Zien, tempered by his past life, even 2nd-rank mana sufficed.
With steady potion use, reaching 3rd-rank mana was only a matter of time.
"Now I just need to assemble a party."
Zien knew well that even the strongest Saber meant nothing alone.
A balanced team with solid synergy always unlocked higher gates than any star solo player.