Chapter 56
Chapter 56
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: Valefor's Contract and Perfect Extraction
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Ezekiel stayed behind at the First Tower to check on Ariella's condition.
“Whew... You learn something new every day.”
Damian returned to the mansion first and explained the situation to Agnes.
“Th-that's a relief.”
Agnes patted her chest. Her breathing was ragged, and her hair was damp with sweat.
She had kept training nonstop to distract herself from the anxiety while Damian was at the meeting.
“Take a break. Don't push yourself too hard.”
“Y-yes! Lord Damian.”
Leaving Agnes to relax, Damian summoned Valefor in his room.
[So it's finally in my hands.]
Crunch! He swallowed the staff like it was a carrot. His expression was one of pure satisfaction.
[Now for the contract with this Valefor. Receive it gratefully.]
The sixth contract etched into his soul. A new black magic took root in Damian's body.
[Valefor, I have some questions...]
[You greedy little brat. Think just because we've contracted, this Valefor is your minion now?]
His attitude was as sneering as ever. It wasn't much of a surprise.
[Fine, whatever.]
[...I'll at least hear what you want to ask.]
[Nah, it's fine. You wouldn't answer anyway. If you're so curious, read my mind. Not that you could.]
There was no point begging a demon who despised humans. Better to play it cool instead.
Make him want it first. That was how to seize the initiative.
[...Until next time.]
The demon—with a donkey's head and a lion's body—dissolved into smoke and scattered.
Damian opened the window to air out the room and spotted Ezekiel staggering toward him.
“You worked hard today.”
Ezekiel slumped onto the sofa, looking utterly exhausted.
Just like Ariella, faint traces of age showed on his face.
“I never meant to drag you into something like this...”
“It's fine. I'm doing this because I want to.”
Ariella had told them to keep quiet about what happened for now.
They would discuss how to respond later.
‘Who the hell could the culprit be?’
At this point in time, who could assault the pinnacle of mages like Ariella?
No one with a known name had the capability.
A few years from now, maybe—but even Michael and Rubia teaming up wouldn't stand a chance.
Was it some hidden master lurking somewhere in the Empire? Damian knew one such man.
‘The Mountain Hermit...’
An old monster who had become death incarnate.
Damian had dragged things into a stalemate with him before, but even as Molech's right hand, he was untouchable.
They had an agreement not to interfere with each other now. But Damian had a feeling they'd clash again someday.
‘Hashashin and Michael are definitely connected somehow.’
So was this Michael's doing?
‘Honestly, no idea.’
There still wasn't enough evidence to conclude. It could just as easily be some organization Damian didn't know about.
“I never thought I'd see the Master make that face. First time since I confessed to him.”
“Huh?”
“N-never mind. Slip of the tongue.”
It was too intriguing to brush off, but Damian decided not to poke at Ezekiel while he was so rattled.
“The Master's prophetic dreams have never been wrong. This is the first exception, so who knows—there might not be a second.”
It had to be Damian's regression influencing things.
In his previous life, Ezekiel would never have taken him as a disciple, and thus he'd never have come to the magic tower.
“If you're curious about anything regarding Marian, feel free to ask. Though not all of it is the kind of story you'd like.”
“I'll ask when the time is right.”
Reliving memories of his mother could wait until after his revenge. No need to dwell on it now.
“Even after the conference ends, we'll need to stay here a while longer, so speak up anytime you need help.”
“Thank you. That's one less thing for me to worry about.”
“What do you mean by that?”
He found out the next day.
“Please take care of me from now on, Lord Ezekiel!”
Dillon bowed deeply. Ezekiel shot Damian a side-eye.
“You...”
“I've decided to stay here starting today. It's the best help my teacher can give.”
He couldn't back out after such a smooth pitch yesterday. That wasn't Ezekiel's style.
“What about Professor Cathedral? You're just going to stay here?”
“I took leave because of this incident. He said I earned it.”
It probably wasn't really for Dillon's sake. Just a convenient excuse to get him out of sight for a bit.
“Why not go home and rest...? Oh, right—you said you need to send money.”
Support funds were only available while at the magic tower. If Dillon went back home, his family would just sit around twiddling their thumbs.
“I'm working on some research and need Dillon's help, so I called him here.”
“I won't be a bother. I can cook too.”
It was mealtime, so Dillon headed straight to the kitchen after unpacking.
Meals at the mansion were handled by one of Ezekiel's wooden golems. That meant simple fare with minimal prep.
Ezekiel had little interest in food, Damian had been through war, and Agnes had trained alone for so long—none of them were picky.
But they were all active, so they preferred hearty portions of meat.
In that regard, Ezekiel's familiar did its job faithfully.
Even so.
“Wow, Dillon, you're amazing. You made all this by yourself?”
“Th-thank you. I was the cook back home.”
Thick clam cream soup and bread grilled with minced garlic.
A pie stuffed full of mushrooms and meat, lemon-grilled fish, and roast duck crammed with fragrant vegetables.
For dessert, raspberry sorbet.
“This guy doesn't look like magic tower material no matter how you slice it...”
As Ezekiel put it, few true magic obsessives cared about food.
They didn't need tough bodies for training, and every minute was better spent on research.
“Well then...”
No reason to turn down a feast, though.
Ezekiel took a big swig of the clam soup.
“Mmm... Mm!!”
He shuddered, letting out a groan.
“Um...”
Worried it might not be to his taste, Dillon's eyes trembled anxiously.
“You pass.”
Ezekiel gave a thumbs-up. And just like that, the mansion gained a new resident.
* * *
Damian had brought Dillon immediately because he needed help with research.
“Man, borrowing Lord Ezekiel's name really speeds things up.”
One room in the mansion was lined with all sorts of tools—procured by Damian in Ezekiel's name.
“So you're researching two things total, right, Lord Damian?”
A medium capable of holding mana extracted via Absorption perfectly.
And extracting mana from another dimension via Michaela's subspace pouch.
“Shall we start with the medium? It's one of the more active research fields. Mana from other dimensions is still just theory.”
Mana potion production was a hot topic among mages. It was the fastest way to make money.
“The latest breakthrough extracted seventy percent from mana stones. We need a medium that can hold it even more efficiently...”
“No. We need one that holds everything.”
“Sorry, everything?”
“That's our goal.”
Damian held up a small mana stone.
“Turning one mana stone completely into a potion.”
Dillon tilted his head, question marks practically floating in his eyes.
“L-Lord Damian... That's not a medium issue—it's the extraction method...”
Instead of answering, Damian placed a mana stone on the measuring device. He checked the mana inside and used Absorption.
Then he applied Reverse Absorption to the medium on the device.
“Wha-what? Is the measuring device broken or something?”
Dillon pointed at the gauge with a trembling finger. He couldn't believe the results.
Pop! The medium failed to hold its shape and exploded flask and all.
Dillon stared blankly as he cleaned up.
“We just need a stable medium.”
“H-how is this possible? Raising mana stone yield to seventy percent took ages and tons of money...”
Damian handed the still-dazed Dillon a stack of papers. It broke down the black magic Absorption into magical principles.
“This spell... The structure's so unique. Your own invention? If so, no one else but you could...”
“We'll base a magic tool on this principle.”
Black magic and regular magic had influenced each other throughout history.
Just as spirit magic birthed black magic Summoning, now they would create a new tool from black magic Absorption.
“Oh, that could work. Where is it?”
“We make it now.”
“Who?”
Damian pointed at Dillon, who looked utterly embarrassed.
“M-me? Why me? No way—I can't do that!”
“You can if you try.”
Damian patted Dillon's shoulder.
Dillon's dreams of easy research shattered.
* * *
Days at the magic tower flew by in a frenzy.
He buckled down on research with Dillon, consulting Ezekiel when needed.
Black magic training continued too. Not just the new spells from his Valefor contract, but all his existing ones.
He also internalized insights from his duel with the old mage.
It wasn't mere borrowing of power—it was adding his will to it.
Of course, he didn't skip sword training with Agnes. Uniting with the blade had to become second nature.
Not every situation could be solved with black magic alone.
“Th-then, let's begin.”
“This was my idea. No need to be nervous.”
They used real swords now. He needed fresh stimulus, and too many training blades had snapped.
Dennis reached out too.
“As you suggested, Lord Damian, we investigated thoroughly. This is what we found.”
He placed a triangular accessory on the table.
“It was on all three bodies.”
“Mental domination or something?”
“No. But Max's rampage definitely stemmed from this.”
“Nothing certain yet.”
Damian had checked with black magic Scrying, but found nothing unusual.
“Correct. But one thing I'm sure of.”
Dennis picked up the device again.
“This was made at the magic tower.”
Some conspiracy was unfolding in the magic tower. He had to keep it in mind.
Weeks passed like that, until finally.
“It's... it's done!”
Dillon hugged Damian in tearful joy.
The blue liquid in the potion bottle.
Even after Damian injected every drop of mana from the stone via Reverse Absorption, it stayed perfectly stable.
“I'll be damned. It actually worked.”
“You two did amazing.”
Ezekiel and Agnes couldn't hide their shock.
“With this, we're rich... or not, huh.”
Dillon's head drooped again.
It was a huge accomplishment, but they'd only developed a new medium based on Rubia's paper.
The magic tool to replace Damian was still in the planning stage—no prototypes yet.
Processing the medium was way more complex than expected.
Mass production would require even more hurdles.
“But funds are running low. What now?”
“Don't worry. I know a good investor.”
“...I'm poorer than I thought.”
“I'm not shameless enough to borrow from my teacher.”
Ignoring Dillon and Ezekiel's confusion, Damian packaged the prototype and shipped it to a certain address.
A few days later.
“I-is this real? You weren't joking back then?”
Anya Hilton, head of the Hilton Merchant Guild, visited the magic tower in person.