Chapter 56: The Sword of Victory and Promise

"Ms. Olivia, surely you wouldn't want the entire membership of the Stardust Association to find out about this, would you?"

"So you'd better hand over those useless stockings, old thigh-high boots, and unwanted undergarments nicely."

In order to gather a legendary set of gear and make a fortune, Ron was pulling out all the stops.

???

What, what, what kind of awful things are you saying!

How did this guy turn bad so quickly?

Olivia's already flushed face grew even redder, resembling a ripe peach that practically begged to be bitten.

This inevitably reminded her of their very first meeting; how similar that scene was to the present moment.

Damn it, the old lady got played again!

The realization made the temple of the esteemed Madam President twitch slightly as her pretty, fox-like eyes swept up and down over Ron.

Looking at the boy's completely solemn expression and his exceptionally innocent gaze, Olivia simply couldn't help herself—she lunged forward and threw a punch.

Still trying to play dumb with me!

Today, she was going to forcefully correct the three views of this minor, which had strayed far beyond the bounds of normalcy.

Thud—

"Ah!"

Ron, who had assumed victory was within his grasp, clearly hadn't anticipated Madam President's unorthodox countermeasure.

The young man felt as though his head had been struck by a heavy iron hammer, and the intense pain nearly caused all his golden hair to stand on end.

Such a violent woman!

Clutching his golden-haired head where the lingering ache remained, tears welled up in his blue eyes involuntarily as he looked at Olivia with a pitiful expression.

"President, I only wanted some compensation. Why did you hit me?"

Hmph, compensation?

Was that what you call compensation?

To be able to do this sort of thing with a straight face at such a young age—what would he be like when he grew up?

Seeing this, a sense of gratification welled up unbidden in Olivia's heart.

Having regained the upper hand, she finally rid herself of the frustration of her brain failing to keep up.

Madam President felt this was undoubtedly a phased victory in her battle of wits against her subordinate.

"Ron, if you speak so rudely, you'll have to be careful about never finding a girlfriend in this lifetime."

Olivia said this in the tone of someone with worldly experience, imparting advice with profound earnestness.

As if you could find one yourself...

The blonde youth curled his lip and silently retorted in his mind.

No matter what, his legendary set plan had completely failed.

What a pity for such a lucrative, foolproof business deal.

Ron sighed inwardly, but before he had time to dwell on it, he saw Madam President stepping in her high-heeled thigh-high boots toward the cabinet on one side of the office.

"Well... if we're talking about intimate items, it's not like I don't have any." Olivia turned her head, her fox-like eyes glancing sideways at the "genius mage" Ron Griffith.

Immediately after, she opened a weapons cabinet that had been sealed for years and drew out a longsword intertwined with deep black and silver-white.

Compared to standard-issue longswords, this blade was notably slender and long. Its scabbard was wrapped in leather covered with silver magical runes, while the exposed hilt featured alternating shades of deep black and silver-white, dotted with gold along the edges and wrapped in layers of intricately carved three-dimensional runes, giving it an aura of profound mystery.

"This was a gift from my teacher when I became an official mage. Back then, I used to hug it even when I slept."

Olivia sighed with emotion, seemingly lamenting how time spares no one.

"It is forged from 'Stellar Silver.' Don't let its appearance as a sword fool you; it resonates with your mana, reducing the mana consumption of a Tier 2 mage casting spells by about a third."

"Even when you reach Tier 4, it will still reduce your consumption by a twentieth."

"Besides that, it is exceptionally durable and can entirely serve as a proper longsword."

As she spoke, the tall, dark-haired woman pointed at the youth's waist, where the hilt of his standard-issue longsword was somewhat cracked.

"I think you need to change your sword anyway, and since you eliminated a Tier 4 Agony Cultist, your merits had to be converted into something for you anyway."

Tossing the longsword through the air, Olivia mentally patted herself on the back for her cleverness.

Even if sixteen was a sentimental age, Ron wouldn't end up using a sword scabbard for questionable purposes, right?

She felt she was truly a wonderful leader—not only caring for her subordinate's mental health, but also being extremely generous with her rewards.

A sword?

The moment he laid eyes on the silver-and-black longsword, Ron's gaze became firmly glued to it.

Because,

no man in this world

could ever say no

to a very cool longsword!

Catching the sword in one fluid motion, the youth could already picture himself standing amidst a field of dogtail grass, descending like a heavenly deity to fight valiantly.

Vaguely, his blood began to boil with excitement. He immediately drew the longsword to inspect it closely.

The blade was as deep and dark as a midnight sky, and the runes upon it flickered like stars in the firmament.

"President, a sword this cool must be called 'Sword of Promised Victory,' right?" Ron asked hopefully in return.

Hearing such a grand and lofty name, Olivia's mouth twitched slightly as she hurriedly swallowed back the name she had prepared: "Stellar Sword."

"Naming things is your business; call it whatever you like."

She rolled her eyes and lazily leaned back into her office chair once more, a trace of a smile appearing as she watched Ron behave like a child with a new toy.

Being able to wield this sword proved that the boy possessed extremely high magical talent.

Although she had been able to glean a glimpse of it from the very beginning, when she saw Ron casting spells without incantations and flirting with holy light elements,

Olivia truly hadn't expected this fellow to single-handedly take down a Tier 4 Agony Bishop along with ten cultists of the same tier.

At that thought, the dark-haired woman suddenly noticed that Ron had sheathed the sword and was looking at her with a completely serious and solemn expression.

To be frank, the President had been so good to him that Ron—who was inherently kind-hearted and kept no secrets well—found himself quite conflicted.

After all, he harbored a few too many secrets, and with Olivia asking no questions about them, it inevitably made him feel somewhat guilty.

"President, I eliminated a Tier 4 cultist," he decided to test the waters first.

"Mm, I know," Olivia replied faintly with a nod.

Seeing this, the blonde youth assumed Madam President hadn't heard clearly what he had said, so he emphasized it once more.

"Ms. Olivia, I eliminated a Tier 4 cultist."

To his surprise, the dark-haired woman still showed no sign of astonishment. Instead, she merely gave him a strange look and said earnestly:

"Ron, as a Tier 2 mage, if you didn't eliminate a Tier 4 cultist, did you expect to eliminate a Tier 6 legend?"

"Young man, don't be too ambitious. You've already worked hard enough!"

Hearing this, Ron froze.

He suddenly felt as though the IQ of this woman, Olivia, might genuinely be somewhat deficient.

He had originally expected the dark-haired woman to brush it off with lines like "everyone has their secrets," but he never imagined he would receive such a malicious remark that dealt a heavy blow to his self-confidence.

Was that what I meant?

Show some shock, and by the way, give me a raise and better benefits, you violent woman!