066: Deal, as always

Upon hearing the sum of two thousand gold coins, Lee Tea suddenly felt that the system was practically a saint for selling him the authority of the God of Black Mist for a mere two hundred gold coins.

Of course, he knew this was just an illusion.

Without the massive amount of evil god corruption that Lee Tea had procured himself, based on that stingy system's usual temperament, it wouldn't even consider selling the authority for twenty thousand or one million gold coins.

From Freya's words, Lee Tea also gleaned some insight into the continent's geopolitical landscape.

This gave Lee Tea a lot to ponder, including the matter of nurturing Susan.

On the Loren Continent, at least within the Redwood Empire, if one excludes the gods, the nobility were the absolute supreme force.

For an ordinary person to challenge the nobility was practically a joke.

This made Lee Tea's plan of "defeating magic with magic" seem increasingly viable.

Inside the office.

"Lee Tea, have you prepared your tuition fees?" Freya asked.

Hearing this, Lee Tea froze for two seconds before replying, "In that case, I suppose I won't become a runemaster. By comparison, becoming a magic swordsman and charging into battle to make money suits me much better. Oh, by the way, Sister, joining the magic swordsman school doesn't require tuition fees, does it? It's not that I'm reluctant to part with the money, but I genuinely don't have any. If the price isn't too exorbitant—say, ten or twenty gold coins—I might just be able to scrape it together."

Nurturing a rune knight cost five hundred gold coins, while a runemaster required well over five thousand.

If Lee Tea wanted to gather this tuition fee in a short period of time, he would probably really have to moonlight as a cult leader for a while.

He already possessed the [Red Priest] class, which came with its own inherent authority, so missing out on being a runemaster for now wasn't the end of the world.

It would be even better if the magic swordsman path didn't work out either; once Lee Tea successfully freeloaded a recommendation letter, he could return to Charlie's Clinic and happily resume his life as a cheerful psychotherapist.

Freya said, "You forget, you can help me sleep. If you don't do any strange things while I'm asleep, that can also count as your tuition. Furthermore, aside from paying your own way, there is another path to becoming a runemaster apprentice, and that is signing a contract. This is similar to me and my knighthood. Essentially, I recognize your talent and spend money to nurture you. Once you become a runemaster, you must serve me for the duration of the contract."

Service—Lee Tea was quite familiar with this concept. Three years as an apprentice followed by two years of service was a time-honored tradition in the artisanal world.

Thus, he very readily agreed to the latter condition.

As for the "strange things" mentioned earlier, now that he knew there was a recording stone in the room, Lee Tea naturally wouldn't give anyone else something to use against him.

Lying on her lap didn't count. Just like today, Lee Tea had seen it clearly: Freya was wearing silk leggings underneath.

To wear pants and still pair them with silk stockings was practically an open invitation for Lee Tea to come and recline.

Freya said, "Very well, then your studies in runecrafting are settled. I will first teach you some basic knowledge. If you can keep up with my teaching pace, it means your talent is up to standard. Then we will sign the contract. If you fail to meet the standard, the contract will be unnecessary; human energy is limited, so you can concentrate solely on mastering swordsmanship."

Lee Tea replied, "No problem, thank you very much."

Freya nodded and then closed her eyes.

The current time was one o'clock in the afternoon.

Miss Freya wanted a two-hour nap.

Collecting tuition in advance?

Lee Tea snapped his fingers lightly, and the deal was struck—

*Snap!*

He thought to himself: "I've finally figured out one of Freya's traits: fairness, fairness, and more fucking fairness. The moment you think something she says actually makes sense, the next second she's bound to stab you in the back. The moment you think she actually has some redeeming qualities, a single sentence from her immediately obliterates them all."

However, "selling" Freya his time was a transaction Lee Tea would definitely not lose out on.

He had already eaten and drunk his fill, and planned to lie down for a bit to recover his vitality.

Once Freya woke up, it would undoubtedly be another round of hellish training.

Since the recommendation letter was not yet in his hands, running away was out of the question, so he might as well just grind through it.

Resting his head upon the soft and warm lap pillow, Lee Tea's mood gradually settled.

Mostly because he had already grown accustomed to this state of semi-solitude.

Perhaps during the first couple of times, Lee Tea's thoughts would have been distracted by the towering mountains that even a flat posture couldn't level.

Nowadays, the only things going through Lee Tea's mind were: "Runemasters really make a fucking fortune. Equipping a single horse with a set of gear can sell for five hundred gold coins."

"Fortunately, human equipment costs eight hundred gold coins; otherwise, the natural order of heaven and earth would have been inverted once again, dammit."

"Even though this woman has a vicious tongue and trains people like cattle when she's acting as a drill instructor, ever since I retrieved that holy artifact, her intentions to recruit me couldn't be more obvious."

"Have I been exposed?"

Lee Tea had already admitted to Mary that he was behind the disappearance of the dwarf Falken.

Mary probably wouldn't denounce Lee Tea.

However, she still had old Shoke by her side.

That old dwarf was a loyal fan of Freya's.

Old Shoke must have noticed what happened with Falken as well.

And he was one of the individuals directly involved.

Therefore, Freya likewise knew that Lee Tea was the primary culprit behind Falken's suspension.

If Lee Tea were in Freya's position, even if he valued such a subordinate greatly, he would still cast them aside for a moment to let them reflect in isolation due to their lack of unity.

Yet Freya's actions were the exact opposite.

She actively concerned herself with Lee Tea's career appointment.

She invited Lee Tea to join the magic swordsman school.

She used one of the most lucrative secondary professions on the continent—runemaster—as bait.

She even brought out the long-hidden trump card of the recording stone to threaten Lee Tea.

All these various factors made her inscrutable.

The crucial part was that this woman's brain was completely functioning.

Lee Tea waved his hand dismissively: "Forget it. Even if her brain is functioning normally, her thought processes are definitely different from a normal person's. Trying to analyze her using ordinary human logic is simply too difficult."

Rather than wasting time analyzing her, it would be better to wait until he grew powerful enough to drag her into a dark room and subject her to a rigorous interrogation.

A minute later, Lee Tea forced himself to calm down once more and contemplate his new class.

Perceiving emotions—it wasn't there yesterday, but it was here today. The only possible explanation was that it was an ability granted by Lee Tea taking up the [Red Priest] class.

Yet no one had explained this ability to Lee Tea.

Furthermore, what good was it for a priest to see through other people's emotions?

"Well... there has to be some benefit. At the very least, when I act as a psychotherapist, I'll be able to grasp my clients' emotional states at all times, which will make me much more proficient and at ease during treatments."

However, "this trick probably consumes mana too. What should I do if I don't want to keep this skill active all the time?"

What to do? He had no idea.

Next came the live combat test.

Lee Tea looked at the sleeping Freya, whose aura had shifted back to a calm, muted black.

Lee Tea mentally chanted "turn off."

It had no effect; the muted black remained a muted black.

Open sesame!

Sharringan!

None of them worked.

"Do I really have to perform a ritual just to turn this ability off?"

If that were truly the case, it would be far too absurd.

Lee Tea closed his eyes and concentrated... he felt a slight sensation.

Looking at Freya again, she still hadn't changed.

Yet his intuition told Lee Tea that he was getting close to finding the right method.

Let's try again.

Lee Tea entered a bizarre state.

It felt somewhat like meditation.

However, that was something mages were supposed to do, and Lee Tea was no mage.

Mage meditation could restore mana and mental energy, aided in the study of spellcasting, and occasionally even sparked inspiration.

Wait!

Lee Tea saw it.

The darkness ahead of him vanished as two burning fireballs drew closer.

A profound and mystical intuitive feedback told him that those were the authorities of the Black Mist he had acquired for two hundred gold coins: [Stealth] and [Night].

The abnormality in Lee Tea's eyes definitely had nothing to do with the [Night] authority.

Otherwise, his vision shouldn't be mutating during broad daylight; it should have undergone a standalone super-evolution exclusively at night.

Thus, Lee Tea locked his gaze onto the [Stealth] authority.