The appearance of the demon brought extremely heavy losses to the royal capital.
But in the end, it was still humanity's side that won.
The impact of this incident was immense. It spread mouth to mouth throughout the capital, without the need for any embellishment from the media.
After all, many people had personally witnessed the demon's appearance.
The demon's terrifying strength struck fear into everyone's hearts; its frenzied tentacles covering the sky and earth shattered the sanity of all who saw them.
Whether it was the demon's madness within the academy or its cruelty back in the mountain, both were enough to make anyone tremble.
That doomsday-like terror became an indelible shadow in everyone's memory.
And because of this event, Viktor's image, and his terrifying magical power, was deeply branded into everyone's mind.
The empire's youngest Fourth-Rank mage. This news quietly spread across the empire…
———
[Three Days Later]
Viktor sat at his desk, still holding that same profound magic book he never tired of reading.
Vega had once mocked him for it, asking why he always kept that book in his hands.
"Does that book contain some kind of profound magic even you have to keep studying nonstop?"
But Viktor never gave it the answer it wanted.
"The loss report from the capital is in."
At some point, Liya pushed open the door and placed a paper covered in writing on Viktor's desk.
By now, Viktor was long used to Liya entering his study without knocking or greeting.
He closed the book, lifted his head, and took the paper.
It clearly listed all the damages in the capital.
Shops, streets, statues at landmarks…
The most serious loss was the academy, it had been completely razed to the ground.
On the second day after the demon was destroyed, old Raschel finally rushed back from the City of Magic.
The academy he had devoted his life to was gone without a trace. Looking at the empty land and the massive crater, he merely sighed softly.
No one knew what kind of complicated emotions this great mage, who had given his entire life to the academy, felt at that moment.
Although everyone knew it was Viktor who destroyed the academy, no one blamed him.
In the battle against the demon, the destruction of the academy had been inevitable.
Viktor's intervention merely sped up that outcome, allowing the demon to be eliminated quickly, ensuring that the losses wouldn't grow worse and minimizing casualties as much as possible.
Consequently, Devon Lesser's crimes were also fully confirmed.
"Someone found Devon Lesser's corpse outside the city gates, along with several dead knights."
"From the looks of it, those knights probably found him while he was fleeing, but he still had some strength left to resist."
"In their battle, he injured many knights, and in the end, they perished together."
Liya waved the newspaper in her hand.
"Anyway, that's what it says."
Viktor's heart remained calm. To him, whether Devon Lesser lived or died didn't matter.
He was already half-dead anyway.
He asked calmly, "And the punishment for the Lesser family?"
"There is one," Liya said, continuing her orderly report.
"The Lesser family volunteered to cover all of the capital's losses, and His Majesty added further punishment."
"They must also compensate every mage and knight who participated in the battle."
"Of course, since you count as one of the mages, you're also included in that compensation."
"But I figured you wouldn't need it, so I gave your share to Henny."
Liya said matter-of-factly, and Viktor wasn't surprised at all.
Liya was a normal woman, only business had forced her to become ruthless and cold.
No matter what kind of identity she hid behind the scenes, or how cruel or heartless she appeared, that was merely a disguise, necessary sacrifices for the sake of her family.
In reality, she was a sentimental person.
That day, after the battle, Viktor had left early and placed the unconscious Henny at home.
He explained everything to Liya, including what Henny had gone through.
Liya had been deeply saddened and promised Viktor she would take good care of that poor girl.
Now, Liya squinted slightly, speaking with a knowing tone.
"Tsk tsk, the Lesser family really is rich, huh?"
"There were so many people in that battle, just within the academy there were over a thousand mages."
"Paying everyone individually… that's a massive sum of money!"
Viktor picked the book back up again, as if not wanting to waste a second of reading time.
He replied simply, "Losing money to ward off disaster."
"You're right," Liya said with a smirk. "Then how do we ward off our disaster?"
Viktor paused for a moment.
"A financial crisis?"
"Did you hear that, Vega? From now on, no more meat for you, you'll have to eat grains."
The raven on the desk looked up, glaring at Viktor in clear protest.
"Relax, I'm joking," Viktor said offhandedly.
Liya seemed quite pleased with his reaction. She had been wanting to knock Viktor down a peg for a while now, he'd been getting a little too cocky lately.
"The item shop reopened," she said cheerfully. "After that battle with the demon, our reputation skyrocketed."
"Our daily stock gets cleaned out by those mages."
"Some even asked if we could sell more per day!"
Thinking of it made Liya laugh.
Potions that cost almost nothing to make could sell for a thousand Geo each.
With fifty thousand Geo coming in daily, that's one and a half million a month!
Even the wealthiest half-year for the Clavenna family barely reached five million, mages really were loaded.
"I actually feel like thanking that demon. Oh heavens, I should be ashamed of myself for thinking that."
Liya excitedly waved her hands, her eyes shining with the light of money.
Viktor just sat there quietly, saying nothing.
Liya didn't mind his puppet-like silence; she was used to it. She continued speaking, "Oh, and don't forget, I did a lot of work for this too. If you don't give me some kind of reward, that'd be unfair."
She said it cheerfully, and indeed, as she claimed, when it came to convicting Devon Lesser, she had played a crucial role.
Those reporters waiting outside the academy for the first-hand scoop, that had been Liya's doing.
She'd used public pressure to force the Lesser family to confess.
Even though they had disowned Devon early, under the weight of massive public outrage, the royal family had no choice but to issue harsh punishment against them.
In the end, everyone was happy.
Except the Lesser family.
Viktor still didn't lift his head, calmly nodding before saying, "Then, what do you want?"
"Half!"
Liya raised her hand, holding up five fingers in front of him and waving them playfully.
"Half the shop's monthly profits, you have to give me at least that much!"
Viktor, "..."
He closed his book, looking at her with a slight headache.
"Eighty percent."
Liya froze, blinking in confusion.
"What do you mean?"
"I can give you eighty percent of the profits," Viktor said. "I need a bit of money for myself, but if it weren't for that, the shop's entire income could be yours, it's our family's business anyway."
"..."
Liya was stunned. She stood there staring at the indifferent Viktor, opening her mouth but unable to speak.
"You… you're serious?"
Viktor nodded.
He wasn't lying. He did need some money, to study higher-tier Fourth-Rank spells.
But there was no need to explain that to her.
Besides, the position of head of the Clavenna family would eventually go to Liya anyway.
And if he ever ran out of money later?
He could just ask her for some.
After all, it was their family's money.
"Don't look at me like you've never seen the world before," Viktor said flatly. "You're the one managing Clavenna territory, after all."
Liya didn't catch the deeper meaning in his words. She lowered her head slightly, her tone softening, even showing a bit of shyness.
"I've been wanting to ask you something before, but…"
"No, forget it."
She took a deep breath, as if calming herself, and soon her usual confident demeanor returned.
"Eighty percent, it's your offer, don't regret it."
"Here, this is for you."
Liya tossed him a money pouch from her chest pocket. Viktor caught it easily.
He weighed it, it was still warm from her body. Inside, coins clinked against each other, the sound of wealth.
"This money is?" Viktor asked in mild surprise.
Liya replied casually, "Kefra suddenly went crazy and gave Gwen a big bag of money, told her to pass it to you."
"That much? Don't tell me you blackmailed her?"
Viktor was speechless at her suspicion, but he pocketed the money anyway.
Then he said to Vega beside him, "All right, your meat money's secured."
Liya didn't get a real answer out of him and muttered under her breath, "If you hadn't said I get eighty percent, I'd have kept that money for myself."
"But now, I don't need that little bit."
Saying that, she turned gracefully and walked toward the door.
Before leaving, she said casually, "By the way, that poor little girl still hasn't woken up. I'm a bit worried. If you've got time, don't forget to check on her."
With a bang, the study door shut behind her.
Vega's expression turned strangely human, it looked annoyed.
"Viktor, what do you mean by that? Out of money, so you're cutting my food budget?"
"I thought you didn't care about such things."
Viktor took out the book again and resumed reading.
"I've been wondering," Vega said, "why do you keep reading that same damn book over and over? If you've got questions, can't you just ask me?"
It didn't understand why Viktor was pushing himself like he was racing against time, unwilling to rest for even a moment.
"I'm already a Fourth-Rank mage now."
That seemingly meaningless statement confused Vega.
'So what if you are? Even if you leveled up a few more times, I could still answer your questions.'
Of course, Vega didn't understand.
As a player, Viktor could directly spend Geo to learn spells.
That meant that while he had become a Fourth-Rank mage, aside from the one Fourth-Rank fire spell he'd comprehended on his own, he didn't actually know any others yet.
And the cost of learning Fourth-Rank spells was very high. So…
[Reading for 100 hours grants the skill "Heart of the Sage."]
As the voice echoed in his mind, Viktor closed the book and said calmly, "All right, no need to keep reading."
Vega, "?"
Viktor glanced at his skill menu, there was a new passive line added,
[Heart of the Sage Lv1, Reduces material and Geo costs for learning skills by 50%.]
That's right, Viktor had been grinding for skills.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have spent so long reading like that.
"Let's go check on Henny," Viktor said, standing up.
The raven quickly fluttered onto his shoulder.
Viktor sighed almost regretfully, saying, "To have knowledge but be unable to learn magic, what a strange constitution."
At those words, Vega gave Viktor a startled look.
"Honestly, I thought you already knew that."
Now Viktor was the one who looked surprised. He turned toward Vega, showing rare confusion.
Then Vega spoke,
"Henny's a succubus."
"…Huh?"
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