Henny blinked, a bit confused.
Had she run into a similar situation last time too?
While she was thinking, an elderly white-haired, white-bearded mage walked up to her.
The old mage looked very kind and nodded slightly toward Henny.
Henny immediately recognized this mage as a regular customer of the shop.
"Same as last time."
The mage pointed at the blue potion on the counter, indicating for Henny to get him two bottles.
A heavy bag of Geo was placed on the counter, and he slowly left with the potions.
Henny weighed the money pouch, then turned around and put it into the shop's cashbox.
The rule that a mage could buy at most two bottles a day was actually not bad, at least for some mages.
They didn't have to worry about some rich person going crazy buying them all and leaving them with none each day.
After the frenzy of the previous period, the daily limit of fifty bottles had already led to a relatively reasonable flow of customers.
After all, a thousand per bottle wasn't something an average mage could casually pull out.
The customer flow hadn't explosively increased, but there were also no moments when the place was completely empty.
Strictly speaking, magical potions were consumables. Even if the effect was too powerful, it wasn't something they'd use often.
Most mages bought a few days' worth of potions just to prevent accidents, so they wouldn't have to worry about running out of mana in a crisis.
During normal training or handling daily tasks, they naturally wouldn't waste precious potions, natural mana recovery was enough.
Only after the customer left did Henny snap out of it.
The red impurities on the blue potion bottle had disappeared, but at this moment, a squirming red mass was inching toward her.
It looked like a red jelly.
It didn't seem to have a solid body, and looked extremely strange.
To Henny, it felt like… Not very smart.
"Hey hey hey? That's weird, can't you hear me talking?"
The red jelly stretched its body with effort, trying to catch Henny's attention.
A tiny jelly-hand extended from its body and waved at her.
But strangely, Henny just stared at it the whole time, giving it absolutely no response.
The red jelly pulled back its little hand, went quiet for a moment, then sagged down weakly.
"F*ck! At least answer me!"
'Wah! Mr. Jelly is angry!?'
Henny saw the trembling jelly, angry and shaking, and her heart jolted a little. She quickly apologized, "I'm sorry."
Hearing Henny's apology, the red jelly seemed very satisfied. It squeezed out two snail-antenna-like things from its round body and lazily swayed them in front of Henny.
It was like it was observing her. While swaying its antennae, it asked, "Very few humans manage to satisfy me. So, tell me, who are we beating up?"
Henny tilted her head, staring at the red jelly for quite a while as she thought.
"Then… can you tell me your name?"
"Huh?"
———
The shop was quiet in the afternoon. Leisurely time slipped by, and night fell.
Henny returned to the mansion and walked to the front door.
Before she could reach out, the door was opened by a servant.
"Miss Henny."
Henny was startled.
She had been staying here as a guest, so hearing someone suddenly greet her made her flinch with guilt and shiver a little.
When she looked up, it was a familiar servant holding the door for her.
Henny let out a breath of relief.
But soon, a cold wind blew across her back. She sensed someone standing behind her.
That person's voice was utterly indifferent, "Henny?"
The hairs on Henny's body stood up. She slowly turned around and looked at the person.
It was Professor Viktor.
On his shoulder, as always, perched a pitch-black crow.
For some reason, the crow's eyes looked much more frightening than before.
Henny had just started to feel happy,
"Professor! You're back, "
"What did you bring back?"
Viktor's words startled Henny, and she shrank her head, trembling, not daring to respond.
Viktor glanced at the trembling Henny and said, "Come to my study."
Henny could only obediently follow behind Viktor, looking extremely pitiful.
They arrived at the study soon. Viktor waved his hand, turning on the desk lamp.
Warm, small yellow light shone on the desk. Viktor stood before it, and Henny stood at the doorway with her head lowered like a scolded child who had done something wrong.
Their shadows swayed on the wall behind them.
"Nothing you want to tell me?"
"Professor, I wanted to wait for you to come back before telling you…"
Henny extended her hand. A red, gel-like blob emerged from her arm and rolled onto the desk with wet little plops.
The desk lamp shone on its tiny body, but no shadow appeared on the wall.
It began reshaping its form like jelly, constantly changing until it finally settled into the shape of a very small… crocodile.
The crocodile hadn't figured out what was happening yet. It lifted its head, looked left and right, then stared at Viktor, whose expression was terrifyingly cold.
Sensing Viktor's hostile gaze, the little crocodile suddenly stretched out a tiny claw and smacked the desk with a slap.
"What are you staring at?"
Clearly, this wasn't a very smart demon. It hadn't realized the situation it was in at all.
Viktor narrowed his eyes.
In the game, the spawning of the original demons had always been a mystery.
In Chapter One's story, the seven primordial demons gathered in the Calencia Empire. Led by Greed, they occupied the imperial capital, while the remaining six demons appeared in different cities.
Until Greed was killed by players, the remaining six demons disappeared from the empire as if they had been given an order.
But in later story chapters, players could find these original demons in many places.
And the little crocodile in front of him was clearly the Demon of Wrath, Leighton.
That's right, Viktor knew all seven demons' true names, so none of them posed the slightest threat to him.
After all, his identity wasn't the same as in the game.
Players in the game couldn't interact with NPCs. In NPC eyes, players were more like "mutes," emotionless machines.
Because of that, even if a player could see a demon's name in battle, they couldn't restrict a demon using its true name.
Henny was a bit startled looking at the crocodile demon.
It had been only one day, how did Mr. Jelly turn into a little crocodile?
"Original demons draw power from the emotions of their host. If the corresponding emotion and mana are enough, they can grow into something a whole army can't handle within a single day."
Vega, perched beside Viktor, explained.
In fact, the only reason Viktor instantly noticed the "demon" on Henny was because Vega sensed it beforehand.
As an evil god, Vega was extremely sensitive to beings like demons, existences beyond life itself.
The atmosphere in the study grew subtle in the silence. Viktor waved at Henny, signaling her to leave.
Henny covered her eyes and whimpered "mmhmm," leaving the study feeling wronged.
She really thought she had done something bad.
Only after she left did Viktor look back at the crocodile and slowly say, "Speak. What deal did you make with her?"
The crocodile clearly understood Viktor was questioning it, but it wasn't afraid of the mysterious man. Grinding its teeth angrily, it said, "Deal? Deal my a*s!"
"She walked up and asked me what my name was, how the hell was I supposed to make a deal?"
"..."
At least he could relax now, Henny hadn't been bewitched by a demon.
The crocodile was still very weak, like it had just been born.
Viktor narrowed his eyes. Vega giggled on his shoulder, only hearing Viktor's voice inside its mind, 'Interesting.'
'First Greed, and now Wrath.'
'These demons clearly have better hosts to choose from, yet without exception, they all chose that tiny little succubus.'
Each demon's ability manifested differently.
Greed could magnify the desire in someone's heart, constantly gifting them things until their desires multiplied severalfold, and in the end they couldn't repay it.
Wrath magnified a host's anger a hundred times, causing their strength to burn out, and making them die exhausted within endless rage.
Similarly, the Lust demon…
Viktor didn't want to think any further.
But since Henny could attract different demons, the remaining ones would very likely show up in the future.
Whether that was good or bad, he wouldn't say for now, but Viktor could plan ahead.
"So now."
Viktor narrowed his eyes at the little crocodile.
The red crocodile shuddered, an ominous feeling crawling over its body.
"Losing your temper so easily isn't a good thing."
"I'll teach you how to control your anger, Leighton."
The moment Viktor said this, the little crocodile felt like chains locked its limbs, immobilizing it.
Almost unwillingly, a line of connection formed between it and Viktor.
"Contract formed."
———
Early the next morning, Henny felt a bit down.
She kept feeling as if she had done something to upset Professor Viktor, and up until now she didn't dare go look for him.
Just as she planned to walk in the garden to clear her head, a maid rushed over and told her, "Miss Henny, the master is calling you to the study."
Henny was confused, but still walked toward the study.
Her heart was uneasy, and she kept telling herself along the way that everything was fine.
When she pushed open the study door, she saw Viktor sitting at his desk as usual, hands folded.
There were two sheets of paper on the desk, but Henny didn't look at them closely.
"Pro… professor, you called me."
Viktor nodded and signaled her to come forward.
Henny obediently walked up and stared at the two sheets of paper in front of her. Her hands didn't know where to rest, her mood was clearly anxious.
Viktor spoke first, "In front of you are two contracts. The first is an invitation from the Royal Academy."
"If you sign this contract, you will become an honorary associate professor at the Royal Magic Academy, with treatment equal to that of a professor, including a house of your own."
Henny froze slightly as she listened.
"Ass… associate professor?"
It felt dreamlike, as though her once long-cherished dream had become reality.
A wave of warmth suddenly rose within her, spreading through her whole body.
Her breathing subconsciously grew faster.
But Viktor calmly continued, "The contract on the right is the one I had Liya draft yesterday."
"Sign this one, and you will become a retainer of the Clavenna family. You may choose a family job, or continue living here forever."
"Of course, the treatment won't be inferior."
Henny froze again.
One was the position of associate professor.
The other was becoming a retainer of the Clavenna family.
If she chose the second, then she would be… part of the Clavenna household?
But the position of associate professor…
'Ahhh.'
Life was full of choices, her teacher had once taught her this.
In front of Henny were two choices.
One was the dream she had always longed for.
The reward for her years of hard study and effort.
The other was the person she wished to follow for a lifetime.
In the end, Henny looked at Viktor.
She knew everything she had now had not come easily.
So she never felt that her dream could outweigh the admiration she had for him.
Thus, she made her choice.
"Professor, I want to choose..."
"Wait."
Viktor suddenly cut her off.
Under Henny's stunned gaze, he tapped the desk.
A breeze blew gently, pushing both contracts toward Henny at the same time.
Henny was confused, but Viktor's voice soothed her unease as it sounded beside her ear, "I never said this was a single-choice question."
"..."
Henny stared blankly at Viktor.
For some reason, the corners of her eyes filled with a faint, rippling wetness, as though a thin mist blurred her vision.
But it wasn't sadness, Henny knew that very well.
When happiness washed through her whole body, it felt like a soft light redeeming her entire world.
"Professor."
In that moment, she was endlessly grateful for her life.
All the scorn and ridicule she had endured, as though finally washed away after long suffering.
Henny placed her hand over her chest, her voice slightly choked, "To be able to meet you… really."
"It's wonderful."
[Henny: lv9 → lv10]
[First-rank mage]