Chapter 264: Solving the financial crises

"Vlad..."

"Vlad..."

"VLAD!"

Seraphina called out to him in a loud voice, shaking his arm.

"Y-yeah," Vlad replied, blinking. "I-I was just about to reach the other side."

"What are you saying?" Seraphina asked, her brows raised in worry. He had been worryingly silent for a while now.

"Nothing," Vlad shook his head, pressing his temples. His gaze shifted to Aldric, who was standing on the other side of the table in his usual upright posture, one hand resting on the head of his cane. "Professor, does the academy provide loans?"

"..."

Aldric just gave Vlad a silent stare. "You do remember that you are already fifty thousand credits in debt, right?"

A wave of gasps rippled through the squad standing behind him. What in the world had he bought from the academy to end up in such debt?

Even Seraphina released a low gasp, standing beside Vlad.

"Might as well announce it to the whole academy using a speaker," Vlad muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Ahem," Aldric awkwardly pressed the bridge of his glasses. This brat truly had no filter, speaking to the Vice Principal so rudely. Aldric couldn’t even deduct his credits for the rude behaviour since he was already in such debt.

While Vlad was thinking about how to survive this financial crisis, Raphael’s calm tone drew Aldric’s attention. "Excuse me, Professor Aldric. I would like to give my share of the Artifact to Vlad."

Vlad’s head snapped toward him. "You shouldn’t give up such a huge amount of money, Senior Raphael?"

"Say that after wiping that smirk off your face," Seraphina commented, shaking her head with a sigh. He was grinning from ear to ear, after all.

"I would also like to give my share to Vlad," Hugo declared.

"Me too... me too," Alisha said, raising her hand.

Normally, at a time like this, one should show reluctance to accept such an offer, or a prouder person should outright reject such a huge favour.

Since Vlad was also an honorable knight, he would definitely not accept—

"I knew my seniors couldn’t bear to see their junior drowning in debt," Vlad grinned shamelessly. "Thank you, everyone."

Alisha and Hugo just laughed, shaking their heads, while Raphael merely smiled. Vlad was the reason they were all alive. Giving up their shares to reduce his debt was the least they could do. Besides, they had already received quite a lot from the quest rewards.

"Adding five percent of your own share to the fifteen percent from your seniors, you possess a total of twenty percent of the Genesis Artifact, which is equal to one hundred thousand gold taels," Aldric explained. "You still need to pay three hundred seventy-five thousand gold taels to the academy and twenty-five thousand gold taels to Lady Seraphina."

Vlad looked at Seraphina with his puppy-like crimson eyes. She was his girlfriend. Surely, she would also give up her share for him. But still, collecting the remaining 375k gold taels was not practically possible for Vlad. ’Do I have no choice but to give up my eye—’

"This is the remaining amount for the Genesis Artifact," Seraphina’s voice pulled Vlad out of his thoughts. She had taken a storage ring off her finger and placed it on the table. "Please count it."

Everyone, including Vlad, looked at Seraphina with parted lips. 375k gold taels was not a small amount even by a high noble’s standards. It was enough to feed a whole city of morins for a decade, after all. Yet Seraphina took it out as casually as handing over a piece of candy.

"S-Sera..." Vlad wanted to object. Even for someone as shameless as him, the amount was too large to accept so casually.

Before he could voice his objection, Seraphina whispered, keeping her eyes ahead. "I have my reasons. Let’s talk about it later."

Vlad did not oppose her any further.

"A-alright," Aldric took the ring from the table, obviously taken aback. ’So she had already prepared a storage ring with the required money beforehand.’

Aldric checked the amount within it by channeling his mana. It was exactly 375k gold taels.

House Cendral must cherish Vlad so much that they had paid such a large amount on his behalf, even though he had not sworn his loyalty to them.

Well, given that he was Lady Seraphina’s bloodbound, it was only natural that he would be cherished.

"This concludes your report on the S-Ranked quest. You may leave now," Aldric declared, closing the report file and placing it on the table.

Vlad’s brows rose in confusion. "What about your evaluation?" he asked Seraphina.

"I was already evaluated before you came," Seraphina revealed with a sulking glare. "You missed it."

"O-oh... So how many credits did you receive?" Vlad asked, curious.

"No answers for latecomers," Seraphina scoffed, pivoting on her feet. Vlad followed her as the squad began leaving the office. He was about to pester her further when Aldric called out from behind.

"Sir Vlad, we have another matter to discuss."

Vlad stopped in his tracks. "Let’s meet later," he told Sera. She gave a smiling nod before leaving the office.

Once the squad had left, or more accurately, once Seraphina had left, the warmth vanished from Vlad’s face.

He approached the table with an unreadable expression and asked, "Is it about Daemoth?"

Aldric blinked at the sudden change in his demeanor. "Yes," he answered, his tone also turning serious.

He moved to the other side of the table, stopping before Vlad.

Raising his cane, he touched Vlad’s chest with its tip, channeling his emerald mana into it.

Vlad was a bit taken aback by Aldric’s strange action. He was about to step back, but Aldric ordered, "Don’t move."

’What is he trying to do?’ Vlad frowned inwardly, obviously cautious that Aldric might discover his physique, which was anything but human.

’Ren, block any foreign mana from entering the body,’ Vlad ordered inwardly.

[Self-Defence system has been activated. No foreign mana can enter the Host’s body.]

Vlad remained cautious as Aldric’s lips moved in low murmurs, materialising a magical circle at the tip of the cane that was touching Vlad’s chest.

The mana from the magical circle touched his skin at the centre of his chest but did not enter his body.

Aldric slowly removed the cane, and the mana vanished.

"What was all that about?" Vlad asked, confused.

"You will know once you unbutton your shirt," Aldric stated.

Vlad unbuttoned the top three buttons of his shirt. A silver circular spot was revealed at the centre of his chest, which had never been there before.

"Wh-what is this?" he asked, brushing his fingers over the mark.

"Before dying, Daemoth marked you with the Soul Mark," Aldric revealed, pressing the bridge of his glasses. "You are now on the Elimination List of Excidus, the very same organisation responsible for the death of the Legendary Knight."