An Impossible Wager (Continued)

On the second floor of the castle, pushing open the heavy solid wood door of the study, an elegant atmosphere wafts out, as if stepping into another Serenity world.

The interior space is quite spacious, about 50 square meters, and the high ceiling makes the whole room feel even more open. The floor is covered with a dark brown pure wool carpet, which is soft and warm to the touch, and the delicate patterns on it seem to tell the story of time.

In the center of the study stands a desk crafted from rare mahogany, its lines sleek and its color warm and inviting. Various stationery items are neatly arranged on the desk, a crystal paperweight refracts the light with a dazzling brilliance, and a vintage desk lamp casts a soft glow, adding a unique charm to the space.

The furniture in the room maintains the retro style of medieval Britain. Even with the hazy light from the crystal chandelier hanging overhead, it is enough to show the luxury of this study. Rather than a study, it is more like a meeting room for nobles.

On either side of the room, two rows of soft sofas had already been carefully arranged, creating a private area for visiting guests. In front of the sofas was a coffee table, made of warm natural marble and an exquisite metal frame, with a beautiful tea set on its surface.

Clearly, everything that happened was pre-arranged; Rovey had prepared this so-called earth-shattering wager before he even arrived.

Upon entering the reserved study, Rovey, as the initiator, naturally took the lead and walked unceremoniously to the main seat at the mahogany table. He then sat in the prestigious position that should have belonged to the king hundreds of years ago, and the nine people sitting below him were the final "challengers".

It's hard to imagine that a mere Festival Rank Magus could sit before most of the Lord at this moment, and even look down upon them due to the difference in seating positions. Such a fantastical scene is actually unfolding before my eyes, especially within an Aristocratic Faction places the utmost emphasis on bloodline and status.

At this moment, due to the special circumstances, even Kenneth dared not utter a single word of dissent. The Lord and members of the magical families who had entered also did not say much, but instead found their places and took their seats.

They are respectively—

Lord of the Creation Department, head of Baluereita, one of the three great noble families, a famous heroine in the democratic camp, and former teacher of Aozaki Touko, Inorai Baluereita Atolohom.

Lord the entire Department of General Fundamentals, McDanell Trambellio Elrod.

Lord the Mineralogy Department, Kenneth El-Melloi Archibald.

The Department of Botany Lord, Lord, May Litael Archerolt.

Lord Marisbury Animusphere Animusphere, the Department of Astromancy Lord.

Lord Rufreus Nazele Yulifis, the Lord the Spiritual Evocation Department.

The current head of the prestigious Finland Edelfelt Family.

Darnic Preston Yggdmillennia, a representative of the Millennium Tree Yggdmillennia clan of the Clock Tower.

And the last one...

Lord Barthomeloi Loreleia, the Lord of the Department of Law.

No one expected that such a small study would be as lively as the Grand Rank Decision.

The three noble families of the Clock Tower gathered together, and the Lord faction sent seven members at the same time.

If Weber had actually listened to Rovey's suggestion to come and broaden his horizons, he would probably be so terrified by this scene that his legs would go weak and he wouldn't be able to move at all. How could he possibly be sitting in the main seat in front of so many important figures, looking down at these challengers like Rovey?

Besides the seven extremely renowned Clock Tower Lord, there are two other Mage Families.

Both Edelfelt and the Millennium Tree are unparalleled prestigious families. The former, like the Crowley Family, originated in the Renaissance period. However, unlike the Crowley Family, which accidentally picked up the legacy of Aleister, this family rose to power through plunder. In addition, their magical foundation was too shallow, and they were full of worldly desires, so they were often despised by the Magus of the Clock Tower.

And the other one...

When he saw that the Millennium Tree Clan had also come to join in the fun, Rovey was quite surprised. However, after the qualification assessment, the Millennium Tree Clan could indeed meet his needs, so he did not refuse and brought them along as well.

In short, everyone who came was a familiar face.

The scene in the room at this moment can truly be described as a gathering of wise men and immortals, lined up like hemp.

After all, opportunities to bring together the three great noble families are rare... Even negotiations between two factions might not be as lively as this.

"Heh, wasn't this a bet proposed by you Aristocratic Faction? How come you and I, the initiators, are involved? Is it to prevent us from obtaining the Gem Mystic Eyes? This really is full of Aristocratic Faction and shameless behavior..."

Upon seeing five families arrive from the Aristocratic Faction side, Lord Baluereita let out a sarcastic remark without any politeness.

"Are you all such sore losers?"

"Hehe, Baluereita... After all these years, your tongue is as sharp as ever... However... the democracy you value... doesn't seem to have achieved anything significant... nor has it produced any noteworthy leaders... How about it? My grand-disciple surprises you, doesn't he?"

The one who responded to her was Yulifis, who was also over seventy years old and looked very old.

Of all the people present, he was the only one whose age was not much different from that of the old woman, so only he could be so blunt in his sarcasm.

"Alright, more than that, your simultaneous appearance has made me understand something."

Compared to Baluereita's sarcasm, another democratic Lord Trambellio, saw more clearly. He said, "This child definitely didn't consult with you. Otherwise, you wouldn't be so eager to get involved, and you certainly wouldn't allow him to do such a thing. In other words... this bet was an addendum, and no one knew about it. It was an accidental bet."

"Am I right? Mr. Rovey?"

While mentally deducing the correct answer, Lord Trambellio then turned his gaze to Rovey in the main seat, and his attitude was extremely proper, clearly placing Rovey on an equal footing with himself.

"Of course, after all, this is a bet, and the most important premise for a bet to begin is fairness, isn't it?"

"Moreover, I can guarantee that none of the Aristocratic Faction Lord will know about this beforehand, so you two can participate with peace of mind."

In response to the other party's words, Rovey nodded slightly and then frankly gave the answer the other party wanted.

"Then thank you very much."

After confirming his thoughts, Lord Trambellio nodded slightly.

"Very well, is this the spirit of contract between nobles? Hmm, now that I see Mr. Rovey is so frank, I'm relieved about what you said earlier regarding those two pairs of 'gem' Mystic Eyes."

"I believe that even if you lose the bet, you will ultimately keep your promise and frankly hand over the Mystic Eyes."

At this moment, it was a beautiful woman with blonde hair and blue eyes, whose figure was as elegant and noble as a jewel that spoke.

She is probably in her early twenties. Although her beauty cannot compare to the bewitching beauty of Lita Rojaan, she is still considered a rare beauty.

His true identity is the current head of the prestigious Finland family, Edelfeldt.

Only...

"You're already fantasizing about dividing the spoils before the bet has even started? No wonder your family started out as a plunderer; your arrogance and barbarity are practically overflowing... Today, everyone gathered here is Magus from the Clock Tower. I don't know what you, an outsider, are doing here? Do you really think you can win the Mystic Eyes in front of so many people?"

She had barely finished speaking when she was met with an undisguised sarcasm.

The other person was a stylishly dressed young woman.

Rovey looked at her and saw that she had a stunningly beautiful face that was in no way inferior to his. Her dazzling pink hair cascaded down in waves, like a burning flame, flamboyant and full of vitality. Her eyes were clear and blue, like a lake under a clear sky, seemingly hiding endless cleverness and cunning.

However, her presence here indicates that she is not just an ordinary girl.

Her name is May Litael Archerolt, and she has her own unique title, "Lord of the Department of Botany (Yumina)". She is also a maverick in the Aristocratic Faction. She does not like to study magic. Instead, she calls herself "a beautiful girl from the Britain" and "a legendary Witch with many suitors, the first in history to have more than 100 million fans, and the world's number one super idol in the association". She usually holds concerts all over the world as an idol singer.

He was the number two figure who was a headache for the Aristocratic Faction.

Originally, it was number one, but Rovey managed to take its place with his incredible skills, so it had to be relegated to number two.

After all, she clearly inherited the blood of Witch and possessed exceptional talent. With patience and dedication, she could have reached the "Grand Rank" in ten years. However, her willful actions prevented her from making much progress in magic, completely wasting her talents.

However, due to the special advantages of her Department of Botany, which monopolized too many resources, and the outstanding achievements of her family in multinational corporations and media, even though she did not like to manage affairs and did not accomplish much, the Department of Botany was still the richest department, which annoyed many Lords.

Moreover, the Aoko Aozaki, whom he met in Northern Europe who insisted on becoming his older sister, was the one he was introducing to right in front of him. Therefore, even for Rovey, it was difficult to guarantee whether this Lord of the Department of Botany knew anything about Northern Europe.

"After all, everyone has a chance, right?"

Faced with Litael's sarcasm, the head of the Edelfelt family also retaliated without hesitation.

"Even if we lose, it's only a matter of losing most of our assets. There's still a chance to recover slowly in the future. And compared to someone like you, who clearly possesses unparalleled resources and unimaginable talent but doesn't know how to cherish them, wielding the Mystic Eyes, I think the 'Gem' should fall into the hands of the right person to be truly effective."

"Since you like being an idol so much, why don't you leave the world of demonic cultivation and live a peaceful life? You haven't been focusing on demonic cultivation, yet you're standing in the position of Lord because of your father's protection, and you even start to criticize others on the grounds of bloodline. It's really ironic. The so-called Lord doesn't let someone with more responsibility and strength take the position, but instead chose a little girl like you."

"... May I take your words as the barking of an incompetent person?"

"Of course you can think that way, after all, you're just a defective product who betrayed the demonic path."

"It's incredibly ironic that even a defective product can be in a better position than you."

It's true what they say, "If we don't see eye to eye, even half a sentence is too much."

Because of prejudice against the Edelfeldt family and the proud personalities of the two representatives, the most likely clashes between democracy and Aristocratic Faction did not escalate. Instead, the two men, both accomplished in the secular world and pursuing different women, engaged in a war of words.

However, Rovey hadn't summoned them to watch a fight, and the two women, knowing they were from prestigious families, promptly accepted the excuse Rovey offered and didn't let others continue to laugh at them.

After seeing that everyone had quieted down, Rovey nodded and got straight to today's topic.

"As I predicted before, this will be an exciting bet. I've already written the details and will bring them up soon. Let's confirm the stakes first."

After speaking, Rovey didn't say anything more. Instead, he took out two pre-prepared containers from the sealed drawer and placed them on the table.

Blue and green, two jewel-like beams of light emanated from the container in an instant. The dazzling luster and immense magical power caused everyone present to involuntarily swallow hard.

"Gem" level Mystic Eyes!!

—This is absolutely true.

Having just witnessed this magic firsthand, they were naturally very familiar with it, so they could immediately tell that the two containers in Rovey's hands were special storage containers for Jewel-Grade Mystic Eyes.

In a mere instant, because they had seen three different "gem-level" Mystic Eyes at the same time tonight, the Magus present had already unleashed their magic power uncontrollably along with their emotions.

Some of them even couldn't help but think, "Could we secretly kill him and then steal the Jewel-Grade Mystic Eyes?"

However, this idea was quickly rejected by Rovey himself. In front of all the Lord, he activated the spell on the container, a self-destruct spell with the power of a small hand grenade.

This scene terrified everyone, and it also calmed them down.

What they feared was certainly not the explosive power of a mere grenade. As top Magus, each of them possessed their own terrifying, trump card techniques, and the explosion of mere firearms would be of no use to them.

But... the Mystic Eyes is afraid!

Even a gem- Jewel-Grade Mystic Eyes can only unleash its miraculous power when used. If no one uses it, its fragility is only slightly stronger than that of an ordinary eyeball.

If this really explodes, the result is obvious—both pairs of Jewel-Grade Mystic Eyes will be destroyed simultaneously.

"..."

For a moment, all the Magus present fell silent.

They understood that this was Rovey's way of keeping them in check; if anyone dared to act recklessly, he would detonate the Mystic Eyes. Even if they won then, they wouldn't get their hands on the Mystic Eyes.

The one who committed the outrageous act also had to bear the responsibility of destroying the Mystic Eyes and suffer punishment from everyone else. This was indeed a clever move.

"Please rest assured, this is just a small guarantee for the smooth conduct of the bet. I hope everyone can abide by it and not think of any other methods. I will dispel the spell after everything is over."

Everyone fell silent.

They knew they absolutely could not pressure Rovey any further.

The consequences of destroying the "Gem"-level Mystic Eyes were too great for any of them to bear.

However, this did reassure all the Magus involved in the betting. After all, they no longer had to worry about anyone using underhanded tactics; everyone could compete fairly, and the Magic Mystic Eyes would surely remain under their control.

"That concludes the opening remarks. Now, let's take a look at the contents of the bet."

Seeing that everyone in the room had already made up their minds, Rovey didn't delay any longer.

Using Magecraft, a stack of pre-prepared Magic Contract on the table is distributed to each Magus.

These contracts are all signed by Rovey, and they take effect as long as the Magus write them down. Even if the contracts are torn up, they will have no effect.

The best proof is that Rovey directly used his own blood and the Origin Imprint as collateral, and the object of his oath was actually the "The Root".

This discovery caused all the Magus to frown, but they also knew that there was no turning back now. They skillfully picked up their contracts and read every word and phrase on them, analyzing them carefully.

Then no one spoke...

"..."

Upon seeing the contents of the contract, everyone frowned, their eyes filled with disbelief.

Time passed second by second.

Rovey leaned back in his chair, fiddling with the Mystic Eyes in his hand, while awaiting the outcome...

And in the end, things did turn out exactly as he predicted.

Kenneth, the teacher, was the first to lose his temper. He stood up and smashed the porcelain cup in front of him.

With a loud 'bang!', the porcelain cup in his hand shattered into pieces on the ground, and his heart was also shattered at that moment. His eyes looked as if he wanted to devour people, terrifyingly wanting to eat them.

Snap!

Then, Marisbury couldn't hold back any longer and slammed his fist on the table, glaring angrily at Rovey, who sat at the head of the table. Immediately afterward, everyone else put down their contracts and turned to look at him.

One, two, three... until finally all eyes were on him, a feeling that was like being cut by a knife.

"Give me an explanation, Mr. Rovey. Is this ridiculous contract you've concocted meant to fool me? Are you just using two pairs of 'Gem' Mystic Eyes as a price to toy with us?"

The first to challenge them was Litael, the youngest and most self-centered among them. And the question she posed was exactly what everyone in the room was thinking.

"What's wrong? I don't think there's anything wrong with this contract. You lend me the Leyline, and I can do it."

Rovey shook his head slightly, then answered calmly.

However, his answer completely infuriated the Magus present.

"You think you can do it by borrowing Leyline? Do you really know what you're talking about? Or did you use Alchemy to tamper with the contents right under our noses? Otherwise, how could you speak so arrogantly? No, that's impossible. You absolutely cannot do anything in front of so many Lords."