A new maid

"More ironically, Rennala and Radagon's children also gained new status when their father's changed, becoming new Demigods. The brothers Radahn and Rykard, in particular, not only failed to condemn their father for abandoning his wife and children, but chose to serve the Golden Order. They had effectively sided with their stepmother Marika and betrayed their own mother, Rennala."

"Her husband's departure and her sons' betrayal drove Rennala mad. Every day, she clutched the Amber Egg Radagon had given her, hopelessly lost in memories of the past. The Academy seized the opportunity to strike back and reclaim its independence. It originally intended to kill Rennala, but settled for house arrest out of consideration for Radagon, the queen's consort. After all, old affection didn't simply vanish. Rennala had borne Radagon three children, and who knew when he might grow sentimental? The Academy had no desire to offend an Elden Lord. Keeping a fool fed wouldn't cost much anyway. And so the renowned Rennala was confined to the Academy's Grand Library, never again to see the light of day."

"The Golden Order was at the height of its power then. One word from Radagon, and the Academy would have had to release her, however reluctantly. But he never spoke that word. Instead, he had another two children with Marika: the future Valkyrie Malenia and Miquella, the most mysterious of the Demigods. Neither Radahn nor Rykard spoke up for their mother, either. Instead, they got along well with their younger half-siblings. Apparently, they even attended banquets together. Rykard was always stern, but Radahn was very gentle. Miquella, in particular, seemed especially attached to him."

"With the queen under house arrest and both princes serving the Golden Order on the Altus Plateau, the Carian Royal Family existed in name only. The Academy became the dominant power in the Liurnia Region. Only the Moon Princess Ranni still remembered Rennala. She mustered all the Carian Royal Family's remaining forces and attacked the Academy, hoping to rescue her mother. Unfortunately, despite her extraordinary mastery of magic, Ranni had little talent for military strategy. The rescue ended in failure, and Caria's already meager forces were wiped out. Ranni had no choice but to flee to Caria Manor, the Carian Royal Family's former residence."

"Seeking complete control of Liaurnia, the Academy pressed its advantage and counterattacked. It hired Cuckoo Knights to launch a fierce assault on Caria Manor, expecting Ranni, now without an army, to fall easily. But Ranni had laid magical traps throughout Caria Manor in advance. The Cuckoo Knights suffered devastating casualties, their corpses littering the grounds. The Academy dared advance no farther, while Ranni lacked the strength to retaliate. Both sides ceased hostilities, and that stalemate has persisted to this day."

Once the story ended, everyone sighed over it. Tarnished was moved as well; he had never heard any of this last time. Perhaps there had been records, but back then, all he had cared about was what to kill, where to kill it, and how many to kill. Even if he had seen them, he probably wouldn't have paid attention.

"I never imagined the Academy was so powerful." Rogier scribbled in a notebook. As an amateur scholar, hearing secrets like these was immensely satisfying.

"The Academy isn't powerful. Send those old fossils out to conquer new territory, and they wouldn't get beyond Liurnia in a hundred years. But conversely, if you attack the Academy, be prepared to spend a hundred years without taking it." Sellen sighed softly. "A sorcerer with a Sorcerer's Tower and one without are entirely different things. The Academy is the Sorcerer's Tower those old fossils built for themselves. With it, they could defeat even the Moon Princess Ranni. By the same token, once the Moon Princess returned to Caria Manor, her own Sorcerer's Tower, the Academy could do nothing to her."

"What if I raided the Academy alone and carried out a decapitation strike..." Tarnished offered his idea. After all, he had done something similar before.

"First, the Academy consists of classrooms belonging to multiple schools. It has no true 'head.' Second, even if you broke in and killed all its leaders, the other sorcerers could bombard Stormveil from afar while you were doing it." Sellen shook her head.

Edgar added, "Tarnished, you're no longer on your own. A lone warrior can slay villains and uphold justice, but he can never change the world."

Tarnished understood Edgar's point. Indeed, even after slaughtering his way through the Academy alone last time, he had still been attacked by surviving sorcerers whenever he returned. He couldn't kill everyone; someone would always slip through the net. Besides, what he wanted now wasn't a massacre, but genuine occupation and governance.

"All right, you're right." Tarnished took a deep breath. "We'll take the diplomatic route, then. Any ideas?"

Edgar shook his head. "That's not my specialty."

Then leave it to the specialists.

Tarnished looked at Kenneth and Sellen.

The former was a skilled social operator with extensive administrative and diplomatic experience. The latter had come from the Academy and could supply intelligence, ensuring Stormveil understood both itself and its opponent.

"Getting the Academy to compromise in its current state isn't difficult." The lengthy discussion made Sellen yawn. She had been trying to recover her strength lately, but clearly with little success. "Those stubborn old fools abandoned their principles long ago and drowned in their desires. If all you want is a stable relationship, offer them enough benefits. Give those shortsighted idiots enough wealth and luxury, and they'll sell anything, including their dignity."

If the intelligence came from Sellen, it had to be reliable.

Kenneth considered it, then said, "Hmm, trade really does seem to be our best bargaining chip. Conveniently, the Academy has asked us to supply goods. Although we'd have to provide them for free, this is an excellent opportunity to improve relations."

"Wait." Rodini suddenly spoke up. "Not for free. The Academy is willing to pay."

"Oh, they're willing to pay? Are the sorcerers that generous?" Everyone was surprised, Tarnished included. They had all assumed the Academy intended to extort free supplies, yet...

"Have we misjudged some decent people?" Rogier was a gentleman, so he assumed everyone else was one too.

"Tch." Sellen scoffed. "Those stubborn old fools might not be evil, but they're certainly no saints. They're probably paying just to preserve appearances and put on a show. If you don't believe me, listen to their offer."

Everyone looked at Rodini, who nodded. "The Academy wants to buy our products at one-tenth of the market price."

"One-tenth?!"

"Why don't they just rob us!"

"That's outrageous!"

"Outrageous? It's absurd!"

"An insult! A blatant insult!"

Everyone erupted in indignant curses. Buying goods for one-tenth of their price-how was that any different from taking them for free?

The Academy was rotten, and so were its sorcerers! They wanted to cheat people while pretending to be respectable. They were the very definition of educated scum!

As the head of Summonwater Village's textile production base, D oversaw manufacturing. Unable to bear seeing his workers' labor devalued like this, he slapped the dining table. "Tarnished, we cannot accept this demand! We have a responsibility to our workers!"

Your workers are all Those Who Live in Death, aren't they? Since when did you become so concerned about them?

Tarnished was somewhat speechless, but for the bigger picture, he could only pat D's shoulder and speak earnestly. "Brother D, I understand how you feel, but this isn't the time to break with the Academy. Impatience over small matters ruins great plans. We have to think long-term."

"Ah!" D knew Tarnished was right. He could only heave a long sigh, tacitly agreeing.

With even D, the man in charge of production, raising no further objections, the others had still less reason to oppose it. Tarnished made the final decision: they would sell various supplies and goods to the Academy at ten percent of their market price.

"They've gone too far!" The more D thought about backing down, the angrier he grew; the longer he endured it, the more cheated he felt. Furious, he declared, "At ten percent of market price, our profit will only be 200%! No, I have to go demand an explanation from the Academy!"

Everyone hurried to restrain him, comforting him with assurances that taking a loss could be a blessing.

Vila was utterly baffled. They still made a 200% profit at one-tenth of the price, so where exactly was Stormveil losing out?

In any case, after Stormveil agreed to the Academy's "trade request," the two sides formally established diplomatic relations.

Having gotten its way, the Academy was exceedingly pleased with itself. It considered Tarnished weak and easily controlled.

Stormveil didn't want war with the Academy just yet, either. The profit might only be 200%, but money was money. There was no reason to push their luck.

And so the two sides entered a brief honeymoon period.

As planned, Tarnished organized a special operations team and headed to a catacomb in Liurnia, where he found another Black Knife Assassin hiding.

This catacomb was peculiar. It contained massive blade traps that repeatedly dropped down, as well as necromancers who kept reviving skeletons. Following the path all the way to its depths would lead only to a Cemetery Shade and a pack of skeletons, with no sign of the Black Knife Assassin. But stepping onto one of the blade traps and letting it lift you would bring you to a platform on the "second floor." Only by proceeding farther from there could you reach the Black Knife Assassin.

Ordinary catacombs didn't have such an unusual layout. Was someone deliberately protecting this Black Knife Assassin?

Never mind. Speculation was pointless. He could ask her directly after recruiting her.

With that thought, Tarnished left D and Fia to clear out Those Who Live in Death in the outer areas, while he and Vila entered the final chamber.

The chamber was small, a little chapel with a statue straight ahead and benches arranged around it. The Black Knife Assassin had been curled up in a corner, but the moment she noticed Tarnished, she drew her short blade and stood.

"Don't be nervous. I'm..."

Before he could finish, the Black Knife Assassin attacked.

The black blade swept straight toward Tarnished's throat without the slightest flourish.

But another short blade emerged from behind Tarnished and firmly blocked the lethal strike.

Vila revealed herself in her maid uniform. The two Black Knife Assassins reunited after their long separation in a wholly unexpected fashion.

The assassin visibly froze for an instant. Vila seized the opportunity to call her name. "Maren."

"Vila."

Tarnished had assumed they would stop fighting. Instead, the Black Knife Assassin named Maren twisted her wrist to disengage, then drifted several meters backward like a falling leaf. Smashing through several benches, she twisted at the waist, turned her hips, and swung her arm, sending a red blade wave from her black knife.

Black and red intertwined, radiating suffocating pressure. Vila's blade had lost its power, but Maren's still retained hers. There was no doubt: that black-and-red blade wave was Destined Death, the power that had once slain a Demigod!

Vila hadn't expected her former companion to strike to kill. By the time she recovered, it was too late to dodge. Tarnished stepped forward, shielding her behind him, and blocked the attack with the Manor Towershield.

The black-and-red blade wave struck the steel shield with a muffled thump. The wave shattered, but its power turned into smoke and poured into Tarnished's body.

"Ugh!"

An invisible hand seemed to squeeze his heart, and his whole body felt plunged into ice. For the first time, Tarnished experienced the shape of death so vividly. That terrifying power clung to him like a disease in his bones, relentlessly burning his vitality and causing his organs to wither.

With a muffled groan, Tarnished sank to one knee.

Maren had already unleashed a second blade wave.

But a golden blade wave suddenly appeared. The two collided in midair and annihilated each other.

Amid flickering motes of light, Melina cast off her cloak and appeared with a dagger in hand.

"Mel..." Maren looked slightly surprised, but before she could finish, Melina attacked.

"This is bad." Supporting Tarnished, Vila frowned slightly.

Tarnished looked at her in confusion. "What's bad?"

Vila said, "Melina is angry."

Tarnished recalled every sorrow he had experienced in this life before finally suppressing the corners of his mouth, which were harder to keep down than a Jar Cannon.

"I'll help her."

"Mm, go ahead. Be careful."

Vila immediately joined the fight, while Tarnished quietly watched from the sidelines.

He loved watching women fight, especially when they were fighting over him.

He had experienced Destined Death in his previous life. He wasn't afraid even of its complete form, let alone the watered-down version wielded by the Black Knife Assassins.

He was indeed injured, but one Flask of Crimson Tears would fix that. His seemingly foolish decision to walk into the blade wave had merely been a ploy to win sympathy.

Watching the three women dart up and down through the little room, their fight resembling a dance battle, Tarnished felt that playing the wounded victim was humanity's greatest invention.

Melu actually stepped in for me. She cares about me.

How many children should we have? What should we name them?

Tarnished began pondering the matter, but he had only just chosen a name for their twelfth child when the dance battle... the fight ended.

Black Knife Assassins were strong, but PvP had always favored strength in numbers. With Melina and Vila fighting two against one, the Black Knife Assassin named Maren soon lost, however aggressive she was.

Melina confiscated Maren's weapon, while Vila wrenched her arms behind her back and pinned her firmly to the floor.

"No. 8, Soul-Caller Maren, calm down! We aren't your enemies!"

Maren struggled desperately. "Let me go! I'm no longer a Black Knife Assassin! I've had enough of living on the run. I just want to stay here and wait quietly for death. I'm not going anywhere!"

"I won't let you die!"

With that, Vila grabbed a nearby bench and slammed it onto Maren's head with a crash. The wooden bench shattered, and the Black Knife Assassin slipped into sweet slumber.

Tarnished: "..."

Melina: "..."

Vila hoisted Maren onto her shoulder, walked over to Tarnished, and bowed. "Can Stormveil have one more maid?"

"It can, yes." Tarnished glanced at Maren's blood-covered face. "But if you wanted to restrain her, why didn't you use ropes and shackles?"

Vila: "..."

And so Stormveil gained another maid.