<852 – The Wronged Child (7)>
Olosst felt a power piercing into him.
– “You can grow strong on your own, but to fulfill your desires, you need to grow even faster.”
– “I’ll hasten that time for you. Please accept the Contract Mark.”
Flash!
A fleeting moment of insight.
A momentary dream.
Olosst could feel it.
As time, frozen in a false world reconstructed from this memory, surged forth, both the Contract Mark and the power tempting him were swept away.
But he couldn’t turn a blind eye to the Contract Mark given to him.
It sounded reckless to follow Snowville’s proposal, but he thought using vast funds would allow him to become strong quickly.
Whoosh!
After the stagnant time flowed.
The power of the Benevolent Deity Atalaxia vanished like snow melting away.
The Atalaxia Convent brazenly soaked up the sunlight as if nothing had happened.
“Whoa, like, how can a person do that, whoa?”
Instead of Snowball, who couldn’t articulate, Sing asked Oknodie.
“Was that the end of the Principal’s memory?”
“Sort of!”
“I’m feeling drained. For a while, I don’t even want to lay eyes on the Churches roaming around the Academy.”
The surviving sisters looked confused about how to treat their comrades who had turned into monsters.
“There’s a monster with Romie’s necklace.”
“Ro, Romie? The one who got taken to substitute for the Head Sister after covering up our mistake?”
“Mooouuu!”
“Waaah!”
The sister who had turned into a goat wailed as she saw her wrapped-up comrade sprinting.
“Danger!”
“Someone stop Mina!”
“Snap out of it, Mina. That’s not Romie anymore!”
“Waaah! If I had just been a bit braver that day, Romie, Romieee!”
In front of this horrific tragedy, the young sister crumbled and cried, while her fellow sisters wept with her.
Before that dreadful sight, Snowville couldn’t bring himself to speak.
We helped them, so when are we planning to develop other regions?
Now was definitely not the time to talk about money or investment plans.
Besides, she hadn’t done anything at all.
“Ah, right. But why are you and Olosst suddenly turning up here?”
“Hmm? Investment… Ha!”
“Investment??”
“Well, you see…”
“…Are you a human?”
No matter how desperate the financial situation, Olosst’s piercing gaze at Snowville for mentioning investment here left him no choice but to squint his eyes and say:
“I want to invest in those suffering in the Principal’s Ruins!”
“Huh? Senior, that’s a bit much. This is a virtual world within a memory, separate from the real world. Investing here won’t yield anything.”
“It makes my heart feel at ease!!”
Snowville’s tearful declaration of investment was like throwing money into the void!
Oknodie gave a knowing look.
“I do that sometimes too! You say you’ll give points and then trick me into buying food with it, right?”
“No!! I’ll give you plenty!!”
“How much are you planning to spend?”
This might have been the last point of no return for Snowville.
– “How much will you sponsor?”
Suddenly, the youthful face of Irene from that past flashed in Snowville’s mind.
The image of the child urging support for the impoverished and pain-stricken northern residents.
The laughter and ridicule from other noble kids scoffing at him for throwing money into the air.
Back then, Snowball feared becoming the object of ridicule just like the foolish Northern Grand Duchess.
Yet, not wanting to lose his connection with Irene, he had limited himself to an ambiguous investment of 1 gold and 1500 pyeong.
– “Thank you.”
He still couldn’t forget the bitter smile that lingered on Irene’s face.
1 gold was all Snowville possessed at that time.
Even without support from the Magic Tower, I support you.
Because of that declaration, his connection to Irene was not completely severed.
However, he hadn’t been part of the opportunity to become wealthy.
What about now?
Money that couldn’t be returned.
An act hardly different from throwing money into the void.
If he were to take out just the money from his pocket here, how would that decision, a lifetime of regret, be any different from back then?
– “Nothing changes.”
Maintaining a somewhat friendly relationship with Oknodie, just remaining as acquaintances; such ambiguity only led to lifelong regrets for missed opportunities.
They say normal miracles come three times in life.
Snowville had already experienced two miracles.
Gaining talent to become the disciple of the Blue Magic Tower’s chief.
Getting the chance to become wealthy with Irene.
Using those past regrets as food, facing a similar situation again.
– “All of it.”
“What?”
“As the heir of the Blue Magic Tower, I, Snowville, shall invest all I can!!”
An astounding declaration of investment.
All factions and organizations looking to the heir of the Magic Tower wagered their expectations and future value for the victims of the Atalaxia Convent.
He was aware.
This was madness.
But there was certainty that if he didn’t go mad, he would repeat the same regrets.
[The contract declaration with the God of Contracts serving as a notary is complete.]
[Snowville promises sacrifice and dedication without any cost or promise.]
This foolishly naive investment seemed like the newb’s mistake without answer to the veteran player Oknodie.
The memory of an amusing tale where he had given money to buy 100 potions and told the newbie to keep the change, only to find them working part-time at a tavern after not returning for three days.
– “What are you doing here? Why haven’t you bought the potions?”
– “I’m earning potion money…”
– “I gave you money.”
– “But I don’t have enough.”
– “???“
– “To buy 100 premium potions at 99 per slot, I need to buy 9900 slots… You meant for me to earn the missing money as a return for all the tips, right?”
So naive yet clever, the way he looked at Titosso!
“Ugh, this won’t do. How can a person live being this foolishly innocent? I was originally going to use this in a linked quest, but I guess I’ll have to use it here!”
Oknodie pulled out the massively pointed number’s artifact.
[Pen of Past Alteration (Legendary)]
[Effect: Write a certain number of times to change the past.]
[Activation: Change this time to the present.]
“You, that’s…?!”
“Shh. Please keep it a secret from Snowville!”
Instructor Olosst was flabbergasted upon recognizing the Pen.
It was a magical tool with immense power, equivalent to the level of a single number among number’s artifacts.
It had an outrageous price tag for both purchase and rental, but as the heir of an organization that had covertly seized control of half the world, Oknodie had succeeded in renting this extraordinary magical tool.
Moreover, analyzing her words hinted at what its intended use was.
That was a tool for altering the past capable of negating the very existence of the ‘Man’s Representative’, a member of the Three Great Evils.
[Pen of Past Alteration (Legendary)]
[Effect 2: Reuse not possible until ink is auto-recharged.]
Many nations, organizations, and powers lost their chance to manipulate the past due to Oknodie’s use.
Had Oknodie enjoyed that opportunity, people might have accepted it, but for the leaders of gigantic organizations who were aware of the magical tool’s existence, Snowville seizing the opportunity was a mouthwatering scenario.
A nobody casually loitering around Oknodie unexpectedly triggered sympathy and received an undeserved chance.
‘That guy is going to be plagued by assassins starting tomorrow.’
It was unfortunate, but unavoidable.
Let’s cut ties.
He drew a line in his heart coolly.
Perhaps due to the lighter feeling, Olosst recalled a forgotten question.
“So where was the Principal during this memory? If it’s the Principal’s Ruins, the incidents of the past should involve the Principal.”
“Oh, you didn’t know? The Giant Turtle at the Demon Beast Distribution Center was the Principal!”
“What?!”
After all, there’s no rule that a polymorph must enjoy only human forms.
The Principal probably only had fond memories of loitering in a neighborhood teeming with demonic beasts, similar to a free cafeteria where food appeared automatically.
That local eatery was quite good.
Just about that level of sentiment.
Well, it’s all in the past now.
Feeling relieved, he stepped out of the past’s time frame, returning to the present as he opened the main entrance of the Principal’s Ruins.
Now it was time to return to Instructor Olosst from the Academy.
“Welcome back, Your Highness Olosst.”
“Saint Snowville, you returned as well.”
“Congratulations on both of your safe returns!”
Boom!
With the sound of party fireworks exploding, sisters appeared to offer their congratulations, and Olosst felt a spark of incredulity.
“What Church do we belong to?”
“Of course, we serve the God of Love, Atalaxia, in the Church of Amore.”
In the revised history, Snowville’s investment led to enormous success.
The disciple of the Blue Magic Tower gained the saint’s status among the 24 deities, while the assisting instructor Olosst attained the status of a Grand Bishop and Pope.
“Huh? Why does that item you brought have the energy of the Old God?”
Moreover, the old cloth Oknodie pointed to was a divine object faintly imbued with divine power.
“This is a spoils from defeating the Man’s Representative, the enemy of our Church of Amore and all the 24 deities, and I brought it to offer the Dark Princess as a token of goodwill between our church.”
The Man’s Representative.
The last member of the Three Great Evils had not secretly strengthened his power but had instead diminished his strength to the point of being hunted down.
