banshee immediately lunged toward that section. The invisible boundary
flickered violently.
"Oh, fuck."
I poured fresh salt on the ground and covered the corrupted section.
The barrier stabilized instantly. More salt turned black.
Now I understood why Mooley had warned me that somebody needed to
maintain the boundary.
The banshee wasn't merely trying to cross it. Her presence was corrupting it.
"Would've been nice if you explained this part, Mooley."
Another patch darkened. Then another. I ran around the perimeter replacing
them.
By four in the morning, I wasn't bored anymore.
The banshee and myself lost most of our energy in our game of tag.
The sun slowly rises up from the Atlantic ocean, signalling the end of the first
day of the ritual.
Evelyn picked up a camera from her side.
"Did it capture the pictures?" I asked.
Evelyn scoffed and said, "I think it did. Need to process it first to know."
She paused and said, "I didn't expect you to be a fame chaser."
I smiled and said, "I'm not. It's just proof for the ministry. Or else I can't claim
the reward."
Also, if there was evidence, Lockhart wouldn't come to find me and erase my
memories… hopefully. …
Life in the fishing village wasn't bad now that the attacks had stopped.
Evelyn and I spent most of the next two days together, and I learned quite a
lot about her.
She was twenty-two, two years older than me.
She'd attended Beauxbatons rather than Hogwarts, which explained why I'd
never seen her before.
More surprisingly, she worked for the Ministry too, as a low-level employee
attached to the Auror Office.
Her mother was the only family she had left, just like me.
That explained why she'd been willing to confront a banshee by herself.
"Once the creature is banished, I only hope… she will wake up." Evelyn said
before she broke out crying.
I sighed and patted her back to comfort her.
On the third night, we performed the ritual for the final time.
As sunlight appeared over the horizon, all six blue flames suddenly surged
upward.
The banshee froze. For the first time since the ritual began, she stopped
fighting.
Her translucent body began breaking apart into tiny particles of white light.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Her final shriek echoed across the cliffs.
The salt returned to white. The blue flames disappeared. The banshee was gone.
I stood facing the rising sun and said, "May you rest in peace."
After giving a little prayer to the banshee, I hopped on my broom and said to
Evelyn, "I'll be going to the Ministry tomorrow to claim my commission."
She nodded and said, "I'll be sure to submit the report on your behalf."
… The next day was surprisingly hectic.
Before I even left for the Ministry, my face was already plastered across the
front page of the Daily Prophet.
The photograph they chose was annoyingly good.
It captured the exact moment I kicked the banshee backward while holding the
Elven dagger in one hand and my wand in the other. My robe billowed in the
wind, looking like a mediaeval knight.
The creature looked fucking terrifying.
White hair flying everywhere. Mouth stretched open. Claws reaching toward
me.
Meanwhile, Evelyn was visible further behind, kneeling among six blue flames
and performing the ritual.
Fortunately for her, the photograph had been taken from behind.
Unfortunately for me, my face was perfectly visible.
{TWENTY-YEAR-OLD WIZARD CONFRONTS XXXX BANSHEE}
By lunchtime, Dexter Van Dorme had become a name people actually
recognized.
A twenty-year-old fighting an XXXX-classified creature at close range made
for considerably better news than I'd anticipated.
The Ministry loved it. They loved the photographs even more.
I'd apparently done them an enormous favour by documenting the entire
operation.
They could prove the Banshee existed, prove the ritual succeeded and, most
importantly, show everyone how wonderfully competent the Ministry had been. They added another fifty Galleons to my commission, which brings my total to
350 Galleons.
That's 7000 pounds.
I immediately forgave them.
Evelyn benefited too from the article. Her report impressed the Auror Office
enough that she was encouraged to pursue field training instead of spending
the rest of her career behind a desk.
Fudge even suggested she study under an experienced Auror. Then he
questioned me about the banishment ritual.
Evelyn had credited all of the ritual knowledge to me, so naturally everyone
wanted to know how a twenty-year-old knew how to banish something that
hadn't appeared in generations.
"Julie Mooley gave it to me." I replied to the future Minister.
Apparently Julius Mooley wasn't merely the one-armed bastard who gave me
jobs. He'd fought extensively during the First Wizarding War and had worked
with people like Moody and even Dumbledore.
By the time I finally escaped the Ministry, photographers had taken another
dozen pictures of me shaking hands with Fudge.
Fudge got his publicity. Evelyn got a possible new career. The Ministry got its
heroic victory.
And I got three hundred and fifty Galleons.
Everyone was happy.
But my happiness was cut short after Mooley brought me the next mission
request.
"You want me to fight a what now?" Chapter 4: Rising Fame.
[Dexter POV]
Three months had passed since I fought the Banshee.
A lot has happened since then.
On my career side, I completed another four Ministry commissions, three
more personal missions.
The first involved an XXXX-classified magical creature that had wandered too
close to a Muggle settlement.
After the Banshee incident, the Ministry specifically requested that I document
unusual commissions whenever it was safe to do so.
So I brought my camera.
The resulting photograph showed me standing on my broom while blasting the
creature away from a group of terrified livestock.
It appeared in the Daily Prophet two days later.
{MINISTRY CONTRACTOR SUBDUES DANGEROUS BEAST!}
The second incident involved a Dark wizard. That one was considerably more
troublesome.
The photograph caught our duel at its most dramatic moment, with curses
flying between us as half the room burned in the background.
{WANTED DARK WIZARD CAPTURED IN MINISTRY OPERATION}
Then came a werewolf. Another XXXX creature. Another successful
commission. By that point, I'd gotten rather good at positioning the enchanted camera
somewhere safe before fighting.
The Prophet loved those pictures. They gave me 50 galleons extra for each
picture I submitted.
More importantly, the Ministry loved them.
Every successful commission became another opportunity for them to remind
the public that the Department of Magical Law Enforcement was keeping
Britain safe.
Dangerous creature subdued?
Ministry operation.
Dark wizard captured?
Ministry operation.
Werewolf stopped?
Ministry operation.
Technically, they weren't lying. They were the ones paying me.
And I didn't particularly care who received the credit as long as the Galleons
arrived afterward.
Unfortunately, repeatedly appearing in the newspaper had an unintended
consequence.
The Banshee could have been dismissed as luck. The second incident
couldn't.
By the third, people started remembering my name. By the fourth, they were
waiting to see what I'd do next.
The moving photographs didn't exactly hurt. Apparently, watching a twenty-year-old wizard fight XXXX creatures, Dark
wizards and werewolves made for excellent newspaper material.
My commissions became more dangerous. My pay became considerably
better.
On the tower side, I barely managed to climb to the 8th floor.
The fourth floor had large centipedes. The fifth floor was a pack of magical
boars.
The sixth floor has tigers. And the seventh floor has eagles.
I was stuck on the 8th floor for almost two months, because of one thing.
"How the fuck can I fight against 20,000 goblins?!"
The mission was just to kill ten goblins. But there was a goblin encampment
inside the floor.
I knew that if I killed them all, I would be able to get another gold medal.
After breezing through the lower floors, I have 5 bronze medals, 2 silver
medals, and eight diamond medals.
I used the silver medals and got skillbooks both times.
One was a mind protection spell, and another one was offensive spells.
"We meet again, goblin shaman." I said begrudgingly as I saw the shaman
raising his staff up in the air.
That guy could control the weather. I had to quit my mission because he kept
shooting lightning bolts at me.
"Ventus Falx!"
SHING! An almost invisible crescent tore across the field. It was a wind sickle magic I
learned from the skillbook.
But the goblin champions protected the shaman before the sickle could reach
it.
"Again? I already killed a lot of those champions!"
"IGNIS!"
I shot out a couple fireballs at the encampment, engulfing the village in fire.
Suddenly, a 3 meter tall goblin came out from the main hut and roared.
"A goblin king?!" I widened my eyes in shock.
His roar carried a pressure that wanted to make me submit, but I had learned
the mind protection spells so I could handle it.
"Let's finish the job today."
Multiple charms flew by to the goblins. I had to ride my broom and continue
running from the lighting bolt.
"Accio staff!"
The goblin staff flew towards me. I grinned and laughed maniacally before
pointing at the staff at the goblins.
"LIGHTNING!"
The lightning bolt hit the shaman, burning every single goblin near it.
The goblin king roared.
I shot a few spells at him, but he could tank them with just his skin.
Realizing it would be a tough fight again, I retreated and casted a few more
fireballs at the goblin king. It took me three hours before the goblin king finally died.
I panted, wiping my sweat slightly.
"That thing is a monster. It might be a XXXXX creature in my world."
I began gathering the material from the goblin encampment. It was the first
time I could explore the floor.
Inside the largest hut, there was enough gold and gemstones to make me
temporarily forget how exhausted I was.
But those weren't what caught my attention.
There was a bookshelf.
"Jackpot."
Most of the books were written in a language I couldn't understand.
Fortunately, the Tower could.
I picked up the thickest one. A notification appeared.
[Alchemy Tome — Fundamentals of Monster Alchemy]
A collection of alchemical knowledge concerning the processing and
refinement of magical creatures and monster materials.
Contents include:
— Blood Refinement
— Essence Extraction
— Magical Organ Processing
— Monster Core Refinement
— Basic Enhancement Elixirs
— Antidotes and Poisons I immediately learned it, using a bronze medal to transfer the knowledge
straight to my brain.
The second book was pretty familiar.
[Skillbook — Storm Calling]
Manipulate atmospheric conditions through magical power.
Includes:
— Wind Manipulation
— Cloud Formation
— Rain Calling
— Lightning Calling
I didn't learn it, since it took a lot of preparation to activate the skill. And it was
bound to the staff.
[Crafting Tome — Goblin Arcane Smithing]
Contains knowledge concerning the creation of magically conductive
weapons, armour and equipment.
Contents include:
— Magical Metal Refinement
— Mana Conductivity
— Rune Engraving
— Material Compatibility
— Basic Enchantment
— Magical Weapon Forging
I learned that too. And finally, some books from the dead tower challengers
collected by the shaman.
"Oh, I'm taking everything."
For the next several hours, I looted the place shamelessly. Gold. Diamonds. Weapons. Armour. Alchemy ingredients. The Shaman's staff.
The goblin king's byproducts.
Finally, I checked the system notification.
There were a lot of them.
[FLOOR 8 — COMPLETION RECORD]
— Mission Completed
— Goblins Slain: 20,437
— Goblin Champions Slain: 31
— Goblin Shaman Slain: 1
— Goblin King Slain: 1
— Goblin Encampment Destroyed
[Achievement Unlocked]
— Army Slayer
Defeat more than 10,000 hostile creatures during a single Floor campaign.
Reward: Bronze Medal ×1, Health Potion x2
Another notification appeared.
[Achievement Unlocked]
— Kingslayer
Defeat the ruler of an established monster population.
Reward: Silver Medal ×1, Skillbook x1
I grinned.
Then came the one I'd spent almost two months trying to obtain.
[Hidden Achievement Unlocked] — Fall of the Goblin Kingdom
Completely eradicate an established Goblin settlement, including its ruler,
military forces and command structure.
Reward: Gold Medal ×1, Inventory expansion x10.
"Yes!"
That made everything worth it.
I immediately took it out.
"Use a Gold Medal."
[Gold Medal Random Draw]
Receive one random reward from the following categories:
— Talent
— Bloodline
— Ability
[Begin Draw?]
"Yes."
The medal disappeared. A translucent roulette appeared before me and
began spinning.
Some names disappeared too quickly for me to even read.
The pointer stopped.
[Congratulations.]
[Talent Acquired. Arcane Intuition — Intermediate]
An innate talent for understanding, learning and manipulating complex
magical structures. Effects:
— Increased comprehension of unfamiliar magic
— Accelerated learning of rituals and magical techniques
— Improved control over delicate and complex spellwork
— Increased sensitivity toward flaws within magical structures
— Reduced difficulty when modifying existing spells, hexes and rituals
— Improved compatibility when studying foreign systems of magic
I nodded in satisfaction and integrated the talent instantly.
Then, I took out everything I could carry with me outside the tower.
…
A week after the Goblin King fight, I went to the Ministry again and met with
Evelyn.
Instead of the formal clothes she usually wore, Evelyn was dressed in dark
field robes. There was even an Auror badge temporarily pinned to her chest.
We met a couple times since the banshee. We had dinner together, and even
went on a broom ride in the night sky.
"You finally escaped the office?"
"Field training." She smiled proudly. "I'm accompanying an operation tonight."
"What operation?"
"A raid."
"On who?"
"Fenris Greyback."
My hand stopped as I heard the name. Fenris Grey was a Dark wizard and a werewolf who'd been wanted by the
Ministry for several years. He had recently been spotted gathering several
other Dark wizards in northern England.
He was also the one to lead the attack on my parents.
"Where?"
"Ravenworth Castle." She replied casually, not realizing my tone had changed.
She was going there with an auror I didn't know leading the raid.
It gave me a really bad premonition.
"Can I join the raid?" I asked her.
Her eyes widened and she shook her head, saying, "The Head Auror already
expected you to ask this. They won't let you, since you would take the credit
from the other Aurors."
I grimaced and said, "When are you leaving?"
"This noon."
I nodded and said, "Alright then. I'll pray for your safety."
I left the ministry and went home. Then, I picked up my cloak, my dagger, and
all of my potions.
"Animagus."
My body slowly morphed into a creature.
I had completed my animagus ritual in just one week after getting the Arcane
intuition, and my animagus form was a magical being no one ever saw in this
world.
A NightRaven. A humanoid raven with large wings and a sharp beak. I could transform fully
between a humanoid form and a full bird form.
Then, I took to the sky hurriedly.
…
[General POV]
The seven Ministry personnel Apparated into a forest several miles from
Ravenworth Castle shortly before noon.
Six Aurors.
One Daily Prophet photographer.
Evelyn Byrne brushed several leaves from her field robes before checking that
her wand was still secured inside her sleeve.
This was her first proper raid.
"Keep up, Byrne." Senior Auror Carrow was already walking ahead.
"Yes, sir."
The group moved through the forest on foot. Apparating directly beside the
castle would've immediately alerted anyone inside.
Carrow waited until Evelyn reached him before continuing.
"You've done good work these last few months."
"Thank you, sir."
"I mean it." Carrow placed his hand on Evelyn's shoulder. It made her feel
pretty sick.
"The Ministry needs this operation, Byrne. A clean Ministry victory. Aurors
arresting dangerous criminals. No independent contractors to steal the credit
anymore." Evelyn furrowed her eyebrows slightly.
She knew this was a faction battle. Fudge kept hiring Dorme, which made
those supporting the current minister feel restless.
Carrow continued walking ahead.
"Fudge has enjoyed the publicity Dorme's commissions brought him. Some of
us would prefer… the Auror Office demonstrates that we can still do our own
jobs."
"And that's why you didn't let Dexter come?"
"Among other reasons." Carrow licked his lips slightly as he gazed at Evelyn.
He knew of Evelyn and Dorme's relationship. But he felt that a gorgeous witch
like her should belong to him instead of a mercenary.
They never reached the castle, but they were close.
Carrow suddenly raised his fist. Everyone stopped walking.
Rustling could be heard from around the area. Something shifted between the
trees ahead.
"Wands."
The Aurors stood in a circle, covering each other's backs. The photographer
took a picture of the situation immediately.
Four Dark wizards gradually emerged from the surrounding forest.
Carrow relaxed slightly. But then, more and more people began emerging
between the trees too.
Evelyn's stomach dropped. She regretted coming to the raid. She didn't even
want to be an auror in the first place. She was fine with doing administrative
work. But she had to, since Fudge kept pushing her to be the new face of the
Aurors.
"Werewolves," one Auror whispered. Carrow's confidence disappeared.
They were surrounded.
Fenris Grey stepped between two trees.
With a beast-like face and long oily hair, he grinned and said, "You came."
Carrow raised his wand. "Defensive formation!"
The Aurors immediately moved together.
Except one. Auror Selwyn stepped backward.
"Selwyn?" Evelyn noticed it.
Selwyn raised his wand. Not toward Fenris. But toward Carrow.
"Stupefy."
The spell struck Carrow from behind.
He collapsed instantly.
Evelyn's eyes widened.
"SELWYN!"
The traitor smiled.
Then everything exploded into violence.
"AVADA KEDAVRA!"
"PROTEGO!"
"STUPEFY!" Spells ripped through the forest.
The Aurors had already lost their formation. A werewolf crashed into one of
them before he could recover.
His scream ended almost immediately.
Another Auror managed to drop two werewolves before a green curse struck
him directly in the chest.
He fell beside a tree. Dead.
Another Auror was slammed against a tree by a dark spell and crumpled
unconscious beside him.
Four down.
Only Evelyn and Auror Ward remained standing. The only woman on the
ground.
"Expelliarmus!" A dark wizard attacked her with a devilish grin on his face.
Evelyn's wand flew away.
"No!" She screamed. Then found a rope trying up her body.
The same thing happened to Ward, the other auror.
The battle was over. Two Aurors were dead. Two lay unconscious. Evelyn and
Ward had been captured.
And Selwyn remained perfectly unharmed.
The traitor looked around at his former comrades.
"Sorry."
Then he Apparated away. He wasn't staying to see what happened next. The photographer hadn't escaped either.
He was crouched behind a fallen tree, bleeding from his forehead while
clutching his camera.
One of the Dark wizards found him.
"Look what we have here."
The camera was ripped from his hands.
Fenris laughed.
"Perfect."
He looked toward the captured Aurors.
"The Ministry wanted photographs."
His eyes settled on Evelyn.
"Let's give them some."
The werewolf restraining Evelyn twisted her arms behind her.
She struggled, "Get off me!"
Another grabbed the front of her field robes. Then they ripped it up, revealing
her brassiere.
The other werewolves were taking off their pants.
Evelyn cried, cursing her own fate.
Across the clearing, Ward's robes had already been badly shredded during
the fight. The older witch suddenly understood what the werewolves intended
too.
Fenris watched their expressions and said, "The Ministry's been enjoying itself
lately." He slowly approached.
"Successful operations here and there. My comrades… getting captured and
brought to Azkaban."
His eyes moved toward the camera.
"And such wonderful photographs."
The Ministry's reputation had risen considerably over the last several months.
Much of it because of one young contractor.
Fenris intended to correct that.
Dead Aurors. Humiliated survivors. Photographs demonstrating exactly how
powerless the Ministry really was.
Then everyone here would die.
Fenris reached Evelyn. The other werewolves stopped and took a step back.
"I know you."
Evelyn glared at him.
"The Banshee girl." Fenrir laughed mockingly.
"Dorme's friend."
The werewolves laughed.
"Has he ever told you, that I'm the one who killed his father? And I'm sure…
he'll love it when I do the same thing to you, I did to his mother."
Evelyn widened her eyes in realization. She regretted never learning about
Dorme before.
"We should send him the photographs too." Fenris added. Evelyn's face went pale. She decided to bite her tongue instead of waiting to
be toyed with– a fate she considered worse than death.
Nobody noticed, high among the trees, an enormous black raven landed
silently upon a branch.
Its unnaturally sharp eyes swept across the clearing. Then, it transformed
back into a human.
Van Dorme's cloak billowed in the wind.
He grabbed his bracelet on his left hand. A new artifact he got from the tower
silver medal.
A memory magic bracelet. It could store ten magic on Dorme's behalf, and the
casting would be instantaneous.
He activated the anti-apparition ward he stored there to ensure no one could
leave.
The werewolf holding Evelyn suddenly sniffed. His expression changed.
"What's that?"
Fenris turned.
"What?"
The werewolf looked toward the trees.
"Smoke."
A tiny orange light appeared in the darkness. But it's becoming bigger and
bigger.
One of the Dark wizards saw it.
His face drained of colour. "GET DOWN!"
A gigantic fireball erupted from the forest. It was nearly three metres across.
The werewolf holding Evelyn had enough time to widen his eyes.
*BOOOOOOOOM!*
The fireball hit in the center of the crowd, instantly killing over five of the
werewolves and one dark wizard.
The explosion shook the forest.
In the confusion, stone bullets began hailing down on the ones grabbing the
woman.
It shattered their torso, leaving gaping holes in the dark wizard's bodies.
Evelyn widened her eyes in shock.
Another enormous ball of fire appeared between the trees.
The oldest Dark wizard stared at it. Memories from another war surfaced. His
wand began trembling.
"DUMBLEDORE!"
The name alone caused panic. Fenris instantly started running away.
The others realized they couldn't apparate away.
"FUCK–"
Another barrage of stone bullets hit them. They were late in casting the
protection spells.
All of the wizards there died, in just a few seconds of ambush.
Evelyn waited to see who was the one responsible, but they never showed. The rope holding her suddenly broke. She immediately went to grab her wand
and looked around warily.
But, she still couldn't find who was the one helping her.
Fenris ran as fast as he could. He knew as long as he got out of the ward, he
could apparate away.
BOOM
His path was cut off by a fireball. Fenris stopped and turned around. Suddenly
his wand was shot away, along with his entire right hand.
"You!" Fenris widened his eyes in shock, gritting his teeth to stifle his pain.
Dexter grinned and said, "Nice to see you again, Fenris."
Fenris growled at him.
"I surrender." Fenris said urgently.
"What?" Dorme tilted his head.
"I surrender. The ministry had to take me to trial. Right? Don't you want to
know the information I have on the death eaters?" Fenris tried to negotiate.
Dorme scoffed and said, "I don't work for the ministry."
"Wait–"
A huge fireball shot towards Fenris. The fire engulfed his entire body.
He shrieked as he was being burnt alive.
Dorme looked at the charred corpse of the dark wizard with a cold expression.
Then, he apparated back to where Evelyn was.
She was trying to help Carrow and the other auror. Then, they apparated
away in a hurry, back to the Ministry in order to get the Aurors medical
attention. Dorme picked up the camera lying down on the ground. Then, he took some
pictures before putting the camera back on the photographer's dead body.
…
[Dex POV]
I heard knocking from my front door that same night.
When I opened it, Evelyn was standing there with a suitcase in her hand.
"I quit the Ministry." She said, looking discombobulated.
"Oh… you want to come in?" I asked.
"Yes Please." she rushed inside and threw her suitcase on the floor.
I let her calm down, making her some tea. But as I put the tea next to her, she
suddenly wrapped her arms around me and kissed me.
"Wait."
"Just… don't ask anything. Let me stay here tonight." She said with pleasing
eyes.
I sighed and said, "Alright. Have you had any dinner yet?"
"No." She shook her head slightly.
I smiled and said, "Then you're in luck. I made a special dish tonight."
It was a magical boar curry. I got the meat from the fifth floor of the tower.
The goblins loved to eat that boar, they even had a recipe for it.
It also nourished the body and replenished stamina.
"It's spicy!" She said while fanning her mouth. "But it's good, right?" I replied.
She ate the curry non-stop and slept peacefully till the morning.
The newspaper was delivered to my house as usual. It came in through the
chimney and made its way to my coffee table.
The newspaper was delivered to my house as usual. It came in through the
chimney and made its way to my coffee table.
I was making breakfast when Evelyn walked out of the bedroom. Her hair was
messy, and she was still wearing one of my shirts.
"Morning."
"Morning..." she mumbled sleepily.
I poured her some coffee.
Then I noticed the front page of the Daily Prophet.
{MINISTRY CRUSHES RAVENWORTH DARK CELL}
{20 WANTED DARK WIZARDS AND WEREWOLVES DEAD — TWO
AURORS FALL IN HISTORIC VICTORY}
The headline wasn't something I had taken before. The actual photographer
had captured an image of the Aurors facing off Fenrir and the dark wizards
before the fight began.
According to the article, seven Dark wizards and thirteen wanted werewolves
had been killed during a fierce confrontation with Ministry Aurors.
Fenris Grey's death was prominently mentioned.
The Minister called Ravenworth one of the most significant victories against
organized Dark forces since the end of the war. There was even an entire paragraph praising the bravery of the Auror Office.
Evelyn snatched the paper from me and read the headline. Her expression
immediately darkened.
"Those fucking bastards."
"I'm guessing you disagree with their interpretation of events."
"We lost!"
She threw the paper back to the coffee table.
"Carrow was unconscious! Two Aurors were dead! Another was unconscious!
Ward and I were captured! We were almost…"
Her fingers trembled. Her chin quivered.
Hatred flashed in her eyes as she said, "They're making it sound like we
defeated them!"
I stood up and hugged her gently.
Evelyn began crying.
Then, she finally told me about the whole thing.
"So there's a betrayer inside the ministry. And he's still working there, even
when you told everyone what he did?" I said with disbelief.
She nodded and said, "They are protecting a dark wizard. I can't trust the
ministry anymore."
I sighed and said, "It's a good thing you came to me. He might've sent
someone to silence you if you stayed back."
She grinned and said shyly, "I came to you precisely for that matter."
"Oh, using me as a human shield are you?" I teased. She leaned forwards and kissed me gently on the lip. "Are you mad at me?"
"No, I honestly don't care much. No matter how many of them come to me, it's
not like they can do anything." I said sarcastically.
My attitude made her laugh, relief flashed on her face.
"I just need to stay here until my fiancee comes back from Japan." She added.
"Yeah— Wait, your what?"
Chapter 5: Scandalous relationship.
[Dex POV]
I entered the 9th floor of the tower.
My opponent was an army of huge black spiders.
"She kissed me!" I lit up the spiders on fire. "Like on the lips. Twice. Then
suddenly said she has a fiance?"
I kept throwing spells after spells at the spiders, basically decimating them as I
let out my anger.
"Who the hell is that guy anyway?!" I shot a spray of stone bullets at the
spiders.
"He's just a magical beast researcher! So what if he has a high pedigree?! It's
not like he's rich!" I lamented.
Then, I bit my lip slightly. That guy was basically from French wizard royalty. He was hella rich.
I had finished my mission a long time ago, but I still taunted the spiders,
basically committing genocide in their entire population because I was pissed
off.
There were around 2000 spiders in the cave. It took me 4 hours to completely
eradicate all of them.
[Gold Medal x1, Skillbook x1]
[Silver Medal x1, Crawler's silk x1]
[Bronze Medal x1, Crawler venom x1]
I checked the details for the silk and venom respectively. Then, I grinned in
satisfaction.
"If I want to beat that guy, I need to start making a lot more money."
After getting out of the tower, I returned to my house and took out the
materials I had before.
"I need a spinner to turn the silk into a threat, then a cloth."
While I was figuring things out, Evelyn suddenly came out of my bedroom and
hugged me from behind.
"What are you doing?" She asked, yawning sneed to start making a lot more money."
After getting out of the tower, I returned to my house and took out the
materials I had before.
"I need a spinner to turn the silk into a threat, then a cloth."
While I was figuring things out, Evelyn suddenly came out of my bedroom and
hugged me from behind.
"What are you doing?" She asked, yawning slightly.
She wore my button down white shirt and that only. Even then that shirt
seemed a little big for her.
I turned with disbelief. She grinned and said, "Did you bring back some food?"
"No. I'm going to cook." I replied.
It was already afternoon, but she had just woken up. I didn't care since she
has a lot of stuff to go through mentally. But her random affectionate gestures confused me a lot.
I felt like she drew a line with mentioning her fiance, but then she hugged me,
kissed me and cuddled with me too.
But I couldn't confront her even though I knew it was wrong.
Since I was enjoying the companionship too.
"I'm going to turn this into a suit." I told her. "A magical suit."
Her eyes lit up and she asked, "You're making an artifact? Will it be
indestructible?"
"It won't. But it will be pretty hard to break." I replied cheekily.
"Can you make it so that people can't take it off without the other person's
consent?" She asked seriously.
"Sure." I replied, tilting my head slightly. "I'll try my best to do that."
It seemed she was pretty traumatized by the event.
"I'll help you with the enchantment!" She said giddily and ran back to her
room.
I looked around the house. It has been a mess.
It was a mess even before Evelyn even came to my place.
The tower materials strewn around casually in the living room. The magical
books I bought for research. Clothes I hadn't had time to clean yet.
"Are they temporary house elves maid service? I really don't want to clean the
house by myself."
Cleaning services actually existed.
There were several companies that provided temporary house-elves for
cleaning, cooking, gardening and other household work. I picked one from the directory and sent them an owl.
Half an hour later, a house-elf appeared in my living room wearing a small
grey uniform.
"Master Dorme?"
"Yes."
"Three-hour cleaning service. Where should I start?" The elf named Tilly
asked.
She didn't wear a rag like Dobby, but her clothes weren't quite good either.
I looked around and gestured broadly. "You can figure it out yourself. You're
the expert."
The house-elf nodded and snapped her fingers.
The entire house came alive.
Dirty clothes flew out of my bedroom. Books floated from the floor and
arranged themselves neatly onto the shelves.
Plates shot toward the kitchen. Water began running by itself.
Several wet clothes flew around wiping the tables and windows while a broom
swept through the hallway.
The house-elf barely spoke. She simply moved from room to room,
occasionally snapping her fingers.
Within an hour, the place was almost pristine.
Every time she used her magic, I could sense it with my Arcane Intuition. It
was a mixture of intent and enchantment, being consciously controlled by the
elf. A lot of housewife witches knew that sort of magic. If I wanted to learn it, I
could find the books in a bookstore in Diagon alley.
The only time I had to stop the elf was when she reached for several jars of
monster organs.
"Don't touch those. It's poisonous."
Her hand immediately withdrew. "Yes, Master Dorme."
Three hours later, there wasn't a speck of dust anywhere. Even my clothes
had been washed, dried, folded and arranged inside the wardrobe.
The house-elf stood near the front door.
"Service completed, Master Dorme."
I looked around appreciatively.
"Looks great. Thank you."
The elf froze. Her enormous eyes blinked at me.
"...Master thanks Tilly?"
I was confused. "Yeah?"
She stared at me for another second before lowering her head.
"Tilly is... happy Master Dorme is satisfied."
"Of course. See you next week."
I gave her the money for the cleaning service. It cost me a galleon an hour.
Quite expensive, but worth it.
"Hey, you actually have a second bedroom." Evelyn realized something. The
door was blocked by a closet before, so even I had forgotten about it.
"That's… my parents room." I replied as I slowly opened the room. Tilly had cleaned inside it too. The bedroom had turned into the same
bedroom my parents lived in till ten years ago.
I looked at it with nostalgia.
Evelyn noticed my emotional state and hugged me again.
"Well, I guess I can use this room to test out the enchantment."
Evelyn pulled back from me and looked at me with disbelief.
"Ah, what about your mother?" I suddenly remembered.
She sighed and said dejectedly, "She's still in a coma. The doctor doesn't
know when she'll wake up."
I nodded and went to my room. Then, I took out a 500 ml bottle filled with the
Girafon tears.
"What's that?" She asked.
"It's the thing I used to bring you out of your coma." I replied.
Her eyes widened. "I was in a coma?"
"Right after the banshee hit you."
"Then– How— Why don't you—"
"It's very hard to find." I said seriously.
She inhaled sharply and gave up on her questioning. She picked it up and
kissed me on the cheek.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome. Also, feed her slowly. One mouthful a day. Don't go over
that."
"I will." She put on her coat and almost walked out the door before she stopped.
"Hey, can you go to the hospital with me?" She asked suddenly.
Realizing she might still be shaken from the raid, I decided to accompany her.
"Sure. I can visit my mom too."
…
We went to Saint Mungo's together. I felt my stomach churning as I stepped
into the hospital.
I really hated coming here, since it meant facing a dark, uncomfortable reality
that my mother might never return to her old self.
I went to Evelyn's mother ward before going to see my mother.
"How is she?" I asked as Evelyn wiped her mother's face with a wet towel.
"Still the same." Evelyn sighed.
Then, she gave her the Girafon tears using a spoon. I watched carefully as
she fed her exactly one mouthful of the tear.
Her mother didn't respond for a minute, but then, her finger twitched.
Evelyn widened her eyes instantly.
"Dexter! It works! It–"
She was opening the bottle again, but I stopped her.
"Any more of this, it might damage her. We'll do it slowly."
"Right." She calmed herself down and forced herself to smile. "I will do that." I nodded and said, "Don't worry. I won't take it away from you."
In the past couple of months, I had fed my mother the same thing, but even
after three bottles, her condition didn't change. She was still living like a doll.
But I wasn't feeling hopeless this time.
'One day… I will make sure of it.'
Evelyn asked, "When my mother wakes up, what will happen? Will she go
back to the Ministry?"
Before I could reply, someone approached us. He stopped at the front of the
ward.
"Byrne." He called.
Evelyn immediately stiffened. I turned and saw a well-dressed wizard wearing
Auror robes stood several meters away.
"Selwyn." Evelyn called.
"Oh." I exclaimed flatly.
Selwyn glanced at me before smiling at Evelyn.
"I heard you resigned."
"I did."
"A shame. You had a promising career."
Evelyn glared at him.
Selwyn continued casually, "Of course, after the accusations you've been
making, finding another position might prove difficult."
"What are you saying?" "Nothing." Selwyn smiled. "The Selwyn family simply has many friends. The
Ministry. Gringotts. Most respectable employers."
He didn't walk into the ward. In fact, he covered up his nose with a napkin. As
if living here was so uncouth and dirty.
"You should think carefully before spreading stories that could damage
someone's reputation. Otherwise, you might find there are considerably worse
things to lose than a job."
Several passing healers turned toward us.
I narrowed my eyes.
'Was this idiot seriously threatening her in public?'
In the skillbooks I found in the Goblin Shaman bookcase was something
called 'Intimidation'. It was a skill that could be used only on someone
underneath the caster.
And the best part was that it didn't need a wand to be activated.
"Selwyn." I called his name, interrupting him.
Suddenly he felt intense pressure pushing him down. He lost his grip on the
handkerchief, allowing it to fall down to the floor.
His face turned deathly white.
He suddenly dropped to his knees.
The entire corridor went silent. Some nurses gasped.
Even I was surprised by how effective it was.
Selwyn tried to stand, but his body trembled violently beneath the pressure.
I hadn't drawn my wand. So no one could say I had attacked him.
I simply smiled down at him and walked closer. "Interesting." Selwyn stared up at me fearfully. The intimidation felt even stronger up close.
"Maybe your body is trying to seek forgiveness for your soul." I mocked him.
Whispers immediately spread through the corridor.
I released Intimidation.
Selwyn gasped and scrambled back to his feet. He staggered and fell down
backward before standing up again.
He looked around.
Healers, nurses and patients were staring at him, giving him dirty looks. His
face flushed with humiliation.
Without another word, he hurried away.
Evelyn chuckled, looking incredibly refreshed after she saw Selwyn flopping
down on the floor.
"What did you do–"
I cupped her mouth and shook my head slightly. She got the hint and changed
the subject.
"You know he wasn't lying."
"About?"
"His family. The Selwyns are Sacred Twenty-Eight. Their connections run
deep. I probably won't find another respectable job in Britain."
"Oh." I exclaimed flatly. "Go see Mooley."
"Mooley?"
"Tell him I sent you. He'll find something for you." Evelyn laughed and said, "I don't want to be a Hit Wizard."
"Then, maybe sign with a professional quidditch club?" I joked.
She laughed and said, "I never even played Quidditch before."
I thought about it and said, "You know. If my experiment works… I might open
up a store."
She opened her mouth wide and said, "Are you hiring?"
"Let's see your resume first." I joked.
I looked toward where Selwyn had disappeared.
More importantly, he'd threatened Evelyn in the middle of Saint Mungo's
before suddenly collapsing onto his knees.
There were at least twenty witnesses. Whatever protection his family had,
people were going to talk.
'Maybe I can kill everyone in his family? Nah, I'm not a dark wizard. But if they
are… then I might cull a few of them soon.'
The rumors spread all over the wizarding community.
After getting accused of being a traitor, Selwyn went to threaten Byrne but he
fell to his knees and begged for forgiveness as he saw Dexter Van Dorme was
standing beside Evelyn.
That was good for us, since the attention made it harder for him to do
anything.
But it was also a bad thing since his hostility towards us had doubled basically
overnight.
…
After visiting my mother, we went out together. "That went well." Evelyn skipped slightly, feeling quite happy as we walked
down Diagon Alley together. She walked in front of me as we headed to the
bookstore.
She twirled slightly as she turned back to me and said, "If you really want to
build a business, you might want to start with property first."
"Buy one? At Diagon Alley? I do not have that kind of money."
Then, I suddenly remembered the gold and jewelry I got from the goblin
encampment.
"Wait. Maybe I do."
The next day, I sent an owl to Gringotts and arranged an appointment for a
private appraisal.
My name apparently helped. The goblins had heard about the banshee
incident, so instead of making me wait at one of the normal counters, I was
escorted into a private room.
A sharply dressed goblin was already waiting for me behind the desk. Another,
much younger goblin stood beside him with a ledger in hand.
"Ragnok," the goblin introduced himself curtly. "Assistant Manager of
Acquisitions."
"What does Mr. Van Dorme wishes to sell?"
"Some things I found in a ruin."
I reached into my expanded pouch. I couldn't take everything out all at once,
so I slowly stacked everything I wanted to sell on the mahogany table.
The goblin became busy with measuring the volume of the gold and figuring
out the numbers.
I had checked the conversation value before, and it was similar to the muggle
world's gold value. Rubies, emeralds, diamonds and were enough to fill a large goblet.
Two ornate cups. A jeweled tiara. Several necklaces. Rings. A golden
ceremonial plate covered in unfamiliar writing.
I made sure it was ordinary stuff instead of magical ones.
"Where did you acquire these?" Ragnok asked.
"An old ruin."
"Which ruin?"
"Private commission."
His eyes narrowed slightly, but he didn't push it further. He began separating
the treasure while another goblin recorded everything.
Then I remembered something else.
"Oh. There was this too."
I reached into the pouch again and dropped two fistfuls of silver objects onto
the table.
Ranrok froze. He picked up one of the pieces. His fingernail scraped gently
across its surface.
Then he whispered something in Gobbledegook.
The other goblin immediately stopped writing.
"What?" I asked.
"This is not silver." Ragnok replied. "It's similar to Goblin's silver."
"Oh." I exclaimed flatly. I actually had more of those in my storage.
The manager examined another piece much more carefully. Unlike ordinary silver, goblin-wrought silver possessed magical properties that
made it far more valuable than its weight suggested.
"Would you sell these as well?" He asked, and couldn't hide his excited
expression.
"That's why I'm here." I grinned.
His attitude toward the appraisal became considerably more serious. For
nearly an hour, they weighed, tested and inspected everything.
Finally, the manager pushed a parchment toward me.
"The ten kilograms of gold amount to approximately three thousand seven
hundred Galleons."
"The gemstones, jewelry and other precious objects add another two
thousand four hundred."
'Six thousand one hundred. Bloody hell. It's a huge windfall.'
Since one galleon was around 20 pounds, that's around 122,000 pounds in
just one transaction.
"And the silver?" I asked, leaning forward slightly.
"Separate." Ragnok replied. "I'll buy it personally… but I will pay Gringot's rate.
Is that okay with you?"
"I'm fine with it." I replied. Then I asked, "Goblin silver… that's the same thing
the sword of Gryffindor is made off, right?"
"It is." Ragnok replied with a bitter expression. "Two thousand one hundred
Galleons for the silver.."
"You're telling me those two handfuls are worth more than half the gold?" I
asked with shock.
He didn't reply. I understood why. He must've not wanted to give me any
information that would make me want to up the price. Although I didn't really care about that.
Eight thousand two hundred Galleons in an afternoon.
The manager, however, didn't immediately move to conclude the transaction.
Instead, he looked toward my expanded pouch.
"You stated that everything originated from the same ruin?" He asked.
"Most of it."
"Were there other goblin-made objects?"
"Plenty. Weapons. Armour. Tools. But it's primitive."
Both goblins became completely still.
"How primitive?" Ragnok asked.
"Cavemen type primitive." I replied.
"Can we see it?" Ragnok asked.
Then, I remembered something useless I had harvested from the goblin king.
"Sure." I took out a small glass jar.
"What is that?" Ranrok asked. His eyes widened, and he salivated a little.
Actually drooling.
Taken aback, I pulled the jar away and said, "It's in the vault. I don't know what
it is."
I actually do. It was the Goblin King's… testicles.
Ranrok went silent for a bit. Then, he said, "1000 galleons." My eyes widened as I realized he was bidding for it.
The goblin next to him suddenly spoke too. He wasn't speaking the whole
time, but he shouted a number to join in the bidding.
"Three thousand."
"Five thousand!"
"Seven thousand!"
I looked at them with shock and said, "Calm down. I don't know if I want to sell
it yet!"
"EIGHT THOUSAND GALLEON!" Ranrok shouted desperately. "That's my
entire personal wealth."
"I–"
Suddenly the door to the private office was kicked open.
A familiar goblin walked into the room. Bogrod shouted, "What's with the
commission–"
He froze as he saw the testicle in the jar.
"What is that treasure I'm seeing right now?" He asked.
"Fuck off Bogrod! That thing's mine!" Ragnok immediately confronted him,
pushing him backward.
"Yours?!" The assistant sneered. "He hasn't decided yet. Mr Dorme. I'm going
to give you 9 thousand galleons, and a property lease for a wizard house."
"That's a ruined house! It doesn't worth anything!" Ranrok shouted
desperately.
"You guys are bidding for it? Then, I'll join in too! I will bid twelve thousand
galleons for the thing in the jar!" "BOGROD!" Ranrok was fuming.
Twelve thousand Galleons. I could have taken it.
But judging from the way the three goblins were looking at each other,
accepting a personal bid might also mean choosing which goblin became my
enemy. And it was never good to make a goblin your enemy.
"I'll sell it to Gringotts itself for ten thousand," I said. "Whatever happens to it
afterward is between you lot."
The goblins fell into deep silence. Then Ragnok slammed both hands onto the
table.
"DEAL!"
We shook hands on it and I left in a hurry. After the whole fiasco had calmed
down, I would return to Gringotts to deal with the property.
My personal wealth had increased by more than eighteen thousand Galleons
in a single afternoon.
Adding that to the eight thousand two hundred Galleons I already had, I now
had over twenty-six thousand Galleons to my name.
I did a quick conversion in my head.
More than five hundred thousand pounds.
"That's actually pretty good startup money."
I could actually afford a property in a prime location in Diagon Alley.
And if that wasn't enough, I still had money in the family vault.
The Van Dormes weren't some prestigious ancient family like the Malfoys or
Blacks, but we weren't poor either. My father's side had accumulated its own
generational wealth over the years. Last time I checked, there were around fifteen thousand Galleons in there.
Another three hundred thousand pounds.
But I wasn't touching the money since it was for my mother's medical fees.
Saint Mungo aint free.
But it still meant leverage at the bank.
Technically, that meant I had access to more than forty thousand Galleons.
Over eight hundred thousand pounds.
"But first, I need to figure out what I'm going to sell before buying the shop. Or
else, the store will just go to waste."
Chapter 6: Clothing Line.
[Dex POV]
Three months had passed by since I sold all of the gold. Then, I bought a
building.
The first floor had been completely renovated.
By the time the doors were ready to open, I'd spent just over eighteen
thousand Galleons on this place.
Twelve thousand went into buying the four-storey building itself. The remaining six thousand disappeared considerably faster than I would've
liked.
Renovations. Furniture. Display cases. Enchanted mirrors. Workshop
equipment. Materials. Goblin work. House-elf work. Wages. Advertising.
Packaging. Signs. Licenses.
Every time I thought we'd finished spending money, Evelyn discovered
something else a respectable clothing shop apparently needed.
"Running a business is really expensive." I muttered, holding my frog-leather
wallet with a teary expression.
"There there." Evelyn patted my shoulder to cheer me up.
Still, standing there now, I couldn't complain about the result.
The old interior, dusty and worn down, had been completely stripped out.
Polished black stone veined with silver covered the floor, while dark wood and
brass framed warm cream walls. Floating crystal lamps filled the shop with
golden light, and thin silver enchantment patterns had been worked around
the pillars and ceiling.
The place looked expensive. Like a retail store one could find at a Muggle
mall.
I brought Evelyn to the Muggle world and we spent a week studying how the
business was run there.
It was her first time actually touring the muggle world. She was really into
interior designs as she learned about it.
There were eight changing rooms along the back, enormous mirrors
throughout the shop and even a private fitting room Evelyn insisted we'd need
for certain customers.
The men's section occupied one side, with only two fitting rooms. Shirts, trousers, coats and jackets were arranged by style and colour, with
shoes, trainers, ties, gloves and watches displayed around complete outfits.
The women's section was almost three times larger.
Apparently, women needed considerably more choices.
Evelyn had designed everything from soft, feminine dresses to sharp
professional clothing that reminded me of modern muggle fashion in my
memory.
There were fitted coats, skirts, trousers, blouses, boots, heels, practical
jackets and more accessories than I could name.
Her three friends from Beauxbatons had helped considerably. We began hiring
them two months ago at the rate of 150 galleons a month.
They were also annoyingly photogenic. Evelyn had used all three as models
throughout the women's section, each representing completely different styles.
One looked elegant and aristocratic in a long dress. Another wore trousers,
boots and a fitted jacket. The third had been dressed in something softer and
considerably more feminine.
She'd even hired two professional female Quidditch players for a separate set
of moving photographs.
Those were placed around the more athletic section.
Short jackets. Trainers. Breathable shirts. Flexible trousers.
In one photograph, a Quidditch player landed from her broom, threw it over
one shoulder and walked toward the camera while her jacket adjusted itself
around her body.
I had to admit it looked good. Then there were my photographs.
"I really think we should get professional players for the men section too. Why
only me standing over there?" "Be-cause! You're really famous. So get over it." Evelyn scolded me.
Evelyn had been considerably less merciful when she decided to put my
pictures up.
The respectable ones showed me in formal clothes.
There was one in a black shirt and trousers, another wearing our long winter
coat, and another adjusting a pair of gloves.
I looked quite regal, and she even made me change my hairstyle for that.
Then there was the photograph near the younger section.
Six feet of moving photographic paper dedicated to me wearing black shorts,
trainers and an open jacket.
Without a shirt. My six pack abdomen was popping up in the open.
The photograph leaned against the wall, looked toward the camera and
occasionally ran a hand through its hair.
"Hey. At least the underwear photographs weren't displayed." I muttered.
Evelyn grinned and said, "If the launch fails, I might put that up too."
"No. Please don't."
The shop door finally opened. The wizards who were waiting outside rushed
into the store.
"Mister Van Dorme! Look over here!" A photographer from the Daily Prophet
snapped a few pictures of me.
I smiled at him awkwardly. Then, I walked towards him and made him lower
his camera.
"There's a lot of time… so why don't you take a look first? The lights are
blinding some of the customers." "Right. Sorry." He apologized and went inside. Then, he took pictures of the
products instead.
In the middle of the shop were long tables displaying smaller products.
Self-knotting ties, enchanted wristwatches, gloves, socks and other
accessories.
The women's undergarments had their own more private section toward the
back.
Those had Self-Cleaning, temperature regulation and Auto-Fit like everything
else, along with what Evelyn was most looking forward to– The Consent Lock
charm.
It could even detect if the wearer was under the love potion. Nobody other
than the wearer could remove the garment without permission.
I had a feeling that one was going to sell extremely well.
A familiar face came to the store.
"Professors! You made it."
It was Professor Sprout and Professor Flitwick.
"Dexter! Nice to see you again! You grew up brilliant." Flitwick said happily.
Sprout hugged me and said, "Tell me the truth Dexter. Who told you to open
the store? I know you're not the type to learn business."
I smirked and said, "She's right over there. That goddess standing with
Madam Maxime."
Flitwick widened his eyes and said, "Beauxbaton Headmistress?"
I was quite shocked to learn Evelyn was close to the headmistress.
"Why don't we go take a look around? I'm really excited to show you what I
have made." I led the Professors into the store.
Flitwick was the reason why I got an Outstanding in charms. And Sprout was
basically my second mother in my years at Hogwarts.
I even prepared gifts for them. Flitwick kept asking me a barrage of questions
about the enchantments. While Sprout was asking me about the creatures I
got the materials from.
A lot of my friends from the Hufflepuff house came to the shop to show their
support.
Tobias Fletcher, my potion apprentice friend, looked at the walls of bags and
said, "If we'd had those at Hogwarts, I wouldn't have tripped so much carrying
so many books around."
"You can still buy one for your potions." I told him.
He thought about it and nodded.
Handbags, travel bags, briefcases and school satchels.
The school satchels were one of the simpler things I'd made, but probably one
of the most useful. A Minor Extension Charm gave them several times their
apparent space, while a Lightweight Charm made carrying a pile of textbooks
considerably easier.
Then there was the centerpiece.
A circular glass enclosure sat directly beneath the largest chandelier.
Our Heritage collection.
Black Crawler Silk.
Silver and gold enchantment embroidery.
Snow-white tiger fur. Long formal coats, robes and dresses stood individually behind enchanted
glass, surrounded by matching shoes, gloves and accessories.
Evelyn had displayed them more like priceless artifacts than clothing.
There weren't even obvious price tags. Those weren't meant for ordinary
customers.
Those were bait.
Then, a big fish was hooked.
The Malfoys family were talking with Evelyn about the clothing inside the case.
I heard her say, "The fur came from the snowy mountain tiger, from Katmandu.
They were elusive creatures, and the materials came by scarcely."
The Malfoys immediately bought the set after they heard we only have enough
for 12 sets.
One set was priced at 350 galleons, and they bought three of them without
batting an eye.
I even saw little Draco excitedly running around and his mother picking clothes
for him.
Finally, behind the main counter, enormous silver letters had been embedded
into the black wall.
{DORME ARCANE}
A black raven spread its wings beneath the name.
The second, third and fourth floors were still closed. But I have plans for them
in the future.
…
The second week after the opening, a lot of customers still came to the store.
Then, it dropped sharply. "There's not a lot of wizards after all."
I sold around 85% of my inventory, which was a great thing.
"And a lot of them are going travelling. We should've stocked up more
travelling bags." Evelyn sighed.
I looked at her with disbelief and said, "We made double of what we invested
in. You still want more?"
The profit alone reached almost 34 thousand galleons. Another two thousand,
and it might actually be double.
"We? I'm not your wife. So it's just you." She said with a teasing expression.
I looked at her and said seriously, "How can you be? When you're betrothed to
someone else? And when is he coming anyway? It's been months since you
got fired."
Evelyn's smile slowly disappeared. "It's complicated." She argued.
"You always say that." I snapped.
"Because it is."
"Then explain it to me."
She looked away. "I don't want to."
I felt irritation rising inside me.
She'd been living in my house for months. We ate together, worked together,
slept in the same bed more than once– without doing anything, and kissed
whenever the mood struck us.
Yet whenever I asked what exactly we were, suddenly everything was
complicated.
Evelyn finally turned back to me. "If having a girlfriend matters so much to you, then go find another woman."
I stared at her with annoyance. She immediately looked like she regretted
saying it, but I was already annoyed.
"Maybe I will."
"Fine!."
"Fine!"
She grabbed the ledger from the table and walked away. I watched her
disappear into the back room before letting out a long sigh.
"Brilliant." I said sarcastically.
Maybe climbing the Tower again would be less complicated.
After doing a lot of preparation, I finally decided to enter the tenth floor of the
tower.
…
We closed the shop on Tuesdays. I took advantage of that to leave the house
and secretly enter the Tower.
This time, I wasn't going in with only a wand and a dagger.
I strapped a pair of black arm guards around my forearms. They were
reinforced with Crawler Silk and enchanted to withstand spells and physical
attacks.
Next came my pitch black gloves.
I flexed my right hand. My wand immediately shot out of its holster and landed
in my palm.
Another movement of my left hand summoned the elven dagger from my
waist. I returned both weapons and tested them again.
'Perfect.'
If someone knocked my wand or dagger away during a fight, I could call them
back almost instantly. Since without my wand, my magic was practically
useless.
My boots were next. Boar leather reinforced with Crawler Silk, enchanted to
make my movements lighter and faster. More importantly, they completely
suppressed the sound of my footsteps.
Over my torso, I strapped on a thin protective chest plate before covering it
with a black shirt and combat jacket.
My belt has some potion slots and I could turn into a battlestaff if my wand or
dagger were both broken.
Finally, I threw my heavy fur cloak over my shoulders and entered the tenth
floor.
Inside the tower, a thick green miasma covered the entire surrounding.
I instinctively covered my mouth and nose while muttering, "I should make a
face mask for the next run."
The system notification popped up again.
[Tower 10 trial: Kill the Hobgoblin Champion and annihilate the goblin
squadron.]
I nodded and looked around. But I couldn't sense where the goblins were
hiding.
"Oh. Finally. You have entered."
A sweet voice called out to me from within the miasma. I turned around and
finally saw the figure. With a light purple skin, an incredibly sexy figure covered only by some
patches on her private parts, and tails that were flailing around, she stared at
me full of curiosity.
She smacked her dark purple lips and said, "You look better than most of the
challengers who climb up here… Well, maybe you're smarter than them too.
Since you didn't attack me first."
"Who are you?" I asked, putting my guard up.
Then, I saw the hobgoblins and the goblins I was supposed to fight. Instead,
off of them had turned into zombies and were standing behind her.
Not only the goblins, but there were also around 20 humans behind her.
'I'm guessing that's all the challengers.'
"I'm Lilith. I'm from the 80th floor. This is only my homunculi." She said with a
teasing smirk. "What do you think? I have a really gorgeous body, don't I?"
"Why are you here if you're supposed to be on the 80th floor?" I asked.
She hummed and said, "Boredom. It's been eons since I last talked to
someone. Why don't you come here and help me alleviate my loneliness?"
I raised up my wand as she raised her hand, but her magic was faster.
A thick pink smog surrounded me. My mind turned hazy even with my mental
protection.
"Come to me. Dexter." She called my name sweetly.
"Yes Lilith." I said, grinning like an idiot, lowering my wand.
"That's better." She walked toward me and touched my face. Then, she
pushed me into the stone throne she was sitting on as she stood in front of
me.
Every instinct I had screamed at me to move, but my body refused to listen. Lilith stopped directly in front of me and dragged one claw lightly down the
side of my neck.
My entire body shuddered.
"There's so much you want, Dexter."
Her voice sounded impossibly close. Then, she kissed me.
Her long tongue introduced my mouth, and she tasted impossibly sweet.
My thoughts disappeared. For several seconds, there was nothing except her.
My heart hammered violently against my chest as the pink mist flooded my
lungs. Every touch felt magnified until I could barely remember why I'd been
afraid of her.
However, my last bastion of Occulumency kicked in and I barely managed to
spare my mind from completely disappearing.
Lilith pulled away, then she leaned in close and hugged me. "You're so lonely."
She cried for me.
"I'm…"
"Angry?" She said, biting my earlobe.
Evelyn flashed through my mind. Then my parents.
Her arms wrapped around my neck. She whispered. "Evelyn doesn't know
what she wants. But I do."
Her lips brushed against my ear. "You want someone who chooses you."
My breathing became heavier. She touched my crotch and pulled out my
hard-on dick.
Then, she sat on it, clamping it with her soft thigh. "You could have anyone you want," Lilith whispered. "Your little school crush.
Evelyn. Any woman who catches your eye. Even me."
My fingers twitched. Then, she began giving me a blowjob. It was unreal.
'Something is wrong.'
I knew something was wrong but knowing that didn't make me want her any
less.
Lilith suddenly pulled back before I could finish.
"I can bring back your mom." She muttered.
"You can?" I widened my eyes in shock.
"It's really easy for me." She grinned. Then, she sat up slightly, grabbed my
dick and put it in her pussy.
My entire body jerked forward. I almost came, but she casted a restriction
magic on my penis to prevent that.
I noticed the challengers who became zombies all seemed like they were
sucked dry first before they died.
"Fuck."
"You can get anything you want, as long as you promise me something."
"What?" I asked, desperate.
"Bring me out with you." She smiled and reached between her breasts. Then
she pulled out a worn piece of paper. My hazy eyes focused on it.
[Tower Exit Ticket]
[Allows a Challenger to leave the Tower with one designated living being.]
"This little thing took me centuries to obtain." Lilith ran one claw lovingly
across the paper. "And yet, I can't use it. Because I'm not a Challenger. I'm a prisoner."
I realized why she was toying with me instead of just killing me.
The other challengers must've r