Chapter 70: Treasure

Felix's treasure? And she remembered us when something good came along? Wow... a saint has appeared in our dorm!

Angelica laughed. "You were worried Felix might have some funny ideas, so you brought us along to spread the risk. You even had us tell our parents where we'd be, just to keep him in check, didn't you?"

Sonya shrugged and didn't deny it. "That was part of my plan, yes. But the treasure itself is real."

Seeing her speak so eloquently, Felix secretly let out a sigh and questioned whether he had made the right decision.

That morning, as he left the meditation hall, he called Sonya over and presented what he considered an incredible opportunity. But Sonya was far from naive. She had fought her way alone through the glittering yet ruthless city of Cailleach and had seen too much of the world's ugliness to trust empty promises.

Even con artists knew to offer small gifts before a scam. At the very least, spend some money to lower my guard first. Sugar-coated bullets are still sugar-coated, but yours weren't even wrapped. Who do you think you're fooling?

Convincing her took great effort. Under Sonya's repeated threats of "Forget it, I'm out," Felix was eventually forced to lay his cards on the table and surrender control of the situation.

The so-called treasure was an inheritance left by Felix's mother. It was divided into several portions, each bound by specific conditions. If those conditions were not met, that portion would remain forever inaccessible.

One portion required the holder to possess the Killing Intent spirit and have mana at or above half-wing level. Felix met the mana requirement but had lost the Killing Intent spirit. His luck came with a twist, turning what should have been an easy gain into something nearly impossible. That was when Sonya's Killing Intent spirit appeared in his sight.

He knew she would never part with such a valuable member of the Twenty-One Secret Sword Spirits, so he proposed working together instead. At first, he suggested what he thought was a perfectly reasonable sham marriage. It wasn't to take advantage of her, but because he had studied her background and knew it was exactly the opportunity she wanted.

Under the Noble Heraldry Statutes, any relationship recognized by the Noble Council was legally binding. Felix understood that Sonya's greatest desire was a noble status, which would allow her to live openly and respectfully in Cailleach. Gaining noble status through her own strength would be a slow and uncertain process, whereas marrying into nobility would provide her with a more straightforward path to achieving her goals.

If she married him, Sonya would gain the Vlozrada family crest, a monthly stipend, and access to the family's sorcerer cultivation system, including miracles like Dragon's Belly Scale and Dragon's Banquet. Most importantly, with the crest, she could bypass residency restrictions, enjoy noble privileges, buy property freely, pursue any profession, and even transfer her mother's household registration to Cailleach.

Felix knew Sonya deeply cared for her widowed mother, who had raised her alone. If she had the chance, she would surely want her mother to enjoy a comfortable life as soon as possible. Yet despite her talent, Sonya would still need at least a year and a half to develop her Silver Wing and four years to reach Gold Wing. If she aimed to reach the Three-Winged Sacred Realm within ten years, it would demand extraordinary luck and opportunity. In all likelihood, even twenty years might not be enough for her to achieve it.

Ennoblement had become increasingly rare in recent years. Without reaching the Sacred Realm, Sonya could claim neither title nor crest. Even with her exceptional abilities, her accomplishments would be limited to personal success. She would gain no authority or privileges and remain unable to transfer her mother's registration. Her mother would still be restricted to just thirty days of stay in Cailleach each year. By long-standing rule, commoners were meant to stay in their place, and only nobles could rise.

Felix believed she would accept the offer, as it would save her twenty years of struggle. Marriage could always end in divorce, and by then she would have secured wealth, status, and her mother's registration in Cailleach, with her reputation and interests fully intact. After all, noble divorces were commonplace, and no one paid them any mind.

Yet even after presenting every advantage, Sonya refused.

He could not understand it.

Why would a smart, crude woman like her reject a mutually beneficial deal? She's practically just one step away from wealth, status, and fame. So why turn it down? Does she really think she can achieve it all on her own in just a few years? Or does she look down on me, and that's why she won't take the easy way?

With the first plan rejected, Felix proposed a second, which was to split the treasure evenly. In theory, the inheritance belonged to him, and he might one day recover another Killing Intent spirit. He could simply wait and claim it later, but everything had an expiration date, and power was no exception.

His mother's restrictions were designed to match his current condition. This was to ensure he received only the strength he could handle, rather than being overwhelmed. For instance, when he still had only one wing, he would never receive a Two-Winged spirit, which would be more of a burden than a help. This portion, requiring half-wing mana, was perfectly suited to his present situation.

If he waited until reaching Two-Winged Gold to open it, the treasures would have been of no use to him. They would offer him no help at all. By opening them now, even if he received only half of it, they could prove to be a lifeline in the snow.

Years of assassination attempts had trained Felix to be practical and rational. He was not the type to hoard everything like a squirrel out of sheer insecurity. Instead, he followed a cold, pragmatic approach, where he would not hesitate to use resources if doing so maximized benefit, even if it meant sharing his mother's inheritance.

Sonya agreed to his plan, but not completely. She proposed a condition that left Felix utterly baffled. She wanted to bring her friends into the operation and share part of her portion of the treasure with them.

At first, Felix assumed he had encountered some incorruptible saint, someone unmoved by wealth or coercion. But after a moment's thought, he understood her reasoning. Sonya feared he might kill her and seize the treasure. Without Professor Trosan's backing, she was little more than an ordinary university student with no real influence. Even with Trosan's support, cooperating with a local noble like Felix was like dealing with a tiger. Naturally, she assumed the worst.

By bringing along her three roommates, she could spread the risk. Angelica was the daughter of a minor noble from outside the city, Louisa was the daughter of a local merchant, while Adele's father was a Cailleach administrative official. Most importantly, Louisa and Adele almost certainly carried emergency alert devices with them. If danger arose, they could immediately transmit their location to the police bureau.

On top of that, all of them had informed their families of their whereabouts. Felix would have to personally escort the young ladies back to campus afterward. Otherwise, if anything went wrong, the Noble Council would be the first to come after him.

Felix admired Sonya's caution, but he naturally wouldn't want more people to learn about his secret. He argued his case with reason, tempted her with profit, and even offered to adjust the split from fifty-fifty to sixty-forty in her favor. By any measure, he humbled himself.

But Sonya did not budge. She held firm on her bottom line and maintained her stance. "If you don't agree, then I don't want the treasure."

As the saying goes, "the winner of any negotiation was always the one who cared least." Felix understood just how much stronger the treasure would make him. In the end, he gave in.

Once Sonya finished explaining the situation, her roommates turned to Felix with guarded expressions, huddling behind her like frightened chicks. Felix laughed in exasperation. "If you're still worried, you can leave now. Just don't talk nonsense outside."

"No, I'm staying to protect Sonya," Louisa declared righteously, though her eyes sparkled with anticipation.

Adele looked just as eager. She clearly enjoyed the spectacle.

Angelica was even more straightforward. "I just want to see what a treasure that requires a spirit to open looks like."

After all, it was a treasure coveted even by the second son of the Vlozrada Family. It was only natural that a group of teenage sorcerer apprentices would be curious. There was no way they could resist a treasure straight out of a novel.

Felix sighed and took out five blank sealed-membrane contracts. "Then let's sign the contracts first."

Sonya and the others marveled silently at the extravagance. Sealed-membrane contracts were common spirit tools. They worked by temporarily imprinting the Virtual Oath Miracle onto paper. Anyone who signed was bound by the Virtual World, with severe consequences for breaking it. They could fall into an endless sleep or, in the worst case, have their soul erased.

These contracts were expensive. Their price was comparable to that of a One-Winged spirit, and they were used only for important transactions. By taking out five at once, Felix demonstrated not only his wealth but also the true value of this treasure. He would never have invested so much otherwise.

The process of using a sealed-membrane contract was straightforward. Once the membrane was removed, each person copied the contract directly from the template. Minor corrections or messy handwriting didn't matter. Once all five copies were completed and signed, they were compared to ensure their contents were identical, at which point the oath became effective.

The contract itself was simple. Everything that happened in the underground room had to remain strictly confidential. No records could be kept, nothing about the treasure could be revealed, and any gains had to be concealed by one's own means. Felix himself was never to be implicated.

At the same time, Felix and Sonya would split any underground gains evenly, with Sonya distributing her share among Angelica, Louisa, and Adele. In essence, it was a confidentiality and profit-sharing agreement.

As they copied the contract, Adele whispered, "Sonya, why did you refuse the sham marriage proposal? If it were me, I'd give up the treasure and accept the marriage. That's the Vlozrada crest we're talking about."

Louisa looked on, equally curious.

Sonya's expression stiffened. After holding it in for a long moment, she murmured, "It's embarrassing."

Embarrassing how? Embarrassing to fake a marriage with Felix? Or is it embarrassing to climb into the noble class through a shortcut?

They wouldn't have been surprised if Angelica had said it. But this was Sonya they were talking about.

Neither Louisa nor Adele could understand it. To them, Sonya was hardly a paragon of integrity. More importantly, neither believed she cared much about appearances. Money mattered more to her than pride, and losing it was the only real harm. They simply could not comprehend her reasoning, and neither could Felix. Angelica was the only one who could vaguely grasp what she meant.

It wasn't because she was particularly close to Sonya, but because they both came from small towns. Unlike the liberal metropolis of Cailleach, small towns were conservative. City folk might consider such values old-fashioned or backward, but in rural areas, certain matters, like marriage, were not to be taken lightly.

Sonya had assimilated into the city quickly, which was what led outsiders to assume that she was modern and crude. However, Angelica knew that deep down, Sonya still carried the innocence and ideals of the countryside. She believed in effort leading to success, and in hardship fostering progress. She believed marriage was sacred, love pure, and that neither should be tarnished.

Even if she saw marriage as a path upward, Sonya had not discarded her sense of restraint. There were plenty of slick noble heirs she could have pursued, but she wanted, within acceptable limits, to find the partner most suitable and devote herself wholeheartedly to the marriage. Not everything could, or should, be traded, and this was something city people would never understand.

Beyond that, Angelica sensed another factor at play. Sonya had grown confident. Shortcuts were easy, but if success could be earned through her own efforts, why let that honor be compromised?

Sonya felt uncomfortable under Angelica's gaze. "Why are you staring at me? Is there something written on my face?"

"

Heehee

, you're blushing."

"Whatever."