After sending letters to Edmund and Roger, Wolf went to the Headmaster’s office. He knocked on the door, but something unexpected happened.

“I’m busy. Come back in an hour.” Wolf thought Lord of Steel was joking. He reached for the knob, but found it immovable.

“You may either wait an hour, or schedule a meeting at a later date.” Following the words, a weak electrical current surged through the knob; its intensity slowly increased, warning Wolf.

He’s screwing with me. On his way over, people greeted, half-bowed or bowed as Wolf passed, each gesture revealing their status. Wolf either nodded, or greeted back. After the lesson on propriety with Headmaster Smith, he went through the Empire’s code of conduct. Wolf was delighted to discover that once he became a Sword-Saint, he and Lord of Steel would address each other as Sir on formal occasions. The same applied if Wolf matched Smith’s True-Namer Order.

Since Wolf couldn’t make it to Cornucopia and back in an hour, he decided to wait. He sat on the floor in front of the Headmaster’s office, and meditated. Wolf passed the forty-five minutes by carving his Mind Hall’s door.

Marquess Thonburi opened the door, leaving Headmaster Smith’s office.

“Hello,” he greeted the squatter and went on his way.

You can get a beggar off the streets… But the thought never touched his face, nor eyes. Marquess Thonburi acted as if sitting on the floor in front of the Headmaster’s office was normal.

“Come in.” Headmaster Smith’s voice echoed in the corridor, and Wolf got up.

Wolf half-bowed, as the rules demanded. “Good day, Sir. Do you mind giving me the stipends you embezzled from me?”

Duke Silverhound informed Wolf that the moment he became a noble, he started receiving a stipend. A Marquess without-a-land earned a hundred thousand gold pieces per annum.

“I embezzled nothing from you.” Headmaster Smith saw this accusation coming. It’s just that he expected it yesterday.

You really are slow when it comes to certain things. Headmaster Smith rolled his eyes, shaking his head. “The ink on the deed which dubs you Marquess without-a-land hasn’t dried yet. Dick and I wrote it the day we had you apprehended.”

“It’s Richard, Sir,” Richard said with a serene face.

Wolf was silent for a second.

“What about the deed making me a Baron, Count, or a Viscount without-a-land?” He noticed Headmaster Smith’s explicit use of his title, instead of just saying noble title.

Headmaster Smith smiled, as did Richard behind his back. “Clever. I have been taking care of your stipends. You have one hundred and fifty thousand gold coins, and I won’t charge you for safekeeping your money.”

Shouldn’t you pay me interest? But before Wolf could open his mouth, Headmaster Smith continued.

“However, you promised to pay me double for whatever I’ve done to your flatmates. That would be some eighty thousand for the solid currency I gifted them, then there’s twenty-six thousand for the dresses…” Headmaster Smith listed the costs, grinning all the while.

Apparently, he and Richard aimed to give the girls even seventy-five thousand gold, which when doubled amounted to Wolf’s unpaid stipends.

“Fine, fine.” Wolf waved his hands in defeat. “You win. Keep the money and pay Richard however much I owe him.”

It was better not to argue with crazies. He was bound to hand over that money eventually, and it was better to save his sanity than argue about it.

Headmaster Smith nodded with approval. Then a piece of paper appeared in his hand. Wolf’s mind froze when he saw it was a pre-written IOU for Richard. Headmaster Smith only had to fill in the amount.

Looking disgusted, Richard summoned a thick stack of identical papers from his Ring of Holding. Then he carefully added this one to the stack with a sigh.

“What the hells are those?” Wolf asked, shocked by the thick stack of IOU notes.

Richard sighed and shook his head. “Sixty-two years and four months of unpaid wages.”

Richard stored the stack of papers into his Ring of Holding before continuing. “Mage Academy Headmaster has to hire their own help, and he has to pay me out of his own pocket—”

“Marquess Hillman, how do you feel about secretarial work?” Ignoring Richard, Headmaster Smith tried to recruit Wolf.

Wolf’s eyes widened. Shameless. However, he had a rebuttal. “I guess it’s a fine line of work for those who enjoy it. Do you wish to apply as my secretary? I too can pay in paper.”

Wolf smirked and leaned into the chair. For the first time since he’d met him, Wolf saw the Headmaster at a loss for words. It was only for a split second, but Wolf clearly saw Daniel Smith’s surprise. Richard, however, roared in laughter.

“He got you Sir! Ahahahahaha! He got you good! Oooh, boy, you’re such a breath of fresh air.” Headmaster Smith ignored Richard’s outburst. He focused on Wolf.

“So, did you come here to compete in wit, or do you have a proper agenda?” He steepled his fingers and gazed at the youth.

“I’d like us to wrap up my training as soon as possible.” Seeing Smith turn serious, Wolf also became all business. “Then I would like to get those items you agreed to acquire for me. Finally, I would like to see how much Tenth Order Demonic Converter Monster Cores can I exchange for Eleventh Order ones and at what rate.”

Headmaster Smith nodded. “We can continue with your training tomorrow. I have a bunch of meetings lined up today. A certain someone caused a lot of waves yesterday and higher social circles need explanations and assurances.”

“You work?” Wolf couldn’t believe his ears. The kooky old bat had something to do, other than embezzle money out of others and prying into their private affairs? “How come you were never busy when I came over?”

Headmaster Smith rolled his eyes. “You visited in the dead of night or in early morning—”

“For some arcane reason, most of Sir’s underlings prefer using written reports and taking orders in writing.” Richard interrupted his boss and gave Wolf a meaningful look. “Sir’s office is quite empty most of the time.”

Lord of Steel frowned, but didn’t refute Richard. He didn’t even call him Dick. Instead, he cleared his throat. “We will continue with your training tomorrow morning. You’ve done a passable job with the quills, certainly better than a certain someone in this room.”

Richard smirked at the petty remark, but took that pettiness as a tiny victory.

“As for the items you asked,” Headmaster Smith continued. “I have them all save for the twenty kilos of petrified flesh from basilisk’s victims. But it should arrive in a week or two. I expected it would be easy to acquire, but apparently there is no market.”

Lord of Steel yearned to ask Wolf why the hells he required something so bizarre, but refrained from asking.

Hearing good news from Smith drew Wolf’s smile. Once he reached the fourth stage of Star Body, he should have an easy time in the Demon Forest. Combined with what he believed was the perfect Ghost Shroud, Wolf could choose his prey, moving unobstructed the rest of the time.

“As for your last question.” Headmaster Smith rubbed his chin, in an obviously fake show of being deep in thought. “Monster Core’s price increases roughly by three times per Order. I’ll count Eleventh Order ones as six Tenth Order ones—”

“You told me Eleventh Order Monster Core can’t be bought and would cost at least a hundred thousand gold. If you’re paying double that means they are at least two hundred thousand a piece!” Wolf was fine with merchants fleecing him a gold coin or two, but Lord of Steel was attempting blatant robbery.

“Fine, fine.” The crafty old man waved his hand. “We’ll go with two hundred thousand. How about that?”

Look at that smile. And he agreed way too easily. He’s scamming me again. Should I aim for a better price? But I’m fine with giving him ten Monster Cores. That’s half a year of work to advance my Star Body. I’ll need one Eleventh Order Monster Core to advance my Sword-Sage Order, and then thirty more to reach the Eleventh Order. Wolf quickly concluded he would stay in the Demon Forest for two years.

Seeing Wolf remain silent, Headmaster Smith finally thought the youth was learning how to haggle. “I’ll throw in fifty hours in the Hall of Names. Those are a thousand Academic Credits per hour.”

Wolf’s eyes went wide. That was a lot of money, and he needed to book Hall of Names to use it. If Headmaster Smith made arrangements for him, it would be really practical.

The youth bobbed his head like a chicken, while Headmaster Smith’s lip twisted in defeat. Inwardly, he grinned. That’s great enthusiasm. I hope you advance to the Second Order quickly and take my place in this prison.