"Wait a minute, Merlin Clay!"

Merlin and Luna flinched. They both turned and saw a beautiful red-haired girl approaching.

Luna recognized her immediately—Crystal, the genius of the Magic Kingdom of Arcadia.

She was about to pull Merlin back, but he moved first.

"What is it, Miss Crystal? Do you need something from me?" Merlin asked, his tone indifferent.

Crystal felt a flicker of surprise. Until now, children had always looked at her with admiration and respect.

But Merlin's attitude was completely different, and it caught her off guard.

Regaining her composure, Crystal stopped a meter away and said, "I wanted to congratulate you. Your ability is evident from your incredible score. Do you have a special method for achieving it?"

"A method?" Merlin smiled faintly. "Nothing special. You just need to defeat ten level-six monsters every day. That's all."

Crystal went quiet. Defeating even one level-six monster was hard enough—ten every day?

She wanted to think Merlin was joking, but she couldn't.

After all, he had already proven himself with over 35,000 points on the previous test.

"I see. Thank you," she said politely. "By the way, are you free tonight? I—"

Before she could finish, Merlin waved his right hand. "Sorry, I can't. And we're not exactly close, are we? So, I'm sorry."

Without waiting for a reply, he took Luna's hand and walked away from the academy's backyard, leaving Crystal flustered.

"Merlin Clay…" She gritted her teeth in anger.

Feeling the gaze of the other students, she snorted coldly and turned toward her dormitory.

***

"Merlin, earlier…" Luna started, but Merlin quickly pressed his fingers to her lips.

"Shh! Don't ask anymore, okay? I'm too lazy to talk about that girl," he said, his face serious.

Luna didn't push any further. She simply nodded and moved on to another topic.

"So… where are we going?"

"Back to the dormitory. I'm exhausted. You too, right?"

Luna felt a pang of disappointment. She had actually wanted Merlin to invite her to play.

But he was right—she was tired. In the end, she let him lead her back to the dormitory before they parted ways.

Merlin sighed deeply as he walked back.

"Crystal, huh? What a dangerous girl," he muttered.

He had ended the conversation earlier because he sensed Crystal's hypnotic magic.

If he had stayed and talked to her, he might have fallen under her spell without realizing it.

Fortunately, his skill in magic was advanced enough to detect it quickly.

Still, the fact that Crystal tried that on him meant she had a specific plan.

What plan? He didn't know.

But he suspected Crystal was the kind of arrogant girl who believed the world always favored her.

She must have been frustrated at being second, facing such a huge gap between them.

"By the way, system, where's my reward?" Merlin asked.

"[Ding! Congratulations on becoming number one in the test, Master! Reward: 50,000 system points and a Blackpox cure formula have been awarded!]"

Merlin nodded in satisfaction. He opened his right palm, and a small box materialized in his hand.

He opened it and studied the contents carefully.

"So, this is the formula, huh?" His eyes narrowed slightly.

He hadn't expected it to be so simple—it consisted of only ten basic herbal ingredients.

Even better, all of them were sold on the market, making them easy to obtain and inexpensive.

"With this, I can finally end the Blackpox epidemic that's returned after decades," he whispered, delighted.

Blackpox was still a serious threat—even after hundreds of years.

Until now, no alchemist had been able to create an affordable remedy for those affected.

If he gave this formula to Linda, he would surely earn both a huge reward and high praise among the continent's alchemists.

"Hehehe…" Merlin chuckled as he stored the formula back into the system.

At that moment, a familiar figure caught his eye in the distance.

"Isn't that Lisa, the owner of the Thorn&Vine food shop? What's she doing there?"

Lisa was surrounded by two burly, muscular men with menacing faces.

Though she tried to fight back, they were clearly stronger than her.

"I have to help her."

Without a second thought, Merlin vanished from his spot.

…

"I'm sorry! Please give me more time! I swear I'll pay you back!" Lisa begged, tears streaming down her face.

"Another promise? How many times have you said that?" The burly man on the right snorted coldly. "Let's take her!"

The other man nodded, and together they yanked Lisa forward by force.

Although Lisa possessed a Seventh Spirit Core, that didn't make her particularly strong.

Her specialty was cooking, not combat, and in a fight, she was fairly weak.

Meanwhile, the two men were Fifth Awakening-level powerhouses—an extremely formidable level.

"Stop!" a voice called out from beside them.

The two men and Lisa froze. Turning toward the sound, they saw a tall, handsome boy approaching.

The burly men didn't recognize him, but Lisa did—he was the only customer who had ever eaten at her shop when everyone else avoided it.

"You…" Lisa began, but the men cut her off with scowls.

"Who are you, kid? New student? Get lost," the first one barked.

"Yeah, go away. This doesn't concern you."

Merlin, unfazed, stepped closer. His voice was calm but deadly. "Causing a disturbance on academy grounds is a serious offense. Punishments range from imprisonment to far worse. Are you aware of that?"

The two burly men froze. Fear flickered across their faces as they exchanged uneasy glances.

They quickly released Lisa, allowing her to breathe a sigh of relief.

"So, what exactly happened? If you don't explain clearly, I'll report this to the academy head. By the way, I know her," Merlin said, his tone indifferent.

The two burly men visibly shuddered. One hurriedly spoke, "Don't get me wrong, Young Master. My friend and I didn't come here to cause trouble—we came to collect a debt."

He pointed at Lisa, scowling. "She owes our boss five thousand gold coins! We've asked her politely to pay it back, but she keeps avoiding us. How could we not be angry?"

His companion nodded and added, "So please understand our situation, Young Master. We don't want to do this either."

Merlin didn't immediately believe them. He glanced at Lisa, who looked down in shame.

'Seems she really does owe money,' he muttered.

The novel had mentioned Lisa's debts briefly, but he hadn't expected to witness something like this in person.

Taking a deep breath, he asked, "Is your boss from the Holy Kingdom of Aldoria?"

The question clearly surprised them. The burly man on the left answered earnestly, "Yes, Young Master. Our boss is indeed from the Holy Kingdom of Aldoria."

Merlin gave a small nod. "The debt is five thousand gold coins, right? I'll pay it."

Lisa froze, about to speak, but Merlin gave her a gentle look that seemed to tell her to stay quiet.

She could only swallow her words, lowering her head in sadness and shame.

Merlin opened his left palm, and a pouch of gold coins appeared.

He tossed it to them. "Take it. There are about five thousand five hundred coins inside—keep the extra."

The burly man on the right caught the pouch. When he opened it, his eyes widened at the sight of the neatly stacked gold coins.

"T-Thank you, Young Master! Don't worry, we'll convey your regards to our boss," he said, bowing deeply.

The burly man on the left did the same.

Merlin nodded and waved his right hand.

The two immediately turned and walked away.

Lisa looked at Merlin, tears streaming down her face.

"Young Master… thank you! I don't know how I could ever repay your kindness. Truly… thank you!"

She buried her face in her hands, her body trembling with sobs.

She had been trapped under that enormous interest-bearing debt for a long time.

Her money was never for herself, only for her daughter's medical treatment.

Without it, her daughter would surely have died—and that was something she could never allow.

"It's okay." Merlin smiled gently and shook his head. "The important thing is that you're safe."

Upon hearing that, Lisa felt relieved—but it would be a lie to say everything was fine.

Five thousand gold coins was an enormous sum. Even if she sold all her assets, it wouldn't cover even ten percent.

She truly had no idea how she could ever repay it.

Merlin, sensing her thoughts, immediately reassured her. "Relax. That money means nothing to me. How about this—you give me free meals for a month?"

Lisa's eyes lit up. "Sure! But… is a month enough? The value of what you gave me far exceeds what I can offer."

"It's fine. If you ever get the money, you can pay me back later."

Five thousand gold coins was nothing to him.

But he knew that giving her everything for free outright would only embarrass her and make her refuse it.

So he deliberately gave her all the time she needed, despite not needing the money.

"Thank you, Young Master! Thank you! I promise I'll repay you someday!"

Merlin simply nodded. As he was about to leave, a sound came from his stomach.

Krr!

Merlin: "..."

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