Felix’s Treasure?

Remembering to bring your roommates along for the good fortune?

Holy cow, we’ve got a saint in our dormitory!

Engulite laughed, “Are you afraid that Felix has some ulterior motive for you, so you brought us along to spread the risk? Even reminding us to report our whereabouts to our parents, so Felix would hesitate to make a move?”

Sonya shrugged, not denying it: “There’s a bit of that consideration. But the treasure is real…”

Felix, looking at Sonya speaking so confidently, sighed inwardly, suddenly doubting whether his decision this time was a mistake.

When leaving the Meditation Tower in the morning, Felix stopped Sonya, saying he had a grand piece of good news to share with her.

But who was Sonya? She was a cunning woman who had struggled alone in the flashy city of Gales, seen all kinds of human malice, and wouldn’t believe such empty promises.

Every scammer knows to give small gifts before tricking someone, to lower their guard with money and gifts!

Sugar-coated bullets, sugar-coated bullets… but your bullets don’t even have a sugar coating, who are you looking down on!

It took Felix a lot of persuasion to keep Sonya around, but under Sonya’s constant ‘forget it, I won’t participate’ pressure, he had to reveal his bottom line and give up the leading position.

The so-called treasure was actually the inheritance left by Felix’s mother. However, this inheritance was divided into several parts, and each part had specific conditions to unlock it—if the requirements weren’t met, the inheritance would remain forever out of reach.

One of the inheritances required the possession of the ‘Killing Intent Sword’ spirit and at least Half-Wing level of arcane energy.

Although Felix had the Half-Wing arcane energy, he had lost the ‘Killing Intent Sword,’ which was a stroke of both good and slightly bad luck, making the treasure that should have been easy to obtain suddenly as difficult as reaching the heavens.

At this point, Sonya’s ‘Killing Intent Sword’ came into his view.

But Felix also knew that Sonya would not give up her precious ‘Secret Sword Twenty-One Spirits,’ so he proposed a collaboration with her.

At first, he made what he thought was a very reasonable offer: a sham marriage. It wasn’t that he wanted to take advantage of Sonya, but rather he had investigated her background and believed this was the opportunity Sonya wanted.

According to the ‘Rules of the Noble’s Emblem’, any relationship recognized by the House of Nobles is equivalent to legal status. Felix knew that what Sonya wanted most was a noble identity that would allow her to live respectably in Gales, but the path to ennoblement was arduous and difficult. Compared to that, marrying a noble was a shortcut.

Once married to Felix, Sonya would immediately obtain the Vlozrada Family Emblem, not only receiving monthly sustenance from the family fund but also enjoying the family’s sorcerer training system. Miracles like ‘Dragon’s Belly Scales’ and ‘Dragon’s Banquet’ would be opened to her.

Most importantly, she could use the Vlozrada Family Emblem to bypass the residency restrictions of Gales, enjoy noble privileges, purchase property without restrictions, and choose any occupation without limitations.

She could even change her mother’s residential status from an agricultural resident to a resident of Gales.

Felix put himself in Sonya’s shoes, knowing she definitely placed great importance on her mother, who had raised her single-handedly since widowhood at an early age. If possible, she would surely want her mother to enjoy the good life as early as possible.

However, even with Sonya’s exceptional talent, it would take her at least a year and a half to unfold her Silver Wings, and at least four years to unfold her Golden Wings. If she aimed to enter the Tri-Wings Sanctuary within a decade, luck and opportunity would both need to be in her favor.

But the likelihood was that she might not reach the Tri-Wings Sanctuary even in twenty years.

In recent years, the number of Noble promotions has dwindled, with nearly all new Nobles coming exclusively from the Sanctuary. Without a Noble Emblem, Sonya could be outstanding in Gales, but she would not have the authority to change her mother’s residency status. Her mother would still be subject to the restriction of staying in Gales for no more than thirty days within a year.

Commoners must adhere to their station, while Nobles have the privilege to soar.

Felix believed Sonya would gladly accept because doing so meant struggling twenty years less.

After all, marriage can be dissolved, and though she would lose the Vlozrada Emblem, by that time Sonya would have surely amassed wealth, and her mother’s residency status would have been moved to Gales. A divorce would not affect any of her interests or even her reputation—Noble divorces are common, and nobody would think much of it.

But even after Felix outlined the advantages, Sonya still refused the proposal.

He couldn’t understand why the smart yet worldly Sonya would reject such a mutually beneficial proposal.

Wealth, status, fame—weren’t these what she wanted?

Why would she refuse?

Could it be she was so confident that she could achieve everything with her own strength in just a few short years?

Or did she look down on me, Felix, and had no interest in taking what she considered shortcuts?

However, since Plan A failed, Felix had no choice but to propose Plan B: split the treasure.

Even though the treasure was the inheritance left by his mother, theoretically not meant to be shared with anyone, and regaining the Killing Intent Sword was not an impossible task, Felix could have kept the treasure for the future.

But Felix knew that everything in the world has an expiration date.

Power included.

The restrictions on his mother’s inheritance were meant to specifically help Felix.

Any treasure that Felix was just capable of unlocking would greatly assist him at his current stage, and would not end up granting him power that he couldn’t control.

For example, as a One Wing Sorcerer, he wouldn’t receive a Golden Two Wings spirit from the inheritance, as it would only be a burden to him.

And the treasure that required him to possess Half-Wing arcane energy was naturally very suitable for his current situation.

If Felix were to wait until he reached the Golden Two Wings level before unlocking this treasure, by then he would no longer need this bit of help—it wouldn’t even count as icing on the cake. But now, if he could just unlock the treasure, even if he only got half, it would be a godsend.

Years of assassination attempts had made Felix realistic and rational.

He wouldn’t hoard his resources like a squirrel stashing food, as his sense of crisis led him to believe in the principle of ‘using what’s needed when it’s needed.’ Maximizing benefits was the only rule Felix lived by, even if it meant sharing his mother’s inheritance.

Sonya agreed, but not fully.

She proposed a condition that Felix found baffling: she wanted to bring friends along for the mission and promised to share part of her Treasure with them as a reward.

At first, Felix thought he had encountered a saint who could not be tempted by wealth nor bent by force, but then he realized Sonya’s concerns—she was afraid of killing and looting!

Without Professor Trozan’s support, Sonya was almost a foreign university student with no background to speak of. Even with Trozan backing her, collaborating with a local noble like Felix was akin to negotiating with a tiger for its skin. She had no choice but to assume the worst of Felix!

By bringing three roommates, she could effectively spread the risk. Engulite was a child of a minor noble from abroad, Lois was the daughter of a local merchant, and Adelle’s father was a Civil servant in Gales… The key figures were Lois and Adelle, who surely had emergency Items that would send their location to the Police Department at the sign of danger!

Plus, since they had all informed their families of their whereabouts, Felix had to be extra careful to escort these young ladies back to school safely. Otherwise, if anything went wrong, the House of Nobles would be the first to hold him accountable.

Felix admired Sonya’s caution, but naturally, he didn’t want more people knowing his secrets. He argued on principle and enticed her with profits, even willing to adjust their share from fifty-fifty to forty-sixty—quite a humble offer.

But Sonya’s response was the same, “If you don’t agree, I don’t want the Treasure,” firmly holding onto Felix’s bottom line.

The winner of a negotiation is always the one who cares the least.

Felix knew how much the Treasure would benefit him and finally gave in.

After Sonya introduced the situation, her roommates looked at Felix warily, hiding behind her like chicks, causing Felix to laugh in frustration: “If you’re still worried, you can leave now, just keep quiet about it outside.”

“No, I’m staying to protect Sonya!” Lois declared righteously, though her eyes sparkled with excitement, and Adelle looked on as if she enjoyed the spectacle.

Engulite was blunt: “I’m just really curious about what kind of Treasure requires a spirit to unlock.”

It was the Treasure that even the Vlozrada second young master longed for; it would be strange if these Sorcerer Apprentices weren’t curious. After all, they were teenagers in their prime, how could they not be drawn to a Treasure hunt that sounded straight out of a novel?

Felix sighed and pulled out five blank Sealing Membrane Contracts, “Then let’s sign the contracts first.”

Sonya and the others internally marveled at the extravagance—Sealing Membrane Contracts were common Device Spirit Items. The principle was to store the ‘Miracle Virtual Realm Oath’ temporarily on paper. Those who signed the contract would be bound by the Virtual Realm, and if they violated the agreement, they would face sanctions from the Virtual Realm; at best, they would fall into a deep sleep, at worst, their Soul could be extinguished.

The Sealing Membrane Contract is not cheap; its market price is equivalent to a One Wing spirit, and it’s not used for trivial transactions. The fact that Felix could produce five of them at once not only showed that he was wealthy but also indicated the extraordinary value of the Treasure; otherwise, he wouldn’t have invested so much.

The use of the Sealing Membrane Contract is quite straightforward. The user peels off the seal and copies directly onto the template provided. It doesn’t matter if there are corrections or if the handwriting is ugly, as long as the transcription is complete and the signatures on all five contracts can be overlaid to match, it means the content of all five contracts is the same and the oath takes effect.

The design of pre-sealing, individual transcription, and overlay verification is to reduce the possibility of Sorcerers tampering with contracts. Indeed, the Sealing Membrane Contract has proven trustworthy; even Sonya’s student loan agreement used one.

The contract template is simple: it forbids disclosing anything that happens in the basement, prohibits any form of recording, conceals everything about the Treasure, and whatever is obtained must be hidden without implicating Felix personally.

At the same time, Felix and Sonya will split the basement’s findings, and then Sonya will distribute the Treasure among Engulite, Lois, and Adelle.

In essence, it’s a confidentiality and profit-sharing contract.

While transcribing, Adelle quietly asked Sonya, “Why did you refuse the fake marriage proposal? If it were me, I’d definitely choose fake marriage over the Treasure… That’s the Vlozrada Emblem…”

Lois was also curious, looking at Sonya.

Sonya’s face turned a bit unnatural, and after struggling for a while, she managed to blurt out, “It’s embarrassing!”

Embarrassing?

Is the fake marriage to Felix embarrassing?

Or is it embarrassing to take such a shortcut to enter the Noble class?

If Engulite had said this, it might be understandable, but we’re talking about Sonya Therave!

Lois and Adelle couldn’t comprehend; after all, they didn’t see Sonya as someone particularly honorable or concerned with face. What’s so embarrassing about losing face? Losing money is what really hurts!

They couldn’t understand, nor could Felix, but Engulite had a vague guess.

It wasn’t because she and Sonya were particularly close, but simply because they both came from small places.

Unlike Gales, a city with open-minded thinking, small places have conservative views. Although city folk might see it as backward and old-fashioned, for country people, some things shouldn’t be trifled with.

Like marriage.

Perhaps it was because Sonya quickly integrated into the city that others thought she was a very modern and trendy college student. However, Engulite knew that Sonya still carried a country person’s unique innocence and fantasies in her bones—such as believing hard work leads to success, enduring hardship leads to progress, and believing in the sanctity of marriage and the purity of love, without any flaws.

She may see marriage as a channel for advancement, but she hasn’t discarded her dignity because of it; after all, there are plenty of slick Noble heirs around. She just wants to find the most suitable marriage partner within an acceptable range and then manage that marriage for life.

Not everything is up for trade, and that’s something city folks don’t understand.

Of course, beyond that, Engulite felt that another part of Sonya’s reasoning was pride—taking shortcuts is easy, but if one can achieve success on their own, why tarnish that honor?

Sonya, feeling scrutinized by Engulite, became a bit uncomfortable. “Why are you staring at me like that? Is there something on my face?”

Engulite giggled, “Are you embarrassed?”

“Get lost.”

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