Doggone Academy - Chapter 12

Chapter 12. Kidnapping (6)

The owner of the extraordinary sword was a 16-year-old boy. Moreover, this boy did not seem to realize the magnitude of what had just happened.

The problem was that there would be many immoral people from all over the continent who would want such a special sword, and this boy lacked the power to defend himself. He was in a position where he could easily be killed.

That would be unfortunate for Eternia’s founder, Bern.

“I’ve seen enough. You can put it away.”

The sword disappeared as soon as those words left her mouth.

“So you’re alone?”

The boy nodded with a reluctant expression.

“What’s your name?”

“My name is Damien.”

“Where do you plan to return to?”

“I’m going back to Harman. That’s where the workshop I used to work at is.”

Sylverine replied casually,

“Harman… it’s a quiet place.”

“……?”

Sylverine bit her lower lip because she was internally conflicted.

She questioned whether she should let him simply go home.

“The wound looks serious.”

Sylverine pulled a purple potion from a small leather pouch she carried at her waist. But after thinking about it for a while, she put it back in the pouch.

“What will you give me if I save your life?”

“I only have the money I’ve saved so far, plus the sword.”

“All you have left is your body.”

Damien stiffened for a moment when he heard the word body.

“……”

“Do you like to socialize with others?”

“…No.”

“You’d better get used to it.”

Damien’s mouth went dry. He assumed that Sylverine expected a lot from him in return for saving him, but in reality, it was just the opposite.

Sylverine pulled a parchment from her pocket before she casted a spell. Soon, a fire inscribed words on the parchment. Finally, she handed the parchment to Damien. The contents were inscribed in ancient characters that the boy could not decipher.

“Sign it.”

Damien, who took the parchment, contemplated over the idea of signing for a while.

She knew very well that he had no choice. Damien would die if she left him here.

Sylverine sighed because Damien had taken so long.

“Don’t worry. If I had bad intentions, I would have turned you into a puppet by now.”

“But I have nothing to sign with…”

She pointed to the blood on Damien’s side.

“Ah.”

Then, he smeared his index finger with blood to write his name on the bottom of the parchment. He handed the parchment back to Sylverine. She, who bit down hard on the skin of her index finger, signed beside it with her own blood.

She whistled. A stitch flew from the sky to her. Sylverine placed the parchment under the ball and soon it flew away in the blink of an eye.

She pulled the potion from her leather pouch to give to Damien.

“Drizzle this over the wound. The smell of fresh blood will attract the ghouls back.”

Damien was curious about what was written on the parchment.

“What was it that I signed?”

“A contract that binds us.”

“What does that mean?”

“A bond between master and disciple.”

The boy’s eyes widened like a rabbit’s.

“Why?”

He became quite serious.

“It’s not often one finds a guy who cuts ghouls like that.”

Damien shook his head.

“It’s not my power.”

Oh.

The people she had known of Damien’s age were conceited by the power they had so easily obtained through their lineage or magical items.

In the current situation, it would be normal for him to be elated that she had chosen him, but Damien tried to firmly draw a line.

Sylverine smirked.

The boy knew his limits. On the other hand, he risked everything to come to this place because of a revelation. It was rare to find a boy with such a mentality. He was essentially different from the boys who had grown up in noble families.

Damien remained suspicious.

“But who the hell are you to make me your disciple?”

She swept her hand through her wind-blown tousled hair. People ascribed different epithets to her, but none in particular she liked. Some embarrassed her so much that she would be unable to say them with her own mouth.

In a way, it was natural for him to distrust her. There was nothing more suspicious in the world than a person who blindly performed an act of goodwill.

“Have you ever heard of the Eternia Academy?”

Sylverine’s question made Damien freeze like a stone statue.