"Leaving?"
"Of course." Ron said, "I'm just here for a commission. I'm not from Begrossé, so there's no need for me to stay here for too long, is there?"
Terror Lord's expression darkened. The only reason he had maintained his earlier attitude was because he believed he hadn't lost completely. As long as Ron died at the hands of his companions, there was still a chance to turn the tables—a chance to escape and regain his freedom. But if Ron left Begrossé immediately, what then? If Ron didn't die, he would remain trapped here forever. Even if Ron did die, there was still a chance he would never be free again.
That was not an outcome Terror Lord wanted.
"Let's make a deal." He looked at Ron. "As long as you let me leave, whatever terms the temple offered you, I can give you double—no, triple. And I won't delay payment. I can even pay you in advance. If you have other conditions, you can name them as well."
Ron shook his head. "I've already accepted the commission concerning you, so there's no possibility of canceling it. It's not that I won't let you leave, but my policies are against it, so give up on that. And as for triple the reward, that's impossible. Could you give me three copies of the Dark Sonata?"
In this world, there were only four signs of the Dark Sonata. One was already in Ron's possession. Another was held by Cardinal Claude of Begrossé. The whereabouts of the remaining two were unknown, and it was highly unlikely Terror Lord knew where they were either.
Terror Lord fell silent. After a long pause, he looked up. "Earlier, you said I could commission you?"
"That's right."
"You could help me kill someone from the church?"
"You can state the details and the reward first. I'll consider it. If the terms aren't worth it, I won't accept. If they are, I will."
Terror Lord's eyes flickered. "I want you to kill Lawrence. As for the reward, from what I heard earlier, you seem to have some interest in the church. I can tell you everything I know. How about it? Are you interested in this deal? As long as you kill Lawrence, I'll tell you all the information you want."
Ron refused. "I'm only slightly interested in the church, not enough to take a contract on Lawrence for that alone. It's far from sufficient."
Terror Lord narrowed his eyes. "So you're afraid, then? You don't dare go against the church?"
Ron shrugged. "Trying to provoke me? Terror Lord, do you really have an adult's intelligence? I'm an assassin. Do you even know what that means?"
He paused for a moment. "Since you haven't decided on a proper commission, let's leave it at that. I hope you enjoy your time here. Goodbye."
With that, Ron's figure vanished.
Leaving Sumas's space, Ron lay on his bed, turned on the air conditioning, took out his laptop, and logged into the Yoshihiro Togashi manga platform. He first checked the two manga he had uploaded, then looked toward the rankings.
By now, this manga platform had become one of the best in the world. Backed by the Fiora royal family's Dragon Dojo, no one in the real world dared provoke it. The shady operators who might otherwise appear in business had all stayed away.
Content-wise, the platform had drawn a huge readership early on thanks to Ron's Baki and Bungou Stray Dogs. With abundant traffic and money, the ecosystem only grew healthier—readers could find more exciting works here and stayed, while authors earned higher royalties and continued publishing. A virtuous cycle had formed. Many smaller platforms were losing both authors and readers, and even the largest preexisting platforms had been hit hard. But they could do nothing against Yoshihiro Togashi.
"How's Chii's AI video project coming along?"
Ron had long ago set a plan in motion: novels, manga, and videos, all integrated. The platform already had many novelists and manga artists. Converting a novel to a manga, or vice versa, was relatively easy. Chii's AI for this purpose had been ready for some time and was already in practical use.
Novelists with strong sales could apply to have their work adapted into a manga. Chii's trained AI would handle the adaptation, and though the result was not identical to that of a human artist, it retained the core of the original work and offered plenty to enjoy. Authors welcomed this, since adaptations meant more income and recognition, while manga readers could discover new stories. The same applied in reverse for successful manga being adapted into novels.
Ron opened the AI menu. A list appeared: an AI editor for reviewing uploads; another AI responsible for over half the recommendations list; an AI for adapting novels to manga; one for adapting manga to novels; and one for adapting manga into videos. All but the last were already working tirelessly. Ron clicked on the video adaptation AI and issued a command: "Make an anime video of Baki, episode one."
The computer began loading.
In the next room, Nina and the others were fast asleep.
............
....
.
Meanwhile, in the temple, Lawrence could not sleep at all. The temple had suffered heavy casualties among its priests, but the only good news was that two of the Spirits had been eliminated—one of them by Ron, without costing the temple any of its own strength.
If Ron could take down one more Spirits, the temple would gain a significant advantage. The millennium catastrophe could be survived—at least for this city. As for the others, Lawrence could no longer spare the thought.
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