193 Dekan’s Generosity
Tarta seemed to finally be somewhat panicked.
Dekan enjoyed her expression, recapturing the dreamlike feeling he had at the Demon Academy.
But he didn’t further provoke Tarta; instead, he smiled and waited for her response.
After a moment, Tarta appeared to have come to some resolution.
“No money, but you’ll get me, body and soul!”
Tarta clenched her fists and gritted her teeth as she shouted at Dekan.
“That’s what you said, right? If I can’t collect the debt in money, then I’ll have to claim you instead. You don’t want to end up in jail at such a young age, do you?”
Dekan grinned, as if everything was part of his grand plan.
Chloix couldn’t help but nudge Dekan with his elbow.
He whispered in Dekan’s ear, “Dekan! Not to mention your choice of words, employing child labor is also illegal!”
“What are you talking about? This is called social practice!”
“Then, how do you plan to calculate her wages?”
“What wages? I’m just giving my little sister some pocket money. What’s wrong with that?”
“… How many times have you studied the Kingdom Union’s legal code out of sheer boredom?”
Chloix finally couldn’t help but make a snide remark.
He recalled every afternoon spent with Dekan.
Dekan was never idle in the library.
Apart from teaching Cornelia, he could always find various bizarre books to read attentively.
Including last time when he read the manual for the Activation of the Man-made Shadow World, a book that normal people wouldn’t bother with.
And various medical treatment books, Chloix always spotted in Dekan’s hands.
This guy never read books for normal learning!
He was searching for loopholes!
“So, little one, have you made up your mind yet?”
Dekan no longer needed to continue his act.
But he thought it was rather amusing to see Tarta’s perplexity.
He couldn’t resist teasing her a little more.
“…”
Tarta maintained a strong distrust towards Dekan.
Or perhaps she wouldn’t trust anyone in the black market.
“Oh dear, this is quite troubling. Actually, I don’t really wish to press charges against you. After all, in court, you wouldn’t be able to cover yourself up completely with hats and bandages.”
Dekan stared at Tarta’s bandaged eye and then her hat, smiling with a significant expression.
“Is there perhaps a horn under your hat?”
Dekan observed Tarta’s reaction, pretending to be shocked as he covered his mouth and asked.
“!!!”
Tarta’s whole body trembled.
“Just a joke, a joke. How could there possibly be demons in this world?”
Dekan waved his wrist lightly, jokingly said.
Tarta’s extreme reaction seemed to have calmed down a bit.
But panic still lurked in her eyes.
She felt this guy who always grinned must have noticed something!!
Otherwise, he wouldn’t intentionally scare her like this!
“But…”
Dekan once again drew out his words.
The teasing should come to an end, it was time to confirm something.
“Reasonably speaking, with your capabilities, earning a living for yourself should be easy. However, not only do you not have money, but you also torment yourself to earn it. Why is that?”
Dekan gazed into her pupils as he asked, then directly walked to the door of the shop, opened it completely, and stepped aside to let Tarta pass.
He gracefully extended his left hand like a servant, signaling Tarta to leave.
“You can leave anytime, I won’t stop you.”
“!”
Tarta suspected it was a trap, but this might be her only chance.
When she was about to dash towards the light outside, she heard Dekan’s voice again:
“Do you have debt? Is it because you need to take care of younger siblings at home, or is it to pay high medical fees for a sick family member? One of these reasons must be the case, right?”
After Dekan finished his sentence, Tarta’s last line of defense seemed to crumble.
She understood what Dekan meant.
Dekan was implying: you can run, but there’s no escaping the consequences. I can always find you.
Tarta stopped in her tracks, standing frozen like a lifeless doll.
Her nails were digging into her palms, tears were almost spilling over, but she was trying her best to hold them back.
“I… I’ll do what you say.”
Tarta’s voice was choked with reluctance and injustice, as well as a tinge of desperate helplessness.
Even if it was jumping into a fire, she had no other choice.
“You little devil finally knows how to concede.”
Actually, Dekan wasn’t sure if Tarta had some real hardships.
But judging from her reaction, his suspicion had once again proven correct.
The good news was that Tarta had been humiliated, the bad news was that Dekan couldn’t bear to torment vulnerable people any longer.
When Dekan was considering what to do next, he suddenly felt as if someone had struck the back of his head.
It wasn’t an actual physical attack from behind; it was more like a spiritual one.
Only “Master” could do this to him.
“Master? Why did you do that?”
Dekan was confused, mentally questioning.
“Stop bullying her.”
Master’s voice remained neutral, showing no particular emotion.
But Dekan felt something was off; Master had never taken the initiative to hit him when he wasn’t bothering her.
“You also have compassion now? When I get back, I must give you a little red flower and award you as a three-good demon, then hang the certificate above my bed.”
Dekan wouldn’t let Master off easy, retaliating with sarcasm.
After playing around with Tarta, he felt like a demon gone berserk, unable to stop.
“…”
Master didn’t respond further.
Dekan could sense that Master had clasped his heart tightly.
“Hey! Just a joke! Let’s reason things out, alright? This kid pirated my cards, created trouble for me, and I was simply educating her so she’d understand the dangers of the world. What’s wrong with that?”
“I feel like you’re bullying her as if you’re bullying me. Is that reason enough?”
Master asked coldly, maintaining a firm grip on Dekan’s heart.
“… Fully necessary and reasonable. Moral persuasion is something you’ve mastered well.”
“…”
Master knew Dekan was playing along, but she was too lazy to argue with him anymore.
She let out a cold snort and then fell into a deep sleep.
“Besides, I was planning to help her anyway…”
Dekan muttered under his breath.
Dekan’s focus returned to Tarta standing in front of him.
“Alright, I won’t mess with you anymore.”
Dekan looked tired, seriously looking at Tarta and asked,
“Tell me, how much do you need? Once I settle the debt for you, you can be free and follow me to the Norton Kingdom.”
Not only was Tarta stunned, even Chloix was shocked.
Hadn’t he just been laughing like a demon? Now here he was, playing the role of a saint.
“What… do you intend to do?”
Tarta still eyed Dekan with hostility.
Who knows if this wicked person was trying to deceive her? Money wasn’t that easily given away.
Dekan didn’t say anything, just tossed a crystal card to Tarta.
Tarta initially wanted to dodge, but seeing the color of the crystal card, she couldn’t help but catch it.
It was the highest credit limit savings card issued by the Central Bank of the Kingdom Union!
She’d only ever heard of it. This was the first time she’d seen it with her own eyes.
“There’s 1000 gold coins inside. Is that enough?”
“!!!”
Holding the card, Tarta stood there, paralyzed, as if her system had crashed.
