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You want to bet on me.

This is no small burden.

While I was undoubtedly pleased that Samuel trusted me, there was one thing that bothered me.

“I truly mean no disrespect to you, Mr. Samuel, but….”

“Spit it out. Why are you hesitating so much?”

“I’d still like you to sign an oath, just in case.”

“…..”

Samuel looked at me in disbelief.

He seemed to be asking if I wasn’t supposed to be touched and look up to him with admiration at a time like this.

But it couldn’t be helped.

I had also risked my life to confess to Samuel that I was a descendant of Arsene.

So, this much of a safety net was necessary.

“Oh well, it’s just like you to say that.”

“…. I apologize.”

I bowed my head to Samuel in apology and took out a piece of paper from my pocket.

It wasn’t a piece of information paper, but an oath that Instructor Robolt had given me earlier.

I had kept it because I had no use for it after using one on Kyle, and now I had a chance to put it to good use.

Well, I mean….

It’s not that I doubt Samuel or anything, so I’m trying to use the Demon God’s oath.

Still, you never know what might happen.

Samuel might accidentally blurt out that I am Arsene’s blood relative.

There's nothing like this to prepare for such a situation.

It’s better to be safe than sorry.

Convincing myself, I handed the oath to Samuel.

Swish-.

Samuel finished the oath, which stated that he would not reveal my identity to anyone.

The paper then crumbled to black dust and scattered into the air.

The oath was complete.

Seeing this, Samuel muttered.

“This is my first time making a Demon God’s oath.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, it’s not an opportunity you come across very often. As far as I know, it’s a oath presided over by the Demon God of Avarice.”

The Demon God of Avarice.

He is the god who is stingy with everything.

He is also famous for his fastidious nature, so the oath is completed in his name.

If one breaks the oath presided over by the Demon God of Avarice, one will be cursed with a terrible curse.

Well, it's not like you die if you break the oath.

You’re just cursed.

But that curse is so powerful that it can drive people crazy.

It means that life might be better than death.

You’d understand if you experienced it once, but there was no one who didn’t know the danger of the Demon God’s oath.

Anyway,

“This concludes our oath.”

I said to Samuel.

Samuel nodded.

“That was nothing special. Although a terrible curse will befall you if you break the terms of the oath.”

“Indeed.”

A truly terrible curse will befall.

…. The kind of curse that is indescribable.

How should I explain this?

There was no chance that Samuel would tell anyone else about my identity now.

I was lost in thought, wondering if I should have Miriam sign a Demon God’s oath as well, but Samuel shook his head and said.

“She’s in no position to leave this place. She wouldn’t be able to tell anyone even if she wanted to.”

“Well, I understand.”

There was no reason to force Miriam, who couldn’t even go outside, to sign the Demon God’s oath.

Besides, I didn’t even have any more Demon God’s oaths left.

I had no choice but to trust Samuel and Miriam.

As I was standing there after the oath,

“You’re afraid.”

Samuel hit a nerve.

I nodded.

Seeing me like that, Samuel opened his mouth.

“You’re afraid that your identity will be revealed to someone other than me.”

“Yes.”

I readily agreed.

I’m sorry to say this to Samuel, but there are many in Sytan who are stronger than him.

From the instructors to the strongest Headmaster.

Each and every one of them possessed monstrous power.

If Samuel recognized it, it wouldn’t be strange if someone else recognized his tattoo.

Could I keep my identity a secret from them?

As I was pondering this, Samuel spoke.

“If that’s the case, you don’t have to be so afraid. Why are you so afraid when you use your authority? It’s impossible to see through your authority and your tattoo unless it’s a special case like me.”

Authority?

I tilted my head, not understanding what he meant.

Me, using authority?

Authority is something like Gluttony that Samuel uses.

But I’ve never used authority even a little.

No, I didn’t even possess authority in the first place.

As I gave him a look that showed I didn't understand, Samuel frowned.

“Don’t tell me, you’ve been using authority all this time without even realizing it’s authority.”

“……?”

“Dammit, this is frustrating.”

Thud, thud.

Samuel pounded his chest in frustration as if my attitude was bothering him immensely.

I could only stare at him blankly.

Authority?

Did I even have such a thing?

Certainly, I was the only blood relative of Arsene, and if the Abyss was a God, I would have the right to use Authority.

But I really didn’t have any authority.

Samuel opened his mouth to me.

“You use it all the time, don’t you? Other than teleportation.”

“……If you mean that.”

Don’t tell me.

The name of a certain trait crossed my mind.

I immediately activated the trait.

Woosh-.

The Pitch-Black trait was activated.

A very dark black drop appeared on the tip of my finger.

Samuel, who saw this, nodded.

“Yes, that is your Authority. Have you been using this all this time without even realizing it was an Authority?”

“….Yes.”

“Tsk, tsk.”

Samuel clicked his tongue at my answer as if he found it pathetic.

But I was really confused by this situation.

Pitch-Black, is the evolved version of the Darkness trait.

This was Authority?

It was just a trait that I had put in to make Adel look more villainous….

Did this also take on a new meaning because of the butterfly effect?

Ugh.

I groaned inwardly.

I had been using it without knowing it was Authority, but even now, it didn’t make much difference.

It didn’t matter even if I knew it was Authority.

But Samuel’s opinion seemed to be quite different from mine.

“It would be good to study how to handle that darkness from now on. I don’t know the power of the Abyss’s Authority, but it wouldn’t hurt to train it.”

“Noted.”

I nodded at Samuel’s words.

Now that I knew it was Authority, I should practice using the Pitch-Black trait.

Who knows, maybe it holds a power I don’t know about.

Just as I was creating a large black drop on my hand with a renewed sense of purpose.

Bang, bang-.

“Ouch?!”

“Ugh!”

Miriam started pounding on my and Samuel’s backs.

She grinned and spoke to us.

“So, have you two finally made up?”

“…..”

“…..”

Samuel and I exchanged glances.

And nodded.

“That’s great. They say friends fight and grow, but you shouldn’t fight so seriously!”

“……Just stop it.”

Samuel turned his head away, as if he didn’t want to hear Miriam’s nagging.

A faint smile spread across my face as I opened my mouth.

It was to ask the last question.

“…….”

But I couldn’t bring myself to ask the question and closed my mouth.

I certainly wanted to know the truth of the world.

But,

Why?

I felt as if the answer to the last question was something I had to find out for myself.

Yes.

I’ll find out for myself.

Instead, I asked Miriam about something I was curious about.

“Can you explain this to me?”

“Yes?”

Miriam tilted her head.

Because I had rolled up the sleeve of my wrist and showed it to her.

But since Miriam couldn’t see, she only frowned.

I told her what was engraved on my wrist.

“Engraved on my wrist are ‘strokes’ given to me by the Demon God of Pride and the Demon God of Gluttony. It would be more accurate to call them stigmata.”

“….Ah, that’s what it is.”

Miriam seemed to understand as soon as she heard the explanation of the strokes.

As expected of a priest, she seemed to know what it was.

“As I know it, a stroke is a means of borrowing the power of a Demon God, and if I use it, my soul will be taken by the Demon God. Isn’t that right?”

“Well, you’re not wrong.”

Miriam nodded.

But then, Miriam shook her head again.

“Half right, half wrong.”

“What do you mean?”

“If you were an ordinary demon, your soul would have been harvested as you said. But you are different. You would have had no problem using a stroke.”

“……That’s right.”

Miriam’s explanation seemed to see right through me.

As I readily agreed, Miriam continued her explanation.

“The God of Gluttony said that the karma your soul carries is so great that no one can embrace it. Even if they gave you a stroke from the perspective of the Demon Gods, they wouldn’t be able to embrace you.”

In a word,

Because of something called karma, Demon Gods couldn’t covet my soul.

What in the world is karma?

But when I asked Miriam about it, she wouldn’t answer.

I had no choice but to be content with the fact that I could use the strokes.

Well, it wasn’t like I could abuse the strokes anyway.

‘There are only four lines.’

I had to save these four lines for when a formidable enemy appeared later.

The same went for the Headmaster’s magic,

But if possible, it would be better to overcome the crisis using the Headmaster’s magic rather than the four lines of strokes.

After all, the power of the strokes bestowed directly by the Demon God would be even greater.

“Does that answer your question?”

“Yes, that’s enough.”

I nodded at Miriam’s words.

I had gained quite a lot today.

….It was a shame that my fist was hurt.

Perhaps reading my mood, Samuel gestured with his chin and said.

“Miriam, can you heal Adel’s hand?”

“Sure, no problem!”

Miriam readily accepted Samuel’s proposal.

I was relieved to hear that.

We were about to head to Bares’ territory, and Rene wouldn’t have been happy to see me hurt.

“Then follow me.”

Thump, thump—.

Miriam began to lead me somewhere.

I was thinking that she was taking me somewhere to start the treatment when she said,

“Shall we begin the treatment?”

Miriam turned around and spoke with a sinister smile.

I shuddered at the sudden chill that came over me.

What’s going on all of a sudden?

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