Chapter 85: Women Are Difficult to Deal With 2

Darkya watched as Kent finished the task in only a few simple steps.

The feeling of embarrassment inside her grew even stronger.

An eighth-rank Magic Archer.

A warrior who could stand proudly among the strongest fighters of the dark elves.

Yet she had just been taught how to boil water by this human boy.

The humiliation was already unbearable.

Then Kent spoke again.

And those words nearly made Darkya explode.

“Go wash my clothes.”

As he spoke, Kent brought out a pile of dirty clothes and threw them in front of her.

Darkya stared at the clothes in disbelief.

They were covered in dirt.

And even worse...

a strong smell of sweat immediately reached her nose.

“I’ll just buy you new ones, alright?”

Darkya refused to even touch the clothes.

She looked at Kent helplessly.

There was nothing she could do.

After signing the magical contract, Darkya could not simply ignore Kent’s commands.

However, the contract was not as absolute as the legends claimed.

It did not turn her into a mindless slave.

The contract only prevented her from harming Kent while serving as his servant.

It forced her to obey his reasonable instructions.

And without Kent’s permission, she could not leave a certain distance from him.

But negotiating?

Arguing?

Trying to bargain?

Those things were still possible.

Kent’s eyes immediately lit up when he heard her suggestion.

Money.

Now that was interesting.

The currency of the underground world was extremely valuable.

Even the cheapest purple gold found here was worth several times more than ordinary gold on the surface.

So Kent asked curiously,

“You have a lot of money?”

“Yes.”

Darkya immediately nodded.

“There is some.”

She quickly took out her personal pouch.

“I have five gold coins, fifteen silver coins, two diamond coins, and thirty-five purple gold coins.”

Since money could solve the problem, she immediately handed everything over to Kent.

Kent accepted the coins.

And the moment he looked at them, his heart nearly jumped with excitement.

Five gold coins.

Fifteen silver coins.

But these were not ordinary coins.

They were made from precious underground metals.

On the surface, they could be exchanged for countless valuable items.

And as an alchemist, Kent understood their true worth better than most people.

Fine gold.

Mithril.

Materials that could be used directly in alchemy.

Their value was far beyond ordinary currency.

Darkya secretly relaxed when she saw Kent accept the money.

Finally.

The problem was solved.

Or so she thought.

Kent carefully placed the coins into his pocket.

Then he looked at her.

“Why are you still standing there?”

“Go wash the clothes.”

Darkya froze.

“I already gave you money.”

Kent looked at her with an expression of complete disbelief.

“Money?”

“Money, money, money...”

“Even you belong to me now.”

“So tell me.”

“Isn’t the money you have also mine?”

His expression was so shameless that Darkya nearly lost control.

She wanted nothing more than to grab him and shake some sense into him.

But unfortunately...

he was technically right.

The magical contract did not distinguish between personal belongings and other possessions.

So, after a long struggle inside her mind, Darkya could only lower her head in frustration.

She picked up Kent’s dirty clothes.

Then she walked toward the water channel behind the house.

The underground cities had two separate water channels.

One carried clean water.

The other carried wastewater.

The clean-water channel was open and constantly flowing.

The wastewater channel was sealed, functioning much like the underground drainage systems on Earth.

Watching Darkya obediently carry away his clothes, Kent could not help but smile.

He was in an unusually good mood.

Then he went into the kitchen to prepare dinner.

In the underground world, time was mainly measured through drum signals.

The passing of days was recorded separately.

Kent was not unwilling to let Darkya cook.

The problem was simple.

A woman who did not even know how to boil water...

asking her to prepare an entire meal?

That sounded like a perfect way to destroy his own stomach.

Kent was not interested in harming himself.

So he cooked personally.

Tonight’s dinner was simple.

Roasted meat.

And mushroom soup.

Compared with other foods, Kent still preferred meat.

The fruit from the Bread Trees did not suit his taste.

To him, it was basically just a type of plant food.

Even the underground bread was something he did not particularly enjoy.

The bread here was made from the roots of a special underground fern.

Those roots contained large amounts of starch.

The process was simple.

Wash the roots.

Dry them.

Grind them into powder.

Then use the powder as flour.

Those same fern roots were also the primary material used for making alcohol.

However...

this underground bread was actually more expensive than meat.

Just as Kent finished preparing dinner, Darkya returned.

“I’m done washing.”

Kent looked up.

But then he noticed something strange.

Darkya’s expression was different.

There was a faint trace of excitement in her eyes.

Kent immediately became alert.

He walked outside to take a look.

“I told you to wash the clothes.”

Kent stared at what Darkya had brought back.

“Take a good look.”

“Can you still even call this clothing?”

If it could still be considered clothing at all, then it looked as though some wild beast had torn it apart.

The originally brand-new magic robe had been violently ripped into countless strips.

There was no way it could be repaired.

Kent carried the ruined clothes back inside and confronted Darkya.

“How did this happen?”

“It wasn’t my fault.”

Darkya was already eating dinner.

She showed absolutely no awareness of what it meant to be a servant.

Seeing the ruined clothes in Kent’s hands, she desperately held back her laughter and put on an innocent, aggrieved expression.

“Who told you to make such weak clothes?”

Kent was speechless.

“You... you...”

“If you keep acting like this, I’m going to enforce family discipline.”

Kent nearly laughed from frustration.

According to Darkya’s logic, even armor would probably be destroyed if she handled it.

After all, she was an eighth-rank Magic Archer.

What kind of clothing could possibly withstand the strength of someone like her?

Unless it was made from legendary dragon hide, there was probably no chance.

“Family discipline?”

Darkya took a sip of soup and looked at him in confusion.

“What kind of family discipline?”

“In my hometown,” Kent explained seriously, “when children misbehave, their parents pull down their pants and spank them.”

“That’s called family discipline.”

As he spoke, Kent’s eyes unconsciously glanced toward Darkya.

There was no denying it.

Whether it was her figure or her appearance, Darkya was truly stunning.

The elves had always been famous for their beauty.

The only thing Kent found disappointing was that she was simply too tall.

And, in his opinion, her chest was a little too small.

“Do you dare?”

The moment Darkya heard his words, she immediately exploded.

She slammed her bowl onto the table.

Fortunately, the bowl was made of iron.

Unfortunately, it was now badly dented.

“I can’t believe you!”

Kent’s expression also changed.

“You can try me.”

“You are my servant now.”

“Even if I ordered you to serve me at night, that would still be within my rights.”

When Kent saw her reaction, he became angry as well.

What was this?

A servant was actually rebelling against her master?

If he did not suppress this arrogant attitude now, where would his authority as a master go?

Of course, if they had not signed the magical contract, Kent would never have dared to provoke Darkya like this.

But things were different now.

The magical contract had already been established.

Whether she accepted it or not, she had no choice.

“You shameless human!”

Darkya’s eyes widened.

She glared at Kent furiously.

“Having big eyes doesn’t make you intimidating.”

Kent glared right back.

“Shameless?”

“Compared to you, I’m nothing.”

“Tell me something.”

“Who was the one who started this entire conflict in the first place?”

“You lost the wager and went running to get an adult to help you.”

“Now tell me.”

“Who is the shameless one here?”

“You... you...”

Darkya’s voice trembled.

She suddenly thought about her future.

Her miserable future.

Before she could finish speaking, tears began falling from her eyes.

At first, it was only a few.

Then more.

The more she cried, the more wronged she felt.

The more wronged she felt, the harder she cried.

Kent was completely stunned.

He had never expected that someone who had been perfectly fine moments ago would suddenly burst into tears.

He had not even done anything yet.

But Kent failed to consider one thing.

Darkya was no ordinary person.

Before this, she had been a noble dark elf princess with countless people serving her.

Now?

She had suddenly become someone else’s servant.

Of course she would feel wronged.

“Stop crying.”

Kent tried to order her.

Nothing happened.

“Stop crying right now.”

Still nothing.

“Otherwise, I’ll really make you serve me at night.”

The threat only made things worse.

The more Darkya heard, the more frightened and miserable she became.

Her crying grew louder.

Her tears flowed faster.

Even the power of the magical contract could not calm her down.

“Damn it.”

Kent finally gave up.

“Fine.”

“Cry if you want.”

“You can cry by yourself.”

Seeing that there was truly nothing he could do, Kent grabbed a piece of roasted meat and hurried into his alchemy laboratory.

If he could not deal with Darkya...

then perhaps he could at least take out his frustration on the kobolds.

Kent entered his laboratory.

However, he did not actually go there to take out his frustration on the kobolds.

Instead, he quietly sat down and began recalling everything he had learned about Sky City.

The more he thought about it, the more shocked he became.

Sky City was not simply some powerful weapon.

It was a colossal creation beyond anything Kent had ever imagined.

At the moment, he still did not fully understand the complete structure of Sky City.

The spiritual imprint inside the ancient scroll had been sealed.

Only a general introduction had been left accessible.

But even that brief introduction was enough to leave Kent speechless.

First was the sheer size.

Sky City reached a height of nearly one thousand meters.

Its width extended to an astonishing five kilometers.

It was not a fortress.

It was practically a floating continent.

Mounted upon this enormous city were thousands of Magic Crystal Cannons capable of releasing forbidden spells.

Thousands.

Not dozens.

Not hundreds.

And that was only the offensive system.

The defensive magical formations covering Sky City were countless.

Even Kent could not imagine how many layers of protection surrounded this terrifying war fortress.

The materials used to construct Sky City were equally unbelievable.

Magic silver.

Adamantine.

Mithril.

And countless other materials whose names Kent had never even heard before.

The rare resources required for its construction alone were enough to make any modern alchemist despair.

As for the true core structure of Sky City...

Kent still had no clear understanding of it.

The information contained within the spiritual imprint was incomplete.

Only a fragment had been revealed.

But even that fragment was enough to prove one thing.

The ancient era had possessed an alchemical civilization far beyond the present age.

For now, however, Kent did not intend to think too deeply about Sky City.

Such a project was still far beyond his current ability.

His immediate priority was mastering the new alchemical system he had inherited.

This ancient method of alchemy was completely different from modern techniques.

The scroll contained not only new alchemical principles, but also records of various ancient magical formations.

These formations were far more complicated than the magic circles currently used by modern mages.

In terms of complexity alone, they were several times more advanced.

But they possessed one extraordinary advantage.

They could absorb magical elements from the surrounding environment automatically.

Modern magic formations required external energy sources.

They needed magic crystal powder.

Magic crystals.

Or the cores of magical beasts.

Without those sources, the formations would eventually lose power.

Ancient formations were completely different.

Once properly constructed, they could continuously draw in elemental energy from the world itself.

Of course, there was a reason modern magic formations had replaced them.

The materials required for ancient formations were far more expensive.

Several times more expensive.

Perhaps even beyond that.

Modern magic formations mainly relied on materials such as magical beast blood and beast cores to inscribe their patterns.

They were relatively cheap and practical.

Ancient magic formations, however, were built using true magical metals.

Mithril.

Magic silver.

Adamantine.

Materials capable of naturally conducting and gathering magical energy.

That was the true difference between the two systems.

One relied on external energy.

The other allowed the formation itself to draw power from the world.

Kent leaned back in his chair, his eyes filled with thought.

The more he studied this ancient inheritance, the more he realized one thing.

The current magical civilization of this world...

was not the peak of development.

It was merely what remained after an age of greatness had been lost.