Chapter 101: A New Job

Half an hour later, Chris was standing in the throne room of the palace, looking at the woman seated on the throne with a happy smile on his face.

Amara slowly rose from her seat and approached him, stopping right in front of him. Despite being considerably shorter, she didn’t seem bothered by the difference in their height. Instead, she looked directly into his eyes.

"Now tell me, what did you find at that auction?"

Chris raised an eyebrow, but his smile remained. "Nothing escapes your eyes, I see."

"Answer my question." She raised her voice slightly.

Chris chuckled. "You know, raising your voice at me won’t get you what you want. If anything, it might make getting answers even harder."

Amara sighed and shook her head. She already knew arguing with him wouldn’t get her anywhere. "Just tell me what you found."

Chris smiled before taking out the black pendant and holding it up for her to see. "Do you mean this?"

Amara immediately stepped closer, examining the strange object. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she looked at its surface. She then extended her hand, intending to touch it, but Chris quickly pulled it away.

"Careful now. This thing is dangerous." He shook his head before storing the pendant back inside his storage ring.

Amara looked at him with a frown. "What is it?"

"Something containing a whole lot of demonic energy."

Her expression became more serious. "Were they looking for it at the auction?"

"I don’t think so. I checked the people who had demonic energy, and they seemed just as surprised when the pendant appeared. I don’t think they knew it would be sold there. The news shouldn’t have leaked out."

Amara nodded thoughtfully. "What are you going to do with it?"

Chris raised an eyebrow and smiled. "You have a lot of questions. You know I’m not required to answer any of them, right?"

"I’m just trying to find out what’s going on."

He nodded. "I know. You seem to be a bit of a control freak, but sadly, this is something beyond our understanding. As for what I’m going to do with it, I have my uses. But I can assure you that I won’t let it fall into their hands."

"You..." Amara’s expression turned annoyed. "You actually dare to call me a control freak?"

"And you’re not?" Chris replied with another smile.

Amara raised an eyebrow, but instead of responding, she studied his face for a moment. Something about him seemed different today.

"You seem happy."

"Of course, I’m happy. I had a pleasant surprise today." Chris nodded with a satisfied smile.

Amara had never seen him in such a good mood. Whenever she summoned him to the palace, or whenever he decided to visit without an invitation, he usually wore a deadpan expression, as if he wanted nothing more than to leave.

Today, however, he seemed genuinely cheerful.

"What surprise?"

"Oh, wouldn’t you like to know?" Chris teased. "Sorry, but you can’t know everything."

Amara brought a hand to her cheek and thought for a moment. Then, a teasing smile appeared on her face.

"You got your new sword?"

Chris’s smile stiffened for a brief moment.

Amara immediately noticed his reaction. "So I was right."

"Spying on my every movement isn’t very polite."

"I’m the Queen. I have to know what’s happening in my kingdom." She shrugged before changing the subject. "But let’s leave that aside for now."

She smiled again. "I have another job for you."

"You know I’m not your servant, right? We had a deal, and that deal is now over." He shook his head.

"First, hear me out. I have a feeling you might be interested in this."

Chris raised an eyebrow. "Do tell."

"I’m planning to establish an academy here in the capital shortly after the royal dungeon closes. I want you and Aelia to become its guardians and teachers."

Chris stared at her silently for a few seconds.

"Pfft..."

A moment later, he burst into laughter, holding his stomach as he struggled to contain himself.

"Hahahahahahahaha!"

"I’m serious," Amara said, maintaining her composure.

"Hahahahahaha! You want me to teach at an academy? Teach what? How to kill?"

"You and Aelia have extensive experience in the Wilds, survival, and combat. I believe your knowledge would be extremely valuable to the students. Besides, you wouldn’t have to spend all your time teaching. Your main responsibility would be to serve as guardians of the academy. You would only have a few classes."

Chris finally stopped laughing and wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes. "And why in the world would I ever accept such a ridiculous job offer?"

"Because of this."

Amara suddenly extended her hand, and two documents appeared in it.

Chris was about to make another sarcastic remark, but the moment he noticed the pictures attached to the documents, his expression changed.

His eyes widened as he recognized the people in the photographs.

They were his parents.

His smile disappeared completely, and his expression turned serious.

"What is this?"

"Just see for yourself."

Amara handed him the documents, and Chris immediately began reading.

At first, he couldn’t understand why she was showing him these records. However, the more he read, the more surprised he became.

It appeared that his parents weren’t as ordinary as he had always believed.

According to the documents, they had served as special forces soldiers under the previous King. They had been entrusted with several important missions and were apparently considered reliable members of the royal forces.

But that wasn’t what caught his attention the most.

A few pages later, he found a record stating that his parents had been sent on a secret mission by the King himself.

A mission from which they had never returned.

Chris slowly lowered the documents and looked at Amara.

"You better have a good explanation for this."

"Or what?" She raised an eyebrow.

Chris took a step forward and grabbed her by the neck, causing her eyes to widen slightly.

"Listen carefully, little Queen. Others might call you Her Majesty and bow before you out of respect, but I’m not like the others. If I have to kill you, trust me, I will. You better explain what’s going on, or I swear I’ll break your neck right here and now."

Amara’s expression changed. Annoyance flashed across her face as she attempted to retaliate, but something unexpected happened.

Her body wouldn’t move.

No matter how much she tried, she couldn’t even raise her hand.

Her eyes widened in disbelief.

She was Mythic rank, and her level wasn’t that far from Chris’s. She had never expected him to restrain her so easily, especially when he was holding her by the neck.

"Surprised? Don’t be." Chris shook his head. "I’m quite a bit stronger than my level suggests."

He waited for her to respond, but Amara remained silent. Despite the situation, she continued staring at him with a determined expression, showing no intention of backing down.

Chris recognized that look.

It was the same expression he would have worn if someone had threatened him. She clearly wasn’t someone who would simply bow her head because another person was stronger.

He released a deep breath, finally realizing that he might have overstepped.

Slowly loosening his grip, he took a step back.

"I might have reacted too strongly. I’m sorry for that."

He shook his head and turned around.

"Forget it. I’ll find out what happened myself."

"Wait."

Chris stopped and glanced over his shoulder. "What?"

"Just accept my offer, and I’ll find the information for you."

He turned back towards her, watching her for a moment.

"I’ll do the job if you just tell me what you know. I’m a man of my word, and I don’t go back on my promises."

"I don’t know much yet." Amara shook her head. "These documents contain everything I currently have. I’ll investigate the matter further for you, but only if you accept the deal."

Chris remained silent for a moment, considering her offer.

He wasn’t particularly interested in becoming a teacher, but finding out what had happened to his parents was far more important. If accepting the position meant getting answers, he didn’t have much reason to refuse.

"...Fine. I’ll accept."

"Good." Amara nodded, seemingly satisfied with his answer.

Chris put the documents away and looked at her again.

"By the way, you might want to consider improving your security around here. I could have killed you quite easily earlier. We wouldn’t want some Fallen sneaking into the palace and doing the same, now would we?"

Amara raised an eyebrow, clearly annoyed by his remark. "And do you think any of them would even be able to get close to me? I have very tight security. You’re the one who was allowed to enter this room alone."

Chris looked at her with interest. "Does that mean you trust me?"

Amara didn’t answer.

He watched her for a moment before asking something else.

"Are you really some kind of prophet? Can you actually predict the future?"

"That’s a secret."

"Fair enough."

Chris shrugged and turned around, heading towards the exit.

"Where are you going?" Amara asked.

"That’s a secret."

He waved his hand without looking back and left the throne room.

Amara watched him disappear through the doors before shaking her head. A slight smile appeared on her face as she returned to her throne.

...

An hour later, Chris was sitting on the sofa in the living room of his residence, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Across from him, Astra was holding her stomach while laughing.

"Hahahahahahah! The big bad man is going to become a teacher! Hahahahahaha!"

"This is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard!" Stella added, laughing along with her sister.

Even Aelia, who was sitting nearby, couldn’t help giggling.

Chris slapped his thigh in annoyance. "What’s so bad about me being a teacher?!"

"Pfft... Nothing, nothing. You would be a great teacher, I’m sure." Astra tried to calm herself down, but the moment she looked at Chris, she burst into laughter again. "But... just imagining you teaching students is..."

She couldn’t finish her sentence.

"Hahahahahaha!"

"This is an academy! I won’t be teaching children! They’re all grown-ups!" Chris yelled, feeling increasingly frustrated.

"Hahahahahahahaha! That’s even worse!" The twins laughed even harder.

Chris’s eye twitched a few times as he stared at them. He couldn’t understand what was so funny about it.

Then, an idea suddenly struck him.

"Is that so? So you want to play like that, huh? Fine."

A mischievous smile appeared on his face.

"Very well. I’ll tell the Queen to enroll you two in the academy as well!"

He clapped his hands, seemingly pleased with his own idea.

"You two will be my students!"

The twins immediately froze.

Their laughter stopped, and they slowly turned towards him with wide eyes.

"H-Hey! Big bad man! You can’t be serious, right?!" Stella asked, her voice trembling slightly.

"That’s right! Please tell us you’re joking!" Astra added, looking just as horrified.

Chris placed a hand over his chest and gave them his most pitiful expression.

"Joking? Me? Why would I ever joke about something like this? I’m simply worried about your education. As your friend, I have a responsibility to ensure you receive the best possible education. I’ll do everything in my power to make that happen."

"N-N-NOOOO!"

Astra immediately hugged Stella, almost on the verge of tears.

"I DON’T WANT THAT!"

Stella was trembling as well, and her eyes had already become watery.

Aelia, who had been watching their exchange, finally spoke up.

"Chris... You don’t have to be so hard on them."

Chris turned towards her with widened eyes.

"Aelia? Do you even realize that these two brats are practically our age? Yet they’re acting like little children!"

Aelia gave him an accusing look. "So what? Not everyone has had such a difficult life as you and me. They just need a little more time to mature."

Chris stared at her in disbelief.

"More time to mature? Are you being serious? I’m sure these two will stay like this forever!"

Aelia shook her head with a sigh before turning towards the twins.

"You heard him, right? I’ll also be a teacher at the academy. Even if he forces you to attend, I’ll be the one giving you classes, okay?"

The twins widened their eyes.

For a moment, they looked at each other. Then, realization dawned on them, and their expressions immediately changed.

They jumped up and rushed towards Aelia, each grabbing one of her hands.

"Yes! Yes! Big sister Aelia is the best!" Stella exclaimed excitedly.

"That’s right! Now I want to go to the academy!" Astra added, nodding enthusiastically.

They then turned towards Chris with bright smiles.

"Big bad man! When are we going? We want to go right now!"

Chris stared at them, completely dumbfounded.

His mouth opened slightly, but no words came out.

A moment later, he slumped back into the sofa, looking almost lifeless.

"What’s so bad about me being a teacher?" he muttered to himself, unable to understand their reaction.

The twins finally noticed his reaction. They exchanged glances, seemingly realizing that they might have gone a little too far.

They slowly approached him and sat down on either side.

"You know, big bad man, it’s not that you would be a bad teacher..." Astra nudged his arm gently.

"Yes. You would actually be a great teacher." Stella nodded in agreement.

Chris turned towards them, looking confused. "Then what is it?"

Astra shook her head repeatedly. "It’s just that... you being our teacher..."

She paused and glanced at Stella.

"No, no... impossible."

"Impossible," Stella repeated, nodding firmly.

Chris looked at Astra, then at Stella.

He waited for them to explain, but neither seemed willing to elaborate.

In the end, he simply sighed and leaned back against the sofa.

He had dealt with demons, Fallen, powerful beasts, and countless dangerous situations in the Wilds, yet somehow, understanding these girls was proving to be one of his greatest challenges.