Chapter 1351: 109. Public Display

After a pleasant dream, daylight had already fully arrived.

Muen rose from that soft, springy, smooth, and tender natural pillow. After moving around a little, he felt that his entire body was in unbelievably good condition.

"Sure enough, gentle and adorable beautiful girls really are the best for restoring one's vitality."

He couldn't help sighing with emotion.

Thinking about it, they were both methods of recovering his condition, yet with a certain unscrupulous old loli, it was practically an Asura hell, while here with the adorable Ariel, it made him wish he could remain immersed in this forever.

"But then again."

Muen rubbed his chin.

They were both adorable girls, so why was the difference between people so enormous?

It was a question worthy of deep contemplation.

"I somehow feel like you're thinking something rude again."

Ariel hopped down from the long table, grinding her little canine teeth as she stared at Muen with an unfriendly gaze.

"Of course not."

Without the slightest change in expression, Muen said, "I was only wondering why a beautiful girl as adorable and gentle as you exists in this world."

"Tch, who'd believe that? Coming from that mouth of yours, your words stopped having any credibility a long time ago."

Ariel looked disdainful, but as her beautiful eyes shifted, a trace of delight still slipped through.

She knew perfectly well that this guy was sweet-talking her...

But she simply loved hearing it.

Perhaps, just as her teacher sometimes said, she really was beyond saving.

"That's not important."

Muen waved a hand grandly... then took Ariel's little hand into his own, his voice turning even gentler.

"What's important is... since I already made you that promise just now, I'll have to work even harder from here on."

"Ew, how sappy."

"You don't like it?"

"Hmph."

Ariel pursed her lips and turned her head aside, only stealing glances from the corner of her eye at that handsome face she had traced countless times in her heart, yet still never grew tired of looking at.

"...Of course I like it."

...

...

Outside the Origin Tower, East District Three, Gerald Square.

This was one of the most central areas of Ishusta, the City of Magic that had been built around the Origin Tower. It was only about two blocks away from the tower that, in Muen's eyes, wasn't actually all that tall, but was already the tallest tower in this world.

As an organization that had existed for nearly a thousand years, the Origin Tower's sphere of influence naturally could not possibly consist of the tower alone. In fact, the entire City of Magic could be considered part of the Origin Tower.

It was simply that those old fossils who spent all their time absorbed in their own research had always been loose enough even when it came to managing the Origin Tower itself. Naturally, they were even less willing to deal with something as troublesome as administering an entire city.

The City of Magic, Ishusta, had been born from the Origin Tower and depended upon the Origin Tower. The Origin Tower, in turn, needed the flow of supplies and personnel that Ishusta provided...

And yet, despite such an intimate relationship, it stubbornly refused to take responsibility.

In a certain sense, the Origin Tower was the perfect example of a scumbag who pulled up his pants and refused to acknowledge what he'd done.

Thus, after a period of wild and unrestricted growth that had even resulted in quite a few serious incidents, one magical family naturally began to distinguish itself within the city.

In the end, it successfully brought the city's long-standing chaos to an end and seized supreme authority over it.

That family was the present-day "Gerald."

"What an imposing statue. Those mages actually allow the city's rulers to show off even harder than they do?"

Muen stood in the middle of the square, raising his head to examine the twenty- or thirty-meter-tall statue of the First Gerald.

The statue itself wasn't especially enormous, but its design was majestic and domineering, its expression and posture vividly lifelike. At a glance, it was obviously the work of a master sculptor.

Compared with the tall yet ancient and weathered tower behind it, the statue clearly possessed far greater visual impact.

Especially right now.

"So... when you talked about your recruitment plan, this is what you meant by actually putting it into practice?"

Beside him, Ariel was also looking up at the statue.

Unlike Muen, however, who was simply admiring the sight, the corner of her mouth had been twitching nonstop for quite some time.

Because the statue wasn't the only imposing thing here.

There were also the eight extremely conspicuous people currently hanging from it.

"Mmmph! Mmmph!"

Habakaya and his lackeys were tied to the statue, ropes wrapped around their entire bodies and even their mouths gagged. All they could do was writhe desperately, resembling a row of caterpillars hanging upside down.

Yet all their struggling was useless.

With their magic sealed, pure mages like them might not even be a match in physical strength for an old man exercising in the park.

So now, bound so tightly and suspended more than twenty meters above the ground, they basically had no means of breaking free.

In fact, their violent struggling only made them attract attention even faster.

And so Habakaya discovered, with despairing clarity, that more and more people were gathering around them...

After all, this square was already located in the very heart of the city. Add in their extremely conspicuous mage robes and poses so unusual that even performance artists rarely attempted anything similar...

Not only ordinary citizens, but even passing mages stopped, craned their necks, and curiously watched this extraordinarily rare spectacle.

Don't look...

At that moment, Habakaya shook his head desperately. Scalding tears involuntarily spilled from the corners of his eyes as his heart repeatedly contracted, producing pain that was practically no less intense than the "torture" he had suffered last night.

Don't look...

He was the great Scarlet Flash, the heaven-blessed prodigy of his school, a man destined to become a renowned master mage in the future.

How could he possibly be displayed in such a humiliating state before these lowly ants?

He had already endured the humiliation inflicted by that hateful demon girl and demon master before, but at least that had happened in private.

Now, however, the proud shell surrounding him was being mercilessly peeled away layer by layer!

Don't look!

Everyone, stop looking!

He wasn't like this!

This wasn't the real him!

Habakaya shook his head violently and struggled even harder.

But rather than making people look away, his actions only caused them to stare at him with even greater curiosity.

Until, finally, the voice he dreaded most sounded from below.

"Look, isn't that Scarlet Flash Habakaya?"

"Whoa! It really is him!"

"How did he end up like that?"

"Hmph. He's always so high and mighty, but look at him now. Just as pathetic as anyone else."

"Pathetic!"

"..."

It's over.

At last, Habakaya painfully closed his eyes.

After this...

There was no going back anymore.

"Looks like the effect is pretty good."

Beneath the statue, Muen nodded, quite satisfied with the steadily growing crowd and the whispers developing exactly in the direction he had expected.

Just as he'd predicted, although Ariel had casually beaten Habakaya down like a dead dog, the guy really did have a bit of a reputation among the Origin Tower's students.

At the very least, there was no way he'd given himself an embarrassing title like Scarlet Flash.

"So this is your plan?"

Ariel was still in shock.

Not because of the scene itself...

But because she was astonished that Muen could be shameless enough to squeeze so much value out of the exact same group of people over and over again.

She was almost starting to feel sorry for Habakaya and his group.

"Don't forget, if we hadn't shown up, these bastards would've shamelessly bullied a lonely old man. Besides, I haven't actually done anything serious to him. I'm just borrowing his reputation a little."

Muen shrugged.

"This isn't even the first time he's done something like that. But I'm kindhearted enough. As long as we can use this achievement to build up the Enhancement School's reputation and attract some new students willing to join us, we can wipe the slate clean over everything that happened before."

"I see..."

Ariel quickly understood as well.

At the end of the day, what mattered most if they wanted new students to choose their school within a short period of time?

Attractiveness, of course.

And directly beating some famous guy until he dropped to his knees, then hanging him up like a banner for everyone to see...

For many inexperienced magical apprentices who worshiped strength, wasn't that precisely the greatest possible attraction?

"That's why I'm very confident!"

Muen snapped his fingers.

By now, the crowd surrounding the square had become extremely dense, packed together in a dark mass.

There were ordinary civilians and mages alike.

Quite a few people from the Origin Tower had even flown over directly, occupying premium viewing spots to enjoy the spectacle.

Muen's strategy was extremely effective. Large numbers of spectators had been drawn in by words such as "Scarlet Flash," "humiliation," "bondage," "mental breakdown," and "depravity."

And under the gaze of everyone present, Muen flicked a finger.

The Enhancement School's emblem transformed into an enormous screen of light, becoming the backdrop for the entire grand performance.

Now, there wasn't a single person present who couldn't feel the Enhancement School's current prestige!

Thus, Muen nodded with considerable pride and declared:

"I predict that within half an hour, we'll have new students coming to join the big happy family of our Enhancement School!"