Chapter 04
Pop—!
[Name: Irtis (?).
Class: Archmage.
Dream: None.
Stats: Mana (SSS), Magic Resistance (SSS)… Stamina (SS), Strength (SS)…]
At the endless flood of S-ranks, Prodia momentarily lost her senses.
Even as she flipped page after page, his ridiculous abilities showed no end.
‘He’s a complete monster.’
In terms of magic, he was basically the strongest in the world—something like that.
But there was one peculiar detail.
‘What’s this?’
[…Memorization (S), Singing (S).]
Singing?
‘Why is that suddenly here?’
A mage who can sing well, out of nowhere?
Hmm… It’s even paired with memorization. Maybe you need good singing skills to chant spells?
As expected, the world of magic is deep and profound.
Wait—this isn’t the time to be looking at this.
Blinded by stats so far beyond normal, she had momentarily forgotten something important.
What really mattered was—
‘The amount of karma that can be erased. Status window, next page.’
Prodia tried to open Irtis’s karma-related status window.
At that moment—
Ding~!
With a sudden notification sound, a quest window popped up.
[Quest partially completed!
A suitable candidate (1/?) has been found!]
‘…!’
A suitable candidate?
Then that means—
Prodia hurriedly checked Irtis’s next status window.
And doubted her eyes.
[Eradicateable Karma if Irtis is produced: ?,???,???.]
Prodia covered her mouth.
What is this?
Of course, the exact number was still unknown.
But… had she ever seen someone whose erasable karma exceeded seven digits?
No—there hadn’t even been anyone with four digits!
Prodia’s face lit up with joy.
She found him. This was the one.
The jackpot she had been searching for all along.
‘It was him!’
Only then did the way Prodia looked at Irtis completely change.
Her eyes practically dripped with honey.
Irtis shuddered at the sight.
“What’s with that creepy look?”
But now, no one could stop Prodia.
She stepped forward and grabbed his hand.
“Mage!”
“Wah—what are you doing all of a sudden?!”
Whether he protested or not, Prodia was serious.
“Let’s sign a contract!”
With a capitalist smile, Prodia handed Irtis a contract.
The terms were simple.
[Producer Prodia will do her utmost to help Irtis win the competition.
Irtis will also do his utmost to win the competition.
If Irtis wins, he will pay half of the prize money to the Ducer Count family.]
‘Half the prize money? What a complete bandit.’
Reading through the contract, Irtis clicked his tongue.
Well, money wasn’t an issue for him anyway.
He had accumulated quite a fortune while living in the Mage Tower.
Then, a question suddenly came to mind.
He looked up at Prodia.
“Hey.”
Prodia’s expression turned serious.
“I do have a perfectly fine name—Prodia Ducer, you know?”
A bandit, and picky too.
“…Prodia.”
“Yes.”
“You’re not planning to contract with anyone else besides me, right?”
At that, Prodia flinched involuntarily.
Of course, Irtis’s erasable karma was higher than anyone she’d seen so far.
But without knowing the exact number, she couldn’t guarantee anything.
And when the quest window appeared earlier, it clearly said—
[A suitable candidate (1/?) has been found.]
That question mark meant only one thing.
‘There are other candidates besides Irtis.’
Finding additional candidates might be a bit troublesome, but in a way, it worked better for her.
It wasn’t guaranteed that Irtis would win the competition anyway.
‘If there are multiple candidates, the chances of winning increase. As long as my karma gets erased, I don’t care who wins.’
And considering her life after erasing her karma, receiving half the prize money was very important.
Yes, absolutely.
For someone who had nearly gone to hell, her calculations were truly devilish.
With a shameless expression, she said:
“Of course, my only contractor is you, Mage.”
“Yeah, nice lie.”
“!”
How did he know?
Usually, everyone fell for her poker face.
At that moment, Irtis suddenly stepped closer and leaned in.
“!”
“Signing a contract with me, yet thinking of bringing in someone else too, huh?”
His face was one that could charm anyone.
‘Another center-worthy face.’
But even as she faced him head-on, Prodia didn’t blink.
Having seen countless celebrities in her past life, she was already immune to good looks.
Besides, to her, appearance was nothing more than ‘marketability.’
Prodia said:
“At present, I have no intention of contracting with anyone else. But… the future is unpredictable.”
No point lying further when she’d already been caught.
Irtis replied coldly:
“I won’t say it twice. Teach only me.”
“No.”
“Fine. So that’s how you want it.”
As soon as he finished speaking, a violet flame flared up in his palm.
Wait—what is he doing now?
Before Prodia could stop him, his hand pointed out the window.
“…!”
Flash!
A blinding light covered the Count’s garden.
Prodia shouted in panic:
“What are you doing?! Are you trying to kill everyone?!”
Irtis smirked.
“Why would I waste my mana on that?”
“Huh?”
He didn’t attack?
She quickly looked outside.
The applicants gathered in the garden had all turned around at once.
They began leaving the estate, like soulless zombies.
“N-no!”
There were still so many she hadn’t checked yet!
Prodia rushed toward the door.
But Irtis’s voice stopped her.
“See? You were planning something behind my back after all.”
Ugh.
“No point going.”
“What?”
“They won’t even remember why they came here.”
“…!”
With a faint smile, he slowly approached her.
“I rewrote those rumors you spread with magic.”
Her expression stiffened.
“What do you mean?”
“I changed it so that Lady Prodia Ducer, the famous producer, has absolutely no interest in raising candidates for the consort selection.”
“What?!”
This is bad. At this rate, she won’t be able to find other candidates!
Prodia glared at him.
But she knew it was useless.
There was a hint of madness in his eyes.
With his red, beautiful lips, he said something chilling:
“So just teach me. If you contract with anyone else, I’ll kill them all.”
This lunatic.
Turns out the rumors were true.
“But why would an archmage like you want to become a royal consort?”
Prodia asked.
Irtis answered flatly:
“Because I want to.”
“Yes, lovely lie.”
“So you hold grudges, huh.”
“Let’s call it perceptive.”
He slumped onto the sofa.
“Anyway, it’s true. No other reason.”
“So you’re saying you’re entering purely because you want to become a consort?”
“Exactly.”
Prodia sat across from him.
“Then let me rephrase.”
“What now?”
“Why did you come to me specifically?”
At that question, Irtis’s eyes wavered for a moment.
He answered as if nothing was wrong.
“They say you’re the best tutor in the Empire. Obviously.”
Prodia smiled.
“Oh my, I wonder who told you so much about me?”
“Who would—”
“You’re famous for not caring about others. So how did you know about me? It’s not like you were preparing for imperial exams.”
He flinched, but tried to stay calm.
“Do I have to hear it from someone? You’re just that famous—”
Prodia widened her eyes.
“Don’t tell me… you got kicked out of the Mage Tower?”
“I-I didn’t get kicked out!”
Startled, he slammed the table.
Too late—judging from her expression.
Her eyes widened.
“Was it the Tower Master’s order? To enter the consort competition?”
“…Tch.”
“So it is…”
She looked at him with pity.
“You caused trouble and got expelled.”
“I said that’s not it.”
“If you become a consort, you can’t hold a profession. That means you can’t inherit the Tower Master position.”
She concluded firmly:
“So basically, they told you to leave the tower.”
“That’s not—! Ugh.”
Running a hand through his hair, he finally confessed:
“I made a deal. With that damn old man.”
“What?”
Prodia asked seriously.
“What kind of deal?”
“…If I enter the competition and win, he’ll tell me who my parents are.”
“…!”
His expression was more serious than ever.
Looking straight at her, he said:
“So I have to win.”
Years ago, Irtis was found collapsed in front of the Mage Tower.
‘Where is this?’
He remembered nothing before that.
As if his memories had been completely cut out.
If not for the name tag around his neck, he wouldn’t even know his own name.
The one who brought him in was the current Tower Master.
“Irtis, come with me. I will teach you magic.”
Unlike others, Irtis possessed limitless mana.
The Tower Master was the first to recognize that talent.
Under him, Irtis learned all the magic in the world.
Surviving in the Mage Tower wasn’t difficult.
Though others were jealous and picked fights.
One day, a fellow student said:
“Turns out that bastard Irtis isn’t the Tower Master’s grandson—he’s an orphan. They say he was dumped in front of the tower with a dog collar.”
“…Want to try getting bitten by a dog?”
At just a teenager, Irtis created a rabid beast using a 7th-circle illusion spell.
After that student was half-crippled, no one ever provoked him again.
Even so, the Tower Master didn’t scold him.
He thought it meant he was loved.
But it wasn’t.
Sometimes, Irtis could see fear in the Tower Master’s eyes.
Not just him—everyone feared him.
So he lived recklessly, hoping someone would stop him at least once.
But instead, the Tower Master said:
“Irtis, participate in the imperial consort selection.”
It was absurd.
“What are you saying, old man? Why would I go there? I’m going to succeed you as Tower Master!”
“…If you win the competition, I will tell you about your parents.”
“…!”
Irtis was stunned.
So he knew about his parents all along?
Betrayal surged.
He thought he had been abandoned, but they actually existed?
And he knew… yet said nothing?
The Tower Master continued:
“Go to the capital and meet Lady Prodia Ducer. They say she is the most capable tutor in the Empire. She will shape you into someone worthy of being a royal consort.”
That was all.
The Tower Master told him nothing more.
