Chapter 7: Forced gift and the Lazy Saint
Anya began to summon her spiritual beast, and Raziel knew this was not just for show. Without a second thought, he turned and started to run, his heart pounding in his chest as adrenaline surged through his veins.
Beside the girl, a strange bright circle with intricate symbols appeared on the ground. After finishing her summoning words, a massive white wolf with patches of red fur emerged from the circle, baring its sharp teeth.
She then pointed at Raziel, who was running, and commanded, "Get him to me, but don't kill him."
The beautiful yet terrifying beast nodded and sprinted like a bullet. Raziel sensed something closing in rapidly. Fear took hold of his body as he desperately tried to remember how to use magic.
"Shit, shit, shit! That bitch is really crazy. I didn't know she would react that way!"
As Raziel muttered to himself, his mind racing with panic, he tried to think of a way to escape. Just as he neared the edge of the area, a shadow suddenly appeared on the ground.
Anya's beast jumped above his head and landed in front of him, making a terrifying face while displaying its razor-sharp teeth.
"Oh, my dear Raziel, you can't escape~ You know something very delicate so i have to shut your mouth."
Suddenly, a voice came from behind him. When he turned his head, Anya was already there with a creepy smile, her voice carrying a hint of amusement and menace. Her body was covered with a faint white light, enhancing her stunning beauty even further.
"D-don't dare hurt me, or I will reveal the truth about your true nature to everyone."
Raziel attempted to blackmail her, hoping to avoid Anya hurting him, but it was futile. The girl's expression only grew more terrifying.
"Oh~ Trying to blackmail me? But you're forgeting something. Dead people can't talk."
Her voice tone was sweet, a stark contrast to the insane words she had just spoken, which added to the unsettling atmosphere of the moment.
With no other options left, Raziel tried to calm himself and said, "Oh, really? Then kill me! I want to see if you're crazy enough to fight against the Harvestead family."
Raziel knew she couldn't do anything to him yet. If Anya truly killed him, all her current efforts and advances would be rendered useless. The conflict between their families would destroy everything she had planned.
"And how will they know I'm the one who killed you?" she asked, doubting his statement.
"Because of this!" Raziel retrieved a dark blue gem from his pocket, that was glowing lightly.
"What—this is a TRANSMITTER STONE!"
Her expression transformed from a manic smile to one of genuine surprise. Anya had never expected him to be carrying one with him.
Such a device is typically used to record images within a radius of at least five meters. However, if there are two transmitter stones, a synchronization spell could transfer images between them.
Depending on its grade, a transmitter stone can record images within a radius of at least fifty meters. To her bad luck, this one seemed to be of high grade, though she didn't know exactly what grade it was. Coming from a wealthy person like him, it was likely not ordinary.
While typically, one needed to be within the stone's radius for the spell to work, he likely had someone hiding somewhere to receive whatever he recorded, which was why he called her to that place.
This was what she thought because she had used that tactic before, but she never expected to fall for it herself, especially from someone she had just considered a dumb idiot.
"How can someone who's supposed to be Sylfi's bootlicker and a complete imbecile manage to deceive me like that? It just doesn't make any sense!" Anya was astonished, trying to assess Raziel's true capabilities, but she couldn't find a reasonable answer.
She ended up being too overconfident, which made her not care about showing her true self to him and not even preparing anything in advance. The girl's reaction confirmed everything Raziel needed to know; it was time to bring this to an end.
"Well, you're the one who approached me first, and you probably have some ulterior motives for doing so. This is just to assure myself," he calmly responded.
"And don't worry, I don't intend to interfere in your affairs. I couldn't care less about your troubles. But there's one thing I want from you," he added with a sly grin.
"...What you want?" she asked, biting the corner of her lip.
"What I want is simple. Just don't bother me and act like we never talked to each other," Raziel stated firmly, making his terms clear, knowing she had no other options but to accept.
After hearing that, she was very confused, as his request seemed too simple, and moreover, he wasn't even asking for something that could benefit himself. Out of all possible requests, Raziel simply demanded that she get out of his sight?
"Mojnir, disperse!" Anya commanded. The large and fearsome wolf began to fade away, and the white glow surrounding her body disappeared.
"You know, Raziel, I don't fucking understand what you're thinking, but is this really what you want?"
"Yes, just this!"
"I see... so if it's just this, farewell then."
She walked in his direction and passed by him with a resigned expression, showing Raziel that he had likely successfully achieved his objective this time.
'It seems she accepted my offer, so that's one less irritating heroine to get on my nerves,' Raziel thought, reflecting on Anya's departure with a hint of satisfaction.
"Luckily, I brought that thing with me before leaving home."
Yesterday, while lazing around, Raziel stumbled upon several transmitter stones in his table drawer. He recalled them as valuable items containing records of magical casting techniques from the Harvestead family.
He still hadn't used any magic but had brought some of those stones to study later. The original Raziel only knew how to cast simple earth spells, and Anya didn't realize that he barely knew how to activate them.
"I really thought I would die, but it worked somehow," Raziel sighed in relief, realizing he had nearly met his end due to his reckless plan.
[Alert!]
[You have a notification.]
[Do you wish to read it?]
Suddenly, a familiar light red panel appeared displaying these words, which left Raziel confused. After all, hadn't the system disappeared? Nevertheless, he didn't intend to use it until another message popped up and piqued his curiosity.
[Reading messages doesn't count as using the system.]
'Hm... this system is quite cunning. It seems to know I don't want to use it, and now this message appears just to tempt me,' Raziel mused, wary of the system's intentions.
"I really don't trust you, so I refuse."
After saying that, a familiar female robotic voice spoke in his mind,
[Message opened successfully!]
"Hey, I said I refuse!" he protested in vain.
[Dear host, you altered the plot with sucess!]
[Now, due to your diligent efforts to change the narrative, you have been awarded with a special gift.]
[Aura User level 1]
[I hope you're in a comfortable place because the absorption of this ability is going to hurt a little.]
"Wha- AAAAGRH!"
Raziel screamed as his body began to tremble, every part of him going numb, causing him to collapse to the ground. A terrible pain surged through his body, as if his blood were burning through his veins.
[Idiot. Pfff~]
The mechanical female voice giggled softly as the system seemed to relish his pain.
"YOU BITCH—AAARGH!"
Then, after futilely cursing the system, he simply blacked out.
***
The pain had passed, and Raziel felt like he could move his body again, prompting him to open his eyes slowly.
As he tried to piece together what had happened, Raziel realized he was no longer behind the school but lying on a comfy bed.
After he rose and sat to get a better look around the peculiar room, he noticed rows of beds lined up in neat rows.
He then deciding to leave his bed, a soothingly lazy voice suddenly called from above, "Hey, student, don't get up... Uaah! I don't want more work." A little yawn could be heard mid-sentence.
Raziel looked up to see who had spoken, and a floating woman suddenly started to materialize in front of him as if she had been invisible.
She was a stunning woman with cascading green hair, dressed in an all-white drees that matched her oversized witch hat. Light golden round glasses adorned her face, and though her eyes were closed, she exuded an air of serene beauty.
Her smooth, ethereal white skin and graceful curves that flowed seamlessly from her slender waist to her gently rounded hips captivated Raziel's gaze in awe, as if he were beholding a goddess before his eyes.
"So go back to sleep, <Spirit of Good Deeds, Uaah... put this kid to sleep>," The woman murmured a spell with a yawn while holding a dark wood wand that began to glow with a translucent green light.
A light green circle formed around Raziel's head, forcing his brain to relax. However, just as his eyes were about to close, the magic abruptly dispersed, leaving the woman intrigued.
Raziel, after recovering his senses, didn't understand what had happened, but he knew she had attempted to make him sleep using magic.
That woman floating above him was Alizze Marsheil, a hidden heroine known as The Lazy Saint, considered to be one of the most powerful offensive healers in the Gravantia empire.
She was very famous on the Éden continent, not only for her astonishing appearance but also for her expertise in healing magic, complemented by destructive spells. Alone, she could likely clear medium-monster density Zones.
The only drawback to her is that she's very lazy and detests venturing into the Zones. Instead, she prefers to remain at Rivery Academy, where she serves as a teacher, overseeing the infirmary and occasionally conducting lessons.
Actually, she's almost like a shut-in who doesn't like to work and spends most of her time reading novels, eating, or sleeping. This attitudes has earned her that title of Lazy Saint.
But to Raziel, she was essentially his favorite heroine of the game because she was just like him: a lazy person who wanted to live life on her own terms.
And he liked girls with glasses.
Alizze, after realizing her magic didn't work on him, asked in a low voice, "How did you do this?"
Raziel didn't know either and said, "I don't know."
"I see... well, never mind, I'm going back to sleep."
As she said it, her body started to fade away, giving him the impression that she really didn't care.