Mage Manual
Chapter 474 - 390: Why isn’t it me?!

Chapter 474: Chapter 390: Why isn’t it me?!

"That’s what happened."

Soon after dinner, everyone but the Swindler had gathered in Ash’s room. Hanna appeared to have just finished bathing, eating pudding in her purple pajamas; Banjee was still in his unchanging Deacon’s outfit, looking like he was here to work overtime; Liss had also had a bath and was letting Ash help her dry her hair.

"So, you disturbed me while I was doing Alice’s skincare over this trivial matter?" Harvey complained.

Everyone stared at the Necromancer blankly.

Banjee pursed his lips.

Hanna touched her earring.

Ash frowned deeply.

Only Liss couldn’t help but open her mouth to speak, but she was silenced by Ash’s hand before she could even utter a vowel.

"First, I will clean Alice’s body with a protein coagulation preservation solution, then apply Galingen dilution liquid to keep her skin elastic, and then—"

"Nobody asked you! Interject! Strike hard! Prevent rebound!" Ash seemed ready to throw the hairdryer, annoyed, "The issue now is Igula, no discussing Alice!"

"What’s there to discuss about Igula," Harvey casually scratched the back of his ear, "Are you asking us what wedding gifts we should get? On this point, I’m quite confident. A pair of Necromancer-exclusive custom-made coffins for the couple would, both in sincerity and value, instantly take out any of your vulgar gifts."

"As for Liss, I hope Aunt Bokin will wear a wedding dress during the ceremony," Liss said, "Just seeing that would be more than enough satisfaction for Liss. No need for other gifts."

Banjee reminded her, "Liss, the wedding gift is from us to them, not from them to us."

Liss shook her head, "I don’t care, Liss wants to see Aunt Bokin in a wedding dress! Must see, must see!"

"Liss!" Ash firmly held the little girl with white hair’s head, speaking sternly, "Adults are discussing serious matters. Don’t come here to cause trouble! Do you think you can get whatever you want just because you want it?"

Hanna nodded quietly, thinking that Ash could indeed distinguish priorities.

Then she saw Ash summon the Gospel Book and spread it open, revealing the product catalog inside, "In my opinion, we should pool our money and directly order a wedding dress for Igula as a wedding gift—"

The young miss tore off her earring, transforming it into a submachine gun aimed at Ash, "Are you dying to leave home? Don’t be polite, the Funeral Service Office’s main business is transportation."

"Let’s talk this through, miss. If you act so suddenly, the younger miss will be shy," Ash gave up, raising his hands in surrender with Liss.

"Back to the main topic." Hanna transformed the submachine gun back into an earring, "Do you think Igula will agree to this?"

"You should ask, what reason does he have to refuse this investment?" Harvey said, pulling out a skull from nowhere, playing with it in his hand.

Ash glanced at the skull, and whether it was just an illusion, he actually found it to possess a natural and harmonious beauty, like a perfectly straight stick on the way to school that could serve as a long sword.

He shuddered, quickly hugging the warm Liss, trying to resist the sweet allure of the dead, "Maybe Igula is just extremely frigid..."

"But didn’t you mention that Mr. Bokin has Meiwa ancestry?" Banjee said, "Though it seems there are no Meiwa in the Kingdom of Gospel, according to the records, Meiwa ancestry should be absolutely incompatible with frigidity, right? However, it’s also possible that Mr. Bokin already has a sweetheart, perhaps..."

"What if he has a sweetheart? Can’t he change his heart? Does the Swindler have some sort of ’loyalty’ mechanism, with fidelity locked forever? And since you’re all assuming that, why don’t you consider that maybe Igula, like me, doesn’t like living people and prefers the cool body temperature?" Harvey retorted grumpily, "Or perhaps assume that Igula just doesn’t like money at all, and prefers our precarious adventurous life, which would make even more sense!"

"So," Liss concluded, "as long as Aunt Bokin is a normal person, she will definitely accept this deal."

Everyone nodded, even Hanna couldn’t argue with that.

The main reason was the terms offered by Yvalin were simply too favorable, the price bubble almost inflated to a point of making one lose their senses and spend impulsively — that’s the entire Belladett consortium!

The Angel family!

The sole dominion of Mongfera!

And even holding the unfathomable inheritance of the Dominion Faction!

Put yourself in their shoes for a moment, if Igula agreed to this deal, he could jump from a foreign worker to become a live-in son-in-law of Belladett, marrying a rich beauty, becoming a CEO, and controlling wealth that rivals nations, reaching the pinnacle of life.

If it were an ordinary person, they might consider whether they have the ability, but Igula is a Swindler. He might not have the skills to operate the grand Belladett consortium, but he most certainly knows how to turn Belladett’s resources into his own wealth, "padding one’s own nest," "embezzlement and bribery," "using power for personal gain" are all within the Swindler’s range of services!

Thinking wickedly, although the Swindler could never take control of Belladett, after all, only he and Anfeier’s descendants were the legitimate inheritors of Belladett, but what if Anfeier had a child and then mysteriously died?

Moreover, the current Family Head Yvalin was merely a "mere" Two-winged Mage; perhaps the Belladett fortress could protect her, but if Igula became her "family," then the Swindler had far too many ways to harm his own aunt.

As for whether Igula would do such a thing... don’t forget that the first time Ash met Igula, he nearly got his bones cracked and marrow sucked by that blonde, seductive hunk!

And the most irresistible thing: Yvalin would even try to dissolve the Contract between Igula and Hanna!

As the inheritor of the Dominion Faction, who had turned the Contract into something distinctive and industrialized, Yvalin’s promise was absolutely trustworthy—after all, what if Hanna controlled Igula via the Contract to steal Belladett’s wealth?

Even for her own sake, Yvalin would not let Igula continue to be Doran’s lapdog. However, Igula had clearly stated that he would not sign any Contract with Belladett, so Yvalin was not only serving him a meal that was soft, mushy, and sweet but also spoon-feeding it to Igula; the service was so considerate it was as if Igula was paying her!

The more Ash thought about how Belladett went to such lengths to poach their partner, the angrier he got. He slapped his thigh furiously and lamented, "Why couldn’t it be me!"

"Ah!" Liss also angrily delivered a punch to Ash’s chin, "Dad, why are you hitting yourself? Why smack my thigh!"

"But Ash does have a point," mused the Housekeeper boy.

Ash nodded vigorously, "Right? Right? Why should I be the one scrubbing floors and cleaning when Igula gets to sit in the garden courting a pretty, cute, and naïve girl? I can’t accept this! Why does that shorty offer Igula such a good deal, and to me only Hanna’s—"

It was as though he slammed on the brakes; Ash stopped talking abruptly.

But it was too late—the figure of the girl in the purple pajamas had already vanished from his view.

In its place, a hard texture pressed against his lower back.

"What’s currently stroking your lower back is my sister, mother is the second daughter of the Absolute Blade Mechanic Company, Donna, and she specializes in giving massages with 9mm metal blocks. If I were you, I’d spit out the words you just swallowed, and tomorrow’s you would thank today’s you for making the wise decision."

Hanna, without knowing when, had snuck up behind Ash on his bed and issued a very serious threat. However, other than Ash, everyone else could see her earrings hanging properly from her ears and that what she was holding was merely a metal spoon, with the handle end poking into Ash’s lower back.

Although he didn’t know the threat was fake, Ash also knew the consequences of resting on one’s laurels and being brutally honest were far worse, so he kept his mouth tightly shut and resisted to the end.

"Spill it, what did Yvalin use to tempt you!"

"Your room key, but I am the upright Ash, of course, I rejected such a wicked trade!"

"Liar, all the doors here are iris-scanning automatic doors, there’s no such thing as a key! Spit it out!"

"Actually, it’s about a specialized hypnotic spray for you, but I am the pure Ash, of course, I rejected such a shameless temptation!"

"If Yvalin could be a Hypnotist, she would have turned us into her dogs a long time ago! Wait, you even brought up hypnotic spray, which means the deal Yvalin proposed is even lower than that. Just come clean, I won’t get mad at you. After all, Yvalin is the real culprit, not you."

"Could you let me go before you say that?"

Watching Hanna wrestle Ash to the bed while clutching his throat with a cross lock, except for Harvey, who was still preoccupied with his precious skull, the expressions on Liss and Banjee’s faces were strange—when did those two get along so well?

At that moment, Liss suddenly glanced at the mirror gloves she had just acquired and then she charged over, forcefully separating the two big friends who were wrestling to the point of sweating.

"It hurts~~~"

Hanna quickly withdrew her hand, "Did I hit Liss?"

Ash sat up in a hurry to check, "Are you alright? Where did you get hit?"

’Liss’ timidly raised her hand, "I think I twisted my hand..."

"That’s not too bad." Ash breathed a sigh of relief and slapped a ’Joyful Sword’ over, gently massaging her wrist joint, "A minor injury like this will heal in no time."

"Mhm!" ’Liss’ burrowed into Ash’s embrace, nuzzling him affectionately like a little bear seeking warmth.

With things this way, it was naturally not good for Hanna to continue roughhousing with Ash. But just as she stepped away, she noticed from the corner of her eye ’Liss’’ mouth slightly upturned, with a teasing gaze stealthily observing her, unmistakably a dark and scheming version of a white-haired little girl.

But when Hanna looked over, ’Liss’ was buried in Ash’s arms, showing no face at all.

An illusion?

Or had Yvalin’s influence reached here? Was there some wide-range Miracle here affecting the mind, creating hallucinations?

When Hanna sat back down, plagued by suspicion, Banjee continued the main topic, "If Miss Yvalin proposed such a deal to Mr. Harvey or Ash, I would be surprised but could understand it. However, her choice was Mr. Bokin, and that confuses me."