~ 💎 WEEKLY POWER GOALS 💎🔥 60→1ch | 100→2ch | 200→5ch ⏰ Resets Monday!
Thanks!
The next day, Shino started teaching Delta how to fight.
After a morning of it, he realized one thing: he couldn’t teach her anything.
Delta didn’t retain a single lesson.
Nothing stuck, nothing clicked.
Shino gave up.
Delta fought on instinct and talent alone.
So he took her straight into combat.
He controlled his magic down to her level and sparred with her.
Fight after fight, Shino noticed something, Delta grew at an insane rate in real combat.
Every battle sharpened her magic and her technique.
Alpha hadn’t left during this time.
She’d been investigating the secret records of the Elven Kingdom in the shadows.
Everything was exactly as Shadow and Phantom had said, behind the world, a massive organization pulled the strings.
The Cult of Diablos.
“Phantom-sama, I want to learn how to treat Demonic Possession!”
“You don’t need to call me Phantom-sama.
Just Phantom.”
“How can I?
You saved me.
You taught me combat techniques and magical control.
That’s an immense debt of gratitude.”
“Alpha, I plan to have you lead Shadow Garden in the future.”
“Why?
Wouldn’t it be better for you to lead?”
“Our organization is going to expand.
And to deal with unknown, even stronger enemies, I need to get stronger.
That means I’ll need you to handle a lot of things.”
“So just call me Phantom.”
“You’ll always be my respected Phantom-sama.”
Shino reached out and tapped her on the shoulder.
“If you keep being formal with me, I’m going to get mad.”
“Phantom.”
“Yeah, that’s it.”
“Now I’ll teach you how to treat Demonic Possession.”
“Delta!”
“Present!”
“Go get Beta and Gamma.”
“Understood!”
Shino was treating Delta like a trained dog.
And Delta obeyed like one, even though she was really a wolf.
When Beta and Gamma arrived, Shino started explaining how to undo Demonic Possession.
Delta listened like it was ancient scripture.
In one ear, out the other.
Alpha, Beta, and Gamma absorbed every word.
Delta finally realized she was really stupid.
She shrugged it off.
Didn’t matter.
She’d just follow her master’s orders.
After the theory came practice.
“Delta, lie down here.”
Delta obeyed.
Shino placed his hand on her.
Soon, Demonic Possession appeared on her body again.
“I’ve restored Delta’s magic to the state it was in during possession.
You three try to restore her.”
They tried.
A month later, all three had mastered the treatment method.
…….
As Gamma grew, she felt more and more useless.
She didn’t have Delta’s overwhelming strength.
She wasn’t versatile like Beta.
She was basically worthless.
Her combat ability was dead last.
Shino noticed.
“Gamma, what do you think is the most important thing for an organization?”
“Strong combat power?”
“Money.
With money, you can get everything else.
Without it, you can’t move an inch.”
“The simplest way to earn is to become a merchant — buy low in one place, sell high in another.
But first, you need to do market research.”
The next day, Shino took Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta out to make money.
Gamma had talent.
Combined with what Shino had said, she spotted a business opportunity fast.
But it required a lot of capital.
Shino thought of someone, Cid.
That guy robbed bandits for a living.
He had to have saved up a fortune.
“On a dark, windy night, two figures in black appeared on a lakeside pavilion.”
“What do you want?”
Cid spoke.
“Lend me some money.”
Cid turned and started to leave.
“I’ll pay you back double.”
Cid sat down.
“How much?”
“100 million zeni.”
Cid stood up again.
“I’ll pay you back 300 million.”
Cid sat down.
“For real?”
“For real.
We’re comrades in Shadow’s organization.
Would I lie to you?”
Cid thought for a moment, then nodded.
“Wait for me.”
He went home and pulled out everything he had from under his bed, just over 100 million.
“I was going to buy art with this.
But if it can really triple, that’s fine too.”
The next day, Shino, Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta went to buy goods.
Shino used magic to disguise himself and Gamma as adults.
All the negotiating fell to Gamma.
She didn’t disappoint.
She bought the entire batch at a rock-bottom price.
Then the caravan set out for another country.
Other people had seen the same opportunity Gamma had.
But the wilderness in this world wasn’t safe.
With Shino around, no one was stealing their goods.
Three carriages rolled through the night.
To save time, Shino infused the horses with magic, keeping them fresh.
They could work 24 hours straight without rest.
As they passed a mountain pass, a group of bandits jumped out.
“This road was opened by me—”
“Delta, kill them.”
“Understood.”
The leader didn’t even finish his sentence before he was cut into three pieces.
The rest followed.
Shino looted their bodies.
Worthless.
All of them together barely had a few hundred thousand zeni.
That night, they ran into nine more bandit groups.
Total haul: 1 million zeni.
After three days and nights of nonstop travel, Gamma’s efforts paid off.
They sold the goods at 10 times the price.
1 billion zeni.
But getting that money out of the country was another problem.
The moment they reached the city gate, the guards blocked them.
Gamma tried every nice word she knew.
They wouldn’t budge.
“There are criminals in the city.
No one enters or leaves.”
“Unless…”
“Unless you pay 1 billion zeni.”
Gamma froze.
They were blatantly shaking her down.
Shino wasn’t stupid.
The authorities had let them make the money, but they had no intention of letting it leave the country.
They were bullying them, treating them like nameless merchants they could rob in the dead of night.
“It’s fine.
Let’s find an inn and stay the night.”
Shino patted Alpha on the shoulder.
“I’m going to the WC.”
Alpha didn’t quite understand, but she nodded.
“Okay.”
Not long after Shino left, a figure in black dropped from the sky, cratering the ground.
“Who are you?!” the guard captain shouted.
“Me?
Lawless Outlaw Zhang San.”
Shino casually formed a massive ball of magic in his hands.
“Th-that magic — run!”
The soldiers scattered.
Shino blew the city gate to pieces.
He walked over to Alpha and the others, waved his hand, and all 1 billion zeni was wrapped in slime.
“I’ll be taking this.
Hahaha!”
He hoisted the massive bundle onto his back and ran.
A squad of Magic Sword Knights appeared, all chasing after him.
The four women watched them go.
The three of them understood immediately.
Delta yawned, already thinking about what to eat next.
➤ Next: Dog-Eat-Dog — Steel and Blood