Huh? I feel so drowsy… Did I perhaps lose consciousness? I’m sitting… on a bed? Just where am I?
“Are you awake, dear customer?”
“Huh? Sister… Annerose? What’s going on?”
“Ah. I’m sure you must be surprised because you are in an unfamiliar place. I was worried about you, you know? Some people found you collapsed outside the entrance of the Farche Dungeon. So I asked them to bring you here so you can recover. You can think of this place as my personal workspace.”
“How long was I out? What day is today?”
“Funny you should say that.” Her sweet smile turned into a vicious frown. She pulled a chair and slammed her foot on it while leaning forward. Every ladylike feature she had was basically gone.
“It’s the day you are supposed to pay me back. You fucker… you got some nerve. Did a weakling like you really enter the Farche Dungeon, playing around with my collateral? Do you really still consider your organs to be your own? Bastard, if you damage them, what use would I have for them? Were you really thinking of not paying the Church back?”
“Hahaha! This is so like you.” “The fuck is that supposed to mean?” “I’m just glad I am able to talk with the real you. Not with Annerose Prismheart from the Church of Light. But the one behind that mask. Bloody Rose.”
Shock was written all over her face. She kicked the chair away and literally jumped on the bed mounting me. Normally I wouldn’t mind having a woman on top. But right now… I could feel like dying any moment. My own time limit… must be getting close as well.
“How the hell does a nobody like you know that name?”
“Before joining the Church of Light you were also an adventurer, were you not?” “That doesn’t explain how you know that name.”
“Relax. I don’t intend to blackmail you or anything. I know the reason you joined the Church of Light isn’t because of your faith or anything like that. It’s just because you love money. And it’s more profitable being in the Church. But to maximize your earnings… you also took the role of a black market dealer, under the authorization of the Church. Money, equipment, potions… and monster parts. You can deal with all of them, can’t you?”
“So the fact you’re revealing this to me is because…” “How about you get off me first. You’re quite heavy and we can’t have a proper negotiation like this.”
“Call me heavy one more time and I’ll fucking kill you.”
. . .
“I don’t understand. I thought you were completely crazy. But this is…”
As expected. I popped out the chimera I killed and stored in my storage. She was shocked because of me, but at the same time I could feel that she had dollar signs in her eyes.
“I take it you like it then?”
“You’re asking me if I fucking like a dead monster? Pff. Well there’s no reason denying it at this point. It is damaged from these weird skewer marks, but… it’s in the best condition I’ve ever seen. Once processed it’s going to fetch quite a pretty penny.”
“So then my debt…”
“Can be fully covered with this. But… there is still the matter of the interest, my dear customer.”
“You know, you’re really scary if you use that tone. How about you just call me Magnus, and I’ll call you Rose-san in return?”
“I don’t mind now that the cat’s out of the bag. But what are you going to do about the interest?”
“About that… I have a favor to ask. Rose-san… can you cut my heart out?”
Transferring the Dragon Heart in my body is not an easy process. It’s not something stupid like just keeping it close to my chest or eating it. My own heart has to be removed and this has to be put in its place. The current knowledge of this world and magic can keep my body going for 10 minutes without a heart. Thankfully Rose didn’t know that the lump of crystal I pulled out is a Dragon Heart. As famous as she is there are only a handful of people who know what this is.
By taking my heart, my interest fee is covered. More than that, since the heart is a rare organ, she’ll actually give me some spare change since hearts are never offered. Well mostly because you would die. Rose-san prepared a special container filled with a green liquid and engraved with a rune. This container can keep the heart fresh and beating for 10 days.
“Hey, I’m going to ask you one last time. Are you sure you want to do this? Although this thing is emanating with some strange mana… It’s not like this lump of crystal can replace your heart.”
“Yes. I’m sure. Please CoughCough*... proceed.”
“You look like you’re about to kick the bucket, kid. Well whatever. I personally don’t mind. It’s out of a sheer morbid curiosity that I’m doing this. Just remember, even with a paralysis potion, it’s still going to be painful as hell.”
I gritted my teeth and allowed her to start the operation. This was a middle age setting. Yet still, the tools she brought were sterilized with alcohol at least. I should mention that she had 2 henchmen to help. Obviously she can’t perform heart surgery by herself. They cut me open and slowly began to extract my heart, while Rose was applying magic to keep my blood circulating. But she was right. It was painful. I ended up screaming many times. But I wasn’t allowed to faint. How long did the operation last? Well over an hour. But she managed to place the Dragon Heart in me and stitched me back.
“This kid is as good as dead now. There’s no way a lump of crystal can replace a heart. It has no pulsation. It’s a shame though. Even though he was mysterious, I felt he could have been profitable. Well at least we got this out of the deal.”
As she was preparing to leave… a bright light erupted from the bed.
“What the fuck!?”
A light so powerful that you couldn’t keep your eyes open. Even with your eyes closed the light still hurt. They had no choice but to fall down facing the ground. Eventually the light subsided and the 3 people could lift their heads.The pain I felt in my chest finally disappeared as well. And at the same time a voice echoed in my head.
“1.27 billion experience points have been successfully claimed. Evolution complete.”
“The hell!? What in the Goddess name just happened to you? Magnus… are you still Magnus?” (Rose)
Rose faced many shocks today, to the point she might want my heart for herself. But this time… I was shocked as well. The moment I saw myself in a mirror and realized… I wasn’t human anymore.