(40) Negotiation ends.

"I read the contract and I find it very appealing." Lucas honestly stated his feelings. 

"Then....!" Thermise's eyes shined in anticipation. 

"However, I have a condition or you could even say a deal for you, miss Thermise." Lucas smiled gradually, with the atmosphere around him changing immediately. 

"Please do continue then," Thermise revealed a serious expression too. Now, it really looked like they were having a proper negotiation.

"You must be aware of the situation in Halmen district, right? One way or the other, I have enmity with one of the rulers there..." 

Thermise cut him off: "I know about it, Yagren was it? I have seen the video of your school getting taken over by his gang. You had informed the cardinal officers of this priorly, but they never came in the end." 

"The government is in shambles because of this incident. If the castle had not appeared in the sky yesterday, they would have already launched a team to catch Yagren. And even now, they have not done so for some reason." 

Thermise spoke with a strange expression now that she thought of it. 

Yagren's action of taking over the school in broad daylight was an act of terrorization. However, for the cardinal forces to not move to arrest him was weird. But instead, they had gone to Dergon's territory to look for trouble. 

'That's the protagonist's aura for you, he is clearly a criminal at this point. But no one has arrested him yet, the cardinal forces could not be trusted anymore. Hehe, well, I will release a video on my channel too. Let's break all their authority.' 

Lucas's face wasn't censored in the video of when the school was hijacked. He could officially post a video on Wiber, abbreviating the situation more. The people's complaints and distrust in Cardinal officers would hence decrease further. 

'Yagren is protected by his protagonist's aura, but the same is not the case for the cardinal officers. I will absolutely destroy them.' Fierce emotions rose within Lucas. 

"....The cardinal officers have lost their credibility with this incident. The support from their side is so blatant, that it isn't funny anymore." Thermise shook her head in dissatisfaction. 

As expected of a figure standing at the top of the business industry, her information circle was huge. 

"Yes. He is still aiming for my life, so I have no other option but to take care of him. For this reason, I need your cooperation with the rulers below your control, miss Thermise." 

There was no need for Lucas to continue, Thermise understood what kind of help he needed immediately. 

Silence reigned into the room. 

"Oh, so you are looking for me due to the same reason too?" Blackjack broke his silence, giggling amusingly. 

"That's right." Lucas nodded his head. 

Thermise finished calculating Lucas's worth and a ruler of the Halmen district. Which didn't even need consideration. 

'Losing a ruler might break my connection to a good trading line, but the profits aren't that huge anyway. If I need some gray connection similar to it, I can ask for someone else with the connection to Halmen district.' Thermise decided to take up Lucas's condition. 

It was not set in stone that she would lose the ruler controlled by her anyway. 

"I accept your deal, you can do whatever you want with the ruler under my control. But in exchange for it, I want you to visit the company at least once a week." Thermise covered her mouth smiling slightly.

"Okay. I will visit after joining the anti-clock academy and I won't if I'm busy though." Lucas nodded and stated honestly. 

With that, Lucas put his blood on the end of the contract immediately. A strange connection formed with his soul, which was not easily breakable. 

[Contract break: 500,000 villain points.] 

"...." 

Lucas felt as if the villain system had broken for a second, but the numbers did not change even after taking a second glance. Anything regarding the soul seems to be very important, seeing the villain system charge so much. 

Thermise left the room with satisfaction, leaving Lucas alone with Blackjack and Terence. 

"Hmm? What kind of offer do you have for me, I wonder." Blackjack laughed like a good neighborhood grandpa. 

"....Half of the area under Yagren's control." Lucas put forth his card 

Blackjack's eyes widened: "Is there a reason for you to do that? I think you can easily take down this Yagren or whatever with the help of two rulers. Why go so far?" 

Lucas smiled bitterly internally, 'I don't like giving away benefits like this, but I need to prepare thoroughly to defeat Yagren.' 

"For caution's sake." Lucas closed his eyes tightly. 

"Caution sake, huh...? Well, I won't reject free benefits either, but I had a little different deal in my mind. Can you help us clear some dungeons in the black market in the future? If you agree to it, I will give you a VIP card to attend any trading events or black markets. How about it?" Blackjack extended his hand, smiling at Lucas. 

Everyone had seen Lucas's potential a while ago. Blackjack was greedy to get some of these future top figures help too. 

Seeing Lucas's attitude, he was not a good person either. Perfectly matching someone who wouldn't care about helping a killer like him. 

"I don't mind, I was actually thinking of visiting the black market's dungeons to gain experience anyway. Then, order the ruler below you to invade Yagren's area without holding back." Lucas got up with relaxation overcoming him. 

"Haha, sure. It was nice to meet you, Lucas." Blackjack unexpectedly liked Lucas's temperament, affected slightly by the villain role that both had. 

Lucas shook hands with Blackjack, before heading to the dinner hall. 

'Now I can wholeheartedly concentrate on conquering Katlyn. I can leave Yagren's destruction in Dergon's and others' hands. Should I go to meet her tomorrow? She is going to get discharged in another day, so I should go.' 

Anticipation built within Lucas. He remembered Katlyn's face, making his blood run rapidly. 

With light steps, Lucas chatted with Terence cheerfully. 

Meeting up with Syuzia, Lucas had dinner with her. 

"Uh, Father, how is it taking over the orphanage proceeding?" Lucas curiously looked towards Terence. 

"It's surprisingly hard...It might take a while more." Terence shook his head, sighing to himself. 

Lucas exposed a contemplating look. 

He never planned on letting the first protagonist he met in this world go easily. It was Levon who was still in the orphanage. 

'I should let him grow a little more before taking him down, this way my profit would increase astronomically.' 

As Lucas's willpower increased, his confidence too broke through to a new level.