Chapter 58 Getting A New Apprentice

Daniel's demonstration of power sends a clear message to anyone who might have had any greedy or malicious intentions toward him. As an artificer without a mage ID, he is particularly vulnerable to enslavement. Kyros's fate serves as a stark reminder of the consequences that await those who can't keep their greed in check.

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After the trial, Daniel received his well-earned payment of 150 million Origold straight into his Grand Tower Bank account without the cut profit to the auction hall. Unsurprisingly, this bank was created by The Hightower for all the mages and people in the Curtained World.

Daniel proceeded to meet with the three individuals who had purchased his order cards and received their requests.

Hargrim Goldgrip, the dwarf president of the dwarf community, desired an indestructible armor that could withstand a direct shot from a personal railgun. The elf queen sought a bow that would never miss and had the same penetration power as the red scarab she had witnessed in the trial by combat. Fortunately, fulfilling these requests was within Daniel's capabilities.

However, there was an issue with the ginger-haired girl, known as the Witch of Sloth, or simply Sloth. She had requested to learn the Atlantean artifact creation method from Daniel in the order card.

In the luxurious private lounge on the VIP floor of the building that Montgomery had arranged for gatherings and socializing, or simply enjoying good food, Daniel found himself in a predicament.

"Er... Mis Sloth, I think this is..." Daniel began, intending to refuse Sloth's request, but when he looked at her again, he realized she had already fallen asleep in her comfortable wheelchair.

Daniel's brow and mouth twitched. [This girl is really a handful,] he thought to himself.

He glanced over at Ragnar, who was nearby, leisurely enjoying his Sunday ice cream, seemingly unconcerned with the situation at hand.

"Lord Stenmark?" Daniel called out to Ragnar.

Ragnar paused his hand, which was about to scoop up another bite, and turned to Daniel.

"Just tell her to come to your workshop, and you can teach her," Ragnar said without much thought.

Daniel let out a tired sigh at Ragnar's uncaring attitude before turning towards Sloth, the ginger-haired witch.

"Er... Miss Sloth?" Daniel called out to her, intending to shake her shoulder to wake her up, but was suddenly interrupted.

Zap!

A mechanical hand emerged from the back of Sloth's wheelchair, wielding a net-like contraption that emitted a low electrical charge, zapping Daniel's hand as he reached out.

Daniel pulled his hand back in surprise, exclaiming.

"What!?" as he looked at the contraption in confusion. He didn't feel any pain, thanks to Michaela's ability that rendered any damage to him useless as long as she was still alive.

"What the…" As he tried to make sense of what had just happened, a silver sword suddenly appeared and rushed towards Sloth.

Slash!

In a panic, Daniel shouted

"Stooooop!!"

The silver sword cut through the contraption's hand and was about to slice through Sloth's neck, stopping only a few centimeters away.

Michaela, the owner of the silver holy sword, looked at Daniel in confusion while her sword was still pressed against Sloth's neck.

"Yes, my Lord? Did you want me to crucify this heretic instead?" Michaela asked innocently, her cruel words contrasting with her sweet tone.

Her words and actions stunned Ragnar, who had been enjoying his chocolate sundae nearby. He looked at her in disbelief.

"Hey, kid. Are you sure you're not an illegitimate son of the Pope of the Vatican or something? This lady is seriously scary," Ragnar whispered to Daniel.

Daniel never expected his bodyguard to be like this. Michaela didn't give off any air of fanaticism like those who hunted down others for the slightest offense against the monarchy, trying to prove their loyalty to the Tessia King.

"No one is going to be crucified, and..." Daniel emphasized the "and" as Michaela was about to use her sword to decapitate Sloth's head, stopping her in her tracks.

"No one is going to be decapitated either," Daniel said, trying to calm the angry archangel down.

Michaela's face was sullen after hearing Daniel's words, but she obediently dematerialized her sword.

"Also..." Daniel looked into Michaela's eyes, making sure she could see that he was sincere. "Thank you for trying to protect me," he said with a smile.

Michaela smiled a little and nodded before stationing herself beside Daniel protecting him.

Sloth, who had been disturbed by Michaela, slowly opened her eyes and looked around before noticing that one of the arms of her comfy wheelchair's contraption had been cut.

She picked up the broken arm of the contraption and looked around with confusion. "Why did you break my chair?" she innocently asked.

Daniel was unsure whether to laugh or feel exasperated at Sloth's sleepiness. Despite the danger she was in, she seemed entirely unaware of what had just happened.

Noticing Daniel's growing frustration, Ragnar stepped in to help clarify the situation. After a few minutes of explanation, and some effort in keeping Sloth awake during the conversation, she finally understood.

"Oh, Daniel... I'm sorry. This is my anti-disturbance system that I set up and forgot to turn off," Sloth explained, fighting her drowsiness.

"Miss Sloth, it's alright," Daniel sighed in exasperation. While she may have seemed slow and dense, she was also incredibly innocent.

"Well, about the request you made," Daniel began.

"You're going to teach me!?" Sloth's sleepiness seemed to suddenly disappear as she asked eagerly. Daniel wondered how much she wanted to learn to be able to fight off her usual sleepiness.

"I'm sorry to say that I can't teach you the Atlantean Artifact Creation Method. It's a business secret," Daniel explained.

Sloth's sleepiness seemed to return as her eyes half-closed.

"But you said you would do anything on the order card," Sloth said, showing the card to Daniel.

"So I order you to teach me the Atlantean Artifact Creation Method. I'm following your rule," Sloth explained, even though she seemed about to doze off at any moment.

Daniel smiled wryly and sighed. "Miss Sloth, what you just bought is the Three Star Artifact Customization Order Card. It's not the order card that you can use to order me," he patiently explained to Sloth, who tilted her head in confusion.

After hearing what Daniel said, Sloth turned the order card around to see its content. She squinted her eyes, staring at the text on the card. After a moment of staring, she took a pair of glasses out of her bag and put them on to see the text more clearly.

After a few moments of silence, Sloth uttered, "Oh..."

Then she used her hand to delete the content she had written and wrote a new one. Daniel let out a smile, realizing that Sloth had just misunderstood.

After writing for a moment, Sloth turned the card over for Daniel to see. "Create an artifact that could teach me the Atlantean Artifact Creation Method" was written in the artifact description.

Seeing this, Daniel clutched his head, feeling an increasing headache. This was the first time he had been defeated in his own game since graduating from university. Now he didn't know what to do, as this request was in line with the rules he had set.

Daniel hated hypocrites and didn't want to be one himself, so he needed to try another approach.

"Miss Sloth," Daniel started. "How about this: I'll teach you the method, but in return, you need to work in my workshop for five years. You can also keep that order card to order me to make any artifact you want, except for the one that teaches you the method. You need some time as an apprentice to learn and train to use such methods anyway."

Upon hearing this, Sloth went silent, seemingly lost in thought or dozing off as she repeatedly closed and opened her eyes. Was she going to sleep or thinking?

"No, I can't. I already work for Greed in her laboratory... can't go back on my promise," said Sloth.

Daniel let out a sympathetic smile. It seemed that the ginger-haired girl valued her promises very highly. As for Greed, he guessed that she must be another Witch of the Seven Deadly Sins.

"But..." Daniel listened carefully to what Sloth was about to say. Was she going to ask for something else?

"If it's for two years, I can use all of my vacation time. It won't count as breaking my promise since I'll still technically be working for her, just on vacation," Sloth proposed.

He took that back, Sloth was like a little fox who could exploit you if your guard was down. He made a mental note to never let his guard down around her, or risk losing all his money and will still happily count her the money she got from selling him to the slaver.

"Okay, two years it is." Daniel agreed and reached his hand forward, shaking hands with Sloth before she drifted off into her dreamland once again.