In a cottage in the middle of the lake, Ziel looked at Princess Iris who was silent in shock with a face of disbelief. This is because of the words that have been spoken by Ziel. She couldn’t believe that ziel could help her dispel the mana that was like a curse to her.

“Are you kidding me? Are you playing with me!?” Princess Iris screamed hysterically at him. She started crying again after she had calmed down. 

“Do you think I’m joking with you? You almost killed my master, Lady Clara. And now you’re acting like you’re the one who suffered the most?” Ziel spoke coldly. He didn’t mean to make her more depressed, he just wanted Princess Iris to accept the truth.

“Hics…hics…” Princess Iris didn’t answer, because his words stabbed into her heart. Her tears began to flow like a broken dam.

“I’ll tell you, I don’t care about your situation. But you must know, Lady Clara cares about you as her best friend. I’m just trying to get rid of the problems around her and you think I’m joking?” Ziel narrowed his eyes at her. He ignored Princess Iris who was sobbing and continued to say things that broke her heart. Princess Iris’ mana suddenly overflowed and put pressure on the surroundings but it didn’t affect them.

“I will ask you one last time. Do you want to control your mana so as not to harm those around you again?” Ziel asked her like it was none of his business.

“…Can you help me?” Princess Iris looks at Ziel expectantly. Ziel responded with a small nod.

“But you should know, I can guarantee that you will be able to control your mana. But you have to pay for it.” Ziel splashed cold water on Princess Iris who was happy to have recovered from her curse.

“What should I pay you? Money? Gold? Or a magic tool? Say it! I’ll talk to my father about it!” Princess Iris got a little excited after Ziel said he would guarantee his success. Princess Iris didn’t know why she could trust him so easily, let alone she didn’t know anything about his powers. Princess Iris was in a state of being controlled by her mana when she was instantly defeated by Ziel in the Alba Mountain Range, so she didn’t remember it.

“You have to pay for it with your freedom.” Ziel spoke flatly. This made Princess Iris shocked and uncomfortable with his words.

“What do you mean?” Princess Iris still doesn’t understand what he said.

“You have to do a master and servant contract with me.” Ziel came up with this idea after forcing a contract on Lilith. It was the first time he had done a master and servant contract. Ziel had never done it even before he was reincarnated.

“Do you mean I have to be your slave?” Princess Iris timidly asked Ziel. She never imagined that she would become someone’s slave to remove his curse.

“Yes.” Ziel nodded slightly in response.

“Don’t joke with me! You’re asking me who’s a Princess to be a slave!?” Princess Iris raised her voice in anger. She felt her pride as a woman and princess of the neigal kingdom had been hurt.

“I see. Then you can go back to the dormitory. There’s nothing more to talk about.” Ziel started to brew the tea he made earlier. Not only tea, but he also makes hot chocolate. She makes 3 cups, hot chocolate for Kalya, tea for him, and the rest she puts on the table. Lilith then glanced at the hot chocolate in the cup. The aroma of the drink made her gulp.

“Can I drink it?” Lilith asked him in a low voice.

“Sure, this is for you.” Ziel answered then started sipping his tea, the three of them had forgotten Princess Iris who froze after his cold words.

“Ken, is there no other way than I have to be a slave?” Princess Iris still couldn’t give up her pride as a Princess.

“No. You must know how other students will treat you after that incident. You might hurt Lady Clara again” Ziel reminded her again. Princess Iris’s body trembled slightly, then she bit her lip until it bled. She finally made up her mind.

“Alright, I’ll go your way!” He spoke in a deep voice. For some reason, she felt that she had vaguely seen the figure of Ziel with gray hair. It made her believe that Ziel could dispel the curse. She was still confused about the basis of her belief. But right now she chose to trust her instincts and throw away her pride.

“Are you sure, Your Highness Princess Iris?” Ziel quipped at her with complete honorifics. Princess Iris trembled slightly, she felt sad when Ziel called her that way.

“Yes, I am sure!” Princess Iris said reassuringly. Ziel stood up after hearing her answer. He walked over to Princess Iris. He reached out his hand and touched her head. Princess Iris’s face reddened with Ziel’s sudden action.

[Contract Seal]

(Did he do the same to me back then?)

Lilith muttered in her heart when she saw Ziel doing master and servant contracts. Meanwhile, Kalya just kept quiet for fear of disturbing him.

Unlike what he did with Lilith, he didn’t force his contract on her. A magic seal with the same pattern appeared on Princess Iris’ forehead and then disappeared. Princess Iris’s body seemed to be shrouded in a very thin membrane of gray light and blended with her skin. Suddenly her mana soared and passed the Magic Master level and almost touched the Magic Grandmaster level. Princess Iris’s face became even brighter and more beautiful than before. She is currently even on par with Kalya. Ziel withdrew his hand from princess Iris’ head after the process was over.

Kalya and Lilith were shocked to see the changes that had occurred to Princess Iris. But Princess Iris still didn’t notice the change in her because she was still enjoying the head pat from Ziel earlier.

“Aah…” princess felt lost when Ziel pulled her hand.

“It’s over. From now on you’re free to approach anyone. No one will be hurt because of your mana. As long as we still have this contract, I can help control and resist the effects of your mana. As long as I’m alive, you’ll never lose control again.” Ziel glanced at Lilith. She quickly averted her gaze after realizing his gaze.

“Ah…thank you Ken…thank you…” Princess Iris smiled sweetly. She knelt down and involuntarily shed tears of joy because the curse that had tormented her all this time was gone. When she felt everyone’s gazes, she stood up and wiped her tears. Right now she still wasn’t aware of the state of her body.

“Then you can go back to your dormitory. Because your father might be looking for you after he gets to the academy.” Ziel didn’t want Princess Iris to stay in his place any longer because it would cause trouble if the academy suddenly looked for her.

“Okay.” Princess Iris reluctantly agreed after Ziel brought up his father’s name.

“I’ll take her. Because I have a meeting with the teachers this afternoon.” Kalya offers to go with Princess Iris.

“Okay, Miss Kalya.” Princess Iris nodded slightly in agreement.

“Ziel, I’m going first.” Kalya smiled sweetly and kissed Ziel’s cheek before leaving which made Princess Iris surprised and wondered about their relationship. But she remained silent and did not dare to question it. After they left, Ziel saw Lilith who was not far from him. When he realized his gaze, Lilith trembled slightly.

“Can you start answering my questions?” Ziel asked her coldly.

***

Inside the principal’s office in the SkyDome building, Homerooms from all classes gathered to give their reports about the survival test they had previously taken and the academy’s future plans. All the homeroom teachers have gathered there including Kalya. King Leonida and King Raghnall also participated.

“Okay…since everyone has gathered, we will start this meeting. We will start the report from class S.” Merlick who was sitting between King Leonida and King Raghnall started their meeting. What they were going to talk about was still about the matter of the previous survival test.

“Principal…after the survival test was over, I got a lot of requests from parents and some students also talked to me directly.” Flavio smiled bitterly after remembering what had happened. It hadn’t been long since they had returned from the Alba Mountain Range.

“What do you mean by request?” Merlick had a bad feeling from Flavio’s words.

“They sent a request to withdraw their child from this school.” Flavio sighed heavily in his heart when he thought about losing more than half of the students from his class.

“What!? How many requests is that!?” Merlick got up from his chair and asked in a high voice.

“Almost 70 people if added to the student’s request personally without involving their parents.” Flavio conveyed information that took everyone by surprise.

“Haa… So that’s how it is. Did you guys also accept that request?” Merlick sat back in his chair weakly and sighed heavily. He looked at the other 6 teachers.

“Report to the principal, we also received it even though the number was not as much as class S. They gave the reason that they received reports from their children about the incidents in the Alba Mountain range and what dangers they experienced. So the parents decided to expel their child from the academy to prevent them from experiencing that kind of danger again.” Beatrix, the homeroom teacher from class B who answered Merlick.

Beatrix and all the teachers received the same requests that Flavio received but in lesser amounts. This is understandable because class S is filled with talented children from the nobility. So their parents were afraid of the dangers of every exam given by the academy. The nobles didn’t want to take the risk.

“I intend to reduce the number of students in each class by half. But for class S, this was too much and their response was too fast…” Merlick thought for a moment then continued his words.

“Alright, since they’ve made up their minds I can’t do anything else. I will reduce students by 60% from each class. That can be taken from the parents’ request plus the students who failed the survival test. For now, we will close the academy for the next month. We’ll start studying at the academy with the right and a solid number of students after that.” Merlick had to make a difficult decision. This way he was able to achieve his goal of reducing students, but the reduced students would be mixed with the talented ones due to the parents’ request.

“Yes, principal!” All the homeroom teachers answered in unison.

“Kalya…” Merlick then looked at Kalya who had been silent since the beginning of the meeting.

“Yes?” Kalya already knew what Merlick was going to ask her.

“Can’t you tell us the identity of that person? I heard from Flavio you seem quite close to him.” Merlick was talking about Ziel. After hearing stories from Flavio and some of the teachers, Merlick concluded that Kalya knew him.

“I already said it, I don’t know him. So please don’t ask that again.” Kalya answered nonchalantly. The teachers and the two kings were a little disappointed with kalya who stubbornly kept it a secret.

“Haa… It’s fine if you don’t want to answer. Leo, Raghnall, how are the other kings responding to this matter?” Merlick sighed heavily after hearing Kalya’s answer and looked at King Leonida and King Raghnall beside him.

“After learning about the incident in the Alba Mountain range, we decided to do the same thing that was done 900 years ago.” king Raghnall answered Merlick’s question.

“Isn’t this already a taboo?” Merlick narrowed his eyes at King Raghnall. And looked at King Leonida who could only smile bitterly.

“We had no choice, and Raghnall has found a way too.” King Leonida was against it, but because the other four kings agreed, he could only follow their decision.

“How to do it?” Merlick asked curiously. As a sage, he has a great interest in anything related to magic.

“King Gustave has an ancient imperial object and book that can help us in the Rubelia Kingdom. I will also participate in the process.” King Raghnall has been invited to come to the Rubelia Kingdom next week. The teachers looked confused by their conversation. Flavio finally asked King Raghnall on their behalf.

“Sorry if I cut you off. Can we know what you’re talking about?” Flavio looked at Merlick then at the two kings. The three of them looked at each other. Finally, it was King Raghnall who answered their curiosity.

“Hero summoning from another world.” King Raghnall’s answer took the teachers by surprise.

***

A week later, in a large hall in the Rubelia Kingdom. Two men with similar faces and hair color walked together, next to him was Princess Reina who had returned temporarily because the academy was on vacation. The two men are kings of the rubella kingdom, Gustave Rubelia, and the man next to him is the first prince and the older brother of Princess Reina, Albert Rubelia.

“Dad, are you sure you want to do this?” Albert asked his father with a worried face.

“We have no other choice, you should know that your sister was badly injured due to the incident. If we continue like this, the humans will be wiped out.” King Gustave walked while answering his son’s question. He entered a large, dimly lit room. There King Raghnall was waiting for him. In front of them was a large altar with a magic circle engraved on it, and in the center was a piece of stone similar to what Ziel had taken from Ashil and Asbil. It was one of the world’s altar fragments. They used it as a catalyst for the hero summoning ritual.

(I can’t wait to meet a hero from another world!)

Princess Reina looks very excited. She could only read about heroes in the books left by the empire. But right now she could see them in person.

“Raghnall, how are the preparations?” King Gustave asked in a slightly tense voice.

“Everything is ready, we just have to start the ritual.” King Raghnall answered without looking at King Gustave as he was currently focused on the altar in front of him.

“Okay, let’s start now.” King Gustave gave his approval. King Raghnall nodded and started to drain his mana. King Raghnall nodded and started pouring his mana into the altar. He was assisted by the 12 Magic Kings who were standing around the altar.

[O heroes from another world. Come and give peace to this world. With the blessing of the great god!]

[SUMMON!]

A gigantic pillar of light descended from the sky and fell right on the altar with a summoning magic circle. The light lasted for a few minutes and then disappeared.

“Where am I?”