Science/Magic

The information about Returning Dusk surprised Bloed greatly. And at the same time, it helped him to realize what kind of organization he needed to face in the future if he wanted to exterminate the Devourers.

Moreover, he finally understood why they were experimenting with the Devourers.

Immortality.

They hoped to use it to attain Eternal Life.

Even the Human Confederation found the Devourers astonishing. Their ability to survive in the most hostile environments and to reproduce and devour everything around them was unbelievable.

Even a small devourer cell could end engulfing all the life of a world with enough time.

Even although Bloed did not think the devourers could be considered Immortal, they definitively deserved to be called 'Undying'.

"… Miss Charise, do you think you can give me all the information you have about Returning Dusk?" Bloed asked after considering it for a moment.

Charise looked at Bloed with a bitter smile before sighing.

"… I should not do it, but... Okay, but it's a special service just because we are friends."

Bloed smiled softly and nodded.

Meanwhile, the headmistress cast communication magic and started to use it to give instructions to the security of the city to find the missing students.

At the same time, she directly canceled the rest of the events of the day. It would be a bit troublesome to cancel the festival just like this, but she did not have more options in the current situation.

When she finally finished giving orders, almost fifteen minutes had passed.

Wave then sighed and looked at Bloed's group.

"Right, I almost forgot about the issue of the game due to the current situation. Congratulations on your successful victory. It was an excellent performance. As the three of you managed to survive until the end of the game, each one of you has the right to ask for a reward from me. Of course, you can't ask for something too outrageous, but as long as it's not too difficult, I'll do it."

"A reward, huh…" Bloed fell deep in thought.

In fact, there were a few things he wanted, so he had a bit of trouble deciding.

Fortunately, his demon girlfriend seemed to understand his troubles.

"A reward huh. Actually, I don't need anything in particular. Bloed, you can have it if you want."

Bloed smiled gratefully. But before he could reply, he felt someone pulling his shirt.

"… You can have mine too." Aya said with an embarrassed expression.

Bloed put on an awkward expression.

"Aya, are you sure?"

"… Mm. I don't need anything right now. So it's better if you have it."

Bloed expression was complicated.

It was a reward from the headmistress, an Apotheosis Demigod. There was no way Aya did not find it useful.

However, she decided to give it to him without thinking.

A warm feeling filled Bloed's heart. He patted the cat girl's head and smiled softly.

"Thanks."

"Mm..."

"... Hey, Aya, please stop flirting with my boyfriend in front of me."

The cat girl quickly blushed when she heard Liu Ying's voice. At the same time, she shivered slightly when she felt Regina staring at her fixedly.

Meanwhile, Bloed could feel Wave looking at him with an expression of interest.

"It looks like you are pretty lucky with the ladies, huh, young man."

Bloed smiled wryly.

"I am."

Wave chuckled. "Okay, let's stop with the jokes. Tell me, what are your requests?"

Bloed thought for a moment before opening his mouth.

"Firstly, I hope you can keep me informed about the development of today's incident. Is it possible?"

Wave narrowed her eyes for an instant before nodding.

"It's against the protocol, but it's my city, and I make the rules. Very well, what else?"

"I wish access to the Great Library."

"Access to the Great Library?" Wave thought for a moment and nodded. "Very well, you will have unlimited access to the lower floor of the Great Library. As for the upper floors, you will be able to enter once and read three books of your preference. That is the most I can offer you."

Bloed sighed softly and nodded.

It was much less than he expected, but he was not too disappointed. After all, he heard that only demigods or people with special qualifications could enter the library.

Being able to read all the books on the lower floor was already a great privilege.

"Then, what is your third petition, young man?"

This time, Bloed did not reply immediately.

Instead, he thought about for almost one minute.

There were many things he could ask for. Resources, perhaps other techniques like [King's Aura] that did not need mana, treasures related to soul power (psychic energy), or even money.

But after thinking for a while, Bloed decided to ask for something different.

"… I want to form my own club."

Wave stared at Bloed silently for several seconds. Then, she put on a pensive expression and closed her eyes.

When she opened them again, she asked him something.

"Can I ask what kind of club you want to form?"

"… About Magic Engineering."

"Magic Engineering?" Wave raised an eyebrow curiously. "It's my first time hearing about that. Do you mind to explain to me about it?"

Bloed hesitated for a moment before taking something out of his storage device.

His metallic puppy and armor, Tito.

Then, he asked it to go towards the headmistress.

"You can check it."

The headmistress furrowed her brows and grabbed the puppy. She then started to examine it carefully.

At the start, she thought it was just a normal golem. But soon, her eyes widened.

"This is… Impossible, it doesn't use mana! Moreover, how can it work without magic circles? No, there are some magic runes…

but these magic runes… No, no, no, something is wrong. Young man, what in the hell is it?"

"Technology. The reason I want to form my own club is to spread it."

Headmistress Wave fell silent. She then looked at Bloed and sighed.

"Certainly, it's a very impressive and unusual technique. Even I am surprised. Mm, it deserves its own club. However, Mr. Bloed, although I can help you to create a club, I don't think that is a good idea."

"Huh?"

"You see, normal clubs are nothing more than places where students gather. There is nothing special about them. There hundreds of clubs like these in Academy City. Even without my help, you can create a club like that as long as you have the approbation of a teacher and more than five members.

"However, a club like that is useless for you. It will stay unnoticed and it will not receive support from the city. If you want to use it to spread your magic engineering through Academy City, then that is not a good option.

"However, it's different if it's one of the top one hundred clubs of the city."

"The top one hundred clubs? What is special about them?"

"They receive support from the city and other benefits you will like. Moreover, most students join these clubs, so your magic engineering will quickly become popular. The only problem is that I can't make a recently-created club one of the top one hundred clubs even if I want. You will need to earn that position by yourself. However, you will need at least one year to achieve it."

Bloed frowned. One year…

It was a lot of time.

"However, there is another option." The headmistress suddenly said.

"… What is it?"

"You see, there is a certain club going through a very bad situation right now. It's one of the top one hundred clubs, but at this rate, it will lose its position soon.

"This club focuses on something very similar to your magic engineering, so it's suitable for you. If you want, I can make you the leader of that club. You will have to take care of some troubles after that, but it's better than creating a club from scratch.

"What do you say? Are you interested?"