Unedited chapter. It will be edited soon.

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As they left, Robert looked at Rebecca. "You met an interesting guy, but I think his arrogance could lead to his death," he said.

"Haha, how can you be sure it's arrogance, Father?"

"Oh? So you think I'll lose this bet, then?"

"It could be." She smiled. "Since I've known him, he's just been an annoying, slightly stubborn, and joking guy, but not arrogant. So I think he's speaking with some basis this time. It could be the first time you lose a bet, Father."

Robert looked at her in a daze for a brief moment and soon began to laugh.

"All right, all right. That being the case, I will thoroughly enjoy these days when my bet will enter a phase of uncertainty," he said and rose from his seat.

"Miss Evergreen, remember what we discussed earlier and prepare accordingly. They won't do anything on the first day, so we have several days to prepare," he said.

Evergreen nodded, although she was a little exhausted, not because of her busy schedule, but rather because these guys were betting 100 billion so casually. With that kind of money, it didn't matter who the Castle was (not counting Priestley), anyone could allow Louis to be part of them, as a family businessman or someone with a fairly high status.

Why use him for such a silly bet?

If he loses 100 billion, it will be gone as if nothing happened!

She couldn't understand it, and it really hurt her head just trying to think about the reasons behind it, so she decided not to pay attention to these wasteful people.

-

After finishing his fight, he had no more fights left for the day, so Louis went to talk to Hardrial.

Since Laura was still fighting, and so were many of the students, he found himself watching fights here as well.

"What do you think of this tournament format?" asked Hardrial.

"All the matches will be held within a period of three to five days... that's to test the students' endurance, right?"

"That's right. That's why the battles tend to be consecutive. There have been tournaments like this that end in a single day, despite the large number of matches, because they happen so quickly. That's why a rule was established to make it last at least 3 days."

"I see."

Hardrial glanced at him sideways. "Although it seems like it's not costing you anything," he said.

Louis laughed. "Well, it's a lot easier than I thought so far. So that endurance isn't working on me," he said and looked at the other students.

"Although it doesn't seem to be the same for everyone."

"Partly because you're taking everything more seriously from the start. Generally, everyone here puts themselves in very difficult situations when they know they have a big advantage over their opponent, so they learn new things or improve their weaknesses."

"Laura too?" he asked, watching Laura's last fight.

"Well, maybe. That level of difficulty isn't necessary, and I don't see what she wants to learn from it, so maybe she just did it to avoid drawing attention to herself."

"I see."

"What kind of unfavorable circumstances could I put myself in?" Louis wondered, curious.

He didn't know much about his weaknesses, and although he could think of ways to put himself in a difficult situation, he didn't think they would help him understand his weaknesses.

That was complicated, because if he didn't know his weaknesses, how was he supposed to overcome them?

"I need to think of a way to discover those weaknesses so I can cover them up."

To do that, he would surely have to go through a whole new learning process, so for now he decided to put it off until later.

A few minutes later, the fights were over, including Laura's, and when all the fights had come to an end.

A central referee climbed onto the largest platform, which had no opponents today, and addressed the stands to bid them farewell. No one else gave a farewell speech, and when he finished, just as everyone was ready to leave, the stands closed.

Huge mechanisms lowered enormous black walls that covered each section of the arena and the stands, plunging everyone into darkness, even those in the VIP rooms.

Seconds later, the internal lights came on to allow everyone to leave.

When Louis saw these mechanisms, he was stunned.

"What amazing technology," he thought. "Is this world so technologically advanced that it can do this?" he wondered, stunned enough to be paralyzed.

He had seen similar things on Earth, but he had never witnessed this kind of technology in this world, and the memories in his mind were still diminished, so he didn't know if the land of the gods had anything like this.

Although now he was sure they did. Of course, it was advanced technology, but it wasn't that useful, yet it was still a type of technology that this world shouldn't have.

"Surprised?" Hardrial asked as they left.

"Quite," he replied.

"Haha, for this and other similar reasons, the academy is perhaps the most important independent force in the empire. We have technology that has never been seen in our history, possibly coming from past civilizations, far in the past. This is just one of those interesting things that the academy keeps," he said.

"How did you get here? Is the academy that old?"

"It's not really that old. It was founded quite a bit after the Empire, but all the geniuses of the Empire have passed through here, and since it's a house of learning that should be sacred, many of the geniuses of the Empire ended up donating things they discovered in ruins, so in the end, the Academy ended up with the most advanced technology, thanks to those geniuses," he said.

"I see, that's why the academy has such high status in the empire."

"Yes, the Habsburgs were major contributors in their time. They did it so as not to upset the balance of power between the castles, because if one castle had this kind of technology, it could start an internal war against them."

"That makes sense. This type of technology, although not very useful, if the castles decide to research it and manage to make progress, it is possible that they will get ahead of the other castles. Although that could bring great progress to the world, no one wants to take the risk," thought Louis.

It's like the current education system. They don't want to change it even though they know there are better options, because they know they would lose power if many people improved quickly.

Although everyone would benefit in the long run and the world would become a better place, no one wants to risk losing the power they currently have.

This world was quite selfish in many ways. Perhaps that is what has condemned them to be so divided.

"Well, it's none of my business," he thought.

Leaving that place, Louis and Hardrial met up with Laura, and after a chat, they went to their respective homes.

That night, Louis had gone to take care of some things at the House of Shadows.

Initially, he had only planned to browse through a few things, mostly for research purposes, but someone came to visit that night.

It was a woman, completely covered in black clothing.

Despite the others' insistence that she reveal herself, she refused to do so in a very quiet manner. So Louis told the rest of them to wait outside.

She watched everyone leave and then looked at the young man sitting on the main sofa.

"Is letting your subordinates leave when a stranger comes to see you the best option?" she asked.

"None of them are willing to die for me, so they're not even useful as human shields. That's why it's best to keep them away, so they don't get in the way," he replied.

"Ruling a territory without the loyalty of your forces... I don't think that's very smart."

"Haha, sometimes you have to do illogical things to achieve great results. Don't be surprised by that, ma'am." Louis offered her some coffee, but she refused, so he offered her tea, but she refused that too.

"Well, then, be direct. To what do I owe the honor of your visit?" he asked. "Since you're covering yourself so much, maybe you have an illness and think I'm a saint. I'll say it up front: I can't cure illnesses. If that's not it, then I hope I'm not in the presence of the empress or someone whose status is so absurd that I should bow, because I won't do it," he said.

The woman took his words as a joke and didn't want to delve into his mind games. She simply took out a scroll and placed it on the table.

"That mission, how much do you think it might cost in money?" she asked.

Louis frowned. "Missions are usually taken to the Mission Hall, where specialists can study the price in more detail, but I don't think you don't know that." He said and looked at her. "So it must be a mission that should not be made public."

"There are missions that only a few are qualified to know about."

"Like killing an emperor, destroying a district, or even something much darker, right?" Louis smiled, staring at her.

He grabbed the scroll after she didn't react and began to read its contents.

His expression didn't change, as he didn't want to appear vulnerable in front of someone unknown who seemed to have great power. But inside, he was in complete shock.

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