CHAPTER 19: THE DROP RATE IS SO HIGH!

Veronica blushed as she put clothes on Wayne. It was clearly her first time if the way she fumbled was anything to go by, and she was rough. Fortunately, Wayne was already awake, or the pain would’ve woken him up.

Friction was inevitable when changing clothes, and she saw a certain bit that made her look away in disgust.

Then she glanced at it again.

It was ugly, but she was curious!

On either side of her, Monica kept her eyes squeezed shut, while William covered her eyes firmly with her fingers spread so wide apart that she might as well lower her hands.

After escaping the Gate of Truth, Wayne had collapsed from exhaustion, achieving the feat of pinning three beautiful girls down. Unfortunately, he didn’t know. Veronica was the first to wake up.

The Gate of Truth had consumed the town, leaving behind a desolate wasteland of scorched earth stretching to the surrounding forests. All that met the eye was devastated landscapes.

With the space overlapping with the town that Mike had sacrificed to the Gate of Truth, the real world returned to its proper course. Finally, the timeline disrupted fifty years ago on that fateful night continued.

Veronica had woken up William and Monica. The three retrieved fresh clothes from the car trunk and wrapped Wayne in a sheet. They brought him to the barn behind the church. After a night of resting, they searched the town and found clean clothes for him.

They didn’t understand how they had survived the Gate of Truth, but seeing Wayne in such deep slumber told them that it had something to do with him. They could have waited for him to wake up and dress himself, but it didn’t seem right to leave their savior naked. Besides, who knew when he would wake up? They needed to get him dressed to preserve his dignity.

Who would help Wayne dress? That was the question!

Actually, the issue wasn’t who would do it, but that the others would be watching—and they were best friends. If the dresser’s hand strayed even a little, the others would be calling her a perv for her whole life.

William talked big but chickened out at the last moment. No one volunteered, so they needed a fair method to decide the sacrifice. Veronica suggested rock-paper-scissors, knowing William had always had bad luck with it.

Veronica lost.

After helping Wayne change with nervous sweat beading on her face, she went downstairs in a daze to wash her hands. Her hands were dirty, and so were her eyes. The image would not leave her mind, meaning her heart was dirty, too. She was no longer pure.

She hated rock-paper-scissors!

A moment later, a loud bang came from the direction of the church; a wall seemed to have toppled disastrously. That made Wayne jerk up. He covered his dizzy head with a hand and slowly focused his eyes on William and Monica.

“Wayne, you’re awake!”

“Who... are you?”

The two girls were beautiful and well-proportioned, clearly never lacking nutrition as they grew up. And judging by their complexion, they were about the same age as Veronica. All three were first-class magical girls.

He could guess who they were, but still found it absurd. He marveled at how strange a curse could be and sighed in relief that he hadn’t turned into a pretty girl or a dog.

“Let me introduce myself. I’m Vera. Let’s be friends!”

William—no, Vera—winked and patted him on the shoulder, using the line from their first meeting. His look of shock made her break into a mischievous grin.

That was the reaction she had been waiting for.

“No! William—”

Wayne cried out in grief. After going through the life-and-death situation together, he had resolved to become bosom buddies with the hunk with a big bosom, the kind of best bros who casually put their arms around each other when walking. However, his dream best bro was suddenly gone, replaced by an arrestingly pretty girl.

Shit, could he still put his arm around her? Was he allowed to?

“Veronica Lando.”

“Vera Watson.”

“Kristen Letty.”

“Forgive me for interrupting, but why did your name change so dramatically?”

Wayne couldn’t help but comment. Veronica was still Veronica. William had become Vera, but at least the pronunciations shared some similarity. Why, though, did Monica become Kristen? Or technically, it would be the other way around.

And the change she went through was extreme!

What were those ridiculous lumps attached to her chest? Were they supposed to correspond to the little bells on the cat he had been thinking about so much? If so, was it too late to flick them now?

He regretted not having acted earlier and thus missing the chance for a satisfying flick. At the same time, he realized that his dream hadn’t been a dream—he had been surrounded by three long-haired beauties earlier.

Now came the question of who he had felt when he felt something supple and full, smooth and bouncy.

He opened his mouth, but wisely didn’t ask. Their curse had been lifted, and if they overpowered him, no amount of screaming would save him.

When he could match them in power, he would ask the question!

***

Because Wayne had saved their lives, the three young women now considered him one of their own and were no longer secretive around him. They had told him their real names, and now they gave him the complete, authentic story about themselves.

Veronica wasn’t a young lady from a foreign country coming to chase her dream. She was a local in Londan, attending the Evanston Women’s Academy in the city. She and Vera were roommates, while Kristen was a year their senior, studying for her master’s degree.

Evanston Women’s Academy appeared to be an ordinary university with no connection to magic, but in reality, there was a secret department that taught magic, training quality followers for Nature, Sun, and Moonlight.

Veronica and Vera were about to graduate. Their graduation test was to eliminate a stronghold of Death’s followers. Because of the strength of the enemies, they were allowed to ask a senior student to assist them. Veronica asked for Kristen’s help. The senior had been showing her the ropes in school, and she admired her as a role model.

With all three of them working together, they should have completed the graduation test without any issues, provided no accident happened.

And as expected, accidents did happen. After raiding the stronghold, they got cursed by one of the avatars of Death, thus becoming the strange trio Wayne had met. Given their excellent grades, they should’ve shrugged off the curses. Vera, for example, could use the magic she had used on Wayne to prevent the curse from latching on.

But that day, they all overthought it.

Kristen had been invited to help, and it wasn’t her graduation test. She was only there to provide support and wouldn’t take action unless necessary. She believed in her juniors, assuming that they had taken the proper measures to defend against the possible curses.

After all, that was common sense!

Veronica thought Vera would implement defense, and Vera thought Veronica would. One thing led to another...

Anyhow, Vera took full blame because she couldn’t beat Veronica.

Kristen was a star student, well-respected at the academy and admired by her juniors. Veronica also stood out for her appearance, family background, and academic performance, making her something of a celebrity.

They were unwilling to return to the academy in such a sorry state, asking teachers for help to break the curse and thus receiving a terrible graduation grade. Besides, their reputation might never recover from such a blow. After some discussion, they decided to find another base of the Death Sect. As long as they told no one and returned to the academy before the deadline for the graduation test, no one would know about their amateur mistakes.

That was how they found their way to Wayne’s agency that night.

They view him as a passerby in their lives and made up a terrible excuse to explain their stay; the wheels of fate began to turn henceforth...

As for why she picked the name Monica, Kristen explained that there was such a cat at Veronica’s place, also with black fur and golden eyes.

Wayne nodded as he listened, thanking fate for sending the three magical girls to him. Otherwise, he would be the one looking for mages at night. He might still be able to open the Book of Greed, but the process certainly wouldn’t have been so smooth.

It was entirely possible that he would’ve become Death’s faithful hound instead!

“By the way, where did the clothes come from? Who helped me change?”

Veronica and Kristen stayed silent while Vera raised her hand and exclaimed, “It was me!”

“Shut up, it’s... right. It’s her.”

Veronica interrupted herself and played along, realizing that it was better this way. Wayne had been sleeping like a dead pig. Might as well let Vera take responsibility.

***

Klofron’s time continued from fifty years ago. The fire had left the town in scorched ruins, and the church grounds alone remained unburned. The church, however, had been mostly demolished by Veronica during the fight last night, leaving it in rubble.

Wayne went through the battlefield, rummaging around the ruins and looting the last bit of value from the town. Well, no, it wouldn’t be looting when the other party was dead. It was more of a reasonable redistribution of resources.

With his tireless efforts, he managed to find the priest’s library and uncovered three pieces of loot after half a day: a white glove, the priest’s sacred tome, and the Nelson Family Manual, drafted by Fischer Nelson.

The white glove was inscribed with a black inverted triangle. It was a magical tool used by Death followers, requiring only mana to trigger. No spellcasting was needed, which made it valuable in combat.

The sacred tome detailed the priest’s understanding of divine arts, including a number of highly practical spells. Apart from it being somewhat outdated, it was a great find. Moreover, its value didn’t lie in the divine arts it recorded, but in the tome itself. It was a spellcasting tool particularly effective against evil spirits, ghosts being an example!

He didn’t have to do anything other than hold the tome to make ghosts give him a wide berth. He could even chase ghosts around at night if he wanted.

The most valuable item among his finds was undoubtedly the Nelson Family Manual. The author, Fischer Nelson, was an ancestor of the family. With subsequent additions by other family members, this book was ideal for a beginner like Wayne.

The book opened with a segment about the Nelson family’s faith: they had none!

The Nelsons saw faith as a transaction. They respected deities, but were never loyal. The manuscript detailed their understanding of the gods. Some of the writing enlightened Wayne and made him feel like he had found a kindred spirit, but other parts left him confused.

There were no good gods or evil gods. The brighter the light, the deeper the darkness. Every god had two sides. Take the Goddess of Death as an example, death was an eternal peace, but also cold and frightening. She was both good and bad; it all depended on the interpretations.

Power itself was neither good nor evil, or the power must have belonged to someone, and one should think twice before using it.

Faith made people strong, but religion made people foolish. It was best not to fall in with any god’s followers; they were all mad in their own way.

Wives were better when they belonged to another.

(눈‸눈)

One of the suggestions was not like the others.

Following the lessons for the Nelson family, the book described how they switched allegiances repeatedly, kneeling before various deities for nothing but power. Due to their disjointed history in faith, the Nelsons hadn’t gotten deep into any school of magic, but they had collected numerous spells for beginners, making the book a perfect learning material for Wayne.

“The drop rate is so high!”

Wayne treasured his finds. Flipping to the end of the book, he discovered a peculiar symbol.

“The Free Mage Alliance...”