Mage Manual-Chapter 571 - 464 Weaving the Future

Neon lights from distant skyscrapers merged into the starry sea of the faux Heavenly Curtain, while the continuous, around-the-clock traffic flow served as the city’s blood vessels. The ever-watchful street lamp knights below carved out realms of light several meters thick.

Splendor and heavy rouge abounded, with the remnants of an era reluctant to conclude dressing themselves up in visions of the future. Shadows freely fed on the desires that the city exuded, with every corner seeming like a monster, ready to devour passersby—buriers and The Fallen made from alcohol and sugar smoke, numbering in the countless.

Ash and Hanna stood facing each other by the windowsill, their bodies half-illuminated by the room’s light, while the other half was tainted by the murky darkness of the city. Their eyes flickered, ambiguously reflecting one another.

"Good thing Igula warned me about this. You wouldn’t be thinking of renewing our Contract through a verbal agreement, would you?" Ash crossed his arms in refusal. "If I agreed, would the 101-day slave Contract automatically renew itself forever?"

"How could that be?" Hanna shook her head. "Even with my bit of authority in Evangelism, I can only extend the Contract’s duration until December 31st of 2100 at most."

"Isn’t that over five hundred years!?" Ash backed away fearfully. "By then, the Kingdom of Gospel might no longer exist; your descendants might find my grave in the Wasteland of the End Times and chant, ’Ash Heath, heeding the call of the Contract,’ and then wouldn’t I have to crawl out of Hell to continue serving the Doran family for hundreds of years!?"

"Of course not, Contracts are powerful, but not even they can summon the dead." Hanna shook her head. "Unless I get Harvey to treat you with Necromancy, then you, Ash, could become a treasured heirloom for our family. Tsk, that damn Igula, ruining my plans."

"Thank Igula for not letting us meet bad women and saving us from malice."

Watching Hanna’s frustrated face, thwarted in her scheming, Ash breathed a sigh of relief inside.

He had suddenly heard Hanna’s confession of "I’ll take care of you," which, despite causing him a little secretive joy—actually more than just a little, but he only allowed himself a little—felt somewhat problematic once reason reclaimed the high tide.

His relationship with Hanna was distorted.

Had it not been for Hanna, he would have already fled with Liss, even if Liss wished for him to rescue the Princess in the Tower. It was Hanna’s obstinance in executing the plan to assassinate the Princess that kept them in the underground city.

Or rather, it was Hanna who wanted to desecrate the Gospel, deceive the Weaving Festival, that forced them to run around Evangelism like rats on the street. Ash himself just wanted to find a place to send his Substitute to work while taking care of Liss during the day and adventure with the Sword Witch in the Void Realm at night.

With "Aurora’s Mage Manual," Ash felt it was only a matter of time before he became a Legendary Mage. There was no need for risky adventures; he could just live cautiously and rise through the ranks.

Yet, he was still a slave under Hanna’s control, unable to defy any of her orders, which was why he had to follow her until death. If Hanna genuinely liked him, if he really ended up being with her, wouldn’t it be akin to Stockholm syndrome with a hostage falling for their captor?

However, the usual trope is of the female lead falling for the male captor. It seemed a bit reversed in his case...

Fortunately, Hanna was a bad woman, just a bad woman, thankfully.

Ash changed the subject: "Right, I’ve figured out my own wish."

"What is your wish?" inquired Hanna with curiosity. "To enhance your Substitute Technique Spirit into an All Attributes super servant that can do anything for you?"

"...That’s a secondary wish of mine. If there’s spare capacity in the Wish, please help me make it come true. Oh, and add the ability for me to freely set the appearance and gender of the Substitute." Although Ash was tempted, he remained committed to his promise with Liss: "My primary wish is to permanently cancel the ’List of the Unfavored.’"

"Ah?" Hanna was startled. "Cancel that list in the Gospel?" freeωebnovēl.c૦m

"Yes," Ash nodded, his throat already preparing a pretext.

However, Hanna fell silent for a moment and did not ask him the reason for his wish. She simply nodded, "As long as I receive the Divine Lord’s wish, I promise yours will come true."

Ash sighed in relief; tonight’s Task was complete. He had disclosed Banjee’s situation to Hanna, not only wishing to avoid tragedy due to such secrets but also to use this favor to make Hanna take his wish seriously—his cunning plan a success!

He relaxed and asked with a smile, "So, what do you plan to do after the Weaving Festival ends? You’re not going to wish to become an Angel and leave reality behind, are you?"

"My wish won’t result in any change in my power," Hanna shook her head. "If I’m fortunate enough to get the Divine Lord’s wish and survive the Weaving Festival..."

She paused for a moment, then chuckled suddenly, "So silly, the Weaving Festival isn’t even over; what’s the point of thinking about the future at this time... We might be dead in the Imperial Palace in a few days."

"It’s precisely because we might die in the Imperial Palace that we should think carefully about our lives from now on," Ash earnestly replied. "If we do die, then at least we can live out the rest of our lives in fantasy; and if we survive, that fantasy will be the courage that inspires us, perhaps even leading to a Miracle."

"’The future’ is the greatest hope. Once you have a future to look forward to, you can brave any dangers." He smiled, "In this sense, contemplating the rest of your life is like having your own Weaving Festival—crafting your own future, and then going forth to make it a reality."

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