Succubi Chapter 217. Kaching!
Succubi Chapter 217. Kaching!
He tapped the desk crystal again.
[Mission Schedule Updated]
[Teleportation Room Assignment: Room 7]
[Departure Time: 19:00]
[Mission Mode: Solo]
[Emergency Recall: Enabled]
“Report to Teleportation Room 7 at 7 PM.”
I nodded. “Okay. Thanks.”
I stood up, slinging my bag over one shoulder.
The staff member already looked like he wanted me gone.
Understandable.
I reached the door.
Then paused.
Wait.
Important question.
I turned back.
“One more thing.”
The staff member’s face said he regretted every life choice leading to this moment.
“What?”
“Is the requester a girl?”
Silence.
He deadpanned again.
Harder this time.
“We don’t know the requester’s gender.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Suspicious answer.”
“It is the correct answer.”
“Do you know anything about them?”
He sighed once.
Then glanced at the crystal, probably checking what he was allowed to say.
“The requester is considered the most influential person in Brimwood Village.”
I blinked.
Most influential?
“And some surrounding regions,” the staff added.
“Some?”
“Yes.”
Not all regions.
Some.
That meant influence but not absolute authority. Local power. Maybe old bloodline. Maybe monster authority. Maybe money.
I tilted my head. “Why can they submit a secret mission?”
The staff member folded his hands again.
“Not everyone can.”
“Yes, I know. You said that. But why this person?”
His expression became slightly more serious.
“Secret missions require power.”
A pause.
“Authority.”
Another pause.
“Or money.”
The moment he said money, I heard it.
Not with my ears.
With my soul.
-Kaching!
The sound echoed inside my brain like divine revelation.
Money.
Influential requester.
Secret mission.
Private reward.
My posture straightened immediately.
“I understand,” I said solemnly.
The staff narrowed his eyes.
“I will do this mission as beast as I can.”
“As beast as you can?”
“Best,” I corrected quickly. “Best. Obviously best. Professional best.”
He stared at me.
I smiled.
He did not smile back.
Tough crowd.
I left the chamber before he could decide I was too weird for secret missions.
The hallway outside felt louder after the privacy runes faded behind me. Students moved around again. Mission boards glowed. Crystals hummed. Somewhere, someone shouted because their team leader accepted a swamp mission without reading the details.
I stood near the wall and opened the mission screen again.
[Special Request Mission]
[Origin: Brimwood Village]
[Mode: Solo]
[Departure: 19:00]
[Teleportation Room: 7]
[Requester: Pending Reveal]
[Details: Locked Until Arrival]
[Academy Screening: Cleared]
[Reward: Pending Negotiation / Requester Funded]
Pending negotiation.
Requester funded.
My grin spread before I could stop it.
Ah.
Beautiful words.
Dangerous words.
Words that made poverty tremble.
But then the grin faded slightly.
Because the more I thought about it, the stranger it got.
Why me?
Sure, I cleared the Spectral Crawlers. Sure, I was there last night. But secret mission? Solo? Private chamber? Influential requester?
This wasn’t just “please kill more ghosts.”
There was something else.
Something under Brimwood.
Something the academy knew enough to approve but not enough to tell me.
Or maybe they knew and refused to say.
Which was worse.
But yeah, since I already accepted the mission…
Then that was that.
No room for hesitation.
And no money meant poverty.
I dismissed the screen and straightened my jacket.
“Just do it,” I muttered under my breath.
A voice came from my left.
“Do what?”
I turned.
Leon and Evelyn were walking toward me from the corridor near the training wing. Leon had his usual relaxed grin, hands behind his head, looking like life had never personally punched him in the gut before. Evelyn, beside him, looked much calmer, but her eyes immediately went to my face.
Soft.
Careful.
“How’s the mission? Any info?”
“No.”
Leon blinked. “No?”
“Secret mission.”
His face fell dramatically. “Aw…”
Evelyn’s brows knitted slightly. “No details at all?”
“Not until I meet the requester.”
Her lips pressed together.
Concern.
I could smell it before she even said anything.
“No team?” she asked quietly.
I shook my head. “Solo.”
Evelyn’s expression tightened.
“What if—”
“Hey,” I cut in gently before she could complete the sentence.
She looked at me.
I gave her a small grin. “I’m not that weak.”
She didn’t smile back immediately.
That hit harder than expected.
Because Evelyn wasn’t doubting me. Not really. She had seen me fight. She had seen what I could do. But worry didn’t care about logic. Worry was stubborn. Worry sat in the chest and whispered worst-case scenarios like a cursed bedtime story.
Leon leaned forward, raising one hand like a student asking permission to commit stupidity.
“You can bring me.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“It’s solo.”
He nodded seriously. “Right. So I won’t come as a teammate.”
I stared at him.
He smiled wider.
“I’ll turn into a wolf and pretend to be your dog.”
I grimaced immediately. “Your werewolf form is far from a dog.”
“Big dog.”
“You are taller than most horses.”
“Very big dog.”
“Leon.”
“What?”
“If I showed up with a giant werewolf pretending to bark beside me, the requester would either cancel the mission or hire you separately as a security disaster.”
Leon stroked his chin. “That second option sounds profitable.”
I paused.
Actually…
No.
No, don’t think about it.
Poverty made bad ideas look shiny.
Evelyn sighed softly, but there was a smile at the corner of her mouth now. “Please don’t sneak into his solo mission as a dog.”
Leon looked offended. “I would be a professional dog.”
“You don’t know how to bark normally,” I said.
He frowned. “Yes I do.”
“Do it.”
Leon opened his mouth.
Paused.
Then said, very confidently, “Woof.”
Silence.
I stared at him.
Evelyn stared at him.
A passing student slowed down, looked at Leon, then immediately walked faster.
I nodded slowly. “That sounded like a nobleman reading dog language from a textbook.”
Evelyn covered her mouth, shoulders shaking.
Leon pointed at me. “You’re just jealous because my disguise is genius.”
“Your disguise is a crime.”
He grinned anyway.
And honestly?
I appreciated it.
The stupidity helped.
It pushed the tension away from my chest for a second. Made the mission feel less like a trap and more like another ridiculous chapter in my increasingly questionable academy life.