Chapter 19 The Drop Rate is Really High

Veronica blushed as she clumsily changed Wayne's clothes, her inexperienced movements rough and awkward. Luckily, Wayne was already awake; otherwise, the pain would have definitely startled him.

Changing clothes inevitably led to some friction, and Veronica caught sight of something unspeakable. She turned away with a look of disgust.

Then she stole another glance.

Ugly, yet intriguing!

On either side, Monica kept her eyes closed for the entire process, while William covered his eyes with his hands, leaving wide gaps between his fingers—pretty much as good as not covering them at all.

After leaving the Gate of Truth, Wayne collapsed from exhaustion, having achieved the feat of pinning three beautiful girls underneath him.

Regrettably, he was unaware that Veronica was the first to wake up.

The Gate of Truth had devoured the town, leaving behind desolate ruins, charred ground from raging flames, extending to the surrounding forest, a sight full of devastation.

The overlapping space with the town had been sacrificed to the Gate of Truth by Mike, allowing the real world to reset to how things were, with the timeline fractured on the night from fifty years ago, restarting from that very evening.

Veronica woke William and Monica. The three of them found some spare clothes in the trunk and also wrapped Wayne in a bedsheet.

After that, they took Wayne to a barn behind the church. After resting for one night, they searched the town and found a clean set of clothes for Wayne.

The trio didn't understand why they were unharmed after experiencing the Gate of Truth, but seeing Wayne deep in slumber, they surmised it all had something to do with him.

They could wait for Wayne to dress himself after he woke up, but they didn't feel right letting their lifesaver remain undressed. Besides, who knew when Wayne would wake up? They had to quickly get him clothed to preserve his dignity.

Who would help Wayne get dressed was a question!

The problem wasn't who would do it, but that there were people watching, and good close friends at that. If not handled well, one could end up with the nickname 'little perv' from their friends, a dark mark to haunt them for life.

William talked big, but chickened out at the last moment.

No one volunteered eagerly, so they needed a good excuse. Veronica suggested playing rock-paper-scissors, knowing William had notoriously bad luck with the game.

Veronica lost.

With sweat pouring down her face, Veronica finally got Wayne dressed and fled downstairs to wash her hands. Her hands felt dirty, her eyes felt dirty, and she couldn't shake the image—her heart felt sullied. She felt unclean.

She hated rock-paper-scissors!

A moment later, a loud bang came from the direction of the church, as if some wall had met its doom.

Wayne, hearing the boom, immediately sat upright. He held his head, still feeling woozy, and slowly focused his eyes on William and Monica.

"Wayne, you're awake!"

"You guys... who are you?"

The two beautiful girls were extremely attractive, and in terms of their figures, one could tell they were well-nourished, having drunk plenty of milk. Judging by their looks, they were around Veronica's age and were first-rate Magician Girls.

Wayne roughly guessed who they might be but found it unbelievable. He marveled at the curse's strange effects while feeling relieved that he didn't turn into a beautiful girl or a dog.

"Let's get acquainted, Vivi; let's be friends!"

William—no, Vivi winked and patted Wayne's shoulder, her lines almost identical to when they first met. Registering the surprise on Wayne's face, she revealed a mischievous triumph.

She had been waiting for this moment for a long time.

"No, William————"

Wayne cried out in dismay. After enduring life and death together, he had resolved to walking arm in arm with his big-chested bro in the future. But now the bro had vanished without a trace, replaced by a beautiful girl worthy of being locked up in prison.

Detestable. Would he still be able to walk arm in arm with her?

Could he?

"Veronica Lando."

"Vivi Watson."

"Kris Lettie."

"Wait a minute, I have to interrupt, how come your name changed so much?"

Wayne couldn't help but comment. Veronica remained Veronica. William had become Vivi, which at least had some phonetic resemblance, so no issue there. But why did Monica break from the pattern so drastically, transforming into Kris?

And the change was so extreme!

What was with the exaggerated pecs? Could it be they were what he had been yearning for, the so-called 'little bells'? And if that was the case, would it still be appropriate to fondle them now?

Wayne regretted not taking decisive action earlier, as he missed the chance to playfully twang the bells. He also realized that it wasn't a dream after all; he truly was surrounded by three long-haired beauties.

Now the question was, whose 'full and firm, soft and bouncy' touch in the dream was it actually attributable to?

Wayne opened his mouth but, wisely, did not ask. The curse had been lifted, and if the three of them overpowered him, not even screaming would help.

Better to wait until their powers were more evenly matched to ask!

...

Out of gratitude for saving their lives, the trio considered Wayne one of their own, sharing their true names and a full introduction, no longer as secretive as before.

Veronica was not a dream-chasing miss from a foreign land but a local from Lundan, studying at Lundan Evanston Women's College with Vivi and Kris.

Veronica and Vivi were roommates, while Kris was an older student pursuing her master's degree.

At face value, Evanston Women's College was an ordinary university with no ties to magic. In reality, there was a department inside that offered magic courses, training a large number of quality devotees for the natural, sun, and moon goddesses.

Veronica and Vivi were nearing graduation, and their graduation assessment was to eliminate a Death devotee stronghold. Because of the enemy's strength, they were allowed to invite a senior student to assist.

Veronica invited Kris, a senior sister who had always been supportive and served as a role model for her.

Together, the three expected to easily complete their graduation assessment.

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As it happened, an unexpected event occurred after the three of them eradicated the stronghold, they were cursed by the Death Proxy, transforming back into the disheveled appearance they had upon first meeting Wayne.

With their excellent results, they should have easily defended against the curse. Taking Vivi as an example, the magic she performed could have helped Wayne avoid the curse's affliction.

However, that day, they all thought too much.

Kris was invited to help—this wasn't her graduation assessment—she was only to provide support and wasn't supposed to intervene. She firmly believed in the juniors' abilities and had prepared defenses against the possible curse.

After all, that was common sense!

Veronica believed that Vivi would make a move, Vivi thought Veronica would act, and then...

In short, because Vivi couldn't beat Veronica, she became the main scapegoat for the incident.

Kris had a significant reputation at the college and was highly esteemed by the younger students. She was a prominent figure. Veronica wasn't far behind, from her physique and looks to her family background and academic performance, she had always been a notable person at the college.

They didn't want to return to the college in disgrace, seeking help from a tutor to lift the curse for a poor graduation grade, a loss of face they couldn't afford. After consulting, they decided to find another Death disciple's stronghold.

As long as they kept silent and returned to the college before the graduation assessment deadline, no one would know they had made such a basic error.

Wandering in search of such a place brought them to Wayne Detective Agency on a night journey.

They treated Wayne as an ordinary passerby, made up an excuse for their presence, and the gears of fate thus began to turn...

As for the name Monica, Kris provided an explanation; indeed, there was such a cat with black hair and golden eyes, which she had casually borrowed from Veronica's home.

Wayne nodded as he listened, grateful that fate had sent three magician girls his way; otherwise, it would have been him searching for a mage at night. Maybe he could have even unlocked The Book of Greed, but the process certainly wouldn't have been as smooth.

Who knows, he might have become a faithful lapdog of the Goddess of Death!

"By the way, where did this outfit come from? Who helped me change into it?"

"…"

"It was me!" Vivi raised her hand.

"Shut up, it wasn't—right, it was her."

Veronica was about to scold but then realized this was actually convenient. Wayne had been sleeping like a log at the time, oblivious to everything; it might as well have been Vivi.

————

Caforno Town's story continues from fifty years ago, after the fire that left the land covered in ruins, only the church's domain remained unscathed.

But after last night's battle, Veronica had nearly reduced it to ruins herself.

Wayne cleaned up the battlefield, scavenging through the remains, trying to extract the last bit of value from the carnage.

Wait, can the relationship between a human and a Drifting Ghost be described as scavenging?

This is called reasonable redistribution of resources.

Thanks to Wayne's relentless efforts, he successfully found the priest's secret library and spent the better part of a day digging out three pieces of loot.

A white glove.

The priest's Bible.

The Nelson Family handbook—Fisher Nelson's manuscript.

The white glove, adorned with a black inverted triangle, was a Death disciple's Magic Tool that could be used without casting spells, just by feeding it Magic Power; it had high practical value.

The Bible contained the priest's understandings of Divine Arts and a few highly practical spells. Aside from being slightly outdated, it was nearly faultless.

Moreover, the value lay not in the Divine Arts, but in the Bible itself, which was a casting tool with a strong suppressive effect on creatures like Malevolent Spirits.

Like Drifting Ghosts!

Wayne didn't have to do anything; by holding this Bible, he could make Drifting Ghosts avoid him, and should he get any ideas, he could even chase a Drifting Ghost around at night.

The most precious item was undoubtedly the Nelson Family handbook. The author, Fisher Nelson, was one of the ancestors of the Nelson Family. With additions by later family members, this book was very suitable for a beginner like Wayne.

It began with an account of the Nelson Family's beliefs.

No beliefs!

The Nelson Family members viewed belief as a transaction—they respected the gods but were never loyal, and the manuscript detailed their understanding of the gods.

Among them, several summaries enlightened Wayne; he felt as if he found a kindred spirit, but some also puzzled him.

Gods are beyond good and evil; as bright as the light may shine, equally deep is the darkness, and every god has two sides.

Like the Goddess of Death, death is eternally tranquil, yet also indifferent and fearsome. She represents both good and evil; the key lies in how people interpret her.

Power doesn't inherently carry good or evil; if it does, that power has an owner, and one must be cautious before its use.

Belief gives one firmness, but religion breeds ignorance. Don't get contaminated by the followers; they are all fanatics.

Someone else's wife is always better.

Wayne: (눈‸눈)

It seems something strange was mixed in.

Flip past the opening warnings of the Nelson Family, and what followed was the history of this family making repeated overtures and bending the knee to numerous gods.

Because of their confused beliefs, the Nelson Family did not learn profound magic; however, their wide range encompassed many spells that a beginner could study, very suitable for Wayne at the moment.

"The drop rate is really high!"

Wayne cherished these finds. Flipping to the end, he encountered an odd mark.

"Liberty Mage Alliance..."

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