Chapter 47

Jean's eyes nearly popped out of his head. With a furtive movement, he pulled the blouse out of Kyon's hand and smelled it discreetly, staring into the distance with a blissful moan, enjoying the moment of overwhelming happiness. Jean had been dreaming of this day for so long... It never crossed his long-suffering mind that the desired thing could belong to someone else, not to the object of his lust. The notes of the familiar scent nipped all his doubts in the bud.

Kyon sighed in relief. His plan seemed to have worked. Well, they were a curious duo: one beaten to within an inch of his life, with one foot in the grave and the other soaring to the highest heights of happiness.

The pause was a little too long. Kyon knew too well that he should watch out for the master who had got what he wanted. The witness, whose death would cut no ice with him, could become his victim.

Kyon cleared his throat and said in a lisping voice:

«Master Jean, I see you are a good person, that's why I have a tempting offer for you that you cannot refuse. But first, would you be so kind as to give me the basic grade of the pure force as we agreed, please…» - His speech was more or less distinct because of his excellent oratory skills.

Jean woke up from the overwhelming joy and gave the slave a thoughtful look. An offer he couldn't refuse? Did the boy mean he could get him more things? If so, then he would let him live for a while. But Jean had never intended to give away the basic grade of the elements. Sharing his knowledge with a rootless bloke would destroy the remains of his honor. Moreover, it might cause a lot of problems. Each sphere of the basis grade was issued strictly by the book.

Jean nodded to his thoughts and said casually:

«You know, I forgot to take the sphere. It somehow slipped my mind. But if you get me something else to ensure me that you are motivated enough to be my {dead} student, I will definitely give you the basic grade and even some valuable instructions to boot.»

Kyon could hardly restrain from cursing and a desire to spit blood in the filthy master's face. {No, asshole, I won't give up so quickly!}

«Master Jean, I am so sorry... In fact, I took the liberty of testing your good faith. I've already snatched something more intimate from the lady. I was intending to hand it to you, but if you don't have the basic grade... It's a pity.»

A curious expression crossed Jean's face: his eyes got cloudy, blood rushed to his cheeks, his lips began to tremble... His world seemed to have shuttered. How was he to know that the slave could outsmart him?

«Is it…»

Kyon nodded meaningfully:

«Yes, it is. I have her lingerie. It's hidden in a secluded place, and I would hand it to you with great pleasure. It's just... You don't have the basic grade, and I am not going to live to see tomorrow... I have nothing to lose, my best regards to you.» - Kyon began to rise slowly but, as expected, the master frantically grasped his hand and forced him to sit back.

The poor man was sweating. If he were a woman near her time, he would give birth to a premature baby. Jean was on the verge of a breakdown.

«Hold on! I… I have it! Just messing with you! Ha-ha!» - He frantically rummaged in his pocket and took out a purple sphere - «It's the basic grade of pure energy, a one-time thing. All you have to do is to swallow it, and the information will be imprinted in your mind an hour after you take it. It will leave a mark on your soul after you get enlightened through hard training! As soon as you acquire the first grade, you will be able to use the element as easily as stealing candy from a baby! Now tell me where you have hidden her lingerie? - Jean said in a demanding voice.

He squeezed Kyon's forearm till his bones cracked. The dude was going ballistic. Unfortunately, his desperate determination only made it clear that he wasn't going to stand on ceremony with the unwanted slave. As soon as he got everything he wanted, Jean would kill Kyon as a witness and be done with it.

{Son of a bitch! What a regular douchebag!} - Kyon cursed to himself. He had read all about the local currency when he was in the mine. The money of the basic grade was translucent white. The advanced grade money was translucent amber. The currency of the superior grade was translucent purple. He had mined the advanced grade money. If those small stones got activated, they would stick together in an ideal pure money-sphere. And now the bastard was trying to pull a fast one on him with a sphere of the superior grade. It was also pricey but less valuable than a copy of the basic grade energy. It would also cause Jean less trouble if they discovered it missing.

Kyon looked at Jean up and down with an annoyed look:

«Master Jean, it is bad to lie. This is an ordinary superior grade sphere.»

Jean's face flushed hot with embarrassment or rage because some wretched slave could see through his ruse. How did this scum know what the spheres of the superior grade looked like? Maybe, he'd better threaten the boy with death? However, it was a stupid thing to do, judging by his looks. Kyon had told him that he was not going to live until tomorrow.

Jean bit the bullet and took out a cloudy green stone with barely noticeable shimmering trigrams inside.

«Here, the basic grade of pure energy... Give me the lingerie, and then swallow it up! I will explain how to acquire the information immediately after…»

Kyon cracked another attempt to fool him. He took the green stone and threw it in his mouth without hesitation.

Jean's face distorted in hatred and the grief of loss.

Once in the acid environment of the stomach, the shell of the sphere instantly melted and released a light mist of energy that immediately rushed to Kyon's head. It engraved new information in his mind, a whole bunch of incomprehensible neural connections.

Kyon asked a reasonable question - what is it and how does it work - and Jean had to answer, despite his impatience.

The information in the formation could not be copied. It got imprinted in the brain in the form of neural connections, and the human mind was unable to express a thought in written or verbal form. Even after the basic grade of the elements was imprinted in the soul, it would be impossible to develop a clear idea about it. That's why the information was impossible to copy. Masters shared their knowledge with students with a formation. Only those who had invented the technique could create the formation because no one except them knew all the nuances.

Under the pressure of Kyon's curiosity, Jean also added that there were one-time formations and reusable formations. There were source codes made by the creator of the grade or any technique that could be copied infinitely many times.

Family masters and superior students had access to the copies. Only some elders and patriarchs had access to the source code. Even so, the formation had a kind of a password. The valuable information must be protected from numerous thieves.

Jean continued to answer Kyon's annoying questions.

«The formations can contain family techniques, medical instructions, unique body instructions, unique formation instructions, instructions for enchanting things, the grades of elements and what not.» - Jean continued to drone on about the formation secrets. «They cannot be faked and are almost impossible to steal.»

The formations were a valuable family heritage, painstakingly collected by many generations over the long years of existence of the whole kin. They gained this knowledge in sweat and blood. That is why this source of information could often reach outrageous prices.

«I've answered your questions. Now give me what you've promised!» - Jean demanded through his teeth.

Kyon was in no hurry to meet the master's needs and said flatly:

«Master Jean, you tried to deceive me by giving me the wrong sphere. Now I want more... By the way, I almost died while carrying out your mission. One element is not enough for me. I want you to give me the basic grade of all the nine elements and I want them today.»

Judging by the shade of Jean's face, he had already reached his boiling point and was now inexorably approaching the mark "run for your life - it's going to blow!"

«What the hell? Nine?! Are you tired of life? Do you have any idea how much they cost?! One element for scum like you is more than…»

Kyon rose from the bench as a sign of protest to let the master know that he couldn't care less about his words as well as about his own life. Kyon had the leverage up his sleeve. Jean had to play by his rules.

The master grabbed Kyon by the wrist with fear in his eyes:

«Wait! I was kidding! Ha-ha!» - Jean tried to play around, a prey of his doubts. How was he going to explain himself to the elder? The spheres of the basic grade were given out strictly by the book. He couldn't possibly lose one for each element, albeit the basic grade! But the image of Juno's underwear was haunting his mind… Jean was like the poor cat in the adage. He could always take revenge on the boy for robbery, so...

Jean, reluctantly, took out eight more cloudy stones that looked exactly like the first one and nearly threw them at the boy.

Kyon swallowed them up all together without a second thought. He risked choking under the gaze of the enraged master, but he was lucky not to.

The new information appeared in Kyon's head almost at once. Now that he had received from Jean everything he needed, it was time to get out. The following sequence of events was a no-brainer. He would hand Dinah's panties to Jean, and the next moment, the master would break his skull. Kyon had to weasel out, satisfying the master and staying alive.

Kyon stretched himself, his long-suffering bones cracking, and rose from the bench:

«The panties are hidden in the mansion. Take me there, please.»

Well, Jean had no choice. He brought the little bastard to the mansion, his teeth gritting.

When they arrived, Kyon looked cautiously around, put his hand under the soft beige carpet near the entrance, pretended to take something out and put it in his pocket. Jean kept a close eye on him, shifting impatiently from foot to foot at the door. Kyon nodded at him and went out to the guard post.

A thought flashed through Kyon's head to venture further and demand freedom from Jean,,but he didn't want to die. This cunning old fox was too easy to read. His credo was - no man, no problem. Kyon had to be content with little.

Jean looked fearfully around, approached the slave and hissed in his ear:

«Give it to me, now!»

The guard turned around and looked at the strange couple with suspicion.

Kyon seized the moment when the master couldn't openly act against him and slipped Dinah's panties clenched in his hand into Jean's sleeve. He nodded goodbye and quietly went to his quarters.

Jean swallowed hard. What was that gentle cloth in his sleeve...? But he couldn't take his treasure out to check. Jean could feel there was something he didn't even dare to dream about. He threw one last angry look that promised major trouble at the slave's back and spat a catchy curse. Then he flew out of the mansion like a hurricane pressing the desired thing to his heart.

Kyon returned to his "lodging" place without any incidents and exhaled with relief. He had everything he needed, not without risk! He still needed to survive some more days until his body was fully restored. Master Jean had added to his problems. He would intend to take revenge on the arrogant lucky slave, no doubt about that. It meant that Kyon had to be fully armed during their next meeting. Anyway, next week or two, the pervert would pay no visits to the mansion. He had been so overwhelmed with the pathetic handkerchief that he could not sleep. It was hard to imagine what allegedly-Juno's-panties could do to him. Jean might die of exhaustion, which would be only for the better.