"Vanir, I beg you, help me!"
"I already said I won't oppose the new Demon King. Let go of me, let go!"
In the corridor of the Demon King's Castle, a white-haired old man clung desperately to the man's leg, wailing pitifully.
Anyone witnessing this scene would feel sympathy.
But Vanir wasn't human. He kicked the old Demon King without mercy, yet the old man stuck to him like a stubborn burr, his wrinkled face now bearing a very noticeable shoe print.
"Considering the good relationship my ancestors had with you, just help me use your true form to deal with that new Demon King! This is the one request of my lifetime!"
"Shut up! You already used your 'one request of a lifetime' to get me to join as an executive! I don't want anything to do with your ancestors anymore—let go, let go! Or else, don't blame me for unleashing the Vanir-style Killing Beam!"
The so-called Vanir-style Killing Beam was an ultimate move that could kill whether it hit or missed!
This old fool, seeing that the new Demon King hadn't appeared in the castle for days, immediately started scheming.
Vanir gritted his teeth in frustration.
He couldn't just kill the descendant of his old friend—hell would have his head for that—but the old man was shamelessly persistent. What a nuisance!
"Why don't you go bother the castle guardian instead?"
"I already did! No matter how much I cried, he wouldn't agree!"
The old Demon King sniffled.
The castle guardian had once been an executive of the Demon King Army, but he retired long ago.
Though technically part of the Demon King Army, given his origins and nature, he was never truly aligned with them. At best, he was just looking for a place to stay—even the old Demon King couldn't command him!
Besides, he had already fulfilled the old Demon King's request by setting up the world's strongest barrier around the castle. The old man couldn't accuse him of betrayal.
"Hmm? What was that I just heard?"
Just as the two were locked in their stalemate, a friendly voice chimed in from the side.
The old Demon King froze instantly, snot and tears mixing grotesquely on his face.
"Old Demon King, who exactly did you want Vanir to deal with using his true form?"
Eiji peeked over his shoulder, flashing a Shining-esque smile.
"Surprise!"
"Eeek—!"
The old Demon King shrieked and bolted.
"What a coward!"
Eiji spat at his fleeing figure in disgust.
"Oh ho! If it isn't the new Demon King? You've done me a great favor!"
Vanir straightened his pants, laughing heartily as he regained his usual composure.
"You've been away for a while. Anything interesting happen?"
"Not really."
"What a shame."
Vanir didn't bother hiding his disappointment.
"I've just about run out of people to mess with in this castle, and with the new Demon King gone, it's gotten boring. In that case, new Demon King, I'm leaving! Come to think of it, there's an old friend I haven't seen in ages—maybe I'll pay her a visit!"
"Remember you owe me one."
"You really love keeping score, don't you?"
Vanir soon packed his belongings and left the Demon King's Castle.
"Was he scared off by your father?"
"...I have no rebuttal."
Airi covered her face, the embarrassment beneath her fingers all too apparent.
"Alright then, let's test out my teleportation magic!"
Eiji paid no mind to this farce.
As long as he was alive, the old Demon King's actions were nothing but futile struggles—literally just a comedy show.
He excitedly pulled out his adventurer card.
With a tap on the avatar, a transparent interface resembling a smartphone screen immediately appeared.
"Learnable Skill: Teleportation Magic. Requires 80 skill points."
Sure enough, teleportation magic was now available for learning!
According to Luna, adventurers of other classes could instantly see all currently learnable skills by tapping their avatars.
But adventurers were different. They needed to be taught—someone had to demonstrate the skill in front of them before it would appear in the learnable skills list.
Yet another drawback of the adventurer class.
Having the witch teleport back to the Demon King's Castle had completed the teaching process.
Wait.
Hold on.
How many skill points did it require?
Seeing the latter part of the message, the smile vanished from Eiji's face.
"...Witch, teleportation magic costs 20 skill points, right?"
"Yep. Even for adventurers, it shouldn't exceed 30 at most."
Airi stated matter-of-factly, "Other skills aside, magic-type skills have talent gaps. For example, if someone's afraid of water, water magic would be harder to learn, requiring more points than other elements—or they might not learn it at all."
"But you currently have 50 skill points. Even with the worst talent, that's enough to learn teleportation magic and plenty of other skills. So you shouldn't need my teleportation services anymore. I'm heading back to the frontlines—"
"Hold it, witch! On second thought, I've decided not to learn teleportation magic for now!"
Eiji solemnly put away his adventurer card.
"Which means I'll still need you as my personal chauffeur for the foreseeable future!"
"Who are you calling a chauffeur?!"
"That's not important. As the Demon King's secretary, it's your duty to fulfill all his requests—reasonable or otherwise!"
"Since when did I become your secretary?!"
"Don't sweat the small stuff!"
Eiji waved his hand dismissively.
"I remember gaining 1 skill point per level, correct?"
"That's right!"
Airi gritted her teeth, her tone sharp.
In that case, I should only need to reach around level 30 to learn teleportation magic.
Eiji secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Aside from initial points, skill points could only be obtained by leveling up—1 point per adventurer level. This was common knowledge among all adventurers.
Or maybe not.
If Eiji chose to reclass as an archmage now, the required points might decrease somewhat.
But he valued the adventurer's ability to learn all class skills and was reluctant to give up that advantage.
"Anyway, back to Axel! I need to level up!"
"Level up?"
Airi eyed Eiji with suspicion.
"Why are you in such a hurry to level up... Wait, I get it! You must be running out of points, that's why you keep asking me to teleport you, hahaha! Not even 50 points? Just how terrible is your magic talent—thud!"
Eiji calmly retracted his fist.
He glanced at Airi lying on the ground with her eyes rolled back.
"Don't go spouting nonsense out of nowhere, or my fist might react on instinct!"