Story 9: Chapter 4: Magic Teacher (Patreon)

Ace in the Hole 

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 4: Magic Teacher

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- Acelin -

“There are a number of factors which should be taken into account when carrying out Transfiguration spells. The intended transformation (t) is directly influenced by body weight (a), viciousness (v), wand power (w), concentration (c) and a fifth unknown variable (Z), as described by the following mathematical formula.” I wrote the formula on the board and looked back at the crowd who had gathered to take my class.

It had been two months since I had started to teach at Grauzaberer and Transfiguration was surprisingly famous.

I had over a hundred students for my first official class itself.

They were mostly Middle Class Magicians and up as they wanted to see the new magic and research it by themselves.

Later on, even new students began joining and I was teaching three whole classes till the High Class level.

The only reason I was even keeping up with this was because of the daily teachings of Dumbledore. The man was keeping his word. I was not someone who went back on my words either.

I had removed Voldemort’s soul from Harry’s scar.

In the last two months, I had completed the seven years curriculum of the Transfiguration subject taught at Hogwarts and I could get a passable grade but this was not enough for Dumbledore as he was helping me refine the skills more so that I can continue towards more advanced topics later on.

But either way, the seven year syllabus was enough for me to teach these for the next three years or so easily.

I will be starting on the higher level transfiguration after this and when that is mastered, I will move towards Alchemy studies.

“Alright, that’s all for the theory part today. We are going to learn something quite simple today. Each of you has a set of random objects in front of you. We are going to turn all these objects into rabbits. The Spell is ‘Lapifors’. You pronounce it as ‘LAP-i-fors’. The wand movements are simple, just point your wand at the object. Have a solid image for the object you are transforming it into. Do not hesitate. As I repeat in every class, hesitating even a bit is a crime in this class. I will first give you all an example and then you can try.” I whipped my wand at a pen, a diary and a cup on my table and all three of them turned into rabbits. “Go on. And I want an essay on the differences you all noticed when using the spell on different materials so pay attention.”

With that done, I stood back and observed the class.

For the last few months I had devoted all my time to this magic and I was reaching somewhere but it wasn’t anywhere at the level where I can use it as a combat magic.

But it didn’t mean that I was doing nothing to make up for that side of me.

I was copying one book everyday from the library of Grauzaberer which I could access. Thankfully, my class was getting famous and I was getting better books. I still made enough copies for me to study even when I wasn’t a part of the organisation or teach someone whom I take as a subordinate 

But it wasn’t like I was only taking things from here. I was even making books on transfiguration from the Hogwarts books I had in my possession.

They will be sold and I was going to get royalty for the books.

It would add to my resume when I apply for the position of a High Class Magician and even Ultimate Class Magician later.

According to Mephisto, as long as I worked at this pace for the next three years and met the required level of strength, I would easily get an Ultimate Class certification due to having created a completely new branch of magic by myself… at least for this world.

But that’s where the clause laid.

Meet the required level of strength.

Basically have the strength to cast a spell which can affect an entire city.

That’s the basic criteria for being an Ultimate Class.

Seriously, the Ultimate Class was an extremely confusing level of power.

Anyone from a decently strong Devil to even most of the Gods, were all Ultimate Class beings. It was a very broad range so being one was relatively easy but being one at the top of it was just just that hard.

The Leader Class or as in case of Devils, the Satan Class was above that and they could take on several Ultimate Class beings. Reaching this level needed a chance like some artifacts or innate powers. Training and reaching this level was almost unheard of.

And then there were the Transcendental Class beings or as the Devils influenced by the modern lingo call it… Super Devil level beings.

These were the ones who had far surpassed the level of a normal Leader Class, beings like the current Lucifer and Beelzebub as well as the Heavenly Dragons and strong Gods.

And yes… it was impossible for anyone to reach this level without being born with the potential or having a Super Cheat like a Longinus and even that didn’t guarantee anything. It was really a level where you can become a voice in the world which people cannot ignore anymore… well except those at the very top.

And finally, the ones who could ignore even Transcendental Beings… well, there were only a couple such beings who were just the strongest Gods.

There was also something about this world… hard work can only carry you so much without some unique advantage of your own like a super strong Sacred Gear or something.

I mean look at Sairaorg.

The guy worked his bones off to train and get to a decent level of strength, even got a Longinus and even then was defeated by an idiot shouting boobs with just a month or two of training.

He was not the only one.

Vali was the same.

That guy was fighting since he was just a preteen and reached a level where he could take down Ultimate Class beings easily and he still lost.

There were other such beings too.

I remember a Low Class Devil who had trained for hundreds of years and was still just an Ultimate Class Devil. The Light Novels only showed a funny side albeit a bit annoying side of the story but what they always ignored was the struggle and pain of the people to reach that level of power and still losing in front of the gifted ones.

The reality of this world was cruel.

Training didn’t always make you the strongest. Some limits were just impossible to break with simple training alone.

It was not a world of a shounen novel where everything was sunshine and daisies.

It was depressing

It was heartbreaking.

But it was the truth of this world.

But I will break this chain. 

I will not be weak anymore.

I will become the strongest….no matter what.

An explosion of flesh and gore interrupted my thoughts.

Some guy had blasted a rabbit while trying to transfigure the second object.

I flicked my wand to clean the whole place and transfigured the remains into a goblet again.

“Your frustration translates into your spells. Keep your emotions in check.” I walked a few steps forward and then added. “You will hand out the basic rules of casting five hundred times before your next class, if you mess it up again.”

A few things had happened in the last month apart from my progress in Transfiguration Magic and that was my friendship with the kid Emperor.

The Prime Minister was turning things for the worse and if this continued, things wouId become irreparable soon so I had to use some high handed means. I had used some charm magic to plant some suggestions into him.

From what I had heard, the Empire had gotten a new star in the military.

She had blue hair and blue eyes and was from the Northern Clans and her name was… Esdeath Patras.

Yes.

It was her.

What I found out about her was that even without getting her Teigu, she was an extremely strong soldier who could fight high level Danger Beasts by herself.

The crazy lady was here and she was rising fast in the ranks of the Empire’s Military. Actually, she wasn’t exactly a crazy lady right now as she didn’t receive the Demon’s Extract Teigu yet. Having demonic whispers in your ears would do a number on any person’s sanity.

But this also told me something else. Time was running out and I had to make a move fast.

My plan was made and now all that was left was for the young Emperor to get ready.

If things went well, I would be able to carry this plan out within the next six months.

“Any questions?” I asked, as the class ended.

Several hands rose up.

….

Why do these bastards always have questions?

I let out a sigh. “Alright, line up one by one.”

- Mephisto Pheles -

He looked at the screen as Ace was clearing out the doubts of the students one by one even with the annoyed look on his face.

“Quite dedicated, that boy.” His queen said, looking at the screen.

“He’s what people in Japan call a tsundere. He might get annoyed at them or even outright murderous but he will still do his duty as long as they don’t cross the line. Although, he doesn’t have much patience for slackers. He has kicked several people from his classes or demoted them to a lower class because he deemed them not up to his mark.”

“Geniuses are quirky.”

“Oh that they are but there were other reasons for those too. His magic is extremely dangerous if people are careless with it. All the people he had demoted or thrown out had tried to learn the magic by themselves and had to be admitted to the health care services. They even made the mistakes at the precise point he had cited as a reason for demoting them.”

“That’s… quite some talent. He must be a very good teacher then.”

“Well obviously. Do you know how many requests I have got in these past months from other organisations for exchanging research or even attending classes? Even those Golden Dawn bastards with a ten foot pole up their ass requested joint classes.” He laughed heartily.

He might have taken the leadership of Grauzaberer to kill his boredom but that didn’t mean he didn’t like winning.

“Well good that you are having fun but… now onto the main question, just who is this boy? I assume that you have already noticed his disguise.”

“Obviously. I noticed it the first day itself. But his contract didn't require him to reveal his identity so I didn’t bother either.” He shrugged.

“Is he?”

“He’s only fourteen so I doubt he is a big criminal. He doesn’t seem the sort from what I have observed of him.”

“Then what about the ruckus in the Underworld?”

“Ah, about that? My guess is that he is someone with a troublesome background and is keeping his identity to avoid trouble. He didn’t exactly attack anyone and only ran away. But none of that exactly matters to me.”

“Well, as long as you think it’s fine. By the way, what is the boy doing?” Tannin pointed towards the screen.

“Oh, he is making contracts. He always does that. Anyone who wants to clear their doubts after their class hours has to make contracts with him. In fact, he conducts five such classes with over a thousand students with contracts.”

….

“Isn’t that a violation of his contract?” Tannin asked.

“Nope. He is completing his classes without slacking. If someone wants to make him work more than he is being paid for, they pay for it on their own. I think it’s quite fair. I think that in the next three years, he will have a decent number of contracts to his name.”

“...I see. So, why did you call me here today?”

“Ah yes. It was about Ace too. Talents like him attract the awe and envy of others too easily. There have been four attempts to kidnap him in the last two months and I have dealt with them. But it seems people are really underestimating me.” He brought out a file from his drawer. “Here’s the list of organisations who were involved in the attempts. I want you to go there and deliver a message. Ace is under my protection. Make sure they understand and remember this fact.” He asked.

“Alright. I will bring some boys with me.”

- Acelin - 

I was finally alone after the day’s busy schedule.

Today’s extra class had netted me three hundred deals with the magicians of Grauzaberer, a bit of power as well as a decent amount of money.

It turns out that the Human world and the Supernatural worlds were far closer than most of us realise.

Many of the top businesses in this world have contracts with Supernatural factions to avoid being taken advantage by others.

I mean just imagine someone contracting a devil to steal the idea of their rival company or even just mind control them and take over their businesses completely.

The rivals would be left completely defenceless if they didn’t have a contract in the Supernatural side of the spectrum.

Generally they had contracts or relations with Magicians and the truly rich ones even raised their own magicians to protect their businesses.

As such most of the High Class Magicians and even the Middle Class Magicians were always funded by such people and didn’t lack money per say.

Good for me.

I lay on my bed after the daily class with Dumbledore. The things I had ordered for the Emperor would arrive tomorrow so no trading with him today.

At this moment, I sensed another summoning.

Quickly arranging everything in place, I summoned the hole to connect to the Summoning Contract.

An unfamiliar figure appeared on the other side of the portal.

The man had a black beard and hair and had dark circles under his eyes. He looked at me in awe.

“Who are you and what is it that you desire?” I asked, putting on the show which I had perfected in these past months.

“I…my name is Sirius Orion Black and I…”

“Sirius Black. I see. So you are out of Azkaban. Congratulations on your freedom.”

“Thank you. I know you are a ….”

“Devil. Yes. Why is it so hard for you people to digest? I mean I highly doubt any of you are highly religious after the Witch Hunts so why do you all still hesitate this much?”

I saw him wince a bit but shook it off and continued.

“I thank you for saving Harry’s life. It doesn’t matter to me what you are. You have done something which I was supposed to do and protect his life. For that I will be eternally grateful to you.” he bowed deeply.

“It was a deal. I didn’t do him any favour.” I waved it off. “So, why did you summon me? I don’t think you summoned me here to just thank me?”

“I…” He hesitated a bit before steeling himself and continuing. “I wish to make a deal with you.”

“Oh? Speak up.”

He gritted his teeth as rage took over his face. “I wish to know where Voldemort is.” He almost growled.

“I see. Going for revenge, are we? Let me take a guess. You wanted to go out but Dumbleore said to leave it all to him but you don’t want to stay sitting while the murderer of your friend roamed around. Did I get it all right?”

He didn’t answer but his looks made it obvious that I hit the nail on its head.

“Do you know where he is?” he asked.

“Hmm, I do.”

“State your price. I will give you anything.”

“Anything? Hahahaha you don’t have any idea what you are offering.”

“I know. Even if it’s my life, my soul, I will offer it all as long as I can kill that monster.”

“Soul? No way. That’s a very bad currency. No two souls are equal and thus they don’t make for a good currency. Do you think your soul would be equal to Voldemort’s or Dumbledore’s? But I am not that cruel. How about we trade for something you wouldn’t mind giving away?”

He looked at me expectantly to continue.

“I want all the books on magic belonging to the Black Family.”

“Deal.” He answered almost instantly, surprising me for a second.

“Don’t look surprised. If I can get the location of that bastard and destroy the dark legacy of my cursed family, it’s a win for me on both sides.”

“See, I am a good guy, right? Alright, Voldemort is currently in the forests of Romania in a soul form. He is jumping from one body to another, possessing small animals or weak people to live. That said, as long as all his anchors have been destroyed, the moment he tries to make his next jump, he would die so I would rather go after the anchors rather than him if Dumbledore hasn’t done it already.”

He stood open-mouthed at the reveal. “So…”

“Yeah… the information is kinda useless. Although, I have plenty of other information which you would love to know. How about it?” I quickly added. There were still a lot of things to be gained from him.

The Blacks were extremely rich and I wouldn’t let it go so easily.

“What information?” He asked, cautiously.

I guess getting cheated once showed him the reality.

“Now we are talking? So what do you want to know? How to get power, money, ways for werewolves to control their curse, or… the reason why Voldemort even went after the Potters and Longbottoms?”

He stilled at the last two mentions “Ways to control or remove the werewolf curse? Can you remove the curse? And what do you mean by the reasons? They were hunting all light based families. The Potters and the Longbottoms had caused a lot of trouble for them. That’s why they went after him.” he said, quickly taking the bait.

“Well, there are ways to cure lycanthropy but I can’t get my hands on one right now. You will have to wait for a while for that. But… I can give you the method of reigning a Werewolf’s curse in, if you offer me the correct price.”

Lycanthropy was present in this world as well and people had developed ways to remove the curse but it required at least an Ultimate Class level to even attempt something like that.

That said, controlling their wild self could be done.

There were even books on that at Grauzaberer.

“What about the one who betrayed James? It was Peter. That bastard already got caught.” he growled.

“Peter Pettigrew only took him to the Potter’s abode. But why exactly was he hunting them? It wasn’t because of their resistance or there wouldn’t have been a need to target them, specifically the children, so… why exactly did he go after the kids?”

His eyes widened as he sensed something wrong.

Seriously?

You had over ten years in prison.

Did you not think about anything?

The power of plot is strong in this one.

“Why?” He asked, quite agitated.

“Nah, you are forgetting the basics of making a deal. First we discuss the terms of the deal and only then you get the information.”

He was getting impatient and hurriedly asked. “What do you want?”

“I want a trunk similar to the one Newt Scamander had where he keeps his entire collection of Magical Beasts.” With the money from the Black Family, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he could get it for me.

He agreed readily. “Now answer me, who?”

“It happened when Albus Dumbledore was conducting a recruitment for professors, more specifically the recruitment for a Divination professor. Sybill Trelawney was undergoing her interview when…she made a prophecy. An actual prophecy.”

He looked at me silently and I continued.

“Her exact words were…The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies...”

The expressions on his face changed several times and he finally spoke. “You can’t be serious.”

“Oh but I am. That fool was so afraid of dying that he created a self fulfilling prophecy. Only two people met the criteria. Harry Potter and Nevile Longbottom.”

Then a look of realisation came on his face. “Wait. You said that Dumbledore was conducting the interview then…how did Voldemort find out?”

I smiled. “Oho, are you asking me another question?”

“Aghhh just tell me what you want for it.”

“Superb. I want books on Potions, Arithmancy and Enchantment till the Master’s level. At least five hundred each with no repetitions.”

His face paled. “But that much would be…”

“Hard to get but not impossible. There are more than one magical communities in the world. You have time. I don’t think it’s a big deal.”

He took a deep breath. “Alright. I agree.”

“Great. But before I tell you the answer I want to remind you of something.”

He narrowed his eyes but I paid no attention.

“Harry Potter hasn’t had a good life. No. he’d had a very terrible life till before Hogwarts. You can simply assess it by the fact that his first Hogwarts letter had the address of ‘Cupboard under the Stairs’ and his nickname was Freak.”

The man’s face morphed into a look of shock which was replaced by a look of intense rage. “I will kill the…”

“You will do nothing as you have already done enough. If you hadn’t chased after Pettigrew that day due to your own selfish rage and explained the situation properly to others, Harry wouldn’t have had to live with those people. It was just as much your fault as it is theirs.” I chided. “I absolutely detest people who abandon children. So, when I tell you the identity of the one who disclosed the information to Voldemort, do remember that currently you are Harry’s only family, the only one he has known in his whole life. Don’t ruin it for the kid again due to your own anger issues.”

The man looked like a kicked puppy at the words. He fell to his knees, covered his face with his hands and weeped.

Seriously, the prison had done a number on his head.

The only reason I reminded him was because otherwise he would have rushed to kill Snape and I wouldn’t have gotten my payment then. I was not doing this for the kid.

If he benefited from this then it was just a lucky coincidence.

Yes.

Just a lucky coincidence I repeated to myself.

He finished crying a bit later and nodded at me.

“There was someone who was spying on the interview and listened in on half of the prophecy… Serverus Snape.”

__________________________________x___________________________________

Sirius Black made a final deal with me after finding out about Snape’s identity and that was for the way to control the Werewolf curse.

The price was five hundred thousand galleons, several things to make potions

 and two Invisibility Cloaks.

To his credit, he didn’t even blink an eye as he agreed to the demand.

Maybe I should have asked for more.

I shook my head. This was enough for now.

There was still the removal for the curse not to mention several other things on which I could swindle them.

No need to get hasty and ruin things.

I lay on my bed, tired beyond words. Today, I had really pushed the limits of my Demonic Power.

In these last few months, my Demonic Power had risen sharply due to the regular training and I now possessed a High Class level of power. It was nowhere near enough but was still very good for my age.

Still, I would need even more.

With the gold and the money, I can start some kind of business. Maybe a Potions or Enchanting Business to support myself.

Just as I was thinking of these, I heard a knock on the door.

Looking at the time which was around midnight, I checked the security cameras and saw a familiar face there.

I opened the door to see Lavinia standing outside with a box in her hands.

“Ace. Hurry, move away.” She pushed me aside and went to a table as she kept the box slowly there.

She opened it and I saw that it contained a cake.

A birthday cake.

She turned towards me. “Today is my birthday.”

….

I was taken aback at the reveal and then smiled at her as I caressed her hair softly. “Happy Birthday, Lavy.”

Her face lit up brightly at my words.

We lit the candles and she made a wish before blowing the candles and cutting the cake.

I sang for her. “What did you wish for?” I asked.

“Hmm? I wished that we will always remain together.” She smiled brightly.

….

I was stunned at her honest words.

There wasn’t a hint of lie or any deceit in her words.

“You want to stay together with me?”

“Umm.” She nodded. “You are my best friend, right? I obviously want to stay together with you always.”

I let out a chuckle. “Well it’s your birthday so…I will have to give you a gift too. But first, I want to tell you something.”

“Yes?”

I quickly shut the door and threw a small barrier to isolate ourselves.

“My name is not Ace?”

“Hmm? Did you change your name?” She tilted her head lightly.

“…No. What I meant to say is that my real name is not Ace or rather my full name is not Ace. My actual name is… Acelin Abaddon.” I used the Gaea Foundation to revert to my original look. “And this is how I actually look.”

Her eyes widened and then she jumped on me. “So cute! Your pink hair looks so cute.” She shouted excitedly, making my eyes twitch.

“It’s strawberry blonde not pink.” I complained but she was not listening.

“And you can change how you look? That’s awesome.”

….

“Are you not bothered by this at all? I mean I hid how I looked from you?”

“But it’s still you. Also, you kept this for my birthday so it’s actually special.”

…that’s not how it works.

I let out a sigh. It was useless trying to understand what went through her mind.

“Well, in that case, let me show you your gift.” I brought out an Invisibility Cloak from my trunk. “Happy Birthday.” I wished her as I wrapped it around her.

She looked in amazement as her body vanished under the cover of the cloak.

“This is called an Invisibility Cloak.”

“Thank you!” She hugged me and I returned her embrace.

After all, she was the first friend I had in this world.

Dave was more like a guardian.

Damn… I  miss him now.

But today was Lavy’s fourteenth birthday so I decided to give her all my attention for today.

We cut the cake and I explained to her that she can’t reveal my secret to anyone.

Later on, she slept in my room from exhaustion. I was exhausted too so I took a nap as well.

_________________________________x____________________________________

Two days later, I summoned the hole for the class with Dumbledore.

The man had a serious and disappointed expression on his face.

“What’s up? Why so glum?” I asked, opening the conversation.

“Did you tell Sirius about Serverus’ folly?”

….

I narrowed my eyes.

“Yes. He offered me a deal. I accepted.”

“Do you understan…”

“Albus Dumbledore,” I  stopped the man before he could lecture me. “Don’t forget who I am.”

That shut him up.

“As for whatever argument you were cooking up, it’s useless against me. If something happens to Serverus Snape then he would deserve every bit of it.”

“He is repenting.” Dumbledore countered back.

“And what has he done in repentance? Bully children? Act as your spy? What bullshit! Who in the nine hells are you to forgive him? If there’s someone whose forgiveness he needs, that’s Harry Potter and Nevile and Augusta Longbottom. Go on. Tell them what he had done and see if they can forgive him. And no, many people dying in the war doesn’t make it alright for terrorists to be forgiven.”

“You are not the owner of this world. You have no right to decide who is forgiven and who is not. But even if you did… How is any of that my problem? We decided on a deal. I already completed my side of the deal and now you are completing your side. You do not dictate to me what and with whom I can make deals with.” I finished. “But just some friendly advice, don’t be so quick to forgive. I know of futures where Lucius Malfoy made a way to go back in time and revert history itself.” I saw his face pale.

“That’s impossible!”

“Today maybe but what about the future? It was actually one of the students currently in your school who made the Time Turner go back that far in time.”

His mouth hung open at the reveal.

"Albus there is nothing wrong with wanting to give people second chances, but those people must first realise what they did was bad and be willing to change. Otherwise you're just telling them they can do all the nasty shit they want with no consequences."

“But that’s enough talk for today. We still have a class to finish.”

Safe to say that the rest of the class was quiet.

__________________________________x___________________________________

Three months had passed since my argument with Dumbledore.

He had kept more to himself since then, only teaching me without any other words.

But I wasn't bothered with this.

My transfiguration lessons with him were progressing at the usual pace.

I was almost at the master level now. I could now teach at any academy.

We expected it to be completed in two more months and then I will start with Alchemy.

It was something I was waiting for.

Sirius did however summon me twice.

Both times for the repayment of his side of the deal.

I found out from him that he and the Longbottoms had filed a case against Serverus Snape with proof. Investigations were ongoing and soon enough, there was a great chance that Serverus Snape would be in Azkaban.

Not to say there was no resistance.

Lucius Malfoy and the dark side were doing their best to protect him but Sirius being the Head of the House of Black almost neutered the Malfoy family.

Add to the fact that Cornelius Fudge didn’t dare speak anything bad against Sirius right now after the fuckup of his sentencing.

He even made another deal with me to find out about some dirt about those families and pressure the government.

I told him about Bartemius Couch Jr. and the guy made good work with it.

The payment for this was another five hundred thousand galleons.

Sirius wasn’t lying when he said that he was happy to sell off all his family’s properties.

The man gladly gave me two hundred and fifty thousand galleons on top of this when I told him the reality about his brother. He cried and thanked me.

One thing which happened was that his relationship with Dumbledore had deteriorated a lot. So did Remus’.

The guy had had Harry check up on the Prophecy and found out that it was completed.

Yes.

Voldemort was dead.

My guess was right.

As soon as the last Horcrux, the cup of Helga Hufflepuff was destroyed, he passed away since he hadn’t made Nagini yet.

Since that was the case, they no longer had to cooperate with Dumbledore unwittingly.

The information about Snape really did a number on their relationship.

Sirius was about to remove Harry from the school but had only stopped because he didn’t want to remove him from the company of his friends.

His relationship with me became much better on the other hand.

Man… now I was feeling bad for taking his money like that.

Hmm.

Maybe, I will tell him to invest somewhere and earn money.

With future knowledge, it would be easy to earn his money back.

He was currently convincing Remus to accept the book which I had given and would allow him to control his wolf side.

I however was not concerned about those. I finally had my secret base.

The Black Family was indeed one of the richest wizard families.

My new trunk was insanely big.

It was bigger than a football field.

Sirius had personally visited Newt Scammander and enquired about his suitcase and had one made as per the best model.

With this, I could carry out my activities without any fear.

As usual, I was summoned and this time it was the Emperor.

“Good evening, your Majesty. You look awfully serious today. What’s the matter?”

The kid looked like he would cry but held it back. “We… found out who killed our parents.”

“… I see.”

Tears fell from his eyes as he choked a little but stopped himself from breaking down.

“It was the Prime Minister Honest, wasn’t it?” I asked and he nodded.

“General Budo… investigated and confirmed. We had him recruit the man called Gozuki and his squad of assassins. We even contacted the soldiers you told us about and recruited them, ordering everyone to investigate the incident… and they all came up with the same answer.”

“Did you decide what to do with them?” I asked.

He looked back at me.

“What should we do?” He asked me, almost pleadingly.

….

I looked back at him.

“Your Majesty.”

“Yes.”

“You shouldn’t trust people so easily regarding these kinds of decisions. Do remember that the Prime Minister Honest wanted to take advantage of this as well? This kind of thing, you should consult someone whom you truly trust.”

“Why can’t you advise us? If it’s the price, we can pay you?”

I sighed at the kid’s reply. But then again, he was only around eight years old right now. It was too much to expect much from him to take these kinds of decisions. Actually, it was quite commendable that he asked me for advice and didn’t go charging to punish Honest and get killed then.

“I’m not related to your Empire. I am just someone who makes deals. It wouldn’t be right of me to interfere in the matters of your Empire.”

The kid became quiet and looked down in thought.

He then looked at me, a determined expression on his face. “We wish to make a deal.”

“Huh?”

“We said we wish to make a deal. You just said that you are someone who only makes deals, right? Then we wish to make a deal with you.” he said firmly.

I looked at him for a moment before nodding. “Very well. What is it that you desire?”

He took a deep breath. “We wish to invite you to become the guardian of the Empire. State your price.”

….

….

….

….

I looked at the kid in surprise.

And then a smile formed on my lips.

I don’t know why but I kinda felt proud of this kid after teaching him for so long, he was finally acting smart.

This also reminded me of the contract Mephisto had made with Faust.

“Are you sure you want to do that? If I become the guardian of the Empire, I will eliminate the threats to it. Which means if you yourself were to become a threat to the Empire, I will eliminate you as well.” I stated, testing his will.

“We agree. In fact we hope for that. If someday we or any of our descendants are fooled by someone like Honest again… it’s better for us to die than harm the Empire.

I looked at the kid, open mouthed.

“Very well then. I will negotiate with you seriously but I hope you understand that such a deal will involve me being bound to the Empire for a long time and as such, the price for the deal will be high too.”

“We understand.”

“Great. I am still not strong enough to come and go into your world at will and will need a few more years at minimum to get to that level but I will provide the Empire with the knowledge to grow. When I can go there, I will even protect the Empire from threats. I will even give you advice but whether you follow it or not depends on you. I will not interfere.”

He nodded.

“In return, the Empire must also fulfil my requests. I won’t ask for anything which would endanger the Empire. To carry out my work, I will need a team of few people who will answer only to me. Emperor’s of the Empire can question them but will not order them to do anything against my will. You will just provide them a place, a territory to get an income from. I give you my word that none of them will interfere in the workings of the Empire and only act when the Empire is in danger.”

“This much is doable.” He agreed quite readily.

“Since that’s the case, my payment will be… four Teigus of my choice.”

“Four!”

“I don’t think you understand something. I am not a human. I am from a race called Devils. We live for tens of thousands of years. You want me to be the Guardian of your Empire for such a long time and as such I am asking for a very small price.”

“T-t-ten thousand years!”

“Average. We can live longer as well.” I shrugged. To show that I was not joking, I summoned my wings and flew lightly in the air.

It was time for him to be surprised.

Over the next hour, we hammered down the details of the contract.

I did take some liberties because the kid was still that… a kid but I didn’t rob him blind. The advantages were that in case some dumb future descendant of his went around conquering the world and became a tyrant, I would be able to put a stop to them earlier.

One such clause was that the soul of any of the empire's traitors would belong to me. The same will be the case with any terrorists. They will obviously be assessed first under the Veritaserum and hypnosis but if proven guilty, their souls will be my property.

This kinda felt as if I was a dementor but who cared.

Right now, the capital is full of traitors. I am going to have a great increase in power.

With this, I was ready for the next step to establish a foothold in the Empire.

- Najenda -

She didn’t know what was happening when many of the generals of the Empire had been called back so suddenly.

She looked beside her. There were some faces she recognised but some unknown ones as well.

The most prominent ones were General Budo, the strongest General of the Empire.

There were also General Liver and the infamous Hundred Man Slayer, Bulat.

Her thoughts were interrupted as the Emperor entered. She looked at the kid who took the throne. Eight years old.

Sigh.

It was only due to the support of the corrupt officials who wanted a puppet ruler that he was even there after winning the succession.

The Empire was really going through a rough time since the death of the previous Emperor.

He looked at them as general Budo stood up and walked beside him.

“Before we say anything today, answer one question of ours. Where do your loyalties lie?”

The generals looked at each other and answered in a single voice.

“With the Emperor. With the Empire.”

“In that case, we will choose to trust you as well. Our soldiers. Today… we have come here to relay a very sad… and enraging news.” He spoke

She looked at him closer. It wasn’t her first time seeing him but today she felt a difference.

The young child had a look of seriousness on his face.

“Our parents, the previous Emperor and Empress of the Empire whom you all know had passed away due to illness… were actually murdered.”

….

A moment later, murmurs ran through the room.

The Emperor looked at General Budo and the man nodded.

He brought out a bundle of papers and passed it to them.

One by one everyone took a look at those papers.

Honest.

It was that damned Prime Minister.

She knew that the Prime Minister was increasing in power by a lot since the deaths of the previous Emperor and Empress.

Even the kid Emperor was completely under his control… or that’s what she had thought… but it doesn’t seem to be the case.

“What are your orders, Your Majesty?” General Liver asked, anger easily recognisable in his voice.

Many other generals echoed his voice.

The Emperor raised his hand.

“As you have already noticed, not all of the Empire’s generals were called here. You people were only chosen because of your loyalties for the Empire. The current Empire is riddled with Honest’s underlings. Whether it be the imperial court or the army. There are not many people whom we can trust easily. So we need your assistance. We will clean up this Empire and return it to its former glory. We might be young but we are ready to give it our all, even our own life for the betterment of the Empire. All we need is your support. Will you…. our people, support us?”

“Yes Your Majesty.” Several voices rang out.

“Very well then. Today, we end the reign of corruption from the Empire starting with the traitorous Prime Minister, Honest. General Budo.”

“Yes Your Majesty.”

“We command you to arrest Prime Minister Honest and his cohorts and bring them in for execution. Be careful, Honest has a Teigu called Erastone which can destroy other Teigu. Kill him if you have to but do not let him escape. I do not wish for you all to risk your lives to capture a traitor.”

“Yes Your Majesty.”

“A few of you will stay back to protect me. Gozuki, step forward.”

A man stepped forward and kneeled.

“You are assigned to track down the previous Prime Minister, Chouri and his daughter Spear and bring them back to the Empire securely. Do not let anyone catch a wisp of this.” he ordered.

“Yes Your Majesty.”

“Others, follow us. We will stay in the Imperial Treasury where the Teigu are stored.”

She didn’t know what had gotten into the Emperor but she hoped that it would bring about a good change in the Empire and save it from its rapid decline.

- Saelena -

“And these are the contract requests from the Gauzaberer Organisation for this half of the year.” Mephisto summoned the bundle of papers on the table.

She looked at the towering bunch and noticed something. “These… look a bit less than the last time.”

“Hmm these are around seventy percent of the last time. Many of the Magicians at Gauzaberer are currently focusing on something else.” he answered.

“Is that something else perhaps related to a young Devil Magician whom you have hired as a teacher for a special type of Magic?” Serafall questioned.

“Oh, did you get someone good in your Organisation?” She asked curiously.

“Hahahaha Ace is just like his name, my Ace. he is the creator and the only teacher of a completely new branch of Magic, Transfiguration. Most of the magicians at Grauzaberer are busy learning this magic to research more.”

“Really? A completely new type of magic? What can it do?” She asked.

“I believe we have already seen what it can do six months ago.” Ajuka answered and then looked at Mephisto.

“Eh? We did?” She asked and then it struck her. “The boy from six months ago. You found him?”

The boy who had caused that ruckus and brought about the changes in the system of the Ranking Examinations.

They had really tried to find him but didn’t get even a hint.

It turns out that they were looking in the wrong place.

“Yup. It was a lucky encounter. We talked a bit and I offered him a job. He accepted it to repay me for paying the compensation for that day.” He smiled.

“You knew where he was hiding, right?” Ajuka asked.

“He was under the collar of Lavinia, waiting for an opportunity to get out when she went back. I noticed him when we were teleporting.” He laughed. “Turns out that he can use his magic to change his shape at will.”

Her mouth opened in surprise.

So he was there, just outside the room while they all searched throughout the city?

Mephisto summoned a book and passed it on to them. “Here’s the first book by Ace. 

She looked at the cover of the book. ‘The Art of Transfiguration - Part 1.’

“He just started writing these and more will come out in the next few years. These just contain the introduction and basics of Transfiguration Magic. First edition.”

Ajuka opened the book while she looked at Mephisto. “What kind of guy is he?”

“Hmm, Ace is a….good child. I don’t know what kind of life he has lived before but he is extremely cautious of people. After knowing his personality, it wasn’t a surprise that he ran away that day and reacted the way he did. We have been working for six months and I still don’t know what he looks like?” he laughed.

“What?”

“He always keeps on a disguise. The face which you all saw that day, was not his original face. He can shapeshift. His name is most likely a fake too. The only thing I know about him is his age. He’s just fourteen years old.”

“And you still hired him?” Serafall asked, incredulously.

“Well, you all tried to catch him and what did you get? I just tried a different approach.” he shrugged. “And I was correct as well. The kid might be overly cautious but has impeccable work ethics. He never once slacks off when teaching students. Not once has he done anything which has let me hear a complaint about him. He is extremely professional at work. And isn’t that what I want? He could always learn to trust me in time and open up to me. He has shown that he isn’t completely antisocial as he does get along with little Lavinia.”

While Mephisto was explaining about the boy, Ajuka conjured a magic circle and manipulated it. The pen in front of them turned into a beetle.

“How interesting.” He then turned another page of the book and continued reading.

….

She ignored her friend. Over the past centuries, she knew that look already.

He was already out of the conversation.

“Oh and despite his young age, his Demonic Power is comparable to a decent High Class Devil. Although, he himself is a Low Class Devil.”

A Low Class Devil.

“Did he write all this by himself?” Ajuka asked.

“Yes. There will apparently be around one dozen books in total according to him and this is only the first part.”

“I see. In that case I would like to order any other books from him in the future. Also, although the bills were paid, he still has to undergo two months of public service….in the “Research and Development Department’ for his stunt.” Ajuka stated and went back to his book.

….

“Do you want him to run away again?” She scolded him and then thought of a plan and turned towards Mephisto. “How long does he have a contract with you?”

“Two and a half years left.”

“Great. In that case, why don’t you bring him to the Recommendation Meet in a year and a half. There he might be able to get a recommendation for the Middle Class Promotion as well as get a chance to show the whole underworld the potential of the Devils which often gets ignored. He seemed like he was dissatisfied with it. So here’s his chance to prove the people wrong.”

“Oh, hunting two prey with one arrow. If he loses, the government’s stance will be proved right and he will have to accept it and if he wins, your new amendment would be proved correct. Either way, it’s your win. As expected of the Lucifer.” Mephisto smiled. “But I would recommend you all to not underestimate Ace. That boy… he will become one of the top figures in the world. In all my life, I have rarely seen that kind of drive in someone so young. I advise you to not distance him through politics.”

“Such high praise. You seem to have taken a liking to him, Lord Mephisto.” She smiled.

“Obviously. I even had Tannin warn the unruly brats away. Ace, regardless of all his flaws, is a member of my organisation and someone I have great hopes for.”

“In that case, we too hope that he will be able to grow and become a pillar of support for the Underworld.”

_________________________________x____________________________________

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Author’s Note:

Another chapter of ‘Ace in the Hole’ is up.

Things are finally picking up pace.

The Harry Potter world is mostly sorted out….or is it?

The kid Emperor played a Ciel Phantomhive. Let’s see how their contract goes.

Ace will start interacting more with the outer world from the next chapter now that he has a basic foothold in the world.

We will see what happens in the next chapter.

Enjoy the new chapter.

Good Day, Peace Out.