Forced to Become the Protagonist of a Restricted Novel [Transmigration & Rebirth] - Chapter 10

The mercenary guild was bustling with noise, the clamor from the downstairs hall never ceasing.

Su Cheng followed the Battle Master down the steps when a group of men came up the stairs, arguing loudly about the division of some payment. Their bloodstained iron boots thudded heavily against the wooden steps.

One of them was about to speak when he caught sight of Kai and abruptly fell silent. The other mercenaries around him also stopped talking.

The two groups passed each other, and only after they had gone some distance did Su Cheng hear them resume cursing at each other, each claiming they had contributed more to the mission.

“…Do you know them?” She glanced at the Battle Master beside her. “They seemed afraid of you?”

“We had a minor conflict when we first arrived the day before yesterday,” Kai said casually. “Just a misunderstanding.”

They continued discussing her mission.

The matter of the curse was now a transaction between her and Camus, no longer tied to the Black Flame Mercenary Group.

So any tasks they wanted her to complete would have to be negotiated separately.

He gave a brief explanation, “That mage gathering starts next month, and it requires traveling to the imperial capital.”

Amber City was located in the southern part of the empire, while the capital was in the central region. Even riding Magical Beasts, it wasn’t a journey that could be completed in just two or three days.

Many mercenaries wouldn’t be willing to travel that far, so it was no surprise they hadn’t been able to recruit anyone in such a short time.

Kai looked at her, “If you don’t want to—”

“I do,” Su Cheng quickly said. “I was already thinking of venturing out, though my skills are limited. I can only promise I’ll do my best.”

He nodded. “I’ll give you more details later. For now, I’ll go withdraw the recruitment notice.”

They parted ways then, with Su Cheng heading to the guild’s front desk to register as a mercenary.

The mercenary diary was a small, thick book, embedded with magic—costing two Silver Coins.

She had brought her citizen identification—which, in fact, belonged to the original cannon fodder Su Cheng. Since it didn’t list parents’ names, only gender and age, it was perfectly usable.

The guild staff verified the document and asked whether she was a mage or a Battle Master.

She revealed the rank insignia on her chest, instantly drawing several gazes.

Most mercenaries here were first-rank, with a few at second-rank, but they were all considerably older. Few were as young as her.

The guild employee nodded, allowing her to casually cast a second-rank spell. Su Cheng conjured a Wind Blade, eliciting another wave of envious murmurs.

“…Instant casting? She’s almost at third-rank, isn’t she?”

Magicians were divided into eleven ranks.

Apprentice Mage, Apprentice Mage, Junior Magician, Intermediate Magician, Senior Magician, Grand Magician, Archmage, Grand Archmage, Magister, Grand Magister, and Saint Magister.

For mages at the first-rank apprentice or second-rank apprentice levels, their advancement depended on whether they could successfully cast a spell of the corresponding rank.

The so-called “casting” referred to chanting the entire incantation.

In other words, an ordinary Apprentice Mage would need at least five to ten seconds—depending on their speaking speed—to chant the incantation for a second-rank spell like Wind Blade.

With greater proficiency, one could cast spells without vocalizing, known as silent casting, where the incantation was recited mentally.

A step further, omitting the incantation altogether was called instant casting.

“…Is she even eighteen?”

Some muttered to themselves, while others sprang into action.

“Hey, magician, are you looking to join a mercenary group?”

Su Cheng had just taken the small booklet registered by the employee when she was nearly hit in the face by a recruitment flyer from a mercenary group. The man enthusiastically waved the paper in his hand.

“We’re always recruiting Elemental Mages, especially wind-affinity—”

The surrounding mercenaries quickly caught on and began crowding around.

Just as Su Cheng was about to flee, a commotion erupted at the entrance.

A group of people appeared at the hall’s entrance.

They were all young, dressed in luxurious attire, exuding extraordinary bearing, each adorned with similar academy insignias. The leader was a strikingly handsome young man clad in white, his demeanor icy and aloof.

The mercenaries nearby stepped aside, their attitudes bordering on reverence.

Some had already recognized them—these mercenaries hailed from a renowned team, all hardened veterans who rarely showed such tension.

“…Nine-Star Battle Commander!”

Someone suddenly exclaimed.

They had spotted the rank insignia on the white-clad youth.

A fifth-rank Battle Master!

Just one step away from the sixth rank!

In Golden Amber City, there were indeed experts of similar rank, but they were all well-known local figures, each over forty years old.

Thanks to their battle energy, those individuals might not appear old, but this young man’s face still bore traces of youthful innocence, and his uniform bore the emblem of South River Academy.

From the emblem, one could deduce his enrollment period, and considering the academy’s age requirements for admission—

“This guy can’t be more than twenty, right?” someone gasped. “And he’s already on the verge of reaching the sixth rank!”

“That’s not necessarily true. For some, advancing from five-star ninth-rank to the sixth rank might be impossible in a lifetime!”

“Your ‘some’ definitely doesn’t include someone who can achieve this level of strength by twenty, right?”

“He’s way too young…”

Amid the hushed discussions, the group from South River Academy had already entered the hall. Murong Yue’s expression was indifferent, paying no mind to the attention.

Then, his gaze caught a familiar figure in the crowd, and his expression stiffened slightly.

The classmates nearby noticed this scene and followed his gaze curiously.

Having not accompanied them to the Lin family estate, they didn’t recognize Su Cheng and looked puzzled.

“…Just a second rank,” someone muttered, “nothing special, right?”

Another well-informed student suddenly gasped. “I heard Murong-senpai’s fiancée looked exactly like—”

“Former fiancée!” Murong Yue, who had been momentarily dazed, immediately cut her off as if triggered. “Please don’t get that wrong.”

The classmate froze on the spot. “Oh, oh—right.”

Murong Yue had always carried himself with aloof pride—when had they ever seen him react like this?

Just how much did he hate that fiancée?

Though they’d heard she was a good-for-nothing who couldn’t even condense battle energy by sixteen or seventeen, his disdain for the engagement made sense.

…But wasn’t that girl over there an Apprentice Mage?

While second rank wasn’t particularly impressive in their eyes, it was still decent.

And had nothing to do with being a “good-for-nothing,” right?

Could it be that Murong Yue simply despised Magicians? Or that anyone who didn’t cultivate battle energy was trash to him?

The students were collectively bewildered.

The mutual disdain between Battle Masters and mages was longstanding, but wasn’t this too extreme?

While the Nanhe Academy students were still speculating, the girl in the crowd merely glanced their way before ignoring them completely.

She tilted her head to speak with the tall swordsman beside her, showing him her mercenary diary and even raising the small notebook higher.

Murong Yue frowned slightly.

He recalled how proactive Su Cheng had been during the annulment. Though she seemed to want benefits, it also proved she’d been equally dissatisfied with the engagement.

…Had she already had someone else in mind?

“Hmph, just a second-rank Elemental Mage—she was never worthy of you anyway!”

A lavishly dressed young woman lifted her chin, her face full of contempt.

She was Murong Yue’s junior, who usually idolized her senior and saw him as a role model.

No sooner had she spoken than the black-haired girl in the distance suddenly turned, wearing a fox-spots-chick kind of smile.

Murong Yue: “…”

Before he could speak, Su Cheng had already approached with a grin.

“Well, hello,” she first addressed the junior beside Murong Yue. “May I ask your name?”

The junior sneered. “You’re not worthy of knowing.”

Su Cheng studied her thoughtfully.

In the original story, Murong Yue had a junior—a noble youth with decent talent—who was one of his suitors and thus despised Lin Yun.

That junior had said many nasty things to Lin Yun, including but not limited to belittling him as a lowborn loser, calling him unworthy of Murong Yue, a toad lusting after swan meat, etc.

Later, he got thoroughly humiliated, then was brutally killed by Lin Yun.

Now that—

Murong Yue had become male, perhaps the toxic junior had become a toxic junior sister?

Or maybe it wasn’t the same person.

Given Murong Yue’s status, he’d never lack sycophants. Those attacking her might not genuinely like him anyway.

After some thought, she realized she couldn’t recall the toxic junior’s name—even if this girl introduced herself now, it wouldn’t ring any bells.

“…Fine, if you don’t want to talk about it, then don’t. But Murong Yue and I were strangers to begin with. Now that the engagement has been called off, we’re no different from passing acquaintances.”

Su Cheng paused. “What does ‘worthy’ or ‘unworthy’ have to do with two strangers? Are you implying our engagement still stands?”

“Pah!” The junior sneered. “Look at yourself in the mirror—who do you think you are? You only got engaged to Senior Murong by sheer dumb luck—”

Su Cheng: “…”

Her lines were practically identical to that toxic junior’s earlier.

Deaf to reason, both of them just spewed nonsense without listening.

“Enough!” Murong Yue suddenly cut the junior off. “Miss Su and I have no ties whatsoever. Don’t speak of this again.”

The junior stared at him in surprise.

“Let’s go,” Murong Yue turned away. “Silverwing’s people should have arrived by now.”

The mercenaries nearby who had been listening drew sharp breaths.

Silverwing was one of the empire’s renowned mid-sized S-rank mercenary groups, boasting numerous elite members and even some cooperative ties with the royal family.

Advancing a mercenary group’s rank was no easy feat—the higher the rank, the more stringent the requirements.

Even across the northern and southern continents, S-rank mercenary groups were few in number.

Su Cheng, however, knew exactly what was happening.

Among Silverwing’s members was a remarkably young and talented individual whom Nanhe Academy wished to recruit for the Sword Martial Academy.

This wasn’t poaching—after all, academies and mercenary groups operated differently, and being a mercenary didn’t inherently conflict with studying.

Mercenaries weren’t on missions every single day, and students didn’t need to remain on campus at all times.

Especially for exceptionally gifted students, the academy granted considerable freedom.

The person in question hadn’t refused the invitation outright but had requested to meet Murong Yue first, wanting to witness the Sword Martial Academy’s youngest genius firsthand.

Since they’d specified not wanting to meet academy instructors, Murong Yue had only brought along a few juniors.

Su Cheng couldn’t help glancing at Murong Yue. How obedient you are now, she thought.

Why did you need an entourage of old fogies when coming to break off our engagement?

Noticing her look, the junior sneered again. “Silverwing’s Xiao Lan is months younger than you but has already reached the sixth rank—”

Su Cheng said nothing.

In the original story, Xiao Lan was also a great beauty who became Murong Yue’s close confidante, later meeting Lin Yun and engaging in some rivalry over Murong Yue’s attention.

However, Lin Yun wasn’t present for this first meeting between Xiao Lan and Murong Yue.

He was likely taking an entrance exam for some academy right now.

Su Cheng turned to Murong Yue. “Did you tell her about the contract? If you didn’t, you’ve breached our agreement. If you did, then I’ll be collecting payment from her.”

The junior clearly knew nothing of any contract, and most of the other students looked equally clueless.

Only two wore expressions of dread.

They’d accompanied Murong Yue to the Lin residence and witnessed Elder Li’s death. Given its connection to divine matters, neither had dared speak of it.

As a result, the others remained completely unaware—they didn’t even know Elder Li was gone.

“What are you talking about?!” The junior said in confusion, “What contract?”

Murong Yue was about to speak.

But Su Cheng had already pulled out a stack of papers from her pocket, waving them carelessly. “Yes, a contract. Black and white, clear as day.”

“Is that so?!”

The junior suddenly reached out, snatched the papers from her hand, tore them to shreds, then used her battle energy to pulverize the fragments into dust.

As a Battle General and fourth-tier Battle Master, her movements were lightning-fast. At such close range, even an ordinary Magician wouldn’t have been able to dodge in time.

After completing this, the junior looked triumphant. “I don’t care what contract it was—now it’s gone—”

Her words cut off abruptly.

Because Su Cheng showed not a trace of panic on her face.

Su Cheng sighed. “Though I don’t understand why you’d tear up a mercenary group’s recruitment flyer, this kind of behavior is something the gods would condemn.”

Her palm began to burn.

Even without rolling up her sleeve to check, she knew the scales mark—symbolizing the contract—had already appeared.

What was happening now had entered the domain of divine authority.

Just as expected.

Certain conjectures were confirmed once again.

The God of Contract might tolerate, or even delight in, people playing tricks within the wording of contracts—whether mutual deception or one-sided exploitation.

But such a crude act as tearing up a contract was clearly unacceptable to Him.

Or perhaps it even violated His taboo.

Thus, even if what was destroyed wasn’t a real contract, the perpetrator of such an act would still be punished.

And—

The God-favored could initiate the punishment.

Su Cheng took two steps back. “The God of Contract despises those… foolish people without any sense of contractual spirit. Well, that seems easy to understand, doesn’t it?”

The junior’s expression froze.

Her hands turned transparent, her skin covered in spreading, intricate patterns—like the jagged, irregular tears of paper being ripped apart.

“No!”

The young woman’s flesh began peeling from her arms, muscle fibers scattering like shredded paper scraps, accompanied by splashes of red drifting through the air.

“Save me—”

She staggered backward, each step causing more fragments to fall away. Her chest caved in as if crushed by an invisible force, ribs snapping one after another with a sickening crack.