Chapter 696: My Strict, Pure, And Slightly Naive Master

"What did you want to talk about?" Celia asked while noticing the serious expression on Isaac’s face. She looked at him curiously, waiting for him to explain why he had suddenly gathered everyone.

The corner of Isaac’s lips twitched when he looked at her. Celia was wearing his baggy shirt. It was the same shirt he had brought from the last city they had visited. Isaac had thought he had lost it and had spent some time wondering whether Alice or Emily had taken it.

He now knew where it had gone.

Isaac decided not to complain about it and simply looked away before continuing. "We should reach Florathi in about an hour, so there are a few things we need to take care of before we arrive. Namely, we need to make sure that our equipment is properly prepared. I don’t want us to enter the Florathi Kingdom without making the necessary arrangements first."

Everyone became serious. His wives understood the meaning behind his words. Whatever awaited them in Florathi, Isaac clearly did not intend to take unnecessary risks.

Isaac reached into his storage space and pulled out a black crown. He held it in his hand for a moment before turning toward Alice.

"Firstly, Alice, take this," he said.

He held out a small artifact toward her. It was the growth-type item called I, Destroy, which was currently only at Mortal rank, but unlike ordinary artifacts, its rank could increase as it developed.

Alice took the artifact and examined it for a moment before looking back at Isaac. "What is this item?"

"It’s an artifact that will increase your stats depending on how angry you are," Isaac explained.

The corner of Alice’s lips twitched as she stared at him. "Are you saying that I frequently get angry?"

Before Isaac could answer, Celia spoke up. "It’s fine, Alice. Think of it another way. If you can increase the rank of this artifact, you can use it to punish Isaac whenever he does something stupid. Since the stat boost comes from an item, Isaac won’t receive it himself. Of course, he can share the item too, but he can’t get the stat boosts without becoming angry, which he probably wouldn’t."

Alice stopped and looked down at the artifact. She seemed to think about Celia’s suggestion for a few moments before finally nodding.

"That’s a valid point," Alice said.

Celia smiled in return, clearly pleased that Alice had understood what she meant.

Isaac, who had been watching the two of them, was completely speechless. He was happy that they were getting along, and that Celia helped him here, but did they really have to find common ground by discussing how they could punish him? Why would they even punish him? He never did anything wrong— okay, he had gained a new Saintess recently, but that was besides the point. He hadn’t done anything to the Saintess. He was a good husband who would never do anything to make his wives sad.

He reached into his storage space and took out another item. This time, it was a sword set. It was the legendary set he had obtained from the Great Dungeon while completing the solo clear with Catherine. The equipment was valuable, and Isaac had already decided who should receive it.

He turned toward Sword Empress and held the equipment out to her. "This is for you, Master."

Sword Empress looked at the equipment in his hands before shaking her head. "No."

"Why?" Isaac frowned slightly at her response.

"Because I’m your master. I can’t take something this precious from you, because it is a master’s duty to give gifts to her disciples, not to accept valuable things from them," Sword Empress replied calmly.

Isaac was touched by her words.

He could tell from her expression that she genuinely believed what she was saying. It was difficult for him to argue against that kind of sincerity, and Isaac found himself respecting her even more because of it.

As for the fact about Sword Empress having a shameless habit of peeking at wrong times, when had that even happened? Isaac had never heard anything about such things, and as far as he knew, his master was a strict, pure, and slightly naïve.

"Please think of it as payment for teaching me, Master. You have spent so much time teaching me, so I think it is only reasonable for me to give you something valuable in return," Isaac said.

Sword Empress shook her head again. "No. If I want a payment, it will be something I ask of you myself, not something like this."

Isaac pressed his lips into a thin line as he listened to her answer. He already knew what kind of payments Sword Empress usually asked from her disciples because Oz had told him about them.

One disciple had been asked to live happily, while another had been asked to help people whenever he could. There had even been a disciple who became so arrogant and went so far down the wrong path that Sword Empress eventually asked for his life.

That final case had been different from the others. Sword Empress had not killed him because she wanted something valuable from him. She had done it because her disciple had chosen a path she could no longer allow him to continue walking.

Aside from that incident, her demands had always been surprisingly simple. Isaac therefore had little doubt that if she ever asked him for payment, it would probably be something ordinary rather than some priceless treasure.

Isaac sighed quietly. He had wanted to handle this nicely, but Sword Empress was leaving him with no choice. If she refused to accept the equipment from him as her disciple, then he would simply have to approach the matter from another position.

"Take it," Isaac said.

Sword Empress looked at him, noticing the change in his tone. "Isaac, I’ve already told you that I can’t accept—"

"Take it, Miss Eleanor," Isaac interrupted firmly. He was no longer speaking to her as a disciple asking his master to accept a gift, but as her Lord giving an order. "You are my subject, as such it is your duty to follow my orders. So, take it. Florathi Kingdom is dangerous, and I’m not going to let you enter that place without proper equipment."