Chapter 59 New Money

Sixteen thousand new SP sat above Damien’s old reserve while Mina guarded the Shop screen using one grease-marked screwdriver.

[Starting SP: 73,880]

’Largest nonlethal payout so far, damn, every glowing upgrade suddenly looks responsible when money arrives quickly.’

Mina placed a written purchase order beside the panel before he touched anything expensive through excitement.

"Stats come first, then grimoire access and one Script Page," she said, tapping each line, "then ignore whatever sparkles until the entire budget review closes."

"Your trust in my shopping discipline sounds wonderfully limited today," Damien replied, opening the attribute exchange beneath her screwdriver.

He purchased balanced growth for strength, endurance and perception while preserving agility above every other physical value.

[Stat allocation package: 18,000 SP]

[Strength increased]

[Endurance increased]

[Perception increased]

[Remaining SP: 55,880]

Heat crossed his muscles without dramatic pain, leaving Verdict lighter against one newly steadied wrist.

’Power without attempted murder feels suspiciously comfortable, good, enjoy five seconds before the next price appears.’

The Shop unlocked an advanced grimoire shelf after his actual Level 520 entered Mina’s joint registry.

[Higher grimoire tier unlocked]

[Flicker upgrade: 12,000 SP]

[Iron Veil upgrade: 11,000 SP]

[Mirrored Rain: 18,000 SP]

Mirrored Rain displayed seven reflected blades around Verdict, which made Damien’s hand drift toward purchase before Mina blocked it.

"Nah, that skill consumes the reserve needed for Isolde’s page and expedition insurance," she said, closing its preview.

"It creates seven swords and therefore qualifies as medically necessary," Damien replied, reopening Flicker’s upgrade instead.

"Your medical definitions remain banned from every workshop budget I personally approve," Mina answered, approving the cheaper movement improvement.

[Flicker upgraded]

[Cost: 12,000 SP]

[Remaining SP: 43,880]

’Mirrored Rain waits, ugh, delayed dopamine feels like being punished for arithmetic competence.’

Flicker settled through his legs, adding one controlled midroute adjustment before arrival instead of increasing raw distance.

Damien tested it across three workshop markers while Mina recorded each shift without pretending the re-anchor created her engineering skill.

Her own level climbed another point during the test when paired tempering pushed mana through a folding barrier.

[Mina Park]

[Level: 232]

She raised both hands in excitement before catching the unstable barrier and correcting its outer hinge herself.

"That point belongs to my circuit holding under paired load," Mina said, entering the achievement beneath her maker record.

"Yeah, nothing about the bond makes your work mine or my permission necessary," Damien replied, signing only the claimant column she indicated.

’She claims each number aloud so nobody can rewrite the story later, damn, I love how aggressive ownership sounds in her voice.’

The Script Page catalog opened after Mina locked every remaining grimoire behind a temporary budget seal.

Damien selected Isolde’s execution frame near the original novel’s year-end succession gathering.

[Script Page request]

[Target: Isolde Marlowe execution frame]

[Expected timing: Year-end]

[Cost: 20,000 SP]

"Confirm the target without adding assumptions from damaged memory into the request," Mina said, placing a residue scanner above the purchase line.

"The intact event shows Isolde framed through ancestral poison during the year-end gathering," Damien replied, separating fact from expected timing.

"Expected timing still comes from your memory rather than current evidence," she answered, marking the distinction before approval.

"Agreed, and the purchase record keeps those categories separate from now onward," he said, purchasing the page beneath both recorded labels.

[Remaining SP: 23,880]

White script unfolded above the workbench until black-gold residue entered its lower corner through one changing date.

The year-end line crossed itself out and returned beneath next month’s calendar mark.

[Execution frame]

[Target: Isolde Marlowe]

[Timing: Next month]

[Correction residue detected]

’Next month, fuck, either my memory lies or this purchased page came back poisoned.’

Mina trapped the page beneath paired glass before its black corner could touch any other workshop record.

"Do not read past the changed date until we duplicate every current line mechanically," she said, sealing both edges through copper clamps.

"My memory still places the frame at year-end, though current evidence clearly does not," Damien replied, feeling certainty become physically unpleasant inside his stomach.

"Then we possess two claims and zero permission to choose the comforting one," Mina answered, starting the first manual copy.

The Shop offered one page-purification option for fifteen thousand SP, though its description guaranteed only residue removal after information formed.

"The system sells cleanup without promising the words become true afterward," Damien said, closing the purchase before temptation grew.

"Correct, which makes buying it expensive theater without any guaranteed result," Mina replied, adding the rejected option to their audit.

’Twenty-three thousand remains now, but Movement checkpoint wants less after insurance, slow down and preserve what upcoming deaths might require.’

He purchased three expedition protections, one emergency healing reserve and two ordinary mana restoratives before locking the Shop.

[Expedition insurance package: 9,980 SP]

[Workshop residue custody: 5,000 SP]

[Remaining liquid SP: 8,900]

Mina opened every purchased protection before accepting the final balance, checking expiration windows against the academy calendar rather than trusting the Shop’s package label.

The emergency reserve recognized physical trauma but rejected poison, hostile possession and revision damage, leaving three dangerous gaps beneath its clean green seal.

"This heals torn flesh once, while anything clever enough to attack identity or chemistry still requires separate preparation," she said, writing the exclusions across its case.

"The system bundled optimism with the medicine and charged nothing extra, which explains the suspiciously friendly price," Damien replied, testing the seal without breaking it.

’Nine thousand points feels poor after holding seventy thousand, yet one honest medical charge beats an expensive miracle that lies about coverage.’

They assigned one mana restorative to Mina’s personal harness and placed the other inside the shared expedition case under a two-key release.

Damien kept no private override, forcing any emergency use to pass through the same ownership rules they expected everyone else to respect.

"If I am unconscious, you open it with Bram or Vivienne, while Isolde receives equal authority once she joins the field roster," he said, signing the custody strip.

"Good, since a shared reserve that only obeys its richest contributor is merely private property wearing cooperative language," Mina replied, adding her seal.

’She can turn inventory placement into a political argument before breakfast, damn, the worst part is how often the argument wins.’

The unpurchased Mirrored Rain preview remained faintly visible behind the locked shelf, seven reflected blades circling a form his current slots could not yet carry.

Damien dismissed it himself and recorded the 18,000-SP price beside future level requirements, refusing to let scarcity turn delay into permanent loss.

Bram entered carrying the summer expedition notice while Mina finished copying the corrupted date by hand.

"The academy moved departure forward five days after tournament repairs delayed campus access," he said, placing the schedule beside their glass.

"Every calendar around here has developed open hostility toward preparation lately," Damien replied, opening the convoy roster.

Isolde’s name appeared beneath Marlowe oversight while Vivienne traveled through Ashe field obligations and Mina held workshop custody status.

’All three women enter the rift shelf before we settle which execution date is real, damn, one disaster refuses waiting for another.’

Mina’s registry chimed again when her reinforced custody case accepted the Script Page without collapsing.

[Mina Park]

[Level: 233]

[Old ceiling exceeded by 85 levels]

She stared at the difference, then pinned the new number beside her scholarship reassessment without looking toward Damien’s reward history.

"Eighty-five levels above their permanent ceiling despite every official assessment," she said, smiling at the paper rather than any system panel, "I earned every one through work they said would never matter."

"Damn right, and the maker key stays entirely under your authority," Damien replied, handing her the sole maker key for the custody case.

The corrupted page shifted once beneath glass and replaced its next-month date using darker script.

Isolde’s intact year-end frame remained clear inside Damien’s memory, leaving both futures equally impossible to ignore.

’One date is lying, fine, we prepare for both until the liar tries killing somebody.’

He called Isolde before either timeline could become tomorrow’s surprise.