[Ding! Madness Value +200]
Lloyd listened to the notification in his ear, glanced down at his now-sticky hands, and let out a long sigh.
"Whew... good thing I was fast enough..."
If he hadn't destroyed the acid organ as quickly as he did, he feared he'd have ended up crippled for life.
He set down the Spiritual Blade, picked up the paper towels he'd prepared on the workbench, and wiped his hands vigorously. He then took a quick look at his current Madness Value:
266/1000. Still a ways to go before his next point allocation.
He had acted too quickly, so he hadn't gained much Madness Value. Besides, he could already feel his body gradually adapting to the Spiritual Contamination from a Danger Level 2 Demon. The gain was much lower than when he first watched Buster's execution.
If he wanted to gain points quickly again, he'd have to go to Floor -3.
Fortunately, while the Madness Value gain was low, the bounty was quite substantial—
Just executing this troublesome snail was worth 3,000 Universal Coins. Add in the three salvageable acid organs, one heart, and a nearly complete shell, and that was another 5,000 Universal Coins.
As an Executor, his monthly salary was only 1,500, barely enough to get by. It paid far less than manual labor on a construction site.
Only by coming down here to execute Demons and successfully recovering their organs could he make enough money to support a family.
And it had to be Demons from Floors -2 and -3—
The Demons on Floor -1 were safe, but they weren't worth much. An execution only paid 300, and there were few salvageable organs, none of them valuable.
On Floor -2, the base pay suddenly jumped to 1,000, plus the bounty for recovered parts. Particularly troublesome ones, like this snail, even had rewards on par with Floor -3.
Lloyd began cleaning up the site. He first removed the snail shell, setting it aside for someone to collect. Then he placed the organs and heart into a black box for salvageable materials.
He looked at the perfectly preserved organs, free of any excess residue. Not even Lu Tixie could find fault with them. A quiet sense of accomplishment swelled in his chest as he thought to himself:
'Looks like I was wrong before. This [Precise Dissection] skill is actually for making money. As long as it activates successfully, it's a guaranteed payday.'
'I activated this new skill when I started, and it cost me some extra Spiritual Power.'
'But the panel doesn't notify me if the skill succeeded or not. It barely affects the execution process itself; it only determines whether I can extract the salvageable organs cleanly and completely.'
'So even if it fails, it's not like I can't kill the Demon. I'd just lose out on a chunk of the bounty.'
'Of course, as a frugal and responsible young man, I can't accept such a shameful act as waste. I'll have to keep digging deeper into Demonology. Otherwise, the next time I encounter a Demon I don't recognize, how am I supposed to use [Precise Dissection] if I don't even know its anatomy?'
Mulling this over, Lloyd followed Buster's example and finished cleaning the area. He then returned to the Military Supply office on the first floor to return the Spiritual Blade.
The weapon was a 'controlled item.' Until he was promoted to Priest, he wasn't allowed to carry it at all times.
"Hm? Back so soon? Not bad..."
The Military Supply Priest was speaking in a friendly tone, but the moment he took the Spiritual Blade from Lloyd, his expression changed instantly.
"How did the wear and tear get so high so quickly? I gave you a brand new one! And... where did the name on the hilt go?"
Lloyd shrugged, looking puzzled, and answered truthfully:
"I don't know. I just followed the standard procedure from the manual."
"Give me your hand."
The Priest grabbed Lloyd's wrist as he spoke. Imitating the other Priest from before, he released a faint trace of inspiration, intending to give Lloyd a physical check-up.
But his [inspiration] was only a 4...
The result, naturally, was like sticking his hand in hot oil to test the temperature. He jumped back, stung.
"Hiss— Just who are your parents? If they sent you here to pad your resume, you should have told me beforehand. I would have prepared better equipment for you."
"No, my parents were killed by Demon Ghosts a long time ago."
"Heh, right. I believe you."
Lloyd was left speechless. 'This isn't some limited-time summoning pool in a Krypton Gold Mobile Game,' he thought. 'Why does he act like everyone is here just to pad their resume?'
Out loud, he asked:
"This blade... I don't have to pay for the damages, do I?"
"It's normal wear and tear from executing a Demon, so of course not. I'll get you a better one next time, so you won't have to worry about this."
"Thank you."
And with that, Lloyd went back to the library to continue his reading.
Meanwhile, the Military Supply Priest gave it some serious thought, then decided to go to Weiya's office to report the situation factually.
"I understand."
Weiya nodded calmly.
Once the Priest left, she picked up a manila envelope from her desk. Inside was Lloyd's file.
Just a few minutes earlier, the Priest from the sixth-floor prayer room had also come by to report on Executor Lloyd's status. That was why Weiya had taken out Lloyd's file and left it on her desk.
Both of them had tacitly avoided mentioning the 'resume padding' affair, simply reporting the facts.
Weiya clearly knew the truth. The file contained a detailed account of Lloyd's life and family situation.
"His talent is excellent, and his learning ability is strong. He was able to develop far more Spiritual Power than an ordinary person in a short time, and he can independently complete the execution of a Level 2 Demon. He is the type of person who is born [Extraordinary and Unworldly]..."
"But this comes with its own drawbacks. His inspiration is too strong, making him prone to an early death. Fortunately, his Rationality is decent. This is good. He's worth keeping a close eye on."
She commented on Lloyd in a low voice, her mind unintentionally drifting to a memory. The words escaped her lips unconsciously:
"So similar..."
But she quickly shook her head, pulling her Thoughts back.
.........
After returning to the familiar library, Lloyd found the book he had been reading for days: *Advanced Demonology (Part One)*.
With the help of [High-Efficient Learning], he learned things very quickly. He was just still in the 'rote memorization' phase and lacked 'practical application.' He needed to execute more Demons.
'Maybe I can execute a few more Demons each day?'
'That way, I'd earn money, gain Madness Value, and put my theory into practice.'
As he was pondering this, a sudden, awkward laugh erupted in the quiet library:
"Hee?! Yes! I get it! I finally get it! HAHAHAHA!"
Everyone in the library jumped, turning toward the sound. An Executor was laughing maniacally while covering his face with both hands.
Between his fingers, dark streams of blood were seeping out...
Then his entire body began to writhe. The joints of his limbs twisted at angles that should have broken them, letting out a series of sharp CRACK-CRACK-CRACK sounds. He collapsed to the floor, still laughing and twisting.