Edward could effortlessly deal with the curse; after all, he had mastered the Rule of Curse. However, he did not want to reveal all his capabilities to the council easily. Furthermore, G-334 seemed to be one of his variants who inherited great luck, so he wanted to make friends with the latter.
If he easily solved his problem, the latter might not feel as indebted to him. So, he needed to put on a show that he exerted great effort before solving his problem.
Edward told him to wait and disappeared. A few hours later, he returned with a slightly pale complexion while holding a potion bottle with a dream or ethereal-like white substance.
"Give me the soul," he said before taking the orb from G-334's hand. He swirled the bottle before the orb; black lights rushed out from the orb into the potion. In a few seconds, the soul became clearer while the white liquid became darker.
"This inheritance is better worth it. I had to use my secret stash for this potion," muttered Edward under his breath, thinking only "he" could hear what he was saying.
Half an hour later, the potion battle became the embodiment of darkness, while the soul in the orb was white than snow in winter in northern countries.
'This curse is indeed interesting.' He could tell the curse had reached the limit of Soul Curses, almost reaching the level of affecting the Soul Flame. So, he shamelessly put it inside his dimension space. Poor G-334 was too excited even to notice such a thing.
He looked at the clear and bright soul with a large grin on his face. He would have made a scene to show his joy if he were not in public.
"You have my most sincere gratitude," said G-334 with utmost sincerity.
"No need to be so exaggerated; it's only an exchange."
"To you, this may be so. But to me, you saved the love of my life," replied G-334 before handing the cube to Edward.
"In that case, why don't we have another exchange," said Edward.
"Oh, what do you have in mind?"
"Tell me where you got that cube, and I will instantly revive the soul."
"Instantly?"
"Yes, with one spell."
G-334 was tempted. If he wanted to revive her, he would have to nourish her soul for a while before using the genetic information he already stored to clone her body. Then, he has to place the soul back into the body, ensuring nothing happens in the process.
The entire resurrection process will take a lot of time, effort, and resources. If he could shorten the time, the chances that something goes wrong will also decrease. Furthermore, it has been so long since he last saw her, so he did not want to wait.
However, the information the president asked for was also very important. G-334 did not hesitate to give the cube because he knew he could go to other timelines to search for another version. But now…
"I can promise not to reveal the information and even sign a contract."
"In that case, I agree. But does your spell have any negative consequences?"
"Nope."
G-334 hesitated momentarily before handing him the orb. The soul separated from the orb before a very complicated magic circle appeared around it.
The fading white soul became luminous in a matter of seconds like it was a mini sun. Then, flesh, bones, organs, and skin materialized around as a new body appeared, along with a wizard robe.
A beautiful woman in a black robe appeared before them. A few seconds later, her eyelashes trembled before opening her eyes. She looked around, confused, before glancing at G-334.
"Edward? Is that you?"
"Hermione," said G-334 before rushing to embrace her; he did not care his variant was next to him as tears began to fall from his eyes.
"I'm not dead?" she asked in confusion.
"No, you're not, and I promise you will never be."
Hermione was still confused but did not get to the bottom of it. What truly matters now is that she reunited with him.
"Excuse me," coughed Edward slightly.
"Oh, sorry, president," said G-334 before giving Edward a star chart.
"Another you? What's going on?" asked Hermione.
"I'll explain later," said G-334. Edward took the map and did a brief divination to determine whether it was true. After receiving a positive answer, he nodded in satisfaction.
"G-334, don't forget to have her sign the contract," reminded Edward.
"I will." He knew the council's rules and did not dare break them.
"Our exchange was pleasant. If you want to do it again, you can contact me."
Edward left and returned to his room. His original plan was to upgrade the citadel's magical defenses since he felt C-137 did a subpar job. However, his attention was now drawn to this cube.
His eyes turned purple as he tried to peep into the essence of this magical artifact. For a brief moment, he saw a rune before disappearing. Then, no matter what he did–even using his Law–he could not see anything anymore. Even his memory of the rune he briefly saw seemed to be gone.
"Anti-theft technology? And it seems very advanced," muttered Edward as he remembered encountering a similar situation when trying to reverse engineer the artifact he borrowed from the Akashic Record.
So, he took the necessary safety protocol before instilling his mana into the cube. Nothing unexpected occurred. Edward saw a projection of a rune, along with a message in his mind.
"I only need to master this rune to unlock the first level of this inheritance?" he muttered. "No wonder G-334 could not open it."
The rune before him was a Primordial Rune. Upon closer observation, he analyzed this rune as more basic than the ones he learned from Guzznad's artifact, but it was still a Primordial Rune.
"It will take me some time to master this rune, so let's wait until I return home," said Edward as he controlled his excitement. He continued his presidential duties while also renovating the citadel's systems–including defense. In the process, he also waited to see if some people would trade with him.
A few did, but what they wanted to exchange did not catch his attention, or they asked for too much. Finally, on the seventh day after the meeting ended, Edward prepared to leave.
His last task was to leave a way for the council to contact him in case of an emergency. Edward wanted to leave a clone to supervise things but felt it was not the right time to do so.
"Done," said Edward, stretching his upper body.
"Master, we have news," said Morgana, who suddenly appeared.
"What news?" His eyes lit up, "The Savant Race?"
"Yes."
"Contact the individual."
A screen appeared before him, and Edward frowned; the person who wanted to exchange was none other than L-123.
"You have something related to the Savant Race?" asked Edward directly.
"That's correct," replied L-123 as he took out a token. "I went to check, but one of my followers once sacrificed this token to me. According to him, it involved something called the Astral Library and the Savant Race."
After receiving the token, L-123 searched for this library since it could contain knowledge. However, his attempt failed, so he gave up, even forgetting he had this thing.
"What do you want to exchange?"
"Your research on Divinity."
"That's too much just for a token related to a rumor."
L-123 frowned as he knew G-003 was correct. There is no guarantee that this token is valuable.
"If it's true, I'm sure you would benefit immensely."
Edward ignored this bastard's poor attempt at bargaining. "My offer is an enchantment that can purify faith. As long as you use it in accord with your Divine Flame, the problem of Faith Corruption should be alleviated."
L-123 frowned. This was far from the result he wanted.
"Take it or leave it," said Edward, appearing extremely calm.
"Fine," relented L-123. He recently realized how much faith had influenced his soul. For example, none of his variants would so easily give up finding a library that was full of knowledge. Yet, he would have forgotten he had this token if not for the council's meeting. So, he wanted to deal with this problem as soon as possible.
"Glad to do business with you," said Edward before handing the communication.
"Which version do you want to give him?"
"The prototype. Plus, convert it into Wandcraft Magic." He still did not want his Arcane Rune System to leak.
"As you wish."
Morgana sent the information, and L-123 did not dare keep his promise. So, in a few minutes, Edward held a bronze token in his hand with a smile.