Magic Academy's Villain Bodyguard: I Must Tame All The Princesses-Chapter 30: Taking My Share

Azariah woke up outside the Linkgate entrance portal, surrounded by medics.

"You’re awake."

He felt a splitting headache, but apart from that, his body felt refreshed.

Thankfully, the mask was still on his face.

"Thank you. Is the Linkgate sealed?" he asked, turning to look— the entrance had already closed.

The medic, whose face he couldn’t see because of the mask, nodded.

"Your party cleared it, but the dungeon still didn’t close down, which made us figure you might be alive. They thought you were dead after those lava geysers."

He laughed. Just as the two were talking, Azariah saw the party coming from the front, and the moment they saw he was awake, they rushed to him.

"You’re awake!" Lara looked him up and down, and he nodded.

"Great. You had us all worried that you were almost dead." Dyke laughed, and Matthew nodded.

"It was going to be a heavy weight on us, but thank the gods you’re alive." Lara smiled.

Azariah nodded, without returning the smile.

"Yeah, I got lucky, thankfully."

He wasn’t soft anymore with them. It was because he knew what was coming.

And it came at the very next moment.

"Yeah, extra lucky even. I heard you fell into a hidden dungeon." Dyke gave him a wide smile.

’I know where they are going with this.’

Matthew joined in as well, letting out a big laugh.

"Uh-huh! I heard ya cleared it as well. Insane luck, lad! What did ya get as a reward?"

Azariah wanted to lie, but he knew that they had probably already seen it when he was unconscious.

So there was no point hiding it.

"A 5-star Gun Foundation," he answered.

Immediately, he saw the faces of the whole party light up.

"Holy shit! That’s amazing, young man." Matthew applauded, tapping him on the back.

Even the medic who was at the side was staring at him with wide eyes.

"And here I thought you couldn’t get luckier. You’re insane." Dyke clapped.

Even with all their praise, Azariah kept a straight face and merely nodded.

There was no use getting chummy anymore. As the first rule of Linkgate exploration said:

"During the dungeon, you’ll be throwing arms for hugs. After the dungeon, you’ll be throwing arms for blood."

"Well, since we all cleared the dungeon, I think we should get to the rewards side of things." Dyke clapped, and everyone started smiling.

All of their smiles turned to Azariah, who still looked at them without a hint of humor on his face.

"As much as I want ya to keep that foundation, lad, you know we went into this Linkgate as a team, with a promise that whatever we get will be for others as well, ain’t I righ’?"

Dyke nodded at Matthew’s words.

"Yeah, as great as that foundation is, man, it’s a 5-star foundation. It can be too much for you to handle at your rank and power, Az."

Azariah wanted to almost puke at how chummy they were being.

"He’s right. 5-star foundations can ruin your body with a single move, Az. You use a gun, but it’s going to be a hard task to start with such a high ceiling," she said worriedly.

Dyke nodded.

"True. Now here’s what I’d advise you—not just as your teammate but as your big brother as well. You can give that foundation to me, and not only will you get a higher share of rewards from what we got from the dungeon, but I’d also buy you a new 3-star Gun Foundation of your choice." He smiled with a clap.

"How about that?"

The whole party nodded to his words, agreeing that it was a great offer.

"That’s a great offer, Az." Lara smiled.

"None of you use guns, though." Azariah said.

Dyke shook his head, waving it off.

"You don’t need to worry about that. A 5-star foundation will go for a hefty sum. Just imagine how much you will get from that, along with an elite 3-star foundation as well."

"He’s right, lad. I wouldn’t pass on this advice if I were ya, though you’d have to agree because of the contract anyways." Matthew laughed.

For some moments, Azariah stared at all of them in silence while Matthew laughed.

Just as Dyke was about to speak again, though, he decided to intervene.

"No."

Their expressions suddenly froze into place, and Dyke laughed nervously.

"What do you mean no, Az? You can’t say no to something written in the contra—"

"I will not give the foundation to you guys," Azariah affirmed his decision.

All of a sudden, the smiles on their faces dropped, and Matthew’s voice dropped.

"You can’t deny it, kid. Are you stu—"

"My contract with you guys was for one Linkgate. That very specific Linkgate." Azariah interrupted him.

When signing a contract with a party, one of the most important and beginner clauses was to mention how long, or how many Linkgates it would run for.

Azariah had made sure to write a lengthy clause that it was only for that Linkgate and none else, which the party seemed to ignore.

It was only an advanced-rank dungeon, after all, and he was a Novice rank. They did not need to worry about him that much.

"Hidden Linkgates are completely separate Linkgates. They were not written or a part of the contract," Azariah clarified to them.

It was clear that at this point, they were starting to get angry as Dyke’s voice dropped to a threatening low.

"Listen, kid. I like you. Don’t make this harder for any of us. Let’s just settle this as friends. We are like your brothers and fa—"

"No." Azariah intervened once more, shaking his head.

"You fuckin—"

"No! Stop!"

Suddenly, Matthew tried to lunge at him with his giant fist raised in the air and his face wreathed in red.

However, Dyke was quick to stop him. He knew Azariah was right.

There was no point in trying to grab the foundation by force, especially here with such tight security.

He clicked his tongue in frustration.

They would’ve had a perfect chance to do it in the Linkgate. However, now it was almost impossible.

There was no way. They had to let him go.

"Leave him. We can’t do anything." Dyke admitted his defeat and waved his hand to let his party know.

"But—" Matthew tried to intervene, but Dyke flashed him a glare, and the man went silent.

Lara and James as well stopped, and all of them flashed murderous glares at Azariah. It was a clear threat to let him know not to let them catch him outside.

Breaking off their attempts, the party turned to leave, but at the last moment, Azariah called them out again.

He wasn’t going to let them off this easy.

"Where are you lot going?"

He smirked.

"You still owe me my part of the dungeon rewards."

Immediately, a murderous aura flashed through the room, but Azariah’s smile didn’t fade one bit.