After confirming his merit point balance, Wade didn't even bother with breakfast—he ran straight back to his room.
Tom, who had just come out to eat, saw Wade rushing off and couldn't help asking the house-elf at the table, "Did your master crap his pants?"
"Definitely not! Young Master Riddle, please don't speak ill of Master Wade!" Toby said indignantly. "Toby believes he must've had an epiphany about a new kind of magic!"
Toby cupped his hands over his chest and declared proudly, "Master Wade must've been so inspired by the breakfast Toby personally made that he triggered a brand-new magical insight! Oh… Toby is such a happy house-elf!"
Tom frowned and scoffed in disgust. House-elves—most of them weren't right in the head! He still didn't understand why Wade had insisted on bringing one home back then.
But… after taking a bite of breakfast, Tom gave up that line of thought.
First of all, the food was excellent.
Second… if there weren't a house-elf in this house, then all the chores Toby was handling now would probably fall on him, wouldn't they?
You couldn't seriously expect Wade to do any of the housework himself, right?
He suddenly remembered how Wade once said, very early on, that house-elf Toby was his "first servant," and that after getting Toby, Tom was demoted to being the "second servant."
Now that he thought about it… that guy probably hadn't been joking back then!
And what does a servant do, exactly? No need to think too hard about that.
If there were no house-elf, all the cooking, cleaning, and household chores would most likely fall to him—the second servant!
Just thinking about how he might've had to help that bastard wash his underwear made Tom feel sick to his stomach.
So… thank Merlin for Toby! Even if he was a bit unhinged sometimes…
Alright, fine—thanks, Toby…
…
At the same time, back in his room, Wade had no idea that Tom was currently stewing over the revolting image of having to do his laundry.
He was too busy beaming with joy at his merit point balance—now totaling over 68,000.
Taking down that group of Grindelwald's followers had earned him a solid fifty thousand. Those bastards were clearly rotten to the core.
Judging by the fact that Grindelwald had kept them so close during that whole ordeal, they had to be his most trusted men.
And usually, the ones doing the dirtiest jobs are the most trusted underlings.
With that in mind, it totally made sense that eliminating that bunch netted him so many merit points.
Who knew how many enemies they'd quietly taken out over the years on Grindelwald's behalf?
Once Wade had wrapped his head around it, the first thing he did was spend 20,000 points to upgrade the entire system.
Honestly, he'd had enough of seeing just two trash items in the shop refresh every night.
The last time he pulled something good from the shop felt like… a whole century ago.
Ding! System upgrade complete! New items will refresh at midnight tonight!
Wade looked at the shop screen, now expanded with two additional item slots, and couldn't help but get a little emotional.
Finally, two more draws every night… and one more chance to lock an item…
And apparently, the overall item quality would improve along with the system upgrade.
So even though all four slots were still empty for now, Wade was in an exceptionally good mood.
…
Nurmengard.
Grindelwald sat staring at a long, unrolled piece of parchment before him, his eyes shining with an unusual light.
Vinda looked at the suddenly energized Grindelwald in surprise.
This wasn't the same man she had seen just yesterday…
"Looks like they've pinned nearly every crime we've committed over the years onto Oliv and the others…" Grindelwald remarked.
Vinda nodded grimly. "Especially that juror from the Magical Congress of the United States… Before the trial even started, he suddenly submitted a massive stack of documents to the Wizengamot."
"The documents exposed many new charges, and included ample evidence. Because of him, a number of Alliance members had their sentences changed from life imprisonment to death…
"It's basically dumping all our past crimes onto them. I think that guy showed up just to vent his anger!"
"Sir, should we deal with him… discreetly?"
Grindelwald waved his hand. "Vinda, he's one of ours."
"Huh? Of course he's one of ours. And now he's just dead like that—" Vinda hadn't followed, thinking Grindelwald was still referring to the captured Alliance members.
"No… you misunderstood me, Vinda. That juror is one of ours." A chilling smile spread across Grindelwald's face.
Vinda stared at him in shock. "He… he's ours? But why would he do that? No.. why would you do that?"
Grindelwald had planted someone to fabricate charges and pin them all on his own men, only to have them all sentenced to death?
"Vinda, we can't rescue them. Even if we do nothing, some of them would be sentenced to death anyway. And the rest? They'd be kissed by Dementors in Azkaban." A sharp glint flickered in Grindelwald's eyes. "So if they're going to die, let their deaths be more meaningful."
"But… what's your goal in doing this?" Vinda still didn't quite understand.
"Heh~ For all these years, most people have believed I'm steeped in sin. But the atrocities they associate with me… I never personally committed them. And now, the ones who did—have been captured and sentenced by the Ministry."
"You mean… you're using them to take the blame and clear your name?" Vinda stared at Grindelwald in shock.
"No, no, no… not clearing my name, Vinda. From the beginning, the ones who committed those heinous crimes were the rotten ones among us. They had nothing to do with me. I've been innocent all along!" Grindelwald's gaze was sharp as he looked at her. "At most, I merely failed to supervise them properly."
Vinda's heart was a whirlwind of emotions.
There was shock at how easily Grindelwald had betrayed his own followers, and there was joy in seeing him finally snap out of his despair.
But most of all, there was fear…
If Grindelwald hadn't taken her with him that night, she might already be dead—condemned with the others, branded with countless crimes.
So why had he chosen to save her?
From what she knew of Grindelwald, he only invested time and energy in people who were useful to him…
Just like that Obscurial back then.
So what value did she hold for Grindelwald?
After a moment's thought, Vinda suddenly remembered her niece—Anne Rosier.
So that was it…
She suddenly understood: that night, every single person Grindelwald brought to Hogwarts could be sacrificed.
But she—she was spared, because he needed her to keep Anne in place.
If… Anne had lost her value before that night, then I too would've been ruthlessly abandoned at Hogwarts, just like the others.
What a… heartless man.
But only someone like that could truly accomplish great things.
"Vinda, what are you thinking about?" Grindelwald asked, his expression as gentle as ever.
"Sir, I'm racking my brain, trying to figure out how I can be of use to you and our great cause!" Vinda said fervently.
"Excellent, Vinda… Trust me, you're more useful than anyone else," Grindelwald replied with a smile.
"Then… Sir, what's your next move?"
Grindelwald smiled. "Next, I'll turn myself in. And face a trial for the century."
"What—Sir? Won't that be dangerous?" Vinda asked worriedly.
"It won't. Because everyone who could prove I committed crimes… has already helped me get rid of them," Grindelwald said, a smug smile appearing on his face.
"But I remember a few of them were sentenced to life in Azkaban—they're not dead?"
"Anyone who's entered Azkaban will inevitably be affected by Dementors… and testimony from someone whose mind has been corrupted by a Dementor? That's hardly admissible," Grindelwald replied with a gentle smile.
"I understand!" Vinda said cheerfully.
"However… starting today, you'll need to remain in Nurmengard for the time being. Unless it's something urgent, don't leave. We'll wait until everything settles down," Grindelwald said, gently patting Vinda on the shoulder. "Your duties will temporarily be handled by Abernathy…"
Vinda's body stiffened slightly, immediately understanding what Grindelwald meant.
With the others either dead or "insane," she was now essentially the only one left who could testify to Grindelwald's crimes.
Which meant that until the trial was over, she absolutely couldn't be allowed to fall into enemy hands.
"I understand, sir. You don't need to explain it to me."
"Good, Vinda. Thank you very much for your trust. And I will never forget the promise I made to you. Once my vision is realized, the Rosier family will be the most honored in this world—second only to me…"
…
Night had fallen.
Wade held his watch, watching the minute hand slowly tick toward twelve.
At exactly midnight, he immediately opened his system's shop interface.
Sure enough, the four previously blacked-out item slots had all refreshed with new goods!
[Item 1: Phoenix Tears, 50ml (Unlocked) – 500 Merit Points]
[Item 2: Unicorn Horn (Unlocked) – 200 Merit Points]
[Item 3: Flying Charm (Unlocked) – 1,000 Merit Points]
[Item 4: Magical Creature Affinity (Unlocked) – 5,000 Merit Points]
[Next Refresh Countdown: 23 hours 59 minutes 39 seconds]
[Merit Points: 48,700]
[Dark Lord Achievement: Not Yet Achieved]
There was no doubt about it—after the system upgrade, the quality of items in the shop had taken a massive leap.
Even the material items that showed up were no longer the low-tier junk from before.
Phoenix tears and unicorn horn were undeniably considered rare and precious materials in the wizarding world.
A huge improvement over the previous constant appearance of things like sunflower leaves and kneazle fur.
Even the cheapest of the lot—unicorn horn—was worth fifty to sixty Galleons.
Of course, those two materials weren't particularly appealing to Wade at this point.
Unicorn horns could be scavenged in the Forbidden Forest or bought in Knockturn Alley. As for phoenix tears, he could always trade them from Fawkes with some eels.
The real highlights were the third and fourth items!
_______
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