Card Apprentice Daily Log

Chapter 2820: 1000% Salary Hike

Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

Location: Myriad Realms, Card World, Southern Region, Blossom District, Three Mischief Encampment, Limitless Celestial Blood Fate Rule Domain

When Corey was struggling to make ends meet after Lil’Baem’s arrival drove up her expenses, Park suggested she formally get Lil’Baem a job within my organization. After all, she was already working for me in everything but name.

Corey refused.

She didn’t want Lil’Baem entering the workforce so soon. In her mind, she just wanted to dote on her baby snake, to make up for the centuries she had spent protecting Park’s corpse and later serving Agony. And she knew me—knew her best friend—better than anyone. Working for me paid well, but it came with equal weight in responsibility.

If it were up to her, she would have bought half the Myriad Realms just to make her baby feel special—because, to her, Lil’Baem was special.

Unfortunately, she had signed a literal slave contract with her so-called best friend. She was limited to whatever modest earnings they scraped together through their side hustle, importing and exporting goods via the devil merchant code.

But now, watching that same so-called best friend tease and bully her baby snake, she could no longer hold back the gnawing feeling that she wasn’t doing enough for her and demanded fair compensation for Lil’Baem, who had been indirectly working for her jerk of a friend.

”Alright, done.”

Corey froze, staring at me in disbelief. She clearly hadn’t expected me to agree so easily. In her mind, this was supposed to turn into an argument, maybe even a full-blown tantrum before I caved.

But just as quickly, her expression shifted. Knowing how my employment contracts worked, she hurried to clarify the terms—to protect her baby. Otherwise, it would feel like she was handing Lil’Baem over, selling her into a system she didn’t fully trust.

”Wyatt, Lil’Baem will not be working for you. You’ll be paying me for her upkeep. I’m the one using her to help you, so in no way are you employing her. She’s helping her mother—me. What you’re giving is a proper child welfare allowance. And whenever she’s doing your work, all her food and related expenses are on you.

”That also means you don’t get to order her around or bully her. I won’t allow it. I don’t care what the contract I signed with you says—these are my conditions. If you don’t agree, I walk. Even if it kills me.”

”Umm... let me think for a second.”

I pretended to mull it over, folding my arms and resting a finger against my chin, all while watching Corey from the corner of my eye. Her face gave everything away. Right now, she was panicking, probably wondering if she had pushed too far, overplaying her hand. She was an open book. She really needed to work on her poker face.

”Okay, I agree to all the conditions. But you do know she started it.”

I watched as Corey’s tense expression melted into pure relief. In the next moment, she was already clambering onto her baby’s head, elated. I agreed to her demands because they were reasonable. Right now, Lil’Baem was little more than an overpowered bodyguard, but once we expanded our operations into the Dark Realm, she would play a crucial role. Unlike Corey, she was worth every penny. Besides, agreeing to this made it easier to ignore the lingering guilt of me planning to use her soul pathway to create a superior version of her as my familiar.

”I also want a 1000% salary hike for me.”

Corey pushed her luck, curiosity flickering in her eyes as if she’d just discovered a cheat code. Maybe I was in a good mood. Maybe she could squeeze a little more out of me.

”Sure, why not.”

Her eyes widened. For a split second, she looked like she might actually faint.

”But... since your original base salary was zero, a 1000% hike is still zero. So, congratulations on your raise.”

The Field Marshal and I broke into laughter, completely losing it. Corey’s expression only made it worse. The more she fumed, the harder we laughed.

Shaking her head, the Field Marshal eventually pulled herself together and steered us back on track.

”Wyatt, Sansa and I have already set our plan in motion to kill the Emissary of Light.”

The suggestion to feed him to Lil’Baem had only been a joke. In truth, she had already devised something far more effective—and far more questionable. A plan that would leave the Emissary of Light with no chance of revival, no loophole for resurrection. He had to pay for his crimes in this life.

For that, she needed Sansa’s help. So she called her and laid out the plan. Sansa agreed without hesitation, as long as it served her master.

”Is that so? What’s the plan?” I asked. Sansa hadn’t reported this to me.

I wasn’t surprised. She was a bloodkin. She would never go against me, and she’d do everything in her power to make my life easier. She only reported what she believed I needed to know—nothing more, nothing less, unless I asked for it of course.

”I asked Sansa to erase the Emissary of Light from everyone’s memory,” the Field Marshal said. ”Not just in the five regions, but across the entire Card World. If no one remembers him, then no one can place their faith in him. And if there’s no faith... there’s nothing left sustaining him. He will die.”

My eyes widened in shock. What they were proposing carried far too many moral implications—real, irreversible consequences that wouldn’t just vanish once the job was done. And Sansa, as my bloodkin, was more than capable of pulling it off. Especially with her innate calamity—the Memory Devouring Plague.

It wasn’t like the idea of sending Sansa against the Emissary of Light had never crossed my mind. It had. I just chose not to act on it.

He wasn’t some obscure figure you could quietly erase. He was woven into the lives of tens of millions across the five regions—and had shaped millions more. If all those people suddenly forgot him, it would leave hundreds of millions with gaps in their memories they couldn’t explain. Conversations that never happened. Relationships that made no sense. Pieces of their lives... missing.

The fallout would be catastrophic. Families torn apart, lives unraveling under the weight of questions no one could answer.

I never planned to become a monster just to hunt one. Sansa choosing this path, I could understand. It was in her nature. But the Field Marshal? That, I couldn’t believe.