[The Abyssal Academy - The Ruined West Wing]
The air in the West Wing was thick with the suffocating scent of wet rot and pulverized stone. Entire sections of the vaulted ceiling had caved in, allowing the freezing rain to pour directly onto the shattered marble floors.
Victor Thorne stood at the edge of the collapse, his midnight-blue suit perfectly immune to the damp chill. He checked his gold pocket watch, the sharp click echoing against the broken pillars.
"The structural integrity is at nine percent, Principal Thorne," Seraphina said, her heels clicking as she stepped over a pile of rubble. She adjusted her glasses, her violet eyes scanning her silver clipboard. "To hire the Iron-Hammer Dwarven Syndicate to rebuild the dormitories and reinforce the outer walls before the Holy Kingdom's crusade, it will cost us exactly two point five million Gold."
"Two point five million," Victor repeated, his voice utterly flat. "For manual labor."
"Yes, Sir. Specialized magical labor."
Victor turned around. Standing behind him was his newly acquired entourage. Princess Ignis, the fiery demon royal, stood with her arms crossed, the glowing golden chain of her debt contract binding her to Victor's shadow. Next to her stood Elara, the Heroine of Light. The Paladin was no longer holding a glowing rapier; she was holding a wooden clipboard, looking completely dead inside.
"Elara," Victor said smoothly. "As my new intern, what is the first rule of corporate management?"
Elara gritted her teeth, her knuckles turning white around her clipboard. "Never pay for... what you can extract for free."
"Correct," Victor smiled a cold, ruthless smile. "Seraphina. We currently have two thousand students who are drowning in high-interest micro-loans. We also have a faculty of dark mages who owe me millions in embezzled funds."
Seraphina's lips curved into a sharp, understanding smirk. "You want to liquidate their debt through labor."
"I am instituting a mandatory Work-Study Program," Victor stepped over a cracked gargoyle. "Students will be compensated at a rate of five Gold per hour, applied directly to the principal of their loans. If they refuse, their interest rates double."
Ten minutes later, the ruined West Wing was swarming.
Lord Sterling, the arrogant High-Vampire noble, was sobbing quietly as he used his immense supernatural strength to carry massive, two-ton blocks of stone across the courtyard. Nearby, Professor Morbus, the corrupt Alchemist, was on his hands and knees, using his acid magic to dissolve broken debris while the Class-A Chimera growled at him from behind.
"Faster, Professor!" Seraphina barked, snapping a riding crop against her palm. "Time is money!"
"What about the demolition?" Ignis asked, watching the vampires haul rocks. "There are still cursed pillars that need to be safely brought down. Normal magic will trigger the traps."
"We don't need normal magic," Victor turned to the trembling Paladin. "Elara. You owe me four hundred thousand Gold. A single 'Holy Smite' is perfectly calibrated to vaporize cursed architecture without damaging the foundation."
Elara stared at him in pure horror. "You want me to use the sacred wrath of the Gods... as a demolition tool?!"
"It pays fifty Gold per strike," Victor pointed his gold-nibbed pen at a leaning, cursed tower. "Get to work, intern. We have a castle to flip."