Chapter 126

First day of the tea ban.

Twilight Chamber of Commerce.

Clang!

Erkus, who wanted to go out for some fresh air and buy another cup of Twilight Tea, was blocked by the guards on duty at the entrance of the Chamber of Commerce holding swords.

"What are you doing?" Erkus frowned slightly.

"By the order of the Lord, Erkus Kelai is not allowed to leave the Twilight Chamber of Commerce during the ban on Twilight Tea."

The guard replied expressionlessly.

"Do I, a free citizen of the kingdom, not even have the right to go out? This is a violation of the laws of the Kingdom of Sosia!" Erkus said angrily, questioning them.

In the Kingdom of Sosia, there is a type of commoner called a free citizen; legally speaking, the lord has no right to judge and kill free citizens, only to expel them.

"I don't know what a free citizen is; I only know that in Twilight City, everyone must obey the will of the Lord." The guard said coldly.

Legally, that's how it's said, but if everyone followed the law, Sosia wouldn't have only this pure land of the Southern Region...

Knowing that arguing was useless, Erkus could only return dejectedly.

"If it were just to solicit bribes, Count Masha shouldn't have gone this far. Could it be that she discovered something..."

Erkus became uneasy.

Before being promoted to the Crescent Rank, even if he launched the Disaster of Bewitchment, it would be difficult for the range to affect the whole city.

"Must be promoted to Crescent as soon as possible, no matter what the cost!" Merchant Kelai gritted his teeth and thought.

In his entire life, he would never encounter such a precious opportunity again, because this time it was a perfect situation that could only be realized when the time, place, and people were all in harmony.

The Southern Region, it stood in the way of too many people's eyes, which was why he could come.

Twilight City, a dilapidated house in a prosperous neighborhood.

In the living room.

"Garbage, it's not even one percent as good as Twilight Tea!"

Harris drank the wine that tasted like chewing wax, and in frustration, smashed the red pottery wine bottle in his hand onto the floor.

After getting used to Twilight Tea, the wine he once regarded as his life was as bland as plain water.

Pop!

The moment the wine bottle touched the floor, it made a crisp bursting sound, and red pottery fragments and wine splashed all over the floor.

"Can you keep your voice down? Alisa is feeling very uncomfortable right now."

Not long after, the bard Damien came to the living room from the bedroom, skillfully cleaning up the fragments on the floor, looking exhausted.

Recently, the bard's life had been very bad. On one hand, the low price of Twilight Tea had severely hit the wine business, causing his salary at the tavern to drop significantly.

On the other hand, the tea leaves he had high hopes for and stored, intending to sell after the price rose, were drunk clean by Harris, this newly born tea ghost, in just a short week, and even his younger sister Alisa had fallen in love with Twilight Tea and would follow along to drink one or two cups a day.

Now that Twilight Tea had just been banned for one day, it was said that it had already been speculated to ten Copper Thors per tea bag on the black market.

If those tea leaves were still left, he could have made a small fortune.

Sigh... It seemed he had never had good luck.

"Damn Masha, she only brings trouble, fuck."

After hearing that his daughter's body had problems, Harris muttered a dirty word and returned to his room, closing the door and not coming out.

Without tea leaves, he always felt his body was strange, as if there were many ants crawling on him, making him itch.

Bedroom.

The silver-haired girl lay weakly on the bed, her pretty face flushed with an unnatural flush, like rouge blooming on white porcelain.

Her nightgown was stuck to her body by sweat, and with every difficult breath, fine beads of sweat were exposed on her collarbone.

Damien reached out and touched the girl's forehead; the scorching temperature made his eyes redden slightly with heartache.

"Brother..." Alisa called out as weakly as a mosquito.

"I'm here, rest assured, you will be fine." Damien held his sister's hand tightly and comforted her softly.

That's what he said, but his heart was filled with panic.

Because the pharmacist who came to see her said that Alisa had a severe high fever, and three or four out of ten patients would die. There was no other way but to use potions made of sage to lower the temperature.

Perhaps... this was the girl's final time.

Thinking of this, this sensitive and melancholy bard's eyes became increasingly moist, and he could only rely on blinking constantly to suppress the tears.

"Alisa, is there anything I can do for you as your brother?"

"Brother, my body is so uncomfortable, I really want to drink another cup of Twilight Tea!"

Alisa said with a pained expression; she only felt that her whole body was cold and hot, and her head was dizzy and heavy. If only there were a cup of Twilight Tea to alleviate the pain.

"Brother will definitely find Twilight Tea for you."

Damien lowered his head and kissed his sister's scorching forehead lightly, promising solemnly.

This might be the last request his sister made to him. No matter how many months of salary it would cost him, he must buy Twilight Tea for her.

Sunset Street, in a small wooden house.

Anna curled up in a corner of the bed, her thin, white back exposed to the air, curving into a fragile arc.

Her arms were tightly wrapped around her knees, her finger joints were pale from excessive force, and her nails dug into the flesh of her lower legs, scratching out streaks of blood.

Her forehead pressed against her knees, and her whole body trembled uncontrollably, as if she were being invaded by an invisible cold wave.

I want to drink tea, I want to drink tea...

She subconsciously looked at the nightstand, where the half-cup of tea left over from yesterday was still placed.

If I drink it now, I will definitely feel so comfortable that I'll fly to the sky!

Gulp.

Anna subconsciously swallowed her saliva, and her tongue licked her dry, pink lips.

Her fingers reached toward the half-cup of tea unconsciously.

"Promise me, don't drink Twilight Tea anymore; this is a request."

Just as she was about to touch the teacup, the words Lord Spark left behind when he left flashed through her mind again.

She still remembered the worry and sincerity that flowed in those obsidian-like flawless eyes when Lord Spark said this sentence.

Ah! The man I love, admire, and look up to is worried about me... How can I let him down?

Pop!

The moment she touched the cup holder, Anna forcefully threw the teacup in her hand onto the floor, and the amber, mellow tea splashed all over the floor.

"Phew, I cannot let Lord Spark down. Anna, even if you die, you cannot do this."

Resisting the urge to lick the tea on the floor, the girl gritted her teeth and kept telling herself.

At dusk.

The sky was dyed orange-red, and the gentle twilight fell on the ancient stone road, making the entire city-state look as beautiful as an oil painting.

Three vampires carrying large and small bags of tea leaves walked side by side on the street. Among them, the outstanding looks of the brother and sister Raphael and Latis attracted the attention of many passersby, but hindered by the tall, bald man beside them, no one dared to come up to strike up a conversation.

"That guy Erkus really knows how to enjoy himself, buying such expensive tea leaves in such a large bag."

The girl carried a heavy bag of Twilight Tea leaves, curled her lips, and said with rather dissatisfied resentment.

Because Erkus and the servants he brought were all banned in the Twilight Chamber of Commerce and could not go out, no one knew their identities yet, and they, who were capable of flying over walls and hiding in shadows, naturally had a new task.

And Latis, who had acted as a porter for no reason, was naturally quite dissatisfied with this.

"You can't use so much if you drink it yourself. Lord Saimen also likes to drink Twilight Tea very much. He should want to take some back as a gift for Lord Saimen."

After seeing his sister's pouting appearance, Raphael thought for a while and said.

Once she heard it was a gift for Saimen, the girl who had just been angry immediately calmed down, and even the expression on her pretty face became solemn.

It seemed that she respected Count Saimen very much.

"Besides taking gifts for Lord Saimen, Lord Erkus should also want to save some for future sales. After all, if our plan goes smoothly and Twilight City is hit by a disaster, it will definitely affect the production of Twilight Tea..."

Luon, the bald, burly man who had been silent on the side, suddenly spoke.

Although he didn't say it all, the vampire brother and sister instantly understood the meaning in his words.

It was nothing more than taking advantage of this to sell tea at a high price and make a big profit... After all, the whole Western Continent knew that the Kelai people were born merchants.

"Freshly baked wheat cakes, one copper coin each, the best snack in Twilight City!"

At this time, the fragrant wheat cakes at the stall not far away, with golden surfaces and crispy edges, attracted Latis's attention.

"Brother..."

She tugged at the corner of Raphael's clothes, trying hard to open her pair of beautiful scarlet eyes wide.

"Alright, alright, I'll buy them for you." Raphael said helplessly.

"Don't open your eyes so wide next time, it looks stupid." He poked the girl's forehead and said angrily.

"Hmph, clearly when I was in the City of Slaves, I relied on this to make several noble young masters fall in love with me and write me love letters every day." Latis snorted lightly with dissatisfaction.

"Those people, they were just greedy for your body, how could they love you like I do?"

Raphael sighed lightly and walked toward the stall in front.

(End of chapter)