Chapter 13: Dancing with the 'Death God

Fifteen minutes later, the bedroom of the VIP guest room.

Dalete and Beierkan stood opposite each other, and on the floor between them lay a docile male sheep.

This was the result of Beierkan continuously releasing twelve mid-level dispel spells.

「Is-is a sheep? 」

Dalete looked at the sheep and swallowed hard.

Mid-tier Mage Beierkan let out a deep sigh.

「Knight, we were probably tricked by a very mysterious and very cunning shapeshifter. 」

「This shapeshifter is extremely skilled at turning sheep into living people. He has previously transformed over thirty flawless women. 」

Dalete felt something was off, and interrupted repeatedly: 「Wait wait, do you happen to know this shapeshifter? 」

Beierkan gave a wry smile and shook his head: 「I don't know him; I've only heard of his deeds. 」

After a pause, the white-haired mage sighed deeply: 「Knight, this sum of money is probably impossible to recover. 」

Seeing Knight Dalete not only not letting go, but instead showing resentment, he hurriedly advised.

「Knight, this isn't our hometown; there aren't many acquaintances. If you insist on revenge, you might end up in even greater trouble. 」

「Most importantly, this could reveal your private proclivities, and once the Temple finds out, it will be very troublesome. 」

Beierkan had already figured it out: the swindler surely chose Dalete as a target after noticing this point.

Because as long as the scam succeeds, the aftermath is almost negligible.

Knight Dalete heard him, but he had a different idea.

「Beierkan, the other side is at most two people; using such a vile means to swindle my money shows they are short on funds, and likely they aren't carrying any powerful magical items! 」

「And you, Beierkan, your staff and talisman are custom-made fine items for you, and the spells you master are mostly prepared for combat. 」

「That swindler is definitely no match for you, and he surely doesn't want to make a big fuss; as long as we find him and give him a good scare, we can definitely get the money back! 」

「That's 2000 Gold Ogre! If used to buy talent, it's an investment—spent is spent—but now it's been used to buy a sheep worth less than 2 Ogres in market price! 2000 Ogres for one sheep. 」

「That's a full thousandfold price difference; even if this sheep were raised by the Dawn Princess herself, it wouldn't be worth this price! 」

Dalete's heart ached as if blood were dripping!

What he said also made sense; strictly speaking, the reason we were swindled so badly is that Beierkan, this spell consultant, also bears considerable responsibility.

Although I clearly know in my heart that this money cannot be recovered, we must take some action, at least to show we made an effort.

Thus, he immediately said: 「Alright, I'll go investigate right now! 」

Taking his full set of magical gear and bringing emergency potions, Beierkan hurried out of the room and chased all the way to the guest rooms on the second floor.

The door was shut tight.

Mage Hand opened the door; the room was empty, aside from a pervasive herbal scent, there was nothing else.

He immediately used the Tracking Spell, but as expected, it yielded nothing.

Since the spell turned up nothing, he could only search the room for ordinary clues.

After searching around, Beierkan stopped at the windowsill.

There were several footprints on the windowsill, toes pointing outward, indicating the person didn't go out the main door but jumped directly out the window.

Most likely, he used the Levitation Spell.

Looking out the window, it was a narrow alley behind the inn, pitch black and impossible to see anything.

The opponent is a shapeshifter, already gone for about half an hour; the inn is located in the bustling Harbor District, and hiding among one or two people is like a fish disappearing into the sea.

Not to mention him alone; even if we reported to the Harbor District Security Office and mobilized thousands of patrol guards to search together, it would be futile.

Beierkan readily gave up the pursuit.

「Knight, the person has vanished without a trace, the clues have been carefully erased, and my Tracking Spell shows no response. 」

Dalete fell into silence.

After several minutes, he slowly exhaled the foul air from his chest and whispered: 「Don't let a third person know about this. 」

Beierkan quickly nodded: 「Of course. 」

Dalete then said: 「2000 Ogres is no small sum; when we return to the Kaowangguo Kingdom, if my father inquires, we'll say we were robbed. 」

「I understand, Knight. 」

「Damn swindler! I curse you to hell! 」

Dalete finally couldn't hold back his anger, and he swept the bottles and jars on the table onto the floor, splashing water all over the room.

But joy is a conserved quantity; although the total amount doesn't change, it can be transferred.

The reason Dalete's anger boiled over is that his five minutes of joy were transferred to others.

Under the night sky, the Harbor District shone with brilliant lights.

On the bustling, noisy seaside boulevard, Luosen and Selena were sitting in a luxurious rental carriage.

This had just been rented from the upscale carriage shop next to the Jinqiangyu Inn, at a rate of 20 Ogres per day.

Inside the carriage, Selena's eyebrows danced with delight as she repeatedly examined the gleaming bank deposit slip.

「Luosen, I never expected there to be such a huge fool in the world, hahaha. 」

「Spending 2000 Ogres to buy a servant, hahaha~~this brain must have been kicked by a sheep, hahaha. 」

She was so happy she wanted to dance.

Things went smoothly, the gains were considerably more than expected, and Luosen was also somewhat pleased, a faint smile appearing on his youthful face.

Selena suddenly wondered again: 「There's something I can't figure out. 」

「How? 」

Selena put away the bank deposit slip and once again carefully examined the young husband she had unexpectedly acquired beside her.

「I don't understand; since you have such a talent for making money, why can't you pay Anna's tuition? 」

Luosen spread his hands: "Madam, I would like to, but I also need time."

Seeing Selena not understand, he explained further.

"Over the past ten years, I have devoted all my time and energy to studying magic; if it weren't for my father's accidental death, I would still want to study with my mentor for a few more years."

This is true; he has always wandered in the world of magic and is deeply fascinated by it.

Only after receiving his mother's letter these past half month did he divert some of his thoughts back to secular life.

Selena understood and couldn't help but let out a 'puchi' laugh.

"If Anna hears you say that, she will surely dislike you even more."

"Honestly, aside from Transformation Technique, what else have you learned?"

Luosen then began counting on his fingers.

"That would be a lot."

"Making magic devices, drawing scrolls, drawing magic circles, brewing potions, crafting puppets, etc. —I basically know a bit of each, and I have some original research in certain fields." "Of course, I have only superficially studied the above; truly mastering them is rare."

Selena blinked: "You've learned quite a bit, but I still want to ask, what about your magical power?"

"Really only First Ring Strength?"

Luosen nodded firmly: "Madam, I am indeed a Low-tier Mage; more precisely, I am in the early-mid stage of Low-tier."

Selena was half doubtful, her eyes turned, and she suddenly raised her hand to pat Luosen's shoulder, her palm simultaneously flashing a faint light of water.

At the instant that water light touched Luosen's shoulder, his shoulder suddenly brightened, appearing as a faint white mist-like glow.

This is the self-protection instinct of a mage.

Only see the condensed water light and white mist lightly touch, triggering numerous tiny electric arcs.

Immediately, the white mist light was forced back by the condensed water light, clearly not a match.

Luosen's shoulder drooped, his face showing a hint of 'pain'.

He frowned, a hint of anger appearing on his face: "Madam, even if you are a High-tier Mage, you can't bully people like this, can you?"

Selena immediately withdrew her hand, softly apologizing: "Okay, okay, I was wrong."

Luosen's expression eased: "Alright, let's let this go."

But in his heart he gave a hehe laugh: "A pampered princess raised in luxury, still wanting to probe my depths—what a beautiful dream."

Selena certainly didn't know Luosen's thoughts; she only thought she had figured out his true strength, and her mind instantly settled.

"Looks like he's just a sly little cheat; by the time we reach White Sturgeon Island, we won't have to worry about him bullying us."

She stretched lazily at length, displaying her slender, round waist fully before Luosen's eyes.

"My little husband, now that we have money, let's buy some defensive magic devices. Other things can be makeshift, but the staff should be as good as possible."

She had grown accustomed to the sense of security from carrying a staff and various magic devices.

"In this state, it's like a hunter walking barehanded through a forest dense with beasts, feeling anxious."

Luosen, however, gave a light smile: "Don't rush, Madam, haven't you forgotten something?"

"Ah?"

Luosen prompted: "In the Jinqiangyu Lvdian, we previously made a bet."

Selena remembered, her face showing a hint of embarrassment: "Of course I haven't forgotten."

"Tell me, what do you want me to do? Dance or sing?"

Luosen said nothing, merely staring at Selena's face.

Selena felt something, her heart raced, her cheeks flushed slightly, and she hurried to make up an excuse.

"Kissing is fine, but I can't kiss on the lips; I'm not ready yet."

Luosen, however, did not kiss; he slowly raised his hand, and under her wary gaze, lightly touched her forehead.

"Madam, since leaving Dawn Castle this morning, your brow has never truly relaxed."

The unexpected action left Selena somewhat unable to discern Luosen's intention.

"Is that so? Then what?"

"So, my request is that Madam not take today's matter too seriously, for the future is long and anything could happen."

"Those now high and mighty may someday fall to become prisoners, even be sent to the guillotine."

"Those now fallen from the clouds may not necessarily be unable to rise again to glory."

Having said that, without waiting for a reply, he turned to the coachman: "Turn around, go to the dock warehouse area~"

Almost at the same time, Laifu also sent an alarm.

"Harbor District detected Aaron Night Guard, at least 150 in number, the nearest 600 meters away."

150 is the total of Detect Guard sightings from various places; 150 is the minimum.

600 meters is the distance to the nearest Detect Guard from him; this is Luosen's preset danger distance.

In other words, these 'reapers' from Aaron are already less than a kilometer away, yet he has not a single combat staff in hand.

Luosen secretly sighed: "Ah, this really is a pack of troublesome hunting dogs."

At this moment, Selena finally came to her senses: "Is that it?"

Luosen laughed: "We agreed the stake was just a small matter."

"But this matter is not small; it has made me feel much better."

After a pause, Selena suddenly leaned in and lightly pecked Luosen's cheek: "Here's a kiss as thanks for your guidance."

Luosen gave a slight smile: "Then I won't stand on ceremony accepting it."

As the carriage passed the dock, he somehow produced a glass bottle filled with bright yellow liquid with some foam.

In Selena's presence, he chanted a few incantations over the bottle, then opened the carriage window and tossed it into the nearby Storm Bay.

Selena wondered: "What did you throw into the sea? Beer?"

Luosen nodded: "Yeah, it's the beer that wasn't finished."

Selena became even more puzzled: "When did you buy the beer, you you you you actually secretly put in?? You you. you. you your brain is sick!"

She finally knew the truth about the liquid in the bottle.

Luosen laughed heartily, watching the three knights racing past outside the window, watching the matte black armor hidden beneath their ordinary clothes and the Lion Crest faintly visible above, he explained nonchalantly.

"Madam, have you read Master Franco's Anti-Tracking Studies?"

Selena was taken aback: "I haven't read it, what's wrong?"

"The book says, if you aren't sure you can completely, completely shake off your pursuer, then simply muddy the water."

After saying that, he pointed to the bay beside the road: "Now, the entire Storm Bay, and all the rivers connecting to the bay, have become our stand-ins."

Selena understood Luosen's intention, but still found it hard to accept, her cheeks burning with embarrassment.

After a while she recalled her earlier doubt: "Why go to the dock warehouse? Shouldn't we be buying a staff?"

"Madam, with 2000 Ogres you can't buy a genuine good staff. We can only buy materials ourselves and craft it."

"My plan is to go to the warehouse and buy some high-quality magical materials at a low price, then personally craft a staff and some commonly used magical implements."

He silently added in his heart: "Once we have the magical implements, we still need to make a big sum of money."

If it weren't for Selena this unexpected twist, 2000 Ogres would barely be enough, at most we could earn another one or two thousand.

But with the Princess, the territory must develop quickly, so 2000 Ogres are far from enough to serve as startup funds for the island.

The more money the better; even if we dance with the Grim Reaper, we cannot delay making money.

Selena didn't know Luosen's plan, and she became increasingly puzzled.

"The warehouse area? High-quality magical materials? Shouldn't we buy them at a materials shop?"

"My lady, I know you're curious, but don't rush; I'll tell you the answer step by step."

(End of chapter)