CHAPTER 33: MANA CRYSTALS

"Why didn’t you let me out?"

In a random inn, Selena, Elizabeth, Maxwell and Skylar were sitting together in one room.

Elizabeth was angry, facing Selena and Maxwell as she yelled: "Isn’t it my job to help people? Why are you following me if you wouldn’t allow me to do that?!"

Selena sighed: "You don’t have to put yourself in danger to save them. If I let you out, you’d have sacrificed yourself for nothing!"

"So what?"

"Can’t you use your small brain for once in your life? You won’t save anyone if you die first! You have spent a lot of coins to let some villagers enter the inn, you have already done all that you could!"

Seeing Elizabeth and Selena fighting, Skylar and Maxwell kept watching awkwardly, unsure of what they were supposed to do in this situation.

"Ahem." Skylar cleared his throat: "So, you said something about a flying head that killed your bird, right? I thought the people were just exaggerating their stories out of fear."

Maxwell nodded with a grim expression. He had stopped watching Dante the moment he heard about the green mist, deciding to see what it was about instead of listening to people’s stories.

But out of nowhere, a flying head with green spider-like legs attacked the bird and killed it.

He couldn’t send another bird, afraid of letting the mist enter the room and cause danger to the entire inn.

Maxwell opened his mouth to explain, but suddenly...

Knock, knock.

Someone knocked softly on the door.

Thinking it was one of his neighbours or the innkeeper, Skylar rushed to the door and opened it.

"Huh? Oh! Little brother, you are back!" Skylar shouted happily, seeing a blindfolded boy standing in front of him.

That boy was Dante.

It wasn’t that hard to find them, considering that the entire village had only three inns.

Just then, Skylar noticed the heavy expression on Dante’s face.

"Ah... not how you expected the first human civilization to be? I can assure you that it’s so rare for something—"

"We have to talk..." Dante cut him off and walked to the middle of the room before explaining what he saw.

Their expressions lit up at first when they saw him return, but that changed when he started speaking about what had seen outside.

At first, they were confused that he was able to go outside despite the threat of the mist, but then they remembered his strange shadow.

Maxwell was an expert in using shadows, so of course he noticed Dante’s shadow when he went to protect the children.

Then, their expressions shifted instantly once he told them about the supposed guards of the village who were happily gathering the villagers’ cores and about the terrifying baron.

Dante told them only what the baron had done, not what he was, afraid that knowing about the demons would expose him.

Maxwell frowned: "How by heavens did a demon become a noble? Is Ashton’s kingdom that carefree regarding their stupid security? The Holy Kingdom would never make such a mistake."

Skylar grabbed Maxwell’s shoulders and yelled: "You think it’s a good time to criticize another kingdom’s security? There is a damn Pride demon of all things, killing people for relics, and you are here thinking about Ashton’s security?"

Maxwell’s face twitched, smelling Skylar’s bloody breath, but he endured it as he felt guilt.

"Skylar, do you know about the baron’s rank or abilities?" Selena asked, her face filled with determination.

Despite all she had said earlier, she changed the moment she heard about the demon.

She was from the Holy Kingdom, of all places. It was only natural that she hated demons the most due to their education there.

Skylar nodded: "Well, sadly, Ash is Rank 2. I don’t know about his class or aspects, but knowing about them wouldn’t change the fact that we can’t fight him. And remember, other than his rank, he also has subordinates!"

"Mr. Vampire is right!"

Seeing them arguing, Dante moved slowly toward the door.

’My job is done. I’ll now keep watching and see what happens.’

As he turned around, someone suddenly clenched his sleeve.

"What?" He looked at Elizabeth with a frown.

Elizabeth hesitated for a brief moment before saying: "Won’t you help us? That’s a real demon! If you don’t know, demons belong to an evil race. We have to make the demon stop before he could harm any more people!"

’And I partially belong to that evil race...’

Dante sighed: "You realize that I’m one of those ’more people’, right?"

"Huh?"

Seeing her confusion, Dante explained: "I’m one of the people you are trying to save from that demon. Crowned existence or not, there is no difference between me and the people whom the demon harmed. I’m not strong enough to make a difference against him and his knights, and It’s not my job to sacrifice myself for some strangers."

Although Dante really wanted to help, he wasn’t a hero ready to sacrifice himself.

Why would he sacrifice himself for people he doesn’t know? Especially in a world where everyone got class like him. Most of the villagers were older than him, so shouldn’t they be more experienced?

In terms of responsibilities, he was supposed to be the one who needed protection, not the opposite!

"Well..." Skylar suddenly said. "We will definitely ask some villagers for help, we can’t take the baron down alone, can we? But your help will definitely make a difference and increase our chances against the baron. If you help us, you will be only one of many, so you won’t face a lot of dangers. Additionally..."

Skylar rubbed his thumb and index finger together and smirked: "You will get a share of the spoils!"

Dante’s eyes lit up for a brief moment: "Spoils?"

Seeing his interest, Skylar took out a small crystal from his pocket. It was blue and smaller than his finger.

Skylar explained: "We call this thing mana crystal, and sometimes ’mage candy’. The coins you have are used to buy items and services as a currency, but sometimes, when you try to buy some magical items, the merchants won’t accept them and will ask for mana crystals instead."

’Huh? And you’re telling me this now?!!’

Dante gazed sharply at Selena, the one who hadn’t said a single word about mana crystals when she explained the currencies.

’You damn...’

Skylar continued: "If we talk about the fair price, a small mana crystal costs from 5 to 20 gold coins, but as I said, it’s more valuable as a currency for some special purchases. With it, you can buy rare potions, enchanted weapons, ranked beasts, and even slaves. And although I don’t recommend it, you can eat them to restore your mana... but no more than two daily, unless you want to face mana poisoning."

Dante nodded, though his mind was focused on something else.

’Slavery! Why of all things... damn it! I hate this cursed world from the bottom of my heart!’

How could he casually talk about slaves as if they were goods? Was slavery a common thing here?

’Don’t tell me public execution exists as well..."

"Anyway, what does this have to do with spoils?"

Skylar explained: "Basically, nobles are so rich! I bet on my fangs that the baron has at least hundreds of them, and that’s without considering the other treasures he might be hiding! So, will you help us?"

Dante narrowed his eyes under the blindfold, thinking deeply about this offer.

If he accepted, he would have to fight with unknown villagers against trained knights. And if the worst happened, he might have to use his demonic sword and demonic energy, facing the danger of exposing himself.

Would these people accept him only because he was helping them to fight another demon? Maybe, maybe not. He didn’t know if the people in this world hated demons as a whole or only the majority of them.

And, he might even die again!

But if nothing wrong happened, he’d get more resources that would help him to survive in this world. After all, knowing his strange luck, he might encounter a danger worse than the baron at any time.

On the other hand, if he refused, he would be safe for now. But he’d lose this valuable chance to fight the baron. Did the innkeeper say that the villagers who tried to leave the village never returned?

It was really hard to choose. Both choices had their own benefits and dangers.

’Oh, how did I forget?’

Misfortune Spell — The Doomed Coin of Decisions!

Under everyone’s gaze, an obsidian-black coin materialized on Dante’s hand.

Thankfully, there was a subtle difference between the color of the shadow and misfortune spells, making them look almost the same.

They both were black, but the shadows were a bit inky, while the misfortune was like obsidian.

Ignoring everyone in the room, Dante tossed the coin.

Ting!