CHAPTER 34: HEAVENLY RACES

"Why are you always sitting far away from people?"

"I have my reasons."

Dante answered Elizabeth’s question calmly while taking a sip of a strange drink in the inn.

The moment the golden-amber liquid touched his tongue, he regretted it immediately and almost vomited.

’Argh, disgusting! What the hell is this beer made from?’

The innkeeper told him that it contained honey, but why was it too disgusting and sour? Was he scammed?

Dante placed the cup on the table and decided not to touch any alcoholic drink again.

’I only wanted to try this out of curiosity anyway. But seriously, how do people drink this?!’

How was his uncle drinking this every single day? Was the problem with this world’s beer or did all beer taste like that?

’Well, no wonder he died of a heart attack while having sex with that woman.’

Raising his blindfold a little bit to cover his mark better, Dante secretly scanned the inn.

He was sitting alone at a table in the corner of the inn. In the middle of the inn, a lot of people were chatting together while drinking beer and similar alcoholic drinks.

But unlike the villagers on the edge of the village—these villagers were healthier, and their Wheels of Luck contained more fortune than misfortune.

In the morning, Skylar and Selena left the inn to gather as many villagers as they could. They had used the excuse of fighting the mist monster publicly to make sure that the baron wouldn’t know about the real purpose of this gathering.

Yes, that meant Dante accepted their offer, but he didn’t accept it completely. He had told Skylar that he wanted to see first whether any villagers would actually follow them and whether he could find someone who was Rank 2 to help them.

If Skylar failed in getting enough numbers and strong people, Dante wouldn’t hesitate to leave. He wasn’t crazy enough to fight that bulky man.

Since then, as Dante, Maxwell, and Elizabeth had been waiting, someone would enter the inn and greet them before sitting with Elizabeth and Maxwell to discuss the real reason behind their gathering.

"A DEMO—!"

"Shhhh."

"Lower your voice!"

That was the most common reaction.

As for why Dante didn’t want to sit with them...

’This damn trait!’

Even as he was sitting in the far end of the inn, his cursed luck was still affecting the wheels of everyone in the inn.

Thankfully, he found out that it became slower the furthest he was from someone. So for now, it was safer to stay away.

He didn’t want to jinx the day before they could even start. Although he would have to stay with someone for a long time in order to truly have an effect, it was still better to stay away.

"I’m sorry, but..." one of the villagers that just arrived stood up. "It’s one thing to fight a monster, but another thing to fight a Rank 2 demon. I can’t do this..."

’Oh, another one.’

Dante sighed helplessly, watching the woman trying to leave the inn after rejecting all Elizabeth’s attempts to convince her.

It was only natural that not all people would be ready to fight after knowing about the demon. So, a few of them would always reject it.

Of course, they wouldn’t allow her to leave. She and everyone who had rejected the offer would stay in the inn for this day to keep this gathering a secret.

Frustrated, Elizabeth stood up and went to sit behind Dante before taking his beer.

Dante’s face twitched: "What are you doing here? Go back to your knight."

Ignoring him, Elizabeth took a sip of the beer: "It’d be a waste to leave this after I paid for it. I’ll leave once I finish it."

’That annoying short girl!’

Dante kept staring at her Wheel of Luck—seeing the misfortune increase—without the ability to say anything.

What would he say? Don’t sit close to me or you will become cursed?

Standing up, Dante grabbed his chair, but as he was going to leave, Elizabeth clenched his sleeve.

"Why don’t you like to sit with us? Did we do something wrong?"

Glancing nervously at her Wheel of Luck, Dante responded: "I have my reasons."

Elizabeth frowned faintly: "Come on, you won’t be harmed by sitting with a beautiful blind girl, right?"

’You are the one who will be harmed!’

Sighing hopelessly, Dante sat again but a bit far from her.

’Wait, how does she know if she is beautiful when she can’t see herself?’

Elizabeth took another sip of the beer before asking: "So, do you have anything you want to do? If you won’t attend an academy, will you just wander around without any purpose?"

"Yeah, looks like a good plan." Dante answered immediately: "If I can eat good food every day and stay warm, then I don’t need anything else."

"Oh..." Elizabeth stared at him blankly, puzzled by his fast response.

"Umm... don’t you want to achieve anything admirable?"

"No."

"What about having friends?"

"Nope."

"Fame?"

"Nah."

"Love?"

"I’m too young for that."

Elizabeth’s brows furrowed as she struggled to think about anything to continue the conversation.

She just wanted to talk a bit with him, trying to break down the walls he had built around himself. But why was he so simple-minded?

"Oh, what about helping people!" Elizabeth smiled: "You can make this your goal, that way you won’t be just wandering around without a purpose."

"No, unless it was for money." Dante answered indifferently.

"Eh? Why?!" Moving her head to the side and crossing her arms, Elizabeth murmured: "You are really weird."

Dante stared at her with confusion. How could he be weird for that?

"You are the weird and immature one here. Why would I waste my life helping strangers without anything in return?"

"Ah... because it’s good to be kind?" Elizabeth scratched her head: "I feel good when I help people, no other reasons. And look at the villagers."

Smiling, Elizabeth pointed at the villagers: "When they came here, they expected that they would fight a mist without anything in return, but they accepted anyway. They could have just stayed in their homes and let the homeless villagers die."

Then, she pointed at Dante: "The same thing applies to Skylar. He gave you a blindfold that’s worth a fortune in exchange for some blood without hesitation."

’Wait, what?’

Dante touched his blindfold unconsciously: "But he said that the majority of the vampires have one."

"Yes, the rich, noble vampires!"

"Oh..."

Dante looked down in embarrassment.

’Of course a magical blindfold is worth more than some blood. I’m stupid...’

But why would he do that? Was he trying to be on his good side because of his mark and talent?

’Even if it’s just about kindness, I don’t want to owe anyone anything again. I’ll pay him later.’

"Hehe." Elizabeth laughed suddenly, taking a big sip of beer before smashing it against the table: "And as a saintess candidate, it’s only natural that I’m the kindest. Though I just started my journey, I can assure you that there is nothing better than helping people. Even if I die in this process, I’ll at least die as a hero!"

’I don’t think dying as a hero is a good thing.’

Dante shook his head: "This thing won’t feed you when you’re starving, I’m not convinced. What’s that thing about being a saintess candidate anyway?"

Elizabeth smiled brightly as she moved her chair close to Dante.

She suddenly put her right hand on Dante’s shoulder...

’You damn—’

And pointed her left at the ceiling.

"Do you know what exists beyond this sky?"

Dante frowned: "You’re pointing at the ceiling, but... space?"

"Ahem... not this far." Elizabeth cleared her throat and continued: "I mean the heavenly races—those who live on floating isles!"

Dante’s eyes widened for a brief moment under the blindfold.

’Floating what? Wait, so there are races other than the dragons that live in the sky?’

Elizabeth continued: "The heavenly races are considered supremes compared to us humans. They are born like humans at first, but they have dormant bloodlines they awaken as they grow up, which turn them into terrifying creatures."

"I don’t know why they’re born as humans, but some people believe that they’re just mutant humans in essence."

Dante’s mind drifted to his runes and the bloodlines on them.

’So demons are a... heavenly race?’

Dante pushed Elizabeth’s hand off his shoulder as he asked: "So, what does this have to do with saintesses?"

"Oh, it’s simple." Elizabeth smiled, putting her hand on Dante’s shoulder again: "Among these beings, there is a unique race that has a good relationship with humans, or more accurately, with the Holy Kingdom. And most importantly, this race is the only heavenly race that can share its bloodline, turning any human into a real heavenly being!!"

Dante frowned instantly, feeling that something felt wrong.

’I thought the Holy Kingdom hates demons.’

Elizabeth’s smile widened, hiding some pride: "And this race is called... the angel race!"

For a moment, Dante just stared at her blankly.

’What the fuck?’