CHAPTER 43: THE AFTERMATH [1]

"I hate you all."

"Luna, I can’t believe you’re doing this to me."

Dante and Kyle hugged their knees as they watched their money disappearing for things they didn’t fully understand.

Skylar, Luna, the strategist, and some other villagers were busy deciding how to use the baron’s treasures to deal with fixing the village.

They wanted to hire some knights or mercenaries, help the poor and homeless villagers, import some good seeds for farming, and many other things.

In addition to that, they had to deal with the fact that their estate didn’t have any ruler. They wanted to make a report quickly before this could become a problem, but if they did, the new ruler might just keep the treasures for themselves. They had to use them quickly before that.

’But what do I have to do with this?!’

Unfortunately, Kyle and Dante couldn’t argue as Skylar, Luna, and Elizabeth accepted.

Of course, Dante still received a significant share due to his contribution.

He got some platinum and gold coins, 150 small mana crystals, and some artifacts. So, he was basically rich now.

One of these artifacts was the fancy outfit he was wearing now.

He wore elegant black trousers with a belt and a black tunic. Over the tunic, he wore a black mantle that for some reason seemed to have a fur-like texture on the shoulders.

In addition to them, Dante wore high black boots and a pair of black gloves.

The outfit was comfortable and warm, adjusting itself to suit him perfectly. It was far better than his older clothes and even his lost relic. Even the boots were durable enough to resist his mana bursts!

Additionally, Dante had discovered something about his spell, Appraisal.

He could use it on artifacts! Not only himself, but also on the artifacts and anything that contained mana!

Earlier, Dante had tried to cast Appraisal on himself, but he saw something unlike his expectations.

[Grade: 2]

[Type: Garment]

[Materials: Grade 2 Nightweave Silk]

[Enchantments: Self Repair (Rank 1), Temperature Resistance (Rank 2), Auto Adjustment (Rank 1)]

[Durability: 100%]

On each piece of cloth he wore, the same thing appeared but with different materials and types.

And when he used Appraisal on his blindfold:

[Grade: 3]

[Type: Accessory]

[Materials: Grade 3 Blind Spider Silk]

[Enchantments: Self Repair (Rank 2), Sight-Through Cloth (Rank 3)]

[Durability: 100%]

In other words, Dante could see the grade and the enchantments of any magical item.

He didn’t know what a grade was at first, but Skylar told him that it was a simple way to know the quality of the magical items by their mana intensity.

Obviously, anything that wasn’t magical and didn’t contain mana was considered gradeless, no matter how good it was.

Of course, a higher quality didn’t always mean a better item. There were many other factors like the purpose of the item itself.

’What if I used it on something that isn’t an artifact? Something that doesn’t have enchantments.’

Wasn’t there something like magical herbs? If he used it on a herb, what would he see?

’I’ll see if I find one.’

In addition to this outfit, Dante gained four other outfits with similar enchantments and two Grade 2 longswords with durability and sharpness enchantments.

Lastly, he got 50 Cores of Existence.

If only Luna and Skylar weren’t obsessed with helping the villagers and giving big shares to the families of the villagers who had died without doing anything, he’d have got more than that.

’Tsk, that’s not fair.’

"What... will you do now?" Skylar sat beside Kyle and Dante as he asked: "The villagers will take care of the rest, we aren’t needed anymore."

Kyle laughed and said: "I don’t know, Luna is the one to decide. But we’ll probably go around the world and continue fighting."

"I’ll go to a better place." Dante stared at the sky thoughtfully: "I’ll go to a place that isn’t a cursed village, buy a house, find a job, and maybe try to become richer and stronger by hunting some beasts. I have bought a few things, like blankets and tents, and I’m ready to leave this place."

It was simple, but that was really all Dante wanted.

Discovering hidden truths? Becoming a noble? Hunting demons and villains? Saving people? Building a name for himself and traveling endlessly?

He wasn’t interested in any of that.

He’d just try to live peacefully until an unfortunate event hit him and then try to solve whatever that disaster would be.

"Oh, I think I know a good place for that." Skylar smiled: "The only duchy in this kingdom, Morgana Duchy. I think it has two counties or something, but the important part is that most of the towns there are stable and safe. Wait, let me get a map."

Quickly, Skylar went to buy a map and returned soon after. He taught Dante how to read it—though it was still hard for him—and showed him the way he would have to take.

He also gave Dante some recommendations, and advised him never to visit the capital because of his... sensitive identity.

"Once you decide where to go, you can buy a house there and work as a mercenary. Oh, you first need to register as one, so try to find one of the Mercenary Guild’s branches and register there."

"Mercenary Guild?" Dante frowned immediately.

This morning, Skylar told him that mercenaries were people who do anything for money. Was that an official job that needed registration?

Skylar cleared his throat and explained: "Well, you can’t just let anyone become a mercenary and start doing anything without a well-organized system. You have to register yourself as a mercenary in a place called the Mercenary Guild to get a licence and some privileges. You’ll understand everything after you register."

"Oh, thank you." Dante nodded in gratitude as he started examining the map. From Skylar’s recommendations, there were a lot of good options.

Some towns had high walls surrounding them, some towns were filled with different stores, other towns had famous artificers.

"Umm..." Skylar coughed awkwardly as he scratched his head: "Do... Do you need a companion? Maybe someone who can detect lies."

Dante lowered the map and stared sharply at Skylar.

"A what?"