CHAPTER 48: LIGHTNING DOES STRIKE TWICE

"Have you... killed them? And... are you injured?" Elizabeth asked the moment Dante entered the carriage, sniffing the blood covering his clothes.

"Oh, you woke up?" Dante nodded: "Yes, I killed them all except for one. Thankfully, I’m not even scratched."

’It feels a bit strange to say that...’

When did he get used to killing people without any hesitation or guilt? He didn’t even flinch from the brutal sight unlike before.

Was it normal for a homeless boy from modern Earth to become like that in a few days?

’Must be from all the things I had experienced in the village and the ancient ruins... probably.’

Elizabeth gave Dante a nod before returning to silence.

Dante looked at his clothes and finally noticed that they were covered in blood: ’Tsk, they’re new.’

Taking a similar set of clothes out of his ring, Dante changed his clothes quickly and put the blood-covered clothes in his ring.

It was a bit awkward to do that in front of Elizabeth, but she was blind and unable to see anything.

A moment later, the bandit finally finished searching the corpses as he opened the door.

"I... I gathered the cores."

Three cores fell to the ground, alongside five gold coins and the bandits’ weapons.

"Oh, not bad." Dante stored everything in his ring instantly, ignoring the bandit’s shocked expression.

"What’s your name?" Dante asked.

"T-Tkiee."

Dante nodded as he extended his hand and opened his fist: "Anything valuable? And don’t dare to lie or hide anything."

Tkiee gulped nervously as he handed Dante one mana crystal.

Satisfied, Dante sat on the other couch, leaving one for Elizabeth, and smiled at Tkiee: "Sit, we have a long way to go."

Tkiee sat as far as possible from Dante, his brain working relentlessly to make sense of his situation.

’I’m getting kidnapped, right? They’re turning me into a slave again. I don’t want to—’

Just then, Tkiee finally noticed Elizabeth, his eyes lingering on her for a long moment.

’Maybe becoming a slave isn’t that bad.’

Slap!

Dante slapped him instantly: "Don’t stare too much. That’s disgusting."

"Y-yes sir!"

Tkiee lowered his head as the carriage started moving again. Elizabeth wrapped herself in the blanket and lay on the couch to sleep, leaving the carriage in silence again.

The reason why Dante let the bandit live, other than the coin toss, was simple.

’I can perform a few experiments on him without feeling guilty, hehehehe!’

The first thing Dante had done was making protection chains to increase Tkiee’s chance of saving Dante. Dante didn’t know why or how would Tkiee do such a thing, which was why he wanted to test and see.

And the second thing he did was link his misfortune with Tkiee’s wheel. Thankfully, this spell worked, and it showed instant results.

’He now has a part of my luck. I wonder how it would affect him.’ Dante rested his head on his arm as he closed his eyes to sleep

He wasn’t afraid of Tkiee at all. With Fafnir by his side, no one could attack him by surprise.

¢¢¢

"Sir Shadow."

The sound of the driver woke Dante up. He tried to rub his eyes only to remember he was wearing a blindfold.

Shaking his head, Dante looked through the window. It was already the night and the carriage wasn’t moving.

Looking at the door, Dante saw the carriage driver standing.

"It’s the night. We can’t keep moving in the darkness, and the wolves need to rest."

Dante nodded as the driver continued: "I’ll make a temporary campfire. I’m asking you to discuss the night watch with your... friends."

The driver gave one last glance at Tkiee before leaving.

Dante scratched his head before looking at Tkiee, who was sleeping with his mouth wide open, and kicked him.

"Ouch! You son of a—" Before Tkiee could complete his curse, he regained his memories and closed his mouth immediately.

Dante pointed at the door: "Go help the driver, and know that you’re going to keep watching this night. Good thing that you’ve already slept."

Staring at Dante in disbelief, Tkiee was about to complain, but then he obeyed and left after remembering what happened to the other bandits. And secretly, Fafnir followed him to ensure the safety of the driver.

Satisfied, Dante looked at Elizabeth: ’Now, what should I do with this lazy woman.’

She had been sleeping all day. That was likely because of her depression, but Dante couldn’t just leave her like that. She was his future lie detector, after all.

"Hey, wake up." Dante shook Elizabeth’s shoulders: "You’ve been sleeping for hours!"

"I don’t want to." Elizabeth turned her head to the other side and ignored Dante.

Sighing helplessly, Dante took a cooked meat slice out of his ring and brought it close to her head.

All of a sudden, Elizabeth turned her head rapidly and took the meat slice into her mouth, almost biting Dante’s fingers.

"So now you’re not depressed, huh?"

Elizabeth chewed the meat embarrassingly: "I... I haven’t eaten anything since yesterday."

Dante grabbed Elizabeth’s hand, forcing her to stand up, and smiled: "Then stop sleeping and ignoring me. I’ll cook something good for you outside... for a symbolic price, of course."

Dante took a few steps forward, but as he was about to leave the carriage...

RUMBLE!

...The thunder roared throughout the sky, illuminating the dark night with purple lights.

Immediately, Dante took a few steps backward, closed the window, and returned to the couch with Elizabeth.

Elizabeth frowned: "What’s wrong? Aren’t we leaving?"

Shaking his head, Dante replied: "I changed my mind. You can go, but I’ll stay here... for now."

Looking at him with confusion, Elizabeth’s brain tried to make any sense of his sudden change. Then suddenly, her lips curled a bit upward: "Are you scared of lightning? Should I hold your hands?"

"No."

"That’s a lie."

Dante gritted his teeth: "Yes, I hate lightning, as one should. It’s a natural disaster roaring right above us! At any moment, a lightning strike might burn you. And trust me, it’s not a good feeling."

Elizabeth patted Dante’s back gently: "I understand your concern. You lived in a forest, so you don’t know that the chance of being hit by lightning is almost zero—!"

RUMBLE!

All of a sudden, Dante and Elizabeth heard the thunder roaring, louder than all the previous times, followed by the screams of the fat carriage driver.

Before they could say anything, the driver came into the carriage with a shocked expression: "Sir Shadow, it’s a disaster! The bandit had just been hit by a lightning strike!"

Elizabeth: "...."

"Bring him here, now!" Dante ordered immediately: "We can heal him."

"Yes!"

The driver left immediately, and Dante ordered Fafnir mentally to also bring Tkiee. But just then...

RUMBLE!

’Another lightning strike...’

All of a sudden, the chains connecting Dante and Tkiee shattered.

’Oh fuck...’

"Sir Shadow Dancer... it’s a disaster." The driver returned as he went into the carriage immediately: "The bandit was hit by another lightning strike. I don’t think he survived..."

RUMBLE!

A lightning strike suddenly hit Fafnir, killing him for the first time.

"...."

Elizabeth leaned closer to Dante, holding his hand firmly. And the driver quickly closed the door and sat too close to Dante as well.

Dante inhaled deeply: "...Do you agree that we should stay in the carriage tonight?"

"I’m sure my wolves will be fine..."

"I don’t mind at all... I’m hungry and cold, though."