CHAPTER 49: HAPPY

"It’s been so long since I slept on a pillow."

"It’s so soft."

As the sunrise illuminated the frozen land, Dante and Elizabeth were just resting inside the carriage after the lightning storm ended. As for the night watch, Fafnir was taking care of that, though he seemed a bit traumatized after his return.

They didn’t have a real pillow, but something better—the driver’s round belly.

’I refuse to believe this is normal. It must be an ability that makes it like that.’ Dante thought, then he remembered what happened the past night.

’I feel bad for that bandit...’

How bad must someone’s luck be in order to get hit by lightning twice?

The answer was—as bad as Dante’s, which was the purpose of Dante’s spell.

Because of it, Tkiee ended up facing Dante’s terrible luck with the lightning storms... and died.

’But why was he killed this time? Why has this never happened to me?’

Dante tried to think of any logical explanation, and eventually, his mind formed only three theories.

’Maybe it’s because luck is unpredictable.’

As far as Dante understood, luck was just a variable, not certainty. A higher bad luck only increased the chance of something bad happening, not made it inevitable.

Only because Dante survived every time didn’t mean that would always happen. In fact, there were many times when he wasn’t even attacked by lightning at all.

’Or maybe it’s because I have regression marks.’

Now, Dante had something that would always save him from death. In other words, dying would just return him instead of ending his misery.

As for that misfortune, it essentially belonged to Dante, so maybe the bandit was treated as if he also had the regression marks.

’Or maybe it’s because I’m now rich and strong.’

Lastly, he now had a chance to have a good life, unlike when he was homeless. Even if he lost his money, he could always earn it again with his new strength.

So now, staying alive wouldn’t mean more suffering for him. Thus, dying after finally getting enough money to live happily was indeed a misfortune.

’Regardless, I still earned a small thing from Tkiee’s sacrifice.’ Dante suppressed a smirk as he glanced at his luck.

There was a small change, a change that brought him immense joy, a change that showed him he could eventually succeed.

’It’s now fucking smaller!’

His luck—whiche was taking the form of a black hole with tendrils—was slightly smaller than before Tkiee’s death.

’Tkiee died, but a part of my misfortune died with him!’

Wasn’t his method to confirm if someone died was checking their luck? Whenever someone died, their wheel would die with them.

So, with Dante’s misfortune connected to Tkiee’s wheel, his death took a small part of it and treated it as a part of Tkiee’s luck, causing it to disappear with his wheel.

Now, Dante knew what he had to do.

’I need more sacrifices.’

Was this method brutal, inhuman, and a bit evil?

Yes!

But did Dante care?

No!

’I’m simply cleaning the world from some beasts and thieves, and the world is rewarding me for my kindness and hard work. Sometimes, the world would need someone to do the dirty work, right?’

With these thoughts in his mind, Dante glanced again at his luck. It was barely visible, but he could see that it was growing bigger again.

Somehow, it was returning to its former size, as if it was absorbing misfortune from the surroundings. At this rate, it would return to its former size in two or three days.

The method of using sacrifices was only a temporary solution. Eventually, he’d have to find another way... unless he wanted to slaughter innocent people.

’At least it’s not hopeless now.’

As Dante was about to retrieve something to eat from his storage, he suddenly saw a horde of strange creatures through Fafnir’s eyes, running toward the carriage.

Focusing on their appearance, Dante frowned: "Are those... green people?"

¢¢¢

Onyxsilk Town was considered one of the richest medium-sized towns in Ashton Kingdom.

They were famous for having several mines filled with a mineral called Onyxsilk, which was what the town was named after.

Despite being a mineral, it could be easily turned into silk using the right methods. That mineral was durable and long-lived, highly resistant to cold and hot temperatures, and could be sold for high prices.

The Onyxsilk could be found in various grades, mostly grade 1 and 2, but some lucky miners would often find small amounts of Grade 3 Onyxsilk.

It was used to make the town’s onyx-black walls, the weapons and armors, the rich’s clothes, and many other things.

In front of the main gate of the town, three guards, clad in onyx-black gear, were reading the daily newspapers with shock and concern.

"Another one? What the hell is happening nowadays? They’re becoming more frequent."

"I don’t know. At this rate, they’ll fill the world before I become a grandfather."

Judging by their expressions, the news didn’t seem to be good at all.

"Hey, ignore the news for now." The leader of the guards yelled, pointing at something moving toward them.

A guard who was wielding a strange rod of wood and onyxsilk squinted his, activating a vision ability as he said: "It’s a carriage. It’s pulled by two dire wolves and... doesn’t seem to have a good smell."

As the carriage became close enough for everyone to see, they understood immediately what he meant as they almost chuckled.

In fact, the carriage was perfectly fine. The only problem was the green liquid dyeing every part of it.

"How many goblins had they encountered?!"

The guards laughed immediately as the image of the infamous short, green thieves flashed in their minds.

Everyone in Onyxsilk Town knew about them, as they were common around the town and there were several quests to kill them.

They were usually rankless monsters, being a threat to only the classless children and those with weak classes.

But this was the case only when fighting one or two goblins.

Their real power was in their numbers as they rarely traveled alone.

"Still, it’s my first time to see this amount of blood." The leader remarked: "It’s either they’re truly unlucky, used an attack that can make such a mess, or we’re wrong and this isn’t the blood of goblins."

The knights nodded in agreement as they waited patiently for the carriage.

Eventually, the carriage stood before them, the door opened, and 2 figures emerged.

The first to come out of the carriage was a beautiful short woman whose grey eyes didn’t seem to follow her movements.

For some reason, she was covering her nose with a piece of cloth, and once she left the carriage, she moved as far as possible quickly.

"Finally, fresh air!"

And the second...

"Pffft."

"Oh shit."

"Was he swimming in blood?"

...A blindfolded boy who could have been described as handsome and attractive, but his smell and condition ruined that impression.

From the hair to the boots, he was covered completely in slimy green liquid, with only his ears, eyes, nose, and mouth a bit cleaner.

Just then, the guards noticed something that made them stare at him with confusion.

Despite his condition, the boy had a ridiculous smile on his face as he looked at the guards.

He looked... happy.