“Hold it steady! Hey, Nue! Stop! I’m going to- Ah!” Cain shook up in the air as a very unreliable individual tried to help him out. Unfortunately due to this unreliable person, the ladder Cain was on was unsteady leading him to fall down with a great thump.
“Hahahaha!” Helena laughed by the side, enjoying Cain making a fool out of himself. She had thought that he would finally grow up a little but as it turns out he’s still the same as ever. The same oddball that accompanied her throughout their journey.
“Care to help?” Cain mumbled as he was lying on the ground floor. Spectators looked at him with a sneer. Cain turned a little red from this awkward moment. “At least hold the ladder steady, I can’t put up the sign in place if no one helps me.”
Helena pointed at the random pedestrians, “I don’t think making a little girl like myself work that much would look good on you, Cain.”
As much as it pained Cain, she was right. Helena looked like a child right now, if he really pushed it then people would think he was overworking her. He wanted to ask Harry for help initially but he was currently very depressed as he learned that Elliot was actually a guy. Cain couldn't blame him either. He had locked himself inside his room for an entire day now.
This left Cain to only have Nue by his side. She, as expected, was very chaotic. Cain recalled that Nue could hold a greatsword steady quite easily but couldn’t hold a ladder steady. How can a master of weaponry fail at something so basic?
But I did take their powers away… argh! Fine, it’s my fault. I’ll just suck it up and finish it before I get fall even further. Cain thought to himself.
“Are you done yet? We still haven’t eaten lunch and I am starving.” Helena casually drank from a plastic cup, from the looks of it it was a strawberry-flavored shake. “Tastes bland but it’ll do for now. Also, make me some of this later, Cain!”
“Fine, let me just… finish this up a little bit more.” Cain went back up to the front of the store, placing the sign he had just created. “A little more finishing touches and… done! All right, after a few flops, it’s finally done!”
“Oh, it actually fits the store well,” Helena commented.
Well, a few leashed eldritch abominations here and a holy relic in front and it’ll finally do the wares he’s going to sell some justice. From the looks of it, it looks like some middle-aged man trying to make a living selling wooden sculptures. Helena crumpled the plastic cup in her hands and snapped her fingers. Hellfire manifested itself and consumed the plastic cup, rendering it to nothingness. A very efficient method of waste disposal.
“I know right? So, how do you like it?” Cain showed a very wide smile as he looked at the sign hanging above his shop. He had been putting it off for a while since he didn’t have anything to sell yet. But now, it was finally his first day officially opening.
“Like what?”
“The store. Do you like the name?” Cain felt very proud of himself.
“As long as you’re having fun.” Helena honestly said. “Well, I’ll go inside now. Be sure to treat me to something sweet later.”
“Alright! How about you Nue? Do you like the name?”
Nue stared at the sign that said, ‘Cain's Little Shop.’
“Looks weak.” Nue honestly said. The very first thing that came to her mind was what she said. She was speaking the truth the entire time. “If you put ‘Bloody’ or ‘Chaotic’ it would look better.” Nue put a thumbs up as she waited for Cain’s reply.
“Haha, you never change.” Cain patted Nue’s head. Immediately, Cain saw how excited Nue was at the mention of blood or violence. "Maybe you should change though."
“Let’s go inside, I’ll make you guys something delicious. Maybe that’ll get Harry out of that slump.”
Nue quietly followed behind, happily humming to herself. As she glanced behind her and narrowed her eyes she saw a person aiming down towards Cain's back, “Pests.”
“What was that Nue?”
“Nothing. Hungry.” Nue was about to revert back to her usual self when she realized that there was a looming threat. “Cain, do you have Mana Stones?”
“A coherent sentence and asking?” Cain immediately felt suspicious. “Nue, I never knew you could do that. I’m proud of you.”
“I’m not stupid!” Nue threw a fit. “Mana Stones, yes or no?”
“I… Ahem, we’re not financially stable right now. Maybe after we sell a few items I can get you some Medium-Quality Mana Stones. But if you want I can spare some Low-Quality Mana Stones instead.” Cain felt like rewarding Nue’s progress.
“How many Low-Quality Mana Stones?” Nue was taking this much more seriously than Cain had thought.
“We don’t have much, how many do you need?” Granted, Nue was really holding herself back. If it had been back then, there would've already been a sea of corpses. Cain felt that it was only right to reward good behavior.
“... all.”
Cain looked at his status window.
[Host: Cain Ex
Power Level: Super Weak
Mastery: Apotheosis Crafter - Basic Mastery Lvl. 1, Ambrosial Master - Basic Mastery Lvl. 1
Body: None
Points: 125,250 -> 63,175]
Even though Cain had been crafting nonstop, enough to fill the shop, his skills hadn’t increased at all. This completely puzzled Cain, in the otherworld, he could just do as he wished and his skills would increase. This was completely and utterly confusing.
I need to focus on this later. I’ll deal with Nue first.
“I can spare… 3,000?” Cain gave out an arbitrary number.
“Not enough! 50,000 Low-Quality Mana Stones at least!” Nue was firm with this number.
“Ahem, 50,000 Low-Quality Mana Stones is a little too much. Besides what are you going to do with them?” Cain was struggling to understand why Nue would suddenly need so much.
“Doing guard duties! You’re my employer but you haven’t paid me yet! I want 50,000 Low-Quality Mana Stones!” Nue wasn’t backing down on this.
“Guard duties? Nue, we’re really weak right now. I already hired someone to protect us.” Cain placed his hand on Nue’s shoulder. Well technically, Miyamoto was supposed to protect them but he didn't know how that would turn out.
“I’m… getting replaced.” Nue looked down and clenched her fists tightly. “Who is it? I want a fight to the death! I’ll show you, Cain! I’m the better guard!”
Seeing Nue slightly tear up, Cain immediately tried to remedy the situation, “Wait! You’re not getting replaced. It’s just… hah… 50,000 Low-Quality Mana Stones, right?”
Nue nodded as she rubbed her teary eye.
Cain felt this was completely unjust! He had already spent half his points on crafting his wares but now Nue needed the other half. Everything was going downhill. The worst part was that he had an extremely troublesome experience finding things that he could increase his Points with.
This is 50 Medium-Quality Mana Stones. This is so absurd. But… other than food, Nue hasn’t asked for much the entire time. Out of the three, she’s been the most helpful, even though she’s really dangerous. Cain sucked it up.
Exchanging his hard-earned points, Cain gave the 50,000 Low-Quality Mana Stones he promised her.
“Thanks, Cain! I’ll make sure to protect you this time!” Nue then proceeded to eat all of the Mana Stones Cain gave her and ran upstairs into her own room. “Guard!”
The sight of countless Low-Quality Mana Stones disappearing within the blink of an eye made Cain's heart crack. Even the hardest of wills would shatter under such a painful sensation.
“Now that’s done, I should make something for them.” As Cain went into the kitchen, Helena stared into the distance when Cain brought out that many Mana Stones out of nowhere. The mystical materials could be explained by him bringing it over from the other world yet for him to suddenly have so many Low-Quality Mana Stones couldn’t be explained.
As far as Helena was concerned, Cain hadn’t even looked at Mana Stones in the other world. His attention was completely taken away looking at questionable pieces of golden coins. He had been always an oddball but to suddenly have a suspiciously high amount of Mana Stones made her wonder if he was keeping something from her. She wanted to grill Cain and get ahold of that piece of information.
Thinking about it even further, she decided to drop it. Everyone had their own secrets, some more exposed than others. This wouldn’t change anything even if she knew and confronting Cain might put a strain on their relationship. As long as Cain was having fun, she would be too.
“As the quote-unquote financial adviser, I should start doing something. Hmm, I have an idea. This should help out a lot.” Helena conjured an illusionary barrier covering the entire shop. There was a slight blue hue mist that enveloped the store, causing the onlookers to immediately forget anything inside.
“That should keep those wastes out. Only the rich can find this place now.” Helena leaned back, letting her take it that much more easily. "Though that guy trying to assassinate Cain earlier... I can only hope his corpse would have bits of pieces left."
On the outskirts, a hooded person under burning daylight was spectating the store named, Cain's Little Shop, but suddenly disappeared before his very eyes. Even worse, his experiences for the past few days were wiped, as if they didn’t exist at all. His mind tried to recall these lost memories but they were quickly blocked. As much as he wanted to remember, the sight of small spark of fire would confuse him.
“I… I what? What am I doing here? I recall Sir Oisho telling me to do something but I cannot remember. What happened these past few days? It seems like I failed my mission. I need to accept my punishment.” This robed person disappeared as he blended into the shadows, running into a certain mundane establishment in the middle of the city. The contents were muddy but he remembered that he had failed. That was the only thing that he understood.
This person moved out. This area was what people would classify as the slums. Even though the Mistress of the Pavilion tried her best, these places were just things that she couldn’t bear to get rid of. Other than official channels, there was also a much more profitable business avenue, the black market.
The profits and rare materials one could get from the black market were just far too valuable to give up on. Even with her already massive amount of wealth, she still desired more. Although this attracted very unsavory characters, it wasn't something she couldn't handle at all.
As this robed person entered, the stench of booze and cigarettes was very apparent. There were countless people playing cards, different kinds of games were being played as they all gambled with chips. There were even less taxing forms of gambling such as slots. He had entered a gambling den, one that many lowlifes would hang around the entire day. It served as a way to escape the hell they were living in.
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Despite having just returned after ten years, people's lives didn't immediately change for the better. Some people's hearts turned dark, getting used to living like this.
Within this small gambling arena, this robed person whispered a set of words towards a guard which guided him into the further areas where the real fun begins. Inside the second area, it was essentially the same except for one key point, the stakes were much higher than ever before. The facilities were a notch higher and there were even people personally attending to some of the high spenders.
If the person gambling in the first area needed to bet 10 Low-Quality Mana Stones then here they had to enter with 100 Low-Quality Mana stones, an absurdly high increase. However, they didn’t stop, moving on to the next area. They needed to enter the next area using teleportation.
Here was the most prized area, one of the Secret Pavilion’s most popular money makers, The High-Roller’s Den. Here, people were no longer playing with worthless Low-Quality Mana Stones. Every single wager needed to be at least, 5 Medium-Quality Mana Stones. If this were to be converted into Low-Quality Mana Stones, it would cost 5,000 Low-Quality Mana Stones.
What was odd was the fact that this area was not just twice, not just three times but a whole hundred times larger from the previous areas. Here, it wasn’t just linked to one gambling den, it was actually linked to the entire city’s gambling dens. Every single gambling den in Pioneer City was operated by the Secret Pavilion, slowly raking in more and more money as the days went by.
It was safe to say that with how bustling it was with all the customary drinks and women catering to some big shots, this was an extremely favorable business. Biting down on humanity’s weakness, the Mistress of the Pavilion would consume their sins and make money out of it. And the best part of it all was just how absurdly profitable everything was.
The robed man ignored the joyful atmosphere yet couldn’t help but see a certain girl in the middle of the stage. It was a self-proclaimed idol, a woman who seemed to be as frail as humanely possible while at the same time flavorful enough to even force men to bite the fruit of temptation. People's eyes were naturally drawn to her.
“Hello, I feel honored enough to be invited by the Mistress of the Pavilion herself! Now without any further delay, I’ll play my song now.” She brought out a harp and immediately filled the den with a harmonious melody that alongside her beauty made countless people scream out in joy.
The robed man listened for a brief moment, “As always, the Mistress of the Pavilion always invites talented vixens. Never mind that I need to inform Sir Oisho.” He kept on walking until a certain area finally appeared in front of him. He wanted to try his luck at this particular lady but there were far more pressing matters at hand.
This area was a little ways off and could only be accessed by verified personnel. Fortunately, he was one of them. He placed his hand on the verifier and waited for the door to open.
“Access Denied.” A cold mechanical voice responded back.
“Huh? What do you access denied?” The robed man felt something was off so he decided to call another he was close with. Seeing the robed man’s face, he saw that it was his friend and after a few promises, he decided to use his identity in his stead. It was breaking protocol but since they knew each other, no one bothered to worry about it.
This area was a very clean-looking place, filled with overhanging lights and shifting runes to the side. This was the passage that was specifically designed so that if some invader ever forced their way in, the traps would activate and obliterate them. A few decorations would line the walls but the empty space in between was long enough to pressure weaker-willed entities.
The robed man slowly walked, taking his time appreciating how much technical skill was needed to create this masterpiece. “As always, the Mistress of the Pavilion is beyond human comprehension.”
He walked off until he finally saw the door that he needed to reach, the robed man kneeled in front and waited. He did not knock nor did he say anything, he just waited until the person in front of him let him in. This was proper protocol. If he were to rashly open his mouth or open the door then he would immediately be seen as a threat.
Time had passed, and when it nearly reached five minutes, a voice commanded, “Come in.”
The robed man opened the door and bowed before Oisho. “I have come bearing some news.”
“Speak.”
“I’m ashamed to say but I failed my mission!” The robed man kneeled in front of him yet Oisho was looking at the same spot, ignoring his presence completely. He did not remember what he failed or why he failed but he had to admit it.
“Failed? How so.” Oisho retained his composure as he carefully looked at what would happen next.
“I forgot my mission! I don’t know how or why but I don’t remember it at all!” The robed man screamed out. “This is a complete blunder, I understand! If my death would appease you then I’ll gladly let you take my life.”
“I see…” Oisho took in a deep breath. “Well? What are you waiting for?”
The robed man clenched his fists, “I understand. I’ll take it myself.” As the robed man took out a small dagger and was about to pierce his neck, a feminine hand stopped him.
A girl with waist-long black hair and golden eyes that sparkled like gold showed up from within the robed man’s shadows. “Mine.” Nue’s hand clenched, taking the small dagger away from him. This broke the man’s wrists using said knife. Her frail hand seemed to be unable to even handle the lightest loads yet the power she showcased was not to be underestimated.
“Argh!” The robed man’s head was immediately held by his hair. Nue kicked the man's back leg, forcing him to kneel down before her. He couldn’t fight back, his life was at the hands of the girl behind him. He didn't even have time to process what had happened before he was completely incapacitated.
“I recall you are called Nue. Would you please release my subordinate?” Oisho released his breath and unsheathed his own weapon. The threat she felt from Nue was striking. He could barely keep his calm now that she was here.
Nue’s clear eyes didn’t even hesitate, she took the small dagger in her hands and directly stabbed the man’s neck. Merciless as usual. This caused the man to immediately try and hold his bleeding neck with his hands. Yet to no avail, she had broken his wrists, forcing him to silently bleed down on the ground before her.
The coldness of murder didn’t even faze the young girl. This was akin to breathing to her, it was completely natural.
“He did something bad.” Nue didn’t back down. Taking her stance, she raised the dagger in her hand and pointed it towards Oisho. "Pay the price."
Oisho channeled his mana within his sword and spoke, “What could he have possibly done to deserve death?” If need be, he didn't want to fight this young girl before him at all. He was certain that she was far too dangerous to even clash with. His pure instincts were roaring within him to defuse the situation before it got out of hand. A talented subordinate's death was acceptable for as long as the situation was diffused.
“People who do bad things deserve to die. He said it was okay so it's okay.” Nue channeled her mana as well. Though there was a stark contrast with it, Nue only lined the edge of her blade with mana. It was minuscule to the point that Oisho could barely sense it. He tried to pry as to what Nue was trying to do with such little mana but he soon understood the disparity between them. Her blade edge was sharper than anything Oisho could fathom.
“Lady Nue, stop beating around the bush. Why did you kill him?” Oisho felt his hands slightly tremble. He remembered this little girl back then fighting against Rank 2 soldiers with sheer ease. At that time Nue was only a Rank 1, now things seemed to have shifted.
Was she hiding her strength? Lady Nue's mana is quite... terrifying.
He had previously thought that Nue was quite talented. Little did he expect that she could actually skip the gap between ranks so easily. Now, Oisho saw what it meant to have talent. Nue was a living catastrophe. A Rank 2 could actually threaten a Rank 7. Now Oisho had seen it all.
Using a Higher Rank 6 Sword, the Peak Rank 7 expert, Oisho was now facing against a Higher Rank 2 girl using a common dagger. The entire room seemed to have turned dark as Nue’s golden eyes were the only things that Oisho could see. Oisho's senses as a swordsman were keen, even better than most people. He would never lose sight of everything around him yet for some reason, the light from all around him started to disappear.
And at that moment that… they clashed.
Oisho didn’t hold back one bit, he knew that despite being an entire five ranks above the girl before him, he had to take it seriously. He channeled his entire blade and slashed. A surge of mana coated his blade, empowering it to the absolute peak.
“Sword Strike.” A sword skill that Oisho had mastered to Advanced Mastery, was now currently being used in full swing against Nue. Such strength even caused the air to create a vacuum that sucked in everything in his sword’s path. This was a very powerful attack that would cut down most Rank 6 experts with extreme ease yet Nue seemed to be snickering from beyond the darkness.
Seeing such a powerful strike aimed right at her head, Nue dodged down by arching her back down to the ground. The slash of great power slashed just barely grazed Nue's nose. Strands of black hair had been cut, placing a bit of darkness on the floor. Even though she felt her body face near death she had never felt this much fun after arriving on Earth, she grabbed ahold of the shadows on the floor and blended into them.
At the very next moment, Oisho felt an ominous presence behind him. He didn't hesitate to strike behind him at all. As his sword swung behind him, an empty shadow in Nue's silhouette was struck.
This is bad! I've been fooled! Oisho had his body twisted, showing a gap in his solid defense.
Seeing an opportunity to strike back Nue didn’t hesitate at all. She smiled and using her normal dagger, aimed for the kill. Oisho could only take Nue's dagger. Her dagger pierced Oisho's stomach with her blade. Unfortunately, she could only get so far before she decidedly stepped back. Oisho was actually determined to take her with him. If she continued even deeper than that then she would've been in Oisho's sword trajectory.
Oisho backed off in response to Nue’s lethal attack. He held his stomach which was pouring out blood. He tried to use mana to stop the bleeding forcing his range of motion to dwindle greatly. At the current state of the battle, it was clear that for as long as Nue played safe, she would eventually be able to achieve victory. Seeing how desperate his condition was, he gritted his teeth and decided to take Nue down with him.
He poured mana into his attack and desperately attacked one last time. This might not be able to kill Nue with how slippery she was but this was enough to injure her at the very least. Oisho firmly stood by his decision and struck Nue down. As he saw Nue's face, he noticed a slight grin appearing on her face.
"Got you." Nue raised her blade, trying to meet the edge of Oisho's blade with the tip of her dagger. Compared to Oisho completely empowering his entire sword, Nue had solely focused on condensing all her available mana into this one singular point. He saw the trajectory of his blade and Nue's dagger and came to a conclusion.
This lunatic's actually going to...
Oisho tried to retract his blade but it was too late, Nue had already won. His prized blade which he had managed to receive as a gift from the Mistress of the Pavilion shattered before his eyes. A blade that he had thought would serve him well in the future actually shattered into multiple pieces before his very eyes. Oisho kneeled before Nue, completely helpless. She had just won over Oisho.
"Why?" Even until now, Oisho wasn't willing to just die without knowing what sin he had committed.
“You shouldn’t have tried to attack his back…” Nue took this time to speak. She recalled that when Cain was signing the board, there was an invisible attack aimed at his back. Nue reacted accordingly, shaking the ladder so that Cain wouldn't be affected by the attack. Helena wasn’t even worried whether that attack hit Cain or not, leaving it up to Nue’s instinct. That and it would be funnier seeing Cain fall down on the ground.
“I…” Oisho finally realized what had happened. His subordinate tried to test them out only to unknowingly offend them instead. If that was the case, Nue’s actions only made sense. “I guess it was my fault in the end.”
Nue didn’t say anything else and slashed, expecting to cut off Oisho’s head in one easy swipe. Her attack seemed to have disappeared from existence as if nothing happened to Oisho. Traces of what was and what could've been fragmented, turning back to a time where it didn't even exist. Nue felt that she attacked yet at the same time knew that she didn't. It was completely contradictory yet somehow just.
To both of their surprise, a sudden voice echoed out, “Lady Nue, we can’t be too bloodthirsty now, can we? You already killed the person who offended your owner, why not end it here?”
“M-Mistress of the Pavilion!” Oisho’s voice trembled.
Seeing that Nue somehow listened to her, the Mistress of the Valley took out a fan and started flapping, “What do you want? Wealth? Compensation? Name it. I’m sure we can work something out.”
Nue’s gaze remained the same, “To do my job.”
“Oh, pray tell what that job is. I’m sure I can help you out. Us ladies should be act with more grace lest we appear as brutes.” She spoke in a lovingly soft voice. Her appearance was still hidden within the shadows, even with Nue’s current skillset she still couldn’t see through her. Contrary to how the battle worked, Nue and Oisho were equally powerful, the only difference was that Nue's battle experience was just far too vast that Oisho wasn't able to bridge the gap.
“To protect Cain.” Nue blatantly said. It wasn’t a big secret anyway, besides, Nue’s the type of person to answer honestly if questioned, that or she would stay quiet.
“I’d say you already completed your task, correct? One of my men is already dead and he was the only danger here. My subordinate here did not actively sought out to harm your master. If you so wish, I would like to settle this matter peacefully. It is our mistake after all.” She tried to reason out Nue’s wishes.
Nue looked around the room, she saw the corpse on the side and looked back at Oisho. The stretch of death was starting to make Nue hungry. Even now, Oisho was grasping his stomach as blood slowly poured out.
“I’m no threat.” Oisho said honestly, he was genuinely afraid of Nue. For some reason, she could fight beyond ranks and completely overwhelm him. This was beyond the realm of reason.
Nue thought about it for a brief moment before casually slashing in front of him. “Remember that.” Nue then immediately left, blending into the shadows and disappearing from sight.
The Mistress of the Pavilion slightly shook as she bit her lip, completely restless as to how someone like her could appear. “Oisho, remember that if you wish to keep living. Next time, you won't be as lucky.” She then proceeded back into the darkness, trying to recalculate her plans according to the new threat that came up beside her.
"I knew that there were terrifying monsters still hiding away but to think that someone like her could exist. Forget it, it was bound to happen sooner or later. Nothing changes." The Mistress of the Pavilion silently disappeared from Oisho's view. She had to accommodate everything properly to prevent any unforeseen circumstances.
Oisho didn’t notice anything at all when Nue performed her attack yet once he heard his leader’s warning he decided to pry into it even deeper. He looked into his heart.
There he finally understood what happened, Nue set a restriction within his heart. If he was to ever harbor any kind of malicious thoughts towards a certain individual then the restriction would activate, mincing his heart to cubes. The Mistress of the Pavilion could so easily remove such a restriction but she didn't. It was clear what her stance was in this situation. It was Oisho's personal problem so he had to deal with it himself.
In a small store called Cain's Little Shop, Nue was obediently sipping on a strawberry shake. She enjoyed her drink very much. “Sweet.”
Nue then gave Cain a side glance. “Protect. Then fight.”
"Right." Cain felt that Nue's gaze was a little more bloodthirsty than usual. "I wonder what she did with those Low-Quality Mana Stones. She was gone for a while. Hopefully nothing too troublesome."