The guard leader, writhing on the ground from the pain, witnessed everything with his own eyesâthe reaction of the eight knights behind the commander proved that she really was telling the truth when she said she had been kind today.
He realized that his luck was truly terrible. The woman in front of him was far crazier than he had imagined. Now, all he wanted was to get as far away from her as possible. He no longer cared about catching the silver-white-haired young man beside her, who was watching everything with an amused look on his face.
The leader thought
he was crazy, too
. He was dying here, and not one of them showed any sympathy for a dying man caught in this mess because of a little greed.
He should have been suspicious when he was offered such a large bonus just for accepting the task. The description didnât match any known powerful figure, so he had let greed overtake his logical mind.
He regretted his decision with every fiber of his being now.
"M-Maâam, I-Iâm really, really sorry if my earlier words caused any harm to your reputation... Please forgive me. I-Itâs all a misunderstanding caused by the higher-ups..."
There was bitterness in his voice as he mentioned the higher-ups.
"T-The young master with you can enter the city without any checks. Forgive my mistake, please. How can anyone with maâamâs be a thug...?"
"Just let them carry meâIâll really die. I-I donât want to die. Iâm not even married y-yet. Please..."
He even used his bloody hand to take out a pouch from around his waistârather than holding onto his woundâand offered it to the commander, hoping she would accept it as compensation.
"Please accept this, m-maâam..."
The pouch contained 52 gold coins, 90 silver coins, and a couple of bronze coinsâhis earnings and savings.
Seraphine was satisfied with the apology, knowing he was merely a pawn used by the dukeâs son and had been caught off guard. He had already paid with one of his hands. Her cold voice sounded again.
"Okay, youâre forgiven for now. But if you ever get in my way again, I will kill you. And I donât need your compensation."
The guard leader felt relieved when he heard she wouldnât take the money. That meant he could at least enjoy a decent retirement.
But Leon, beside her, wasnât going to let it go. The pouch looked heavy with coins. His hand moved in a blur, and he caught it. He didnât care about the blood and opened the pouch. Just one look at the many gold and silver coins inside, and he knew heâd hit the jackpot.
The weight of the pouch gone from his waist, the leaderâs soul felt shattered. He could see his retirement fund in the hands of the silver-haired young man.
It was over nowâbut at least he had kept his life. Even with one hand, as an Awakener with an intact mana core, he could still earn decent money.
Seraphine continued.
"My disciple will take the compensation, as you targeted him. Now disappear from my sight before I change my mind."
"Thank you, m-maâam..."
His entire demeanor changed as he glared at the four guards standing nearby.
"Quickly take me to the Church of Life, you fools! Are you waiting for me to die!?"
The guards picked up the leader and his severed hand as they left. The other guards thanked their luck and sighed in reliefâgrateful he had handled the situation without worsening it.
Had he acted foolishly, all of them might have lost their lives.
Seraphine and Leon returned to the carriage, while the knights mounted their horses again.
Leon discreetly stored the pouch in his inventory when no eyes were on him, and water formed around his hands, washing away the blood.
After boarding the carriage, he and Seraphine didnât return to the dimensional space just yet. He knew, from what Seraphine had told him, that the festival would begin in two days.
Then he remembered somethingâhe had forgotten to tell Seraphine about the existence of the
Cosmic Shop
and
Cosmic Chat
. He had to bring it up because rejecting even small coin exchanges meant rejecting causality itself.
They were too precious to miss.
Seraphineâs hands were wrapped around his as her head rested peacefully on his shoulder.
"Seraphine, I forgot to tell you something about my system. The thing is..."
He finished speaking.
Sheâd never thought there could be more to his system than what heâd already told herâbecause what heâd revealed was already overwhelming. Now, hearing about the overpowered shop that allowed him to buy treasures of the same rank as the ones he ownedâusing a strange currency called
Causality
, earned by exchanging timeâwas beyond her imagination.
He told her about a certain item that increased mana by 300 after a single useâdouble the amount of her current mana. And that wasnât all. He spoke of many godly treasures sold by powerful entities.
She realized why he had taken the money from the guard earlier. He wasnât lacking funds. If he had asked, she would have given him more than enough. But now she doubted it would ever be
enough
ânot after hearing how much platinum he had exchanged for only 289,000 causality.
That amount alone was far more than the total wealth she owned in coin. But her wealth wasnât limited to moneyâthere were other valuables stored in her treasury, hidden beneath her mansion.
Once they returned, she had decided she would exchange
everything
she had for this "Causality" he spoke of.
If possible, she wanted to buy high-level technique scrollsâbecause unlike skill stones, technique scrolls had no limitations. They could be passed down to different people and can even be stored inside into paper by a person who had a good understanding of the technique, as the direct transfer was too dangerous of method for average people.
It would not only increase their strengthâbut it would also become the foundation of their future empire.
Even if they sold only a part of a scrollânot even the full versionâit would still generate enough revenue and treasure to earn more causality, potentially surpassing the original cost.
It was, in her eyes, the best investmentâkilling three birds with one stone.
She didnât hold back and shared her full idea with him. Leon gave her a wide smile in return, wrapping her in a long hug and kissing her deeply in appreciation of her brilliant planâmaking her feel proud of herself.