Night had fallen.
Dark clouds obscured the stars and moon, leaving the Hero’s City in unusual silence.
A few lights from various communities broke the darkness, but most had retired with the sun, conserving energy for tomorrow’s activities.
And at that moment, a pitch-black bat — only its eyes gleaming red — flew overhead and landed before a heavily guarded estate.
The next instant, a young man in a black cloak and a petite girl appeared where the bat had been.
“Tch.
Didn’t think Perseus still had this kind of depth.
If we hadn’t bought the layout from Thousand Eyes, who’d have guessed there’d be a barrier here?”
Ryo clicked his tongue, eyeing the Perseus compound with barely concealed envy.
If only this land belonged to him.
Even a typical four-digit being might not be able to breach this place.
“To be fair, a few years ago — before Laius took over — Perseus was a four-digit community.
In the lower layers, only the old Arcadia could compare.”
Lamia explained quietly.
She was getting excited too.
They were really doing it — rescuing her aunt.
And in such a thrilling way.
Dangerous?
Perhaps.
But compared to waltzing into the White Night King’s territory, this was nothing.
“I have to say, Laius is a special kind of talent.
What kind of debauchery does it take to run a four-digit community into the ground like this?”
Ryo marveled.
They hadn’t even been attacked by a Demon Lord, stripped of wealth and talent by Ouroboros, or lost their banner.
“Maybe…
he went to the Flower District?”
Lamia tapped her lip thoughtfully.
The Flower District — Little Garden’s true den of indulgence.
The place where gods, demons, asuras, heroes, and Demon Lords alike went to spend their fortunes and release their desires.
There, you could even see the children of gods fallen into the pleasure quarters — let alone ordinary women.
As long as you had money, there was always a community specializing in the arts of service ready to satisfy you.
“Possible.”
Ryo nodded in agreement.
He’d heard the minimum spend there was a single Thousand Eyes gold coin — and beyond that, there was no ceiling.
Suddenly, Ryo covered Lamia’s mouth and whispered.
“Shh.
Someone’s coming.”
They both turned toward the sound of footsteps.
A man with hair half flaxen and half black, wearing a snakeskin jacket, came staggering back with a bottle in hand.
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I can keep going!
More!!”
“Eighteen more, and I’ll beat them all!!”
“That’s Laius?”
Ryo blinked.
Suddenly, all his preparation felt excessive.
This guy was almost too pathetic — drunk out of his mind, coming home this late.
And judging by the lipstick smudges still on his face, it was pretty obvious what he’d been doing all night.
Lamia couldn’t hide her disgust.
How could his predecessors have thought it was a good idea to let this man run a community?
Ryo nudged Lamia, reminding her to stick to the plan.
In the next instant, Lamia’s shadow began to writhe.
In daylight, this would’ve been conspicuous.
But in the pitch-black night?
Shadows blending with shadows was the perfect combination.
Moments later, the shadows swallowed both Ryo and Lamia, leaving only two thin dark streaks.
And as they moved into Laius’s own shadow, even those remnants vanished completely.
Laius, the host, noticed nothing.
It all happened in the span of a breath.
“Lord Laius, you went to the Flower District again.
But the community’s funds…
there’s not much left.”
As Laius walked through the gate, a warrior in Roman-style armor and a helmet spoke with clear worry.
Laius was clearly annoyed by the nagging, but this time he had more confidence.
“Relax.
I’ve already made a deal with someone.
Millions of gold coins will be in the vault soon.”
Laius said arrogantly, slapping a coin card loaded with a hundred thousand Thousand Eyes gold coins against the warrior’s face.
But the warrior showed no joy.
If anything, his worry deepened.
The chief has done something contract-breaking again, hasn’t he?
It didn’t take a genius to know that the fastest money was always the kind listed in the criminal code.
The last time a huge sum came in, Perseus had fallen from a four-digit community to a five-digit one.
What contract had Perseus broken this time?
Former chief…
why did you ever let him inherit Perseus?
But Laius didn’t care what his subordinates thought.
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He was a vulgar hedonist — and the kind who believed joy was better shared.
He never forgot to include his subordinates in his revelry.
“Lamia, did you hear that?”
Ryo’s expression lit up.
Who’d have thought they’d stumble onto a windfall like this?
“Don’t worry, master.
I’ve already marked it.”
Lamia understood immediately.
Since they were here anyway, just retrieving Leticia would be a waste.
Why not help themselves?
Beautiful women and treasures belonged to the virtuous.
Compared to Laius, Ryo considered himself quite virtuous.
He wanted the woman.
And the treasure too.
At that moment, Laius seemed to remember something.
His expression twisted with anger — which startled Ryo and Lamia, still hiding in his shadow.
Fortunately, Laius had no idea his shadow now housed two extra people.
“Those damn bastards…
why couldn’t they just take the ownership contract?
Why do they have to buy both the contract and the person together?”
Laius muttered through gritted teeth, keeping his voice low.
After venting his frustration, he sobered up slightly and asked coldly:
“Have you found any trace of Leticia?”
The subordinate shook his head helplessly.
“No.
She hasn’t appeared at No Name.”
“I knew I shouldn’t have agreed to give Leticia autonomy!!”
Laius snarled.
“Otherwise, those two million gold coins would be mine right now!!”
“Keep watching No Name.
I don’t believe Leticia doesn’t care about her former comrades.
If it comes down to it, we can…”
Laius drew his thumb across his throat.
This was a deal he’d made with an anonymous buyer — selling Leticia for two million Thousand Eyes gold coins.
Clearly, the buyer didn’t know Leticia had already lost her godhead.
But as long as the money came in, who cared?
“Yes, Lord Laius.”
The subordinate knelt.
Then Laius turned and headed back to his room, where he collapsed into bed and fell into a drunken stupor.