Eric casually strolled away in the middle of the empty street with both his hands inside his pockets, while his long cloak floated to the side with the night breeze. He had a tranquil and peaceful smile on his face with his eyes closed, as if he were very satisfied with his work.
Far behind him, a tall building was collapsing sideways. People gathered outside the Devils Spice gate, pointing their fingers at the collapsing building and mumbling among themselves. No one had the time to notice the sole handsome boy walking away from the entertainment.
"It seems Brother Devils Spice wasn't devilish enough to receive me," Eric murmured with a slightly disappointed tone.
He suddenly stopped and looked far away onto the horizon of the night sky.
"Oh, the old man is coming, late as usual," he chuckled.
City Lord Gideon was still very far away, and his spiritual sense was nowhere near, but he was exuding his presence radiantly so that the perpetrator could quickly flee—just like the police from Earth.
Eric pulled his right hand out from his pocket, and on his palm lay a golden ring with beautiful and intricate designs.
This was Antonio's space ring. It was also the only other space ring he had seen on any Apprentice Rank, except for his own, Lyria's, and Livy's. Even Bella Noll didn't have one. No, she didn't even have a space pouch. Perhaps she did and later sold everything; he couldn't know for sure.
Unlike theirs, this space ring was beautifully designed, while theirs were like someone's offhand creations—though their rings had twice the slots of this one.
Eric didn't know what was inside this ring, nor could he check at this moment, as he would need to open each 'door' and take its contents out.
Antonio might also have some hidden chamber of wealth like Rudin's; unfortunately, Eric didn't have the time to go treasure hunting, and so, this marked the end of this chapter.
Overall, Eric felt he had obtained plenty of Mana Stones from this heist. Maybe he should make this a regular occurrence in the future; he only hoped there were hundreds of Devils Spices in each city and many screwed, wealthy nobles waiting patiently to donate their money for his greater ambition.
He put the ring away and pulled out two scrolls. They were the binding scrolls made by Rudin targeting Lyria and Livy.
Following that, Eric pulled out a simple Tier 1 fire-ignition artifact and lit those scrolls on fire.
He silently watched with a peaceful smile as both scrolls slowly turned to ash and flew away with the wind, scattering and disappearing into the night sky over the city.
This matter had finally come to an end, and one of his main tasks within Batley City was also finished. Now he could simply enjoy the remaining few days and then leave for a new adventure—of course, only after completing his final main task, which was to buy a hat.
Eric smiled and vanished alongside the cool breeze.
---
Eric returned to his guesthouse around 10 PM.
Along the way, he took a bath and washed his clothes and everything else in some random pond. With enchantments, no blood usually stuck to the outfits for long, but it was not perfect; too much blood and it was bound to stick around, requiring hands-on cleaning. He also felt completely refreshed after a nice cold bath. After that, he changed into a new, similar-looking cloak and returned to the Pierce estate.
Upon arriving, he noticed both Lyria and Livy were outside, near the stable, and a fairly big, elderly-looking bird was pleasantly chirping at their loving strokes.
Eric smiled. It seemed the girls' mission was also a success.
Lyria and Livy turned to see Eric, and then rushed to hug him.
Eric was speechless. What was with the sudden affection?
He allowed it and praised them, "Good job, both of you. Was there any trouble?"
They let go of Eric and scowled together in distaste, recalling a foul memory.
Lyria raised her tightly clenched fist and said with rage, "That bastard Guild Master of Animal Handlers said that due to the current threat of necromancers, he 'had to' increase all animals' prices, and Puchi cost us 2,000 more Mana Stones! Can you believe it? 2,000! Sister Brunhild had to pay the extra by taking a paycheck in her family's name!"
"That's right! If not for Ly, I would have chopped that screwed-looking man into five pieces! Puchi hadn't been bought by anyone for over a decade, yet even then it was such a ridiculous price!" Livy pulled out a WaterJet whip and cracked it in midair to express her frustration and her violent tendencies.
Eric's mouth trembled. He finally understood why both girls suddenly required a hug. But what was with that name?
He coughed, "It's fine; we just need to deposit Puchi... ahem, this elderly-looking bird to the next Animal Handlers in Sildargrade. By the way, who gave the bird such an 'amazing' name?" he asked with a strange look.
That was some legendary name all right; probably no one had ever used it before. He could already guess who named it.
Lyria blushed. Livy pointed at Lyria and exposed her, "It was her!"
Lyria glared at Livy and bellowed, "It was still better than yours! What's with the name Bruhin? Even Sister Brunhild's face turned purple hearing that name!"
Livy glared back at Lyria and argued, "I just wanted to show our gratitude to Sister Brunhild!"
Lyria felt she needed to smash some sense into Livy, but looking at the deep blue, deadly whip in Livy's hand, she held back and roared, "That's not a way to say thanks!"
Eric couldn't help but burst out laughing. "Well, well, alright, calm down. Puchi is fine, I guess. Introduce her to me." He guessed the bird was a female upon hearing such a name. Brunhild had also said 'she' when mentioning the bird, so this bird was an old lady.
Lyria and Livy were embarrassed hearing Eric's sudden laughter. They smiled and brought Eric in front of Puchi to introduce her.
"Puchi, this is Brother Eric. Brother Eric, this is Puchi. She shall be our ride to Sildargrade. She is very enthusiastic to fly long distances again after such a long time," Lyria said while gently caressing the fluffy old neck of Puchi.
Puchi chirped happily and energetically; however, just from her voice, anyone could tell that she was very old, probably very close to her deathbed as well—maybe a year or two before she kicked the bucket.
Puchi belonged to the Eldertalon species, a very gentle but prideful and spirited bird. It had vibrant, colorful feathers on its wings, forehead, and tail, which had dulled quite a bit with her age.
As a newborn-stage Rank 1, Puchi was not too big, but her back was large enough for the three of them to half-lie down and not fall off. Though, as an old lady, she wouldn't be able to fly for long without rest, so none of them had any intention of sleeping on Puchi's back.
Eric greeted her with a smile, "Puchi, rest well for now. If you need anything, just give us a holler."
He then turned to the girls, "Ly, Liv, I am going back to bed. I am a little tired from running around all evening. We can talk further tomorrow." After saying this, he started heading toward the guesthouse.
"Brother Eric, what about dinner?" Livy called out.
Eric waved his hand off without turning, "I am not hungry. Let's just have a good breakfast tomorrow morning. Good night, both of you."
Both girls verbally responded to Eric and continued playing with Puchi.
---
The next morning, Eric, Lyria, and Livy sat at the long dining table and had their Elven breakfast for the first time in weeks. After finishing one space pouch worth of food, they finally felt rejuvenated.
Livy cleaned the utensils and the table, and then all three continued sitting at the long table, chatting and drinking freshly brewed tea with satisfied smiles.
This tea was also provided by Lysandra and was found in the island's kitchen space pouches. Perhaps even Lysandra didn't know it was there. Riya had long since checked everything, so they knew it was not some poison meant to silence them.
The tea's taste was brilliant, especially with milk; Eric felt the tea's quality was even above authentic Darjeeling tea.
They continued chatting about what they had seen and experienced yesterday. Eric informed Lyria and Livy about what he had learned from the library. There were many things he wanted them to be aware of, especially regarding what he had learned about oaths, contracts, and so on.
While they were chatting and pouring more tea, Brunhild, Garrick, Eilif, Thorne, and Caius barged inside their guesthouse with impatient and tense expressions.
After they entered, they were stupefied by the tranquil atmosphere among the three.
Livy looked at the five in confusion, thinking, 'Why are they standing still like idiots after entering?'
"What's up? Have a seat. We have plenty of tea for you all if you guys want," she offered.
Caius coughed. He wanted to refuse and talk about the alarming news they brought, but then he noticed that, except for him, everyone sat at the long table with a smile while Livy started serving them tea.
He stood awkwardly.
'Guys, where did the previous tension go?!'
At this moment, he smelled an extremely pleasant aroma in the air and realized that he too didn't want to miss out on this tea. He embarrassedly coughed and also sat down at the other end of the table.
Lyria took another sip from her cup and sighed with satisfaction. She had already drunk three cups earlier, and each new cup felt refreshingly new; the tea was just that unique and special.
She turned toward the morning intruders and questioned, "Where's Elianor?"
The five who had appeared, after tasting the unique, pleasant flavor of the tea—which they had never experienced in their lives—closed their eyes to fully savor it. But after hearing Lyria's inquiry, they all opened their eyes and glared straight at Eric.
Eric felt his mouth twitch. He was innocent! He didn't remember touching Elianor, much less assaulting her! Why were they glaring at him like he had bullied her?
Eric 'innocently' tilted his head in 'confusion'.
Brunhild sighed and answered with regret and pity in her tone, "She needs more time. For now, she refuses to see us and has locked herself in her room. Her elder brother is still there for her, so it's fine."
Hearing this, Lyria also sighed and nodded in understanding.
If possible, she would like to visit Elianor later and cheer her up. Just because Elianor was rejected didn't mean she needed to be down forever. Just look at her and Livy—they were both still stuck on the 'waiting for a response' list!