Eric wanted to end this pointless chatter. The mysterious Demon was indeed him, and he was hiding in plain sight! There was no need to worry about him ambushing himself.
Just as he was about to encourage everyone to go shopping for his hat, Lyria interrupted him and asked Caius, "What was the name of the scroll maker within the underground arena?" Her tone was curious, laced with a faint suspicion.
The rest of them also turned toward Caius, as they were unaware of such a person.
Caius answered calmly, "His name is Rudin. He was actually quite famous within noble circles for creating binding, contract, and various other spell scrolls. Of course, I have never met him; I don't have any sick interest in controlling anyone."
As Caius mentioned the name, Lyria's eyes shone, but she didn't move. She was, in fact, deeply touched and felt emotional.
'Brother Eric still remembers that incident and took care of it silently, without informing or bothering us about it.' Her eyes quickly flicked toward Livy.
Livy frowned upon hearing the name. She felt like she had heard it somewhere before.
It took her a few moments to recall that the mercenaries in Ringwood Town had mentioned that name, associating it with the scrolls Jack bought to enslave them. As she remembered, her eyes widened.
Just as she was about to snap her head toward Eric, someone gave her a very subtle kick. She glanced up and found Lyria watching her with a blank expression.
Livy immediately understood that staring at Eric right now would make it too obvious. Others would realize they held a grudge against this scroll guy, and then they would suspect them of being the culprits behind 'The Biggest Tragedy of Batley City'! But the truth was, some random person had simply helped them kill their old enemy. This was like winning the lottery, just as Sister Hannah had said in the past. They should celebrate later, but not in front of others.
Livy smiled brightly and winked at Lyria in understanding.
Lyria didn't know why she found Livy's smile a bit too bright, as if she had found free Mana Stones lying in the street; for now, she decided to let it slide.
The others looked at the two girls' interaction oddly, but no one commented on it. It must be a girls' thing.
They didn't suspect them of being the Cloaked Demon, as that person was far too scary. None of the three came even close to that level of abnormal power, so they didn't have a speck of suspicion regarding their involvement.
Eric felt it was enough. He coughed, "Guys, I want to go buy my hat, or else it might get sold out. But before that, I want to ask—have you all collected the money for your new weapons?"
Lyria's eyes immediately lit up. Money! They desperately lacked money due to that bastard Animal Handler from yesterday.
The others' eyes also lit up, while a few in the group looked disheartened.
Garrick and Eilif looked at Caius and Brunhild pleadingly, but when their eyes fell on Thorne, he turned his head away as if he didn't know such beggars.
Caius smiled and nodded toward Eric, "Yes. I have already prepared." He was very excited. After all, as a warrior who used a longsword, how could he not be thrilled by a powerful weapon? His strength would increase massively if he had a peak-grade Tier 1.
A good Tier weapon was like giving sharp claws and teeth to a tiger. It was a massive improvement for any weapon wielder.
Thorne nodded as well. He had already asked for an advance from both Caius and Brunhild, so he was good to go. Unfortunately, he had to spend the most since he used dual swords. On the bright side, he lived alone and had no one else to take care of, so he should be able to repay them without too much delay.
Garrick and Eilif grew even more desperate. They leaned forward and stared straight at Caius and Brunhild with wide, pleading eyes, right in front of their faces.
Brunhild leaned backward, glaring back at the two muscular men.
In the end, she just sighed, "Fine! But both of you owe me. This is a massive sum. I hope you guys don't delay the repayment."
Caius agreed with Brunhild. He was very tight on funds because of a bunch of rotten bastards in his family. Thankfully, he still had some personal savings, so he decided to help his team first. After all, such an opportunity might not appear a second time if they missed it.
Garrick and Eilif put their hands on each other's shoulders and laughed excitedly, "Haha, of course! We brothers always clear our debts, don't worry!"
After that, they made the exchange, and everyone got what they wanted.
Brunhild received her 2,000 Mana Stones after deducting the arrow costs, and in the end, she purchased even more. Thus, more money flooded into Lyria's empty pockets—nearly 5,000 Mana Stones!
Lyria was overjoyed, and together with Livy, they happily counted the money.
Eric was also pleased, as Brunhild had informed him about everything related to guns and where they were rumored to be manufactured.
Caius also promised he would speak with his friends in case they wanted to purchase weapons. Eric wasn't desperate anymore, since he had already amassed enough donations from the kind people of Devils Spice yesterday.
After everyone got what they wanted, they were ready to make a killing in the market.
"Alright, let's go."
Eric, Lyria, and Livy were enthusiastic, as this would be their first time shopping in a big city.
At that moment, Caius raised his hands in surrender, "I will pass this time. I apologize, but it seems quite a few idiots from my house were killed yesterday. I still have things to take care of."
Everyone except Brunhild was surprised, as she was already aware of the situation.
"My condolences," Eric said, smiling at Caius.
"Nothing to worry about." Caius waved his steel-plated gauntlet in dismissal. "When you live among so many people, hate and disgust are common. I personally never liked those fools, or many others in my family. I honestly wish the Cloaked Demon had killed more of them." He smiled bitterly. It didn't feel nice to talk about, but he truly disliked most of his relatives. As a Rank 3, he wasn't constantly targeted, but their inhuman attitude toward everyone below their status was purely disgusting.
Eric and the others felt it was strange that the man was openly asking for someone to kill his own family, exposing his dark desires without hesitation. Still, this attitude showed how honest he was. Whether that honesty was a good thing or not was a personal matter, not for others to judge.
Overall, this matter had nothing to do with the three demons. So, Eric let it go, and Caius left to attend his family funeral—or probably to celebrate.
Brunhild sighed as she watched Caius leave, briefly explaining his situation to the others. "Caius' family, the Valerians, is incredibly power-hungry. They do everything to obtain more influence, and because of this, their humanity and familial relationships are practically non-existent. Caius has never liked them, and once he reaches the late stage of Rank 3, he plans to leave his family permanently." She trusted everyone present, so she didn't hesitate to speak openly.
The others were shocked. However, it wasn't right to talk behind a comrade's back, so they all stayed silent.
After Caius left, Garrick, Eilif, and even Thorne expressed that they had errands to run and took their leave. Eric felt a bit abandoned but understood that they were experienced men who knew exactly what "women + shopping" entailed.
Eric was pretty cool with it; as long as the girls didn't forget his hat, he absolutely wouldn't mind ogling Lyria and Livy's hot bodies in their new outfits.
Brunhild was the only one who was free, or at least she had freed herself to entertain the three countryside villagers. Before leaving, she instructed some maids to feed Puchi. After that, they got a carriage from her estate and set off.
Inside the carriage, Lyria and Livy chatted with Brunhild about various subjects.
Brunhild was originally a quiet and stern woman, but even she couldn't help but chat continuously like a normal girl with Lyria and Livy. To her, it was both tiring and kind of fun.
Eric sat silently, gazing outside through the glass window, watching the streets and stalls flash by. After a while, he closed his eyes and entered his Mind Space.
In the dark space, everything remained as it was; the sleeping beauty was still asleep. Eric sighed and left.
He honestly missed his pointless banter with Riya, but what could you do when wives suddenly went through their periods?
He was suddenly hit by a sharp headache and wondered if his A.I. wife's period was getting worse. When the headache intensified, he quickly dropped the topic.
At that moment, Brunhild asked the carriage driver to stop, and they all stepped down. She told the driver to return to the estate, since they could hire another carriage for the trip back.
The place where they arrived was packed with people. All the pedestrians were properly dressed, showing they came from reasonably well-to-do families.
The moment the trio stepped out, almost everyone around stopped and gaped at Eric, Lyria, and Livy.
By now, the trio were experts at ignoring people's staring, so they paid them no mind and confidently walked down the footpath, glancing at every passing shop like first-time villagers.
Brunhild also received quite a few glances, as she was a very pretty girl herself. But since she was a head shorter than the trio, she looked a bit like their little sister.
The market district was crowded despite it still being morning. Couples walked hand-in-hand, but whenever they spotted the trio, both partners betrayed each other, staring at the opposite gender with wide-open mouths.
It was nothing strange; when it came to looks and physique, all three of them were in a league of their own.