Chapter 5: Momentary Happiness
"W-Wait! Nuclear Dragon."
Evan wanted to get more explanation from the Nuclear Dragon about things he didn't understand. Too many incredible things, Sword guarded in the Labyrinth, lonely dragons and Demon King Candidates. But before he got the answer, his vision slowly started to blur and turned dark.
"Don't worry, I just sent you out of this Labyrinth. There is a little reward from me for finishing this Labyrinth. Please accept it." Only the soft words of the Nuclear Dragon sounded before his body felt like it was floating in the air.
He saw a small ball with a faint blue light floating in the middle of the darkness in his subconscious mind from a distance. Evan was curious about the ball, hovering over to the ball that looked like a lamp that had problems with its electric current.
Before reaching the ball, he was surprised by the presence of streams of gold and black mana flowing from different directions. Both mana streams lead to the same goal. However, when the two streams met, none of them became the fuel to make the sphere shine any brighter. Instead, the two mana streams resonate outside the ball and produce a unique color without touching the dim ball.
Evan saw a barrier outside the sphere that refused the flow of gold or black mana to merge with it and made the two streams spread out and disappear between the vast dark realms.
'Is that why my magic circuit won't wake up? This must be the result of-- '
"Brother! Brother!"
'Yes, because brother ... Uh, no! Whose disturbing voice is this? ' The problematic voice cut off his subconscious mind, and his body began to feel warm.
Evan slowly opened his eyes and saw the starry night sky and the ashes of the flaming campfire.
"Phew ... Finally, you wake up too. Oldest brother! He's awake!" The fat man looked relieved and shouted for his brother.
"Did I just pass out?" Evan sat up and felt his body feel good.
"Yes, you fainted after we saw you flying free from the sky. Luckily you weren't seriously injured." The fat man was still amazed at how Evan could fall from a height.
He was taken aback by the fat man's statement. He immediately checked his entire body, but luckily no injuries occurred to his body. He just had neck cramps.
'Damn dragon! I thought its already a good dragon, but still, it can't treat humans well. '
"Hey, brother, feed him first. He will tell us a lot, so make sure he doesn't forget his memories because of hunger." The lean man walked quickly and was nice to Evan.
He knew that the cunning man was doing good to him because of hidden intentions. But even so, the lean man did an excellent job by providing him with a good blanket and bedding when he passed out and also having dinner.
"Thank you, brother." Evan received a bowl of hot soup from the fat man.
"Can you begin to share the results of your investigation now?" The lean man sat beside Evan, who was finished with his dinner.
"Since this is a long story, I will tell it once without repeating it. So use your ears as much as possible."
"Hey, little brother! Hurry up and get a book and write down everything he's talking about!" He called a tall man to help him recall the results of Evan's investigation.
Evan explained everything he saw in the Labyrinth, including the guardian dragon and invisible weapons. He wasn't the type to renege on a contract he had agreed to.
His contract with the Sinner Brotherhood Party ended when the lean man rewarded Evan with 2 gold coins. Evan knew that the reward was early given because they would dig up more gold coins when they relayed the results of their investigation into the kingdom.
Even though Evan knew that they were cheating on him, he didn't mind it because he already got the reward according to his expectations.
In retaliation for their cunning, two unexplained facts were about the Demon King Sword that had been lost and the gift given by the Nuclear Dragon.
The horse carriage would pick them up tomorrow morning, so Evan has time to look for the gifts the Nuclear Dragon gave him. While the Sinner Brotherhood fell asleep, he crept over to the place the fat man told him to find it.
"If I'm not mistaken, it's around here. Found it!" Evan found the hole that meant the fat man in the forest south of the Labyrinth.
"Geez! I still can't believe that my head is actually stuck here." Evan couldn't stop thinking, what if his head landed on a rock.
Besides finding his head molding, he also found the lost potion bag when he was transferred from the Labyrinth. Evan was utterly shocked when he opened his small bag because of the significant difference in weight.
"Gold coins! So many!" Evan immediately closed his bag again and still couldn't believe what he saw. He repeated 3 times to convince him.
This was the first time he had seen that kind of money. It was only natural for a peasant like him to be surprised to see that his small bag, which previously contained potions, was now filled with gold coins.
'Nuclear Dragon, one day I will definitely repay your kindness.' Evan was moved to tears by the kindness of the dragon he had just met. Even the dragon, who was notorious for being evil and cruel, did respect him more than the humans of his race.
He carefully returned to his camp and stored the small bag in his adventurous bag without waking his party, who had fallen asleep.
He returned to the carpet and lay looking at the sparkling night sky with a joyful heart. He couldn't even stop his smiling lips as he imagined using the money for his family's happiness.
The following day, they went home in the horse-drawn carriage he had ordered. The journey from the Labyrinth to Lakemouth Town takes about 3 days.
Evan arrived at Lakemouth Town at 5 am. The Sinner Brotherhood Party immediately continued their journey to the Guild Headquarters in Capital City, which took another day.
Without waiting for a second, he immediately rushed home to give the gift he had bought during his long journey. He purchased 4 diamond pendants.
Evan didn't buy the 4 pendants because he planned to buy them. But, he bought it because a foreign merchant offered him a considerable discount. With only 2 gold coins, Evan would get 4 diamond pendants which cost 6 gold coins. When he remembered that his sister and mother never used jewelry, he immediately bought it without thinking. Even though it consumed all of his investigative rewards, he felt calm because he still had a bag full of gold coins.
"I am home!" Evan opened the door to his house and saw Ellie preparing breakfast at the dining table.
"Ah! Evan! Are you okay running a quest with that suspicious party?" Ellie screamed and was happy to see Evan come home safely.
"Yes, they are not as bad as you think. They are all nice to me. Today you prepared breakfast? Where are Mom and Liliana?" Evan put down his adventurer bag and quickly joined the dining table.
"Hey! Don't you dare touch the food before Mrs Hayes and Liliana join in for breakfast. They're out into the fields to chase away the ferrets again." Ellie slapped Evan's hand, who was about to take food like a wild cat.
"Aww, o-okay."
After a while, Mrs Hayes and Liliana returned home. His sister talked excitedly at breakfast of having managed to repel ferrets with a sword so easily since Evan left one week ago. Even in the last 3 days, the ferrets had not come back to the fields.
Evan was delighted to see his sister telling Ellie excitedly. It was a rare thing because, since his father's departure, Liliana often became gloomy, kept silent, and bullied Evan more as an outlet.
He didn't really think about his sister's behavior, who often teased him because Liliana was his real sister. As long as his little sister was happy, it would also be pleased for him.
"Ellie, I'll accompany you to the guild. I have something to tell you." Evan privately spoke as Ellie was tidying up dishes in the kitchen.
"Why not talk about it here?"
"This is important. I don't want Mother or Liliana to hear about it."
Ellie nodded with an embarrassed face and guessed what Evan wanted to tell her.
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