Chapter 247: Long Night

Under the crackling noises of the campfire, Perto soon sat up with difficulty.

Holding the side of his head, he looked around, "What happened to that monster? Did we manage to kill it?"

"Ha!"

Vanessa almost laughed out loud, "Not even close."

Perto’s face froze as he looked at her, seemingly waiting for an explanation.

"It’s Regis." She said after a moment.

An unbelieving expression appeared on Perto’s face, "What?"

Vanessa gestured with her chin towards the still-unconscious Brutt, "He possessed Brutt through something like an evil craft... or maybe it was a magic spell, I don’t know."

"Then, all I did was blink... After that... After that..."

Vanessa shook her head with a self-deprecating smile, "I didn’t even know how that monster was killed."

"..."

Perto could not find any words to say.

Instead, he scooted over a little bit and felt Brutt’s pulse with his fingers; only then did he sigh in relief.

Vanessa then handed him a piece of jerky, to which he promptly accepted.

The two sat in silence, the crackling of the flames the only sound between them.

Beneath the vast night sky, they remained still— lost in thought, each one weighed down by their own reflections under the witness of the stars

***

Later that midnight, in a lavishly decorated bedroom...

The fat man, Puglee Crypto, lay in bed with two half-naked girls by his side.

He had a satisfied expression as he slept soundly.

At this moment, loud, hurried knocks resounded in the room

Knock— Knock—

Seeing that there was no response, the knocks became even more frequent and louder.

Knock— Knock— Knock—

The sleeping Puglee’s face contorted as he sat up and angrily shouted, "Who’s there!?"

"It’s me, Sir. I have something urgent to report."

The ever-so-familiar voice of Gerald sounded on the other side of the door.

"Ugh, that better be worth my damn sleep!"

Puglee draped a bathrobe over his body and walked over to the door.

Creak—

"What is it about?"

Facing the fully armored guard before him, Puglee’s annoyance somewhat diminished.

Gerald looked at him through the seams of his iron helmet, "Sir Crypto, the City Council has been made aware of the various illegal trades the Crypto Merchantry has engaged in. They’re now at the front door, demanding that you come out."

"What!?" Puglee seemed to have a bucket of cold water doused over him as the grogginess he was feeling all went away in an instant.

Countless thoughts ran through his mind.

"I need to escape!" He said out loud as he ordered, "Gather the remaining forces and buy some time for me, hurry!"

"That won’t be necessary, Sir." Gerald replied, his voice tinged with an unknown emotion.

A bright expression appeared on Puglee’s face, "What? Did you deal with them already? I know I can always count on you, Gerald! Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to burn the Midas Merchant Organization down to the ground.

"By the way, did someone report me? Have you already found that bastard?" He said after a while.

It was obvious that there were too many thoughts running through his mind.

"It was me, Sir."

"Huh?"

Puglee’s face froze, "Wha—"

THUD!

Before he could react, his cheek was met with a fist clad in armor.

Puglee’s large body flew across the room as he hit the wall with a bang.

His eyes shook, "W-What’s the meaning of this!"

"Nothing, really."

The fully armored Gerald straddled Puglee’s stomach and began pummeling him with relentless blows.

"I’m not really sure why I’m doing this."

"Maybe because I was disgusted by the jobs you made me do all these years?"

"That I regret being blinded by my rage back then?"

"..."

Gerald seemed to be speaking to himself.

"H... elp... m... e..." Puglee could no longer speak properly as his face swelled.

He looked around desperately.

His eyes then went over to the girls he had spent the night with earlier.

However, the sight that greeted him made his pupils dilate.

The two girls, curled up in bed and awakened by the commotion, stared at him with joyful expressions.

The smiles on their faces bordered on crazed.

Desperate cries for help clung to the air, echoing through the room— yet no one came.

In the end, they slipped away, carried off by the indifferent sigh of the evening breeze.

***

The next morning in the Midas Mansion...

The sun had yet to rise, and the sky still looked as if it were night.

In the underground training room, Aurelia had her hands outstretched to a golden statue of a puppy under the supervision of Regis.

The golden retriever dog, Goldy, lay on the ground near their feet.

"You don’t have to think too much. Just focus on the feeling— the connection you can feel with the gold itself."

Regis spoke beside her, as if he were guiding a child.

They had been there since the night before, not even taking the time to sleep.

Meanwhile, the others were already sound asleep in their respective beds.

Still, not an ounce of impatience could be seen on Regis’s face as he thoroughly guided his friend.

Aurelia did not reply, but her creased brows slowly relaxed.

Soon enough, visible changes occurred in the statue.

The color of gold softly and gradually faded as the puppy slowly came back to life.

Woof—

The puppy happily jumped off the table as soon as it saw Goldy.

Goldy perked up its head when it heard the bark of another dog.

The two soon met and sniffed each other.

Seeing this, Regis smiled, "Congratulations, you were able to dispel the 147 statues without failing a single time."

"Ha..."

Exhausted, Aurelia sighed as she slumped on the nearby seat.

After a few seconds of deep breaths, she glanced at Regis, "What time is it?"

"4:30 in the morning. You can take some rest first. I believe you can do it, as long as everything went as planned."

"I’ll try— No, I’ll do my best!"

Seeing her determined expression, Regis’s smile widened.

Their plan was for Aurelia to dispel the golden statues one by one, so that it would be manageable for her.

After a moment of silence, Regis spoke, "I guess it’s time for your final test."

"Huh?" Aurelia could not believe what she heard.

Looking around, she replied, "But there aren’t any statues left."

Regis chuckled and stood in front of her.

For some reason, she could not help but feel something was wrong.

And as if to answer her worries, Regis pointed at himself with a smile, "Turn me to gold."

"..."

Aurelia did not know what to say.

***

A few hours later...

A sea of people had gathered in the plaza in front of what was now known as the Ruins of Gold.

"Is that article really true?"

"Well, I just know that aside from being posted in the City Bulletin, it had Mr. Midas’s signature."

"Right... I’m sure they won’t joke about something so serious..."

"I agree. Mr. Midas is still trustworthy despite what his cursed daughter did."

...

At this moment, the crowd suddenly quietened down as the carriage carrying the symbol of Midas alighted a bit of distance away.

After all, it was prohibited for carriages to stop anywhere near the entrance to the Ruins of Gold.

The crowd whispered amongst themselves as the Midas family, along with Regis, Pandora, and Killian, got down from the carriage.

The City Lord, along with the other members of the City Council, also arrived not long after.

As this was something that affected all of Montrelle City and the majority of its residents, they also made sure to attend.

After some pleasantries, the group did not wait any longer as they entered the Ruins of Gold.

"Are you nervous?"

Martha whispered to Aurelia, to which the latter nodded stiffly, "Yes, Mom..."

On the way to the Hall of Awakening, while Aurum engaged in small talk with the city officials, Regis and the others took turns comforting the visibly nervous Aurelia.

Meanwhile, among the crowd that was following them, a man with gray streaks in his brown hair held the hand of a simple, yet pretty woman.

They wore plain clothes, their faces marked by the same nervous tension that mirrored those around them.

It was none other than Gerald and his wife, Carole.

Carole tightened her grip on her husband’s hand, "Will Carolyn really be cured?"

"Yes." Gerald answered, his face exuding confidence.

His gaze remained fixed on the boy near Aurum.

The one with white hair and blood red eyes, who seemed to be acting his age as he chatted with his friends.

It did not take long before they arrived at the Hall of Awakening.

Under everyone’s gaze, Aurelia stepped to the center accompanied by her family and friends.

She started with the golden statue of the girl as she muttered, "Emilia..."

Aurelia still remembered the girl whom she chatted with before they took their primers.

The girl who ranted about being nervous.

Without further ado, Aurelia raised both of her hands under the gaze of everyone.

However, she suddenly opened her eyes as a grave expression appeared on her youthful face.