Chapter 176: Farewell to Oraria

"Huh? Why?"

Qiu Nuoya had never paid any kind of price for using his other magic skills. So what was it about Dark Magic that made it come with a cost?

"Magic work by consuming one’s own magical power to activate a spell. With the four elemental attributes, the caster also uses elementals that naturally exist in the world, such as fire and water. However, Holy Magic and Dark Magic have slightly different activation conditions. If Holy Magic is activated through one’s magical power and a compassionate heart toward others, then Dark Magic is activated through hatred and malice toward one’s opponent." Viktor continued in a serious tone. "The more someone uses Dark Magic, the more their own dark emotions consume them. Eventually, the user loses their sanity and goes mad."

"..."

Qiu Nuoya was left speechless by Viktor’s explanation.

That’s terrifying. Dark Magic is seriously scary!

"That is why there are no mages who can use both Holy Magic and Dark Magic. In the first place, it is highly unusual for someone to possess both of these opposing magic skills. Your Holy Magic skill is currently much more advanced than your Dark Magic skill, so I believe it would be best to keep Dark Magic sealed away."

"You’re right. I don’t want to go insane either."

Qiu Nuoya was already able to fight without any problems using the four elemental types of attack magic. There was no benefit to using Dark Magic if it meant taking such a dangerous risk.

Qiu Nuoya promised Viktor that he would never use Dark Magic and Viktor gave him a faint smile of relief.

...

The horse drawn carriage had finally been arranged and the day of their departure had arrived.

The house where Qiu Nuoya and the others had spent the past three years in Oraria had been a rental property arranged for them by the Adventurer’s Guild. Today, they would finally be saying goodbye to this home.

It was a little sad to think that even if they returned to Oraria someday, this house would probably belong to someone else by then. However, since they would be leaving it empty for a long time, they could not simply leave it unattended, so they had decided to return the property to the Adventurer’s Guild.

Come to think of it, Qiu Nuoya had spent most of his time in this world living in this house, so it was only natural that he had grown attached to it. Still, a new life awaited them from here on, and there was little point in dwelling on sentimental feelings forever.

Before leaving, they decided to visit the various people and places that had looked after them during their time in Oraria and say their goodbyes.

The owner of the item shop near Dungeon Castle, a store favored by Tamers, had become quite friendly with Qiu Nuoya because he frequently bought snacks for Mochi there. When Qiu Nuoya told him that they would be leaving Oraria for a while, the shopkeeper gave him a larger-than-usual supply of snacks.

"Come back again sometime." Then the shopkeeper laughed and said, "Just like I thought, you turned out to be a good customer."

He certainly knew how to flatter his customers. Qiu Nuoya could not help thinking that the shopkeeper was a shrewd businessman, yet for some reason, those words still left him feeling warm inside.

When they visited the Tamer’s Guild, they found Goldmine and his wife, Kinana, there as well. As usual, a well-behaved, fluffy Baekho was lying at Kinana’s feet.

When Qiu Nuoya told them that he would be leaving the city for a while, Goldmine looked quite disappointed. However, when it came to Long’s barrels of alcohol, he had apparently already made arrangements with Tamer’s Guild branches in various regions, taking into consideration the fact that Qiu Nuoya was an adventurer.

"Just show your guild card and you’ll be able to receive the barrels at any guild."

He had apparently notified the various guilds in advance in case something like this happened.

Qiu Nuoya was deeply grateful for the thoughtful arrangement.

"As a token of our gratitude, we’d appreciate it if you could continue bringing us Long’s scales from time to time."

Goldmine quietly whispered that into Qiu Nuoya’s ear, but that would ultimately depend on Orochi’s mood.

Kinana, Goldmine’s wife, bowed her head to Qiu Nuoya.

"Sorry about what happened the other day. It was rather sudden."

"I’m actually an employee of the Tamer’s Guild, but since I have a Baekho, which is known as a Divine Beast, as my tamed monster, I have quite a few connections with the Church. I am also on fairly good terms with the Saintess. As for what happened this time, I happened to be having tea with the Saintess. While we were talking, I mentioned you as a topic of conversation, since you had apparently tamed a dragon. That’s when I learned that the Saintess had been looking for you, so I ended up bringing her to you. However, it seems that it caused you some trouble, and for that, I apologize."

"No, it’s all right. It seems that Saintess Sherria has given up on me because of what happened this time, so in the end, I think it was a good thing that I got the chance to talk with her."

"I see. In that case, I’m glad."

Kinana let out a small sigh before continuing.

"The Saintess has her own circumstances as well, so I hope you won’t come to dislike her."

"Does that have anything to do with the theft of the Divine Sword Velikorya, the one that was posted as a mission at the Adventurer’s Guild?"

"That is one of the reasons, but there are several others as well. In a sense, she is also a victim. Her fiancé, whom she was betrothed to ten years ago, broke off their engagement without much hesitation, and now there are talks of marrying her to that fiancé’s younger brother."𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚