Elion

Jasmine looked at them alternatively and when it seemed like she wouldn't get any answer from either of them, she covertly glanced at Lyla.

Instantly, their gazes interlocked and a silent message was passed between them.

Lyla immediately understood what Jasmine wanted. It looked like they were going to have a new sister very soon judging by the way Vivian was acting.

Someone who was pretentious and acted like an overlord was behaving like a love-struck maiden in front of Ray.

They needed to drag her somewhere away from him and have a little talk with her to let her know who was in charge here.

They needed to make sure the hierarchy remained and no one was allowed to disturb that.

"Hmph!" Jasmine pouted and kept quiet about it for now. She had decided to stop annoying her master all the time and letting him keep some silly secrets was one of the things she could stomach for now.

If he was going to involve himself with Vivian more than just being a teacher in name to her, she would be the first to know.

There was no point in asking him repeatedly when it was obvious that he wasn't ready to speak about what their secret was.

"Ahem, My Lord!" Arlo decided to speak up seeing as the lord's wife was silent. "I can't thank you enough for saving my life, My Lord. I will never be able to repay this favour!"

Arlo bowed deeply. He was convinced by this point that there was fate between him and his lord.

When he was on the brink of despair whether it was because of his failing business or when he was being held by the bandits, his lord was the one who rescued him and gave him a second chance at things.

It would be pretty ungrateful of him if he only thanked his lord with words and money.

No, he needed to do more than that.

He needed to show his faith.

Arlo decided to hasten his plan of spreading the influence of Merchant God. The least he could do was to establish an intelligence network throughout the Continent.

Even if he failed to find the person his lord was looking for, it would still be advantageous to have a network that was spread far and wide in the name of the new God of Merchant.

Just in case his lord asked him for something again in the future, he would be ready to fulfil his wishes.

"Hmmm, I hope you are working towards finding the person I am looking for." Raymond put on his Godly act and looked down at Arlo.

Arlo's belly fat trembled. It seems his lord could see right through his mind.

"Of course, My Lord. I will spare no effort to look for that person!" Arlo thumped his chest proudly. "You can leave it to me!"

"I will not disappoint you, My Lord!"

"Good!" Raymond nodded. If he could gather some more followers like Arlo, it would really help ease some of the tension he had regarding his grandfather.

"You may take your leave. Rest well and recover soon." Raymond added. "And keep looking for that person."

"Of course, My Lord. It will be my greatest honour to be useful to you!" Arlo clenched his fists and declared loudly; enough for the people passing by to turn their heads towards him.

"Cough! I will take my leave…" Arlo bowed one last time and took his leave to reunite with his wife.

———

Lyla, who was silently watching from the side till now, finally spoke up:

"Ray, here is the reward money we received from the guild. Arlo added some from his own pocket as a bonus."

She took out a handful of spatial rings from her sleeves and handed it to Raymond.

Except for one Mid-grade spatial ring, all of them were Low-grade.

"I found these rings with that bandit gang leader."

Raymond's eyes sparkled as he looked at those rings. A Low-grade ring had 4*4 square metres of space inside it.

They were still expensive since only someone with a Space affinity or a runic master well versed in spatial runes could make them.

Excluding the items inside the rings, Raymond could make a lot of money just by selling them.

Lyla knew how to make him happy. Although he hadn't mentioned anything about looting the bandits to her, she had the forethought to do it without his instructions.

"Lyla, that's great!" Raymond exclaimed and hugged her tightly.

"Mm." Lyla buried her face in his chest silently and nodded. But her face slightly reddened as he lifted her head and kissed her on the forehead.

"Ray, we are in public." Lyla tried to protest while trying to keep her voice neutral. It was hard for her to keep her usual composure in his presence.

"...and your point?" Raymond added. "I am not doing anything wrong."

"Hmph!" It was now Lyla's turn to pout. He was not understanding at all. Her cold mask would slip if he kept showing her affection in public. But she couldn't push him away either when she was secretly happy about it.

[You're hopeless.]

'Shut up!'

"Master, why don't you go ahead and rest? We have something to discuss with Vivian. We will be back before you know it, right Lyla?" Jasmine chirped from the side.

"Yeah. Ray, we will be right behind you!" Lyla nodded.

Raymond looked at Jasmine thoughtfully. "Jasmine, if you're up to something just stop it already." He chided. "What do you have to talk about with Vivian?"

"Master, it's between us girls. You wouldn't understand."

"Tsk, don't do anything weird." Raymond reminded her one last time and looked down at Lyla.

"Lyla, keep an eye on her. If she is about to do something stupid, knock her out and bring her back to our room."

"Mm, I will."

Raymond walked towards his rented room as he received assurance from Lyla.

———

As one travels further back into the Mist Village, one could see a two story wooden structure that was nothing short of a luxurious villa built in this forest region.

Inside one of the dimly lit rooms, a young man who appeared to be in his late twenties was sleeping in his cosy bed.

He was lying on his stomach at the edge of the bed with his head and hands already hanging over the edge.

Slowly, his eyes fluttered open, revealing his blue eyes that were glossed over.

The man was handsome in every sense of the word. His lustrous blonde hair and his androgynous face made him very desirable for women.

"What is the time?" Elion got off his bed with considerable effort. His hands and legs shook with every movement making it hard for him to walk towards the small window in his room.

The sunlight peeked through the window and brightened the room as he opened the curtains.

"It's already morning…" He sighed and stumbled towards his nightstand where he usually kept his lifeline.

He pulled the drawer that was filled with transparent vials. Some were empty while some were half filled with bluish powder. There were even some that were filled to the brim with the same powder.

Taking one of the half filled vials, Elion poured a pinch of it on his palm and sniffed it eagerly.

The sensation of euphoria flooded his nasal cavity before filling his entire lungs with a pleasant warmth.

Unlike Lucas, Elion wouldn't get knocked out for a few hours just by inhaling a small dose of Rave Spirit.

If anything, this only strengthened him. His limbs no longer shook with every movement he made. He appeared completely healthy and ready to face the world.

This was the third stage of this drug addiction.

First, it started with loosening their mind and making them blabbermouths that had no filter over what they spoke.

The second stage was where Lucas was. He would get knocked out with just a sniff. It is where the addicts started to lose their sense of time.

Elion was in the third stage which was exactly opposite of the second stage. He could no longer feel alive without the use of the Rave Spirit.

Every moment he spent without the drug flowing through his veins and filling his lungs was a moment of weakness.

And every time he took some of it, it filled him with strength, giving him a false sense of superiority.

In the second stage, an addict could feel their dream world far more vividly than others.

And in the third stage, the drug will slowly start to blur the line between that dream and reality, making him believe that he was on top of the world.

Elion was already past this stage and was on the precipice of turning into a complete buffoon who had no sense of reality.

It was only a matter of days before he lost touch with reality. But the man in question was completely unaware of this fact as he inhaled another dose of the magical powder.

An unknown amount of time passed as the sun dipped below the horizon and Elion kept indulging himself with the Rave Spirit.

-Knock! -Knock!

"Lord Barhawk, are you inside?" A servant called out from behind the door. "I am leaving the weekly report near the door. Please look into it when you have the time, my lord."

A parchment was slipped into the room through the small gap between the door and the floor.

"Tch!" Elion scowled. He couldn't understand why his father had made him the protector of this village.

If it weren't for Vivian living near this village, he would've never accepted this role.

Elion looked between his hand holding the vial of Heaven and the wrinkled parchment lying on the floor.

The choice was obvious, the report could wait. It was not like the world had suddenly changed while he was holed up in his home for a month.