Translator: SumTLMan
Regarding the shopkeeper, who appears to be a rather frail native, the voyagers regard him with covert glances, an undertone of condescension in their hearts, yet they dare not let it show on their faces. Just an hour ago, among the previous batch of voyagers, someone had expressed derision towards the native owner. The outcome was… expulsion from the Voyage of Experience, and a brutal thrashing by a violent woman until they were unrecognizable.
The vestiges of the bloody air still lingered outside the courtyard.
Therefore, with the arrival of Angel, none of the demons behaved recklessly but waited silently for the voyage to commence.
Once their voyage ended, they could no longer look down upon the native proprietor of the Phantasmagoria Cabin. Instead, they all viewed Angel with awe.
Though none in this batch triggered an Omen Sign, they did sense the surging power of water within them, fully aware of the advantage they had gained.
A mere three hundred demon gold coins had brought such a significant advancement; it was an absolute bargain!
After this batch of customers had left, Angel, pleased, calculated the revenue, “That’s another three thousand demon gold coins.”
The previous batch of visitors had brought him an income of three thousand demon gold coins. Now he was adding even more. All told, he had made six thousand demon gold coins today. Coupled with the earnings from yesterday, he now possessed seven thousand and eight demon gold coins.
He was less than three thousand short of the ten thousand mark.
Initially, he could have deducted the material costs for the Immortal Flame Bone, but he felt that he couldn’t accept Night’s favor for free. Besides, given the current rapid pace at which his private coffer was swelling, Angel decided to calculate the cost of the Immortal Flame Bone and pay Night back.
As Angel was settling the accounts, a stir echoed from outside the door.
With the introductions of the previous two waves of demons, new guests had arrived at the Phantasmagoria Cabin.
Angel turned his head to Canaan and said, “This time, summon me after we have thirty guests.”
“Thirty guests? Isn’t that a bit too much… Can you handle it, proprietor?”
“This isn’t a question of my capability, but whether you can juggle thirty guests at once.”
Canaan was momentarily startled, but promptly nodded in agreement. After her breakthrough the previous day, her power had soared, and by human standards, she had reached the peak state of a first-level wizard. In La Sutherland, she wasn’t exactly strutting about, but she was no longer an insignificant figure.
Furthermore, bolstered by the awe inspired by Lady Fafnir, she was confident she could handle not just thirty, but even fifty guests simultaneously.
Seeing Canaan’s confident nod, Angel felt quite satisfied. Having Canaan handle the situation saved him a lot of hassle. To be honest, if it were left to him, he would probably be in a mess facing ten guests at once. However, having spent ten years in La Sutherland, Canaan had a deep understanding of the habits of various demons and half-demons. Even when the number of guests increased, she managed them all in an orderly fashion.
It could be said that Canaan’s contribution was significant in raking in six thousand demon gold coins in such a short period of time.
Angel pondered, when it came time to leave, he could indeed give Canaan a generous severance pay.
Leisurely, Angel retreated back to the loft. With Canaan manning the front, he could spare some fragmented time to cultivate the gateway in his mental space.
Moreover, the more he cultivated the gateway, the more fascinated he became.
The model of the gateway did not lay within what Angel already knew, but rather within the elusive half, the unknown. He had vaguely sensed before that the strange energy might yield a surprise, a positive astonishment; now, he was even more certain of it.
For when he was constructing the remaining half of the model, peculiar energy would sporadically seep from the other side. Concurrently, Angel’s perspective would undergo an extraordinary shift.
Under this novel lens, Angel continually felt as though the world he perceived held an additional layer of depth, like an unseen fabric of existence.
This discrepancy was akin to the difference between ants and humans: both species inhabit the same world, but their perceptions of it differ greatly.
When Angel was in the throes of this strange energy, his experience bore a similar nature: it was as if he had transcended the bounds of human vision, gaining access to more subtle pieces of information.
Take, for instance, taste and pheromones. These erstwhile indiscernible concepts seemed to become clear under Angel’s new perspective.
It was a fresh point of view, or rather, a new domain.
Angel greatly valued this experience, believing that it would reap him infinite benefits in the future. Added to his intense yearning for the birth of his first spell position, he was spurred into such zeal, even utilizing every fragment of waiting time to build this spell model sooner.
As Angel quietly continued his construction, roughly four hours passed before the wind chimes in the courtyard rang out their clear notes, pulling him back to reality.
Upon descending the stairs, Angel was immediately hit by a thick stench of blood. He glanced sideways and noticed several large shadows outside the yard. On what resembled a small hill-like demon’s belly, Fafnir was perched victoriously, a bloodthirsty smile adorning her face.
“The demons, they’re all fools,” Angel intimated after descending the stairs. Canaan sidled up to him, murmuring in Abyssian, “They believe that the shopkeeper couldn’t possibly manifest the illusion of the Rhythm of the Ocean on his own. They think he must be relying on some artifact, and they want to seize it for themselves. In the end, though, they’re all suppressed by Lady Fafnir.”
Canaan’s words incited thoughtful reflection in Angel.
In truth, his ostentatious establishment was proving too conspicuous. If he’d merely dabbled with the Rhythm of the Ocean occasionally, he likely wouldn’t have drawn the attention of other demons so readily. Yet, not only had he conjured two distinct illusions in quick succession, but he also released the Rhythm of the Ocean in batches of ten, and now even groups of thirty. Despite never revealing the true essence of this phenomenon, his actions inevitably sparked speculation.
After all, each time he manifested it, his energy fluctuations were negligible.
Moreover, such widespread and frequent instigations were a significant catalyst, spurring the impatient demons into action.
Each batch of ten fetched him three thousand demon gold coins. A batch of thirty, in contrast, netted him a whopping nine thousand. Such an extravagant revenue stream was enough to make anyone green with envy.
Angel had anticipated such a situation.
Anxiety laced Canaan’s question, “Shopkeeper, what shall we do next?”
In Canaan’s mind, even if Fafnir’s power was enough to quell the unrest, the money they were making was out in the open, visible to every demon. It was inevitable that those who coveted their fortune, or harbored other motivations, would create incessant disturbances. Lady Fafnir couldn’t possibly protect them around the clock.
Yet Angel was unfazed. By nature, he wasn’t one for ostentation. His current high-profile money-making venture was solely driven by the pressure of time.
In any case, he couldn’t keep the shop running for much longer. Perhaps after closing for the day, he could vanish like the morning mist, leaving the changing seasons of the surface world to their own devices.
“No worries, it won’t cause a tidal wave,” Angel reassured, then quickly redirected the conversation back to the main issue at hand. “So, the formation of thirty is complete?”
Canaan nodded in agreement. “Indeed, it is complete. However…”
“However, what?”
“There’s a twist. Not only do we have water demons this time, but there is also a fire demon among them,” Canaan relayed with a sense of helplessness. “I clearly explained that the elemental affinity effects are particularly effective for water demons, and not so much for fire ones. But it didn’t heed my advice and insisted on participating. What’s more, it already paid its demon gold.”
Angel glanced back and, amidst the moist vapour, quickly spotted a flicker of fire.
It was quite literally a small flame.
Of modest size, it resembled a fiery orb, ablaze with crackling fire. It possessed large, round eyes that, if not for the continuous flick of a dark tail and a diminutive sword held in its hand, could be mistaken for a fire elemental fairy at first glance.
This fiery sphere was exceptionally lively, bouncing around the yard and seemingly fond of teasing the female demons enveloped in heavy water vapour. Every time it succeeded in its mischief, it would hoist its little fire sword, tail swishing in mid-air, and release a peal of laughter.
It looked just like a mischievous little imp.
“Is it truly a demon and not a fire elemental?” Angel questioned softly.
Canaan responded, “It’s a young fire demon. Though it might look like a fire elemental now because it’s still in its larval stage, it will metamorphose into a powerful Fire Demon Lord after its transformation. There have even been instances of Fire Demon Lords in the deeper layers of the Abyss…”
At this point, Canaan’s expression turned slightly strange, “Actually, it’s rather unusual. Young fire demons are aristocrats within the deeper layers of the Abyss, dwelling in its profound depths. They are seldom seen on the surface. I wonder, how did it end up in La Sutherland?”
“Larval stage?” Angel automatically disregarded Canaan’s following words, marking the young fire demon as a “troublemaker” in his mental notes.
Moreover, that little troublemaker was incessantly teasing the older water demon sisters.
Many water demons, though more powerful than the young fire demon, did not dare to retaliate due to its “noble demon” status, expressing their anger only through indignant glares.
Angel watched the group of water demons who were angry yet unable to vent from a distance, silently commiserating in his heart: Even among humans, demons notorious for their malevolence and extreme wickedness have their own hierarchical chain. Although demons lack the concept of morality, once this is set aside, they have their own societal structure.
“Proprietor, how should we handle this now?” Canaan asked.
Observing the Young Fire Demon still causing havoc, Angel spelled out, “Chase, it, out.”
The reason Angel wanted to drive out the young fire demon was not because it was troublesome, but because the transcendent system of demons is not the same as that of wizards. For example, a fire wizard might be very proficient in water magic, so even in the Rhythm of the Ocean, they could enhance their water affinity.
Demons, however, are different. A fire demon’s nature is set, unable to use other elemental forces. Especially water, an element entirely opposed to its own nature.
Even if the young fire demon was dragged into the Rhythm of the Ocean, it wouldn’t reap any benefits.
In fact, it was highly likely to get hurt due to the guidance of the Rhythm of the Ocean.
As a “high-ranking” noble demon, the consequences of being driven out and getting seriously injured in the store are self-evident.
Although there’s no difference to Angel, given Canaan is still in La Sutherland, it’s better to drive it out to avoid bringing him trouble.