The core drawn out gazes from the adventurers. The merchant, gobsmacked on his face, was in disbelief. He alone knew the worth of such a core was a thousand times more and over than the price of the lottery.
Anthierin clutched the tier V core in her hands, her eyes dilated as her palms smudged the smooth texture of the core. She could see the reflection in her eyes, but also the depth of envy from other's gazes.
Lexel smirked before looking at the merchant, "Thank you very much," he said before waving goodbye to the people there.
An item that could change the fate of men was found just like that, and some of the more highly intelligent adventurers calculated the pattern of Lexel's gacha pull.
Some pull once.
Some paid the tries, but did it in the morning tomorrow.
It had become a habit, a habit that would soon be folklore.
However, the envy gazes didn't die. For the adventurer with less luck and more greed, they knew of 'other' ways to get it, and in this barely lawful world, a corpse in a forest meant nothing.
Lexel might be in the same party as Journ, or Cresty, or even Kael; however, nobody could trace back to its killer. They won't even bother.
On the narrow path after the intersection.
Anthierin asked with sweat on her forehead, "Lexel, do we HAVE to take a walk?"
Lexel, who carried the heavy bag filled with the cores, and Myhtril Nodule answered, "Yeah, even if I don't care much about other people, I prefer not to sacrifice strangers unless I have to."
Anthierin slightly paused before skipping ahead to walk by his side. "I thought every noble wanted to be seen as a hero?"
"'Seen' is the correct word," said Lexel with a nod. "But, what other thinks of me is nothing more than noise, most of the time. Unless, of course, there is a big sister with an awful opinion of me, then I would be hurt."
"Stupid," said Anthierin. "Anyway, are they really going to attack us?"
"With our fame, I think that they are going to wait until the appropriate time. Unless they're amateurs," said Lexel before they heard a horse with a carriage canteen at the same pace as him.
Both of them stopped as the carriage did. The driver was a young adventurer, and the ones behind them were a little party of four. A party of four rouges.
"Hey, are you going to Einjaar City?" asked the driver.
"We are," answered Lexel, to the peering eyes of Anthierin. The latter was so wary that even the pebbles beneath her feet froze.
"W-well, do you need a ride?" asked the driver. "It's going to get tough if you both walked there."
"Is it free?" asked Anthierin.
"Well, of course, young lady, my friends and I are on a business trip there as well," said the driver.
Anthierin pondered; her goosebumps told her that something was off, the feeling of forgetting to put salt in a broth. The outcome that would give birth to accidents.
"We accept your offer," said Lexel.
Are you serious?! thought Anthierin as she screamed her concerns through her gaze.
"To walk the— oh, what did you say?" asked the driver.
"I've told you, we accept your offer," said Lexel before hopping on the open carriage.
"Come, come, please sit just right behind him," said one of the rouges who offered his own seat, the one right behind the driver.
Lexel sat down and put his bag between his legs. He darted to the side to see that Anthierin was still standing behind the carriage. Her face was riddled with uncertainty about the danger.
"What are you waiting for?" asked Lexel.
"Lexel I don—"
"It's fine, young lady, you may sit beside the gentleman here. You both are distinguished guests of ours!" interrupted another rouge.
Lexel nodded, "En, come," then he smirked, "Or would you like to sit on my lap?"
The rouges laughed and brought down the brows of Anthierin's to a furrow. The latter crossed her arms and begrudgingly said, "Fine! Don't fucking touch me!" she warned the rogue.
"Alright," the driver checked before he pulled the reins. The single horse kicked back and started cantering down the path again.
"Your name is Lexel, right?" asked one of the rogues sitting in front of him. "The name's Brody, you don't need to worry about the other's name."
"That's a weird way to introduce your party," Lexel remarked.
"Hahaha, that may be so, but I can sense that you are a man of efficiency; you don't like long talks," said Brody.
"You are not wrong," said Lexel, laughing at it. "How many hours left before we hit Einjaar?"
"It'll be in twenty minutes more or less," said Brody. "But whilst we're here, with nothing but plains around us, why don't we strike a deal?"
Here it comes, Anthierin thought.
"A deal? I thought the ride was free?" asked Lexel.
"I'm not talking about the ride," said Brody. "I think both you and I know what I'm talking about?" He gestured the shape of a sphere with his hands.
"My balls?" asked Lexel with one of his brows raised.
Brody laughed and nodded. His eyes changed from those of a welcoming host to be as sharp as a dagger.
"Damn, I don't swing that way, but thanks for the compliment," said Lexel.
"Pfft!" Rin was holding her cheeks.
"What?! No! I meant the core, the C-O-R-E that you won from the Nodule Gamble at the inn!" said Brody before he nodded at the rogue sitting beside Anthierin.
Anthierin's neck stiffened as the cold metal of a dagger reflected her chin.
"Ooohhh my god, you're just thieves, damn, I thought you were flamboyant gays," Lexel gave a sigh of relief,
"Lexel!" Anthierin snapped.
"Alright, no need to be so hasty now, everyone chill." Lexel pulled the string of his bag, and his hand went in searching with his tongue slightly out. "Here it is!"
"I-Is that a Mythril Nodule?!" Brody and the driver had their eyes go out of their sockets.
"Oops, hehe," Lexel put it back into the bag before pulling up another one.
"IV tier Core?!" Brody exclaimed.
"Oops, sorry," said Lexel before putting it back in, "Ah, here it is."
He slowly pulled out his hands and got the attention of the rogues. He looked at them one by one with a smirk of a merchant, "Are you ready? Feast your eyes on this!"
*twak!
His middle finger was erect.
The horse stopped.
The wheels stopped.
The wind stopped.
"You—" Brody was not able to finish his words before Lexel swiftly slapped away the knife from Anthierin's neck and pulled her close.
The horse neighed and ran like a freight train. Lexel, Anthierin, and the rogues were at the mercy of the inertia.
Lexel quickly gained his footing before his hands reached out to Brody's eyes.
"AHHH!!" Lexel threw the eyeball against the other rouges before snapping one of his ribs, then puncturing his lung. He grabbed his neck like he would a chicken, before pushing him away. The corpse hit the road, rolled over a few times before stopping.
"Fuck!" the driver said before a slap made his head turn a hundred eighty degrees.
Then he turned toward the other three rouges.
"H-Hey man, I got nothing to do with this!" said one of them.
"Too late," said Lexel, but the carriage slowly swerved off the road.
"Lexel!" Anthierin shouted before she used the momentum to smash the head of the one who threatened her life with her trusty hammer.
Lexel got up after getting his footing, "You ruthless woman, I like you!" he said before holding her by the waist.
The drifting carriage hit a huge bump and propelled them and the two other rogues into the sky. However, in the air, Lexel smirked. He turned his waist and kicked one of their heads away. The immense Strength broke one of the rogue's skulls and barely missed the other.
"Eek!" the last rogue made a run as fast as he could.
Lexel gestured a gun with his fingers as he pointed at the running rogue.
[Fire Marble]
Anthierin's pupils reflected a fire at Lexel's fingertip. It was small, it was... enough.
"Boom," Lexel shot the fire, and the bead of fire zipped through the air.
"AAAHH!!" The last rogue was engulfed in fire upon contact.
"Cannon fodder pretending to be a villain," Lexel muttered before pulling up the bag over his shoulder and offering a hand with the other toward Anthierin.
Anthierin looked at his palms and raised her brows.
"You're more comfortable with fire than I am," Lexel smirked.
"You're not wrong," said Anthierin before accepting Lexel's support.
"Let's go," said Lexel before looking at the other side of the road. The Einjaar City gate was already in sight.
Both of them, shoulder to shoulder, hit the road once more.
"Sometimes, I don't know your trains of thought, Lexel," said Anthierin.
"Me neither," said Lexel with a smirk. "And that's the best part of it."
"Halt," the pair of guards made a cross with their halberds, blocking Lexel's way.