Chapter 72: “Guests” Arrive (Part 4)
“Bang!” Kendrick’s eyes widened instantly, and he slammed his fist on the table, angrily shouting, “How could he know?!”
“Ah, this is all my fault. I really didn’t expect that a dignified Sword Saint would sneak into my office at night to steal something,” Cedric said with a very stern expression. “I suspect he initially planned to find some of my dark history to blackmail me, but he unexpectedly stumbled upon Lilith’s bloodline test.”
“Does a half-demon with Blood Clan blood really qualify to join the Expeditionary Force heading to the Blood Clan territory?”
“That’s exactly how he spoke to me, with a sarcastic tone.” Cedric said furiously, “At that moment, I wished I could kill him with one blow, but although that bastard is despicable, his strength is indeed top-notch. I really had no way to deal with him.”
“That bastard.” Kendrick slumped in his seat, feeling a bit powerless. If what Cedric said was true, then Lilith’s chance was probably really gone.
Currently, in the human world, there is still a lot of controversy surrounding these half-demon children.
Some believe that the demonic blood flowing in their veins makes them demons and should be treated equally with the Demon Clan.
But others think they are merely poor children cursed by fate, and as long as they grow up in the human world and aspire to goodness, they should be treated like ordinary humans.
The two sides argued endlessly.
In the end, it was My Lord Hero who stepped forward and proposed the three major principles regarding half-demons:
Those who grow up in the human world and have not awakened their demonic blood are treated as ordinary humans.
Those who grow up in the human world and have awakened their demonic blood are placed under the Sacred Domain and closely monitored.
Those who grow up in the Netherrealm, lacking humanity and understanding of human sentiments, view themselves as demons, and are to be killed without mercy.
Lilith obviously falls into the first category. Although she has been tested to possess Blood Clan blood, her bloodline has not awakened and she does not display any vampire traits.
She does not need to drink blood, fears not the sunlight, has no fangs, and has no wings; she is just an absolutely normal human.
But the problem is, the destination of this expedition is indeed the Blood Clan’s territory.
If the higher-ups of the Expeditionary Force discovered Lilith’s half-vampire identity, they definitely would not allow her to remain in the team.
That would be too deadly.
“Is this matter just going to end here?” Kendrick gritted his teeth and said unwillingly, “No, absolutely not. Who knows when the next expedition to the Blood Clan territory will be; this cannot just be left alone.”
“Well, that’s why I came here today. Consider it a piece of good news,” Cedric said. “I got played by that bastard Lance, so as payback, I played him a hand too.”
“I revealed all the bastard’s actions to his daughter and told her it was a serious crime. Even if this expedition quota isn’t given to Lilith, it certainly won’t be given to you either. She feels immensely ashamed of her father’s behavior.”
“The girl got so angry that she went back and had a big fight with her father. The next day, she brought him to apologize to me and proposed a compromise.”
“A compromise? What is it?” Kendrick asked eagerly.
“A duel,” Cedric said solemnly. “Although the purpose of this expedition is merely infiltration and reconnaissance, and there won’t be any large-scale battles, as a member of the Expeditionary Force, having stronger abilities is naturally better. Therefore, he proposed this plan: one-on-one duel. If his daughter wins, Lilith must give up this quota. If Lilith wins, he naturally won’t say anything more.”
“Isn’t that good?” Kendrick’s face brightened instantly upon hearing this. “Then why were you acting like that before? It made me want to beat you up.”
“If Lilith loses the duel, you wouldn’t still beat me up anyway, so what’s the difference?” Cedric said helplessly. “Whether I fight early or late, a beatdown is still a beatdown; finishing it sooner is better.”
“What do you mean by that? Do you think Lilith will lose?” Kendrick said angrily.
“It’s not that I think so; it’s definitely,” Cedric replied. “I am not undermining Lilith’s strength. To me, even if her opponent is the daughter of that Sword Saint, Lilith is still a bit older than her. Coupled with her daily practice, their strengths are actually quite close.”
“Then why do you think Lilith will lose?” Kendrick asked.
“It’s because of the equipment,” Cedric sighed. “Lance has prepared a complete set of rare-grade equipment for his daughter, while Lilith only has a mid-level sword. There’s a full two tiers of difference in equipment! How can she fight?”
“A complete set of rare-grade?!” Kendrick immediately cursed angrily. “Why didn’t he just get her a divine artifact instead?”
The air went silent, and all the faces in the room turned ugly, including Elrose.
She vaguely remembered the weapon grading system, which categorizes from bottom to top as: ordinary, mid-level, advanced, rare, epic, divine artifact, and finally, the legendary artifacts like the Holy Sword.
As a weapon ascends in grade, its strength can increase by several times or even several magnitudes.
And as demons, compared to the human race, their greatest disadvantage is that they cannot use divine artifacts, let alone legendary artifacts.
Thus, many demons do not possess equipment at all, including Gideon.
However, when they die, their bodies can be turned into crafting materials for divine artifacts or even legendary artifacts, which is quite absurd.
Fortunately, the numbers of divine artifacts and legendary artifacts are incredibly scarce; otherwise, if every household had a divine artifact and every person wielded a Holy Sword, the positions of demons and humans would likely be reversed.
Cedric lightly sighed, “To contend against a complete set of rare-grade equipment, at the very least, a rare-grade weapon is required. But you know, those things are unimaginably expensive.”
Kendrick pondered for a moment. “How much do you think a rare-grade weapon costs on the market now?”
“About five hundred gold coins,” Cedric replied. “That’s enough to ruin you financially.”
“Is that so…” Kendrick hesitated for a moment and then slowly said, “Um, Cedric, do you think if I sell this shop, would it be enough for five hundred gold?”
“No way!”
In an instant, Lilith, Luna, and Stella almost stood up simultaneously.
“Kendrick, what are you thinking? It’s just a broken sword; how could it possibly compare to the importance of Nightmoon Tavern?” Lilith said.
“Yes, Kendrick, calm down a little; there must be other better ways,” Luna said.
“Exactly! Didn’t we agree to keep this tavern running?” Stella added.
Kendrick looked a bit troubled. “But Lilith, that’s your wish for ten years. Don’t you want to go to the Blood Clan’s territory and see if you can find your birth mother?”
“Whether I find that kind of person or not doesn’t matter. To her, I’m just something that can be casually discarded,” Lilith bit her lip and said, “Let the past be the past; I actually don’t care that much.”
Upon hearing this, Kendrick sighed heavily.
How could Lilith not care?
Seeking an explanation from that person was not just Lilith’s wish; it was also the wish of her biological father, and it had been the reason for all those years Lilith continuously wielded her sword.
She had truly done her best in everything she could do. How could such an obedient child’s wishes be buried because of the negligence of adults?
It was unacceptable!
But at that moment…
Suddenly, two heavy money bags fell onto the table with a loud thump, revealing several hundred shining gold coins within.
Elrose stood calmly in front of the pile of coins. “What are you all grieving about? It’s just five hundred gold coins. Here, just right, I have it.”
The glow of the gold coins illuminated everyone’s faces, and everyone present was dumbfounded.
“El, Elrose, are you really this rich?” Lilith asked, somewhat incredulous.
“Where am I rich? After giving you this money, I won’t even have money left to buy candy,” Elrose said.
“Little Belle, where did you get this money?” Luna asked in confusion.
Elrose shrugged. “It’s not stolen, nor was it robbed. I mean, if I said someone gifted it to me, would you believe it?”
“Ah, someone gifted it? This…” Luna said, not entirely believing her. While she had encountered such things in dreams a few times, in reality, she would be happy just to find a silver coin on the street.
Kendrick looked in surprise at the pile of gold coins before him. It wasn’t that he had never seen so much money. As a level 99 chef, if it weren’t for wanting to live in seclusion and care for three children, he could easily work as a palace chef and have plenty of gold coins if he wished.
He was just a bit surprised that Elrose would unhesitatingly extend a helping hand at such a critical moment for them.
This somewhat mysterious and somewhat scary girl, after only a few days of interacting with them, was already willing to go to such lengths for them?
Perhaps the saying about good deeds being rewarded is really true.
Kendrick smiled slightly. “Well, since that’s the case, Elrose, I’ll temporarily accept this money, and I will figure out a way to pay you back in the future.”
“Heehee, I like the way you, Boss Kendrick, are so straightforward and unpretentious. I was worried that after I gave you the money, you all would refuse to accept it and how I’d deal with that,” Elrose laughed.
“Wow, Miss Elrose is really generous, throwing out so much money without even blinking,” Cedric said in surprise.
“What do you mean generous? This is called friendship; do you understand?” Elrose said seriously. “Kendrick and the others saved my life when I was seriously ill, even being willing to temporarily close the tavern to take care of me. Compared to this friendship, five hundred gold coins are nothing!”
Actually, Elrose had a second part to her statement that she hadn’t voiced.
What’s five hundred gold coins?
Now that I’m full of mana, just wait until tonight when I transform, randomly choosing a few wealthy unlucky souls to wipe their vaults clean. Not to mention five hundred gold coins; I could even easily take fifty thousand gold coins.
Heeheehee, when the time comes and I’m rich, not only can I get a weapon, but I can also go for a complete set, enhance it, amplify it, and add some magic effects, and maybe even get a weapon disguise or a transparent sky or something.
What a bunch of nonsense about a Sword Saint’s daughter!
By then, my Lilith could dazzle you just by standing on the street.
Hmph! o(￣ヘ￣o＃)
