Brain bloom

"That price..."

“The devil doesn’t like using gold coins, so Dad made me bring this to exchange for…” She then pulled out a stack of papers from the book and explained, “It’s the ownership of the mine that Dad used to collect, but he found it too troublesome and never took care of it, so I don’t need it.”

"...A mineral vein?"

"Well, if possible, I'll give you the mining rights for a year."

"I...can I ask what kind of mine it is?"

Dandelion's eyelids twitched slightly, and she almost laughed out loud with joy. This was a mineral vein... Even if it was the cheapest copper mine, as long as it wasn't a low-quality vein that had been completely mined out, the annual income from renting it out would be very substantial.

"Actually, I don't know what kind of mine it is. I only know that it is located in a white cloud east of Silvermoon City."

Volume 1, Chapter 123: Manifestation

After hesitating for a moment, Dandelion frowned and repeated the trade bargaining chips she had mentioned in a low voice.

"A mineral vein hidden in the clouds..."

"Yes, yes."

He looked on expectantly, eager to know if she was satisfied with this offer.

But things didn't seem to go as planned, because Dandelion was quite unhappy, slamming her glass heavily on the table, clearly displeased. The sound of it hitting the table made Yuan instinctively shrink back, as if she felt she had caused trouble and angered Dandelion…

"Damn it, I knew I couldn't expect the devil to give me any benefits. When I heard about the mine, I was really excited. I thought even if it took a year, it wouldn't be a problem! I poured in manpower and resources like crazy, and squeezed the mine dry and made a fortune in a year..."

"Um, you don't need to say it out loud."

"I knew it! You can't expect to get anything out of the devil! There are only a few types of mineral veins in the clouds, and they're not very valuable. They're all accompanied by trouble and danger. The mining difficulty is ridiculously high... Don't tell me you didn't know that!"

"Dad never told me that..."

Yuan was a little annoyed, not expecting to be scolded so harshly. She looked down at the delicious breakfast on the table. So she gritted her teeth and decided to complain back later, saying that the smoked meat was awful.

However, after venting her frustration, Dandelion stopped.

"Well, the price is really fair... The things I added to the wine are also very valuable, no matter what kind of mine they are, they are about the same in comparison."

"So that means you agree?"

"Deal—So, when are you going to send someone to transport the goods?"

"Let's do it now, wait for me a moment."

She hurriedly stuffed the remaining food into her mouth, then casually opened the door to the realm of demons and disappeared.

Her departure left the room quiet.

Dandelion silently gazed at the spot where Yuan had sat, as if trying to find echoes of their lively conversation in the air, but to no avail. She touched the wilted dandelion on her head, then went to the window and looked towards the small dock, wondering if Sen Shi had finished tidying up…

She felt somewhat lonely.

If Mori hadn't arrived, this room would have remained as silent as it is now.

Thankfully, that's not the case. Although the return date is uncertain, that figure will surely return with victory.

However, this faint loneliness didn't bother Dandelion for long. A familiar voice came from the backyard; it was Yuan, shrouded in a light black mist, returning from that direction. She twirled her right index finger, somewhat laboriously dispelling the black mist, before speaking towards something unknown—

"You can come in now, but remember to be polite."

"Yes……"

Not only did the dandelion hear humble replies, but it also heard multiple footsteps.

It turned out that they were the porters brought by Yuan. Dandelion also knew that they were the most miserable humanoid creatures in the Demon Realm, a lowly race always known as the "Busy Ants".

The origins of this race are quite complicated: it is said that they were people who made a deal with the devil in life, and became enslaved souls after death. However, they were unlucky and ended up in the hands of a devil nobleman with a violent and unpredictable temper.

To pass the time, the devil nobles would find corpses in some garbage dump and force the souls, whose power had been drained, to merge with the corpses, and then raise and reproduce them in this state.

Thus, this lowly race, always despised by others, came into being.

As the dandelion observed, they were covered in rolls of cloth, mostly stained and patched—this was their clothing. Yet, these busy ants could embroider carpets, floral fabrics, and wondrous garments rarely seen in the world.

Naturally, one can also work as a porter.

They brought three people, which was barely enough to carry the wine. After all, they came from the dark realm of demons, and immediately pulled down the tattered cloth covering their bodies, showing great fear of the sun... but their eyes endured the stinging pain and they barely managed to lift them up, wanting to see the unchanging blue of the sky in the human world.

"The job isn't complicated. It's just about helping me transport the wine, as we agreed beforehand. I'll buy some food for you afterwards, since you can't protect it even if I pay you."

The porters turned their gaze away from the blue sky and towards Yuan, as if looking at something more dazzling and unattainable than the sunlight.

Dandelion silently led the way, and Yuan followed beside her, chatting casually about wine. Yuan learned a lot of new knowledge from Dandelion, such as that wine is not only red, but also wine that tastes like sugar water mixed with beer, all of which are made from white grapes.

"Actually, white wine is quite interesting, but as for red wine... well, most people who buy it don't know how to drink it, which is a bit of a shame for a winemaker."

"It seems that the devil nobles in our area are all like this."

"Don't you devils all drink human blood?" Dandelion asked, puzzled. "When I first started out, I brewed a batch of red wine and wanted to make a deal with a devil, but he said he only drinks blood, so I didn't buy it..."

"...No, no, I promise I didn't. It was all just red wine pretending to be blood. Who would actually drink it?"

It seems that those noble devils judge the quality of wine by how much it resembles blood. Dandelion silently noted this down, thinking that she could brew some crudely made wine in the future, since no one could really taste it anyway.

She was about to make a joke when she suddenly noticed that Yuan had stopped, gazing into the distance with a powerful aura she had never seen before.

It's like a hunter spotting the scent of a black bear.

"what happened?"

“...A demigod—no, it seems...a being of a higher level has manifested.”

Dandelion initially thought that Yuan's topic had jumped too quickly, how did it suddenly veer to this? But she also sensed the unimaginable force emanating from the direction of the sea, like a raging storm.

She even instinctively closed her eyes and held her breath.

The dandelion couldn't imagine what this thing was. It was clearly nothing, yet it possessed an overwhelming momentum, with a grand ambition to engulf the world.

But this power did not harm anyone; it merely swept across the soul, causing those who could sense it to tremble—and then it disappeared.

After a few seconds of stunned silence, Yuan hesitated before murmuring, "It seems they've disappeared."

Their gazes remained fixed on the direction from which the momentum was surging, never wavering.

"You mean this is a demigod?"

"Perhaps, if it were a manifestation of a demigod, it would indeed be quite exaggerated. But I'm certain it wouldn't reach that level... What appeared in those few seconds was a power that I could be terrified of."

She crossed her arms, like a little girl who had been doused with cold water, and asserted once again—

"Whatever it is, just now, something extraordinary! Something truly remarkable came into this world without any disguise."

Volume 1, Chapter 124: Some Reactions

Few people could perceive these few seconds, because the power that boasted about it was so incredible that even the most ordinary people could not feel its presence.

But those few seconds still affected many parts of the world, and it was not just dandelions and wishes that could perceive it.

For example—the group of melon cutters, walking along a rugged path in the mountains and forests, softly singing the gospel hymns of the Kingdom of the Holy Coffin.

Although their wounds were inconvenient, they were insignificant in the face of their will and faith.

To outsiders, they appeared strange, powerful, and possessed an extraordinary sense of unity. Even a tree spirit hiding in the shadows, pretending to be a black tree, abandoned its plan to devour them.

But suddenly, the leader stopped in front of it, and the tree spirit knew something was wrong. Ever since the Four Seasons Walker set it on fire, the ugly charred blackening on its body had become increasingly unnatural—it might have given itself away.

Is a fierce battle inevitable...? The tree spirit felt a little sad; dying here would be worse than becoming a scarecrow.

The leading paladin suddenly turned around and bowed in worship towards the sea. The others didn't sense the power the melon-slayer had experienced, assuming he was simply too excited, which was why his singing continued.

The gospel was sung in unison, the wind rustling through the autumn leaves. And the melon-cutter's monologue softly began—

"The power of the true God, yes... what we believe in is real, I'm so glad I'm still alive."

His state of mind had been honed beyond words by the successive shocks; every cell in his body was filled with faith, and he had even experienced a moment of enlightenment. Yet, he was unaware of these things, simply bowing his head to offer words of gratitude.

“I will worship you for generations to come, for you have come to judge that foolish king… I will send this message back.”

……

Across the sea, the resilient Peda Empire still stands on the frozen ground, unafraid of the coming winter and the increasingly terrifying fog.

At the summit of Mount Adran, perpetually covered in snow, sits the empire's highest council chamber, which also serves as the emperor's private residence. No one envies that arduous and austere life, even if the scenery is breathtaking, offering a panoramic view of the entire capital.

Emperor Aureliano sat upright on the stone chair, like an iceberg frozen for a thousand years, staring directly at the shivering Grand Eunuch and the faint soul Rain Wizard beside him.

For Aureliano, such talks had taken place many times.

"Your wretched place never lights a fire..." The eunuch's voice trembled, his plump body unable to withstand the coldest autumn frost. "Rain Wizard, could you please light a fire? And, do souls feel the cold?"

"No, I will."

"If you're not obedient, then I'll give up the idea of ​​suicide. After all, the outcome I brought was quite good."

The emperor's lips seemed not to move, but his imposing voice still rang out—"At the meeting of the Demon Realm, do the answers contradict my political views?"

"No, as always, just as you judged, Silvermoon City has agreed." This was the message brought by the eunuch, and it was very important.

“It seems the nation’s face has been barely saved.” Aureliano’s gray eyes looked at the Rain Wizard.

"Yes."

“Rain Wizard, I remember all the sacrifices you made for the country. Before your soul returns to the frozen sea, I will do as you wish, flick away those two specks of dust that tarnish the country’s reputation, and then crush them.”

At this moment, the eunuch bowed to Aureliano and spoke in a very soft voice:

"Your Majesty, I hate the Empire's harsh winters. The warm and sunny Silvermoon City suits me much better. I'd like to take a few female companions and go find some excitement, which will also warm my body during the winter."

“You’d better save your energy… old friend.” The Rain Wizard picked up where the eunuch left off with a helpless tone. “After I die, you’ll have a lot to do. While the port is closed for winter, you should think more about how to take over my job.”

"...Are you worried that I will fail?" The eunuch was quite surprised, because he had originally planned to avenge his old friend himself.

"Not at all."

"So what are your plans?" Aureliano asked, equally puzzled.

“Your Majesty, although I have reinforced my soul with magic, it won’t last long. My offer of ‘revenge’ was actually a pretext. I only have my soul left, and there’s not much I can do for the country anymore, so I decided to take a gamble…”

"Gambling? What ingenious idea has our nation's hero come up with this time? He even fooled me?"

"Haha, this time I won't be modest or apologize to you. Actually, it's not a brilliant idea, just the bluntness of a barbarian."

Even though his soul was as thin as smoke, the wildness on the Rain Wizard's face was still visible.