Chapter 74: Veil Of Darkness

No one died, but one person wished for death.

The merchant sacrificed too much for the goods in that carriage. And what happened? She had watched it flying away with the mount, as though she was in a dream.

She wasn’t the poorest nor the richest in the convoy. She wasn’t the strongest nor the weakest in the convoy. She wasn’t the prettiest nor the ugliest in the convoy. She wasn’t the most ordinary nor the most extraordinary in the convoy.

Yet, she was the only one who had to suffer.

That was how luck worked—an unpredictable variable that didn’t follow common sense. Even Dante, who had the Misfortune Aspect, couldn’t predict it. How could he predict the concept of uncertainty?

Unlike the unlucky merchant, the other merchants and some experienced mercenaries weren’t affected by this incident.

That wasn’t their first time witnessing a merchant falling into despair. That was how their lives worked. Some of them were even once in that merchant’s place and had to spend a lot of time to recover from their loss.

Despite being in a land owned and ruled by humans—a kingdom—it was still a dangerous land filled with all kinds of dangers, which was why some merchants like Omar didn’t hesitate to pay so many mana crystals for mercenaries.

They all had heard or witnessed full trade convoys being wiped out of existence by some Rank 2 beasts or a Lord Rank 1 beast. Even though some merchants were Rank 2 themselves, they didn’t have strong classes or fighting talent, and hiring a Rank 2 mercenary was beyond their capabilities.

Since that incident, Dante had been straining his mind relentlessly, repeating his loss in his mind while using Shadow Detection to prevent any more incidents.

’What could I have done in order to avoid that loss?’

As that question lingered in his head, he couldn’t help but frown—he couldn’t think of anything that could have saved him.

That force came out of nowhere and clenched his neck without any visible form. He couldn’t resist it in any way.

Even if he had used his demonic energy or silver Ether, nothing would have worked, as he couldn’t see what he had to target.

It had also used that invisible force to push Dante and the others away while stealing an entire carriage under everyone’s gaze.

’Just what the hell was that?!’

Was there any aspect in this world like this? There were a few aspects that could achieve similar feats, but they weren’t entirely invisible.

’Maybe there is. After all, the entire Destiny Domain wasn’t even mentioned in Onyxsilk Town. There might be so many unknown domains and aspects.’

However, that wasn’t an excuse for his defeat. This time, a random merchant had lost a carriage. But what if he became the victim next?

’But what can I do to improve? I can’t read the chaos book now, and my knowledge of Ether is limited.’

As this thought crossed his mind, an idea suddenly appeared.

’Maybe I should finally mimic the Time Aspect.’

That was the only aspect that he couldn’t mimic yet. It was complicated, and the original Fafnir himself barely understood a few things about it.

’What I need is a way to see the future, even if only a brief glimpse of it.’

Seeing a brief moment of the future might seem useless at the first glance. But for someone with inhuman agility and reaction speed like Dante himself, it could allow him to dodge some attacks, avoid traps, and always be one step ahead of his enemies.

’From now on, I’ll keep trying to understand the Time Aspect and create a spell or technique to see the future.’

If he had such a method to see the future, that mysterious figure wouldn’t have been able to attack him by surprise.

And for the next few days, all that Dante had thought about was the Time Aspect.

During this, the carriage had to stop several times because of beasts. Obviously, Dante had fought and killed most of them while trying to learn about the Time Aspect.

He eventually reached 300 Existence Essence, gaining the third boost for his stats. 700 Existence Essence remained before reaching Rank 2.

Unfortunately, Dante couldn’t create it, no matter how long he thought about it.

’But there is hope. It might take weeks or months, but it’ll be worth the effort.’

During these fights, Dante had the chance to notice something. The drunk guy Jin, unlike his appearance, wasn’t actually useless.

Although Dante couldn’t see too much of his abilities and magic, he at least had seen Jin’s mastery of swordsmanship. He moved among the beasts like a drunk man, but not a single beast attack had scratched him and he hadn’t missed a single sword strike.

Finally, after a long journey, the trade convoy reached the Silverwood Town.

’I still hate the naming sense of this world.’

Just like Onyxsilk Town, this town was famous for relying on trees with silver-like wood on their economy.

The town had high walls made of silver wood, and some guards wielded weapons made out of it as well.

After entering the town, and after rejecting Omar’s offer for the last time—not forgetting to take his rewards—Dante was finally left alone with the other mercenaries.

“Now what? Do any of you have plans?” Daniel asked while adjusting his eyeglasses.

Dante shook his head: “I’ll just find an inn to spend the night and use the bathroom… I missed it already. Does anyone want to share a room with me? It costs less this way.”

“Did you say… inn? Take me with you.” Jin nodded while taking a sip of his drink.

He had an entire bag filled with alcoholic drinks, so they didn’t seem to be ending soon.

“I accept, it’s not bad to save some coins.”

“I don’t mind.”

Daniel and Emeralda accepted with a smile, though both Dante and Daniel couldn’t help but glare sharply at her.

’I’m not an expert in women’s behaviour, but is she really okay with spending the night with three men she had known for only a few days? Is she really a pervert?’

As these thoughts lingered through Dante’s mind, he immediately shook his head and dismissed them.

This world didn’t follow the same logic as Earth. On Earth, it was obvious that women were physically weaker than men, which led them to be more cautious around men.

But here? This was a world where a woman could lift a carriage with one hand! Although sexual assault still existed here, it was significantly rarer here than on Earth, which led the women to be more carefree around men.

After all, even if the man was physically stronger than the woman, a simple magical attack from close range would be fatal for him.

That incident with Elizabeth, for example, was built on the fact that the man thought that Elizabeth was weak and incapable of casting magic properly due to her blindness. If he knew that she had Sorcerer’s Gift, he wouldn’t have thought of trying to touch her.

“Well, a room for four then.” Dante nodded as he took a step forward, intending to ask for directions from anyone nearby.

“…!”

But just then, he froze.

Not only him.

The other mercenaries and the merchants who had just arrived, the civilians of this town, the guards at the gate, and even the lord of this town.

All of them looked at the sky in a daze.

A moment ago, the sun was clear above the sky, illuminating the town with its golden rays.

But now, all they saw was a veil of darkness surrounding the town.

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