Amber Xiu counted the gold coins. He even took out a sheet of parchment, wrote up the terms of their agreement, and nailed it to the tavern's notice board as a record.
Only after all that did Amber Xiu say to the Paladin, "Go ahead. Use Detect Evil."
The Paladin reminded him, "If you use magic to resist and make yourself impossible to detect, that'll count as breaking the agreement."
Amber Xiu replied, "If you're worried, you can seal my magic first."
The Paladin shook his head. That wasn't necessary. He'd know if the spell had been affected. Amber Xiu was still incredibly confident, and the Paladin was starting to believe he had a clear conscience.
The spell flared to life, its light settling over Amber Xiu.
Detect Evil used light to reveal its results. The pure of heart were naturally bathed in flawless white light, while the wicked bore black spots or dark-red patches. The greater their evil, the more of these tainted colors appeared.
Ordinary people's evil thoughts showed up as a few black spots about the size of a finger. That was about the level of coveting money or beauty without acting on those desires.
Cultists who worshipped evil gods, on the other hand, had most of their light dimmed—a sign of severe corruption. It was obvious at a glance that they'd committed plenty of evil deeds.
But when Detect Evil fell on Amber Xiu, an impenetrable darkness spread around him, completely engulfing his entire body.
Harvey: ???
The Paladin: !!!
The tavern patrons: Huh?
Everyone thought they'd fallen victim to an illusion. What kind of darkness was this? Even cultists weren't this bad. Was this guy an evil god in person?
The Paladin was the first to react. He roared, "You're undead!"
If anything besides an evil god could produce this effect under Detect Evil, it was an undead creature.
This wasn't a question of whether an individual had done anything wrong. The undead as a race were the opposite of every other living thing. To the living, the undead were innately evil—a matter of class conflict.
That was why all undead appeared pitch-black, without exception.
Amber Xiu waved his hand, casually dispelling the darkness, then said, "I'll gladly take those five thousand gold coins."
The Paladin's fury nearly took physical form. He drew his longsword, Holy Light gathering along its edge.
This was the Paladin's most famous technique—Supreme Holy Slash.
An ordinary undead would be annihilated by a single strike, leaving not even a speck of ash behind.
The Paladin snarled, "Filthy undead, what right do you have to take that money?"
Amber Xiu pointed at the contract on the notice board.
"It says I agreed to risk Detect Evil being used on me, and that the money was compensation for the damage to my reputation. It doesn't say I have to be pure and blameless to receive it, does it? You've exposed me as undead, and now everyone knows. Isn't it only fair that I get some compensation for something so humiliating?"
As soon as Amber Xiu finished speaking, the patrons caught on and began cursing him from all sides.
"Yeah, yeah! I hate undead more than anything. Filthy, shameless creatures."
"Exactly! I can't stand undead. What's the point of a pile of bones?"
"Take down the undead! May the light endure!"
"Ugh, I was drinking in the same tavern as an undead! I'm gonna be sick."
Their acting was so over the top that the Paladin's hand trembled around his sword hilt. He looked close to snapping.
Amber Xiu shrugged and spread his hands.
"See? My reputation's been damaged, hasn't it? This is compensation."
"Vile! Shameless!"
Those were the only two insults the Paladin could come up with. Sometimes, being too well-mannered was a problem. He barely had any curses in his repertoire, and they did nothing to Amber Xiu.
Just as he looked ready to unleash Supreme Holy Slash, Harvey hurried over to warn him. "My lord, being undead isn't a crime in Alchemy City. But if you try to purge the undead here, you'll be breaking the law."
Harvey gave him a pointed look, drawing the Paladin's attention to the other patrons' movements.
At the nearest table, two Lizardfolk warriors had gripped the hafts of their axes. Across the room, a Drow was loading a Hand Crossbow. Even the Dwarf singer, who'd been wailing nonstop, had set down his lute and drawn a short sword. Most absurd of all, the Orc bartender had brought out a pile of empty bottles and placed them where they'd be easiest to grab.
Everywhere he looked, there were enemies.
If you treated every nonhuman race with equal disdain, you had to bear the hostility of every race in return. When they were dealing with a Paladin from the Lyne Empire, they'd rather stand with the undead.
Paladins weren't popular in Alchemy City, and the group had fallen right into the trap Amber Xiu had dug for them. If they started a fight, the whole tavern would probably pile on.
The Paladin was powerful, but there was no way he could fend off dozens of adventurers in a cramped tavern. He could only watch as Amber Xiu put away the gold coins, then reluctantly slid his sword back into its sheath.
"Looks like I made the right choice by going out to gain experience. In Lyne, I might never have had the chance to learn this lesson. Thank you, Master Tiga Ultraman. When we meet again, I'll use my sword to purify your soul with honor."
With that, the Paladin left the tavern with his companions.
He knew when to let go, and he'd regained his composure quickly. The Paladin was quite a character.
The tavern patrons cheered as if they'd won a battle, sending the Paladin and his two companions off with whistles and jeers. Just as they were about to leave, Harvey turned back and gave Amber Xiu a long, searching look.
He had a vague feeling that this undead, disguised as a human, might be the owner of that Ancient Castle. He had no real reason to think so; it was simply the intuition of a School of Prophecy Mage.
If his guess was right, today hadn't been a bad thing. At the very least, the Paladin would be more likely to agree when Harvey invited him to take on the lich. Perhaps they'd meet again soon.
Amber Xiu, too, looked curiously at Mage Harvey. Though Harvey called himself a magic apprentice, Amber Xiu's instincts told him the young man was no ordinary person. He might even be more worth watching than the Paladin. He had no real reason to think so either—it was the intuition of someone who had once been a School of Prophecy Mage.
Before he became a lich, he'd advanced to legendary rank as a Mage of the School of Prophecy. Unfortunately, the Legendary Boon he received had nothing to do with the School of Prophecy.
The Paladin and his companions had left, but the tavern's revelry continued. A Drow called out, "A few words, and you got a Paladin to hand over five thousand gold coins. You're going to end up on the Lyne Empire's wanted list, you undead."
A Lizardfolk nearby chimed in, "Yeah, and you're not going to live much longer anyway. Why not spend the money? How about buying everyone a drink?"
"Five thousand gold coins would cover a month of drinks for the whole tavern!"
"Exactly! Get me ten to start!"
The taunts rose one after another, but Amber Xiu didn't hesitate for a moment. He said flatly, "Not a chance! You—you just said you'd throw up if you drank with the undead! You—just called me filthy and shameless! And you said even dogs wouldn't eat a pile of bones! You expect me to buy you drinks? I'd sooner pray for gold to rain down from the God of Wealth!"
"No, I didn't! Don't make things up!"
The Drow who'd said, "What's the point of a pile of bones?" protested indignantly. Drow were usually the ones deceiving others. Getting set up and smeared in return was beyond outrageous.
The patrons were angry too. They'd only been playing along with Amber Xiu's act. How could he turn around and refuse to recognize them?
"Damn you, stingy undead! You're even screwing us over!"
"So that was part of your plan? You're utterly shameless!"
"Save those coins for your coffin!"
"Undead really don't have a heart!"
"We should've let him taste Supreme Holy Slash!"
"XXX!!"
"XXXXX!!!"
The insults grew increasingly vile, but Amber Xiu didn't care. As if! Did this bunch of atmosphere-makers really think a legendary lich like him couldn't take on that Paladin?
A bunch of little kids thought they could outwit a centuries-old monster. They were hopelessly outmatched.
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