Dekan's Fair-Weather Friend
They both covered their mouths and noses, looking at each other with disdain.
The guard then showed a relieved expression and shook his head helplessly.
His appearance changed.
He seemed to have shed his disguise and transformed into a young man.
"It's you! I didn't expect to run into you here."
The slightly familiar voice didn't surprise Dekan.
Dekan guessed that this guy was Morion as soon as he saw the [Hypnosis Gas].
"You unscrupulous businessman, you're still alive, you're really lucky."
Dekan said without any politeness.
"Same here, those unscrupulous Card Crafter in the border town."
The young man with Pearwood- colored hair wore his usual casual smile.
He's always been like this, handling people with ease.
Before he started swindling people, everything he did was smooth and proper, and he was also good-looking.
Although Morion's expression was smiling, his eyes never revealed much of a smile.
He possesses both an inexplicable affability and a subtle sense of danger, a contradiction that draws some people in.
Even now, Dekan is wearing a mask.
Morion also recognized the strange priest in front of him as Dekan.
However, Dekan remained silent at this moment.
It seemed as if death was staring down on Morion.
"Don't make it sound so scary. Our business is fair and just; I just made a tiny bit of profit."
Morion sensed an unfriendly aura emanating from Dekan and quickly raised his hands as if to make a show of it.
He knew why Dekan was angry.
It's simply a problem with that group of [Bandit Goblin].
Is it really just a little bit?
Dekan seemed to find Morion's words somewhat amusing and countered with a question.
"Absolutely true, let me calculate it for you..."
As he spoke, Morion pulled a small ledger from his pocket and began to write and draw on it.
He kept repeating to himself: the price difference between the border and the Royal Capital, market supply and demand, transportation and sales costs, investment risks, and so on.
"..."
Dekan remained silent.
But he had gradually clenched his fists.
The more he listened, the more something seemed off.
Dekan might have a misconception-
He felt that Morion wasn't doing accounting, but rather preparing to issue a parking ticket!
"Wait a minute, if this keeps up, I might end up owing you money!"
Dekan quickly told the unscrupulous merchant to stop.
Mo: "I've always upheld ethical business principles; how could I possibly cheat you?"
Germany: "Aren't you afraid of being struck by lightning for saying that?"
Although Morion didn't seem to make any subtle moves just now.
However, Dekan noticed that Morion had secretly used a mental Spell Card at some point.
It seems to reduce the target's aggro level.
For a moment, Dekan even considered whether he should just let Morion go.
Dekan sneered inwardly and secretly used [Three-Corpse Berserk] (to entice and amplify the desires of individuals within range).
This was to deepen his resentment towards Morion and his obsession with money.
It largely neutralized the effects of Morion's mental magic.
He also used [Three-Corpse Berserk] to interfere with Morion.
They were trying to force Morion to reveal his ugly inner desires.
In the best-case scenario, he could be killed on the spot.
However.
For some reason, [Three-Corpse Berserk] did not affect Morion.
It's as if it's never been started.
Therefore, there is only one answer.
Morion also used mental magic on himself to negate the effects of [Three-Corpse Berserk]!
You little rascal.
Dekan cursed inwardly.
"Forget it, let's settle this score later. Let's deal with the current situation first."
Dekan shook his head with a rather helpless expression.
Pretend nothing happened.
Then he looked at the mayor and engineer who were already lying on the ground.
His meaning was clear: deal with urgent matters first, and then deal with important but not urgent matters later.
"That's only natural."
Upon hearing this, Morion calmly put away the ledger, a smile appearing on his face.
Dekan returned the smile.
It evokes a feeling of reconciliation and forgiveness, like peach blossoms still smiling in the spring breeze.
Dekan had already made up his mind.
Reasoning with Morion won't work if you want him to behave.
The two of them, being clerical staff, are unlikely to fight, and even if they did, it would be difficult for them to subdue each other quickly.
We still need to reunite with Cornelia and then work together to subdue Morion.
Dekan thought to himself.
Then you can talk about your business ethics, and I'll talk about my martial virtues.
Let's see who's more reasonable.
"What were your original plans?"
Morion looked at the two victims on the ground and then asked Dekan.
"Lock them in the Confessional, increase the dosage of Hypnosis Gas, and they probably won't wake up for a day. Then leave some food and water in the Confessional and weld the door shut."
"First, investigate the town's intelligence, then leave the town and head to the city-state as quickly as possible. Even if they can file a report, it will probably take about four days for the news to reach the city-state, considering the journey."
"At the start, you'll receive 100 Holy Gold Coin as event funds. Use four days to speedrun through this Shadow World. Being wanted afterward doesn't matter; after completing the mission, you can embark on a life on the run in the Holy Kingdom."
Dekan had no intention of hiding anything and told Morion about his plan.
Dekan's goal was clear: having finally come to the Shadow World with an open map, he wanted to ensure he had ample travel time to fully explore this limited-time map, the Holy Kingdom, without any regrets.
"Well, our ideas are still a little different."
Morion said, resting his chin on his hand.
Dekan: "Let's hear your opinion."
Morion: "The first two steps are similar to yours, but after obtaining the seed money, I will use it to start my own power base, gradually conquer this city-state within four days, and then use the entire city-state's power to clear the Shadow World in the remaining six days, while also issuing warrants and searching for all Resurrection Cultist."
"It's alright."
Dekan thought Morion's plan was also good, quite in line with the style of this unscrupulous capitalist.
However, Dekan couldn't help but laugh at Morion in his heart.
The poor lonely soul can only play this game all by himself.
Dekan has good travel companions.
"But now that we've encountered this, there must be a better solution, right?"
Morion smiled meaningfully and continued speaking to Dekan:
"After all, I'm quite interested in the travel you mentioned, and when traveling, the more money you have on hand, the better, right?"
Dekan: "Indeed, I'm also quite curious about what you mean by 'nibbling away,' or rather, 'getting rich'."
Morion: "How about...?"
Dekan: "Then what is there to hesitate about? Saving the precarious city-states and towns is our inescapable duty."
Morion extended his hand to Dekan quickly grasped it.
The two hit it off immediately and decided to do something good.