The Sword and The Shadow

Chapter 523

Leguna Hemorrhaging Money

"Is it true?" Leguna subconsciously asked a pointless question upon hearing her explanation.

"What did you think I was doing?" Angelista poked her finger on his chest and gave it a teasing twirl. "You stinking man… roughing me up like that while treating Annelotte there so gently… Let me down, or is your arm feeling too good and making you forget yourself?"

Leguna only just realized that his arm was pushing into her soft bunnies. From elasticity alone, he had no doubt Angelista was the undisputed champion in terms of feel. The soft cushiness… Hehehe…

Just as he was talking to himself in his mind and agonizing over whether he should hold on for two more seconds, he felt a murderous glare from behind. He hurriedly loosened his grip.

"I'm really sorry, Miss Angelista," he said while scratching his head awkwardly, "I didn't think you were helping Annelotte with her memories. It was my fault. Please vent on me however you like."

"Hmph! The only way I'm getting any venting done is doing it through the night!" she said, pouting angrily.

"Ugh…" He felt the glare grow stronger by the moment. Cold sweat formed on his forehead. He wiped it off and turned to Annelotte, forcefully changing the topic. "So, Annie, are your memories back?"

"Hey! That's too forced, alright? How can you ignore me so quickly?!" She gave Leguna's calf an angry kick.

Angelista was still enjoying the benefits of Oxen Might and her leather shoes was rather sturdy as well. The kick caused him to wince in pain, but he pretended he didn't feel it, praying desperately that Annelotte would let him off the hook.

She mulled a moment in silence before shaking her head. "They aren't."

"Is that so…"

The disappointment on his face was plain for all to see. He lowered his head and seemed much shorter and smaller. But a few seconds later, he recovered and cracked a smile. "It's fine. We'll have more chances to do so in the future. We'll just get Miss Angelista to help you further with it."

"Oh, so now you acknowledge my existence?" She stomped on his feet, causing him to sweat from the pain.

Annelotte rubbed her temples and looked at Angelista. "Thank you."

"Huh?"

Angelista froze immediately. Her attempt to help Annelotte out was nothing but a whim. She didn't think that she would receive Annelotte's sincere gratitude for that. For someone who had lived all her life in a world of lies and deceit, it was something she found really hard to get used to.

"This duel was my loss." Annelotte seemed to be able to tell that Angelista wasn't used to dealing with situations like that, so she glossed over her thanks. She made a rare smile and said, "You mentioned a bet, right? Well, it's time you cashed out on it."

"Umm…" Angelista hesitated for another moment before she laughed. "Wahahahaha! I didn't think that the glacial empress herself would admit defeat before me! Looks like I am the world's strongest magus after all!"

[I reckon you're the craziest magus in the world,] Leguna thought.

[She's different even among the dark elves…] Gahrona said, [Perhaps being soulgrasper warped her personality somewhat?]

[Guess that power isn't that great after all. I wouldn't want to lose my mind like her just for that.] He wondered how Eirinn and the others would regard him if he became like Angelista.

"Leguna!" Angelista said after she was done boasting.

"What?"

"It's your turn to make it up to me! Since our bet was for her to treat me to a drink if she lost, you, her boy-- Ouch!"

"You want to fight again?" Annelotte's face was red with either anger or embarrassment, or a combination of both.

"Hmph, with our mana levels this low, I doubt you'd be a match for me." Angelista puffed her chest out proudly and the skin-tight suit hugging her body caused Leguna to stare.

"You wanna test me?" Leguna snapped. With the aid of Glacial Domain and Glacial Conversion, she would be able to recover enough mana to fight in a few short minutes.

"Ah, it's just drinking, right? It's my treat! So how about tonight? Let's get Innie and Eirinn to come as well! We'll drink our fill together!"

"I'm just going to drink with Annelotte. What does it have to do with you? Just get the thing ready and pay!" Angelista snapped.

"Well… that works too! Just tell me where you want to drink, or if you have any other request!"

"Now that's better." Angelista nodded with satisfaction. "I doubt Madam Annelotte here would want us to drink in the academy and show the others our drunk states. Let's choose a place nearby then! I heard there's a bar called Second Heaven. It sounds really high class! Let's pick there then!"

"Ah… no problem…" Leguna hesitated for a moment. Second Heaven wasn't just a high-class bar, it was more like a hub for every kind of depravity. One could rent a room there and even find someone to sleep with, watch performances, gamble and event trade slaves!

While he wasn't worried about Annelotte's safety, given her power, he was concerned about his life. Who knew how Annelotte would react if he really arranged for them to have a meal there.

He stole a glance at Annelotte. Her expression seemed normal and she didn't seem bothered. So, he decided it would be fine to go with Angelista's suggestion.

"I want to eat earth dragon meat!" Angelista demanded a dish that cost a few hundred gold coins without hesitation.

"No problem!"

"A 20-year-old wine from the finest vineyard!"

"Go ahead!"

"The best room!"

"Be my guest!"

"Twenty handsome and energetic male pets!"

"No problem… my ass!" He almost agreed out of habit.

What the hell?! Twenty? You crazy? I heard the highest record holder was Marolyt, who spent a night with ten women! You want to double that number? Or are you going to get Annie to participate in that with you! No matter how she feels about it, I'll murder you first if that happens!

As he was letting his mouth run in his mind, Angelista relaxed and said, "Forget it, it was a joke!"

"There are some jokes that can never be made. Lives are at stake here!"

Annelotte humphed for no clear reason and left. Angelista also shot him a tempting glance before leaving.

He, on the other hand, was stopped by the old watcher of the arena.

"The principal has dictated for you to be fined 500 gold coins for destroying the door! The pillar costs a thousand! I won't be covering any of that!" The old man waved his kitchen knife threateningly, seaming dead set on getting him to pick between paying with money or blood.

"Huh?! 500? Is your door made from meteorite steel? Annie, you're far too bloodthirsty!" he cried. Though he was quite powerful, he didn't have that much money. He did give Kurdak quite a huge sum before he left. And now, he had to pay for Angelista's whim. His wallet was going to be emptied out soon enough, and now he owed 1500 gold coins. Was he going to go sell his kidney or something?

"Principal's orders! Pay up!" The old man approached Leguna with knife in hand.

"Be careful with that blade! You could've taken my nose off with that!"

"Principal's orders! Pay for the damages you caused!"

When the blade was only three centimetres from Leguna, he had no choice but to open his wallet and hand over a few notes to the terrifying old man.

......

While daylight was quite a fresh thing to Angelista, who had lived in the Dusk Zone all her life, she preferred the night over the day as she wasn't used to the intensity of the light.

She found the night to symbolize both fear and a sense of temptation that was difficult to put into words. The existence of the day only highlighted how different the night was. For instance, humans only engaged in copulation once the sun was down. The thought of that made her feel a little fuzzy.

However, she didn't swing that way, unfortunately. She was going to meet Annelotte that night. So despite her urges, she decided to suppress them before the meal and look for some fun elsewhere after."

"You mean to say you were lying to Leguna and your memories actually came back?" she exclaimed when she looked at Annelotte, whose attractiveness soared even more in her tipsy state.