Echoes of the Past

Chapter 37 Whoever makes money, makes money.

As Nan'an was absorbed in his thoughts, he happened to catch a glimpse of the dazzling white light emanating from the giant Rubik's Cube.

The little Rubik's Cube, carrying a cloud of fly smoke, floated into the air. The moment it was bathed in light, the annoying buzzing that had been echoing in their minds vanished without a trace.

The sounds of cart wheels and hurried footsteps came from the main road leading to the Sickle Water Canyon.

Clearly, the commotion from the fierce battle had attracted the attention of a passing merchant caravan.

Before long, a squad of well-equipped patrol guards from Kren City, clad in leather armor, arrived at the scene after hearing the news.

The sight of the chaotic scene, with corpses lying in various positions, made the leading knight captain gasp in horror.

Having learned of the identity of Supervisor Suiyue, he quickly ordered his men to seal off the area and, with an incredulous expression, requested Suiyue to conduct a preliminary examination of the body.

After a thorough examination, the captain of the knights' expression of shock deepened.

He took out the communication statue and reported the situation to the authorities in Kren City, his tone full of disbelief.

Finally, he exclaimed with a hint of awe, "As expected of Elu, even when outnumbered and outgunned, you still managed to take down six of them. We couldn't do that."

It's no wonder that the knight so frankly expressed his admiration.

Most of the active erosion abilities have a limited range of effect and are relatively ineffective in group battles, but they are surprisingly effective in one-on-one combat.

To Nan'an's surprise, the first "official personnel" to arrive upon hearing the news was actually Corella, carrying a huge wooden suitcase and slightly out of breath.

Her school uniform stood out.

After glancing at the corpse on the ground, Coralina's eyes lit up as if she had discovered a treasure, and her previous fatigue vanished.

It's hard to imagine someone laughing like an idiot upon seeing a corpse.

"All of them?"

Nan An kicked at the rotting flesh beside his feet: "You're lucky, the corpse is still fresh, enough for you to study for a while."

Coralella began directing her guards to assist in the transfer of the bodies.

"As expected of a veteran from the Gray Star era, her efficiency is astonishing." She exclaimed sincerely as she examined Mara's corpse.

Slender fingers gently traced the conspicuous dark red incision on Mara's neck, the touch from her fingertips feeling unusually smooth.

"But... is it possible to draw such precise cutting lines during combat? What ancient sword technique is this?"

Upon hearing this, Suiyue immediately turned her back, pretended to look up at the sky, and even whistled out of tune.

Nan An was quite frank: "It's a habit from my past profession; I wanted to cut it off to exchange for a bounty."

Coralina was taken aback, but then nodded: "Your technique is very skillful and professional."

Suiyue was very confused. Why was she praising him?

Before leaving, having thoroughly studied the code of conduct, Nan'an set a fire, burning away the bloodstains and the unrecoverable bits of meat and bone fragments.

As we rode back to Karen City in the carriage, the carriage swayed slightly with the road.

Nan'an wasted no time and went straight to the question that concerned him most: "How will the payment be settled?"

Coralina immediately put on a smile, though it clearly carried a hint of ingratiation.

"Well... senior, the incident was indeed sudden. The amount of money for the six corpses is not small, and we need to raise all of it in a short time, which is a bit..."

"Since we don't have the money right now," Nan interrupted her, his tone flat, "let's move the body to Ellu's warehouse in Kren first. According to procedure, we have the right to seal and dispose of it."

"No, no, no!" Clara quickly waved her hands, "If it gets into Elru's hands, it'll most likely just be burned for purification, that...that would be such a waste of resources!"

Nan'an was truly puzzled: "Aren't you noble children? You really can't afford a single penny?"

"Those who can afford to spend money wouldn't be with us anyway," Coralina said awkwardly, smoothing a stray hair from her forehead. "In our little group, the eldest daughter at home has been taking advantage of her family a lot lately, and they've started to keep an eye on her, so... we've run into a little cash flow problem."

She paused, then added, "What's more, most of our cash has already been invested in purchasing affordable potion ingredients for this medical mission, it's really..."

After listening quietly, Nan An concluded, "I understand your righteous act, but... you can't come up with a single penny in cash right now, which is equivalent to tricking me into doing a job for free, a pure 'freebie'?"

"'Freeloading'..." Coralina blinked, savoring the word. "What a simple and straightforward description. Is this the term our predecessors from the Gray Star era used to describe those shameless individuals who only wanted to take advantage without paying any price?"

She tilted her head and thought for a moment, then suddenly bent down and opened the heavy metal briefcase at her feet.

After fumbling around for a moment among a pile of shiny surgical instruments and bottles, he carefully took something out from a hidden compartment in the lid of the box.

It was a metal card with a cold, silvery-white sheen.

A regular notch was delicately cut out in the upper right corner of the card, and a translucent light blue crystal was inlaid in the notch.

"Here you are."

"What is this?"

Nan'an curiously took it. The pattern on the card was very elaborate, depicting a flower garden in a shallow relief style with hundreds of flowers vying for beauty.

Coralina glanced at Suiyue, who was sitting opposite her, pricked up her ears and peering curiously, and gestured for her to "step back for a moment."

Immediately, she got up from her seat quite naturally, squeezed into the seat next to Nan'an, leaned close to his ear, lowered her voice, and spoke in an almost breathy tone.

"Take this to Grace Manor in Twin Crown City. Someone will take you there to enjoy yourself; both men and women are available. So it's not like you're getting something for nothing, right?"

Nan'an had a terrible headache, and he couldn't help but cover his forehead.

"I want money!"

"This is money," Coralina said matter-of-factly. "Within certain circles in Twin Crown City, this card can be exchanged for resources, intelligence, or even directly converted into cash. It's very valuable!"

"Let's put that aside for now, Clara. I've been dead for centuries, and I have a very urgent question that I need your answer to," Nan'an said earnestly. "This thing doesn't have officially certified tradable attributes, does it?"

"Well... not openly, but there are indeed nobles acting as intermediaries to collect taxes for the Senate in private."

Nan'an quickly searched his memory.

In the Gray Star era, these industries that operated in the gray area usually did not have written, specific laws to regulate their taxes and fees. In practice, they were often simply levied symbolically as a "security management fee" or "site permit fee" based on the power and mood of the local noble lord.

According to Corella's description, after the Black Mist Era, the Senate had "standardized" it.

Nan'an asked, "Do you go there often?"

Clara shrugged: "If I can wear makeup and stay anonymous, of course I'll go! Expanding my social circle is really useful. I don't know about others, but I do hard labor. It wouldn't be surprising if I died dealing with the Nightmare Erosion one day. Of course, being happy is the most important thing. I can't be tense every day, can I?"

Seeing that Nanan had returned the card, Coralina felt a little guilty.

"If you absolutely need money, could you possibly pay on credit?"

Nan An was exhausted. He sighed and took out the list of materials needed for Sui Yue's "transformation device".

"Given your current connections and resources, what items on this list can you gather?"

"Uh..." After taking a careful look, Coralina licked her lips. "It probably won't work until winter."

"Winter?" Nan'an caught the specific time. "How can you pinpoint it to winter?"

"In winter, you can use all sorts of ridiculous excuses like outdoor activities and keeping warm to ask your family for money."

Nan'an: "..."

Coralina: "..."

A brief and subtle silence fell over the carriage.

The only sounds were the rhythmic clatter of wheels rolling over stone slabs and the bustling noise of the city after entering the city.

Why is it that students from different worlds all use almost the same excuses to ask for money?

If Nan'an could wait until winter, he wouldn't need to travel around.

Improving Suiyue's combat strength is of paramount importance. Today, she managed to scare off the potential threat by using her skills against multiple Living Eclipses, but she always stopped at "defensive victory" and was unable to pursue the slippery Living Eclipses like Elmar Hen, which is a huge problem.

Once someone realizes that Suiyue is outwardly strong but inwardly weak, and chooses a kite-like strategy, then Stupid Niu Niu will be in danger.

"If you don't have money, work for me."

"well?"

"What?" Nan An said, "Until you pay back the money, I am your creditor. Unless you want me to burn all the bodies, you'd better follow my instructions."

"Senior, that's way too evil!"

"Stop thinking nonsense! What I want are your Potions apprenticeships!"

Coralina instantly became obedient: "Oh, I see. I thought..."

"Don't think that yet, shut your mouth!" Nan'an quickly stopped him.

Ah, Suiyue is still the best.

Suiyue is clumsy and simple-minded, but communicating with her is quick and easy, and you won't experience the emotional rollercoaster of being repeatedly pulled along.

Nan'an no longer just doubted Corella; she was doing it on purpose.

She always speaks in a way that is easy to misunderstand, bringing up taboo topics to probe the other person's attitude and stance.

But Nan'an could clearly feel it; he still couldn't help but dance along.

"So how do you want us to make money, and whose money do you want us to make money from?"

Just like now.

Coralina smiled, seemingly going along with the conversation, and in a flattering tone, casually inquired about the job as a working-class person, but what she was really concerned about was...

"I won't let you take money from the commoners of Kren. You can't make much money from cheap potions," Nan'an said. "We'll take money from whoever has money."

Corella smiled sweetly, her lips curving upwards.

"The wealthy ones are the nobles and magicians."

"Aren't you a nobleman too?"

Clara proudly puffed out her chest: "We may be poor, but someone in my family paid the blood tax."

That's fine now, you're allowed to speak loudly!

Nobles who have paid the blood tax are indeed superior to others, and their destructive power is roughly equivalent to "What kind of champion are you?"

It's not enough for just Coralla to agree; after all, it's a group. What if the others are deterred by the conditions...?

"Then I'll pay off your debt all by myself. I'll take as many of those living corpses as there are."

Inside the governor's mansion, Pirion gazed at the returning Nan'an Suiyue with a complex expression, all his words ultimately turning into a sigh.

He started to get used to it.

Moreover, Nan'an killed six living corpses with a single move, an astonishing efficiency.

Upon seeing Corella, his reaction was exactly the same as Nan'an's.

Headache!

"Your application to stay in Keren for a year of academic research has been approved by the college, and I have arranged for the housekeeper to select an address for you."

Clara clapped softly. "This means we're qualified to conduct profit-making activities as potion makers within the city of Kren, right?"

Pirion nodded, his mind a little blank, not quite understanding what these double-crowned young ladies were planning to do.

Running errands in Kren to earn a living?

Hahahaha, how could he come up with such an absurd idea?

How could these privileged young women possibly lack money?

After sending Corella away, Pirion inquired about what had happened in the study.

"Elmarhern...this girl is too dangerous. With her Eye of Aging, most of the guards can't directly confront her...it seems we need to ask the Owls for help."

Nan'an was stunned.

Why would Pirion, a governor of Solize, turn to Anze's Radiant Owl instead of Ellu when trouble arises?

"Hey, what are you babbling about in front of Erlu's people!" Suiyue felt a strong sense of belonging to Erlu, who provided her with generous meals and benefits.

"To be honest," Pirion sighed for what seemed like the umpteenth time. "Elru has no one left to use."

That sounds strangely familiar...

Nan'an asked, "I'd like to know, where did everyone else go?"

Pirion shook his head: "I'm afraid only the Senate knows. Elru has a very high level of authority, which is beyond our reach... It is said that since a year ago, there has been a large-scale relocation of personnel in Elru, so much so that the vast areas of Rostarek and Kren have been unmanned for a long time until recently when you became the supervisors and ended the vacancy period."

It seems that Nan'an isn't the only one who finds this strange.

Many of Solitz's top officials, including Pirion, believed that Ellu was in such great trouble that they had to do everything in their power to cooperate.

At this point, no news is the best news.

After all, the fact that the Crow can still appear in public normally proves that the trouble has been temporarily resolved and there is no sign of it escalating.

Unable to contain his curiosity any longer, he handed over his routine communication with Nilar to Suiyue and returned to the depths of his consciousness alone.

The little Rubik's Cube is currently being gently enveloped by three colors of light: deep green, ochre, and pure white.

At the very center of the Rubik's Cube, a swarm of flies were frantically swarming against the inner wall of the cube.

As they collided, ripples spread across the inner wall of the Rubik's Cube.

"what?"

Just as Nan'an turned his gaze to the Rubik's Cube, as if sensing his thoughts, the small Rubik's Cube, surrounded by the three elements of grass, earth, and light, fell down on its own.

The moment it touched his palm, the words "fly mist" naturally came to Nan'an's mind.

Not far away, the giant Rubik's Cube clicked.

Under the suspicious gaze of Nan'an...

"Why did you give birth again?"