Xiandre washed his armor yet again, as Kaden's blood had splattered on it.
He put it back on as Amelia and Velmora watched the sun slowly rise.
The crocodile lay dead on the ground. Xiandre approached it and took its eyes.
"This crystal is white sapphire, not diamond," Xiandre remarked.
"Eh? So you're a gemologist too?" Amelia asked.
"I guess you could say that. But aren't you built like an AI inside yourself?" Xiandre replied.
"Uwaaa, how can you say that?" Amelia questioned.
"Aren't you the perfect human of the NAO? From what I can imagine, you're probably the smartest student at Ka-agahan Academy, and yet you stayed hidden—purposely lowering your grades just to become the class president of Class Blunder. All so you could investigate whether the Smiling Reaper was actually dead or just pretending to be a student," Xiandre explained.
"Fufu~ I guess you're right. Why don't I just reveal everything? We're not enemies anymore like in the past—we're lovers now," Amelia replied.
"So you two really did come from another world and were sent to Hell," Velmora said.
"Yeah," Amelia confirmed.
"Apparently, we were betrayed. Revenge is an option I want to take. I'm not angry, and I'm not good at pretending either, but hey—what matters is, now I have a reason to kill those students, and of course, the goddess and that princess," Xiandre explained.
"I see. So you two are trying to kill that princess and goddess?" Velmora questioned.
"Well maybe, killing them isn't enough. Death is too good for them," Xiandre said.
He turned around and began crossing the river, heading toward the gates of the Country of Grimore as Amelia and Velmora followed.
"Let's get going," Xiandre said.
Meanwhile, Kaden lay in the middle of the red carpet. Medics immediately arrived and took him to the infirmary as Princess Millie watched in terror.
"Shit, shit, shit... Some of them survived!?" Millie muttered. "How is that possible? It was definitely that guy who talked back to us before he was sent down there."
Princess Millie breathed heavily as Queen Alina turned her gaze toward her.
"Risen out of Hell? Millie, just what atrocities did you commit while I was away with Goddess Fillia!?" the queen exclaimed.
"No... It can't be... That means more people like Black Hood will come to hunt us down..." she blurted out.
"Insolent child!" the queen yelled as she approached Millie and slapped her across the cheek.
"Queen Alina!" Goddess Fillia shouted.
Alina drew her sword and pointed it at Goddess Fillia in anger.
"You too, goddess!? I bow my head to you only because you're holy... But in truth, despite being a holy one, you yourself don't stand a chance against Black Hood. Now that... Shit! How many people did you send down there while I was away!?" the queen roared.
"S-Six students, I think," Millie answered in terror.
"Students!? You mean six otherworlders!?" the queen exclaimed.
"Y-Yes..." Princess Millie replied.
Millie, who was on the ground, received a kick to the stomach from the queen. She was thrown out of her throne chair, crying out in pain.
"If two of the six managed to escape out of there, that means our entire kingdom could fall before the upcoming war even begins. These six students you sent will crave vengeance just like Black Hood. We only managed to survive because she was only one and not an anotherworlder—but six and all were anotherworlder!? Let's hope only one managed to get out of there, because one single student who crawled out of there is enough to take on your father," she continued. "It's as if we're fighting the Demon Lord from the Demon Continent already."
Hikaru ran toward Princess Millie and helped her back to her feet.
"Are you okay, princess?" Hikaru asked.
"I-I'm fine..." Princess Millie responded.
Hikaru glared at the queen, and the queen glared back.
"Huh!? And who the fuck are you!?" the queen snapped.
"I am Hikaru Lamour. I'm the student council president—or the leader of all the current summons that were sent to this world. And I'm sorry, my majesty, but treating your child like that is unacceptable. Everyone makes mistakes..." Hikaru replied.
The queen teleported behind him, grabbed him by the collar, and slammed him to the ground.
"H-Hikaru!" Princess Millie exclaimed.
The queen kicked Princess Millie in the stomach again, this time making her cough up blood.
Goddess Fillia flew toward the queen to calm her down, but she wasn't listening.
The queen swung her sword toward the goddess, but the goddess teleported behind her and whispered in her ear.
"Sleep, young one..." But her spell didn't work on the queen.
The queen, enraged, elbowed the goddess in the face, knocking her to the ground.
The goddess attempted to summon a meteor shower, but Princess Millie jumped in and held her back.
"Goddess... it isn't worth it... You'll only make it worse if you let your anger out!" Millie pleaded.
The queen barged out of the throne room, and everyone inside fell silent.
"Ack, the queen is scary..." Hikari whispered beside Glenn, who had been watching the entire commotion along with the other royals, students, knights, guards, and soldiers present.
Glenn slapped him on the back of the head and sighed.
Hikaru lay unconscious on the ground as Goddess Fillia healed her bleeding nose and stood back up.
"Those students... how did they crawl out of there..." Goddess Fillia thought to herself.
Meanwhile, Xiandre, Amelia, and Velmora entered the gates of the Country of Grimore. The guards were kind and not very strict, letting them in without issue.
As they entered, they were met with a lively town, murmurs and carriage wheels echoing as townsfolk bustled about.
"Uwaaa, I'm sooo sleepy. Can we find somewhere to sleep, like a hotel? Eh, maybe an inn, since this place looks medieval," Amelia yawned.
"Well, there should be a tavern in the middle of town. It'll have a common room that serves food and drinks, and there should be rooms for rent upstairs," Velmora explained.
"Eh? To be honest, I think we're kinda broke right now..." Amelia replied.
"Don't worry. Xiandre, do you still have those eyes?" Velmora asked.
"You mean the eyes of the crocodile we killed earlier?" Xiandre questioned.
"Yeah. You know sapphires are valuable stones here. They usually contain magical energy—sometimes they can be worth up to 1,500 gold coins," Velmora said.
Xiandre handed the sapphire stones to Velmora as she examined them more closely.
"Well, these sapphires are probably around one carat each, so one might go for 30 gold coins—50 if we get a good deal," Velmora estimated.
"Really? Since we have two, why not exchange both for 100 gold coins?" Xiandre replied.
"Of course. Let me handle the negotiating," Velmora replied.
She took the other sapphire from Xiandre, and the two followed her toward the bank of the Country of Grimore.
As the three entered, Velmora headed to the counter and spoke to the clerk.
"How much will you give us for this?" Velmora asked, dropping one of the sapphires onto the counter.
"Is this... White Sapphire!?" the jeweler exclaimed, immediately catching everyone's attention in the room.
"It's pure white sapphire. We'd like to continue this conversation in a VIP room," Velmora said coolly.
"I see... Sorry to disappoint you, but while white sapphires aren't common around here, it's still just one stone, so—" Before the jeweler could finish, Velmora dropped the second sapphire onto the counter.
The jeweler glanced at the two gems and sighed. She leaned over to her co-worker and whispered, "Lead them to the VIP room."
The co-worker nodded and turned to the trio. "Follow me."
The three followed her into the VIP room, while a group of five men nearby watched them closely, grinning and clearly plotting something.
Once inside the VIP room, a man with a long beard entered. He wore a formal suit and sat on the sofa. Velmora, Xiandre, and Amelia took their seats on the opposite side, with a table between them.
Velmora placed the two sapphires on the table, waiting for the man—clearly the Chief Accountant of the bank—to speak.
He pulled a magnifying glass from his pocket, picked up one of the sapphires, and examined it carefully.
"Yes, very well. These are quite rare these days. A white sapphire like this can only be dropped by demonic creatures from the Demon Continent," he explained. "Only five have been brought into the city this year. They're difficult to obtain."
"So? How much are you offering us?" Velmora asked.
"Well... they're not especially valuable to nobles, but to the average citizen, they can fetch a decent price. I'll give you 20 gold coins each—so 40 in total," he said.
"Too low. We want at least 35 to 40 each," Velmora replied firmly.
"Fine. 25 each," the Chief Accountant said with a bit of attitude.
"Did you not hear me? I said 40," Velmora snapped.
"Sorry, can't do. 30—final offer. Take it or leave it."
Velmora narrowed her eyes. "Tsk. Fine. For these two sapphires, I want 50 gold each."
"Have you lost your mind!? You're wasting my time!" the Chief Accountant blurted.
"Oh really?" Velmora smirked. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a dark, ominous coin.
"Huh? What's this?" the Chief Accountant asked sharply.
"This? This is a stone that can only be obtained from Hell," Velmora replied.
The man quickly snatched it and examined it under his magnifying glass. His eyes widened in disbelief. He looked again. Then again. His hands began to tremble. He slapped his own face, thinking it was a dream—but it wasn't.
"T-This is... an Infernite Coin..." he whispered.
"That's right," Velmora confirmed, taking the coin back from him.
"YES! YES! YES!" he shouted, beginning to pace excitedly. "With this coin, I could make this bank the best in the entire city! No—no! I could become Prince Shibu Grimore's favorite Chief Accountant! This coin... it holds fragments of millions of souls! It holds the power of immortality! This is it—this is my moment to shine!"
Velmora, Xiandre, and Amelia stood up to leave.
"WAIT! WAIT!!!" the Chief Accountant cried out, chasing after them. "Please, I'll make you an offer for that coin—300 gold coins!"
"300? Too low. You're wasting our time," Velmora said, reaching for the door handle.
"NO! FINE—500!" he yelled, desperate.
"Seriously?" Velmora scoffed. "If you want it that badly, it's only for 300 platinum coins."
"300 platinum!?" he screamed. "That's equivalent to 3,000 gold coins! Are you crazy!?"
"And why should we take you seriously?" Velmora snapped. "You didn't even introduce yourself properly and treated us like trash the moment we walked in."
The man clenched his fists, then finally relented. "FINE! 300 platinum coins!"
"Sweet. Also, I want you to buy these white sapphires for 100 gold coins each," Velmora added as she reached for the door again.
"...Fine..." the Chief Accountant whimpered, on the verge of tears.
Xiandre and Amelia followed Velmora out of the bank, both stunned by the sheer dominance and finesse she showed in that negotiation.