‘Damn... 100 pounds right off the bat? Why don’t you just rob me?!’
In the basement of St. Amanda’s School, Dorothy silently complained as she listened to Aldrich name his price. She simply didn’t have that much money on hand right now.
"Anything involving mysticism always costs a fortune. With 100 pounds, Gregor could almost buy the apartment he’s renting. Where am I supposed to get that kind of money now?"
Dorothy pressed her forehead, feeling troubled, and looked at Aldrich, who was smiling kindly. No matter how she looked at it, his smile screamed "shrewd businessman."
"Um, Mr. Aldrich, could you lower the price just a little? I don’t have that much money right now..." Dorothy tried to sound pitiful, leveraging her cute appearance to evoke sympathy, but Aldrich wasn’t buying it.
"Heh, as I said, Miss Mayschoss, I am a man of principles. The price is a principle. Once I name a price, it won’t change, not even if the sky falls. If you don’t have enough money, you can save up and come back later. I can wait ten or twenty years; it’s all the same to me."
Aldrich’s amused tone only made Dorothy’s face fall. Pouting, she threw up her hands and dropped her act.
Dorothy was in a tough spot. She had barely 20 pounds in cash, no mystical items to spare, and her current mainstay equipment, the Corpse Puppet Ring, was definitely off the table. The only finger imbued with the "Cup" attribute she had left was reserved as a power source for the ring. What else could she possibly trade?
As she agonized over her options, her eyes drifted to the covered corpses nearby—the remains of those Sacrament lackeys she had dealt with earlier.
Looking at the bodies, an idea began to form in Dorothy’s mind."Mr. Aldrich, since these Eucharist lackeys are dead, who owns their belongings?"
Dorothy asked, turning to Aldrich, who replied casually, "By the rules of the hunt, whoever kills them gets their stuff."
Dorothy felt a wave of relief. At least Aldrich stuck to principles. If he had claimed everything, she wouldn’t have had any recourse.
"So, except for the last one, whom you killed, the rest of their belongings are mine?"
Dorothy confirmed, and Aldrich nodded silently.
Seeing his attitude, Dorothy couldn’t hide her excitement. Without hesitation, she began uncovering the corpses to loot them.
These lackeys didn’t seem to be Beyonders, yet they displayed incredible, almost inhuman strength before their deaths. For ordinary people to achieve that, they must have relied on external objects.
In other words, there might be mystical items issued by the Eucharist on their bodies!
Dorothy uncovered the first body and froze momentarily.
Beneath the sheet was a shriveled corpse, little more than skin and bones, with a gaping mouth and wide-open eyes. Its clothing identified it as one of the two coachmen who had displayed extraordinary strength, almost forcing Dorothy to use Dragon Shouts.
"A mummified corpse? How did this happen? I killed this one using the Corpse Marionette and a gun. Being shot shouldn’t turn someone into a mummy!"
Puzzled, Dorothy frowned and continued uncovering the other bodies. She found that the second coachman’s body had also turned into a mummy.
Something was off...
Determined, Dorothy bent down to thoroughly search the bodies. From the four corpses, she collected a pile of loot and began sorting it on the ground.
The haul included 4 six-shot revolvers, 124 rounds of ammunition, 2 watches, 8 cigarettes, 4.57 pounds in cash, and 7 palm-sized pieces of paper with intricate red patterns and an abstract cup design in the center
Dorothy recognized this type of paper. She had found one on the coachman she killed and two more on the other bodies, suggesting these were standard-issue items.
"This must be it..."
Dorothy thought as she examined the paper. It seemed the most likely to be a mystical item.
"Mr. Aldrich, do you know what this is?"
Dorothy asked, holding up a piece of paper.
Aldrich glanced at it briefly and responded, "I do... but identifying it will cost you 10 pounds."
"Damn... such a rip-off..." Dorothy grumbled internally.
After some hesitation, she took out 6 pounds from her bag and added 4 pounds from her loot to make up the fee. Now she was down to just 14 pounds.
Aldrich took the money with a smile, then gave the paper a second look before explaining.
"This is a sigil, derived from the Afterbirth Cult ’s Devouring Sigils. Nowadays, any organization under the ‘Chalice’ pathway can make these. Sigils are single-use. They enhance the user’s physical abilities by consuming the ‘Chalice’ within their body. For ordinary people, using one will deplete all the ‘Chalice’ they have, leaving them like those mummified corpses. So... unless you have sufficient reserves of the ‘Chalice,’ it’s best not to use it."
Aldrich pointed to the two shriveled corpses on the ground. Dorothy was momentarily stunned.
"So it consumes the ‘Chalice’ within the body to enhance physical capabilities? That’s its function? But if there’s no extra reserve, it’ll start consuming the innate ‘Chalice’ that sustains life, effectively burning one’s life force. No wonder they turned into mummies. That’s the consequence of losing the last ‘Chalice.’"
Dorothy concluded that the Eucharist must have invested heavily in this operation. These lackeys were clearly meant to be sacrificial pawns.
"Mr. Aldrich, can you name a price for these sigils?" Dorothy asked.
Aldrich pondered briefly before replying, "Devouring Sigils aren’t sophisticated, but they’re still costly to make. I’ll sell them to you for 30 pounds each. Deal?"
Dorothy handed him four sigils and said, "Deal. Now tell me about the ritual. And don’t forget to give me 20 pounds back."
"Heh... no problem. Just wait a moment."
Aldrich stepped into a side room and returned shortly with an envelope and some cash.
"Here you go, Miss Mayschoss. Everything you want to know is in here. But a word of caution: while minimal, there’s still some poison in this knowledge. Prepare yourself before reading."
As Aldrich handed over the envelope, Dorothy’s eyes lit up. Finally, she had what she needed for her advancement. All she could think about now was rushing home to open the envelope and dive into its contents.