“What’s with this huge line?”

Venom was stunned by the changes in his hometown after such a long time away.

Although most things remained the same, one new building caught his attention—a shop with a sign that read "Somerset Goods Store," making him curious about what it sold.

A long line had already formed outside, with most of the customers being men, although there were also women and children scattered throughout. Venom couldn’t figure out what kind of shop this could be.

Especially since everyone who had traveled with him via the teleportation circle had joined the line as if under a spell the moment they arrived, it was clear to Venom that this was the reason for the newfound hustle and bustle in Goldpool Valley.

Even Venom felt a pang of curiosity and wanted to check out the shop, but he didn’t have the time to waste, so he quickly moved away from the crowded area.

“First things first, I need money.”

Being a dark wizard didn’t mean he could survive without food or a base of operations. To rebuild his organization, he needed substantial funds.

Of course, dark wizards didn’t earn money through honest labor, so there was only one option left—plunder.

In simpler terms, he would have to resort to robbery.

Usually, they would attack a secluded village where the guards rarely patrolled, taking people as sacrifices and the wealth for themselves. But without the Chaos Crystals to control the tunnel snakes, and with no allies to assist in the plundering, attacking a village was out of the question.

Venom’s dark magic skills were still quite feeble, so if the village men armed themselves with clubs and gathered en masse, even that would be too much for him to handle.

“I’ll have to threaten a wealthy family’s child with a curse to extort money.”

A curse—a hallmark of dark magic.

While curses could be deadly in the hands of a skilled caster, Venom’s abilities were limited, and at most, he could cause a few days of illness.

For a healthy adult, it would be nothing more than a minor sickness.

But for a child, who was more vulnerable, it could be quite serious.

Venom decided to target the children of wealthy families.

If he cursed a child and then approached the parents, claiming he could cure them, they would undoubtedly beg him, tearfully pleading for their child’s life.

Since Venom would both cast and remove the curse, it would be an easy scam.

After a few successful operations, he would have enough funds to rebuild his organization.

“I’ll re-establish the Abyss Cult—with me as the leader!”

Venom’s eyes filled with hope once more.

Indeed, he seemed destined to survive misfortune. Whether it was being out of the cult’s base during the attack or possessing the Chaos Crystals that controlled the tunnel snakes, luck had been on his side.

“Rashu! Why aren’t you running?”

The voice of a young child brought Venom back to reality from his daydream of becoming a future cult leader.

‘What’s this?’

The voice belonged to a girl, perhaps five or six years old, with chubby cheeks and blonde hair, who was pouting at a dog as she sat in a handcart.

At the front of the cart, the dog, tethered by a leash, looked utterly exhausted and was sitting on the ground.

‘What kind of combination is this?’

Venom felt a strange sense of cognitive dissonance.

The girl’s clothing suggested she was from a wealthy family, so why was she riding in a cart? She was sitting in it as proudly as if she were a victorious general in a parade.

And while it was understandable that a dog, not a horse, was pulling the cart, wouldn’t a donkey or ox be more appropriate?

Why was a dog pulling the cart, and why was this dog, which looked like a young puppy, the size of a wolf?

No matter how much Venom tried to make sense of it, the situation was incomprehensible.

But the most important thing wasn’t this odd combination.

‘She smells like a rich girl.’

The key was that this girl, who seemed to be wandering alone, looked like she belonged to a wealthy family.

In truth, she wasn’t alone.

Venom’s time as a dark wizard had sharpened his instincts for noticing things like this—he could tell that there were poorly concealed guards keeping an eye on the girl.

But the presence of guards wouldn’t prevent him from casting a curse.

One of the advantages of curses was that they could be cast from a distance.

Just as he had been pondering where to start his scheme, a perfect target had practically walked right up to him. It felt like the heavens were favoring him, and Venom’s mood brightened considerably.

All he had to do now was find a spot a little farther away and prepare to curse the child.

As he imagined the child writhing in pain and the devastated expressions of her parents, Venom could hardly contain his excitement.

However, to be thorough, Venom scanned his surroundings.

If there were any wizards or priests nearby, it could be problematic.

While knights or ordinary people couldn’t sense dark magic, skilled wizards or priests might detect its unnatural presence, so he needed to be cautious.

Fortunately, there were no wizards or priests in sight.

“Little girl, you’re about to become the foundation of the new Abyss Cult.”

Venom hid behind a wall and quietly began preparing the curse, murmuring an incantation.

“I have seen my enemy with my own eyes. Darkness, bind him, crush him, and curse his soul…”

He pulled out the wand he had hidden in his cloak and was just about to complete the curse when—

Bark!

The dog, which had been lying on the ground, suddenly fixed its gaze, its eyes sharpening. In an instant, it tore off its leash.

“Rashu! If you take that off, brother will scold you!”

Ignoring the girl’s words, Rashu focused intently on one spot.

Then, in a flash, the dog dashed toward that spot, leaving Venom wide-eyed in shock.

“What the hell is this crazy mutt doing?”

Venom, who had been seconds away from casting the curse, was caught off guard by the dog’s sudden attack and was knocked to the ground.

Bark! Bark!

Rashu, a dog as large as a full-grown hound, moved with a speed and force that Venom had not expected.

Venom, thinking he could easily handle a dog, was taken aback by the dog’s agility and strength. In a panic, he barely managed to cast a basic spell.

“Shadow Grip!”

This was a basic dark magic spell that allowed the caster to bind their target by manipulating shadows.

As the spell completed, Venom thought he had succeeded, but then Rashu leaped into the air, dodging the black hands emerging from the shadows.

“What kind of dog jumps that high?!”

Venom realized he couldn’t waste time complaining. What he had thought would be an easy fight was turning out to be far more difficult, and he was now in real danger, even at full strength.

To make matters worse—

“Who is that? I’ve never seen him around the estate before.”

The soldiers who had been secretly guarding Ada revealed themselves, approaching Venom after seeing Rashu’s sudden actions.

‘Damn it, if those guys get involved, I’m done for.’

Had even the gods, or perhaps the Demon God, abandoned him?

Contrary to Venom’s hopes of ending things quietly, he had already been caught in the gaze of those soldiers—or rather, several people.

“Hearing that the Saintess is visiting, I suppose I have no choice.”

“My apologies, Lady Bluewell. Since I cannot invite you to the drawing room at the moment, would you like to visit the workshop while you wait?”

Alain spoke politely to Amelia.

When the reception room was unavailable, most nobles would guide their guests to gardens or private zoos on their estate, but Rupert and Viscount Klein, who were responsible for the Somerset estate’s finances, valued practicality above all else.

“What’s the point of a garden? We should use the space for a factory instead.”

“I completely agree, sir.”

“No way! How can you even think of not having a garden at a noble’s estate? How will you welcome guests?”

Count Bradley had been horrified by the idea, but the estate’s staff could only look at him sympathetically without intervening.

If a garden or zoo were built, it would fall on the staff to maintain it, so they secretly preferred the idea of a factory instead.

As a result, the vast grounds of the Somerset estate were filled with factories, and it had become a tradition to give visiting guests a tour of the workshops instead of a garden.

“If you wouldn’t mind, I’d be delighted. I’ve always been curious about how such beautiful books are made.”

When Amelia readily agreed to the suggestion, Alain led her to the book workshop.

“Would you like me to introduce you to everyone here?”

“No, that’s alright. I wouldn’t want to disrupt their work.”

When Alain brought her into the workshop, the craftsmen glanced at her briefly, bowed, and then focused back on their tasks.

It wasn’t uncommon for guests to visit the Somerset estate and tour the workshop, so the craftsmen were used to it by now.

Of course, a few of them were momentarily distracted by Amelia’s striking appearance and had to be snapped back to reality by Alain’s stern gaze.

“Oh, who might that be?”

“Ah, I haven’t introduced him yet. This is Master Kroon, a Dwarven craftsman who works in our workshop.”

Amelia’s attention was drawn to a Dwarf tinkering with a steel arm in a corner of the workshop, prompting Alain’s explanation.

A workshop employing a Dwarf, said to be rarer in the Empire than even Elves?

“To think they’re working so diligently on making books.”

Having only ever seen the finished books, Amelia felt a new appreciation as she observed the craftsmen at work.

The way they each focused on their tasks, discussing and debating their work, was impressive.

“This must also be his doing.”

It confirmed her belief that, despite his outward appearance, Rupert was a kind and warm person.

Even though the craftsmen’s work seemed tiring, their expressions were bright, and the room was filled with laughter.

Such a natural, cheerful atmosphere wouldn’t exist if Rupert were a harsh boss.

“Mr. Butler, may I cook a meal for these people?”

“You wish to cook for them yourself, Lady Bluewell?”

“Yes, I brought plenty of ingredients, and I’ve recently taken up cooking as a modest hobby of mine.”

“The fact that you would personally cook for them… It would indeed be a miraculous joy for the craftsmen.”

Amelia smiled shyly at Alain’s response, and Alain couldn’t help but think to himself that a meal prepared with such a beautiful heart by such a beautiful person would surely taste divine.