GUARDIAN OF THE END

Nero could only sigh as he contemplated what to do. He decided to take a small risk and if he failed, there was only one option that he could choose.

As quick as lightning, he swiped his arm forward to slash Risa's throat.

Her body exploded into dust, surprising Nero. But his surprise didn't last for long as he felt a finger pressing on the back of his throat

His body went numb again as he sighed and gave up. He had lost control over both of his arms anyway so he couldn't play tricks anymore.

"Come on! You just had to agree to the deal and we could have skipped the drama," Risa complained while keeping her index finger pressed against Nero's nape. "But I guess you guys only understand violence."

"Let's talk about the deal," Nero said, his tone turning into full business mode. "I will leave this place right now and never tell anyone about what I witnessed.

I will just use Amon's name and that will scare almost every single demon from even stepping here. That sounds good?"

Nero cared about his life more than anything and didn't feel ashamed to strike a deal just because he couldn't fight back.

More than that, he was someone who was humble enough to swallow his pride to save himself.

Risa almost seemed impressed with this but she had seen much better people throughout her life. She put her hand down before nodding.

"Swear on the name of Styx and Aiden." She said while moving in front of Nero.

She could see the small trace of fear on his face when he heard the name Aiden.

"As you wish," He replied with gritted teeth. "I swear on the name of the Goddess Styx and the first demon king, Aiden. If I break my words in any manner or even slightly attempt to, I shall die on the spot."

"No need to tell me that," Risa replied in a satisfied tone before releasing him from the paralyzed state and vanishing from her spot.

Nero waited for a few minutes before sighing and moving from the tree.

He moved his hands over the inner pockets of his coats and felt the items he had kept there gone.

? 'Not only did she bind me with an oath but also stole from me... What a bad day.' Nero thought as he started making his way back to the demon continent.

---

"Ooo, you managed to get this from him too?" Issac asked with an impressed look. "Well done, Risa."

"I knew that this would come in handy," Risa replied while tossing a ring from one hand to another.

The entire Syrward family was currently seated at the dining table as Risa told them about her side of the story.

She had asked for help from a few fighters in Duphia who had gone around the entire place and killed any demon that might have been spying.

Risa herself had dealt with a commander and had taken a ring from the inner pockets of his coat. She didn't want to praise herself like Issac but she knew that she was an accomplished thief.

"What is this though?" Nora, who was now awake and brought up to speed with what happened, asked while staring at the ring.

It looked like just any normal ring one would see and forget about in the next moment. Except it was made from pure gold and had a tiny blue jewel the size of an ant embedded in it. (So a very expensive ring.)

"This is something known as storage or space rings which are extremely common. You can think of this as a backpack in which you can store many things without having to worry about carrying them. You just have to take care of this ring."

Risa explained and to show the usage of the ring, she tapped the table with it.

The next moment, the entire thing vanished and the ring lightly glowed once. The table once again appeared back in its initial position as Jason and Nora stared at Risa with starry eyes.

'System, do you have an inventory like that?' Jason asked while looking at the ring with keen interest.

He had read about them in his last life and knew that they were created differently in every world. Their rarity and such too depended on the world they were in.

However, he was more interested in knowing whether his system had an inventory similar to the ring.

[ Currently, I don't have any inventory, however, you can buy one after unlocking the shop. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to unlock it. ]

Jason didn't seem to mind that as he was satisfied with knowing that he could unlock the system shop in the future.

"So, what's inside it?" He asked aloud as Risa shrugged.

She had yet to check the inside of the ring but upon being asked, she swept her gaze inside the ring.

"Hmm, looks like he came with the bare minimum. Some money, five instant cast scrolls out of which, four are spells that I know, some healing and mana regeneration potions which look as though they were brewed by one of the best potions masters in the whole demon continent."

Issac's eyes started shining when he heard the names of the items found inside Nero's ring. He calculated all of them into money while thinking of keeping the important items.

"Keep all of the healing and mana potions but leave one from each type. Keep the scrolls as well. As for the rest, we will sell it." Issac announced as Risa shifted the items.

"Huh?" Jason was immediately confused by this so he decided to raise a question. "Why don't we keep everything for ourselves instead of selling it?"

Hearing his question, humorless laughter echoed around the entire room. Except for Nora and Jason, everyone else was chuckling slightly.

"Jason, one of the major things our family specializes in is 'How not to be rich'. You already saw the bets we made on your element." Ray started as Risa took over.

"Now imagine such bets at a large scale with different types of wagers. Now imagine losing more than half of them and not being able to pay the wager."

As soon as she finished her words, Jason realized what they were trying to imply.

Not only was the family not rich, but they also had debt too. Jason almost felt like facepalming at that moment but refrained.

"So it means that you will use all that money to pay back the debt to impatient debtors?"

"Yeah." Issac and Risa replied simultaneously as Jason sighed while looking at the ring.

He just shook his head in dismay and stretched back. However, Issac had other plans for him.

"Oi, you already forgot what we were supposed to do today?" His grandpa asked while standing up. "Get up from your chair."

Jason was confused for a few seconds before it hit him.

"I forgot for a second that I turned five not too long ago and have little to no idea about mana and all that." He muttered under his breath before standing up and following his grandpa.

Together, they went into the forest as Jason was eager to know more about mana and magic.

Under the setting sun, Duphia once again turned into a peaceful town to which nobody would give a second glance.