Magical Journey: The Other Shore Blooms on the Other Shore

Chapter 143 Hermes, the Land of Deception, Part 5

“Beautiful lady, would you like to play a game?” the bread stall owner said to Elena. “If you win, the bread you bought is yours for free. If you lose, you have to pay me double.”

The people here all seem to have a gambling addiction.

Irene has encountered countless similar situations.

Even if you compliment me on my looks, so what?

Regardless of whether he wins or not, even if he does win, he will most likely be lying and will not keep his promise.

Of course, Elena could break her promise even if she lost, but she didn't want to do something meaningless; these people just liked to indulge their gambling addiction.

Under the disappointed gaze of the bread vendor, Elena shook her head, took the bread, and left.

Then the stall owner looked up in astonishment, belatedly realizing what was happening.

Wait—you haven't paid yet—

In that instant, Elena had vanished.

Only one letter remained: "Go to Constantine for the money." It also included her delicate handwritten signature.

At this moment, Elena was already enjoying her lunch for the day. Putting everything else aside, the bread here was quite good, so I'd give it a thumbs up.

"Do you really like eating bread that much?" Qin asked.

“It’s…delicious…” Elena said. “Don’t you think so?”

Qin's silence suggested that she might not actually like bread that much.

Elena didn't say anything more.

Perhaps next time, the potion should be made with some stimulating food.

That's the only way to stimulate Qin's taste buds—hmm... what kind of food would be better... spicy hot pot? Or hot pot? Maybe not, they might not be compatible with the potion, I'll have to do some more research.

……

"You said your mother doesn't want to help you?" Constantine felt as if he'd been struck by lightning upon hearing Ziqiharna's words. Then... what about the mark on his heart?

“Yes.” Qiqiharna nodded dejectedly.

"Then...then can you remove the mark from me?" Constantine's hope rekindled. Ziqiharna was an apprentice witch; perhaps...perhaps...

“I can’t see any magical markings on you. Maybe that coward is just bluffing,” Qiqiharna said, arms crossed. “You should say he was definitely bluffing. You said he didn’t do anything.”

Bluffing... He had certainly considered that possibility; that the guy was just trying to scare him and didn't actually have any magical mark at all.

But what if it isn't?

If that weren't the case, why would he be so confident in handing over his money to me?

If I were him, I would absolutely never lend out so many gold coins without doing anything—his confident demeanor didn't seem like bluffing at all.

"Qiqiharna, you have to help me, you promised me..."

"Shut up, you're too noisy," Qiqiharna said, displeased.

That damn guy was already annoying enough for her to refuse to engage, and now there's this other person nagging her every day. If it weren't for how good this person is at pleasing her, she would have stopped talking to him long ago.

He lost his composure when something went wrong.

Constantine had a basic ability to read people—he knew that continuing to bother him would only make things worse. This guy was arrogant all the time, and that was one thing, but now that Constantine was facing imminent death, he was still acting like it was none of his business.

We need to think of a way... We can't put all our eggs in one basket. We can't gamble with our own lives—maybe we should just return the money.

This way, you can save yourself some trouble.

But what if that guy is really bluffing? How am I, Constantine, supposed to survive in the Land of Deception?

But reputation is nothing compared to one's life—so be it.

Besides, the other person doesn't know if they've truly been marked and have to pay back the money; I myself didn't even know. Is this fraud?

But he still had another problem: he had already spent all the money. He had thought that Qiqiharna and her daughter would remove the mark on him in no time, and he hadn't considered the current situation.

How can I repay the money when I'm penniless now...?

“Honey, could you lend me some money?” Constantine said.

Their family may lack everything, but they will never lack money. A lot of the gold coins obtained by their family through fraud flowed to the mother and daughter for stable money laundering and disposal.

"What? You're chickening out and want to pay back the money?" Qiqiharna said.

“Yes,” Constantine said.

“This is not in accordance with the hospitality of Hermes. How can we return money that we have already received?” Qiqiharna said. “We will not return this money.”

You make it sound so easy, but it's not you who might die.

Constantine completely understood what Ziqiharna was thinking—she wanted to make the guy who lent her money suffer, because if he returned the money, wouldn't she be the one who suffered?

She couldn't bring herself to say no.

But Qiqiharna had already made such a definitive statement, and Constantine didn't know how to convince his fiancée.

“I’ve got a great idea. You give my toy to that nasty guy,” Ziqiharna said. “If he doesn’t want to play with it, I’ll force him.”

Toy?

“This is it—just tell him it’s worth more than fifty gold coins, consider it repayment.” Qiqiharna magically produced a sapphire. “Any appraiser would give it this price.”

Constantine naturally recognized the origin of the gem.

It appears to be a birthday gift from Hailna to her daughter—a cursed gem that anyone who carries it for more than half a day, and then recites a specific incantation to that person, will fall into a deep sleep.

Even more terrifying is that it's some kind of curse that's contagious; anyone near the gem will be affected.

“Once he lowers his guard, I’ll appear in front of him, cast a spell, and then rob him until he’s down to his underwear—who told him to be such a coward and not play along?” Qiqiharna said.

Constantine, of course, wouldn't refuse the offer. After all, he hadn't lost anything, and he certainly hoped the outsider would leave something behind—it was a matter of hospitality in the kingdom of Hermes.

“You should know how to say it appropriately, right? As a professional con artist,” Qiqiharna handed the cursed gem to Constantine. “Try to be as natural as possible.”