After the slave owners went bankrupt, they all wanted to keep me as a mistress.

"ring?"

Mu Qiu subconsciously reached out and touched the ring. Then, he saw that the crystal ring that was originally on the pink-haired girl's hand suddenly jumped onto his index finger.

"?"

Mu Qiu was stunned for a moment, and reached out to take off the ring, only to find that even with his Gold Rank power, he could not budge the ring at all.

"This ring... seems to be a storage ring?"

With a thought, Mu Qiu tentatively selected this crystal coffin as the storage area for his storage ring.

The next second, the crystal coffin and the pink-haired girl inside disappeared without a trace, while Mu Qiu felt that a crystal coffin had instantly appeared in his storage ring.

He checked her attributes again and was surprised to find that this time there was an extra line of information below her attributes.

[Awakening 1/4: Starfall Coffin, Blood of ? ?, Gold Coins of ? ?, Contract of ? ? (Must be collected in order)]

Four items are needed to wake her up.

"Is it also necessary to have some kind of bloodline, and some kind of contract?"

Mu Qiu raised an eyebrow slightly.

Should the contract be a master-servant contract or an equal contract signed with her?

But that... blood... he had no idea what it was.

He originally intended to simply toss the girl in the crystal coffin into a corner of his storage ring and leave her there.

However, when Mu Qiu saw the last item, gold coins, he immediately perked up.

Ok? ? ?

To awaken this unknown girl who exists between death and slumber, you need gold coins.

That must be a significant number, right?

Hundreds of thousands? Millions? Or tens of millions?

Such a great opportunity to lose money, I definitely can't miss it! It might be another chance to make him lose a lot of money!

Mu Qiu planned to ask Lily when he got back to see if she knew the identity of this mysterious girl.

If we can figure out her identity, we might be able to understand what kind of blood and contract she needs.

"No, gone?"

After discovering that the crystal coffin had disappeared, Vera, who was hiding behind Mu Qiu, cautiously poked her head out.

Luna, who had been waiting for a long time, suddenly jumped out.

"ha--!"

"Huh?!"

Vera looked terrified and raised her staff, repeatedly hitting Luna on the head.

Bang-!

"Yes, if you're a ghost, then hurry up and drain your master dry! Don't... don't come near me!"

"Ouch... Ouch, that hurts!"

Luna thought she could scare Vera like her master did, but instead she was hit on the head several times by the staff.

She covered her head, her eyes brimming with tears, and looked in the direction of her master and her sister Adele, only to find that they had both turned away at the same time.

Vera only realized what was happening when she heard Luna's voice.

"So...it wasn't a ghost after all?"

"Of course not!"

Luna pouted in dissatisfaction, rubbing her aching head with one hand: "Ghosts are nowhere near as cute as Luna, meow!"

Mu Qiu gave Luna's little bottom a light pat: "Alright! Now that we've found the treasure, let's go back!"

"There's no treasure here, meow!"

Luna shouted, "It's just a broken coffin and a corpse! There's no treasure at all!"

"As expected, the Goddess of Wealth is a fraud, meow! A big fraud, meow!"

It was already evening when we left the cave and returned to the manor.

The journey was smooth sailing, probably because the group exuded the aura of two Gold-level professionals, which had scared away the low-level magical beasts in Mirror Lake Forest.

Although the light emitted by the golden statue was conspicuous, it was located deep within the Mirror Lake Forest, and people outside had no way of knowing about it.

In a dilapidated cabin deep within the Mirror Lake Forest.

—A few hours ago.

Inside the cabin, it was deathly silent as always, broken only by the faint scraping of the chains on Ilúvier's wrists as she struggled helplessly, and the muffled thud of the iron bars tightening around Fiona's skin as she tried to change position in the cramped dog cage.

Suddenly, a faint golden light, radiating a divine aura, pierced through a crack in the wooden house wall like a sharp sword cutting through layers of gloom, and was reflected in Fiona's eyes as she stared blankly at the dog bowl.

The light flashed and disappeared in an instant, so fast it seemed like an illusion.

Fiona's curled-up body stiffened abruptly, her chapped lips parted slightly, and she uttered a barely audible syllable: "...Light?"

Ilúviel, who was hanging there, seemed to be burned by the faint light. Her empty eyes suddenly turned and her gaze focused with difficulty on the spot where the light had disappeared.

"……Outside……"

Ilúviel's voice was incredibly hoarse, as if she hadn't had water for days, "Then the light is...?"

Although it was so faint as to be negligible, this light, imbued with a sacred aura, still evoked certain associations in their minds.

Is... anyone there?

Fiona's voice trembled with disbelief as she tried to lift her head to look at the world outside the crack. The cold iron bar dug deeper into her shoulder, bringing a sharp pain that also momentarily cleared her numb nerves.

"They've come... to rescue us?"

This thought grew wildly like weeds, instantly igniting Fiona's nearly extinguished eyes.

That succubus... she just didn't come to deliver the food today!

She's not here!

If... if someone comes to their rescue right now, maybe... maybe they can really escape!

She even forgot about the dog food in front of her and the pain all over her body, and tried with all her might to move even a tiny bit towards the crack, causing the chains and cage to rattle even more violently.

Ilúviel did not respond immediately; she simply stared intently at the crack, and for the first time, a numb expression appeared on her ashen face.

Could it be... could it be!

Was it a powerful adventurer passing by?

Or...something else?

No matter who it is, even if it means enslaving them, please, save us! I'll do anything...

Time passed slowly in the dead silence.

One second, two seconds...

One minute...two minutes...

I do not know how long it has been.

Outside the wooden house, only the whistling of the wind through the treetops and the faint chirping of birds in the distance could be heard.

There was no more light, no more footsteps, and no more human voices.

That light seemed to be merely a fleeting glance cast by a deity, briefly illuminating their despair before mercilessly withdrawing.

Hope, like a soap bubble, bursts with a "pop" after a brief moment of brilliance, leaving behind only a deeper darkness and coldness.

The light that had just ignited in Fiona's eyes quickly dimmed, becoming even darker than before.

Her body, which had been trying to move, lost all strength and fell heavily back to the bottom of the cage with a dull thud.

Was it all just an illusion?

In the end... no one will come to save them.

"……Ah."

Ilúviel let out a self-deprecating laugh, unsure whether she was laughing at Fiona's naivety or at her own momentary wavering.

She lowered her head again, burying her face in the shadows. The slight ripple in her eyes returned to their lifeless state, even more vacant than before.

"No... no one will come. That succubus has no intention of letting us go. If we fall into her hands, we can't even die if we want to."

She stated this despairing fact in a hoarse voice, as if she had already resigned herself to her fate: "Give up on that idea, what we've encountered... is a demon lord from the abyss."

"Unless the chief of the Star Council or the Truth Association happens to be passing by... no one can save us."

"Woo..."

Fiona stopped looking out the window. She buried her face in her arms, her shoulders trembling slightly, her body shaking, and a low sob escaped her lips. She was filled with remorse.

Why did they take on this mission?

They should have known that missions related to forbidden books might involve encountering demons, they should have known there would be such danger, so why... did they think that their mere Gold-rank strength was enough to complete such missions?

"Ilúviel...I'm so scared..."

"Someone...someone come and save us...please..."

Chapter 74 Vera wants to warm Mu Qiu's bed?

at the same time.

The realm of the gods, the garden of the Pantheon.

The gentle afternoon sunlight bathed the terrace paved with cloud crystal, and the air was filled with the rich fragrance of the eternal flower and the warm aroma of divine black tea.

Several goddesses, each with a different appearance but exuding immense divine power and exquisite beauty, are enjoying a leisurely afternoon tea.

Suddenly, the goddess of wealth, sitting to one side, trembled slightly, and a soft moan escaped her lips involuntarily.

"snore--!"

In her hand, the teacup, which was shimmering with the faint image of golden coins, swayed slightly, creating delicate ripples.

Although this brief lapse in composure was extremely subtle, everyone present was a highly perceptive deity, and it naturally did not escape their notice.

"What's wrong, my dear Mana?"

Sitting opposite her was a woman with long sky-blue hair who looked very intellectual. She pushed up glasses that weren't actually on her nose and a playful smile appeared on her lips.

"Is it because you're reminiscing about your past as a human, or has your vast treasury, scattered throughout the lower realms, finally become so large that you can't even count it all?"

Mana slowly put down her teacup, her lips parted slightly, and her voice was ethereal and otherworldly, enough to instantly silence the whispers of the conversation.

"No... he's a hero."

"Just now, I sensed the aura of a hero."

"Shh-"

In an instant, all the subtle sounds on the terrace vanished.

After a brief silence, a sudden burst of whispers erupted.

"Brave?"

"The hero actually survived this time?"

"Several centuries have passed? The previous generations of heroes were all wiped out before we could even sense them. Finally, a hero of decent quality has arrived."

"Hmph... They're all useless heroes who were brought here by dump trucks from another world. What kind of quality could they possibly have? They were probably killed by monsters as soon as they landed. When will we see another hero like the first one?"

"Whose contract is it? Or is it unclaimed?"

The goddesses exchanged glances and discussed among themselves, but their tone did not seem serious.

Every hundred years, a hero or a demon king is summoned. From the Age of Gods to the present, hundreds of heroes have been summoned. However, apart from their "visitor from another world" traits which can be used to fight the abyss, the character and abilities of most heroes are not very useful.

And the Demon King, from beginning to end, has only been one.

Even though the first nine heroes died inexplicably shortly after being summoned over the past thousand years, it was nothing more than a trivial matter in their eyes.