Mythology: Ragnarok

Ike lowered his head and dared not speak. After hearing Agreed's explanation, he realized just how dangerous his thoughts had been.

Agreed sighed, walked over, and lightly tapped his forehead, scolding him: "Remember this, money doesn't just fall into your pocket for free. The more dangerous a task seems but offers high rewards, the more careful you need to be. Good things that fall from the sky never happen, and even if they did, I don't think I'd be lucky enough to encounter them. You'd better not think you're so lucky either, because that's stupid."

Ike could only sincerely admit his mistake, saying, "I'm sorry, Captain, I didn't think things through."

Agreed softened his tone, took out fifty high-quality magic crystals (each worth about a thousand gold coins) from his spatial ring, and said, "I won't let my brothers go away empty-handed. Each of these magic crystals is worth about a thousand gold coins. You five can divide them up."

Ike's expression immediately brightened, and he cheered loudly, "Captain is the best! Long live the captain!"

Afterwards, Agreed announced a two-day break and disbanded the group. Exhausted, Agreed walked home, where Heya approached him and asked, "Why did you learn blood magic? Isn't the nature magic you learned from me enough?"

Agreed explained, "Vampires are, after all, potential enemies. It's always beneficial to learn about them, so we should seize this opportunity."

Heya nodded and continued, "Since it's still early, would you like to go sightseeing together?"

Agreed could only politely decline the offer, saying, "I'm sorry, I have to go home to see the kids. If I get home late, Hepburn will scold me. You've been working all night, so get some rest." Then Agreed quickened his pace toward home.

Hea looked helplessly at his retreating figure and murmured, "If I had come to the human world sooner, would I have met you sooner? Would I have been able to take Hepburn's place?"

……

Agred ran excitedly home, pushed open the door and shouted, "I'm home!"

At that moment, Agred's three-year-old daughter ran out and called out to him, "Daddy, Daddy."

Agreed knelt down and picked up his daughter, who ran into his arms, his face full of happiness as he said, "Baby, did you listen to Mommy at home today? Where's Mommy?"

Hepburn arrived late, her voice filled with jealousy as she called out, "So you finally know how to come back? Going out to work in the middle of the night, and with that elf no less! If you ever go out fooling around again, don't even think about coming back."

Agreedton said, feeling wronged, "Heavens above, I really do have a job. And don't worry, I don't even dare to say more than a few words to her normally. Please let me off the hook. Can we stop using her as a topic of conversation to add some spice to our lives?"

Hepburn gave a haughty snort, walked over, picked up her daughter, and said, "Are you hungry? Dinner is ready, let's eat first."

After finishing his meal, Agreed told Hepburn that he was going out for a bit and would be back soon. Hepburn then took out a bottle of potion and handed it to Agreed, saying, "You can go out, but you can leave after drinking this."

Agreed picked up the potion, shook it, and asked, "What is this?"

Hepburn rested her hand on her chin and said smugly, "If you dare to go out and mess around after drinking this, you'll completely lose your manhood." (It was actually just a tonic with nutritional value.)

Without a word, Agreed drank the medicine and then shouted, "Who do you think you are? Is this all you've got? I'm leaving." With that, he put on his clothes and went out.

Afterwards, Agreed sneaked into a deep, quiet, deserted alley. In the dilapidated corner, there was a shop with a worn-out sign that read "Pawnshop No. 7".

Agreed pushed open the door and entered. The empty pawnshop was filled with all sorts of strange bottles and jars. Agreed shouted, "I brought the currency. Now you have enough money. You have to give me what I want."

Before the words were finished, a scarlet figure appeared on the pawnshop owner's chair. If you were familiar with various legends and stories, you would immediately call out his race name: 'Demon'.

The demon clapped his hands and praised, "As expected of you, you collected the last soul so quickly. The deal is done."

Agreed took out a crystal ball, handed it to him, and said, "Here you go, along with the container you lent me for storing souls."

The demon put away the container and clapped his hands in praise, saying, "Mr. Agred has indeed kept his promise. This is the tool you requested that can capture souls. Following the method I taught you, you can store it into your soul. As for this crystal that can store souls, consider it a gift. However, I am curious what you need it for?" With that, the demon put away the soul and handed a pendant along with the crystal ball to Agred.

Agreed put the pendant away and said vaguely, "It's always good to have more things to protect yourself. I'll come back if I need anything in the future. After all, it's an honor to do business with Mammon, one of the strongest demon lords of the Seven Deadly Sins, the Sin of Greed."

Mammon laughed heartily, "Old friend, I love listening to you talk. Won't you stay with me for a while today? If possible, I hope to find something that will make you willing to trade your soul for me. I've been coveting your powerful soul for a long time."

Agreed declined, saying, "I have urgent business to attend to today, so I won't stay any longer. I'll treat you to drinks later."

Mammon said with a hint of regret, "Alright then, come visit often when you have time. I'd love to share my stories from other worlds with you."

Agreed looked at Mammon with mixed feelings. He had met this demon by chance one night two years ago. His cultivation of the Soul Vortex had made Agreed's soul far stronger than that of his kind, which made the demons target him. But after a long period of contact, Agreed truly came to understand the demon race that was condemned by many.

The demon race is not as terrifying as human legends portray. On the contrary, objectively speaking, the demon race is one of the most friendly races to humans. Because the demon race is born in the Sea of ​​Souls, their way of communicating is based directly on the soul, a spiritual communication without any language barriers.

The advantage of this mode of communication is that there are no lies. In other words, demons never lie. At most, they will downplay the truth or remain silent. For them, lies are a non-existent word. At the same time, they attach great importance to the spirit of contracts. They are the first inventors of contracts and transactions.

Aside from succubi, demons do not bewitch and steal human souls as human legends portray them. High-ranking demons, like Mammon, mostly conduct business among various races, trading souls as a bargaining chip.

At this pawnshop, Agreed witnessed the dark side of humanity. Demons used their indifferent money and meager power to exchange for the souls of humans who sold themselves or even their entire families. Demons never forced transactions; in fact, humans always voluntarily approached them for deals. Yet, after completing the transaction, these people would try to renege on their debts, leading to one tragedy after another. Agreed could understand this, after all, people were there to collect their debts. Demons were actually very reasonable; the contract stipulated the price for the souls sold, and they wouldn't overcharge, but they would never charge less!

Imagine this: you've set up a stall and already set the price, and the buyer has no objections. But after the transaction is complete, the buyer takes the goods without paying. What would you do? No other race besides humans would speak ill of demons, because demons are the most honest, trustworthy, and reliable merchants in all the worlds. They have such a wide variety of goods that you can basically buy anything you want from them.

"Humans are the most reckless and immoral race. I have never seen a race so easily enslaved by worldly things." These are Mammon's words, and they are the undeniable truth that Agreed has come to after witnessing one tragedy after another at Pawnshop No. 7.