Kapitel 40: Nico's Return

*Swoosh*

"Huh?!!" Daniel suddenly turned around as he heard a strange sound. "Senior?!" He suddenly saw Nico's figure, however, his once fine clothes were now tattered and there were minor wounds all over his body.

"You're back!" Daniel immediately jumped up and ran towards Nico. He had a worried face, seeing the wounds on Nico's body. He couldn't think of something or someone who could hurt even an expert like Nico.

"Yep," Nico said with a smile. He didn't say much and sat cross-legged on the ground, closing his eyes and focusing his energy in one place. It would take him a while to restore his spiritual energy as a result of his fight with Henry.

"..." Daniel was puzzled at the moment. Why didn't Nico say anything? He wondered. The biggest thought on his mind right now was, 'Why is he wounded?' He took his time to think about it, but only one thing came to his mind.

'Don't tell me he fought with Henry?!' he kept staring at Nico blankly for a moment before shaking his head. 'No, how could he even fight someone as influential and powerful as Henry?' He didn't know that Henry, who was now dead, was the only witness of Nico's true strength.

Daniel quietly sat down on the mat, caressing Lumi's fur as she lay in his lap. 'I should stop wasting my time thinking, instead, I should ask him directly about what happened.'

After an entire hour, Nico opened his eyes, only to find Daniel eagerly staring at his face. "Huh? What's wrong? Something on my face?" Nico asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Ah, it's nothing… I just have something to ask you." Daniel replied, shaking his head.

"Alright, ask what you want to." Looking at Daniel's curious look, Nico couldn't help but wonder what was going on in his mind. 'Is he gonna ask me about my injuries?' he thought to himself. It would completely make sense if Daniel were to ask this question.

"Why are you injured? Did you have a fight with someone strong?" The next moment, Nico heard the anticipated question come out of Daniel's mouth.

"Knew it, you were gonna ask this…" he took in a deep breath before answering, "I killed Henry, but during the fight, I got a few wounds." His reply was straightforward and simple, not beating around the bush or anything.

'Huh?! What do you mean a few wounds? They're all over your body.' Daniel thought to himself before realising that it was not even that important of a thing. "What?! Did you say Henry?!" With a bewildered expression, Daniel asked.

"Yes?" Nico just replied in one word, looking at Daniel with a weird expression. "Oh, I get it! You must be thinking that I can't kill Henry because he's some immortal being with infinite power, but nah, I still finished him off." Reading Daniel's thoughts, Nico answered in advance.

"Are you sure you're talking about the alchemy shop owner, Henry?" With a shocked expression, Daniel asked again to make sure that Nico wasn't talking about someone else.

"Yeah, it's the alchemy shop owner you told me about." Nico replied, nodding his head.

"But… How did you even kill him?! His guards alone can kill powerful experts, and he's said to have a connection with some deity… doesn't that mean you are even stronger than him?!" Daniel was not ready to believe Nico's words. It was not his fault in the first place, who would believe that the man who's got so much power and influence could be killed like that.

"Here," with a calm look on his face, Nico took out the head of a man from his spatial ring. Daniel jumped back, seeing all the blood.

"Ugh, put it away, it's disgusting!" He shouted, looking away from it. He was controlling his urge to puke. Although he had killed many monsters and even humans, he could still not resist the foul smell coming from the chopped head. He could easily tell that it was stored in the ring for a while now.

"What are you even thinking of doing with a man's head?! Are you some practitioner of dark arts or something?" Daniel asked with a questioning gaze.

"Ah… it's like a trophy for me…" Nico said before turning around, putting the head away in his spatial ring.

"Ew… what kind of trophy is that?!" Daniel said with a disgusted face. Suddenly, he remembered that he had to ask another important question.

"Leaving everything else aside, why did you even kill Henry? Did he steal your candy in your childhood days?" Daniel joked, letting out a slight chuckle before his expression turned serious.

"Hah, it's a long story… but I am free now, so I won't mind telling it to you as long as you wanna listen to it." Nico sighed.

"Sure thing, I am all ears, you can start your storytelling." Daniel sat cross-legged, putting Lumi on his lap and gently caressing her fur.

"When I was a kid…." Clearing his throat, Nico started his storytelling.

***

"Hmm… how's the progress so far?" A man clad in black clothes was sitting on a wooden chair in a quiet room. Beside him stood a tall, gorgeous woman with a celebrity figure. She was wearing a tight dress, not putting any make-up on, but her beauty was still top-tier.

"It's going well according to our plans, sir… However, we're still not able to find the whereabouts of the anonymous guy who auctioned all the top-grade weapons." The woman answered in a melodious, pleasing voice.

"I see, hmm… tell the team to do everything possible in order to find that person… We need him in our guild." The man said before closing his eyes.

"Alright, as you wish, sir." The woman left the room after saying that, not forgetting to close the door behind her.

"Hmm… this guy is interesting, who could he be? Some rich businessman? The son of a billionaire?" The man fell into deep thoughts.

(Author: Heya guys! Sorry for the late update, I was a little busy today, so I apologise for that! Also, please support the book by sending power stones, gifts and anything else, it motivates me a lot! I will do my best to improve quality over time, tysm! Keep supporting, and join the discord server, the link is in the synopsis!)