CHAPTER 317: SO WHAT IF I DID?

Dante noticed the silence shrouding the Bowl of Fortune soon after his arrival, which made him think the party was over. That said, there was still an hour before midnight, so it didn’t make sense for all the guests to leave before then. Seeing that the front door was open, he pulled it aside and peeked inside. Immediately, four pairs of eyes turned in his direction.

Finn opened his mouth to say something, but then he saw the petite old woman leap from the counter, almost reaching the ceiling. Watching her fall in his direction, pipe in hand, Dante closed his eyes and clenched his teeth.

BONK!

The blow echoed through the noodle shop, and everyone who heard it winced in pain.

"YOU IDIOT!!!" Nobara yelled. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!!!"

Landing beside him, she proceeded to smack him several times, forcing him to jump away.

"Hey hey hey! What’s gotten into you, old hag!!?"

"What’s gotten into me? WHAT’S GOTTEN INTO ME!!? You take off like that and you ask what’s gotten into ME!!?"

"What did I do?"

After getting a nice, long beating, Dante was finally given a break. His body ached all over, but he had no broken bones, or so he liked to believe. Settling in her usual spot behind the counter, the old cook ignited the herbs in her pipe and took a puff. Exhaling the smoke, she kept her silence for a moment, then raised her hand, snapping her fingers. A strange sensation washed over the shop, but only Finn seemed to react to it.

"W-w-what was that!!?"

The green-haired android turned to him and smirked.

"Magic!"

The boy gave her the "are you shitting me?" look, but when she kept smiling, he realized what he heard was the truth.

[It seems the interior of the noodle shop has been severed from the outside world.] Volcan said.

’Right...’

"I will ask you again, boy," Nobara said. "What in the world happened to you?"

Looking around, Dante noticed the glass and the whiskey bottle he had left behind. Picking them up, he went and sat at the counter, refilled his drink, and chugged it down in one go.

"Easy now. That’s not some cheap beer." Said the old cook, frowning.

"Yeah, I don’t really like this stuff," Dante said, pouring himself another drink. This time, he slowed down and sipped only a little, putting the glass right after. The others waited for him to talk, but even after a while, he still didn’t say anything. Tired of waiting, Nobara tapped the counter with her pipe.

"So? Are you going to answer or not?"

Glancing at her, Dante smiled and shook his head.

"You have no delicacy at all, old hag." He said. "Don’t ask questions you know I won’t answer."

"It’s that hero, right?" Suzuka took the seat beside him, having brought her own glass along.

"Great, we have a detective here." Dante chuckled.

"And a massive idiot." She shot back. "Don’t tell me you were planning on picking a fight with him."

"So what if I did?" Dante replied.

"Are you drunk or something, boy?" Nobara asked.

"Probably..." Saying that, Dante gazed at his glass then chugged some more of the golden brown liquid.

The silence returned, and it lasted longer than anticipated. The others started to believe what he said. Finn seemed to be the most shocked. The hero they were talking about was Paragon, after all. The world’s one and only Level 6 Genome.

"It’s not like I have a say in the matter." A short while later, Dante spoke again. "They probably sent him here to deal with me."

"Well, aren’t you full of yourself." Nobara scoffed.

Suzuka turned to her with an inquisitive look, but the old hag shook her head.

"Right..."

Raising his glass, Dante was about to take another sip, but then stopped.

’We don’t know yet...’

He thought aloud.

He had no doubt that the reason the monster was relocated to Neo-Vatra was to deal with him and retrieve VOLCAN, but he had no idea if those in charge had already discovered him yet.

If he had to be honest, Dante was well aware that he wasn’t doing a stellar job lying low. He almost got caught by Flame Guard once, and he barely escaped after fighting that furry bastard. He had been relying on the armor more and more, so even if his enemies didn’t catch him in the act, he might have left enough traces for them to track him down and discover his identity.

Still, it wasn’t like he hadn’t put any effort into cleaning up after himself. If they managed to find him, it would be because they had used something supernatural, one he had no way of working around.

[There is a chance that they have yet to track us down.] Volcan replied.

’Right...’

"So, what are you going to do?"

Nobara’s question severed his line of thought, prompting him to look up.

"What?"

"Let’s say what you claim is true." She pointed the pipe at him. "The world’s most powerful superhero is coming after you, and he probably won’t he alone. How are you going to deal with them? Do you have what it takes to win?" She looked him in the eye. "Do you need help?"

Staring at her for a moment, Dante looked down in thought. He then turned his gaze to the blue-haired girl beside him.

"There is something I want you to make." He said. "Well, more like a few things. You take commissions, right?"

"Sure, but... do we have the time?" Suzuka asked.

"We will know in the coming days." Thinking for a moment, Dante raised his cup and took a sip. "Meanwhile, I will work on making some money."

It has always been the case, but now that it seemed like he didn’t have enough time left, the thirty million gold he had no longer seemed like a large sum. He needed to accelerate his plans and go full cyborg and gain the ability to use VOLCAN without constraints. Only then would he have the confidence to face him.

As he thought about the ways he planned to make some money, he recalled one that seemed like it was going nowhere, all because he had no idea where to start. Raising his gaze, he looked at the old cook for a moment.

"What?" She asked, frowning.

"Well, I was just wondering..." He said, feeling a little awkward considering the topic. "Do you know anyone interested in buying the corpses of dead Sorcerers?"