Layla waited five minutes for Mary to get to safety before she began preparing. All she needed to do was get supplies, and Raziel did the rest of this task.

The older teen did not look nervous on the outside, but his eyes hesitated before sharpening when he looked at the magic circle he had to use for the purification.

"Raziel, there is no need for you to feel afraid. You can even faint once the purification is done, but I promise you will live without complications."

Layla assured the teenager of putting his life on the line for her.

She felt thankful for having him with her and sorry for him. This purification was going to take a lot out of him.

"I am not scared of this, master. I have been preparing for this moment, so please show me how useful I can be to you."

Raziel asked just as the preparations finished, and the divine power made Raziel's body glow in a soft golden light.

The divine energy was often said to be soft and comfortable, but it was a little tough for Layla to stand close to it.

It felt like intense sun rays were falling on her skin on a hot day, but they were not impossible to endure since they left no residue.

The light soon grew intense enough for Layla to close her eyes, and she felt the divine energy rush all around the cave, purifying every crevice this place had.

Raziel's divinity was taking care of monsters and the curse around the village.

It lasted five minutes, and Layla could not see for a whole minute when she opened her eyes.

"Hey, are you alright?"

Layla asked as soon as she caught herself and blinked to clear out the white that had gathered behind her eyelids.

"Yeah, I am fine! I think I overdid it, and now my legs refuse to move. Master, I don't think I can move for a while."

Raziel confessed as he looked down at his shaking legs. He bit his lip before trying to force his body to move, but it was useless.

"If you can't move, then don't try to move. I will signal Mary to tell her where we are and where she needs to come."

Layla took out the small paper she kept on her at all times and lit it up.

It flew toward the sky like a rocket before it exploded into colors like one as well.

Mary was back in the clearing within two minutes, and her expression was pained.

"There is too much divine energy in this place. I bet even the smaller monsters got eradicated when we bombed this place. There will be no problem extracting the mana tones from this place now.

However, I think we should head back to the village now. Staying here might make me sick."

Layla was about to joke that demons did not get sick. But the green hint on Mary's face made her look ill and made Layla reel in her words before they left her mouth.

"Let's head back now. Mary supports Raizel since he cannot walk on his own. Make sure he rests for a few days. I will contact people to come and begin working in these mines."

All the preparations had been pre-made, and Layla only needed to act on them. But that still required some effort, making Layla sigh.

She was happy that one problem had been resolved, but as soon as she reached the village to rest, she was faced with another.

Loud yells could be heard outside the village as someone tried to intimidate the villagers into giving him what he wanted.

"Mary put Raziel in bed and check out what is happening. I want a full report by the evening."

Layla asked as she felt a foreboding feeling. She was sure that trouble was headed her way, and she won't be able to avoid it.

"Of course, miss! I will give you a comprehensive report of what is happening."

Mary smiled at her miss, but the sharpness of her eyes told Layla that the maid would question every person she encountered if she needed to extract the information.

Thankfully, there was no need to go that far to find the problem—the problem decided to walk toward them on his legs.

...

"C-Count Pablo, there has been a problem. The village chief just handed the rights of that mana mine over to some kid and her maid. Our sources say that they are from Duke Lockhart's household. What should we do now?"

The servant shivered as he spoke these words.

He loathed to tell his boss this bad news since he knew his boss's temper well. There was no way the Count would take this news well.

As expected, the Count froze before his eyes lit up in anger, and he broke his cigar.

"What did you say? How can you allow that to happen? Are you all so incompetent that you cannot follow a single order or mine? You are all useless."

The count threw whatever he was holding at the servant (which happened to be his cigar) before he pushed himself back to his feet.

"We are heading toward the village and taking that contract back. The mining rights to that mana cave belong to me.

And you said the contract and rights were passed to a kid and her maid, right? Then it should be easy for us to get them. Everyone knows the Duke likes to foster commoner kids because he cannot have a full-blooded one. We shall take advantage of the low IQ commoner kids have and get the rights."

Count Pablo did not even need a plan this time. He was going to intimidate the kid who dared steal his mine and scare her so much that the kid would never dare come back.

He immediately wore his most impressive outfit and clad himself in jewelry to intimidate those peasants. The count was going to show everyone the difference between him and them.