Derick felt his head spin, and the back of his neck was still aching slightly.
The cold ground made him sit up.
Looking around, he found it was pitch black; he couldn't clearly see what was nearby.
Wasn't I waiting for Castorice to cook for me? Where is this place?
What happened just now?
He had been lying on the small bed, dozing off, when suddenly his head felt heavy, and then his body experienced a distinct pushing sensation. Recalling that feeling now, Derick felt as if his entire body had slammed into a large truck and been carried along on the front for a stretch.
Did I transmigrate again?
Having finally settled down in Okhema, please don't let it be transmigration!
Just as Derick was thinking this, he saw someone approaching with a torch. When the person got closer, Derick could make out her features by the torchlight.
A petite cat-girl with an older-sister figure.
Derick let out a sigh of relief unexpectedly.
It seemed he was still in Amphoreus, not having left this world.
He wanted to speak to Cipher, but just as he opened his mouth, he found it stuffed with two large coins. At the same time, these coins were attached to a string tied around his head, making it impossible for him to speak.
Trying to move his hands, Derick also felt them bound behind his back with something like handcuffs.
"Derick, stop struggling, you can't escape." Cipher leaned close to Derick, flicking his forehead with her finger. "My name is Cipher, also one of the Golden Ones. I'll remove your restraints in a bit, don't scream and shout."
After saying this, her lips curled up into a cat-like smile.
"Although, even if you shout loudly, it won't have any effect. This is Janusopolis, there's hardly anyone around. Even if someone found out, they couldn't stop me from taking you away."
She reached out and removed the gag from Derick's mouth.
Derick felt fresh air enter his mouth. He took several deep breaths, then looked at Cipher.
"You, why did you kidnap me?"
Cipher sat cross-legged in front of Derick, the edge of her boots pressing into her plump thighs, sparking the imagination. Tilting her head, she rested her chin on her hand and sized him up.
Hearing Derick's question, Cipher spoke with a smile, "Someone paid me to kidnap you. Paid very generously."
"Yes, who else would do such a thing?" Cipher reached out to touch Derick. "When the time comes, who knows what you'll go through?"
In short, it wouldn't be anything good.
"Can you bear to see such a thing happen? How much did Caenis give you? I can give you more," Derick quickly said to Cipher.
Although in the game's plot, she helped the little grey hair. And her address of 'Derick' just now was quite casual, proving the possibility of her causing harm was low.
But he didn't want to just wait for that situation to happen.
Cipher had been a demigod for so long; even if she wasn't indifferent to others' lives and deaths, she was at least accustomed to seeing death.
Cipher sized Derick up and said disdainfully, "Do you have a single coin on you right now? Haven't even earned much yourself, yet you spent everything helping the Salthos tribe you'd never met. Don't tell me you're going to use Castorice's money? Though that's actually a good idea, I'll send her a ransom note later, tell her to hand over her money."
Hearing her say this, Derick quickly said, "I'm not using Castorice's money, I can write you an IOU, I'll give it to you later."
"By the time you can save up enough money, all of Amphoreus will likely be destroyed." Cipher lightly scratched Derick's cheek with her fingernail.
After staring for a moment, she laughed.
"Alright, alright, I was joking with you. Handing a cute boy over to that old woman, I still can't bring myself to do such a thing."
Cipher showed Derick her chat log with Caenis.
Looking at the messaging slate, essentially the screen of what Derick knew as a phone before transmigrating, showing the conversation and Cipher finally blocking Caenis, Derick breathed a sigh of relief.
It seemed Cipher wouldn't hand him over to Caenis.
"Then why did you kidnap me?"
If not to hand him over to Caenis, then why kidnap him?
"To take you back and play with you thoroughly." Cipher put on a lecherous expression.
Seriously, comparing her older-sister figure with Derick's teenage appearance really resembled many doujinshi plots.
"Okhema has a complete and sound legal system."
"I'm already a phantom thief, when have I ever cared about Okhema's laws." Cipher said disdainfully, then her expression turned serious.
"I kidnapped you mainly for Castorice's sake. Of course, it's also for the both of us."
Derick asked puzzledly.
"Yes, so she won't have to fulfill her duty, won't have to continue the Flamechase Journey," Cipher said firmly.
"You might not know about the Flamechase Journey. Anyway, let me tell you, the longer you stay with Castorice, the better you coordinate, the sooner Castorice's trial will arrive. And once she passes the trial and becomes a demigod, her destiny will arrive. Believe me, you won't like that destiny."
"Look at Aglaea's state, Lady Tribbie split into a thousand avatars; the price of becoming a demigod is very high. You don't want Castorice to suffer such a fate, do you?"
"Me? I won't fulfill my own duty, so the destiny of a demigod hasn't fallen upon me yet." Cipher played with the coin in her hand.
[You shall walk with greed, and also perish by the penny.]
"I don't want to die yet, so I can only make this Flamechase Journey not proceed so easily. Anyway, whether it's for you, for Castorice, or for me, kidnapping you is a very good choice."
After saying this, she pulled Derick up.
"Let's go, don't stay here too long, or we might be seen by Nikador's minions. I'm not good at fighting, so it's best to avoid them."
Even if you're not good at fighting, would you still be afraid of a Condemnation Hunter?
"When do you plan to let me go?" Derick asked Cipher.
"Well, that depends on Castorice's change of heart." Cipher pulled Derick along as they walked forward.
"When she no longer wants to continue fulfilling her responsibility, I will let you meet her. What do you think, Derick, isn't my idea genius?"
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