I JUST WANT A PEACEFUL LIFE

"Ahh… What a perfect morning." thought Angus while enjoying his newly brewed tea from Darren.

Currently, Angus is enjoying the peaceful moment in the morning while looking at the two girl's morning exercises not far from them.

Since they are not in a hurry, they keep their daily training. Fortunately, Jayna and Anna have already reached a level where they rarely need his teaching. They just need to keep practicing on their own.

Therefore, it is one of the rare chances for Angus to appreciate a peaceful moment while appreciating nature without being disturbed by research work like in the capital.

'Maybe I should ask Father to make a small forest at the capital mansion. Though I may have little time to visit it with all those works.' thought Angus.

Since King Leon knows his high calculation ability and [Analyze], he keeps getting small personal projects from him.

Most small projects are simple and easy, like creating simple magic tools for daily life. However, these projects also have no end, which takes too much of his free time. If it is not for the good reward related to his personal project, he will definitely reject all these small projects.

As Angus enjoys his peaceful morning, he notices Mira is still in the same position as yesterday, reading a storybook while lying on the top of a flying pillow.

'This girl is getting lazier with each passing day. Well, not that I could complain about it. I just hope Anna didn't pick this kind of habit.' thought Angus inwardly.

Then, his attention goes to the silent bounded goblin near their camp area. Unlike before, the goblin is utterly silent while closing his eyes. It is like he is in deep meditation. Angus didn't surprise as he had already heard some detailed explanation about his [Greed] Ancient Power.

'I never expected there to be such practical ancient power. According to Ragaz, [Greed] could give the power to steal any item.'

'As long as he senses the said item, he could steal it with or without touching it. Just this ability alone makes it very powerful.'

'If I had this ability, I didn't need to worry about any protection rune and could take any item in the Archmage Bern's vault. Moreover, the potential of this ability is vast and very practical. Unfortunately, it also corrupts one's mind with strong Greed.' thought Angus.

"If I am not wrong, this power will get stronger depending on the user's greed. Otherwise, his [Greed] ability will never develop to this state with only little comprehension." thought Angus.

Angus heard that Ragaz could even steal artifacts from other people if they didn't fully master them. He knows this only works with ordinary artifacts, not the dangerous ones like his Twin Crimson sword or Godly artifact.

Still, it gives massive benefits, especially in battle. If Ragaz wanted to, he could simply strip his opponent naked before launching a killing blow. This is also the reason he could escape all his pursuers. All he needs is just an opportunity to grab everyone's equipment before running.

Without weapons or equipment, his pursuer will have difficulty fighting or pursuing him. Unfortunately, Ragaz couldn't do the same thing to Angus' group, as he promised to not have any malicious intent against them.

Ragaz didn't know what would happen if he broke this promise, but his honed survival instinct told him to not break it. Even the seventh-grade Ancestor Vampire Darren strongly advises him not to break this promise.

Therefore, he keeps his mind preoccupied with meditating and trying to ignore his surroundings. The last thing Ragaz wants is his Greed to take over his mind when he sees everyone.

After looking at Ragaz for a moment, "Master Darren, what should we do to our goblin thief? Should we let him go?" asked Angus.

"Hmm… I think it is better to let him go. Ancient Power like [Greed] is scarce and powerful. It will be good for the world if more users of it are alive." said Darren.

"Hmm?? Isn't that only make this world more chaotic if more people have [Greed]." Angus was confused.

"Not really. Besides the previous user, Ancient Power also had its own criteria before someone could hold it. So far, [Greed] belongs to one of the top ancient powers I know besides yours."

"It is better to keep this powerful Ancient Power before it disappears through the passage of time." replied Darren.

Hearing this, Angus begins to remember the Ancient King that gives him their Ancient Power and blessing.

'That must be one of the reasons why they decide to pass their Ancient Power to them as we barely meet their criteria.' thought Angus.

Then, Angus and Darren enjoy the peaceful morning until the girls finish their morning training. After cleaning themself and packing themself, they decide to continue their journey.

"Bored!! Angus, Big Sis, this is boring!!" grumbled Anna.

"Boring??" asked Angus back.

"Yeah. This is boring!! All Anna sees is grass this and grass that. Everything is grass." said Anna while pointing at the frozen ground and tree.

"Then, did you want to return to the city?" asked Angus.

"Ehh… Can Anna go back?" asked Anna.

"Of course. Besides, we are returning to the city in the first place." said Angus.

"Ehh.. Why didn't Angus say this?! Let's go now!!" said Anna while running somewhere.

Seeing this, the others could only shake their heads before deciding to follow the little troublemaker.

"Mr. Ragaz, consider this your lucky day." said Angus as take off the goblin's bound before following Anna.

Ragaz didn't react and kept meditating for a few moments before slowly opening his eyes.

"Fuh… Fuh… I don't know if I should consider this mercy or not." huffed Ragaz as he saw the dark spot in his chest near his heart area.

After chatting with Darren last night, he tries to inspect his body and finds this hidden dark spot in his chest. This dark spot is one of the reasons that makes him afraid of opening his eyes.

The moment he has any maliciousness to Angus' group, his body will experience tremendous pain starting from his chest. Moreover, it is also active when he has suicidal thoughts, which are very vicious for his state.

Ragaz is already quite old and wants to retire a long time ago. However, his mind is already corrupted by [Greed], making him unable to stop. Lately, he couldn't even control his mind and body as it was driven by [Greed].

With this condition, he prefers to kill himself and have eternal rest than stay living under the madness of his [Greed]. In fact, he already gave up on living the moment Angus caught him easily.

But this new dark curse also prevents him from having any suicidal thoughts. It is like telling him to live while receiving his punishment.

In the meantime, Anna, running ahead, suddenly looks in a certain direction. Then, a pair of bat-like wings appeared from her back. A split second later, a complex magic circle appeared above the wing.

'Magic!!' thought Angus in surprise.

Before anyone could respond, Anna's speed suddenly accelerated many times. *BOOOM* Angus could feel she was close to leaving his [Great Mana Echolocation] range. Noticing this, everyone immediately gives their all to catch up with Anna except for Darren and Mira.

An hour later, everyone arrives at the place where everyone had a party a few days ago. Angus and Jayna are utterly exhausted after trying to catch up with everyone. Their stamina and regeneration couldn't keep up with their consumption.

Even their Aunt has a rough breath despite her fast, long-distance running expertise. After taking a deep breath to regain their breath, they find the place is very silent and gloomy, unlike a few days ago.

"Huff.. Huff.. what happened here?" said Angus while calming his rough breath.

They also occasionally hear a slow, groaning pain from various tents in the surrounding area. During this time, Angus finally notices the little troublemaker is opening a barrel filled with a familiar liquor.

[Beast Walk] Before Anna could taste the liquor, Angus appeared behind her and grabbed her back clothes.

"Not a chance. You are still too young to get drunk." said Angus while pulling Anna from the special liquor.

A few days ago, Jayna worked hard to prevent the little troublemaker from drinking it and even forced herself to drink the liquor until she got drunk. Otherwise, they don't know what kind of mayhem she will create while getting drunk.

"Noo… Anna wants to taste it!! Mira said it is good." said Anna trying to grab the liquor.

"Nope. You could have this instead." said Angus while throwing a chunk of beef to Anna.

"Meat!!" said Anna as she grabbed the meat and ignored the liquor.

"Anyway, what happened here?" asked Angus again while inspecting the surroundings.

"Urghh… *Vomit* *Vomit*" Suddenly, someone comes out from the tent and vomits.

"Hmm… I believe this is the side effect of the liquor. They have a horrible hangover." said Darren while inspecting a few unconscious people buried in the snow.

During this time, a red-skinned woman with a bad complexion walked unsteadily toward them. Despite the drunkenness and her bad complexion, the woman's clothes are still needed and clean, unlike the others.

She also wears a long white coat like a researcher or scientist while mumbling something. However, Angus recognizes her aura and presence as she is one of the seventh-grade combatants that attended the party a few days ago.