{Chapter: 227: Gold Coins}
At the city gate...
The midday sun cast long, slanting shadows across the cobbled road leading into Augustus, but no one in the long line of travelers seemed to notice. Their attention was firmly fixed on the silver-tiered archway guarded by magic detectors and armored soldiers.
A line of weary citizens, merchants, travelers, and the occasional noble all stood silently in queue, waiting to undergo the mandatory inspection. Each one passed through the magic instrument with barely a word exchanged.
Staring blankly at the flawless test results projected in front of him, the gate guard gave a mechanical wave of his hand. "Next."
His tone was flat. His face bore no trace of curiosity, authority, or emotion—just a lifeless indifference formed by repetition. He was the picture of someone whose soul had been drained by the monotony of bureaucratic labor.
It was clear this job—mindless, repetitive, and rigid—had ground down every shred of enthusiasm or passion he may have once had. Like an assembly-line worker testing the same sample thousands of times a day, he performed his duties with mechanical precision and vacant eyes.
But then… something changed.
A flicker of color—not the usual dull greys and browns of commoners' garb—flashed across his peripheral vision. A shade too rich, too vibrant to be ignored. His eyes shifted involuntarily, drawn to the source.
His breath caught.
Jewel-toned robes shimmered in the sunlight like molten gems. Enchantments woven into the fabric pulsed softly with restrained power. Gold trim lined the hem of the dark clothes. The aura radiating from this figure was unmistakable—it screamed prestige, status, and danger. The kind of man who could either ruin your career or end your life depending on his mood.
The guard's lifeless expression melted away faster than snow on a forge. In less than a second, it was replaced by a carefully rehearsed smile—a mask of politeness and excessive deference.
"Sir," he said with genuine nervousness veiled beneath trained courtesy, "please stand still for a few seconds. The results will be out momentarily."
Dex glanced at him with a faintly bored expression and nodded. "Yeah."
The guard raised the magic ritual manipulator—a rod inscribed with scanning runes—and began swinging it slowly around Dex's body.
Waves of detection magic washed over him, fanning out like invisible tendrils trying to grasp the truth of his being.
Dex stood still, arms at his side, face unreadable. In his perception, the enchantments layering the city's detection system weren't especially powerful on their own. However, when hundreds of those spells were stacked upon one another, reinforced by high-level rituals and citywide wards, they achieved synergy—one plus one didn't equal two anymore. It equaled five, or even ten. It was a full-scale surveillance net.
For a moment, he genuinely wondered if they might catch something.
But then he reminded himself who he was.
His innate ability was fused with his soul, and layered atop it were dozens of camouflage enchantments woven into his body like a second skin. It was a spell he had personally named the "Camouflage Color" technique—a masterpiece of illusion and misdirection so intricate that not even a god could see through it easily.
He had survived wars, sieges, and assassination attempts. He had wandered through forbidden ruins and stolen from cursed temples. If something as simple as a city gate scan could undo him, then he wouldn't have lived this long.
So he waited, quietly confident.
A moment later, the scan finished. No anomalies.
The guard stepped aside with a slight bow. "Welcome to Augustus, sir. Enjoy your stay."
Dex didn't reply. He simply walked past without a glance, disappearing into the bustling avenues beyond the gate.
---
As soon as Dex was out of sight, the guard's mask of politeness shattered.
His forced smile vanished, and the dull, dead-eyed expression returned. His spine slouched slightly, like a puppet whose strings had just been cut. He looked back down at the next person in line.
To the people waiting behind Dex, the contrast in treatment was impossible to ignore.
One of them, a well-dressed young man with a family crest emblazoned on his chest, clenched his fists tightly. "Damn it… the difference is too much."
He glared at the now-bored guard who stood silently in front of him, ignoring his noble attire and status as if he were just another commoner in the crowd.
Deep inside, a flicker of rage stirred.
The young man belonged to nobility—but not from this country. His family's authority did not extend beyond the borders of their homeland. And here, in this foreign land, he was nobody. He couldn't command, threaten, or bribe. His title held no weight.
Still, the humiliation stung.
He bit his tongue to suppress the anger, knowing that lashing out could backfire. After all, being thrown into prison in a foreign land would be far more disgraceful.
Yet the bitterness lingered.
Unless one hailed from a true powerhouse—a kingdom known and feared across nations—nobility was little more than a local badge. In the grander world, it meant nothing.
That was the harsh truth most lesser aristocrats refused to accept: their power was only as strong as the land behind them.
This harsh reality was exactly why so many nobles were willing to die for their countries. It had less to do with patriotism, and more with desperation. Without their homeland, they had nothing. No servants. No titles. No privileges.
And so, even when they didn't want to fight, they had to. Even when there was no hope, they had to pretend there was.
"I'll inherit my family's legacy soon," the young noble thought bitterly, clenching his jaw. "Once I gain the power of that treasure, I'll become a legendary warrior. Then I'll return to this place, and let's see if that guard dares to ignore me again..."
His gaze flickered toward the magic gate, eyes burning with resentment.
To his side, his brother gave him a look of confusion—and embarrassment.
Just moments ago, his brother had seemed composed, even noble. Now, he looked like a common thug grumbling after a lost card game.
He frowned slightly. "What's gotten into him? He's acting like a fat toad fantasizing about marrying a swan…"
He sighed inwardly and looked away, trying to pretend they weren't related.
The guard inspecting them now wore a thinly veiled look of disdain. His lips twitched slightly as he watched the young man seethe, as though he were staring at a mangy dog trying to act like a lion.
The brother flushed crimson under that gaze, but said nothing.
He, ever the calmer of the two, remained silent and composed. He had already resigned himself to a simple truth: it was better to swallow pride than to start a scene in a city fortified by spellwork and built by wizards.
He kept his eyes forward and moved through the inspection without another word, ignoring the angry muttering behind him.
As far as he was concerned, there was no point getting emotional at a city gate.
They hadn't even entered the real battlefield yet.
---
As soon as Dex stepped through the city gates, he was immediately approached by a boy who couldn't have been older than twelve or thirteen. The child stood barely a meter and a half tall and wore a threadbare tunic, faded from time and frayed around the edges. Yet despite his humble appearance, he exuded energy and charm, flashing a wide, eager grin.
"Sir! I haven't seen you around before—are you new to Augusto?" he chirped with practiced enthusiasm. "Do you need a guide? I know this city like the back of my hand! Libraries, merchant districts, enchanted item shops... even the best brothels of all races and ages, if you're interested—I can take you anywhere, no problem!"
Dex, who had initially planned to ignore the boy entirely, paused as his gaze swept the surroundings. Unlike many cities he had passed through, Augusto was blanketed in layers of magical interference. Spells woven into the very streets distorted perception and limited long-range scanning. His own special sight—an ability that had made countless infiltrations trivial—was proving less effective here. Attempting to probe the environment further might alert the city's wards or magical enforcers.
With a faint sigh, Dex abandoned the idea of navigating alone. He was far too lazy to search for a map under these circumstances.
He glanced at the boy and gave a casual nod. "Fine. Take me to the largest library in the city."
The boy's eyes lit up like lanterns. "Yes, sir! I usually charge fifty copper a day for—"
Before he could finish his sentence, a glint of light forced him to stop mid-word. A single purple gold coin spun through the air and landed in his palm.
Dex's tone remained flat. "Will that cover it?"
The boy stared at the purple coin as if he had just been handed a piece of the sun. His jaw worked silently for a moment, his voice lost in a tide of disbelief. When he finally managed to nod, it was as if his neck had turned into a hinge on a hyperactive puppet.
"Y-Yes! More than enough, sir! Of course! Whatever you say!" he babbled, clutching the gold coin to his chest like a sacred relic. "You want the largest library, right? Right this way! Follow me—I'll take you directly, sir!"
This single gold coin—worth hundreds of times more than the fee he had been planning to ask for—had completely shattered the boy's mental defenses. A fortune like this would feed him and his family for months, maybe even a year, depending on how carefully he managed it. It wasn't just any gold, but purple gold; its value was thrice as much as a normal gold coin.
What the boy didn't know was that to Dex, this coin was practically garbage—just one of the many trinkets he had scooped up along the way from fallen enemies. In his treasure hoard, such coins piled up like autumn leaves in a forgotten courtyard. If they were any less valuable, Dex wouldn't have even bothered collecting them. They were the in-game equivalent of basic loot—things you only picked up out of habit or when you were just starting out.
---
Roughly twenty minutes later, the boy led Dex to a wide avenue where a towering building came into view. The structure looked like a colossal stone cone piercing the sky, each level narrowing slightly as it rose. The spire shimmered with runes carved into its surface, and the air around it felt heavy with magical authority. People came and went through its wide arched entrance, some dressed in scholar's robes, others in armor or finely embroidered coats.
The boy stopped a short distance from the entrance, rubbing his hands nervously. "Sir, that's it—Augusto's Grand Archive. It's the largest library in the city, maybe even the kingdom. You'll need to pay an entry fee to get in. Common folks can only read on the first floor, but professionals—mages, scholars, adventurers—get access to the lower levels. Some rare knowledge requires permits or official reviews before you can access it."
He shuffled his feet awkwardly. "Since there's a fee, I won't be going in. But I'll wait here for you, or if you'd prefer, you can just tell me when to come back..."
If it had been any other customer, the boy might've disappeared at the first opportunity—either to find new work or to spend his earnings. But Dex's tip had been more generous than even nobles, and that kind of generosity demanded loyalty, at least for the day. For once, the boy felt a strange sense of professional pride. He was actually planning to wait.
But Dex was already turning away.
"There's no need," Dex interrupted, raising one hand in dismissal. "You've done enough. Return to whatever you were doing before."
Without waiting for a reply, he strode toward the entrance of the library, his black cloak fluttering gently behind him.
"Ah...?"
The boy stood frozen for a few seconds, staring at Dex's retreating back.
He blinked, touched the purple gold coin again as if to confirm it was real, then looked up at the towering cone of the Grand Archive.
In a matter of minutes, he had earned what would normally take months, maybe even years.
And the man who gave it to him? He tossed it as casually as someone flicking away a breadcrumb.
Although Dex didn't exactly look human... that air of mystery, power, and ease with wealth made the boy's chest stir with ambition.
Maybe… maybe he could be like that someday too.
He gripped the coin in his hand tightly and muttered to himself, "I should really take the professional assessment test. Who knows? Maybe there's something special in me too."
Then, with a little more bounce in his step, the boy turned around and disappeared into the crowd, the purple gold coin gleaming like a talisman of new hope in his pocket.