The other bids were fierce; the second went for 74 million, and the third was 90.3 million. And just like that, 234.58 million was gone!

Godfrey sat there, looking at what remained in his account. Wow! He had never really worked to earn money, so it didn’t occur to him how ephemeral money could be.

All that fight, all that death in that purple gate dungeon, all for it to vanish in a blink of an eye. Well, maybe he was looking at it from the wrong angle; the money didn’t vanish, it was replaced with something of... equal value.

Yes, equal value.

"Haa..." He exhaled, mourning the exit of 234.58 million. Godfrey proceeded to wear a hoodie and a face mask, then recorded the living room and sent it.

A short while later, the package appeared on the table with a faint orange light.

Summons did make life easier in many aspects. Delivery was near instantaneous; this was the reason those who had summons with teleportation were either scouted by organizations, the authorities, or guilds.

Godfrey opened his package and saw three apples in a transparent plastic box. He opened it, and mana filled the air.

He squinted, took one, and munched on it. ’Tastes like a normal apple, but the mana content is incredible.’

Godfrey’s eyes brightened as his body absorbed the massive amount of mana. It kept surging and surging.

With a low chuckle, he picked another, waited for a moment, then picked the last one. By the time he was done with the last one, his hands blurred.

He frowned, then looked up. Everything had duplicates. ’What’s going on...?’ He dropped on the sofa, completely unconscious.

At the bottom of the bag, where he took the plastic box from, was a small white paper.

’Caution: Slice and eat over the duration of three days or risk mana stress.’

***

A row of maids and servants stood outside the Pendragon Mansion. The skies had darkened, and stars decorated the darkness above.

They all stood in expectation. Right then, a sleek black car appeared in their vision, closed in, and stopped.

Rick swiftly stepped forward, opened the door, and Isolde stepped out in a black suit and high-heeled boots.

All the maids and servants bowed. One of the servants eyed another, who looked at him and gulped.

With a little smile, Isolde walked past them. "Where’s my husband? He isn’t responding to my calls?"

"How are you so sure he survived the purple gate dungeon?" Rick asked.

"Because if he dies, I die. Allowing Godfrey to go to that dungeon wasn’t just risking his life; I was risking mine too. I knew if it was a wrong description, I’d die with him."

Isolde replied. She knew when the fight finished because she was pulled into the soul space for a while. When Isolde sensed a little amount of mana had returned, she teleported back to Japan.

Well, her relationship with the Whites was completely soured now, but there was nothing she could do.

One of the servants looked at the other one, who gulped.

"Why are you afraid? She’s just nineteen. You’re acting like she’s some villain."

The other glanced at him. "You haven’t heard? She went to Fukushima to discuss with Nathan Pendragon, one of the Whites in charge of the gates in Japan."

"So?"

"I heard she was poisoned, but it didn’t work."

"They poisoned the Family Head?! I knew those Whites were not happy with this development; it came out of the blue, but poisoning her is just audacious..." the first servant paused.

"But she’s fine, so what happened?"

"Well, someone had to pay, so she burned the entire Pendragon Mansion in Fukushima. All of it, with Nathan Pendragon inside."

"W-What?"

"It’s the truth. She’s merciless."

While the servants spoke, Isolde dropped her bag in the sitting room and stretched her arms.

"What happened in Fukushima? You burnt the dragon’s hold over that region. We don’t have much ground in the east; why destroy it?" Rick asked gently.

"Because it doesn’t benefit the house. Everything from that place benefits Michael and the rest of the Whites. They’re not even giving me a chance to prove myself. I was drugged, and I could hear their whispers. They planned to use suppressors on me and torture me until I become a puppet. I’m not sure Michael had a hand in this exact plan, which is why I haven’t burnt him yet."

Isolde explained with a soft tone.

"Don’t worry, I spared one and made sure he spread the word. The Family Head was poisoned, and she retaliated. They may question my honesty, but not a witness," she added.

Rick picked up her bag. "That was a smart move."

Isolde smiled a bit. "Now then, I have something much more important to do." She teleported to the bedroom and other rooms before finally appearing in the third living room, where she saw Godfrey lying on the sofa.

She slowly removed her heels, tip-toed toward him, then sat down by his head.

’Wow! The amount of mana pulsating within him is amazing. Wasn’t he just out of mana a few days ago? How does he have this much?’

Her eyes went to the package, so she took it, brought out the paper since it was the only thing there, and read through it.

Isolde frowned softly. "It can’t be that..."

She grabbed the tablet, went through it, and her eyes widened. "Godfrey! Are you a fool?!"

Isolde sprung to her feet. He had gone into mana stress, a scientific term of when a Summoner had an influx of mana, thus stressing his body, which would cause it to shut down as it adjusted.

While the body was a limitless storehouse, it grew as mana came in; a massive amount at once would bloat it.

It could kill. Fortunately, almost no one had been recorded to experience mana stress since having that much mana would be a luxury.

But unfortunately for her, it had happened to Godfrey!

How could one go from having no mana to having his life threatened because he now had too much mana?

’I need to call Rick. We have to take him to the hospital, this is—!’ Isolde was about to run to the door, but something grabbed her wrist and pulled her back.

She fell on Godfrey’s chest. Her eyes widened as she stared right into his gleaming eyes.

"Who is a fool?" His voice rang.

’Are you kidding me? That’s all the mana stress did to him?!’

Godfrey made sure she lied on top of him, then secured his arms around her waist, their faces inches away.

Their breaths caressed their lips.

"So... who’s a fool?" He asked again.