"So instead of coughing up the money, you're going to threaten to chop off your hand?" Lana scoffed as she shook her head with a disdainful sneer. Her impression of Yuran had only just improved slightly, but it was back to where it was before again.

Yuran lowered his head and wasted no further time with words as he pulled out a short ax with his left hand.

Everyone's eyes immediately widened with alarm upon seeing the ax.

Looking at the gleaming blade of the ax, the derision in Lana's eyes only became more pronounced. "Are you hoping that I'll stop you?"

"There's no need for that. I lost the game, and I'm willing to pay for it," Yuran said as a fierce look appeared on his face.

Immediately thereafter, the short ax came hurtling down rapidly, and Yuran's determination was something that no one had expected.

Lana merely looked on with her arms crossed, displaying no intention to stop him.

Meanwhile, Aike was staring at her with a dazed expression, completely stunned by how calm and collected she was. It was only just beginning to dawn on him that Lana could be an extremely cold and cruel woman. The fear in his heart had been suppressed by his pride this entire time, but at this moment, it refused to be suppressed any longer. Furthermore, he wasn't just wary of her as a powerful magician. Instead, this was pure, unadulterated fear, fear that was making his skin crawl. Only now did Aike realize that even if Yuran had 100 hands that he chopped off one by one, Lana still wouldn't even bat an eyelid.

Right as the blade of the ax was about to come into contact with the skin on Yuran's arm, a burst of black flames shot forth, sending the short ax flying away.

"Don't flatter yourself, how would your hand be of any use to me?" Lana said in a cold voice. It wasn't that she was sympathetic toward Yuran. Instead, she had thought that Yuran was bluffing, but the fact that he was actually willing to go through with such an act of self-mutilation made her develop a hint of admiration toward him, and that was why she had decided to save his hand at the last moment.

Yuran was left rooted to the spot with a dazed expression, unsure of what to do.

"If you can't pay up, then so be it. I don't want to get this place all bloody and ruin everyone's appetite," Lana said. "All I wanted was to teach you a lesson anyway, so let's end things here for today. I'll take the Loonies that you have, and you won't have to cough up the rest. In the future, stop going around scamming people."

Lana's words echoed the sentiment shared by all of the bystanders. Now that Yuran's scam had been exposed, everyone was eager to see the back of him.

Thus, not only was Yuran unable to pay the sum of Loonies owed to Lana, she was refusing to take his hand as well. In addition to that, she was adding further insult to injury in the form of her verbal insults, and for someone as proud as Yuran, this was nothing short of torture. Every single one of Lana's words was like a sharp knife that was repeated slicing into his self-esteem.

Yuran didn't want to scurry away with his tail between his legs in such an embarrassing fashion, but he was forcibly carried out of the pub by his lackeys.

Of course, the unconscious Lucian wasn't left behind, and he was also dragged out the door by one of his legs.

...

Lana and her group didn't stay in the pub for much longer than that, leaving behind a fleeting yet legendary story.

It wasn't exactly a story of a beauty teaching a lesson to a scoundrel. After all, all Yuran and his lackeys had done was offer unfavorable gambling odds, which certainly wasn't an unforgivable crime.

For Lana, this was a very fruitful trip to the pub that had netted her over 10,000 Loonies.

Unfortunately for Perry, not only was it having to contend with a broken leg, it also had to carry a chest full of Loonies.

"Ms. Lana, I thought we already agreed that I would pay for the meal," Aike said with a resigned expression.

"You paid for me at the tailor shop, so we're even now," Lana replied with a smile.

Aike was truly heartbroken upon hearing this. He didn't want things to be so clear-cut between them.

If Lana were interested in pursuing a relationship with him, then she wouldn't have gone out of her way to not owe him anything.

In light of that, Aike was struck by the realization that his chances with Lana were very slim.

"Ms. Lana, I didn't get a chance to ask for the specific details earlier, but you mentioned that you're from the south, right? May I ask why you've come here?" Aike asked as he cast his gaze toward Lana.

"I'm here to look for someone." Truth be told, Lana was also feeling a little disgruntled. If it hadn't been for Yuran and his group of lackeys, she would've been able to have a good chat with Aike.

"Who are you looking for?" Aike asked with a curious expression.

"My husband," Lana replied in a calm manner.

Aike almost tripped over his own feet upon hearing this, and even Quinton behind him also stumbled slightly.

The burly skeleton almost burst into laughter upon hearing Lana's response, and it was working very hard to suppress its mirth.

"Is that true?" Aike asked with a stunned expression, making no attempt to hide the disappointment in his eyes. Never did he even consider that Lana was already a married woman.

Lana nodded in response with a faint smile, then said, "No matter which corner of the world he's in, I will find him."

The burly skeleton faltered slightly upon hearing this, and it couldn't help but take a glance at Lana. In that instant, its conviction wavered a little, and it began to regret taking her memories.

Her blue eyes seemed to be holding a mellow stream that would flow through the entire world, going as far as it had to in order to find the man of her heart.

Seeing the look in her eyes, Aike finally understood that no matter what he did, there was no way that he was going to be able to win Lana's heart.

When it came to Lana, Aike felt a combination of emotions, including admiration, fear, and entrancement. For him, she was like a beautiful mystery. The more he approached her, the more he wanted to unravel that mystery, and the more danger he put himself in. At this moment, he realized that this mystery seemed to be right before his eyes, but in reality, it was extremely far away, so far away that it was completely out of his grasp.

"If you're so devoted to him, then why did he abandon you?" Aike asked with furrowed brows and a hint of indignation in his voice. He was feeling very sympathetic toward Lana for the arduous journey that it had to have taken for her to get here. After all, he had seen just how tattered her clothes had been when she first arrived at Kenon in the morning.

A wry smile appeared on her face as Lana replied, "He didn't abandon me, we were separated by inevitable circumstances."

A film of tears welled up in her eyes as she spoke.

Even though she was missing her memories and couldn't recall the exact details, for some reason, whenever she thought about her separation from Erwin, she would be struck by an inexplicable sense of guilt, as well as an excruciating sense of loss. These emotions were weighing down onto her chest like a large rock, making it difficult for her to breathe.

Aike nodded in response. He was naturally able to detect Lana's sorrow, but he had no idea how to console her. After all, he was also suffering from his own heartbreak at this moment.

"Ms. Lana, would you be able to tell us the name of your husband?" Quinton asked in an earnest voice. "Perhaps we can help you in your search."

"Ah, that's a great idea!" Aike exclaimed as his eyes lit up. "Our Dario Family is quite a powerful and influential family in the Fano Dukedom, so securing news on a certain person shouldn't be a difficult task. Please go ahead and tell us, Ms. Lana."

"His name is Erwin Friar," the burly skeleton answered in Lana's stead before she was forced to admit that she couldn't recall his surname.

For some reason, it didn't want to see Lana struggle with the awkward predicament of not knowing her husband's name, even though it knew that Erwin and Lana weren't actually husband and wife.

Lana turned to the burly skeleton with a surprised expression. She was already prepared to tell Aike that she only knew Erwin's first name.

Perry was also quite taken aback to see this. Never did it think that its master would agree for Lana to search for that man by the name of Erwin. Are we supposed to accompany her on her search or continue our search for the ice dragon?

If Perry could have its way, it naturally wanted to stay in the human world, which was far more interesting than the Terarody Mountain Ranges.

After learning the name of the person that Lana was searching for, both Aike and Quinton nodded in response, putting it upon themselves to help Lana in her search.

At the same time, the two of them became rather curious about the relationship between Lana and her two "lackeys".

Quinton had always had a vague feeling that these two masked fellows were rather strange people. In particular, the cold and eerie aura that occasionally emanated from their bodies never failed to make the fine hairs on the back of his neck stand up on end, and the voice of the taller figure sent chills running down his spine.

Furthermore, thinking back, Lana's two servants had been detached bystanders throughout the entire fight that had taken place in the Whistling Wind Pub. To Quinton, this was an indication that they were even more powerful than Lana, and that made him even warier of them.

"Seeing as you'd like to recruit the help of our family, why don't you pay a visit to the city of Intelar with me, Ms. Lana?" Aike suggested with an inviting smile. "Tellar is situated north of Kenon, and it'll only take a day and a half on horseback to get there. It'll be far more convenient to wait for further news there. As long as your husband is within the Fano Dukedom, we'll be sure to track him down for you."

"What are we waiting for then? Let's set off right away," Lana replied with a smile, but there was still a hint of sorrow in her eyes.

As soon as her voice trailed off, the bone claw necklace around her neck tightened sharply.

It was clear that the burly skeleton was very displeased that Lana was going around making these decisions on her own.

Lana couldn't retaliate here, so she could only give it a subtle glare.

...

Soon, the entire group had gotten onto horseback and were preparing to leave Kenon through the northern gate, but in the process, they encountered Yuran and his crew again.

Aike and Quinton certainly weren't happy to see them, and the two of them immediately drew their blades with wary expressions.

It seemed that Yuran and his lackeys weren't willing to see their hard-earned Loonies fall into Lana's hands so easily.

As for why they just so happened to be intercepting Lana's group at the northern gate, it was clear that Yuran and his lackeys weren't just a bunch of gamblers.

"Did I not teach you a stern enough lesson earlier? Have you come back for more?" Lana asked in a cold voice as she cast a frosty gaze toward the group.

"May I ask where you're going?" Yuran brushed his lackeys aside, then made his way over to Lana with his blade in his hand.

"Looks like I shouldn't have taken pity on people like you," Lana said as a cold smile appeared on her face, and her eyes were already brimming with killing intent.

Yuran hurriedly took a step back at the sight of the fierce look in Lana's eyes, and he hurriedly explained, "It appears there's been a misunderstanding..."

Before Lana had a chance to say anything else, Yuran fell to one knee as he plunged his blade into the soil, then cupped his fist in a salute as he declared, "From this day forth, we are willing to follow you wherever you go and do your bidding."

All of Yuran's lackeys immediately followed suit and fell to one knee as well.

"From now on, we are your followers, and you can do with us as you see fit," Yuran said with an earnest expression as he looked up at Lana.

Lana faltered slightly upon seeing this, and she had no idea how to react.