Chapter 33: Filthy and rich

Shane just wanted to enter the shelter to take a bath, relax and sleep soundly but now he had to stand in front of the shelter gate because he wore a mask?

Wasn't that a little bit too much? He thought and Shane was about to take his mask off when he saw the guards holding their noses.

'Ohh, my dear lord?!?' Shane thought as he remembered that he bathed within the skunk mist for a few moments.

His whole skin and all clothes should reek after the terrifying stench.

The biggest problem right now was, that he had to find a way to come inside but he didn't want to smell the skunk stench...

Looking firmly at the guards, Shane took his robe off with a dry smile on his face.

He would have to wash this robe a few times..even the automatic cleaning of this robe shouldn't be able to expel the skunk's odor completely.

After Shane stored away his robe he took a deep breather and took off his mask, showing his face to the guards.

Seeing that it was a human behind the devil's mask, the guards turned more placid but that didn't mean they liked the stench they had to endure.

"Please change your clothes if you want to come inside the shelter. Otherwise, we can't let you in! You should know the rules. If you don't have any other clothes we can give you a rag!"

The younger guard amongst them said earning bonus points for his first impression and remembering the shelter rules, and Shane could only nod.

Even he himself wasn't sure if this stench could be harmful to his low cultivation body as it came from the concentrated scent gland of a terrifying stench skunk.

Everything that could hurt others openly without anyone noticing was forbidden within the shelter.

It could only be regulated marginally as one could easily purchase these dissolved scent glands inside the system shop and release them inside shelter but mankind felt safer, knowing that such rules existed.

'If you feel safe and secured, you won't be rebellious' was something his dad always said but it was somehow ridiculous that his own son left him because he didn't feel safe and secured.

Remembering this saying his dad always said, Shane felt weird.

It only took him a short time to regain his senses and there was nothing he could do for the moment.

Until he was searched through and identified as human, he had to take off the black gas mask.

Taking a deep breather, Shane changed his clothes in front of the guards, not minding their gazes, before he took off the mask.

With fast strides, he appeared in front of the guards that held their noses.

Finishing his identification as fast as possible, they also noted down his tamed beast before they released him.

Placing the gas mask back on his face, Shane could finally breathe once again.

Walking away from the gate, he only heard "What a disgusting filthy bastard!" before he entered one of the shabbier hotels.

Shane didn't mind the guards calling him filthy but he wasn't fond of the word bastard.

If he was strong enough, he would beat this guard into a pulp before vanishing within the Primordial Dimension.

But right now it was more important to cleanse his body because everyone looked at him with disgust.

Even though the owner of the shabby hotel wasn't fond that Shane chooses his hotel, he couldn't really decline any customers because he was short on money.

As such Shane just paid a little bit more than the normal price to barely elevate the hotel owner's mood.

Entering his room, Shane didn't even care about anything at all, as he took off all his clothes storing them away.

The only thing he still wore was the pitch-black mask which prevented the disgusting stench to invade his nostrils.

In the corner of the small room, Shane saw a basin with a piece of solid soap laying on top of the wooden frame.

Descending into the wooden basin, Shane finally took off the gas mask, causing him to be immediately attacked by a terrifying stench.

Diving under, Shane rubbed his body but only doing this much seemed useless.

Sticking his head once again out of the water, he took the solid soap and used it for every part of his body.

Time went by slowly and Shane felt even more exhausted now, that he had bathed in the basin for more than an hour, with the disgusting stench receding and he decided that it was enough for now.

He could barely get a hold of himself in order to not fall asleep while washing himself.

As such he went out of the basin, dried himself with a towel, and put on a comfortable set of clothes before he fell on the bed, falling into a deep slumber.

Umbra also went into the basin, when Shane was inside, but it still continued to bath, as the disgusting stench still invaded its smelling senses.

**

Waking up an unknown amount of time later, Shane felt still exhausted but smelling the stench within the room, he was almost instantly awoken.

A groan escaped from Shane and he changed his clothes on again before going outside with Umbra, who laid on his chest when they slept.

He wasn't sure if the room itself smelled that bad because of him or if it was his own body that still reeked in the skunk's glands smell.

Outside the room, Shane smelled his own body and he could immediately tell that the reeking stench was still present but one could only faintly smell it.

This was fine with Shane and he left the shabby hotel, to find a stall to eat something because he was at least as hungry as Umbra was.

Eating a few dishes would be nothing for him right now and he found the same food stall he went to as he entered the BlackSoul shelter for the first time.

Upon seeing a customer arriving ordering something without delay, the old woman, was about to prepare the ordered dishes, when she saw the familiar face.

"Oh! Is that you, young man?" She asked and Shane smiled brightly, greeting her with a sincere "Hello"

Shane wasn't sure if it was the only stall in the street he subconsciously went to or if it was just luck, but every single time he searched for a food stall, he found the same vendor which could be said to be amazing and creepy at the same time.

They talked for some time before Shane's dishes were ready.

Seeing Shane droll, the vendor thought he might not have eaten for some time and a sad smile emerged on her face.

Giving Shane an additional dish, he was confused but hearing that it was on the house, she smiled genuinely and thanked her sincerely.

Sitting down on the chair in front of the food stall, Shane was fortunate that it was covered.

Otherwise, he would have to search for another place to eat his dishes, as it was raining heavily.

While eating, Shane was deep in thought, and only now did he look at the notifications he previously ignored.

But there was nothing special within them and he could skip them, as they only informed him about the transaction of the packages with the Corvi race.

However, the final result caused him to smile brightly, even though he paid 12 gold coins to flee from the colossus darkness-python.

In total, Shane had sent 8 packages to the Corvi race with 200 Nightshade flowers in each of them.

While 215 Nightshade flowers had the [Common] quality, the other 1385 were of the [Trash] quality.

In the end, Shane received 17.875 silver coins solely from the Nightshade flower packages, and he still had more than 50 in his spatial ring with a few of them even at the [Uncommon] quality.

In addition to the funds he received from the Nightshade flowers, Shane obtained 194 silver coins solely from the store, where he sold the shadow-snakes and -pythons carcasses.

In the end, the whole trip through the valley gave Shane 180 gold coins and 69 silver coins.

Deducting 11 gold coins for his survival and his expenses for the dishes he ordered and a hotel night, Shane had now 169 gold coins and 67 silver coins in addition to a few Nightshade flowers left, causing a broad smile to emerge on Shane's face.