Idle Tycoon System - Chapter 390

Chapter 390: Returning to Esta [1]
Lola’s expression showed surprise that he remembered so clearly. When they’d first made that arrangement, she had been a desperate fugitive with nothing to offer except her strength that wasn’t even needed considering his powr inside the shop.

Lola always knew that Noah had been kind enough to save her and take her in even when he didn’t need to. Her salary was also higher than she deserved for her job, she knew that even kings of the strongest kingdoms would wish they had her job.

So, when she was told by Noah that they would leave the kingdom, she had asked if they would ever return, and he had said yes.

The promise had seemed almost too good to be true considering that he stated they would move constantly.

Now, after everything they’d been through, she knew that Noah took his promises seriously.

“The demon prince and his guards tried to assassinate you,” Noah continued, his voice carrying cold anger on her behalf. “They left you injured and on the brink of death, that debt needs to be paid.”

Lola’s eyes glistened slightly with moisture she refused to let become actual tears. “My family ruled the Lelin territory for generations. We weren’t perfect, but we were fair to our people and strong enough to maintain order. Then they decided they wanted our lands for themselves.”

Her hands clenched into fists as old memories surfaced. “They turned other noble families against us through lies and bribes, and orchestrated a coup that slaughtered most of my family.”

Noah listened quietly, letting her speak without interruption. He’d heard pieces of this story before, but never the full context with such raw emotion behind it.

“It felt impossible…”

She looked at Noah with profound gratitude mixed with fierce determination. “With you beside me, suddenly it becomes possible. We can actually do this—reclaim my family’s honor, restore justice to our people, and make that bastard pay for every life he destroyed.”

Noah reached out and took her hand, squeezing it reassuringly. “Then that’s what we’ll do. We build our strength in Esta, create an unshakeable foundation there, and then we march on the demon kingdom together. You’ll reclaim your throne, and anyone who stands in our way will learn why it was a mistake to cross us.”

Lola squeezed back, her ruby eyes blazing with renewed purpose. “Thank you, Noah. For everything. For believing in me when I had nothing. For keeping your promises when you could have just used me as disposable muscle. For… caring.”

“Always,” Noah said simply, and meant it with his entire heart.

With that plan firmly in mind, Noah and Lola simply waited for the automatic location change to occur in a few hours. The system typically relocated the shop every ten days.

Before the automatic timer would naturally expire, Noah addressed the system directly. “System, I want to manually relocate the shop back to Esta. Can that be done?”

[Affirmative. Manual relocation to a previously visited location requires a fee of 2,000 Shop Points. Current balance: 32,890 points. Proceed with relocation?]

Noah didn’t hesitate. “Yes, return us to Esta immediately.”

With so many points accumulated from his weeks of operation, 2,000 felt almost laughably cheap. It was less than ten percent of his total reserves, a trivial expense for the flexibility and comfort it provided.

[Payment confirmed. Initiating dimensional relocation to Esta.]

The shop shimmered and vanished from its location in the devastated clearing, the dimensional anchor releasing as the structure shifted between locations. The empty space where it had stood for the past day offered no clues about where it had gone, leaving only questions about the mysterious establishment’s future appearances.

Inside the newly established Joint Kingdom of Elves—where dark elves now reigned supreme over conquered light elf populations that had been reduced to nothing more than slaves to be used and exploited—King Darian sat upon his obsidian throne, receiving reports from his commanders.

The throne room had been expanded since his conquest, incorporating both dark elf aesthetic sensibilities and little light elf architectural features as visible symbols of his dominance. Captured light elf nobles knelt in chains along the walls, living reminders of their people’s subjugation.

A dark elf rushed into the throne room and immediately prostrated himself before the king. “Your Majesty! Urgent report from the neutral zone!”

“Speak,” Darian commanded, his mood already soured by the failures surrounding the mysterious shop that had cost him so much effort.

“The shopkeeper’s establishment has vanished from its location, Your Majesty,” the scout reported breathlessly. “Our surveillance forces monitoring the site confirm that the entire structure simply disappeared without warning. It had left the same way it had arrived, with no trace.”

Darian’s expression darkened considerably, his hands gripping the throne’s armrests with enough force to crack the stone.

“Expand search patrols across all territories,” Darian ordered coldly. “I want that shop found the moment it reappears anywhere within our sphere of influence. And when we locate it, I want an overwhelming force ready to converge immediately. Search neighbouring human and demon kingdoms, I want them found.”

He leaned forward, his voice dropping to something more dangerous. “That shopkeeper and his demon servant have made a fool of me for the last time. That damned demon can’t stay in the shop forever; she is bound to leave.”

The dark elf bowed even lower. “It shall be done, Your Majesty. What if the shop appears in human territories or other kingdoms beyond our direct control?”

“Then we invade,” Darian stated simply, as if conquering neighbouring kingdoms was a minor inconvenience. “I don’t care whose lands they hide in. I will burn down entire nations if that’s what it takes to claim what should have been mine.”

His eyes blazed with obsessive fury that had only intensified since losing both the teardrop fruit and the shop with immense treasures. “Dismissed.”

The scout fled gratefully from the throne room, leaving Darian alone with his dark thoughts about revenge against the new demonic shopkeeper.