The Soul Reborn: From Silence to Sovereignty Chapter 87

Chapter 87: Pawned Off

Noah couldn’t even hold in his laughter at the two girls' expressions as we sped off into the darkness.

Elowen clutched the seatbelt like it was her only lifeline to survive this ordeal, and Livia muttered every curse word she’d ever heard under her breath.

“You did that on purpose,” Livia snapped from the back seat.

“Obviously,” I said, grinning. “It was beautiful how both your screams were in such perfect harmony.”

“Your definition of beauty is deeply twisted,” Elowen muttered, adjusting her seatbelt with shaky hands.

I glanced at Lyra in her carrier. Unlike the grown women on either side of her, she was perfectly calm… eyes wide, looking all around as if she were taking in every detail with a smile growing on her cute pudgy face. It was pretty obvious in the future she was going to take after my personality.

“At least my daughter gets it.” I gave a smug grin in the mirror. “She’s already braver than most people I know.” Even during our trip across worlds, she had no adverse effects at all.

By the time we rolled up to the spot that was just a little outside the city limits, the same clearing where we’d first jumped back… Everyone was a bit calmer than before.

I brought us to a slow crawl, stopping beneath a sparse cluster of trees. The sky was clear, the air warmer than you’d expect, and not a soul around.

“Alright,” I said, slipping into serious mode as I turned to Noah. “You’ve got the gold, right?”

He gave a knowing smile and reached between his legs, pulling out a massive overstuffed duffel bag that clinked faintly just from being slightly moved.

When he unzipped it and pulled the top open, I let out a low whistle.

“That’s… yeah; it’s a lot of gold.” My eyes widened at the sight. “Are you trying to buy a whole city or just rent a continent?” I said with a playful expression.

“If we’re going to do this,” he said calmly. “We do it the right way.”

“I wonder if that same pawn shop guy from before would exchange all of this,” I muttered, half in thought. “Maybe he’d assume we robbed a dragon.” My chuckle was loud enough for everyone to hear.

Noah zipped the bag back up with a smirk. “We’ll find out.”

After our brief conversation I shifted into park, pressed down the emergency brake, and then took a slow breath. “Alright, it’s time to do the thing.”

I turned to the backseat. “Livia, pass me Lyra.”

When Livia took care of my daughter, she always showed a much softer expression, which was very uncharacteristic of her. She was always more cynical than anything else, unless I was having a bad day; then she would be kind.

After she gently handed her over, I cradled Lyra close and settled her against my chest. That familiar warmth spread through me at once, like an invisible thread tugging softly at my heart.

I placed one hand on the steering wheel and the other under Lyra’s tiny butt. After placing a kiss on her forehead, I turned to the other three in the car.

Glancing at Noah, then back at the girls, I asked, “Everyone ready?”

“Wait what…” Elowen started speaking, but it was already too late.

A golden light flared, warm and bright, spilling from my arms as it wrapped around Lyra first, then over me, before flowing through the seats across the car. It shimmered over Noah’s hands on the console, sliding over Livia’s boots to Elowen’s lap like sunlight steeped in honey.

Elowen shrieked, “Oh my god!”

Livia hissed, “Again?” She threw her arms up. “You could at least warn us first.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” I laughed as the light consumed everything.

Then… just like that, we crossed worlds.

I held the image of our last departure point firmly in my mind as we made the jump. No accidents or surprises when we arrived, only the same desolation waiting for us.

The screaming in the car only died down because both Livia and Elowen jumped out of the car as soon as we arrived.

While they were getting it out of their system, I looked at Lyra, who was just giggling, staring at the other two making fools of themselves.

After about five minutes and a little encouragement to get back into the car, we were finally ready to set our plan in motion, to upgrade our world while having fun along the way.

Livia was gripping the ceiling handle with white knuckles, eyes wide, afraid I would do something else.

Elowen’s mouth was open in a soundless gasp, still trying to understand her new reality.

“Welcome back,” I said casually, waiting for them to calm down. “You know, Lyra’s a newborn, and she handles this better than you two… just saying.”

Their world is so incredibly boring compared to Earth; it’s kind of sad how much they can’t handle any kind of adrenaline rush. I wonder how they’ll feel when I take them to a theme park later on, hehe.

“You didn’t say it would feel like that? I thought I was going to die in a sunbeam while being suffocated.”

“I thought it was kind of nice,” I said with a shrug. “The sensation doesn’t even last that long; you both really need to broaden your horizons.”

Noah sat next to me calmly, having already experienced it a few times, so it didn’t have much effect on him. “No problems here.” He said with a smile.

“I’m not okay,” Livia grumbled.

My smirk wouldn’t leave my face, and every time they looked at me with bitterness, it grew even wider. It was better to ignore them for now and get on with what we were planning to do.

The time difference worked in our favor. Judging by the angle of the sun, it was just past noon, perfect for a midday shopping spree.

“Alright,” I said, buckling in and adjusting the rearview mirror after placing Lyra back into her car seat. “It’s pawn shop time.”

Noah nodded, while the other two girls echoed my words, “Pawn… shop?”

I eased the car onto the road, the familiar hum of tires on pavement immediately grounding me.

“In the future,” I tapped the steering wheel. “We really need to find someone who’ll pay more for these gold coins. I’m pretty sure that guy’s lowballing us, but honestly? I don’t really care for now because it’s a bother to try and find someone else. I’m not in the mood to play black-market economist.”

As we cruised down the street, I glanced in the rearview mirror, and Elowen’s expression was absolutely priceless.

Her eyes were huge! Face pressed slightly against the window. She was taking in every detail she could, looking left and right, making sure to read every billboard. Thankfully the language in our world is very close to English, so it wasn’t much of a problem.

Livia, of course, was better at hiding her feelings. But even she had that faint squint of someone trying to pretend they weren’t completely overwhelmed.

“Alright, listen,” I said, grinning. “After we get our money, let’s go to a theme park.”

Both of them snapped their gazes forward like I’d just threatened their bloodline.

Elowen asked cautiously, “A what?”

“A theme park,” I repeated, eyes sparkling. “It will be the most fun you’ve ever had with tons of rides, food, games, and cotton candy. The best thing being roller coasters, big terrifying rides that spin you upside down and make you question your life choices. It’s amazing.”

I decided to drop a bit of a hint as to what this place actually was, and their faces went pale.

Livia spoke out first. “You mean… voluntarily getting on a death machine that flings you around for entertainment?”

“Yes!” I chirped.

“No,” she said flatly. “I won’t fall for any more of your, ‘Oh, this is fun, so it’s no problem’ tricks.”

“That was one speed test,” I said, slightly annoyed, but at the same time trying not to laugh. “But, you survived.”

“Barley,” Livia mumbled as she looked away at somewhere far into the distance.

Elowen just stared at me, unsure if she should be excited or afraid.

“Well, whatever,” I gave an exaggerated shrug. “You two can just watch Lyra while I and my handsome husband go have fun on those scary rides.”

That got their attention, especially Elowen, whose expression was like someone who’d just had their favorite toy taken away. Maybe she would be up for it?

I looked at Noah and batted my lashes. “You wouldn’t back down, right?”

He didn’t even flinch, just reached over, took my hand, and kissed my knuckles like we were in the middle of a ball instead of a BMW 341i doing about sixty.

“I’d follow you to hell, if that’s where you fell,” he said so smoothly, expecting a positive reaction.

My face just broke into laughter at how cheesy that line was because he actually meant it, and that’s why I love him. After kissing his lips…

“Ugh,” Livia groaned, rolling her eyes so hard I thought they might fall out, while Elowen kept glancing away only to sneak shy looks back.

“We get it, you’re in love.” Livia muttered under her breath, but everyone heard it.

“Tragically and dramatically,” I said proudly.

Noah just smirked, still holding my hand.

As we turned onto the road leading back to that dusty pawn shop with the flickering sign, I glanced at the building and smiled.

It was time to win the literal lottery, with how much gold Noah brought. Being rich in this life is something I very much enjoy. For right now it won't quite be a million dollars, but we will go far beyond that in the future!

In my last life I scraped by from paycheck to paycheck, sometimes even begging my parents for help at the end of the month. Now I spend money like water pouring endlessly over a waterfall.

The bell over the pawn shop door gave its usual pitiful jingle as we stepped inside. I was leading the charge with Lyra tucked against my chest. Noah followed close beside me, carrying the very heavy bag.

Elowen and Livia walked directly behind us like confused backup dancers not understanding what to do next.

We were greeted by the same shopkeeper from last time, who looked up behind the counter and froze.

His eyes swept over us, then narrowed slightly as he spotted the baby in my arms.

“You again,” he muttered, half amused and half wary. “What can I do for you this time? Another dead relative, or did you find a hidden tomb with dragon gold?” He said with a somewhat mocking tone.

I blinked. “Seriously, dude?”

Noah twitched; he was going for his blade.

Then Elowen stepped forward. “How dare you say that to our Archduchess? You’ve got no right to treat her this way when you’re nothing but a mere commoner.”

Everyone on our side was surprised, and also that man. He was obviously dumbfounded by her words. Most people from Earth don't understand a noble ranking system and wouldn't think anything of it.

“You should bow your head and hope she will allow you to give an apology for the rudeness you’ve shown.” She continued. “Are you sure this person is the one we should be dealing with?” Her gaze landed on me with a serious expression.

“It’s whatever, Elowen. After today we can just make other people rich instead of someone who doesn’t recognize what’s in front of him.”

After my words the wary look in his expression went to one of dread. I looked back at him and said…

“It’s still inheritance, or whatever you want to believe,” I said smoothly, adjusting Lyra in my arms and fixing him with my best watch-yourself stare, while those around me waited for my signal to attack. “We’re simply very fortunate, you see.”

The guy gave a nervous chuckle, like his response didn’t have his life hanging in the balance. On earth someone probably wouldn’t kill you over a misunderstanding, but it wasn’t that uncommon where we come from.

“Well, how much are you looking to unload?”

That was Noah’s cue.

He stepped forward and dropped the full, overstuffed duffle bag onto the glass countertop with a massive metallic clang.

The entire counter shuddered with tiny visible streaks of spider webbing from the point of impact.

Elowen gasped, while Livia whispered mockingly. “He’s lucky his head is still attached to his body with these two involved.”

I just grinned and raised a brow at Noah’s obvious actions that were so fucking cool. If only there weren’t so many people around. I’m in need of release, something I planned on changing sometime very soon. As I looked provocatively at Noah, he just smiled back with a knowing grin.

Noah unzipped the bag and pulled the top open, revealing an obscene number of golden coins. They were round, heavy, and gleaming with the warm glow that basically screamed, I’m valuable; please rob me.

The shopkeeper, trying to keep the situation civil, whistled at the sight. I couldn't help but chuckle at the similar reaction I had earlier.

“That seems like way more than I could buy.”

“There are one hundred and twenty gold coins,” I said, casually shifting my weight to one hip. That’s at least the number Noah had told me before we entered.

He looked like he’d aged ten years in a matter of seconds. Clearly this wasn’t like that pawn shop show where they dealt in millions. This guy was shocked by an amount only this much.

“That’s… wait, hang on.” He scrambled for a calculator, muttering as he punched in the numbers. “Last time was thirty coins for seventy-five thousand, so at the same rate this batch comes to three hundred thousand dollars.”

I nodded, smiling like I was talking about the weather.

“But I’m guessing you don’t have three hundred thousand dollars just sitting around in a dusty cash drawer, do you?”

He stared at me for a while and then shook his head slowly.

“I’ve got about two hundred in the store right now, maybe a little more if I emptied everything. If I made a purchase this big, it would wipe out what I have left.”

Really… this guy would actually think about turning down this much gold? No wonder his shop is so small-time. Clearly he isn’t ambitious enough to handle anything bigger.

“Well.” I fixed my gaze on him as my baby girl studied the man like she understood everything. “Didn’t you say last time that you could resell this gold for a huge margin? So why pretend you wouldn’t make even more off this batch?”

Of course I bet that gap is much bigger than he’s letting on, but I just want money and will find someone better later. This could also be some ploy to try and get the gold at an even lower price, thinking we're idiots.

He hesitated. “Yeah, but that was a small batch.”

“Right,” I nodded. “So now you get four times as much. Which means… you can do that math, right? You’re looking at a one hundred thousand dollar profit. So stop wasting my time and get me my money.”

I watched as his mouth opened and closed with no words coming out.

He finally said, “You’re… not wrong,” he admitted reluctantly.

“So what’s the problem?” I asked sweetly, but at the same time I had a bit of venom in the undertone. “You either make six figures by the end of the month, or you let me take my gold elsewhere and someone else gets to have our business from now on.”

The man stared at the bag for a long moment, then sighed, already defeated.

“Give me five minutes.”

I turned to Noah with a wicked grin.

“Business negotiations,” I whispered, “are so much more fun when you know you’re winning.”

He chuckled softly and kissed my temple.

Behind us, Elowen whispered, “This is insane.”

Livia replied, “It’s only Tuesday.”