## Chapter 432 – Water Spirit Undine
After packing everything, I went to the spring and washed Martellise’s head once. Since I was taking it to the city, it was best to remove the blood.
It needed to be clean for easy identification.
—Swish, swish.
After washing off the blood and drying it, I wrapped it in the cloak again. Cloaks are like all-purpose rags you carry on your back. They’re expendable, so I could use it freely.
—Martellise’s head.
It was a human head, but in the grand scheme of things, it was no different from a quest to collect a monster’s head.
That crazy bastard had already given up on being human.
In this world, human rights aren’t granted or protected simply because you’re human. You have to create and defend those rights yourself. He should have been on the side of humans, but he sided with monsters.
Humans can kill monsters, but monsters can’t kill humans. This isn’t unfair; it’s a rational ideology. Our species is human, not monster.
Anyway, I did a quick calculation.
First, the quest success reward was 20 silver. Then there were six mid-grade spirit cores. And if you add the bounty, it comes to about 60 silver.
Since we worked as a trio, even dividing it by three would be 20 silver.
It was a great income.
The stolen bizarre statue was unappraisable for now. Still, 60 silver was a huge sum. I started to feel good, and my heart pounded.
Doing good deeds brings good fortune.
“But considering the army was after him, isn’t the bounty a bit low?”
“Hmm, it is. Oh well.”
A 15 silver bounty was a bit stingy. When I questioned it, Winia replied nonchalantly. It wasn’t a big deal. The bounty was up to whoever set it.
Still, the bounty was low compared to the risk.
As a quest, it should have been worth at least 30 silver to attract a party.
—Salist.
—Toer.
—Anyas.
—Silidra.
—Latras.
The ability to simultaneously summon five mid-grade spirits with different attributes was not to be taken lightly. It was extremely dangerous. Most people couldn’t defeat even one, but he had five, making him a veritable disaster.
But against a supremely skilled swordsman, a capable mage, and Cloudie, he died so pathetically.
That said, they were eco-terrorists, not skilled warriors.
Having powerful abilities doesn’t mean you can fight skillfully and kill your opponent effectively. What matters is combat sense and judgment.
Anyway, considering all this and evaluating it comprehensively, the risk was probably above a C-grade quest. Which was expected since the army was involved.
He was quite dangerous, but he was unlucky.
Against most opponents, he would have overwhelmed them with his spirits.
And he might have harmed the village. He said he came for Undine, but I didn’t believe that from the start. I saw his ideology.
There’s only one way for spirits and humans to coexist.
Kill one side and coexist with their corpses. Both humans and spirits want that.
“Hehehe, but now mid-grade spirits are nothing.”
Mid-grade electric spirit?
His name was Latras, and killing him was a piece of cake. He was fast, but not faster than my sword.
My skill clearly surpassed mid-grade spirits.
I was even stronger than when I fought Nyas. Back then, I had to struggle to win.
“Latras is a pretty strong spirit. Good job, my darkie.”
“Very smooth growth. Mama is happy. High-grade spirits are just around the corner.”
“They’re all pushovers to me.”
I wanted to test if a normal strike would work, not just one with poison, but it was a shame I couldn’t.
“By the way, Winia, what was with killing Salist with Flame Arrow? I was so surprised.”
I didn’t expect Salist, who stepped up confidently, to turn into a core and end up in my pocket. Aren’t fire spirits usually immune to fire attacks?
“Did you think I couldn’t do that much? I told you, I’ve caught Salist before.”
Winia puffed out her chest confidently.
“Darkie, it’s not just my chest that’s big. Do you think that spirit is stronger than my magic?”
“Of course not!”
Even flames kneel before bigger flames. How can a match beat a flamethrower? And Winia’s Flame Arrow was a powerful spell.
And so, we walked down towards the village.
In any case, the ruthless evil deeds of the demonic spiritist who commanded the heretical group of Sama were brought to an end here.
It feels like I’m preaching peace wherever I go these days.
Even Undine, the original target, was cleanly dealt with. I didn’t expect things to end so easily. We succeeded in everything within hours of arriving.
“Still, he was really out of his mind. Everything he said was nonsense. He was like a crazy bastard.”
“You think so too?”
Even Winia, who was born and raised in this world, was disgusted by Martellise’s ideology. But in modern Earth, there are plenty of crazy bastards, so it’s no different in this world.
It’s not strange.
“But thanks to him, we got a lot of good things, right? And we confirmed Katt’s growth.”
“Hehehe, that’s right.”
This is just my opinion, but thanks to the spiritist, I had the opportunity to think about monsters again. Monsters that kill people, and beings that can’t coexist.
Maybe Martellise appeared to show me this.
Thinking that way, I started to feel warm inside.
I’ll never forget your sacrifice, Martellise.
We arrived at the village soon after. When I found the village chief, he greeted us with a very surprised expression.
“Y-you’ve already caught Undine?”
“Yes. We took care of it very cleanly.”
I took out Undine’s core and showed it to the village chief. He widened his eyes and examined the core, but the village chief probably couldn’t recognize a spirit’s core.
“Is this… proof that Undine is dead?”
“When spirits die, they leave behind a core like this and disappear. Hmm, you might not know. In that case, it would be better to go to the spring together to confirm. Gather a few people and follow me.”
An adventurer’s job is to show the client that the target is completely dead. You can just cut off the head of other monsters, but not spirits.
“I understand. Please wait a moment.”
Since there’s plenty of time until tomorrow, it’s better to show them before it gets dark.
Professionals don’t create problems in their work.
“Cloudie, Winia. Rest here for a bit. I’ll show them and come back.”
“Okay, we will.”
“Darkie, be careful.”
And so, I walked up to the spring with the village chief and three guards as witnesses. But all four of them seemed quite scared, even though I said I had killed Undine.
I guess it’s scary that three people you lived with died.
Every village has a guard. But they’re not professional warriors. Rather than solving problems, they defend the village and control the residents while waiting for a swordsman to come.
“Hehehe, don’t worry. Undine is already dead. We adventurers are experts at dealing with such monsters. We knew the location, so we could kill it quickly.”
When I said that with a smile, they seemed to relax, as if their tension had been relieved.
“Money never betrays trust. As much as you spent dozens of silver on a request to the Adventurer’s Guild, the problem will be solved for sure. No matter what.”
“I, I suppose so?”
A young man replied. He looked to be about mid-teens, which would be a middle schooler on Earth, but he’s already an adult in this world.
Enough to be a guard.
“By the way, how long have you been an adventurer?”
He asked me.
“I’ve been doing this for a few years. Are you interested in becoming an adventurer? I don’t recommend it. Farming is more peaceful.”
“Hmm… I see.”
Few people quit farming to become adventurers. Unless there’s a famine or crop failure, most farmers live better than most adventurers.
In other words, adventurers are like technicians.
I’ve built up my skills and bought proper equipment, so I’m making a lot of money, but other adventurers aren’t.
Fighting monsters with your bare hands is quite difficult.
You need to be at least a D-rank adventurer to make money; those below that are just early-stage manual laborers like Kim Katt.
“It’s better to just farm and be in the guard. Anyway, this is the spring.”
“Everyone, look for Bauer’s body.”
When we arrived at the spring, the village chief and guards cautiously moved around and examined the surroundings. I stood still and guarded the area, letting them check until they were satisfied.
“It seems Undine is definitely gone… But just in case, if Undine reappears…”
After carefully checking for about 30 minutes, the village chief came to me and handed me the request form. It was already stamped, as if he had prepared it in advance.
“Don’t worry. You can come to the guild and talk about it again. The Adventurer’s Guild is an organization that operates on trust. I also make a living from guild requests, so I wouldn’t lie about catching it.”
“…I wasn’t doubting you. Anyway, thank you.”
Of course, they can doubt me.
“You’re paying me, so there’s no need to thank me. If something similar happens again, it would be better to control the residents faster to prevent more damage.”
“I understand. I will do so.”
“But it’s getting late, so I’ll have to stay overnight. Do you have any lodging in the village?”
“We don’t have any. There’s an unused warehouse, so I’ll give you that.”
“Thank you.”
In the end, the job was finished like this. Another quest success. I felt satisfied and refreshed. This is how you build your career and wealth.
I immediately took the people and went down to the village.
“Darkie, what did they say?”
“I got the request form. They said they’ll give us an empty warehouse to sleep in.”
Winia smiled with satisfaction when she received the request form.
“Darkie, you’re so strong now that it’s fun to take you around. Oh, my handsome man. Come here. You’re so reliable.”
“There’s no one as reliable as me.”
I’m glad she’s happy.
And so, we moved to the warehouse they told us about and unpacked our luggage. There seems to be a well, so let’s wash up, rest, and leave early tomorrow morning.
* * *
“Katt, we’re here.”
“Ugh?”
I remember falling asleep as soon as I got on the carriage at dawn, but when I woke up, it was Isbant. Cloudie was touching my ear. It was probably around noon.
As soon as I got off, I headed to the Adventurer’s Guild.
I have a few things to do today, so I need to move a bit faster.
Let’s ask the counter staff about the bounty.
“Here, I’ve completed the quest.”
“Hmm… C-rank Winia, D-rank Katt, E-rank Cloudie… A diverse combination? Here’s the request fee of 20 silver.”
I immediately handed the request form to the staff and received 20 silver. I counted the money and asked.
“By the way, do you have any wanted posters here?”
“Wanted posters?”
“I thought I saw a face that looked familiar from a wanted poster a while ago, but I’m not sure. I wanted to check if it’s the same person.”
“Hmm… The guild probably has a few in storage. Go up to the second floor. If you say you want to see the wanted posters, they’ll guide you.”
Twenty silver coins. Accurate.
“I understand. Thank you for your hard work.”
“You’ve worked hard.”
I immediately went up to the second floor.
