## Chapter 170 – Holiday
I made Elise sit down and ruthlessly ordered a meat-heavy menu. We were about to embark on a long journey lasting at least three days, so price wasn’t an issue. Saps Macho Kim Kat knew when to spend money.
I spoke loudly to ease Elise’s obvious discomfort.
“Hey! We’re all in this together! Eat up!”
“W-well…”
“For the Divine Brother!! This is basic!!!”
“I-I wish you could lower your voice a little, Saint…”
“Ah. Right.”
Anyway, I sat across from Elise and looked at her. It was clear she was a minor, but despite her young age, she was a diligent nun who lived a tough life.
Church life must be incredibly demanding.
Come to think of it, I still didn’t know Elise’s age.
“Elise, now that I think about it, how old are you? It’s been a while since we met, but I still don’t know.”
“Are you asking about my age? Under the blessing of Order, I will be 17 this year.”
By this world’s standards, adulthood begins at 15, but by my standards, she was still a minor. If this were Earth, she’d be a blossoming student, not fighting demonic beings.
It brought tears to my eyes.
“Uh… you’re living a hard life at such a young age.”
“I don’t think of it as hardship. It’s just a sacred service to purify evil beings and bring paradise to this earth someday.”
“Yeah, well. That’s probably the right thing to do. I’m in my mid-twenties. There’s a bit of an age gap, but that kind of trivial thing doesn’t matter between us, who’ve shared friendship across the line of death.”
“Hehe. I see. But ‘friend’… is a somewhat unfamiliar concept. There weren’t many people of similar age in the church…”
Strictly speaking, the age difference between Elise and me was like that of a high school girl and an older man. But Elise and I had already transcended age and gender to become Divine Brother. No.
Divine Friend.
“It’s the same for me. After leaving this world, no, my homeland, I’ve hardly had any friends… Ah, the food’s here. Here, Elise. Eat as much as you want.”
“Thank you for the meal.”
Spending about 40 coppers on a single meal was painful, but this was for Elise. I could do this much before saying goodbye.
Elise, perhaps due to the etiquette she learned at the church, began to eat the meat dish that came out in a very neat manner. Then she said,
“By the way, Saint. If I remember correctly, when you fought the Kobold Queen who was tainted by evil, didn’t you call out the name ‘Hwanung’?”
What was this?
“Hmm? Yeah, why?”
“Is that person your god?”
Since Elise, who belonged to the tag:zealot, was asking, I decided to be careful with my words. Surely she wasn’t suddenly going to smash my head in, calling me a heretic?
Of course not.
After all, wasn’t this a world where polytheism was rampant? If they smashed the heads of people with different religions, this society, where the church held sway, wouldn’t be functioning normally.
“Yeah. You can tell by my hair color, but I’m from Mirkesha. Hwanung is the god of the sky and stands at the pinnacle of our native folk religion.”
“Is that so. Indeed… that’s a god’s name I’ve never heard before.”
“Not much is known about our people.”
“This has been a good learning experience.”
Thankfully, Elise didn’t say anything else. Did she not care as long as it wasn’t an evil being?
“It would be great if you could convert to our church, Saint. You have the talent of a Templar or Holy Knight. How about it? Would you be willing to join us on the sacred journey to bring paradise to earth?”
“Hehe, unfortunately, I’m a Confucian believer.”
“Hehe. I knew you’d answer that way. I was just joking when I asked.”
I finished my meal while chatting with Elise about trivial things. Seeing her eat well after using her powers made me feel at ease. Was it time to part ways soon? I went outside with Elise.
“It’s time to go. Take care. Well… always be careful on your way back. See you next time.”
I felt a little sad when it was time to say goodbye.
But it was time. I waved my hand with a touch of regret.
“As the world is unstable, Saint, there will always be times when corruption and evil temptations cloud your vision, but I hope you will overcome those trials with steadfast faith.”
To my surprise, Elise, instead of her usual expressionless face, smiled slightly and said,
“As you said, we have already formed a deep bond as Divine Brother… so there will be a day when we meet again. Goodbye then.”
“Yeah! Take care! May Hwanung and Buddha’s grace be with you!”
Elise walked away.
She’d be quite busy now, catching a carriage and all.
“Well… still.”
We’d be able to see each other again someday.
She always showed up when I least expected it.
In many ways, she was like Copson.
Anyway, I had to go buy medicine. Now that I thought about it, I had to go to the alchemist’s guild to buy medicine, but since it was on the way back to the inn anyway, it didn’t matter if I went again. The medicine was probably around 50 coppers.
I remembered shedding tears of blood because of it when I caught a cold once. At the time, 50 coppers was a huge sum of money for me. I somehow scraped together all my money to buy medicine and worked the next day too.
It wasn’t a good memory.
I honestly realized for the first time then that a person could die from a cold. Back then, I had no money and lived like a beggar.
Even if you caught a cold, if you didn’t have money, you couldn’t even rent a stable, let alone an inn. If you got sick without money, it was natural to die on the cold floor.
“But I’m not the same person I was back then anymore.”
First, I’d buy cold medicine, and then I’d buy bread or sausages for the girls who were starving. Since they were sick, should I buy some fruit too?
I headed straight to the alchemist’s guild.
It was a den of alchemists who also ran a pharmacy.
They were like demonic bastards who controlled the price of medicine with their terribly thorough unity and sucked the blood of the common people. I had nothing but hatred for them, but today I had to borrow their hands.
“Excuse me. My companion is suffering from a cold. I’d like to buy some medicine.”
I looked around, but the employee who had seen me earlier wasn’t there.
It was lunchtime, so maybe they went to eat.
“What are the symptoms?”
“She has a fever and is coughing.”
“Is it very high?”
“I don’t think it’s that high… she seems a little dizzy, but she’s not completely out of energy.”
“Hmm… then.”
He rummaged through the drawers and took out a pill wrapped in paper.
“50 coppers. Take this and watch her for two or three days, and if the symptoms don’t subside, it could be a more severe cold, so come back to buy more medicine.”
“…I see. Give me two. There are two of them.”
Since I wasn’t going to haggle, I paid right away and bought two. Now I could go back, feed them, give them medicine, and let them sleep. I couldn’t go to work leaving sick people behind.
I walked down the street.
I just had to go back towards the blacksmith’s shop as I had in the morning.
“Hmm…”
As I passed through the blacksmith’s street, I started to think that I should change my equipment soon. The quilted armor that had protected my body for months was almost completely ruined, my pants were stained, and the soles of my boots were almost completely worn out.
Should I use the money I earned this time to get all new equipment?
I just needed to sharpen the weapon, and simply replace the belt, boots, pants, and quilted armor.
And I realized painfully from the battle with the Kobold Guardian that I became a pushover the moment I lost my weapon.
Taekwondo, Siljang Kwonbeop, and Chunma Shin’gong only worked on guys who were a bit weaker, and basically, killing an enemy of the same level without a weapon was a gamble even if you risked your life.
I could have killed that Guardian bastard faster if I had a weapon. As a result, losing my weapon boosted my courage, but it would be good to have a secondary weapon.
A secondary weapon…
A hand axe to split heads?
A dagger that could be used for multiple purposes?
Or a mace to smash skulls?
I should think about this too.
I had a lot of money, so I should invest in my equipment this time. Good combat power comes from good equipment. A capable warrior knows how to prepare.
It was the honorable warrior’s mindset to overwhelm the enemy by using better equipment than the enemy. Thinking that way, I became interested in hidden weapons. In fact, assassins were the true warriors. They hid in the shadows and took lives in an instant when the opponent was at their weakest.
I wanted to become that kind of warrior.
An Assassin Warrior.
Well, I also wanted to learn archery.
“Okay.”
I was already near the blacksmith’s shop anyway. I could take 30 minutes to get equipment and go in. Winnia would be well taken care of by Cloudi. Although she needed that care herself.
I’d quickly buy equipment, buy food at a store near the inn, and go back. Let’s finish this quickly.
I immediately went into the shoe store in front of me.
“Welcome.”
“Ah, hello. I’m here to look at shoes.”
“What are you looking for?”
“Combat boots.”
First, I needed to replace my shoes with good ones that I could use for a long time. I always thought about it, but I hadn’t done it because I was short on money. There was nothing more important than shoes in battle. Sturdy shoes protected the feet and increased attack power.
Following the owner’s guidance, I looked at the shoes one by one.
“Don’t you have anything a little sturdier? If possible, I’d like something with iron plates on the toes and instep.”
“You have excellent taste. I have something similar, and I’ll bring out the best-selling one among them.”
He said that and brought a long boot that came up to half of the calf.
“Oho. This is the real deal.”
I was impressed when I saw it.
It was a sturdy-looking black boot that seemed to be a fantasy-style arrangement of military boots. As I ordered, it had iron plates on the toes and instep, so it looked like it had good defense, and it was made of a generally hard material that seemed to be hardened, so it would hold the ankle firmly.
“We also put iron plates on the soles. It’s a little heavy, but looking at your build, I think you’ll be fine. I roughly looked at your size and picked out something similar… try it on.”
“I will.”
Even the size was perfect.
This was literally Combat Boots. It felt a little heavy, but I thought I’d get used to it soon. Above all, it could be tightened with buckles and laces, and it seemed easy to put on and take off compared to its size.
“This is good. How much is it?”
“It’s a very high-quality item, so it’s 7 silver and 20 coppers.”
Holy crap.
That’s ridiculously expensive.
But since it was equipment that I liked a lot, I decided to close my eyes and buy it. Just wearing these boots made me feel like my combat power had increased rapidly. Cheap shoes were no good.
After deducting all the expenses, the total profit from the dungeon was a little over 15 silver, so it was still okay. I gritted my teeth and took out my wallet.
“I’ll buy it. Do you repair it if it’s damaged?”
“Yes. I’ll do it for free up to three times for you.”
“That’s great.”
I paid and went outside.
The next place to visit was the armor shop.
My completely ruined quilted armor could be repaired and used more, but I just wanted to sell it used and buy a new, better one. I walked around nearby at a fast pace and went into a place that looked good.
The place I came to was the right answer, and there were various quilted armors on display inside. Quilted armor was a type of cloth armor, also called a gambeson. Warriors who earned some money wore it almost as everyday clothes because it was a good piece of armor for the price.
The owner who came up asked what I was looking for, and I replied that I would just pick it out myself. I had to find it myself this time.
