## Chapter 216 – Für Elise
Since Elise and Lina were waiting outside, I decided to keep the story short and concise. I wasn’t alone, and it was late, so I needed to be quick.
“Hmph…”
Risha was scrutinizing the trophy with a very seductive gaze. Was it the look of a master appraiser? It was a sticky, bewitching stare, like a lustful woman choosing a dildo to use from tonight until morning.
Specifically, it felt similar to the way Claudia looked at my… equipment.
She was so focused that it felt a bit awkward to interrupt, but I had to tell the story. I waited a bit to find the right moment and then started talking.
“Ahem! Where should I start… First, the witch asked me to investigate, right? So, I did the investigation.”
“Uh, yeah? Right?”
She reacted as if she had just snapped out of it. She must have been quite captivated.
“But damn it, instead of investigating, I ended up resolving the whole thing. I didn’t expect it to turn out like this, but as I was investigating, I ended up smashing everything to bits.”
Risha put down the trophy and stared at me intently.
The original purpose was investigation, but suddenly it turned into resolution. It was a bit awkward to explain.
“As I’ve explained a few times, the guys hiding in the back alleys were evil cultists called the Eternal Life Society. Those bastards were holding some kind of gatherings for the poor and doing something really diligently. They were even giving baptisms… faithfully, that is.”
In truth, I hadn’t figured out the true purpose of the cultists. All I could do was make a rough guess. I had to conclude with, “I think that’s probably it.” Because I had wiped them all out, so I couldn’t interrogate them.
“But I don’t know why they were living so diligently, anyway. I’ll explain what I found out today and how it happened.”
I organized my thoughts for a moment and explained what I had seen.
There were cultists and ghouls in a hidden basement. Those red bastards were digging some kind of tunnel, and we stopped them.
The ghouls were probably the poor people who had been baptized. Lina’s grandmother proved that.
The corpses lying around nearby were the same.
But the question was, what was that giant, pure-white ghoul?
Maybe their real goal was to create that giant? The giant they finally created or summoned after experimenting with the poor as sacrifices… I couldn’t know for sure. I didn’t even know if ghouls were their main objective.
So, I just explained what I had seen.
What was certain was that they were using ghouls to dig tunnels. Whether that was their main objective or whether the giant was the objective, I couldn’t say.
Instead of figuring it out, we chose to destroy them.
We couldn’t investigate, but by engaging in destructive activities, we ended up acquiring the trophy that seemed to be their precious possession, the one that emitted a purple light, and we annihilated the cultists as well.
Well, the job itself was done excellently. It was just the investigation part that was a bit sloppy.
“Hmm… I see, I see. The curiosity isn’t resolved, but it seems you’ve solved a troublesome problem. Thank you so much.”
Risha said that as if she had been curious about the cultists as well. I felt a bit disappointed that I hadn’t found out the truth.
But the problem itself was solved, so whatever.
“And a giant… That’s interesting too, but it’s dead, so there’s nothing I can do. Anyway, you’ve done a really good job. Now then, shall I give you your reward?”
“Hehehe, thank you so much.”
Risha took out ten silver coins as a reward for the successful quest. It was a very generous amount. The curiosity wasn’t resolved, but she must be paying for the service of killing all the troublesome guys.
I let out the laughter that was bubbling up and put the silver coins in my pocket.
“Anyway, Witch. This trophy is the real deal.”
“It seems so.”
Risha showed great interest in the trophy.
The black trophy with bizarre patterns engraved on it. It was clearly a sacred object of the cultists. In other words, it was probably a unique item.
“I don’t know about now… but definitely, until we came out of the basement, purple light was pouring out of it, right? The entire second basement floor looked bright because of it. Damn, it was amazing. You have to see it for yourself.”
Let’s exaggerate a bit.
I sang about the amethyst-colored mist.
“Anyway. That’s what it was like. But the light is off now. Do you happen to know what this is?”
“No.”
Risha answered my question bluntly.
I thought she might know something, but it was unexpected.
“I don’t know either. It requires a bit of deep appraisal… So, how much should I value this at…”
How much indeed.
As I opened my ears to hear the price, Risha added.
“But lately, my sales have been down because of those guys, so I can’t pay a high price right now.”
“Huh? Your sales are down? Did those guys do something?”
“…Something like that. You don’t need to worry about it.”
She seemed reluctant to answer. Something must be going on.
Well, I didn’t really need to worry about it.
It just seemed like she was a bit poor right now.
“Personally… I think 40 silver would be a fair price.”
40 silver!
I was so surprised that I almost jumped up reflexively!
“But I can only prepare half that amount right now. Would it be okay if I paid in installments? I really want to have this.”
Risha said, stroking the patterns engraved on the trophy with her hand. Come to think of it, how does Risha make money anyway? As a self-employed person running a store, she must have a certain amount of income… I was a bit curious.
Seeing her always giving me a lot of money and commissioning me or buying goods, I assumed she must have a large source of income. But that had become a bit difficult because of the cultists?
What could it be?
As I was seriously contemplating, I felt Risha’s gaze.
She was looking at me with a smile.
…She read my mind.
Was she telling me not to think about it anymore?
I spoke in a high-pitched tone as if to change the atmosphere.
“Is this our first or second time doing business? Of course, I have to do that for you! Witch, this is a special service!”
“Hehe. Thank you.”
Of course, payment in installments was possible. Risha and I had a certain amount of trust. Risha smiled and answered, and I got up from my seat.
“Then, I can just come back next time, right?”
“Yes, please come back next time. I’ll pay the balance then.”
Thus, the total amount of money I earned from this job was 30 silver.
If I added the remaining 20 silver, I would have a whopping 50 silver in my hands. Of course, I would have to give half of that to Elise and a little to Lina, but even after giving all that away, I would still have a lot of money left.
I said goodbye to Risha, who was holding the trophy again, and went outside.
I’ll come back in a few days to get the balance.
“Was I late? Did you wait long?”
“It’s okay. It wasn’t long.”
“Hehehe, really? Anyway, I got the money.”
I explained that I had received 50 silver, even though I only had 30 silver right now, and then handed 25 silver to Elise. It was a truly unconventional amount. But Elise had been with me from almost the beginning to the end, so it was right to split it in half.
The giant’s heart was a bonus distribution based on merit.
“…This is too much. I can’t receive this much money after taking the heart.”
“No, when you think about it, you did more than I did, right? It’s not too much. This is the right amount.”
Elise had caught far more cultists and ghouls, and it was Elise who smashed the giant’s head. All I did was stab it once and stab it in the neck.
And in the first place, I wouldn’t have even thought of attacking if Elise hadn’t been there.
It was an achievement that I could never have accomplished alone. I concluded that and refused Elise, who was trying to return the money, and paid Lina as well.
“Here, Lina. Take 5 silver.”
The amount of money to give to Lina was 5 silver.
That meant I had no money in my hands right now. But she had snatched the trophy in that fierce situation, so it was appropriate to give her this much.
Come to think of it, the money I had pickpocketed was also 5 silver, and the money I received as compensation was also 5 silver more than the original amount. In many ways, our relationship was connected by 5 silver.
I believed that this would allow Lina to get back on her feet.
“…Th, thank you, Oppa.”
“Yeah. Lina, are you an F-rank adventurer now?”
“That’s right.”
For an F-rank adventurer, 5 silver was a lot of money, almost enough to change their fate. If you’re F-rank, your weekly income is less than 30 coppers. If you earned a whopping 5 silver in the midst of that, you wouldn’t have to worry about tomorrow.
“Live hard. And don’t let anyone take that money from you, hide it well. How heartbreaking would it be if you got pickpocketed?”
“…”
“And don’t fall apart. Your grandmother in the afterlife wouldn’t want you to fall apart either. You have successfully completed your revenge. Snatching the cultists’ sacred object means that you have given them the greatest humiliation and pain.”
“…Yes.”
Lina, who received the money, bowed politely and disappeared into the darkness of the back alley. The dead are dead, and the living are living.
Lina will live as a living person.
“Live strong in the mountains too.”
“Mountains, you say?”
“Just a figure of speech. Let’s go too.”
And so, I came out of the slums with Elise.
I didn’t have any money right now, but I would receive 20 silver as the balance. It was a larger amount than I thought. It was more than enough compensation for the hard work I had done over the past few days. I thought I had done a good job.
I should buy my girlfriends what they want with this.
“By the way, that white giant was damn big. If we had faced it normally, we would have been torn apart like the cultists. We were lucky. I really thought I was going to die.”
The giant’s majesty was truly mythical. Just by looking at it, nearly twenty cultists and ghouls were torn apart in a few moments. It was a formidable enemy that could never be defeated by normal means.
We wouldn’t have been able to do anything without the fire attack.
Fire is the best after all.
Hail Prometheus.
I had one more object to pray to.
“Hehe. That’s not true. I’m sure you would have used some other trick to win.”
“Really?”
“Definitely.”
Elise said with a smile.
What is the source of that faith? People become strong because they have faith. The belief that they will definitely overcome it. And trust in God. The reason why the religious people of this world are strong is all because of that.
“It reminds me of when I first met Saint. At that time, my experience was shallow, and there were so many things I didn’t know.”
“Yeah… That’s right. You didn’t even know the value of 1 silver back then.”
“That’s right. I have grown since I met Saint. I am deeply grateful for that.”
“You grew on your own. How is that my doing?”
“It’s all thanks to Saint.”
“Hehehe, really?”
“That’s right.”
As we walked and talked about this and that, we arrived in front of Elise’s accommodation. It was late at night. Despite the commotion in the slums, the city was as quiet as ever.
“Well, are you going back to the church tomorrow?”
I felt very sad at the thought of Elise going back to the church.
“…Go, back, there.”
“Hmm? Why?”
“It’s nothing.”
Elise, who trailed off at the end of her sentence, paused for a moment and then said.
“I have things to sort out, so I plan to stay here for a while.”
“Oh, really? That’s great.”
“A good thing. Is it?”
“It’s a shame to part ways, isn’t it? If you go, we won’t see each other again for a while.”
“That’s true… Since the city is different…”
It takes about 3-5 days to get from Isvant to Krasheim. Unless there is a major incident, Elise will rarely come.
After being silent for a moment, I said goodbye.
“Anyway, Saint. Thank you so much for today. I’ll go in now.”
“Yeah. Rest well. You’ve worked hard.”
And so, I parted ways with Elise and headed to my accommodation as well. Perhaps because I had been late so often recently, Winia didn’t get angry much anymore.
Well, she’ll be happy if I tell her I’ll buy her something nice since I earned money.
I really wanted to tell Claudia about my exploits as soon as possible. I thought she would really like the story about smashing the giant’s head.
Yeah, she’ll definitely like it.
Because she likes that kind of thing.
Anyway, the work is done.
Let’s go home.
