Chapter 24 (2/2)

Loren and Lapis and Ritz’s party did get together within the ruins, but were originally separate parties. Since it was the norm for parties to take care of their own members, it would’ve been awkward if Lapis let them carry Loren.

“Looks like you helped me quite a bit.”

“No, no. Don’t worry about it. Speaking of failed quests, the quest for exterminating goblins that we took was considered a failure. Three members of the party hasn’t come back and we weren’t able to destroy the nest, and we don’t have any proof of hunting, so.”

The sack that contained the goblin ears was lost sometime during the fight.

Loren had to focus on fighting for his life so he couldn’t manage to keep track of it at the same time, and wondered where he dropped it.

As a result, they didn’t receive any sort of reward from the adventurer’s guild.

Loren sighed at his mistake.

“Sorry about that Lapis.”

Although Loren had lost the sack, Lapis could’ve harvested a lot from all the goblins that had stopped after the control panel broke.

The ones they killed were collected by the goblins but there were still a lot of goblins left in there.

But she didn’t do that because everyone knew that they weren’t out of danger just because the ruins shut down and Ritz suggested getting out of there as fast as they can.

Because of that she couldn’t collect anything afterwards.

“Don’t worry about it. Oh, and I’ve already taken the carriage fee that it took to get back here from your wallet, but the treatment fees and the hospital fees that were added are a different story.”

Loren felt gloomy after hearing those words and didn’t want to get up anymore, so he relaxed his body and kept lying down.

The sole reason he accepted the quest was because he had no money, but he lost the sack with the proof of hunting, and above that, he had other fees he had to pay.

The carriage fee that Lapis took from his wallet was money she had lent him as well.

When he heard Lapis say that she added the treatment fees and hospital fees, he looked at Lapis.

“I’ll pay for them for you, so don’t worry.”

Lapis understood what Loren was thinking and answered.

“How long was I out?”

“Around three days. We took a day coming back so you’ve been here for two days, and the hospital bills will cost five silver coins.”

Loren sighed as he learned that it was a cost that he couldn’t pay, while Lapis smiled and moved her face closer to Loren’s and whispered.

“You don’t have to worry so much. I’m lending you the money, but I’m not going to ask for any interest.”

“I can’t pay it even if you did.”

“I won’t remind you either. And you can pay in installments as well.”

In fact, Lapis was the only one who had a profit from the quest, but she was keeping it a secret from Loren.

It was because while she was looking for the manual for the ruins, she slipped things that looked valuable in her pockets.

Even a thief like Jack couldn’t notice her doing it, thus she was the only one who made it out with valuables in her hand.

All the things she found were accessories with magic spells on them, and decided that the person who oversaw the facility was a woman.

Also, she guessed that the > pendant that the goblin mage had was from the control room. She speculated that it took the pendant and left the ruins and eventually evolved into a goblin mage.

There was no way for her to check if it was correct, though.

“Aren’t the conditions a too good?”

“Instead, please stay with me for a while.”

She fired herself up as she got to the main point.

What Lapis was aiming for was Loren himself.

Loren was quite experienced and trustworthy, and he didn’t change his attitude towards her even when she told him that she was demon kind, which were hated by most people.

A person like that was already hard to find.

Not only that, Lapis left her home to learn about the world and she was disguised as a priest, but even though she was a powerful demon kind, there was a limit to what she could do alone.

But if she partnered up with a swordsman, they would be able to work as a party, and when she would need to partner up with a random party, it would cause less trouble for her.

That was how hard it was for a priestess to move on her own.

People would keep coming to her with ulterior motives, and even if she could get into a good party, they may not let her leave even if she wanted to.

“I don’t think it’s a bad trade. What do you think?”

Lapis wasn’t comfortable with using money to bound Loren with her, but she didn’t want to lose him so she was willing to turn a blind eye.

Even when she put herself in Loren’s shoes, she could see the merits of moving with a priest.

A swordsman would benefit a lot from a priest who could heal injuries instantly.

“W-what do you think?”

Loren wasn’t responding.

Lapis was worried that she might have made him angry, so she asked him again nervously. He looked past Lapis and at the ceiling, exhausted, and replied.

“I’m in no state to refuse.”

“So, does that mean you accept?”

“Promise me. It’s until I pay off my debt.”

“Yes, that’s fine. I’ll be in your care Loren.”

Lapis’ face lit up brightly.

As he watched her smile from beneath her wondering when she would get off him, he wondered how he was going to pay her back.

But Loren had no idea.

Beneath her bright smile, Lapis was thinking of ways she could increase Loren’s debt so she could keep him at her side.

This is how a broke mercenary started walking down the path of an adventurer.

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