Chapter 73 (2/2)

“Any news about your mercenary companions since then?”

“No idea. Not going to search, either. I won’t find much even if I try, anyway. Unlike citizens, mercenaries like us have no information regarding our identities and backgrounds. It’ll be a waste of time.”

It sounded good when put has being a rootless wanderer, but mercenaries were existences without guaranteed identity or status.

The only thing that sort of did was the group itself, but if it disbanded, like Loren’s did, even that disappeared.

“Well, fortune’s already given me so many strange meetings. Maybe I’ll run into them one day.”

“Hopefully you do.”

“Well, even if I did, I don’t intend on going back to being a mercenary. I don’t feel like making a living off lives at this point. I made some promises as well.”

“Okay, enough of the annoying talk. Who would want to watch two men facing each other in the corner of a bar, drinking during the middle of the day?”

A girl with black hair pulled up into a ponytail, wearing priest’s clothes, interrupted their conversation and sat down next to Loren.

As she sat down, with an annoyed look on her pretty face, she pointed at Loren’s cup and ordered the same thing to a passing waitress.

“Lapis, did you find any good jobs?”

When Loren asked the girl sitting next to him, Lapis shrugged.

She had caught wind that Klaus was going to buy Loren a drink, came with him, and while the two of them were drinking, she went to the receptionist to see if there were any good jobs, but from her response it seemed that the results weren’t satisfying.

“There weren’t any that came to me. Well, there are those kinds of days, I guess.”

When the waitress returned with a tray with a cup on it, Lapis took it, thanked her, and gulped down half of the contents.

Wine tasted nice and was easier to drink than other alcohol, but it was still alcohol, so Loren was worried that Lapis would get drunk quickly, but since she was no ordinary girl, but instead was demon kind, which had powerful abilities, so he guessed that she would be fine and didn’t say anything.

“I can pay for yours as well, you know?”

Klaus said to her since he had seen her pay when she ordered, but Lapis wiped her lips with the back of her hand, put her cup on the table, and snorted.

“I would gladly accept if Loren were buying, but I’ll never accept anything from you.”

“No way I could buy you anything…”

Strangely, Loren didn’t end up in the red after the last job.

But even though he had some money on him, his wallet was still very light.

“It’s just a metaphor. I don’t want anything from someone who leads a harem party, with a bunch of mistresses on top of a wife.”

“Looks like I’m quite hated.”

“I hate snakes, but they’re still better than you.”

Lapis’ view of Klaus was very low.

But it was something Loren could understand, so he didn’t say anything and watched Lapis flame Klaus.

Klaus’ personality seemed to have gotten a lot softer since Loren had met him, but it didn’t seem like his quickness to lay a hand on women didn’t change, and it didn’t seem like he was going to change it either.

But he thought that it was a problem for Klaus and those around him, and didn’t concern him at all, so he decided not to worry about it.

But of course, he knew that Klaus’ personality was one of an enemy towards women, so he didn’t feel like stopping Lapis insulting him.

“I’m only here since I followed Loren, so don’t mind me.”

“That’s…well, okay.”

“Oh, I do acknowledge your > ability, so I’ll be sure to make use of it when something happens.”

“A-ahahaha…”

In a previous job, Klaus had been tied to the back of a horse and was forced to use > to increase the limits of the horse in order to escape from an enemy, and Lapis had whipped Klaus through the whole night to do so.

Klaus seemed to have recalled that experience, as he averted his eyes with a stretched smile, and Lapis turned towards Loren, who was drinking silently.

“There weren’t any good jobs, but if we don’t work, you’ll be wandering on the streets.”

“Borrowing money from you again is painful, too.”

The promise that Loren had made with Lapis.

He would continue being with Lapis until he had paid back his debt to her.

The conditions weren’t bad, as Lapis had said she wouldn’t forcefully collect and he could pay whenever he could, but it was already at an enormous amount, over thirty gold coins, so he didn’t want to increase it any further if he could.

“I don’t mind but continuing to lend will cause you to be concerned, and I believe that work is precious, after all.”

“But there wasn’t a good job, right?”

If they forcefully accepted a bad job, it wouldn’t end well.

Even if it wasn’t, all the jobs that Loren went on and the jobs that Lapis brought, which were supposed to be for copper rank adventurers like them, increased in difficulty one way or another.

If force was added on top of that, Loren wasn’t sure what sort of dangers would await them, but apparently Lapis was thinking of something completely different.

“There wasn’t a job, but I’ve thought of something nice.”

Her eyes sparkled, excited to tell him, but on the other hand, a shadow crossed over Loren’s face.

Loren was worried that whatever it was, it wasn’t going to end well, but he gave up, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to change her mind, so he gulped down the rest of his drink and prepared himself.

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