Chapter 202 (2/2)

“Have you heard about the ruins recently discovered?”

“Ruins? No, this is my first time hearing about them.”

“I see. Then, allow me to explain.”

How could ruins help out my situation?

As I wondered this, the witch gave a brief explanation.

She told me that an unknown man-made ruin was found deep within the crater that the loligon made. There were many monsters sealed within these ruins that were released. The people of Paipan have been busy dealing with these creatures in recent days.

It has made the reconstruction of Drill-san’s castle a distant dream.

“I see.”

“We decided to stay in this city for a while to earn enough money to cover our travel expenses. We may have made it out of the Penny Empire, but we are still within reach of their soldiers if they truly desire to capture us. Once we’ve earned enough, we plan on moving on.”

“So that’s how it is.”

“So, what do you have to say about our little proposal? We investigate the ruins together and eliminate as many monsters as possible. The town will reward us with gold for each one we kill. We’ve even procured a map to make things easier.”

“That does sound like an attractive proposal.”

“It definitely suits both of our purposes.”

“But what do the rest of your group have to say?”

I turned my eyes towards the others that had yet to even acknowledge me.

I don’t want to join up with them if it’s going to cause any issue. They do have a map which would make things easier, but if it’s just killing some monsters, I could manage on my own. I won’t join their group until I know everyone agrees.

“Isn’t it fine? I have no reason to distrust this guy.”

The first person to speak was a large man dressed as a stereotypical thief.

Others quickly followed and voiced their consent as well. I didn’t see a single one among them that truly seemed uncomfortable about the idea. The fact that it was the idea of the witch and the Great Thief for me to join seemed to play a major influence on their decision, but this was still more positive than I expected.

Everyone here is so welcoming.

My chest feels warm.

“We’ll meet up tomorrow if that sounds good to you.”

“I understand. Thank you very much.”

“No, I should be the one thanking you.”

In a surprising turn of events, I’ve decided to join up with the escaped prisoners.

My short vacation is going to be spent killing monsters in a dungeon in order to buy my sex slaves.

***

[Sophia-chan’s point of view]

I was on my back from speaking with the slave trade about purchasing those two girls.

While walking along the main road in the Northern District back to the mayor’s home, I was suddenly stopped by Drill-sama. She grabbed my shoulder and turned me to face her before saying,

“Hey, Sophia, do you even have enough money?”

It’s about the slaves….

“Well, t-that’s….”

I have almost all of the gold I received from the dragon extermination.

However, I needed to find a way to hide the gold from my father. Keeping it at home was out of the question, so I decided to invest it through various means that would allow the gold to maintain or even improve its value.

In order to buy the girls, I’ll need to convert them back into gold, and to do that, I need to go to Kalis. Even if I take a carriage, it will take about five days to reach the capital. That makes me sad even thinking about it.

Well, I’ve already given those two hope and I can’t take it away from them now.

And this is exactly what I told Drill-sama.

“Hmm? I guess I underestimated you, Maid.”

“No,I-I’m nothing special. It’s all due to Tanaka-san and Fahren-sama….’

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Eh? Umm, then what do you mean…?”

“Would you like my help?”

“Umm, well, t-that’s….”

“How many days do you think it will take you on foot? Don’t you think that it will be likely that they’ll be sold by the time you get back? Doesn’t the idea of taking something from you light a fire inside of you? Besides, you wouldn’t be able to properly serve your master if all you can think about are those two.”

Drill-sama, your true intentions are starting to show.

I doubt Tanaka-san cares about anything I do.

“A-Are you sure?”

“It’s not because I think of you as a friend or anything. I just don’t want to ride all the way back to the capital on my own.”

I agreed to accept Drill-sama’s help.

I’m happy to know that I won’t be alone.

Just keep doing your best, Maid.