Chapter 95

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Translator: Ebonarch

Chapter: 95

Chapter Title: Settlement

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"Huuuuuh!"

"Taking a bit long."

"Yeah?"

The blue light enveloping Sia's body lingered far longer than expected. While Claude and I tilted our heads in curiosity, Loren sneaked a glance our way before asking,

"Pa... What's the blue light, Cain?"

"White light means level up, blue light means stats increase, red light means a barrier has formed."

"Aha..."

Sia, legs squeezed tightly together, head bowed low as her body shuddered nonstop, finally slumped against her staff once the light faded away.

"Hueee..."

Judging by how intensely Sia felt it during all the sucking and licking—awakening her senses—her stats must have shot up considerably.

"Alright, now that Sia's made it through safe, let's head to the guild and get updated."

"Ung..."

"Claude. I'll support Sia and take it slow. You go ahead with Loren and handle the mana stone exchange."

"Gotcha."

"Loren, mana stone pouch."

"Th-this by me...?"

"Gotta handle your first exchange sometime."

"Th-thanks!"

Loren, for whom this was her very first party expedition, gleefully accepted the pouch of mana stones I handed over—even if it meant getting stuck with the exchange chore.

Even with Loren throwing up walls left and right, I pretended to shuffle the group so she'd stick with Claude. He winked his thanks and headed off to the guild first with her.

"Sia, you okay?"

"Ung... My head feels... hehe..."

"Like a massage?"

"Ung... Even better..."

"That's normal."

"Weird? Wasn't like that last time though?"

"People change over time."

"Ahang."

"Here, grab my arm."

"Yes!"

I took Sia—who ditched her staff to lean on my arm—and slowly made our way to the guild.

"Miss Mion."

"Cain. Finally here?"

"Yeah, Sia's stats went up, but she looked wiped out, so I supported her on the way."

"Aha. Go right on in. Ready, Sia?"

"Yes, sis!"

Inside the guild, Claude and Loren had apparently tipped her off about Sia's stat boost. Mion had the exchange done and was prepped for card updates.

Explorer card updates could be done solo, no problem. But Sia insisted we all go together, so the whole party headed to the update station.

"Oh? Ooo!!! Congrats, Sia!"

"Ung? Wow!"

Mion's eyes went wide at Sia's card, showering her with congrats. Sia gasped in shock at her own updated card.

"Cain!! Look at this!!!"

"Yeah...? Huh?"

I approached, and Sia beamed proudly as she shoved her explorer card in my face. I blinked in momentary confusion.

Sia's strength up by 1, stamina by 2.

And... dependency jumped from mild straight to severe? No medium in between? Probably auto-adjusted as my Hitomi score with her rose. Guess reinforcing an existing barrier doesn't trigger red light.

Mion barely glanced at the barrier, too distracted by the three stat jumps to properly congratulate Sia.

"Oh... Training paid off, huh, Sia."

"Yeah!!"

"Congrats, Sia."

"Thanks, Loren sis!"

"Sia, congrats!"

"Yeah. Thanks, everyone!!!"

The party gave Sia a quick round of congratulatory claps. She scratched her head shyly, face flushing as she bowed her thanks.

"We'll head out early today then. Miss Mion."

"Sure thing. Good work, everyone~"

I shot Mion a secret wink away from the others, then we all headed back to the lodging together.

"Status Window."

Exp barely crept up 1.5%, and stats hardly budged.

I handed Cain some cash and sent the others down to order dinner on the party's tab, then sorted the ledger alone. The status window I pulled up mid-mutter showed almost no change from last check.

Leading with Loren up front meant the rest of the stats grew so subtly it barely registered.

Only stamina was a lock to rise next expedition.

Scribble scribble scribble—

"412 lowest-grade mana stones: 41 silver 20 bronze..."

This expedition wrapped without extra drains beyond consumables, so deductions stayed light.

"Lodging for 10 days: 14 silver, Claude's installment: 3 silver... Hm. Reserve a comfy 20 silver buffer, then split the rest: 21 silver 20 ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠bronze."

Scribble scribble—

Public funds: half at 10 silver 60 bronze.

Divide 10s60b by four: 2 silver 65 bronze per person.

"Claude takes 10%, so 27 bronze. Rest at 2s65b—recover 90% of his share to public..."

Party public funds – 1 gold 36 silver 47 bronze

Personal funds

Cain [1 gold 96 silver 65 bronze]

Sia [54 silver 65 bronze]

Loren [2 silver 65 bronze]

Claude [27 bronze]

The gear loan to Loren—90 silver total—she'd already repaid 50 silver by grinding gathering hard mornings and afternoons with Sia right up to the eve of this expedition.

Public covered the initial 40 silver; the extra 50 was my personal loan. She'd cleared 10 silver of that already.

"Loren'll have a nice pile by next month."

Gathering fetches good prices from the workshop, and with her hustling to clear the gear debt first—even buying a new shield—she'd stack coin soon enough.

"Rest of this month: maintenance and lock in next month's expedition plans."

With new teammate Loren aboard, stick to short cycles till she hits level 2 at least. Gel the team dynamics like usual.

"Man, Claude'd need 3-4 months to afford even one tail house visit on his own dime."

Too harsh. Let him go once a month at least.

"Phew... Hawk's supposed to start repayments this month, right...?"

We'd done the IOU, but he'd been too busy chasing skirts for me to care. Details fuzzy anyway—promised the full gold, so check later.

"Wonder if Tanya's pregnant..."

Banged her in front of Roy, then three straight days of raw creampies. Month later, her period's probably stopped—or she's just noticing.

"Camella's stable phase almost done."

Camella's around 8 weeks along now. Anal should be prime.

Three weeks no see—belly probably poking out a bit.

"Camella's anal's gonna be worth the wait."

This world's anal prep methods are still primitive as hell—takes time—but harvest season's here.

20-day expedition and still swamped.

"To commemorate our safe return from the expedition—cheers!"

"""Cheers!!"""

Finished the books and headed down—the party setup was already primed. Drinking kicked off in earnest.

Frank uncle had taken a shine to Loren from joint training sessions. He fronted 3 silver via Claude for the setup, and the snacks and menu hit generous.

Claude, nominal party leader, called the first toast. Mugs clinked all around to launch the night.

"Sia, remember that headache last time? Pace yourself."

"Yeah! Hehe, sis!! Snacks here!!"

Sia—secretly a big eater—fed bites to Loren.

They'd gotten thick fast.

Gathering runs together had bonded Loren and Sia tight. They giggled nonstop, diving into drinks and snacks as a duo.

"Cain, my cut..."

"27 bronze."

"Guhk..."

"I'll send it over later. Keep it chill."

"Thanks..."

Claude—usually the rowdy type—stayed surprisingly meek after yielding so much to Loren this expedition.

Part scoring points with her, part reeling from that massive screwup right before. Still, out of near-400 beasts, Claude and I only bagged 100 combined—he held way back.

"Party ops are mine. You focus on paying debts and powering up."

"Thanks, Cain."

"But now with Loren in, hold off 3rd floor rushes. Get her even one level up first, then push."

"Yeah."

"Just trust me."

"Solid as ever—our party's rock!"

Clink!

Guzzling beers back-to-back with Claude, the chattering Sia and Loren finally roped us in.

"Cain! Cheers!"

"Yeah, Cain and leader—you guys busted ass."

"Another round?"

"Frank uncle—four more beers!"

Sia looked headed for another overindulgence, but the whole crew kept the merry vibes rolling with more brews.