Chapter 28 - Finally Over
Chapter 28 - Finally Over
028
After that, I got plowed countless times.
Actually, I couldn't even remember well. I just kept getting screwed in different positions every single time, over and over.
The last memory I had before passing out was Karl shivering as if reaching a climax and collapsing heavily right on top of me.
"...Karl."
Karl, whose stamina was way better than mine, was already recovered and standing up, unlike me who had passed out and slept for ages.
"You awake?"
"About yesterday..."
"Yeah."
Let's just pretend it never happened.
I wanted to say that, but she didn't seem to have any intention of doing so.
"Take this."
Karl handed me a heavy cloth pouch.
When I lifted it wondering what it was, jjalrang-jjalrang the sound was deafeningly loud.
'It's money.'
Is this payment for sex?
I'm being treated like a total male prostitute!
"This is money from searching this cave. There wasn't anything that could be turned into ready cash. That potion was the end of it."
"Heeek...!"
When I opened the pouch, an astronomical amount of money was inside.
If I add this to the money I already have, it's a whopping 10 silver coins!
It's a huge fortune that can pay off half of my debt.
With this much, I could survive for a year eating black bread and even secure a warm nest.
"Waaa..."
"Consider that payment for the underwear we tore apart yesterday."
Of course, this money belonged to the Black Magician. But Karl should take more than half of the amount.
Karl was beating around the bush, saying she wouldn't take her share.
"Awesome! With this money, I'll get a new weapon and all sorts of equipment."
Good equipment allows you to get good jobs.
As I mentioned before, just subduing goblins can earn you a pretty penny, and if you're well-equipped with weapons, you can even take on requests to head down to the sewers and deal with 'zombies'.
If I get iron gauntlets and a new sword, wouldn't I be able to head straight down to the sewers right now?
It's already been proven that I can kill a person just fine with these studded gauntlets, but if they were iron...!
"No. Dennis, you shouldn't just stop at getting equipment."
"Huh?"
"You might have to spend all the money earned this time to learn a technique."
A technique?
Is she telling me to go to an academy?
"If it's a technique, if Karl teaches me..."
"My technique requires strength. Dennis is weak."
"B-But I have magic!"
"Magic is not enough."
Seriously, I'm someone who didn't even go to cram school because I hated studying, so I have to go to an academy even here?
And while paying my hard-earned blood money, no less!
"...Alright. Let's talk about that later. For now, let's head to the city. After washing up, I need to wrap up the request."
"Yeah."
I dragged my staggering body out of the cave.
Ahh, I've had way too many shady things done to me in such a dark place.
Now let's see some light.
The inside of the city was in a festive mood.
Is it only natural since so many goblins were eradicated?
To think they're throwing a festival like this while us adventurers died absurdly on the plain. They're no different from total fucking assholes.
'Well, other people's misfortune has no effect on oneself anyway.'
With a medieval mindset, they might harbor such thoughts even more.
"Karl. We just need to show this rapier, right?"
"That's right."
I wonder what kind of change the death of a knight working in their city will bring to these people.
Will it still be a festive mood? Or will they mourn?
Maybe they'll mumble about building some nonsensical statue in the square.
"But it'll be a huge problem if we're misunderstood as the ones who killed that knight."
We went on an expedition to catch the Black Magician, but only the two of us came back—neither soldiers nor a knight, but just one hired barbarian and one male adventurer?
This is just begging to be misunderstood for plotting together and stabbing the soldiers in the back.
"There's no reason for that. If we had betrayed them, the usual choice would be to fake our disappearance in that cave and run away."
"It's just that I'm anxious..."
"Don't be anxious, Dennis."
You're only saying this because you don't know how high-and-mighty a quasi-noble is!
Nobles' temperament is to beat you to death on the spot just for scratching them!
Once, I saw a noble order his guards to slit a beggar's throat just because he grabbed the hem of his clothes.
After seeing that sight, no one could stop him! Not even the beggar's own family!
"There's no need to worry about nonsense and feel anxious for no reason."
"...Yep."
Chattering away about this and that, we were able to arrive in front of the City Hall, which had previously been used as a gathering place.
I was handed the rapier from her, opened the City Hall door, and stepped inside.
Perhaps because a lot had happened, the inside of the City Hall was extremely chaotic. Just by looking at the documents piled on the desks, you could tell how hard the employees were being worked to death.
"Excuse me..."
"Hm? Ah! You're the adventurers who went with Anders-nim. Oh... But there's no word that the knight-nim has arrived."
"Ah! That's...!"
I mustered the courage to grab a passing employee, but when it came time to actually speak, my mouth clamped shut and nothing came out.
Ah, how am I supposed to say this!
"The knight is dead."
"Karl!"
"You have to speak the truth about what's there so misunderstandings don't pile up, Dennis."
That's true, but this is way too direct.
"...Anders-nim passed away?"
"Yeah. He was murdered by a minion served by the Black Magician. This rapier is the proof."
"I see."
The City Hall employee's reaction was somewhat strange. He just let out a deep sigh and brought over a blank sheet of paper.
I thought he would make a huge fuss, but contrary to my expectation, he looked quite calm.
"The paperwork I have to process is going to increase. That man has no family to inherit his territory. Ah, where is the squire?"
"He died too."
"Then the knight who governs the neighboring village will have to take over the handover. Haah, to think I have to pull an all-nighter today too."
The City Hall employee took the rapier I handed out and began writing various things on the document.
Is he supposed to write it by hand himself because there are no computers? How pitiful.
"I knew it would happen someday."
"Pardon?"
"Anders-nim, I mean. He was a man who wouldn't be strange at all if he died tomorrow."
Stopping his paperwork, the employee spoke to me in a voice dripping with regret.
"To be honest, he wasn't a person you could grow fond of. Whenever there was no work, he was always drunk and beating people up. He was a human being in whom you couldn't find a shred of aristocratic dignity."
A classic tyrant style, huh.
"He was only a normal person when hunting goblins... Now that he's actually dead, I feel a bit regretful."
"Hehehe..."
"By the way, did you receive the request fee?"
At these words, I was startled and taken aback!
To be honest, I wasn't expecting much. Because I figured what could we possibly get now that the client was dead.
"No!"
"Then I'll carve out a bit from the property the knight left behind. Ah, since he left something deposited here, I think I can give it to you right away. Hmm, 5 silver coins, right?"
5 silver coins!
I swear to God, I almost started breakdancing right on the spot.
"Yes!"
"Unfortunately, it looks like we'll have to split these five. My heart wants to give them both to you, but the city got caught up in various lawsuits..."
"Lawsuits?"
"We got hit by a class-action lawsuit from the adventurers. There are rumors that an investigation team will be coming down from the central government soon to tear this city to pieces."
Well, they let people like that die so powerlessly, it would be strange if there were no punishment.
From my position, well, it's fine. I got a lot out of that cave anyway.
"Karl. We made money again! My financial luck seems to be bursting lately."
"Is that so."
"This money..."
Suddenly, something flashed through my mind. It was the sensation of a forgotten emotion flowing out from inside the shell of my heart.
"Karl, you take it all!"
The name of that emotion was none other than conscience.
In this world, the more conscience you have, the more you only lose. If you hand bread to someone, even more hands reach out.
So I threw away something like a conscience. In a world where you have to live selfishly to survive, doing that shouldn't be a bad thing.
"I can live without money like that."
"No! I can't be a burden to you anymore. No matter how much money you have, you have to take this!"
Karl slowly blinked her two eyes back and forth. Was she flustered?
"With that money, you can become a stronger person."
"I still hate it. I absolutely won't take it, so keep that in mind!"
"Hmm..."
Since I came out this strongly, Karl couldn't help it and quietly took the 5 silver coins.
"You're more stubborn than I thought."
"I usually hear that kind of thing a lot."
"That kind of stuff isn't going to feed and keep you alive, though. It's a stupid thing to do, Dennis."
"...Do you hate stupid things?"
The barbarian raised the corners of her mouth at those words.
"I like them."
Karl said quietly while massaging my butt.
I wonder what she likes.