Chapter 38
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: Debt
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"How are you here?"
Spotting me in a place she least expected, Laila—who thankfully recognized me at a glance—approached with a shocked expression on her face.
"Your name was... Yuseong, right?"
"Yeah. You remember me?"
"...After going through all that, how could I forget."
I'd told her my name before, but she'd never really called me by it properly, so I wasn't sure if she'd actually remember me. Luckily, it seemed she did.
Scanning me slowly from head to toe with wide eyes, Laila tossed out a casual remark.
"...Your body's okay?"
Her tone sounded oddly antisocial.
But for some reason, I could read worry and relief in her eyes.
"Yeah, as you can see. I heard you were rushed off for injuries too, but you look fine?"
"......Yeah."
Upon hearing I was safe, Laila's eyes widened slightly. She hesitated for a moment before steeling her expression and slowly bowing her head.
"Laila?"
"Sorry. That whole thing back then... it was my fault. If I hadn't insisted on going into that basement..."
'Oh.'
I hadn't expected her to apologize right away like this.
Honestly, my first impression of Laila wasn't great. She'd come off as arrogant and full of herself back then, so I figured she'd never be the type to apologize.
"...Why the face?"
'Oops.'
Did my thoughts show on my face? Laila looked briefly indignant as she apologized, but she remembered she was the one in the wrong and swallowed her anger, bowing her head again.
Hm. Her personality wasn't completely subdued, at least.
Still, seeing her apologize so straightforwardly made me think her heart wasn't all that bad.
"Well... lift your head. People are staring."
A beauty like Laila—with the Magic Tower's emblem no less—bowing her head in the street was drawing eyes. I helped her stand.
Honestly, after making a duplicate of Laila last time and venting my anger by satisfying my lust on that body... now I didn't feel mad at her anymore. Instead, those memories just came flooding back.
'I'm such a simple guy.'
It wasn't even the real Laila; just fooling around with the duplicate had cooled my anger like this.
No, more than that—now looking at Laila was stirring up lust instead of anger... Sigh. This was the real person. Get a grip.
"Words alone probably won't cut it. What do you want?"
"Huh?"
Laila lifted her head as I'd said, staring at me with sparkling eyes. She regained a bit of her usual arrogant tilt to her chin.
"I'm not the type to live with debts hanging over me. I'll pay mine. What do you want? Money? Magic tools?"
"Uh..."
"You got dragged into danger because of my stubbornness, and you even took down that Evil God follower... I owe you. Tell me what you want."
She flashed a confident smile, like I just had to name it.
Her expression held a hint of apology and gratitude toward me, but at the same time, her stubborn refusal to owe anyone shone through.
"Even if you say name what I want out of nowhere..."
I'd vaguely hoped I might run into Laila again in Phallos, but actually meeting her like this caught me off guard.
And now she was suddenly demanding I name my price... it was disorienting.
"I've already gotten compensation from your master for that incident."
And that compensation had already been paid by her master in full—20 gold, no less.
I could've played dumb and squeezed more out of Laila too, but I didn't want to make an enemy of a promising Magic Tower mage, so I told her straight.
"I know. I know she met you. I know she paid you. But this is my personal debt. No one else can pay it for me."
'Oh.'
Impressed again by how principled Laila seemed to be, I looked at her. She frowned and was about to say something when...
"Laila? Is Laila here?"
"Eek."
A voice calling Laila's name from the guild counter rang out. She quickly excused herself to me and hurried over.
Hm? Now that I thought about it, why was Laila at the guild? Here for another commission?
'Huh? What's that?'
But contrary to my guess that she'd come to post a commission, Laila was at the counter where adventurers picked up quests, selecting a request form and accepting it.
Just like an adventurer.
"There. Had time to think? Spill it."
"Uh... nothing's coming to mind yet. But Laila, that request form?"
"........."
I was still a bit dazed as I pointed to the form in her hand. Laila's face flushed red, and she mumbled embarrassedly.
"...N-need to make money."
"...Money?"
The same person who'd just told me to name my price—money or magic tools—and now she was taking guild requests because she needed cash?
"Th-that money your master gave you... that's on me, not her. I have to repay her the 20 gold, so I'm doing adventurer work for a bit..."
"......Ha."
She must've figured since it involved me, she owed me the full story. Blushing slightly, she explained everything.
As I'd mentioned earlier, Laila couldn't stand letting anyone—master or not—pay her debts. So she'd insisted on repaying the 20 gold her master had shelled out as compensation herself.
But as a newly minted official Magic Tower mage, her options for quick cash were limited. Add her aversion to debt, and she'd turned to guild commissions to earn fast.
"Can Magic Tower mages even work as adventurers?"
"The guild loves it. It's like rare mages delivering themselves right to their door."
So that's why I'd run into her at the guild instead of the Tower...
Despite the first impression, Laila seemed pretty upright.
A bit arrogant and rude, sure, but determined to handle her own affairs. Resourceful, you could say.
But wait. If she was doing requests to repay that 20 gold...
"Then what was that about me naming what I want? If I'd asked for money..."
"...With my official mage status, I got C-rank adventurer quals. Just give me a little time and I'll earn the money..."
"No need."
She was seriously saying she'd earn it herself and pay me.
I'd thought she was offering from her overflowing pockets, not that she'd grind it out personally. Never crossed my mind.
"The 20 gold from back then is plenty for me."
That huge sum was what her master had deemed fair compensation for the incident in the first place.
Asking for more would be greedy.
Sure, turning down freebies stung a bit... but for her master's sake, I'd call it even.
'Her master treated me pretty favorably back then, thanks to saving Laila.'
That mage could've silenced me about the Black Sacred Relic by eliminating me or handing me to the Temple.
But she didn't—instead thanking me on Laila's behalf, giving advice, compensation, and even covering the pricey Temple healing fees.
And thanks to that event, this evolved body of mine was paying dividends now. Honestly, it might've been a blessing in disguise.
"...Plenty?"
Conveying those thoughts, I told her it was enough. But somehow, Laila looked even more offended, her pride wounded.
"You saying my life ain't worth more than 20 gold?"
"Huh?"
"I don't care if you think it's enough. I feel like I owe you. So name something already."
"What."
Was this how someone who owed a debt acted?
First time I'd seen someone so boldly demand I name my price when the debtor said they were fine.
"You said you don't have money."
"...I'll earn it quick! Urgh... Ah, or take one of my magic tools..."
"Magic tools?"
Desperate since she had no cash, Laila offered her tools, but they were all mage-specific. I passed.
Most were gifts from her master anyway—how could I take those? If word got back, it might spark a bigger disaster.
Plus, recalling the bandits on the way to Riville, lugging around valuables beyond my level would just paint a target on my back.
I could handle average bandits, but Laila's tools looked insanely valuable. The risks would be too much.
Laila had her robe with the Tower emblem, deterring trouble, but not me.
"R-really nothing? No money? No tools?"
"Yeah. Noth..."
I tried reassuring her again that it was fine, I wanted nothing—but my eyes got stolen by the jiggle of her ample breasts.
'...Hm.'
Staring at them sparked a sudden desire...
'Don't do something stupid.'
I whipped my head away before she noticed.
No matter how much she hated owing debts, voicing that demand would flip her switch— she'd rage, call me a pervert, and drag me to the guards.
'Ugh...'
But having eyed her luscious real chest after so long, sticky lust bubbled up from deep inside, rising steadily.
Especially after comparing her to that purple-haired woman at the Riville brothel recently.
'Hold it back.'
Dark urges kept surging, but I crushed them with superhuman willpower.
If I needed release, the duplicate was there. No need to risk my smooth-sailing life on dangerous crap.
...Wait. Duplicate?
"Laila."
"Yeah. Finally thought of something?"
I eyed Laila, who seemed set on waiting till I named a demand.
C-rank adventurer quals fast-tracked via her mage status, grinding requests for cash. And me, heading to the guild to find commissions for my weeks in Phallos.
Plus... the trait I'd noticed training with Karen nonstop: my Duplication quality improved the longer and deeper I understood the target.
And now... this boiling lust from deep within.
'Hmm.'
Lining it all up, a perfect request for Laila popped into my head.
It satisfied my reluctance to over-demand from her, met her need to repay, and...
sated my lust too.
"Laila. You said you're doing guild requests to earn money?"
"Huh? Yeah. Right."
"In a party?"
"Nah. Solo."
Hm hm. Figured as much with her personality. In that case...
"Laila. You told me to name something I want, right?"
"Yeah. Hit you? If it's money, I can sell my tools in a pinch..."
"No. Money's fine."
Truth be told, what I craved most was her 'body'. But that could land me in jail, so I'd hold off.
Pheasant or chicken—vent this lust on her duplicate instead. Problem was, Laila's copy lagged far behind Karen's in quality.
So I needed more familiarity, and fresh hair or whatever since mine were worn out...
"While I'm in Phallos, wanna party up with me?"
"Party?"
It checked every box—while letting me do what I'd planned anyway.
Just party with Laila and adventure together. Problem solved.