Merchant Escort Quest #7
Merchant Escort Quest #7
I stared at the blonde nun who had just introduced herself with a thoroughly unimpressed expression.
Kate, was it?
What the hell did that matter to me?
Why bother telling me the name of a heal-slut I never cared to ask about?
"I have something I want to say to you."
Kate spoke, tilting her chin arrogantly.
"Was that the only reason you've been chasing me around tirelessly since morning?"
Her attitude was not that of someone who'd committed a crime at all.
Even after revealing she was the culprit, Kate stood before me completely unashamed. Even a daughter from a fairly high-ranking noble house couldn't have managed such a shamelessly composed face.
Considering she earned a living doing adventurer work, she definitely wasn't a noble.
Had living as a nun just inflated her pride that much?
That was entirely possible.
A nun was, by nature, someone who got her asshole licked raw the moment she joined a party. Well, except for a top-tier alpha dealer like me, of course. I had no intention of giving that blonde nun any kind of generous treatment.
In general, "tools" had a habit of forgetting their place and getting uppity if you treated them well.
"You damn tool—"
"A tool of what, exactly?"
"A nun is nothing but a tool in a party. Someone who just strolls around in the back and sprinkles heals couldn't possibly be a real party member."
Kate stared at me with a dumbfounded expression.
"A tool...? Not a real party member? How can you treat a nun like that?"
"Because that's the way of the alpha dealer."
"The more I look at you, the more you seem like a terrifying lunatic. Anyway, let's get back to the point. Just because you figured out I'm the culprit doesn't mean I have any intention of groveling to a Dream Demon like you."
"You think it'd be fine if I revealed this to our client? The one who's been foaming at the mouth for three days trying to find whoever broke the artifact? And anyway, the report submitted to the client gets filed with the Adventurer's Guild too."
Kate, with her arms still crossed, spoke in a tone that implied she didn't care one bit.
"Go ahead and tell whoever you want. As a lamb who serves God, I have no intention of lying to people anymore. I'll just resolve everything with money. Slip someone a few silver coins and everything ends nicely in this world. And the Adventurer's Guild...? I doubt the guild can treat me however they please over one minor accident like this. You know why, don't you?"
"Ha."
So this heal-slut bitch was gonna come at me like this?
The brazen idea of just flexing her way out of trouble with money.
The kind of thinking only a nun who raked in a nice side income from constant gift-offensives could afford, even at Bronze rank. Seeing Kate's shamelessly confident face left me momentarily speechless.
"So our conversation is over then? I don't know what you were planning to do to me by getting leverage, but the real world doesn't work like some erotic book you'd buy at a street stall. Please stop with the lewd fantasies."
Kate cut off any chance for me to speak and wrapped up the matter all on her own. Yet, strangely, watching her do that, I didn't feel an ounce of defeat. It was because I'd instinctively realized the match wasn't over yet.
The moment Kate's provocation stirred a deep, seething anger within me.
My talent as a Gold-Tanned Incubus blossomed. My breathing quickened as all five senses sharpened to an incredible degree. But what was even more astonishing was that my senses had focused entirely on observing the nun right in front of me.
I could scrutinize every nook and cranny of the blonde nun in minute detail. Every part of her looked magnified and wide open, as if my vision had zoomed in like a magnifying glass. Was this how Gold-Tanned guys on Hitomi viewed the world? They really couldn't see anything but women, huh.
"Your hands are shaking."
"Excuse me?"
"I said, your hands are shaking."
I watched Kate's hands, which were still crossed in her arms, and curled the corners of my mouth upward. Slender hands trembling as if in the grip of a spasm. And her pupils, which hadn't settled in one place since earlier, rolling around restlessly. This was definitely not the sign of anxiety you'd expect from someone with a clear conscience.
Meaning, the conversation wasn't over yet.
Because Kate was still terrified of something. Reporting her sin to the merchant company, getting a bad reputation with the Adventurer's Guild. Beyond those, it seemed there were still other factors that could intimidate this arrogant blonde nun.
Well, she might've just looked at me, the Gold-Tanned Incubus, and chickened out.
Wouldn't hurt to poke her once and see.
"Wh-wh-what's it matter? I've always had hand tremors, okay?"
"Don't fuck with me, you bitch."
I sank into thought for a moment. We'd already been swept quite a ways downstream anyway, so it would take time for the merchant company people to find this spot. Which meant I had plenty of time during that window to screw over this trash-tier nun.
What do people normally fear when they commit a crime?
First, you could say they fear physical punishment. But if you shift your perspective, there's something else people fear greatly. The change in how others judge them after the crime. The gazes of family, friends, lovers, and the colleagues at their workplace.
"Hmm..."
So, who would be judging this blonde nun here?
The Church she belonged to, of course. The otherworldly Church that threw its weight around with the power called Divine Power. Her friends would be there, and her superiors too.
The moment I thought of the Church, enlightenment finally struck.
The way to make this arrogant blonde nun submit.
"Would it really be okay if I exposed this to other people?"
"Don't make me say it multiple times. This kind of thing can be solved and smoothed over with money."
"In that case, would it be okay if I informed the Church?"
"...What?"
The blonde nun stared at me with her mouth agape.
That expression gave me even greater certainty as I spoke. My legs spread wide, my hands shoved into my pants pockets, a swaggering look like some back-alley punk on my face.
Legs heavy.
Expression light.
"That Sister who's supposed to be honest all the time? She told a dirty lie while working as an adventurer. She broke a valuable artifact and kept her mouth shut for days. You think that'd be fine? A nun's a profession that lives on faith, isn't it? But the very nun herself committed a wicked deed. Shall I inform the church folk about this news?"
"...You can't."
Kate's face turned pale.
She uncrossed her arms and spoke with a trembling expression.
"What was that?"
"I said you can't... Don't... don't do that."
"What's with the sudden change? Weren't you just saying everything was settled a moment ago?"
"You mustn't... mustn't inform the Church. A lie is the vilest vice a nun can commit. If this news reaches the church people... I won't be able to get promoted to a high-ranking Sister. Especially since I'm lacking in Divine Power already..."
"......"
I looked at the trembling Kate with a satisfied expression.
Had my jab at her weak point landed a critical hit? Without me even asking, Kate was spilling all the reasons why I shouldn't go to the Church. This nun named Kate was a far easier woman than I'd thought.
"Is that any way to ask for a favor? I asked, is that how you ask someone for a favor?"
"I-I'm sorry!"
"What exactly are you sorry for? Shouldn't there be something you need to apologize to me for first? Getting ignored by you all this time wasn't just a one-time thing."
"......"
Kate's face contorted with humiliation.
Thankfully, she knew exactly what she'd done wrong.
Kate, her pretty face stained with disgrace, spoke to me.
"For ignoring you all this time... I'm sorry. Making a fuss about you being a Dream Demon when we first met, treating you like a non-person throughout the whole caravan trip, and then acting shamelessly even after committing a sin... I sincerely apologize. So, please."
Kate bowed her head as she spoke.
It was an action filled with desperation.
"Just please don't inform the Church of this fact, Mongma-nim...!"
I had finally wrung an apology out of the nun.
The moment I saw Kate's face stained with disgrace, I felt like I was walking on air. Just looking at that face was enough to fill my stomach without eating anything. I felt like I could use it as a side dish for the next ten years. As a dinner side dish, naturally, not masturbation material.
I'd succeeded in forcing the blonde nun into submission, just as my initial goal intended.
It was beyond satisfying, so I decided to stop here.
"Wh-what do you plan to do with me now? Are you going to make a complete mess of me, like in those erotic books?"
"What erotic books, you crazy bitch."
Kate was staring up at me with a terror-stricken expression. But, regrettably for the back-alley punks in manga who'd guided me until now, I had absolutely no intention of doing anything to Kate. Originally, I'd thought about extorting some small amount of cash or goods, but it seemed best to drop that too.
'She's a nun belonging to the Church. If I mess with her the wrong way, I'm finished.'
I could never help being cautious around the power called the Church. The otherworldly Church was an organization that threw its weight around far more than any religious group in my past life. They were bastards who commanded holy knights in plate armor and Inquisitors as private soldiers. A minor adventurer like me would be finished the instant I got on their bad side.
Maybe I could get away with just giving her a verbal thrashing, but if the Church caught wind I'd actually harmed a nun? Without a doubt, I'd be dragged off by religious folk in the middle of the night and beaten until I was covered in dust. In my 20 years of living in this other world, I'd learned one thing: you don't act tough against giant powers. Managing my anger well was the secret to surviving as a Dream Demon in this world.
"In that case, let's head back to where the merchant company is."
"Huh?"
"You apologized, so it's over. I've got no intention of doing anything more. Stop with the lewd fantasies already, you heal-slut."
At my frank tone, Kate's eyes wavered.
"St-still, I feel like I should give you some kind of compensation..."
"I said I don't need it, didn't I? That's a bribe. How can a nun even think about giving a bribe?"
"It's not a bribe. You can just think of it as a modest gift."
Kate spoke with a stiff smile. The way she looked at me was full of distrust. It was easy to understand why she couldn't trust me. Even I thought that a Gold-Tanned guy might be scheming something behind the scenes.
Like pretending it was all over and then secretly reporting her to the Church.
Wasn't stabbing people in the back on a whim a defining trait of the Gold-Tanned type?
"Think carefully, Mongma-nim. In this world, when something is given, something is naturally received. Shouldn't Mongma-nim also gain some benefit in return for keeping my secret?"
"I said forget it."
"Please accept it, Mongma-nim. The people who say things like that are the ones I hate the most."
"What exactly did I say?"
"People who talk all nice for no reason. Those are the ones who usually betray you first."
Kate stared up at me with desperate eyes. From her tone alone, it was hard to believe she was actually a nun of the Church.
Was this blonde bitch actually a con artist cosplaying as a nun?
Enough to make me seriously think that.
I expressed my refusal three separate times.
Yet Kate clung to me until the very end, bringing up talk of a modest reward.
She wasn't being forced to cough it up; she was giving a gift of her own volition. I wasn't an inflexible person, so I couldn't help being drawn in by Kate's words.
"Just what are you giving me as a reward? Let's hear it first, at least."
"I'll give you my water. Water made from my own body."
"Holy shit."
Water made from her body?
She couldn't possibly mean the water flowing from her lower mouth, could she?
This crazy bitch—?
After glancing at me, Kate flinched in surprise and quickly spoke.
"I don't know what you were imagining, but obviously I mean Holy Water. You're an adventurer, so you must know what Holy Water is."
"Ah, Holy Water—."
Holy Water (聖水).
Holy Water.
Water imbued with the Divine Power created by the Church's nuns. The exact manufacturing method was unknown, but Holy Water contained a mysterious power that improved the health of those who drank it. A beverage that cleared the mind and invigorated the spirit, the kind of thing that would probably help a student studying for exams a great deal.
"Not bad."
"Right? In all my time working as a nun, I've never met anyone who hated Holy Water."
I was a moron for briefly imagining the lewd juice that "Holy Water" could sound like in another context.
Still, even if it was Holy Water, if she was giving it as a reward, I had no reason to refuse. It would help me learn magic, and I could just sell it for money anyway. Plus, continuing to refuse when a nun was willingly offering it out of her own free will seemed idiotic.
"Here, take this one bottle. It's water I personally made today. I just made it recently, so it should still be nice and warm."
Kate took a water bottle filled with Holy Water from her bosom and handed it to me. Was this really Holy Water containing Divine Power? The bottle I clutched in my hand felt faintly warm.
"When we return to Yoen-su, I'll bring you thirty more bottles."
I was surprised when I heard Kate's additional remark.
"Re-really? You're giving me that much Holy Water, thirty bottles, for free?"
"I can make about a bottle a day just casually anyway. I've got quite a stock of Holy Water piled up in the dormitory warehouse. You can drink it yourself, or sell it at a general store for about 10 copper each."
"10 copper...!"
I was considerably shocked when I heard the price of Holy Water. If I ran a full mental calculation, I was receiving a reward worth 3 silver. Getting a whopping thirty bottles of Holy Water worth 10 copper each came out to about that much.
"Doesn't it cost you materials? Is it really okay to just give it away?"
"Actually, it does consume quite a bit of stamina, and materials do cost... but still, we're in the same boat now, aren't we? We're essentially sharing a secret, so I should at least give you this much in return."
Kate extended her hand towards me.
With a pleased expression, I shook her hand.
To think I'd receive such a large amount of goods just for running my mouth a bit.
Living as a Gold-Tanned Incubus was a pretty profitable gig after all.
I could just farm women to make a living instead of farming monsters.
I didn't regret the whole day I'd spent busting my ass chasing after that nun one bit.
"Come find me at the church once the quest is over. It's the Luminous Church, which serves Baldur, God of Light and Purity."
"I'll definitely go. I'll be there to collect my thirty bottles of Holy Water."
I made an appointment with Kate to receive the Holy Water after the quest ended. I'd probably get some nasty looks as an incubus walking into a church, but the nun Kate would handle it somehow.
And with that, I successfully wrapped up my debut match as a Gold-Tanned Incubus in this other world.
I'd forced an arrogant blonde nun into submission and shaken her down for goods.
Could it be that I actually have a talent for being a back-alley punk—?