A Warrior Who Knows How to Spend
I slept for a long while, and when I finally woke I found Levan again in the inn's tavern.
He was drinking alone. I went and sat beside him, and the moment he saw me he let out a hollow little laugh.
"What, you've been asleep this whole time?"
"Yeah. I was worn out."
Levan nodded over his wine.
"You're not eating?"
"I'm craving something warm today."
"Oh—you're awake."
While I was still weighing the menu, Runesa came and sat down at my side.
"I thought you'd be up soon, Miss Selen, so I went ahead and ordered."
"Oh, you did?"
"Mister Levan gave me the recommendation."
From Levan?
I looked at him. He only shrugged and smiled.
Before long a stew heaped with meat arrived, along with bread. The sight made me hungry at once, and I snatched up the bread and bit into it.
"Ha. That's good."
"I ordered the expensive one. That's all right, isn't it?"
My hand froze on its way to the stew. We had a good deal more to spare these days, so it ought to be fine. I tightened my grip on the spoon and dipped it back in.
"Hahaha—I'm paying, so don't fret over it."
Levan laughed and clapped me on the shoulder. He was already a little drunk. I took the kindness anyway. Something about it still sat wrong with me, but the stew was too good to stop.
"Once we're done, we go straight to the church."
"What? Isn't it far too late for that?"
"It's not late."
Runesa nodded and took a piece of bread.
"I think it would be better to see to it quickly as well."
She watched my face as she ate. When I nodded, her eyes brightened as if she had done something right, and she nodded along with me.
"So that's how it is..."
Levan still sounded lukewarm, plainly unwilling to go. Whether he came or not made no difference to me, so after dinner we left the inn.
"I have no idea what all of this is worth. It's terribly heavy, though."
Runesa glanced back at the gold ornaments strapped to her back and laughed. It would come to a fair sum.
"Ha. At this hour, of all times..."
He had said he wouldn't set foot in the church, and yet here he was trailing after us, grumbling the whole way. So he meant to keep faith after all? Cute.
We soon reached the church and drew close to the door. Light leaked through the crack. Then the door we had been watching opened, and a kindly-looking priest stepped out.
Pale blond, he turned a gentle smile on me.
"What brings adventurers here at this hour?"
"We picked up something the Holy Kingdom might be looking for. Runesa."
"Yes!"
Runesa came forward, set her pack down before the priest, and showed him the gold ornaments inside.
"This is..."
"They were at the western fortress. We put down the skeleton that was there and brought them back."
At that his mouth parted slightly. He looked at me in open surprise and nodded.
"Come inside, for now. I'd like to examine them properly."
So we went in. When I glanced back, Levan was following with a thoroughly listless face, so I simply caught his arm and hauled him along.
We passed the place of prayer and went into the office at the rear, then took the goldwork out of the pack to show him. Candlesticks, tree-shaped ornaments raised in honor of the Goddess, commemorative coins stamped with the crest of the Holy Kingdom—as we laid them out, the priest's expression darkened.
"How did you come by these..."
He carefully lifted one of the coins, studied it with a grave face, and at last looked at me.
"Where did you say you found them? The western fortress?"
"Yes. Is there a problem?"
Why make such a production of it. Just hand over the money.
Behind me, Levan tapped my back with the back of his hand and shook his head, as if something were off. I ignored him. When I looked at the priest again, he had put on an awkward smile.
"I'd heard it was a dangerous place. Now I see why. Thank you for bringing these back to us. Then..."
He opened a drawer and brought out a small chest, one a person could carry in both hands. He set it on the table and opened it. Silver coins filled it to the brim. He couldn't mean to give us all of them. How much was he offering?
"I don't believe I can judge their worth with any certainty, but would you accept this much for now?"
"What? All of it?"
I started, and the priest smiled and nodded.
"You've brought quite a quantity, and these seem to be things the Holy Kingdom would hold dear. They may even send a greater reward later."
Before I answered, I stole a glance at Levan. Even he couldn't think of haggling—there was that much silver.
"Yes, then... we'll take it, gratefully."
To come into this much money all at once... I hadn't planned for this.
"May I have your names? When I send this offering to the Holy Kingdom, I'll include them."
Levan tapped me then and whispered.
"Just give your name."
"Ha. Seriously."
If he didn't want his own on it, there was nothing to be done.
"It's Selen."
I looked at Runesa. She kept her mouth shut and only blinked at me, stepping back as if this were not her place to speak.
"Miss Selen, then."
The priest seemed to read the air well enough. He took only my name and let the rest go.
"Thank you. I'll see you again."
Once we were outside, we checked the silver in the chest once more. Full to the brim, even on a second look. Truly.
"I never thought the church would hand over this much. Just how impressive was what we brought them?"
Levan gave a hollow laugh, picking up a few coins and setting them back down. I stared at the silver and turned it over. With this much money, it was about time I put a reasonable share of it to use.
"Then, for now... there's somewhere I want to spend this."
"What? Somewhere you want to spend it?"
He threw the question back at me with exaggerated shock, as if he could hardly believe his ears.
"If I leave a little for us to use, can I spend the rest?"
"Well, you did all the work, so do as you like. But where are you planning to spend this much?"
"I've got something in mind."
I only smiled, parceled out a little silver to each of them, and kept most of it myself.
The next day I went to a general store in Belmor and spent what I had on mana potions.
"Selen... you're going to use all of these?"
"Yes."
"You're sure? These are what mages use. If somebody put you up to buying them, you ought to report it to the guard."
"I'm going to use them myself."
The shopkeeper still seemed to think something was amiss, but he brought out a chest of blue potions and set it before me.
"Ha. A sword-swinger drinking mana restoratives—never heard of that in all my years. You're not mixed up about something, are you?"
"I told you I'm not."
He kept asking, as if he were worried for me. I understood, but it was a nuisance, so I gathered the potions in a hurry and went out. From there I headed straight for the inn's back yard.
"Hah—you really bought them?"
Runesa, who had been waiting, stared at me with round eyes.
"Well, if you need to practice, this is the right thing, but... didn't you spend far too much? You, who are usually so careful..."
"I save so I can spend it at times like this."
It wasn't as if I had some compulsion to pile things up and never touch them. I had simply been poor, and so I had lived tight.
"The goal is to use Heavy Strike twice in a row."
"Heavy Strike... I see."
At the name of the technique her eyes lit up. She clenched her fists and nodded.
"How should I help?"
"There's firewood over there, right? Throw some to me."
I meant to try cutting wood. A thick log was not easily parted by a sword, but when I had put mana into the blow, this blade of mine had cut through bone.
Runesa immediately brought over one of the logs the inn had set aside for firewood, big enough that she had to hug it in both arms to carry it.
"Throw it."
"Yes, ma'am!"
She hurled the wood with all her strength. I watched the log rise, then gathered the last of my strength and swung. Whoosh. Every drop of mana left in my body was drawn into the sword as it came crashing down. Crack. The log did not split cleanly along the path of the edge. Struck by a blade steeped in mana, it burst apart, as if it had taken a tremendous blow.
"Ohh... th-the wood split like that."
Runesa gathered the shattered pieces and looked at me, wide-eyed.
The feel of it was certain. How to use it now came as naturally as if I had always known. The trouble was what came after a single use.
"Hoo..."
I drank a mana potion at once. My dizzy head cleared on the spot, and focus flooded back in. I knew how little mana I had, so a mouthful was plenty. One bottle would carry me through about ten uses.
"Keep throwing."
"You're already all right?"
She threw me another log.
Again.
Crack. The wood split, and the dizziness returned, over and over. I only had to keep at it until the potions were gone. Mana grew stronger the more you spent it.
"H-how many times are you going to do this?"
"I'd say about ten to a bottle. You know repetition is what matters."
She was flagging already. She caught her lip between her teeth and offered an awkward smile.
"Let's keep going."
I had been at it a little while when Levan came to watch.
"Whoa. Hey, hit a person with that and they'd drop dead on the spot."
He startled at the sight of the wood flying apart, then startled harder when he saw what I was drinking.
"You—you right now..."
"What?"
"You're drinking that much of it?"
He jumped and snatched up one of the empty bottles rolling across the ground.
"And you're just tossing the empties on the floor. Ha, really... get a little money and you change overnight?"
"Leave them. I'm collecting them later and taking them back to the shop."
At that he finally nodded, looking a little relieved.
"If you up and turn into a mage, I'll have to stand in front, so take it easy."
To reach that point I would have to drink enough potions to turn my blood blue.
"Anyway, why don't you rest a bit."
"Why now."
"I stopped by the guild. They said another reward came in under your name. Must be the pay for the skeleton swordsman. Go have a look later."