Here’s the chapter, enjoy~
Chapter 162 – On the Morning of Departure
When I returned to the church, I stowed away all the debris and remnants of the sacristy. I was especially careful around the area where I thought the altar had been.
“What do you want here, Takifu?”
“It’s just a hunch. I thought there might be something here… Oh, there it is.”
A collapsed opening that appeared to be the entrance to a basement, at what appears to be the site of an altar. The opening must have been broken by the explosion, and when the debris was cleared away, a one-meter square entrance was revealed. We descended to the basement via a ladder.
When we illuminated the entrance with a Maglite, a scene that could be described as gold, silver, and treasures emerged.
“Wow, it’s like a thief’s treasure room.”
“Not just like, but exactly that.”
Yes, it is. It is a bandit guild, isn’t it? But still, it is a very big hoard.
“How shrewd.”
“Yes, that priest has accumulated a lot.”
“That’s not it. I am talking about you.”
Is that so? Because it would be stupid to go home empty-handed, wouldn’t it? The total amount of money we have lost so far due to being cheated and ripped off is, let’s see…
…It’s not even close to 100,000 yen.
No matter how you look at it, the treasure in front of us is worth tens of millions of yen.
In addition to the coins in wooden boxes and jars, there are swords and works of art. There are even rolls of cloth that appear to be silk, as well as mysterious spells and magical tools, but of course, I have no idea what the individual items are worth.
I’ll just have to collect them and go back home.
I feel sorry for those who were robbed, but we don’t have the time, ability, or desire to go around returning them.
“If we didn’t have this kind of perk, we wouldn’t be doing this kind of work, would we?”
“Umu, you’re right. We are becoming more and more like the Demon King day by day.”
“We are on vacation, though…”
In a matter of minutes, all the treasures were retrieved, and we were on our way to the surface.
Citizens who heard the commotion and came outside were stunned by the cleanly vanished church.
“Should we proclaim the coming of the Demon King here?”
“I don’t want to. I came to the Republic just for fun, and I don’t want to get into trouble again.”
“I don’t doubt that, but your words and actions seem to be contradicting each other.”
That’s true, though. I was going to have a quiet winter vacation with Myrril, but where did I go wrong?
“…From the very beginning, I guess.”
“What?”
“No, it would have been nice if there had been some kind of a template like when you register as a newbie at the Adventurer’s Guild and gets involved with an experienced macho guy, and you have to deal with him, but it just blew up in the opposite direction. It’s strange. It’s been less than ten days since we entered the Republic, and we’ve already killed hundreds of people.”
“You are still obsessed with your incomprehensible ideas. You’ve already killed 30,000 people in Casemaians, and a hundred is nothing to worry about, is it?”
Well, that’s true, but… The kind-eyed Myrril urged me to regain my pride as the “Demon King.” I decided to kill my enemies. Now, I’ve stopped wondering if I’m going to kill my allies. I may mess up from time to time, but at least I’ve decided to do so.
“Well then, let’s go, Your Majesty the Queen.”
“Umu. Whatever you wish.”
But isn’t it strange to address one’s wife by her title? While receiving a silent rebuke, the temporary Demon King crawled out of the basement.
◇ ◇
Despite the commotion spreading throughout the town of Roses, it was quiet in front of the inn we had returned to with teleport. Louis was crouched down, and Tig was leaning on his spear, looking bored.
“What happened?”
“The guild’s stronghold was pulverized.”
“It sounded great.”
“I’ve got some treasure. We’ll share it later.”
“Wha?”
I looked back and saw Moff, the snow-white wolf, wagging his tail. I thought he was coming out very slowly, but he looked back at me and led me to the stables as if to say, “Follow me.”
“What’s the matter, Moff?”
“Woof.”
Myrril looked at Moff and then looked at me with a doubtful expression on her face.
“It seems he’s done some work.”
“Work?”
I understood as soon as I entered the stables. Three guards, covered in straw and horse manure, were lying unconscious.
“I wonder if they thought we hid the contracts and stuff in the sleigh.”
“Whatever the case, well done, Moff, you’ve done well.”
“Woof♪”
It’s not nice to kill an unconscious man, but it’s not nice to deal with one, either.
“Takifu!”
One of the guards, who seemed to have woken up, took a stance as if to jump on me, so I shot him through the head with my shotgun.
“Sorry, Mir.”
I guess I didn’t hesitate. Needless to say, I was naive, even if the muscle brains told me otherwise. I’m naive, in my sides, in my stuffing, and in my personality.
The rest of the guards who tried to escape were shot as well, and their corpses were stored away, so there was no need to worry about the consequences.
“This is in contradiction to what you said earlier, Takifu. Don’t get too used to killing. I have a soft spot for that kind of naivete in you, too.”
“Thank you, Mir. I’ll be careful.”
“Takifu? Mir?”
McCain and the others upstairs shouted when they heard the gunfire from the stables. They were getting tired of being out of frame for so long.
“It’s alright; you can come out now.”
Everyone was awake and ready to go. I received and stowed the blankets, sleeping bags, and military beds and instead took out the luggage and loaded it into the wagons.
It would be a few more hours before the sun rose, but the snow had stopped. The wind is not too strong, either.
“Colon, go get Tig and Louis. It’s a little early, but let’s get out of here.”
“Roger that.”
I tied the horses to the sleigh that the Calmon family was riding in and using a wooden box that had been left over from the bed, I set up a bulletproof board with wire to protect them from the wind.
“This time, you go in front of us. Mir and Moff will escort you.”
“Understood.”
“Colon, we are the main force here. Eino-san, you watch the rear.”
“Alright, sir.”
“Hey, do you think they’re coming after us?”
“Just in case. I think we have destroyed all the hostile forces, but there might be survivors from the bandit guild.”
We headed for the city gate in the still dark. This time, I was ready to kill anyone who tried to stop us with a gun, but the gatehouse was empty.
“Okay, let’s go.”
“If we leave now, we should be in Lafan by the evening.”
That is if nothing goes wrong on the way.
I swallowed my words to Tig, who obviously knew that.
Chapter 163 – Breakfast
We left Roses before dawn and continued running for three hours. The sun was finally rising. I could only vaguely tell, living without a watch, but I guessed it was just before 7:00 a.m.
“No sign of them.”
“And neither did the ambush. The view from here is much better.”
Louis and McCain are relieved.
We are thankful for the good visibility, but it also means that if the wind picks up, there will be nothing to block the blizzard.
We find a sheltered hollow and decide to take a break for breakfast.
I assembled some scrap wood to build a fire for warmth, where I hung a large pot of vegetable soup and roasted some bread and meat. The food in storage is still warm, but I think it tastes better over a little fire. Literally, though, it’s all in my mind.
Soup, flatbread, and skewered meat. The meat is, I think, a horned rabbit.
A rabbit about the size of a medium-sized dog with a unicorn-like horn on its forehead. I have never seen one around Casemaian, but I heard that they live in the forest, so someone must have hunted one in the dark forest. The meat is like “lean chicken meat,” a little tough but with a strong flavor.
The snow-wolf Moff wagged his tail in a good mood as he watched us eat the meat. I offered him some rabbit meat, assuming he wanted some, but he wagged his nose as if to say, “Don’t mind me.”
It has been about a week since I met Moff, but he doesn’t eat anything.
And yet, he doesn’t seem to be complaining of fatigue or hunger. He is in good health and has stamina. It is hard to tell.
“What do you usually eat?”
“Woof.”
“I’ve heard that monsters eat magic stones from the mines and the cores that come out of monsters. I don’t think that’s something you’ll find in the Sarz or the Roses…?”
I saw Moff rubbing his nose against my side, and Myrril tilted her head.
“Maybe, maybe not. I’m not sure, but I think he’s consuming Yoshua’s magic.”
“Wha!”
“Correct!” He barked at me with a face as if to say that! This guy…
Well, it’s okay. I don’t feel like I’m being affected in any way. I’m not saying that I like it, but I’m indebted to him in various ways, and I don’t mind sharing my magic power with him.
“Hmm? Hey, wait a minute.”
Louis, who was chewing on a piece of rabbit meat, looked at Moff with a suddenly aware face.
Moff looks away. That’s suspicious.
“Moff, you’ve been sucking my magic too, haven’t you?”
“W-woof.”
“You can’t just say, ‘I don’t know!’ Whenever I see you, you’re licking me like crazy, and I can tell you’ve been sucking on my magic! Then I thought I was sleeping better after you licked me…”
“That’s a good thing, right?”
“Isn’t that because you’re so tired!”
“No… in the case of Louis, it’s as if Moff is circulating and draining the surplus magic power you’ve got for physical enhancement. From Moff’s point of view, you’re like walking food.”
“Shut up, that means you too! Hey, Moff, don’t just absorb mine. Absorb Tig’s too!”
Moff glanced at Tig, then looked at us and said, “Hey?”
That’s easy to understand. It looks as if he said, “If it’s going to be the same, I’d rather have a macho sister than a strong tiger-beastman.”
Tig laughed and shook his head.
“I get it.”
“Woof!”
“Damn, you guys are on the same page!”
I never paid attention to it, but apparently, Moff was a boy. Good, good.
No, I don’t know what was good about it, though.
◇ ◇
While drinking tea after dinner, I decided to sort and distribute the treasures I had taken. However, gold and silver coins are heavy, so I decided to distribute them after returning to Sarz. I started with jewelry and precious metals.
Surprisingly, they were not very popular.
“It’s a hassle. We might drop or break them, and it’s hard to sell them for cash.”
“They’re not hard to sell, but if we had them, they’d be stolen, no matter which way you look at it.”
“The merchants would look down their noses at us, too.”
“We’d be grateful for a few silver coins.”
After receiving criticism from all of the Battlecry, they politely declined the offer.
I thought about giving it to the Calmon family, but Rufia-san declined, saying, “We can’t exchange more precious metals than we got before, and I don’t feel comfortable because I’m afraid they might be stolen.”
I had no choice. I guess I’ll just have to pass it on to Simon.
Since ordinary citizens don’t seem to use gold coins for everyday purposes, they are happy to receive silver coins.
“…But the problem with silver coins is the quantity.
Tig laughed when he saw me in trouble.
“Takifu, you don’t have to go overboard if there aren’t enough. We’re only lending a hand to Calmon because we like it…”
“On the contrary, you’ll get about 2,000.”
“Ew! That means how much we got per head… Colon?”
“Four hundred.”
“That many? I’ve never seen that much money before…”
“No, no. No, it’s 2,000 each. If you include the coppers, it’s more than that.”
Louis, who had been happy, froze with a smile on her face. Behind her, Colon and Eino were also stiffening.
In Japan, it would be one million yen… Even with the monetary value over here, it would be two million yen or so at the most. Is it really that surprising?
“I can’t hold that many silver coins. At least I can’t carry that much around.”
McCain, who was relatively calm, shook his head with a stiff smile.
“Is there any place you can deposit them? Maybe at the Adventurers’ Guild?”
“Well, you can, but they’ll ask you where you got it, and it’s not the kind of money a second-tier party would have.”
“Then… why don’t you just buy a house? Merchants don’t care where the money comes from, do they?”
“Of course they do, five of us together with 10,000 silver coins or something like that. A proper merchant would think it strange. Are you really a merchant, Takifu?”
Yes. When asked once again, I am not really aware of being a merchant. When it comes to common sense, I have even less.
While we were fussing about this and that, Calmon, who had been thinking about it for a long time, looked up as if he had come up with something.
“Oh, yes, that’s right. I have a good idea.”
“A way to keep people from suspecting that you’ve got a lot of money?”
Calmon nodded and looked at us.
“Why don’t we go to Lafan and fight off the pirates?”