Don’t Run Away My Lord

16 – Salt Delivery Incident (3)

“First, let’s buy some new clothes. And, um… a map, too? I think we’ll need that to decide where to go.”

“A map sounds good. But, Erge-nim.”

Liana blinked her eyes and leaned towards me.

What is she trying to say…

“I heard earlier that Lord Youngju bet money on the dragon, right?”

“That’s right. So the humans are wandering around with torches, looking for the dragon.”

“But actually, it was the wyvern that we killed.”

I immediately caught onto her intention.

“You want to go to Lord Youngju and say that we hunted the wyvern and get paid, don’t you?”

“hehehe. That’s right. Erge-nim may be foolish, but he’s smart.”

“What the…”

We quickly finished our meal and went outside.

* * * * *

The soldiers in shining armor at the gate of Youngju Castle stopped us and asked about our business.

“We’re here to meet Lord Youngju.”

They scrutinized us from top to bottom with suspicion.

A man and a woman covered in blood and dust suddenly came to meet the lord of this land…

“To see Lord Youngju…? What is your business?”

“It’s about the dragon. We hunted a dragon.”

“Where is the mercenary group?”

“I don’t belong to any.”

The soldiers chuckled as if they couldn’t believe it.

“So, the two of you caught a dragon? That’s something…”

“We have proof.”

Liana took out a wyvern’s claw from her bag.

The soldiers exchanged the claw and sighed.

“Is this really a dragon’s claw? Hm…”

“To be precise, it’s a wyvern’s claw mistaken for a dragon’s.”

The soldiers still responded skeptically.

“A wyvern…? I can’t believe that even more… Honestly, I’m not sure if this is authentic. Lately, all sorts of scammers have been coming around, driven by the desire for the bounty.”

“I will speak directly to the lord to verify it.”

“Sorry. The lord is currently on a short leave. I should have told you beforehand.”

“Where did he go?”

“That’s an internal matter for the lord’s personal affairs. I assume he won’t be back until after midnight.”

The soldiers returned the wyvern’s claw to us.

“Come back early tomorrow morning.”

“Understood. We’ll come back then.”

“Sorry. We’ve been fooled and scammed by crazy people so many times that there’s nothing we can do for you.”

“It’s alright.”

Liana, who had come out of Yeongjuseong, immediately urged me to go to the city.

“Let’s go and buy clothes and other necessary things.”

* * * * *

Though Tousenne was the largest human city I had ever seen, it felt like a small city, just as Liana had said.

Because in just a couple of hours, we could see the entire city.

Still, there were places that sold clothes and shoes, stables and blacksmiths that dealt with weapons, everything you could think of.

As Liana said, they were all essential for human life, so they were everywhere.

In the clothing store, Liana spent a long time murmuring and had to try on several outfits to find one that fit her body.

Her chest was so big that no matter what she wore, the front looked precarious, as if it would burst open at any moment.

In the end, she had no choice but to buy clothes much bigger than her body and tuck the hem into her pants.

Of course, she had to tighten her belt tightly around her waist because the pants were loose around her recently plumped buttocks.

But the funny thing was that the rest of her body was relatively slender, without much weight gain.

We bought windproof clothing, sturdy boots, spare clothes and shoes, and other items at the clothing store.

And we stopped by a general store to get a sheath for the multipurpose knife that Baphelt had given us.

There, Liana picked out a bag, a leather water pouch, a coil of rope, thread and needles, a hand mirror, and a useful leather strap.

Lastly, Liana chose things that I couldn’t figure out what she would use them for.

Small dice and colorful pebbles, and a rectangular wooden board.

On the wooden board, there were two rows of six deep hollows, a total of twelve.

“What’s that?”

“It’s Mankalla*. I want to play it when I’m bored.”

*Mankalla: A traditional African board game.

Liana packed everything she bought into her bag and saw a blacksmith’s shop ahead.

Outside the shop, all sorts of weapons were haphazardly placed against the walls, waiting for their owners.

“Lord Erga. Do you need a sword?”

“A sword? Well… do I need one?”

“Well, since Lord Erga defeated a wyvern with his bare hands, there’s no need to spend money on weapons.”

So Liana only bought a short dagger for herself.

Although the blade was only a hand’s length, it seemed extremely sharp and potentially fatal if it struck a vital spot.

While she was at it, Liana also bought a sheath for the versatile knife that Bapheldt had given her.

When she fastened it to her waist, she felt like a seasoned traveler.

Liana counted the remaining coins on her palm.

“It was nice to receive gold coins, but they vanish in no time once you start spending. Considering the inn’s accommodation fee, I really need to save.”

“But you didn’t overspend, since you bought only what you needed.”

“That’s true. But I can’t keep saving forever, so I need to find a way to earn money, even if it’s just a little. After all, leisure also costs money.”

As she said that, Liana smiled softly.

“Well, I’ll just receive the bounty from Lord Viscount tomorrow anyway.”

Liana carefully put the silver and copper coins into a leather pouch and tied it tightly.

* * * * *

On her way back to the inn, passing through the square, Liana suddenly grabbed my wrist and pulled me.

There, the notice board was covered in dirty and crumpled posters.

“What is this?”

“A job posting seeking workers.”

Liana, who briefly glanced at the bulletin board, pointed at one of them.

“Take a look at this, Eruga. Shall we give it a try?”

Liana read the written notice, which stated that they were looking for workers.

The advertiser was the Karabka City Hall.

“Let me see. They’re looking for construction workers for a large-scale civil engineering project in Karabka City? What does that mean?”

“They’re doing construction work. Since it’s civil engineering, it seems like they’re building something big, right? It’s a job posting to find workers there.”

“What do they do with a mask on?”

“Well, who knows? Maybe they move rocks, use saws, and lay bricks… things like that? I thought it might be good for you, Eruga, since you’re strong.”

Ah, I see.

Humans are always doing something, building and creating, so I guess this is one of those kinds of things.

After reading the notice again, Liana pointed to the bottommost part.

It was the wage section, written in small letters, making it difficult to find easily.

“But they’re offering this much money. Is it okay?”

Liana leaned forward and read that part carefully.

“Eruga, do you happen to have any skills? Like a carpenter, blacksmith, or plasterer?”

“No. I don’t.”

“Hmm… Then… for unskilled labor… Oh! What’s this?”

Liana frowned and shook her head.

“The pay for someone without skills is too low. If you accept that and work, your body will suffer. Let’s give up.”

I surveyed the other job boards and soon found something promising.

“Look at this, Rihanna. This seems good.”

It was a job related to escorting long-distance merchants.

Judging from the fact that it said “welcome to anyone with exceptional martial arts skills,” it seemed like both Rihanna and I could go.

In Rihanna’s case, her ability to use divine power would be very useful.

On top of that, they were offering a considerable amount of money.

“Hmm, it’s okay. The pay is good… Although we have to follow them for about a month and the risk is high, well, the person we’ll be protecting is a wyvern hunter, so that could be scary, right?”

Let’s bookmark that for now.

“It seems like Eruga has physical strength and I can use divine power, so it might be better to do something that involves using our bodies rather than our minds.”

We looked at other job boards to see if there were any good opportunities.

Recruiting adventurers to retrieve artifacts from the Kepel Tower, Count Gorda, the Gorda Viscountcy.

Recovering a shooting star that fell into the Western Ocean, the magician Donodan’s journey, the Medius Hill.

Bounty for the notorious assassin Amserson, the Byu Security Corps, the Byu City.

An explorer to investigate the flow of the Arctic Ice, generously rewarded, the Central Adventurer’s Guild, the capital.

And so on and so forth.

There were various jobs, and Rihanna carefully examined them and selected the ones that suited us best.

“If we can do all these jobs, we’ll be able to wander around without worry for at least a month.”

Rihanna muttered to herself alone.

* * * * *

Returning to the inn, we sat down at a table and spread out a map.

Liana called the waiter and asked for two glasses of beer.

Beer is an alcoholic drink, but it’s not strong enough to get you drunk, and it’s good for quenching your thirst.

But after tasting it, I never put it in my mouth again.

What kind of taste is this…? It looks like urine…

“If we go to a big city, we can drink better beer.”

We looked at the map and decided on our next destination.

“For now… a nest…? You said you wanted to settle down. Well, there are a few options.”

Liana pointed to a few places on the map.

“To settle down, you need a job, and the best way to find a job is to go to a big city like this. Bui, Poulifour, Montroix, Lozan…”

“What’s different about those places?”

“They’re perfect for people like us to make a living. There are adventurer guilds and mercenary guilds that specialize in the things we saw on the wall chart.”

“Got it.”

I nodded, and Liana pointed to one spot on the map and then another.

“This is where we are now, Tussenux. The closest big city is Bui. How about going to Bui first?”

“Where is this place? It looks like a very big city.”

Liana looked at the place I was pointing to and shook her head.

“That’s the capital, Verabchain, but we can’t do anything there right now. The cost of living and housing is extremely expensive, so we’ll probably end up homeless.”

“I see. Then it’s better to go to this place called Bui first and find a suitable way.”

At that moment, the inn door opened and a person walked in.

They had no weapons, and their clothes and appearance didn’t seem like demon hunters.

He took up a whole table without even ordering, and stared at our side intently.