Chapter 47

Chapter 47

Investing Through the Status Window.

Episode 47: After The Dungeon (4).

The group that left the city of silver, Agnentia, arrived at the mercenary city, Vermandois, five days later. While no one cared whether other mercenary groups came or went, the prestige of the top ten was significantly different from theirs. Naturally, there were more than a few who desperately tried to catch the eye of Viola, the group leader of one of the top ten.

Of course, the Allen-Mercenary Group, just like the others, returned to the inn with their belongings, indifferent. The mercenaries’ gaze briefly met Cabrioldi, who had kicked the door open and entered with a triumphant look, but their interest quickly faded. After all, this place was littered with mercenaries. …If the person who entered had been a naked woman, their gazes might have lingered for a bit longer.

Seated at a corner table, they groaned as they perched on the backless solid wood chairs. Their bags were carelessly tossed onto the floor. Despite their unwashed, grimy faces, a sense of peace spread among them.

“The mission is over. Good work, everyone.”

Those were the final words about the mission from the group leader. With that, Allen tossed a small purse of money to each member, prepared in advance. It was wages for the short-term contractors and a bonus for the long-term ones. They received as much as fourteen hundred gold coins, so no matter how desperate they were for money, they couldn’t act like beggars.

“Check to make sure. Maybe I sneaked one out.”

“Ah, surely you wouldn’t have.”

Saying so, Cabrioldi quickly untied the string of the purse to check its contents. …Fortunately, nothing was missing.

Allen lightly rubbed his palms together like a sly merchant, quickly scanning the members who had suffered through the ordeal. A faint, soft smile was present on everyone’s face.

“Now—. Since the settlement is done, this is truly the end. Those who want to drink, drink; those who want to play, play; those who want to sleep, sleep. Do as you please.”

“And Group Leader?”

“I have to go pay the compensation.”

“…Ah.”

The compensation for the two who died during the mission. The guild would take a certain fee before delivering the rest to the bereaved families. …There were indeed corrupt leaders who secretly embezzled this, but that was a surefire way to self-destruct. Who would sincerely work for a mercenary group in that case? And, at the very least, a person with a shred of morality shouldn’t do that.

Allen chose Kalisman as his escort again this time. Despite it being bothersome and annoying, he never complained about anything the group leader asked him to do. Allen liked that very much. …To the point where he wanted to take him to the end, regardless of his stats.

As they left the building and walked down the bustling street, Allen lightly tapped Kalisman’s arm with the back of his hand and said,

“It’s not much, but I added a little more. …You said you have a daughter? They say it costs a lot more when you’re raising a child. I wouldn’t know since I haven’t had one yet.”

“Ha ha, why else would I have returned to this line of work? …Anyway, I’ll gratefully accept the money.”

“Yeah, it’s hard-earned money. Hard-earned money….”

The two walked for a while and arrived at the building of the Vermandois branch of the mercenary guild. Like the guild house, it was packed with people looking for work. Especially here, there seemed to be an unusually high number of greenhorns.

There were many blatant stares directed at the delicately featured Allen, but with a seasoned mercenary who clearly had seen many years standing firmly by his side, no one dared to approach him. Otherwise, there would have been a bunch who approached targeting either his penis or his ass.

As soon as Allen entered the branch building, he headed straight to a corner of the counter. The line for paying various fees wasn’t very long.

After the time it took to drink a cup of tea had passed, it was finally Allen’s turn. He paid the compensation for two deceased, then received a certificate. …With this, this mission was truly over.

Allen, having put a period to the mission, stepped outside the building and briefly looked up at the brightly shining sun.

…Allen felt that he had become somewhat more indifferent to death.

On the second day of their arrival in Vermandois.

The milk-jug mage went out with Allen for the first time in a while, of course, with Kalisman as their escort.

She had shed her usual somber attire and dressed in a brighter, more ladylike outfit for the outing.

Feeling liberated for the first time in a while, she felt a breath of fresh air. The responsibility of being a mage was a heavy burden on her shoulders.

“You have an impressive mindset. …You’re not overdoing it, are you? Studying magic is good, but don’t harm yourself too much.”

“No, I’m fine. It’s just sitting and reading, what about it.”

In fact, today’s outing was due to a request from the milk-jug mage. She said there was something she wanted to buy at the magic shop…. Of course, that was just an excuse, and the honest reason was that she just wanted to walk with him alone.

She frequently stole glances at his profile, reminiscing about that passionately shared kiss scene from the past.

‘……If at that time, Group Leader Viola hadn’t come looking, how far might things have progressed…….’

She was suddenly aware that she was very much indulging in sexual fantasies lately. To the point where she wondered if the saying about being in heat all the time was specifically about her.

Bearing the lifelong task of becoming a great group leader, she had tried to whip herself out of succumbing to sexual desires, but it was only temporary. Now, she found herself rubbing her pussy whenever the opportunity arose. She even discovered where to stimulate inside the hole to feel a pleasant pleasure. …Masturbation had now become one of her methods for stress relief.

After walking along the riverbank where the street vendors were lined up for a while, they arrived at a magic shop located on the outskirts of the city. As expected, it was empty inside.

“Take your time and choose. We’ll wait outside.”

Allen decided to wait outside with Kalisman, worrying that his presence might make her feel self-conscious.

The milk-jug mage Elena was inwardly amazed to see that the store was much larger than the one where she had previously bought her wand. There were many wands and a variety of books.

She approached the bookshelves to pick out a book to study. The titles were all in ancient runes, difficult to read for anyone who wasn’t a mage.

Of course, not all the magic books were solely about magic. History, general knowledge, and novels were also common. Of course, they weren’t the topics she was looking for.

As she was scanning the titles, one caught her eye immediately.

– Sexual Magic

It was a simple yet powerful title. She found her gaze fixed on it for a long while before she stealthily looked towards the staff. The old man was diligently watching her, perhaps worried she might steal something.

‘…Ah….’

She turned her gaze back to the books. And thought.

‘…Considering that the magic books are haphazardly shelved without regard to their subjects, it’s likely that the owner doesn’t know runic.’

It was a plausible inference. She picked out three books: a book on sexual techniques, a history book of some ancient kingdom, and a book of strange spells. None of them were particularly thick.

“…I’ll calculate this.”

The shopkeeper counted one, two, three books, then quickly scanned around her to check if she had stolen anything, before charging her. The milk-jug mage precisely counted the amount from her purse, hugged the three books to her chest, and left.

Allen and Kalisman were leaning against the stone wall of the shop, snickering and exchanging jokes, when they saw the milk-jug mage come out and approached her.

“Wow, such a passion for learning.”

“Indeed.”

The two men exchanged a word each as they saw her coming out with as many as three magic books in her hands. Feeling guilty, she just laughed it off. Of course, she didn’t even know if she laughed in a cultured manner.

What she thought was a date suddenly turned into a chase. She just walked mindlessly, clutching the books to her chest, just in case someone might recognize the titles.

Following the riverside path for a while, the three of them arrived at the lodging building. By then, beads of sweat had formed on her forehead from the walk.

“Thank you. Then, I’ll go up first.”

“Won’t you have a cold beer?”

“Ah, that, it’s okay. Right now, I really want to study…!”

“……Really? Okay then.”

Allen flashed an incomprehensible smile. The milk-jug mage, feeling as though her inner thoughts had been exposed, couldn’t properly look at him and hurriedly ran up to the third floor. Then, she entered her room, pushed the bolt, and firmly locked the door.

‘……Done……!’

She carelessly tossed aside the useless history books and spell books, taking only the book on sexual techniques to the table. Then, she began to carefully turn each page, as if reading a bible.

Of course, the content was also written in runes. So, she placed a reference book beside her and diligently read, looking up every unknown word one by one.

“Ah.”

“Ah—.”

“Ahhh———.”

The milk-jug mage, excited by her imagination alone, eventually couldn’t resist and climbed onto the bed, rubbing and poking her wet pussy with her fingers.

“Ahhhhhh————.”

The newly acquired knowledge was,

Unimaginably tremendous.