Ch.273Piercing Through the Clouds. The Seraphim Floating Mountain Range (2)

“This is good. The meat juice is perfect.”

I muttered as I bit into the veal steak at the upscale restaurant.

The tender flavor and juiciness, almost unbelievable for beef, was enough to delight my taste buds, and the beauty of my wife sitting beside me was enough to please my eyes.

After parting ways with our party members, I strolled through the evening streets with my wife, and we entered a suitable restaurant we spotted. It seems this place is quite popular. I was so surprised when customers started flooding in right after we entered.

As I cut a piece of steak and placed it in my wife’s mouth, I considered ending our adventure right here.

I’d have obscene amounts of money. From now on, I could just travel around with my wife, eating delicious food every day and enjoying ourselves as we pleased.

But that was impossible.

Without completing the pilgrimage, no child would be conceived, and without finishing the adventure, no empire would be established.

My power comes from the sun, so my journey will likely end at the place closest to the sun.

Rejecting this natural order would be betraying not only my duty as an apostle but also my integrity as a human being.

With these thoughts, I drank the champagne my wife poured for me.

The alcohol was sweet and comforting.

Perhaps this is why the elven twin sisters enjoy drinking so much.

Because when intoxicated, one can shake off burdensome duties and uncertain futures, if only for a few hours.

“As expected, the drink you pour tastes delicious.”

“That’s because I’m your wife.”

Smooch.

My wife said that and left a lipstick mark on my cheek.

Debating whether to wipe it off or not, I ultimately decided to leave it as a subtle boast to others.

If anyone gets jealous, they can ask their own wife or daughter to do the same for them.

And if a man has neither wife nor daughter, then such men should strive to find a wife.

In my case, I’ve been working 240 hours a week for years, so most cutoff points would be lower than that.

There’s a saying that the brave win beautiful women, but that’s incorrect.

Only those who perform brave acts and remain alive afterward win beautiful women.

I reflected on all the courageous actions I’ve taken so far and began my self-esteem enhancement project, successfully completing it during our 43-minute meal.

I carried my intoxicated wife like a princess back to the Sky Warden, and thus endured our 338th consecutive sexual encounter.

*

The next morning.

Alive by the sun’s grace, I gazed at the pile of gold coins the soldiers had brought during the night, with my wife nestled against my side.

Ah… this feeling of fulfillment… surely only the wealthy can experience this sense of polarization.

“Hehehe… the money is piling up.”

I muttered while looking at the hundreds of thousands of gold coins stored in the Sky Warden.

Money truly is the best.

Perhaps it’s because I lived in poverty, but wouldn’t anyone think the same when seeing mountains of gold coins?

“The gold coins are sparkling… I’m so happy!”

“Ohhh… gold coins… shiny… hehehe…!”

And showing even more severe symptoms than me were the dwarf brothers.

Due to their racial characteristics, they couldn’t help but fawn over precious metals.

Anyone watching might think Simon had cast a spell on the gold coins to make them lovable.

“If we collect a bit more, we could make a swimming pool of gold coins.”

“Then we should be the first to dive in!”

“Haha. Yes. You two certainly deserve to swim in this field of gold!”

I said, laughing heartily.

Money is a good thing.

If the process of acquiring it is immoral, it should be condemned, but who could criticize profits earned through honest trade?

“They say generosity comes from a full storehouse, and indeed my heart feels warm. With this much, we could truly build a small city.”

After saying that, I recalled the village our party had saved in the past.

The name was definitely… right. Derickson Village.

Although I provided some support and helped with reconstruction efforts, it was uncertain whether they were still alive.

Life continues despite its hardships, but death comes without warning. I worried that the bitter winter cold might freeze them to death.

“Captain! What are you thinking about so deeply?”

“Hm? Oh… it’s nothing. I was just thinking about the village we saved before.”

“Village?”

Haukman’s eyes widened.

Come to think of it, the rescue of Derickson Village happened when they weren’t around.

“It was when you weren’t with us. We liberated a village controlled by a necromancer. Spent about 6 weeks helping with reconstruction. We celebrated the new year there.”

“That sounds like rewarding work. I wish we had been there too!”

“Indeed. Your bombs and flames would have been a great help.”

I said, boosting the dwarves’ morale.

It was true that they had been a tremendous help in the great undead battle, so having them at Derickson Village would have been beneficial, not detrimental.

“Well, don’t imagine too much though. They say thoughts can become reality.”

“I suppose that’s true.”

Berkman nodded, then took his younger brother and left the storage area.

I too, tired of the glittering gold, exited the storage to see workers loading supplies.

Since all the soldiers were on leave, we had to hire workers to transport the goods.

Due to limited space, the supplies themselves were quite expensive, but if we made double profits by trading on the apostle’s name, shouldn’t we give back at least a little this way?

Thanks to that, the soldiers received unexpected leave and bonuses, enjoying the luxury of being able to do whatever they wanted for a whole week with one gold coin each.

Even with 50,000 soldiers, the direct combat force was only about 30,000.

The rest were cooks or maintenance personnel, but to avoid issues of fairness, I generously gave them one gold coin each as well and ordered them to enjoy a week’s leave.

One gold coin per person meant 50,000 gold coins total, but since we had earned so much, it didn’t feel like a loss.

The difference between 2.3 million and 2.25 million wasn’t particularly noticeable.

For soldiers who had been confined to a three-hour round trip distance until now, this week-long vacation would be incredibly sweet.

What if we’re ambushed, you ask?

Well, our party would have to respond, of course.

And if they can’t handle it, then I, the ‘Apostle,’ would have to step in.

*

“How is it? Does it suit your taste?”

“Yes. It’s very delicious.”

“Thank you. I’ll bring out the next dish shortly, so please wait a moment.”

“Mm.”

I nodded and stroked the back of my half-naked wife who was leaning her body against mine.

After sending the soldiers on vacation, I wondered if our party should drearily guard the ship, but then I thought that as an apostle, couldn’t I pressure the government for accommodations? I summoned an envoy and “conveyed my opinion” to the government. The Seraphim government accepted and began treating our party very generously.

They started with basic suite rooms, and as we sat or lay down enjoying the scenery and views, room service with full courses rolled in automatically.

Thanks to this, our party enjoyed unexpected luxury, and I was relishing the leisure while remotely feeding my wife, who was floating in the swimming pool beside me, using my mark.

“This is what adventure is about.”

“Hehehe…”

Well, adventure isn’t just about rolling around in mud like dogs.

Broadly speaking, even tourists are excellent adventurers venturing into the unknown.

They just happen to have more money.

And if the Sun disapproved of our living in luxury like this, a stern rebuke would have fallen long ago.

The Sun who said nothing when I turned Long Legs into past tense wouldn’t say anything about this level of indulgence.

Thinking this, I slurped the cocktail brought by the attendant with a loud sound.

“Ah… another week will pass quickly.”

“Indeed.”

My wife emerged from the swimming pool and climbed on top of me.

A wet, sticky sensation instantly dominated my body, but soon my wife’s body grew hot, turning it into moisture.

“Mmm…”

My wife closed her eyes and pursed her lips, and I pulled her close to kiss her.

Whew…

Drinking delicious cocktails in the best hotel suite in the country, then receiving the affection of an ultimate beauty (no objections accepted) who just emerged from the swimming pool…

This is living.

I embraced my wife and removed what little cloth remained, then asked the Sun.

Want me to turn on sensory sharing?

[Then Maria would kill me!]

Ah hahaha, can’t be helped then hahaha!

With a broad smile, I injected love into my wife, and Raisha received my love with sweet moans.