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21. The Farthest Ends of Blue

The next morning.

「Oh, Marge-san. Are you going somewhere?」

「Yeah, just over there.」

「How many people have talked to you now?」

「8th group, 14th person.」

More than 40 mercenaries were found lying on the ground, and the Kinui post town was briefly in turmoil. Things calmed down as the story spread that “Guran the Miser waged war against a talented traveler and was spectacularly defeated.”

「The weather is nice today. It’s great that we got to meet Marge-san and the others.」

「I heard that the divine wolf has the power to cut through everything. How do you learn such an amazing skill?」

「He’s the one who cut the building, right? Does he have a girlfriend!? Oh, she’s right next to him…」

I get a lot of people talking to me just by walking down the street. Some people kept their distance, but I was surprised to find that 80% of them looked at me favorably. I wonder just how much that man named Guran was hated.

Koe-san waved “Have a nice day” to a girl about 10 years old who was walking away with her shoulders slumped.

「Shizuku’s achievements are also spreading well.」

「I’m kind of embarrassed… Leaving that aside, what are we supposed to use this for?」

Shizuku walked while her tail wagged, holding a bag full of gold coins in both hands. Needless to say, she got it from Guran.

Since they came to take everything away, she took everything from them in return.

Even though she won, most of his assets were in various forms such as marketable securities and jewelry. That’s why we only focused on cash for now. Still, the cash alone is probably around millions of ins.

「To be exact, it was 7,470,000 ton and 631 yin. The leftover is the missing gold coins.」

「The average daily wage for a day laborer is 10,000 yin, and the monthly income for a mid-level adventurer is about 500,000 yin. So that’s quite the sum.」

「Is that so? Then, Master’s monthly income when you were still with the guild was–」

「It’s nowhere near what Shizuku is holding right now.」

Even though I was in the S class, my monthly income was half that of a mid-level adventurer. Now that I think about it, I really worked my ass off for a pay like that.

「The two of you are traveling, so this will probably be traveling expenses, I assume. How long will you be staying in this town?」

「No, we’ll use this up here. We’ll stay until then.」

「……Huh?」

Shizuku looked at me with a dumbfounded expression. I explained to her while looking out at the street full of people.

「Kinui is a post town. Even though it looks busy, there are only about 100 residents. If we take this much money out of the town, it could cause problems for the economy.」

Sometimes the very existence of money creates value. It can be used as collateral as an asset, or as a preparation for big business opportunities or disasters. Moving it without thinking can lead to unexpected trouble.

It’s not like I’m short on money, so it would be wiser to just use it up. Ill-gotten money should not be kept for long.

「You might not have fond memories of this town, but…」

「No. The town and the land are not at fault. I know that.」

「You’re a kind girl, Shizuku.」

「T-Thank you.」

Shizuku seemed to agree, but for some reason Koe-san seemed to have an unusually dissatisfied look on her face.

「Master, there’s no need for you to consider them that far…」

「Don’t worry. This is my own selfishness.」

It doesn’t feel good that unrelated residents should suffer even more trouble just because of one guy named Guran.

「I think you should think about your own happiness more, Master.」

「I’m pretty sure I’m living my life how I want to, though.」

「Since you don’t seem to understand, I will think of a way to make Master happy.」

She sounds a little angry. Why?

「Anyway, let’s go. [Space Jump], activate.」

If I get talked to by each person that passes by, it would take forever to get to our destination. So I decided to quickly transport to our destination.

Although I said we’d use up the money, this place is a small post town. There are only a limited number of places where you can use up 7 million yin at once.

「This place is…」

「It’s a jewelry store.」

「Jewelry!」

Shizuku looked up and saw “Rinono Jewelry Shop” engraved in silver letters.

「Jewelry is much better than heavy cash. There is a demand for it, so there are shops like this that sometimes pop up along the main way.」

「Oh…」

「Have you never come to see this place, Shizuku? Are you not interested?」

「Don’t you feel like you’re being pushed back just by approaching an expensive shop like this?」

I kind of understand that feeling.

「Now, then. Is the shopkeeper in?」

「Yes, yes, yes. Welcome, welcome.」

I imagined the owner of a jewelry store would be a gentleman with a beard, but a woman in her mid-twenties came out. Although she was young, experience and familiarity oozed through the way she carried herself. You could clearly see the certainty of her skill and eye.

「We have this much. Could you recommend matching items for the three of us?」

Shizuku turned around briskly and displayed a look that said, “Three of us!?”. Her tail expanded and became super fluffy, but I ignored her and continued.

「Hmm, that’s quite a lot of money.」

「747 million ton and 631 yin.」

「Thank you for the details. In that case, I have just the perfect thing for you.」

「The perfect thing?」

I thought the shop wouldn’t have anything that could meet my request, so I was prepared to wait a few days for the order to arrive. The shopkeeper, who went to the back of the store, returned soon after. There were three amber pendants on the tray in her hand. I thought it was just amber, but when I looked closely, it turned out that each shade had a different shine.

「It’s a precious stone pendant that is said to have been worn by the werewolves who lived in this land.」

Precious stone.

It’s a gem that contains mana. For example, when a blue sapphire is imbued with feverish mana, it will shine a deeper purple than amethyst itself. Gems with such change in color and luster are called precious stone.On a side note, a rare ore which is mana itself solidified is called an “Emperor Stone”.

In the land where mana is so unique that an endemic skill can be manifested, it wouldn’t be strange to have a precious stone…

「Werewolf’s pendant?」

「You guys are the rumored Marge-san and Shizuku-chan, aren’t you? If you’re from the werewolf race, it would be a good fit for you to have it. I was also fed up with Guran, so take this.」

I wish I could give it away for free, but I also have a life to live here.

The shop owner said and pushed the tray towards me.

「Here, Shizuku. This is yours.」

「But this is expensive…」

「You should be wearing this in the first place, after all.」

I fastened the pendant with a particularly strong golden hue around Shizuku’s neck. Shizuku stared at the pendant, which resembled the glow of [Garou], and grasped it with both hands.

After doing so for a while, Shizuku looked up at me as if she had made up her mind.

「Marge, there is something I want to tell you.」

Then, for some reason, we left the store. I was taken to a deserted alley, wondering what she was going to say.

Shizuku looked around nervously and said.

「I want to show you my gratitude, Marge.」

「With just the two of us in a deserted alley?」

Shizuku’s face suddenly turned red, as if she understood something else. However, she shook her head as if to rid herself of any wicked thoughts and looked straight into my eyes.

「I want you to come to my hometown.」

The place where werewolves live. The temporary residence of those who have had everything taken away from them.

「A hidden village for wolves. It’s a small village, so I can’t offer much hospitality, but…」

Shizuku paused and looked around once again.

「The “Farthest Ends of the Blue” is there.」

「Is that the name of a dungeon?」

That’s a name I don’t recognize. However, dungeons that are given unique names are A-class or higher. They have a scale of over 40 floors and are ruled by a “King” at the highest floor.

「It’s an S-class dungeon that humans don’t know about. That’s the biggest thing I can give to you right now… No, I’m sorry. Maybe I shouldn’t have said this as showing my gratitude.」

Shizuku grabbed my hand. There were faint tears in her eyes.

「Please save my hometown. Only you can save the village!」