Chapter 213: End and Beginning

Members of the monster-slaying squad and Claudia gathered on the second floor of Lutz’s workshop.

The bag of gold coins placed on the table made a powerful statement, and especially Kasim and Kevin, who had little connection with gold coins, stared wide-eyed and were frozen in place.

“Hey hey hey, what’s this!? Can’t we buy the whole world with this now!?”

“Well, that’s probably impossible, but… impressive.”

Kevin retorted to Kasim’s excitement. Even Kevin, with an uncontainable smile on his face, was amazed.

Claudia clapped her hands to draw attention.

“Alright, let’s start the distribution.”

Claudia reached into the bag of gold coins and began to take them out and arrange them on the table. First, twenty sets of ten gold coins. The guys were impressed by her swift and skillful movements. The sight of her delicate and smooth fingers manipulating the gold coins was somewhat fantastical.

“First, as aid money for the affected village, 200 gold coins. Out of these, 50 will be used to repay your debt to me. Is that okay?”

Kevin could only manage a vague “Yeah.” He hadn’t expected to receive such a large sum, so losing 50 coins didn’t faze him much. More accurately, he didn’t fully comprehend the situation.

When Claudia bundled fifteen sets together and pushed them out, Kevin let out a pitiful “Hie.” Even the fearless Kevin, who hadn’t yielded to monsters, saw the mountain of gold coins as an unknown monster.

Claudia stacked more gold coins.

“As payment for Lutz’s sword, 50 gold coins. For the decorator Patrick and the enchantment artist Gerhardt, 25 gold coins each.”

She spoke while shifting the coins aside. The guys’ eyes followed the movements of the gold coins.

“The remaining 300 will be divided into four parts, and each of you will receive 75 coins.”

The 300 gold coins were swiftly divided. First, they were distributed to Lutz, Ricardo, and Kevin. Finally, a pile of gold coins was pushed in front of Kasim, but Claudia’s hand stopped abruptly.

“From here, I’ll take 10 gold coins as payment for the sword.”

Kasim flinched for a moment at Claudia’s sharp gaze. Kasim had been borrowing the current sword from Lutz out of goodwill. He had considered various things, but Claudia wouldn’t have allowed such a soft resolution.

“Well, 10 gold coins is a considerable sum, but…”

“I don’t mind if you return it. In that case, I’ll take one gold coin as a sharpening fee.”

Weapons were consumables in the end. Instead of anxiously fearing when an expensive weapon might break, it was more cost-effective to buy second-hand items in the market.

I don’t need it back, I’ll give it back. Kasim opened his mouth to say.

“K-Kae!”

It’s indescribable. If I say this, it means parting ways with my beloved sword Kasimumaru. Is that really okay?

I survived fighting against hordes of undead creatures thanks to the sharpness of this sword. I always had Kasimumaru hanging from my waist, slept embracing it.

Is it okay to let go of a partner just because I’m reluctant to spend money? Ten gold coins are a significant amount, I understand that. But still, is it really okay?”

“Return…”

“Return? Is that what you mean?”

“I can’t return it! I’ll buy it for ten gold coins!”

“Oh, okay. Thank you…”

While consoling the suddenly crying Kasim, Claudia separated ten gold coins and pushed the rest in front of Kasim.

Even with ten coins less, there were still 65 gold coins left. An amount that adventurers, especially poor ones, would rarely see in their lifetime.

Kasim stuffed gold coins into his wallet with tearful eyes. This is fine, this is fine.

“Okay, everyone, this concludes the distribution of rewards.”

Claudia straightened her back and then bowed deeply.

“Thank you all for your hard work on the monster-slaying mission.”

With this announcement, the men were finally liberated from the heavy responsibility of monster-slaying. At the same time, they felt a bit lonely.

These were an uncontrollable bunch.

Days later, Kevin was sipping tasteless alcohol in a tavern for adventurers.

“This is strange…”

Although he had registered as an adventurer, he had yet to form a party or go out for monster hunting or dungeon exploration.

Was it not so easy for adventurers to form parties? Even when he tried to strike up a conversation in the tavern, he wasn’t invited by anyone. And if he offered, people awkwardly declined.

He had left the village with a loud declaration when he became an adventurer, so it wasn’t easy to return now. He had coldly said to his son’s face that he would return soon. His son’s face, which said he would come back soon, flashed in his mind. If things went this way, he couldn’t be satisfied without making a name for himself as an adventurer.

“Hey, isn’t that Kevin-san?”

When he raised his head, he saw the face of a man he thought he would never meet again, just a few days ago. It was Kasim.

The iron breastplate was polished to a shine, and even the small items like bags were of sturdy craftsmanship with no signs of wear. His clothes seemed to have been recently replaced. Until a short while ago, he was a filthy fellow covered in sweat and grime, but there was no trace of that now.

“Kevin-san, what are you doing in a place like this?”

“Do I look like I’m taking a nap? I’m looking for companions to act as adventurers.”

“Adventurers? Kevin-san, you’re rich, so you don’t need to work, right?”

“Hah, I practically gave most of it to the village.”

“Wasn’t it 150 gold coins?”

“No, it was 224.”

“What?”

For a moment, Kasim couldn’t understand what was being said. After some calculations in his head, he finally grasped Kevin’s situation.

“You really gave away everything except one gold coin!?”

“I did, on a whim.”

“Are you an idiot!?”

“You’re annoying. I do regret it, but I’m not wrong. That’s how I see it.”

Kevin chuckled wryly. Despite Kasim’s astonishment, he couldn’t help but think that he didn’t dislike this hearty man.

“What about you? With 70… no, 65 gold coins, you can live comfortably for a long time, maybe even years.”

“Kevin-san…”

Kasim suddenly looked serious.

“Money, when you spend it, it disappears, huh…”

“Of course.”

“It’s obvious. But you know, how many people in this world truly understand that obvious fact? At least, I didn’t.”

He started talking philosophically, but in essence, he had recklessly shopped, ended up with only about five gold coins, panicked, and decided to restart his adventurer career, currently in the midst of looking for companions.

“Hey, Kasim, I wanted to ask something. Isn’t it supposed to be easy to find adventurer companions? It’s not going well at all.”

“Well, you see, a middle-aged macho adventurer beginner is too suspicious, and no one wants to invite him. Plus, you probably wouldn’t get along well with young people.”

“Yeah, but I can’t find any adventurers around my age.”

“By the time adventurers reach Kevin-san’s age, they’ve either saved up and retired or kicked the bucket long ago.”

“Hmm. Speaking of which, what about you? Loitering around in the daytime.”

“I, uh… there’s a bit of a bad rumor going around about me. They say everyone who forms a party with me dies or something.”

“Even if they don’t die, they’re bound to suffer greatly.”

As if it were someone else’s problem, Kevin burst into laughter. Kasim scowled for a moment but quickly reconsidered. After all, he was in the same situation.

“Uh, Kevin-san…”

“Hey, Kasim…”

Their words overlapped, creating an awkward atmosphere.

“I’m fine, so go ahead.”

“No, no, let the young one speak.”

“You’re acting like a grandpa only at times like these. Well, never mind. How about teaming up with me for monster hunting or something? Well, let’s just call it a temporary party.”

“Temporary?”

“When we both find other companions, we’ll part ways then.”

“I see, that’s good. I don’t care if it’s Lutz or Ricardo, but I’m horrified that I’m still with someone as gutless as you.”

“Hey, stubborn old man, we get along pretty well. I have no intention of making you my lifelong partner. I only teamed up with you temporarily because there was no one else. It’s surprisingly easygoing and not bad at all.”

And so, they drank, insulting each other, and discussed where to go next.

Little did they know that this casual partnership would last for nearly a decade.

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