Chapter 22: Winter Preparations(5)

“Oh Avalli, What brings you here?”

Bern greeted Avali with a bright expression.

However, right after that, he noticed the red-haired wizard standing next to him, and his expression immediately distorted.

“… Is the wizard here too? The price?”

“Yes, the price.”

However, as soon as the honorific came out of Lucy’s mouth, Bern’s face changed strangely as if the distortion from a moment ago was a joke.

“I, did you eat something wrong?”

“…I had a change in my mind.”

“No, if you have a change in mind, you should be more polite. Why are you suddenly so disgusting—”

“Mr. Bern, you said you weren’t renewing your contract this year?”

Bern nodded at Lucy’s unexpected words.

“Then, shouldn’t Mr. Bern also be more polite?”

“Please come in.”

Bern guided the two into the house with a 180-degree change in politeness.

If the contract of non-harm was gone, Lucy could harass Bern as she pleased.

Of course, Lucy had no intention of ever coming back to this town again once the contract ended, so it was just a simple threat.

However, from the listener’s perspective, even a bluff would be a threat because it sent shivers down their spines.

“Would you like some snacks?”

“I’m fine.”

“Yes, Avalli. I can’t give you anything when the customer isn’t eating, so stop staring at me like that.”

“I changed my mind! Go… I suddenly want something sweet.”

Bern looked at Lucy with a puzzled look as she hurriedly shouted.

However, since teasing her with this could really get her into trouble, he quietly searched through the cupboard and took out the honey-pickled peaches.

Lucy had no intention of touching the snack Bern had brought out…

But when she saw Avalli waiting next to her, swallowing her saliva, she hurriedly picked up her fork.

As soon as she cut off a small piece of honey-pickled peaches from the plate and put it in her mouth, Avalli started eating the honey-pickled peaches as if she had been waiting for them.

“Why don’t you just take them out and eat them?”

“Can I?”

“Uh, I have something to talk to the wizard. Go out for a bit.”

“Is it something I shouldn’t hear?”

Avalli was being persistent today.

It was natural since she had come to find out because she was curious, but Bern, who was quick-witted, could only wonder why she was acting like this.

“Of course not—”

“Avalli can hear it too.”

“Sir?”

Bern’s expression filled with curiosity when Lucy mentioned Avalli.

However, Lucy soon growled silently and glared at Bern, so he didn’t dare ask why.

“… Well, if it’s okay with you, the wizard, then it’s okay with me.”

Bern said and sat down across from Lucy.

“Let’s get to the point. How much did you sell it for?”

“120 gold.”

“Huh?”

“I said 120 gold. According to the contract, if I take 20% as my commission, that’s a total of 96 gold.”

96 gold.

It was a huge sum of money that Bern had never touched in his entire life.

“You… you’re not kidding me, are you?”

“No. That contract wasn’t possible in the first place.”

Lucy answered in a businesslike manner, then took out a subspace pouch from her bosom.

Every time Lucy’s hand moved back and forth in the pouch, a row of gold coins would pile up on the table.

A total of ten times.

Bern was astonished as he looked at the gold coins shining brightly on the table.

“Oh my.”

He knew it would be an expensive magic stone, but was it worth over 100 gold?

Bern didn’t know, but it was the result of the city’s excellent merchant, Elif, who had done a great job of spreading rumors and creating competition at auctions.

“I was surprised too. I thought it would be around 30 gold at best.”

“… That’s three times the expected price. It’s more than ten times the usual price.”

“Thanks to that, I really don’t need to renew my contract. 24 gold is a lot of money. I guess I can stay in the magic tower and focus on my research for a while.”

At Lucy’s words, Bern twitched his lips and muttered, “What if I get another magic stone like that?”

“I don’t think that will happen. The luck of a lifetime doesn’t come easily.”

“If it’s not luck but my hidden ability—”

“You’re not serious, are you?”

Bern groaned and shut his mouth at Lucy’s words.

It was much easier to deal with him when he was whining and irritating like a child.

When he spoke so calmly and politely, his insides were boiling over several times more than before.

“Well, this amount of money will last the village for several years.”

“… If you can’t find a place to sell the magic stone, contact me again. I won’t extend the contract, but if I have the money, I’ll buy it.”

“I’ll just appreciate your kind words. To be honest, I forced myself to do the magic hunter job because I was short on money.”

“Then the contract will end at the end of this year.”

“I feel relieved, really. Especially since I don’t have to see the magician anymore.”

“Who’s talking, you old man?”

While the conversation between the two was going smoothly, Avalli was staring at the gold coins on the table with half-open eyes.

‘… 120 gold?’

According to what Lucy told me the last time I visited, 1 gold is worth about 6 million won in Korean Won.

But 120 gold, no, even if you deduct the commission and calculate only 96 gold.

‘576 million…?’

It was a dizzying amount just to hear.

I gave it to Bern, thinking it would save a person’s life, but…

I never imagined that the amount would be this much.

‘Was making magic stones really that much of a specialized job?’

Bern’s impression in the village was not so good.

He was always locked in his hut, drinking, and he would often make excuses to avoid the village’s communal work.

Even Hans’ mother, Catherine, badmouthed Avalli, saying that he smelled too much of alcohol.

It was strange that no one came forward to complain when his impression was so bad, but who could have thought that being a magic beast hunter was such a high-income job?

If he were to provide that much money for the village’s finances, no one would dare complain to his face.

‘… He looks different.’

In fact, Avalli’s guess was only partially correct.

The reason the villagers respect Bern while complaining about him was not just because of money.

Bern’s career as a beast hunter was limited to about six months as a trainee when he was young, before running away.

Despite that, there was no one in this village who had the conscience to criticize him to his face, risking his life and hunting for the village.

And he didn’t make that much money compared to the risk.

Didn’t Bern say with his own mouth earlier that it was ‘more than ten times the usual’ amount?

Of course, Avalli, who was focused on the gold coins, didn’t hear it properly, but still.

“Ma… Is a magic stone that expensive?”

“Of course it is. Well, the one you saved this time is especially amazing. It was a bloody battle where I really risked my life, you know?”

Bern shamelessly lied in front of Avalli, the person who brought the beast’s corpse.

The sight of him bluffing was quite funny to Avalli, but since he couldn’t reveal the truth with his own mouth, he just listened to Bern’s words in silence.

“Its arms were almost as big as a log. Among the wolf demons, it must have been the size that would be recorded in history books?”

“… Mr. Bern really caught that demon?”

Lucy was also curious about how Bern got his hands on the magic stone.

“What about the body?”

“I didn’t get the body. All I could do was extract the magic stone, so the other beasts would have taken care of the rest.”

“Then a new demon would be born… Hmm, no. Since I extracted that level of pure magic stone, all that was left would have been a piece of meat.”

Avalli’s gaze was still fixed on the gold coins.

As Avalli, who had lived in a world at the forefront of capitalism, it was only natural for him to be greedy for an astronomical amount of money.

The thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be better to reveal the identity and claim a share right away?’ lingered in his head.

While Avalli was pondering for a while under the abnormal status of greed—

“Are you in there, Bern!”

Arsene opened the door and came straight into the house.

“Knock, Arsene.”

“Usually when I knock, all I hear is drunken noises.”

Arsene ignored Bern’s complaint in one word and sat down on a nearby chair.

Then, after spotting gold coins on the table, he asked with slightly widened eyes, “Sir, is this the payment for this year?”

“… Yes. A total of 96 gold after deducting the commission.”

“It seems that the goddess’s blessings are truly upon our Asha village this year.”

Arsene said with a very excited voice.

‘I did it all!’

Avalli wanted to shout that right away… but after thinking about it calmly for a moment, she wondered if it was really necessary.

If she could just leave the village once a month during the full moon and extract the magic stone, wouldn’t that be enough?

Rather than revealing her identity and creating unnecessary discomfort, it would be a wiser decision to just take advantage.

‘… It seems that Lucy is selling the magic stone instead.’

Upon hearing the story, it seemed that the contract with Bern ended this year, so wouldn’t Avalli somehow be able to take her place?

In order to do that, she had to somehow continue her relationship with Lucy—

“Avalli.”

“Yes?”

When she heard the voice calling her, she turned her gaze to see Arsene looking at her.

“Can you step out for a moment? I have something to talk about with the adults.”

“… Understood.”

Avalli nodded and got up from her seat.

Lucy’s eyes widened as she saw Avalli obediently following Arsene’s words, but no one there noticed the change.

“And Avalli, Hans is waiting outside.”

As she was about to leave the room, Arsene added.

“Hans?”

“Avalli, it seems like he has something to tell you.”

Arsene’s voice was full of mischief.

“… You have something to tell me?”

Avalli tilted her head slightly and strode out.