NOVEL NEXT chapter 26
26 – Salt Delivery Commotion (13)
At my command, the baby Gabrikas started tearing each other apart like crazy.
As they tangled together, it looked as if oil was boiling on the walls and floor of the cave.
Venom spewed out from the fighting creatures’ carapaces, creating a dense mist.
It’s not a problem for me, but if Tousennu drinks that poison, she’ll die instantly.
Whether they live or die, it doesn’t matter to me, but for Mera’s sake, I have to let them live.
They walked in the direction Merah and Liana had run off, dragging him along.
They’re like madmen.
To make drugs using the venom of Gabricas. They’re truly insane creatures.
This madness must all be because of money.
What on earth is money to humans?
What is it that makes them create and spread drugs that can addict and kill their own kind without any hesitation?
Is having a lot of money the key to happiness?
To dominate over others and enjoy the fruits of their labor?
Of course, it must be.
It would definitely be better to have a lot of money.
So, what should I do to earn money?
What if I did something like hunting monsters this time?
If I use Dragon’s Roar, I’m sure I can collect a lot of money.
But if I become a monster hunter, I’ll have to keep moving around.
And if rumors spread that I can subdue monsters with just a word, surely even my kin would become suspicious.
Who else could there be besides me, someone with abilities similar to Dragon’s Roar?
Is there a more stable and comfortable way to earn money?
I found freedom and escaped to a new habitat, and I will never go back.
To avoid regretting my decision, I must find happiness in the human world.
It would be better to ask Rihanna.
Since Rihanna is greedy for money, she must have some good ideas related to it.
* * * * *
In the basement of Yeongjuseong, Rihanna and Mera were waiting for us.
“Erga! What happened?”
“It went well. The Gabrikas won’t come here.”
I threw the unconscious Tussenu’s dagger in front of Mera.
“Now we just need to arrest him, right?”
“No, not yet. We still need official approval from the palace. We can’t do anything rash until then.”
“Well, that’s inconvenient. Anyway…”
I sat down and slapped the duke’s cheek.
“Get up.”
“Please… stop hitting me…”
Tussenu hesitated and opened his eyes.
I grabbed him by the collar and calmly said,
“Give me the money.”
“What money…”
“The drug transportation fee, danger allowance, and various other compensations. Right, Rihanna?”
I turned around and Rihanna nodded.
“About that much.”
“Did you hear that? Pay up. I came all the way back here to get the money.”
“Damn it… Just take the whole safe…”
Tusenne Jajak had an attitude as if he had given up on everything.
We led him down to the basement.
The soldiers who knew nothing about what had happened didn’t try to stop us at all.
In the Lord’s office, Jajak opened the safe and grumbled, telling us to take whatever we wanted.
“hehehe… I smell it, I smell it… The scent of gold coins…”
Liana hummed as she swept the contents of the safe into a bag.
Although it wasn’t overflowing with gold and treasures, we were still able to take a considerable amount of gold coins.
“That’s all, Lord Erga. I suppose the rest is kept in the nobles’ banks?”
“Is that so? Can’t we take the money in those banks too?”
“Hmm. If we do that, we’ll probably become the bad guys and have to run away, right?”
Tusenne Jajak sat down on the sofa and absentmindedly stared at the floor.
Since we entered the Lord’s domain, no one has come to help the Lord.
Not even that woman, Izano, who ran away through the window.
Gabrikas lost everything, the safe was emptied, and he was beaten up. Now, all that’s left is for him to be arrested in the palace. It must feel like the world has crumbled for him.
“Liana. Are we done with everything in this territory now?”
“Yes. We earned this much money… Hmm… With this amount, we can just relax and enjoy ourselves for a year or so, right?”
Liana smiled sincerely, looking at the bag full of gold coins.
“What are your plans, Investigator?”
Mera smiled and replied, looking at us.
“For now, I’m going to join the long-range patrol and report to the capital. Once the arrest warrant is approved, I’ll come back to the territory with the guards.”
“But what if he escapes or refuses to be arrested?”
“Don’t worry about that. He’s not just involved in drug trafficking, he’s also the producer. They’ll probably mobilize an army to arrest him in the capital.”
Alright. Then the rest of the humans can take care of punishing Jajak.
Hmm… What should we do…
“Liana. For now… since we probably won’t see a good sight in the territory, let’s go with the investigator. Isn’t that better?”
“Okay.”
We left Jajak behind and went out of the office.
“Take care, Jajak. See you soon.”
Mera bid farewell cheerfully.
* * * * *
In the early dawn, the eastern sky turned blue.
When we reached the boundary of the territory, the members of the long-range patrol were camping under a nearby tree.
“Are you here already?”
“Erka and the Saint helped us. They were making drugs in the underground of the castle.”
Mera explained the events at the castle to the patrol members.
They couldn’t believe it at all.
“Anyway… have you had a meal? If not, we’ll prepare it.”
The patrol members started preparing the meal busily.
Mera approached me and asked softly,
“Erka… But in the underground caves of Yeongjuseong. How on earth did you do it?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Stopping those goblin creatures… Wasn’t that you, Erka?”
“How could I possibly stop demons?”
In response to my retort, Mera surprisingly easily accepted my words as truth,
“Well, I guess so. Erka, how did you do it?”
Liana was sitting in a corner of the camp, doing something.
When I went closer, I saw her counting the gold coins inside her bag.
“Do you really think money is that important?”
“Are you serious? In human society, if you don’t have money, you won’t receive proper treatment. But I guess you wouldn’t know.”
“Hmm, I think I get it. So, what are you trying to say?”
I sat down next to Liana and shared what I had been thinking since we came out of the underground caves of Yeongjuseong.
I wanted to earn a lot of money, and the first thing that came to mind was being a demon hunter.
It’s a profession where I can make the most of my current skills, but there are also many restrictions that come with it, etc.
“That’s what I mean…”
Liana rolled her big eyes around.
“Erka, you don’t plan on going back to where you used to live anyway, right?”
“That’s right.”
“In that case, you should live the most satisfying and happy life possible in the place you escaped to, so you won’t have any regrets.”
I was surprised because it was just as I had imagined.
I thought she was only interested in money and had a big chest, but she surprisingly has insight.
“But as you said, being a demon hunter is a very unstable and physically demanding job. No matter how exceptional Erga is, it’s still difficult.”
“True. You have to go directly to where the demons appear, and the fierce demons that need to be hunted are in rugged terrain.”
“That’s also a problem, and demon hunters aren’t a promising profession in the first place.”
As Liana said, until last year, a powerful force called the Demon King was active on this continent.
They said that an army consisting of demons, devils, and all sorts of ferocious creatures swept through the human world.
“But suddenly, that Demon King’s army was completely wiped out, and the era of the Demon King came to an end last winter. Do you understand why being a demon hunter is not promising?”
“Most of the demons died along with the Demon King’s army, right? So the demons that need to be hunted are scarce.”
“That’s right. As far as I know, most of the large carnivorous species have become extinct, and the demons that exist now are mild ones that don’t need to mobilize demon hunters.”
In that case, it’s understandable why demon hunters flocked to the imperial decree to hunt dragons.
When they suddenly lost their source of income, if someone says they’ll pay a large sum for hunting dragons, they would jump at the opportunity, even if the opponent is a dragon.
I couldn’t understand why they wanted to hunt dragons in the first place, but I didn’t know there were such details involved.
“Then what kind of work should I do to make money? Isn’t it better to have a stable job that brings in money regularly?”
“Of course, Erga. A small, regular income is much better than irregular large sums of money.”
Liana rolled her eyes again and fell into deep thought.
While watching her like that, something came to mind and I asked.
“What about the lord?”
“The lord? Why suddenly?”
“Is the lord doing okay?”
It wasn’t a sudden thought, but one that occurred to me after looking around the Duchy of Tuscany.
Youngju claims to have the right to everything in his territory.
Despite his low rank as a duke, the Duchy of Tuscany possesses vast lands that require a long journey and a city where numerous humans reside.
Even if it’s just the taxes and crops that come from there, it would amount to a considerable sum of money.
If he were to become a marquis or go even higher, it would be difficult to even imagine the scale.
And if what I saw was correct, the duke wouldn’t personally involve himself in running the territory.
He would sit in his duchy, making important decisions, giving orders, and taking responsibility, while the actual work would be carried out by the humans of the territory.
If I establish my own duchy and decorate it well, would I be able to live the life I desire?
“What do you think, Liana?”
Liana still only rolled her eyes and didn’t give a definite answer.
“Hmm…”
Soon, she opened her mouth.
“Um… my lord… I’m sorry… but it’s impossible for you to become a duke.”