Chapter 16

“Take it. This is your pay for the month.”

“What? Princess, this is too much. It’s more than double my usual salary. And I’ve taken so many things over the years.”

“It includes compensation for the accident.”

“Compensation?”

“You were in an accident because you were with me today. I’ve factored that in, so take it. In return, you’re in charge of hiring new staff.”

“Then… I feel shameless, but I’ll accept it gratefully. I’m not really in a position to refuse. I’ll be very careful when I look for new employees. I won’t let you down, Princess.”

“Do what you want. And this is for damages.”

As I held out the core, Zenia asked with a bewildered expression.

“Huh? Damages?”

“I got it from the man who caused the carriage accident.”

“But I’m fine now. Potions are so expensive. Thanks to you, I’m not in any pain and feel perfectly fine.”

“The aftereffects of an accident often show up later. You might feel fine enough to move today, but you could be stuck in bed tomorrow morning. If that happens, don’t force yourself to come to work. Go see a healer first.”

“…”

“Use the money I gave you today for the treatment, and if it’s not enough, sell that core to me. No matter how desperate you are, don’t sell it to anyone else. You won’t get a fair price.”

Zenia fiddled with the core before asking quietly.

“What about you, Princess?”

“What about me?”

“You were hurt more than I was. Protecting me… Weren’t you?”

“I’m a Hunter. Things like this heal on their own.”

“…Really? But the bruise looks darker than it did before.”

“That’s part of the healing process. Bruises get darker before they fade. Don’t you know that?”

“I do, but… Are you really okay?”

“Do you think I’d give you the potion if I was in pain? Why would I do that?”

“Ah, that’s true.”

“I’m going to sleep. Get out.”

I pulled the sheet over my head and closed my eyes, feigning annoyance.

“…Thank you, Princess. Have a good night.”

Zenia whispered before turning off the light and leaving quietly.

Finally, I was alone. The sound I’d been holding back burst out.

“Ugh…”

There wasn’t a single part of my body that didn’t ache.

— Anonymous Constellation: Strange. She’s not a cleric, so there’s no way she suddenly developed healing abilities.

— Anonymous Constellation: But our Astell wouldn’t lie just for a mere maid.

— Anonymous Constellation: Gasp! Astell must have changed her class to Cleric behind our backs!

— Anonymous Constellation: !!!!! Does this mean our Astell can’t get married now? What about my ship?

— Anonymous Constellation: Don’t worry, Paladins can totally date.

I stared at the chat window for a moment, then muttered in a sleepy voice.

“I think it’s about time for a ban…”

The chat window, which had been snickering and mocking my lie, fell silent.

What I told Zenia was a lie, but it’s true that Hunters have a faster self-healing rate than ordinary people.

We have to recover quickly so we can get back out there and beat up monsters.

And compared to my previous life, this level of pain was nothing.

A good night’s sleep would be enough to recover, and I didn’t want to needlessly let anyone know.

After all, being in pain is a weakness.

‘That aside… Kaiel gave me a whopping 4.8 million Ruan, didn’t he?’

Honestly, I thought that would be enough to find a place to rent.

“But there’s no such thing as monthly rent… I’m screwed.”

Astell had been confined to the annex, so she had no idea about the cost of living.

And what she didn’t know, I naturally didn’t know either.

‘Past life or present, the housing market is just as crazy.’

At this rate, I might not be able to move out for another hundred years.

“Do I just have bad luck with money?”

In my past life, I was dirt poor until I became a Hunter and started earning.

The problem was, I never got to properly enjoy the wealth I’d accumulated.

Even the building I bought wasn’t for myself. It was to create a facility for orphaned children.

I still lived in a cramped house, counting every penny.

I barely even slept in a bed, too busy sealing gates and clearing dungeons.

With every floor of the dungeon I cleared, with every brush with death, I held on by thinking of the day I would finally spend the money I had so painstakingly saved.

But then I had to go and die from Hunter Syndrome.

Without spending a single cent.

‘Just thinking about it makes me mad again.’

Looking back, it was a truly pathetic life.

‘Come to think of it, there are no dungeons here, right? So what’s the condition for escaping destruction?’

Unlike this world, my past life had a dungeon.

An underground dungeon made of 120 floors of mazes.

Floors one through five were a single set. If you cleared four of the mazes but gave up on the last one, you had to start over from the first floor. It was a crappy system.

Worse, the patterns changed with every attempt, so you couldn’t even memorize the layout.

However, after every five floors, there was a rest area. If you reached it, you could start from there on your next attempt.

That’s why it was hard to leave the dungeon once you entered.

You had to clear at least five floors, no matter what.

It was nauseatingly difficult and demanding, but in a way, it was simple.

Because if we could just clear the 120th floor of the dungeon, we could escape destruction.

The first floor of the dungeon even had this sentence written on it.

[Ending Condition: Clear the 120th floor.]

With such a helpful explanation, people focused on clearing the dungeon, and that’s how we were able to escape destruction in just ten years.

But there are no dungeons here.

That means I have to figure out the ending condition on my own.

‘The difficulty has gone up.’

I smiled to myself triumphantly. The harder it was, the longer the destruction would last.

I closed my eyes, feeling at ease.

* * *

My first morning in the main residence.

I woke up early and took a lap around the estate.

Jogging and breaking a sweat loosened up most of the muscles that had tensed up from the carriage accident.

I still had bruises here and there, but those would fade soon enough.

I’d never been the type to care about injuries on my body anyway.

For a Hunter, getting hurt was a part of daily life.

I took a refreshing bath and went down to the dining room.

‘People really do need to move.’

Even after a few days, the thrill of the food hadn’t faded. If anything, it was getting better.

I was on my fourth piece of fluffy, buttered bread when it happened.

Duke Ruthius appeared in the dining room.

‘Didn’t he just have a cup of coffee in bed for breakfast?’

Astell’s memories must have been wrong, because even the servants were flustered and murmuring among themselves.

“D-Duke?”

“Coffee.”

“What? Ah, yes!”

The servants moved quickly to prepare coffee for Duke Ruthius.

As he leisurely sipped from his cup, he spoke nonchalantly.

“I heard the carriage was half-destroyed.”

“There was a bit of an accident.”

“Were there… any problems?”

“What kind of problems?”

Ruthius’s deep green eyes flickered over me.

‘What are you looking at?’

The moment I raised an eyebrow, he casually averted his gaze, lifting his coffee cup.

“Judging by the amount you’re eating, you don’t seem to be hurt. Anyone watching would think I’ve been starving you.”

“That’s not too far from the truth, is it?”

“What did you say?”

“You have no idea what kind of ingredients were sent to the annex, do you? If you did, you wouldn’t be saying that.”

Duke Ruthius fell silent for a moment before asking his butler.

“Frank, what is the meaning of this?”

“…I will look into it.”

The atmosphere in the dining room grew tense, and the servants began to walk on eggshells.

Duke Ruthius’s mood seemed to have soured as well.

I was the only one unbothered in an atmosphere so thick you could choke on it.

I ate two more pieces of bread, then washed it down with juice.

“The Temple has sent word of an official visit. Keep your schedule clear.”

“When?”

“In about an hour. They said they wish to see you.”

“Why?”

“There was a joint search in the Grand Plaza yesterday by the Magic Tower and the Temple. They said they caught three hidden monsters as a result. Apparently, this happened after you met with the Master of the Magic Tower…”

Duke Ruthius watched me, as if trying to figure me out.

“I suspect you had something to do with it. Am I wrong?”

Did Kaiel tell the Temple? That man has a bigger mouth than I thought.

Or maybe his personality is just too neat and precise to take credit for someone else’s work.

Either way, it was a hassle for me.

“I just warned him because he didn’t seem to know. That there might still be monsters alive.”

“Is that the only reason you went to the Magic Tower?”

“That, and other things. Anyway, I don’t have time to meet anyone today.”

“Meet them, even if you’re busy. They’re someone worth forming a connection with.”

“Who is it?”

“He’s a candidate for the next High Priest. A first for a Paladin.”

“…Is he a Hunter?”

“Find that out. If he is a Hunter, his position as the next High Priest is all but confirmed.”

I nodded in assent.

After all, identifying other Hunters was important for me, too.