The carriage passed through the city gate.

My heart pounded.

I had been anxious all day, ever since I was kidnapped.

Even when the other party suggested I join them, I secretly felt uneasy.

If I had accepted his offer, I would never have made it here.

Because I would have become an enemy of the Alchemist. But after many twists and turns, I arrived.

It struck me anew that one never knows how things in the world will unfold. If you had told the Protagonist of a few months ago that he would experience something like this, he would never have believed you.

Back then, the Protagonist was a novice whose only combat experience was fighting four Gnolls. But now, it was different.

He had killed mercenaries and learned more magic. He had even fought in a battle that could be called a war. Rael was a Castle Lord. To be precise, it was accurate to say he had been reborn as a Warrior.

A Warrior was someone who knew how to fight. Someone who could hold their own on the Battlefield was also called a Warrior.

The Protagonist was a Mage, but he was also a Warrior.

He returned as a Warrior.

And he brought Lorina with him. Now it was time to receive the reward. I was excited to see what the Alchemist would give.

Just in case, I looked around.

It was because I was worried Bruno might be there.

I shouldn’t let my guard down until the very end.

I remembered when the Mercenaries attacked.

Even then, a Guild Employee of the Mercenary Guild had warned me.

The Protagonist did not heed that warning.

Instead, he was always prepared. But at the very last moment, he let his guard down. He was careless. Because of that, he was kidnapped.

Carelessness was forbidden.

I gripped Lorina’s hand tightly.

I pulled the girl along and continued walking.

It was in the direction of the Alchemist’s house.

I walked through the crowds, in case the other party was watching, so I could pass unnoticed.

The path felt both familiar and strange.

It seemed to be because it had been a long time since I walked it.

Even though I was confused at first, my feet automatically went in the right direction.

His body already knew where to go. That was a relief.

He entered the Alchemist’s house.

The door was open.

It was often closed when he went up the mountain, but it seemed he hadn’t gone up today.

A Guild Employee was sitting at the counter. It was a familiar face.

It was Belief.

He saw the sudden guest and jumped up from his chair.

Then he opened his mouth wide as if he had seen a ghost and called his apprentice.

It was almost a scream.

The apprentice who rushed over was also a Gnoll. More accurately, he was astonished. The apprentice hurriedly went inside. He came out again and called Lorina.

“He said to come in.”

Lorina walked forward.

As he tried to follow the girl, the apprentice grabbed his shoulder.

“Wait, he said he’d meet you later.”

“Really?”

“You understand. There’ll be a lot for a father and daughter to talk about.”

Belief smiled.

He seemed pleased that he wasn’t going in with Lorina, thinking it worked out well.

But that expression didn’t last long.

Lorina tightly grabbed Rael’s arm with both hands.

“I’ll speak well of you to Father.”

Her attitude was so affectionate it was dripping with honey.

Belief’s face twisted in an instant.

Rael nodded.

No matter how little interest there was, they were still parent and child.

He wasn’t so tactless as to interrupt their long-awaited reunion.

It would be nice to meet immediately, but this wasn’t bad either. Since Lorina would speak well of him, it might even be better to meet later in the Capital City.

Perhaps the reward would be even greater in Capital City.

It wasn’t that I was making up stories, but I hoped Lorina would explain things well.

I tried to leave.

But Belief spoke to me.

It didn’t seem like he was trying to pick a fight.

He seemed curious about what had happened during that time.

The crumpled expression from earlier was gone, replaced by a gaze full of curiosity.

I answered his question.

About being kidnapped by the Mercenaries.

And the fighting that happened during that process.

Of course, he didn’t believe it.

When I mentioned using Magic, he even frowned.

When I showed him the Water Mass, he seemed to realize it was a Gnoll.

Still, he didn’t believe the combat part.

Belief said that a Mage couldn’t fight that well.

There was no need to convince him.

I just nodded.

He didn’t say he was glad I returned safely.

It seemed to be because of Lorina. But it didn’t matter.

After a few more words, I left.

I headed to the inn.

My mind was entirely occupied with what the Alchemist would give me.

I felt a little worried, too.

But I trusted Lorina.

At the same time, I also thought about money.

Protagonist had left the money he had in his room at the inn.

There was no particular reason.

There was a wooden box with a lock in the room. He just had to put important items in it. The protagonist also had the room key. It was safer than carrying it around.

The innkeeper would have it.

He had to get it back.

But it was questionable whether he would return it.

It had been over a month since he left Langs Castle. During that time, the Capital City thought he had already died and the protagonist had pocketed the money.

It would be difficult if the protagonist showed up now and the innkeeper refused to give it back.

It wasn’t just one or two copper coins; there were dozens of silver coins in the box. It was a perfectly plausible scenario.

He wondered what to do in such a situation. It seemed most appropriate to pay the guard soldier to mediate.

If that still didn’t work, he would have to use force to make him hand it over.

He entered the inn.

It was bustling.

He remembered the first time he entered. Just like then, the innkeeper was sitting at the counter, chatting with guests. As he watched, the innkeeper seemed to notice him and opened his mouth.

“Oh? You little rascal! You’re alive!”

The innkeeper jumped up, came over, and patted his back.

“How have you been?”

“Haha! Of course. And you? I heard you were kidnapped by mercenaries?”

“I escaped.”

“You managed to make it back. What brings you to the inn?”

He scratched his head.

It was hard to bring it up.

It was even more so because he was welcomed, contrary to his belief.

Still, he had to bring it up.

If what was in the box was just a small amount of travel money, he might be able to turn a blind eye to the Capital City, but there was a lot of money in it.

Perhaps the innkeeper had taken it, which was why he was so welcoming to the Capital City.

It was a very plausible guess.

There is no kindness without reason.

Thinking that way, everything felt like a pretense.

I felt uneasy.

That was the moment.

The Shop Owner headed upstairs, telling me to follow.

I figured he noticed I was about to bring up the box. Perhaps he was moving us to another spot to say he couldn’t give it to me.

I thought I should threaten him.

I prepared to cast a spell at any moment.

The Shop Owner brought something from the Warehouse.

It was a box with a lock.

I was surprised when I saw it.

Because the Shop Owner said he would give it to me.

When I asked if he was serious, the Shop Owner rubbed his nose and said,

“Do I look like someone who would extort someone’s hard-earned money?”

“N-no, not at all.”

“Then what?”

“It’s just a bit unexpected.”

It really was unexpected.

Inside were dozens of Silver Coins.

I was surprised that he would readily hand it over even after seeing that.

It was by no means a small sum for the Shop Owner, who ran an inn. On the contrary, it was enough money to threaten someone and chase them away.

But that was the Protagonist’s misunderstanding.

“Did you see what was inside?”

“I didn’t open it because I was afraid I’d get greedy.”

The Innkeeper explained the situation.

He knew there was money inside.

Of course.

Guests put their important belongings in boxes because it’s safer. So, inside were various items, including money, that people valued.

That’s why he didn’t open it.

Because if I opened it and got greedy, I wouldn’t want to give it away.

Humans were such that even if they let go of their desires, they would become greedy upon seeing an object. The Innkeeper had learned this about people throughout their life.

It was truly fortunate for Rael.

If he had opened the box as the Shop Owner said, he wouldn’t have given it over so easily. Perhaps he would have had to resort to threats, as he had worried he might. It was a relief he didn’t have to get angry.

However, it was unexpected that the box was kept.

The Protagonist had suddenly disappeared.

He also knew that he had been kidnapped.

Since over a month had passed, it was natural to assume he was long dead. It was strange that the box was kept separately like this.

“The Guard Soldiers were talking. That you’re a Mage. And that you killed four people. There were no corpses either. I figured if you weren’t sold as a slave, you’d come back.”

“You kept it for a whole month just for that reason?”

“Anyway, didn’t you come back? Then it’s fine.”

The Innkeeper said.

It was Rael, not the Shop Owner, who spoke in a rather strange tone.

Feeling like he was needlessly becoming a piece of trash, Rael scratched his head. Having gone through various incidents, he had started to unconditionally suspect people. He felt like he needed to fix that a little.

“Thank you.”

“Visit the inn often.”

“I will.”

Rael smiled.

The Shop Owner waved his hand dismissively.

It was as if he was saying, ‘It’s really nothing, why are you being so embarrassingly grateful?’

He seemed to think that since Rael had only been staying at the inn for a few months, he couldn’t have earned much.

Unfortunately for him, the money Rael had earned during that time exceeded 50 Silver Coins. Of that, 29 Silver Coins were separately placed in the box.

He wondered what expression the Shop Owner would make if he knew there were 29 Silver Coins in the box.

He probably would collapse from a stomachache. 29 Silver Coins was a large enough sum to make someone lose face.

“Wait a moment.”

Seeing him, the Delicious Water came to mind. He had been thinking of selling it to the inn.

“Do you have a cup?”

“A cup? I do have the mug I was drinking beer from.”

He held a mug in his right hand. Seeing that it was empty, he must have chugged the beer.

He cast a spell to create a water droplet.

He poured the water droplet into the mug. The innkeeper looked at the water droplet as if it was a gnoll or something, then frowned.

“Isn’t that just water?”

“Try it.”

He wasn’t sure if delicious water would sell. He had to let him taste it once.

The innkeeper, looking bewildered, still picked up the mug. His expression showed that he wasn’t thrilled, but would go along with it for now.

“Oh?”

The innkeeper smacked his lips as if savoring the taste.

“This is delicious. You could sell this as a drink.”

“Would it make money?”

“Of course it would! When did you learn something like this?”

“I trained while traveling. For now, I’ll make you one barrel.”

“Only one barrel? Can’t you make more?”

“I can if you pay me.”

“What? This kid? Hahaha!”

The innkeeper laughed loudly.

It wasn’t a mocking laugh. He clapped him on the back and said,

“The guy who seemed so naive. Now he’s calmly asking for money, he’s grown up a bit.”

“Is that a compliment?”

“If it’s a compliment, will you lower the price?”

“Not really.”

The innkeeper laughed again. He offered a price.

Instead of making one barrel, it was 25 copper coins. After making four barrels, he took 1 silver coin.

The innkeeper sold it right away.

It sold better than expected.

The guests also gave positive reviews.

It was a relief.

As I was about to go into my room, someone stopped me.

It was a working girl from the inn.

She was also happy to see me after a long time.

She asked the protagonist to make her a drink too.

I felt like it, so I made it for her.

It wasn’t that hard anyway.

It just made my head throb if I made too many. If my head throbbed too much, I couldn’t train much. So I had to do it in moderation.

Rael went into his room.

He felt good.

Everything was going well.

The next day, someone came to visit.

It was a disciple who came to tell him that the Alchemist was looking for him.

He delivered the message and went back.

Rael got dressed.

He had to go meet Lorina’s father.