"Enough, stop wailing," Leo said, waving his hand dismissively. "The money is safer with me. That’s beyond doubt."
"You..." Lucrezia was just about to ramp up the intensity of her fake crying.
"However," Leo changed his tone, holding up four fingers, "as compensation, we’ll adjust the distribution of the remaining 50% for personal allowance. I’ll take forty, and you take sixty."
"Deal!"
Lucrezia, who had been crying piteously just a moment ago, stopped her tears instantly.
With an incredible hand speed, she snatched the portion of silver coins belonging to her and tucked them into her bosom. There wasn't a trace of sadness left on her small face, only the sly smile of someone whose scheme had succeeded.
"Hehe, you said it! No taking it back!"
She happily patted her bulging pocket, her mental calculator clicking away: 'The public funds are gone, but my private stash has increased! Besides, public funds are meant to be spent on both of us anyway. Rounding it up, I still win!'
"And one more thing!"
Having secured the money, Lucrezia’s posture immediately straightened. She stood up, hands on her hips, and pointed at Leo’s nose as she began to lay down the law.
"From now on, you must show me more respect! Stop calling me a brat! And more importantly..."
She paused, seemingly recalling some previous humiliating experience. Her face flushed slightly as she added through gritted teeth, "And stop bossing me around!"
"Fine, fine, fine..." Leo replied lazily.
Ultimately, after an intense "loot distribution" meeting, the inheritance of the Grizzly Bear team was reallocated:
Public Fund: 5 silver coins and 19 copper coins (held by Leo for common expenses).
Leo’s Private Stash: 2 silver coins and 6 copper coins.
Lucrezia’s Private Stash: 3 silver coins and 10 copper coins.
Through Lucrezia’s explanations, Leo had also gained a rough understanding of the prices in this world.
1 gold coin = 100 silver coins = 10,000 copper coins.
A single copper coin could buy an apple, and three copper coins could buy a large mug of low-quality ale.
"I'm rich..."
Lucrezia held those three silver coins, giggling foolishly by the light of the fire, nearly drooling.
"I say..." Leo looked at her undignified behavior, his mouth twitching slightly. "You’re this happy over a few silver coins? Are you really a princess?"
"What do you know!"
Lucrezia rolled her eyes at him, carefully hiding the money in an inner pocket before patting her chest. "This is the startup capital for the restoration of my kingdom! It is the spark of hope!"
"Right, right, the spark."
Leo shook his head, too lazy to burst her bubble.
Night had fallen deep.
Having gone through a fierce battle and a loot distribution, both of them were at their mental limits.
Leo forced himself to stay awake long enough to skillfully set up several simple 【Mana Threads】 around the tent.
"Go to sleep."
Leo crawled into the tent and wrapped his clothes tightly around him. "We have to travel tomorrow to that Kent Town. We'll sell this bag of Red Salt Crystals and gather some intelligence while we're at it."
"Mhm..." Lucrezia murmured.
She watched Leo’s back in the darkness, her hand instinctively clutching the silver coins in her pocket.
Even though this guy had a poisonous tongue, was somewhat wicked, and liked to bully people...
For some reason, as long as he was around, even in this swamp full of hidden dangers, she felt a long-lost sensation known as "security."
"Goodnight... small fry," she muttered softly before quickly falling into a deep sleep.
...
Three days later in the afternoon, the stifling, humid smell of rot unique to the Red Mangrove Swamp finally began to dissipate.
"Whew—"
Leo took a deep breath, feeling like the mold in his lungs was finally being replaced by fresh air.
He stretched his left shoulder, letting out a soft pop.
The wound split by the hand axe had already formed a thick scab, thanks to the low-quality medicine and his naturally high constitution.
While large movements still caused a faint ache, it no longer hindered his mobility.
"Finally... we’re out."
Along the way, they had spotted other people twice from a distance.
Once it was two fierce-looking hunters carrying animal pelts, and the other time it was a small-scale adventurer team like their own.
Both sides had only exchanged a wary glance from a hundred meters away before instinctively gripping their weapons and increasing the distance to avoid trouble.
People as "hospitable" as the Grizzly Bear Adventurer Team were, after all, in the minority.
"Almost there! I can smell the dry earth!"
Compared to Leo’s caution, Lucrezia was clearly the type to forget past pain the moment she saw a gain.
Her small, dust-streaked face was currently beaming with excitement as she skipped toward a dry rock ahead.
"Nnn—!"
She stretched lazily, her oversized, old maid uniform pulling tight with the movement, outlining the girl's youthful curves—flat, yet starting to take shape.
"Once we enter the town, I’m going to take a long bath! I want to wash off this entire smell of mud and fish!"
She clenched her small, fair fists, her red eyes gleaming with the light of "appetite."
"And then! I want to eat warm pancakes drizzled with three layers of honey! And I want to drink hot cocoa with double milk and chocolate! If it isn't sweet enough, I’m flipping the table!"
Looking at her carefree attitude, Leo shook his head helplessly and couldn't resist pouring cold water on her excitement.
"Your Highness, allow me to remind you that we are fugitives, not on a vacation."
He walked leisurely behind her with his hands in his pockets. "Are you sure the Holy Light Church's wanted posters won't arrive that quickly? I’d hate for you to end up on a stake at the Inquisition before you even get a bite of those pancakes."
"Hah?"
Lucrezia spun around, her small hands landing expertly on her slender waist with an "are you stupid?" expression.
"You guy! You’ve asked that eight hundred times on the way here! Are you a broken record?"
She stamped her foot impatiently, her red eyes glaring at him. "I told you, this is the Solaris Duchy! The easternmost part of the continent! The Church’s headquarters is in the far west! There are thousands of miles between us!"
"They don't have those... 'cell phones' you talk about here! Communication relies entirely on messengers on two legs or birds!"
She began counting on her fingers for Leo. "Unless they can use spatial teleportation like a monster like you, by the time the wanted posters reach a border town like this, we’ll already be on an airship having afternoon tea in the Floating City!"
"Besides," she looked Leo up and down suspiciously, her gaze as if she were looking at an alien, "what is wrong with you? Sometimes you’re as decisive and ruthless as a veteran, yet usually, you’re more cowardly than a gopher?"
"It’s called prudence," Leo shrugged, not offering much of an explanation.
As a veteran player, he knew the principle that "flags shouldn't be raised carelessly."
Usually, as soon as someone says "it’ll definitely be fine," trouble is right around the corner.
However, through intermittent questioning over the past few days, Leo had gained a general understanding of this world’s situation.
No gods, low levels of magical application, and communication was basically shouting.
It was a standard low-magic medieval setting.
'If I were at my peak...'
Leo instinctively sensed the mana source within his body, which was covered in cobweb-like cracks.
On that note, he had to thank the big brothers of the Grizzly Bear team for their generous donations—wait, no, the energy!
Even though it only allowed Leo to repair a pathetic 0.2%...
That meager bit of mana was at most enough for him to cast two minor tricks for amusement.
"Sigh, the road ahead is long and arduous."
Rate on N.U.
