Chapter Six
BANG!
I kicked the door down with the last of my strength. The wood was rotten, damp with years of neglect, and it gave way with a satisfying splintering crunch that vibrated up my overworked thighs.
"Uh...haah...uhaah..."
My lungs felt like they had been scrubbed with coarse sand, and every breath was a wheezing reminder of this body's pathetic cardiovascular state.
"Hans! Get a blanket and hot water!" I roared gathering every single bit of strength left in my body after running in the snow. My voice cracked as I staggered into the dim, yeast-scented warmth of the tavern.
The room went silent. Merchant Hans—a man with a face like a crumpled rug and eyes that looked like onyx that lost their lusture over time—froze behind the counter. He looked at my heaving, sweat-slicked frame, then at the shattered remains of his entrance.
[Ping!]
[Merchant Hans is finding it hard to breathe.]
What happened to him? He got Winter Blight too?
"M-My door!" Hans wailed, his voice hitting a high, strangled note.
Ah... The door.
"Your Grace, that was solid oak! Do you have any idea what it costs to—"
"Forget the damn door!" I barked, gesturing for Kaelen to lower the girl onto a nearby bench.
Kaelen moved with grace that made me envious. He laid the child down, his ruby eyes darting between me and the merchant. The girl was shivering so violently her teeth clicked together—a rhythmic sound that signaled her life force was leaking out like water from a cracked vase.
"She has Winter Blight," I wheezed, leaning against a table. "Do you have any tonic?"
Hans bit his lip, his merchant instincts warring with his sheer terror of me. "I do. Imported it from the south last week. But it's twelve copper, Your Grace. And given your... history with payments..."
I froze. Twelve copper.
My hand dove into my pocket, my fingers brushing the cold, thin metal. It was the literal entirety of my net worth. In my past life as an Archmage, twelve copper wouldn't have even saved a dying frog.
Twelve copper for a peasant girl. Should I just let her die?
No! What are you thinking, Yeun? Did you forget about the quest? The nature of business has always been give something to get something.
How can I have such a stupid thought?
"Your Grace?" Kaelen's voice was low, laced with that familiar, skepticism. He knew my pockets only had twelve copper. He probably expected me to walk away or, worse, steal it or, even worse, threaten Hans.
Well, I can't set a bad example for my younger brother now, can I?
I slammed the coins onto the counter. One. Two. Twelve. The sound of the copper hitting the wood felt like a funeral dirge for my treasury.
Clink. Clink. Clink.
"Give it to me," I growled.
Hans scrambled to retrieve a small vial of blue liquid. As I uncorked it and carefully tilted it into the girl's mouth, her breathing slowed. The terrifying heat beneath her skin began to recede.
I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding as the adrenaline that had been propping me up evaporated. My heart hammered against my ribs like a trapped bird, and the world began to tilt.
"Kaelen... The child..."
"Your Grace? YOUR GRACE!"
Kaelen's shout was the last thing I heard as my vision blurred and I fell to my knees, the darkness of exhaustion consuming me.
Ugh... Fuck this body...
[Ding! Quest Completed!]
[200 Gacha Points Awarded!]
[Likability: -40]
[Additional 100 Gacha Points Awarded!]
[Bonus! Loyalty: 2]
[2000 Trade Points Awarded!]
[Tier One C Rank Trade Shop Unlocked!]
[Ding!]
[Good job, Host!]
---
Ugh... My head...
"-yon! MASTER VERYON!"
Kaelen's unsettled voice rang into my ears as I jerked up from the uncomfortable bed.
"I'm up! I'm up! I'm up! Did you do the ledgers?"
"Your Grace? We're at Merchant Hans' tavern. You were out for five hours. Don't you remember anything?"
I blinked, the frantic calculations of my past life still echoing in my brain before the damp, reality of the tavern room settled in. My chest felt tight—not from the running, but from the spiritual pain of knowing my bank account was a hollow void.
Ugh... Was there no one god? Why this trash?
[Ping!]
[Kaelen has been nursing you. He's really worried.]
If I say thank you for worrying about me, his likability will just drop. Let's just skip the formalities.
"Ah... right. The tavern. The twelve copper." I slumped back against the headboard, a hand over my eyes. "Kaelen, please tell me the girl survived. If I spent my last cent on a corpse, I might actually have a heart attack right here."
I can't act like I already know she did because of the system. I already pretended to lose my memories. I can't make any more slip ups.
Who knows Kaelen might actually take me to an exorcist?
Kaelen's expression was unreadable but his voice still had the sharp edge he always wore. "She's fine, Your Grace. Hans' wife is taking care of her."
Wait. The door. Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhh! Why did I kick down the door!? My gacha points! My reputation! I was one temper tantrum away from the loyalty points going in negatives and I committed property damage. Again! System save me!
[Ping!]
[Host's body. Therefore, host's fault. What can we do?]
Ughhh! It's not my fault! It's all this body's muscle memory's fault!
"The door!" I blurted out, perhaps too quickly. "I didn't mean to kick it down. It was a... panicked reflex? I haven't gone back to my old ways, I promise!"
Kaelen's gaze was cold enough to frost the windows. "Your Grace may do as you please. I have eyes of my own. I'll make my own judgments on your character. Honestly, it was impressive."
"What was?" I asked, blinking.
"You ran a mile almost matching my pace," he noted, his voice losing a bit of its jagged edge. "And even after that, you still had enough strength left to kick down a solid door."
Well, I did complete the mapping of mana circuit. That's why. What's so impressive about that?
My face heated up instantly. "Stop talking about the door!"
"Pfft."
[Ping!]
[Kaelen is struggling to suppress a laugh.]
"Did you just laugh at your master, you brat?!" I barked, pointing a shaky finger at him.
However, Kaelen didn't look repentant at all. "Well, either Your Grace or I would have had to kick it down eventually. It was inevitable. Your Grace surely doesn't think Merchant Hans would have simply opened up if you'd knocked politely? And, we were running out of time to save the girl."
I opened my mouth to argue, then closed it. "Hmmm..."
He had a point. Giving this body's reputation there's no way he'd open his door for a troublemaker.
Sigh... How can a person mess up this much?
"Anyway, let's go talk to Merchant Hans." I said, swinging my legs over the side of the bed. My head throbbed in sync with my heartbeat, but the thought of my empty pockets was a louder pain.
I have to finish what I came for. The air here is very rich is mana. There has to be a mana vein somewhere in the mountain.
Once, I discover that. I need someone capable to sell my inventions and get profit to fix this barren duchy.
"No. I can't allow that, Your Grace." Kaelen didn't move. He stood between me and the door like a rooted mountain, his arms crossed over his chest. "You need rest."
I glared at him, trying to summon the authoritative aura of an Archmage, but I probably just looked like a grumpy, sleep-deprived mess. "Get back, Kaelen. That's an order."
"I can't listen to that particular order, Your Grace," he countered, his ruby eyes fixed on mine with a stubbornness that made my teeth ache. "My duty is your safety. Walking down those stairs in your current state is a safety hazard."
"You—!" I surged forward, ready to poke him in the chest or yell about insubordination, but my knees buckled halfway.
BAM!
"Daddy!"
WHO THE FUCK IT IS NOW!? WHY IS EVERYONE BETWEEN ME AND MY MONEY!?