The door pushed open again.
Eina hurriedly came back in—with a calculator, three clipboards and company.
Behind her were two other guild employees, both looking like they had just been forcefully drafted into sketchy business.
"Alright," she said, inhaling sharply. "Let's… begin."
The other two employees froze at the sight of the massive pile of loot.
"…Eina," one whispered, "wasn't lying…damn."
"We got our work cut out for us."
They hadn't believed Eina's words before about the amount of loot her rookie had managed to bring back, but had to come because it's in the job description.
But now, with the amount on the floor, no wonder she had to call for assistance.
"I am fully aware, thank you," she muttered.
Without any delay, they started sorting through the mountain, pulling out magic stones, drop items, bundles of dungeon steel, a few rare moss hides, and materials Bell didn't even know the name of.
A good amount of it had to be placed into trays, baskets, and spare sacks brought out from the back room.
Bell watched them work, still stiff from the earlier scolding, while Kaelis leaned back casually, legs crossed.
After nearly an hour of total calculations, weighing, recording, and occasionally making, Eina finally punched the final input into her calculator.
The device beeped.
A number appeared.
Eina blinked… then blinked again.
"…No way."
Kaelis waited. "Well?"
She slowly rotated the calculator so they could see.
Kaelis raised a brow.
"—EH!?" Bell practically fell out of his chair. "T-That much!?"
Eina held the calculator with both hands like it was cursed.
"This… this is more than some single-member Level Two parties bring in!" she said, voice cracking.
"How did you even—no. No, I don't want to know. I already heard too much today."
Bell's face was drained of color.
Kaelis nodded approvingly. "Not bad for a first time right?."
Eina snapped her head toward him.
"First time!?"
Bell, on the other hand, was shocked to his core.
"Miss Eina… I've never even seen this many zeros before…"
One of the guild staff whispered to another,
"Are they sure he's a rookie?"
"Shhh! Don't make eye contact with the tall one."
Eina rubbed her forehead and tried to steady her breathing.
"Okay. The total is…" she swallowed, "…the amount on the calculator. After converting all stones and materials, and deducting the replacement table cost."
"W-We still have to pay for that!?" Bell choked
"It's guild policy," she said flatly.
"Fair. I mean, you did break it." Kaelis shrugged.
"It's my fault?!" Bell squeaked.
Kaelis ignored him.
Eina shook her head and placed down the calculator down on to bagged up loot.
"This is officially the largest rookie payout ever processed by the guild."
She looked at Bell. "And the most stressful."
"S-Sorry…"
"It's fine," she sighed, waving it off.
Then she turned toward Kaelis with a deadpan stare.
"I'm still mad at you, though."
He nodded. "Lovely."
She wasn't expecting agreement and paused. "…Good."
With another long breath, Eina pulled out the paperwork.
"Alright. Once I process this, you two will receive your payment. Please sit still and don't—" she eyed Kaelis, "—do anything that could cause structural damage."
Kaelis gestured at himself. "I'm innocent until proven guilty."
"You are the reason there's no table!" she spat. "Lets go and collect your money!"
She and her companions left, dragging the packed luggage with them as Kaelis and Bell followed.
"Miss Eina really doesn't like you." Bell whispered.
Kaelis scoffed. "Maybe she secretly likes me and being a tsundere."
Not even trying to lower his voice.
"Wh likes you!? Hmph!" Eina's voice rang inside the halls.
She did hear him.
"S-sun…dere?"
"Nothing." Kaelis didn't bother explaining. "Just know she's trying to hide her feelings behind the ugly face."
"Uh-huh." Bell didn't buy that.
Moments later, at the register…
"Here!"
Eina hurled a coin pouch at full force. It smacked squarely into Kaelis's chest—not that it moved him even a millimeter.
He caught it easily. "Pretty aggressive, don't you think? I'm starting to think you're coming on to me."
Her face immediately twisted like he'd just insulted her entire bloodline.
"That's hot," Kaelis added.
Eina recoiled. "GET. OUT."
"T-Thank you very much, Miss Eina! Sorry for the trouble!" Bell bowed frantically.
Eina's tired glare softened only for him. "Please, Bell… just be careful. And avoid dying. Preferably forever."
"Yes ma'am!"
Kaelis gave her a wink and blew her a kiss—purely to annoy her.
She nearly reached for her ledger again.
Bell grabbed Kaelis's sleeve. "Master let's go before she kills you."
"Right, right." He raised his hands in surrender. "We'll leave the lovebirds routine for tomorrow."
"GET. OUT!"
The two were promptly shooed away by guild staff who didn't want round two of the destruction.
~~~
The guild doors swung shut behind them, cutting off Eina's exhausted yelling and the murmurs of adventurers who had witnessed the earlier chaos.
Bell exhaled. "That… was a lot."
Kaelis pocketed the pouch. "You'll get used to it. Advisors are natural-born nags."
"I don't think Miss Eina's supposed to be this stressed…"
"She'll live."
Bell sighed, but the tension slowly left his shoulders as they stepped onto the street.
Afternoon sunlight washed over the plaza, and the air felt much calmer than the interrogation room from earlier.
"Master?"
"Mm?"
"…Thank you. For today."
Kaelis gave him a sideways look. "You're thanking me for getting you yelled at? I knew you were a freak, but not to this level. "
Bell shook his head really hard in fluster. "N-no, not that! And I'm not a freak!"
He quickly tried to clear up any misunderstanding his master might've had.
"I mean for training me. I couldn't have beaten that War Shadow without it."
Kaelis didn't respond at first. He just started walking.
Bell quickly followed.
After a moment, Kaelis said casually,
"…Well. If you hadn't gotten my training, you wouldn't have gone that far inside the dungeon anyway, so it's all good."
Bell blinked, then smiled—a small one.
"Anyway." Kaelis bounced the heavy coin pouch in his hand, the clinking sounding almost smug.
"We got about 750,000 valis from that haul. That's… what? Ninety-something large gold coins?"
Bell's eyes sparkled. "Woah… we're rich!"
"Yeaaa! I wonder if they got a red-light district around here?"
"Red light… district…?" Bell's head titled in confusion.
The term sailed so far over his head it circled back around.
And Kaelis, being Kaelis, happily clarified.
"Yeah. Red-light district—as in brothels!"
"EEEEEEH!?" Bell nearly dropped his sword.
People passing by gave them looks.
His face was red to the tips of his ears. "M-M-Master! You shouldn't go to a place like that! Miss Hestia—Yes! Miss Hestia would DEFINITELY get mad!"
Kaelis stopped to think for a second.
"Hm. True. She is known for being one of the three great virgin goddesses."
"And I'd rather not get a frying pan to the face."
"G-Good…! I don't think our home could survive that…"
Bell's shoulders relaxed in relief.
Kaelis smirked. "Relax. I'm not going. We've got better things to use this money on."
"Like what?" Bell asked, still mildly traumatized.
"Fabrics, for starters. Tools too. I need better materials if I'm gonna continue making outfits and that church… I doubt the Holy Spirit's inside."
Bell nodded quickly. "And I—I need armor! Miss Eina said my clothes won't cut it anymore."
"Yep. You need something that doesn't fall apart after a playful poke."
Bell puffed his cheeks. "It wasn't a playful poke, it was a monster—!"
Kaelis ignored him and clapped his hands together. "Alright. First stop: blacksmith district. Then clothing district. With this much money, we'll stock up for a while."
Bell straightened up, excitement returning. "Let's go!"
With their coin pouch full and their priorities mostly in order, master and disciple headed down the main street—one thinking about materials and craftsmanship, the other thinking about not dying in the Dungeon.
Both thinking absolutely nothing about red-light districts ever again.
That's what you would think.
Chapter 67 end.