Chapter 86

Revena, who had come out to the central area of the Imperial Capital, put on a shabby robe that had been discarded nearby.

The shabby robe smelled musty, but there was no other choice.

If she didn’t wear this, people might recognize her.

After all, Revena was the continent’s only Saintess and a somewhat famous figure in the Imperial Capital.

With the shabby robe on, Revena looked around and soon spotted a very pretty building.

A shop that reminded her of a house made of sweets—Delight.

“Wow…”

Revena shuffled forward like an undead controlled by dark magic.

As she opened the door to Delight, a cheerful bell rang.

Ding-dong.

At the same time, a sweet scent tickled her nose.

“Whoa…”

Revena felt her mind go hazy. This place was heaven itself.

Warm lighting, pastel-toned walls, and a thick pink carpet on the floor.

In the center of the shop was a fountain that looked like it was made of chocolate, and next to it stood a tower of macarons.

It was a space filled with sweetness and happiness.

And above all…

‘!!’

Various desserts in the display case!

Revena dashed to the display case, peeked her face out from the shabby robe, and looked inside.

“Wow…”

A gasp escaped Revena’s mouth.

Inside the display case were beautifully arranged, sweet-looking desserts.

Fruit tarts, soft-looking tiramisu, colorful macarons—all the desserts sparkled and captured Revena’s gaze.

“Wow, wow…”

As Revena stared wide-eyed at the desserts, a female employee greeted her brightly from the front.

“Welcome, customer!”

“Eek.”

Revena flinched and hunched her shoulders. Then, in a trembling voice, she asked, “Um, excuse me, can I eat these…?”

“Of course! Feel free to choose whatever you’d like!”

“Eek!”

Revena let out an involuntary scream and jumped up and down.

Being told to choose whatever she wanted felt like an invitation to heaven.

“That one, that one, that one, that one, and that one too, give me all of them!!”

Revena pointed at the desserts one by one and shouted excitedly.

The female employee’s expression stiffened midway, but Revena didn’t notice.

After a while, the employee cautiously asked, “Customer, I’m sorry, but do you have money?”

“Mo-money…?”

Revena hunched her shoulders again.

“I don’t have any money…”

“If you don’t have money, you can’t buy anything.”

The employee’s voice sounded somewhat annoyed.

Revena hung her head low.

“Ah, yes, of course, I’m sorry, goodbye.”

She turned away weakly.

Revena knew that money was needed to buy food.

She was just so hungry and entranced by the sweet treats that she overlooked that part.

‘First, I need to get some money.’

There was still time until evening.

She could get some money and come back. Somehow, she’d get the money and return to buy and eat all those desserts.

Just as Revena was about to leave Delight…

“Hey.”

Someone grabbed her arm.

*

Munch, munch.

Revena began devouring the desserts in a hurry.

She stuffed a strawberry tart into her mouth, grabbed a slice of tiramisu cake with her hand, and shoved a couple of macarons into her mouth.

No fork was in sight. Instead, her fingers were covered in cream.

If Archbishop Andersen had seen this, he would have scolded her severely, but he wasn’t here now.

Only the hungry Revena and the sleeping Ariel were present.

‘Ah, I’m so happy!’

Revena’s body trembled.

The fragrant fruit and smooth cream melted harmoniously in her mouth.

It was truly a heavenly taste!

Ariel was sleeping soundly in front of her, but Revena paid no attention and focused solely on the sweet happiness.

After a while, Ariel opened her eyes.

“……?”

Ariel looked at Revena with half-closed eyes, while Revena was too busy munching on the desserts with a blissful expression.

Soon after, Revena felt Ariel’s gaze and looked up.

“Munch… cough, cough, choke, choke!”

Revena coughed in surprise.

Ariel handed her the milk on the table, and Revena gulped it down.

“Whew, I almost died. Thanks, you saved me.”

“…….”

Ariel quietly looked around. While she had been asleep from food coma, the table was a mess of dessert crumbs.

Moreover, the girl in the shabby robe was sitting in front of her, and Belmont was nowhere to be seen.

“Hey, thanks. You gave me money, right? Here, I have some left. I’ll return it.”

Revena reached out and handed over a silver coin. It was the change left after buying the desserts.

“Also, the guy who was here disappeared. He tried to propose something to me, but I refused.”

“Ah.”

Only then did Ariel nod slightly.

It seemed Belmont had disappeared while she was asleep.

Well, it didn’t matter. Although she had made him her slave through a duel, Belmont wasn’t someone Ariel particularly needed.

Ariel stood up.

Anyway, it was time to go find Ragnarok. After that, she planned to sneak into the Cathedral and persuade the Saintess to take her to the Dragon’s Lair.

She needed to heal Rakia’s mother.

As Ariel left Delight, Revena followed her.

“Hey, where are you going?”

“To the Armory.”

“The Armory? Ah, so you’re an adventurer. I’m jealous. I’ve always wanted to go on adventures since I was little. But I’m not in a position to do that. By the way, you’re an elf, right? Your ears are pointy, it’s fascinating. Do you hear better because they’re pointy?”

For a moment, Ariel wondered, ‘Is that so?’ Do pointy ears make you hear better? She hadn’t particularly felt that way.

Revena stuck close to Ariel and asked, “Hey, what’s your name?”

“Ariel.”

When Ariel answered shortly, Revena smiled and nodded.

“I see, Ariel. Thanks for telling me, Ariel. And sorry, but I can’t tell you my name.”

“…….”

“But I’ll tell you this. I want to be friends with you.”

“Friends?”

“Yeah. You’re a good kid. Even if it’s just for today, I’ll stick with you.”

“There’s no need…”

Just then, something appeared ahead. Ariel stopped walking, and Revena, who was walking beside her, also stopped.

“Huh?”

Revena pointed her finger forward.

“It’s that bad guy from earlier!”

Standing in front of Ariel was none other than Belmont.

*

Belmont, realizing how heavy Ragnarok was, quickly went outside and brought back two mercenaries from a nearby lodging.

He needed to get Ragnarok somehow.

Ragnarok was unimaginably heavy, but he couldn’t give up.

In fact, its weight only emphasized that it was made of Titanium, which meant he could sell it for a high price.

“Ugh, Belmont, why is this so heavy?”

“This isn’t even a sword anymore. No, more importantly, why do we have to move this?”

The two mercenaries Belmont brought were somewhat dim-witted, the kind he often used during his mercenary days.

This time, he planned to use them to move Ragnarok to his lodging.

“Stop complaining and just move it. If we sell this sword, I’ll share the money with you.”

Belmont wiped the sweat from his forehead as he spoke.

With the help of these two, they managed to load Ragnarok onto a cart, but even with the three of them pushing, the cart barely moved.

“Ugh, I can’t push anymore. My arms are shaking.”

“Me neither. Forget the money, we need to survive first.”

The two mercenaries pushing the cart from behind stopped.

“Besides, Belmont, there’s a rumor that you’ve become an elf’s slave.”

“Yeah, you’re not a mercenary anymore.”

Belmont frowned.

“Shut up and push the cart. We need to get out of this area. Otherwise, we might all die.”

“What? Di-die? Why?!”

“I don’t want to die, I haven’t even gotten married yet!”

Belmont stopped pulling the cart and approached the two mercenaries.

“You guys, have I ever lied to you?”

“No. Wait, have you?”

“Maybe.”

Belmont’s eyes turned fierce.

“I guarantee this: if we don’t move that sword to my lodging right now, your heads will be crushed to dust. Got it? But if we successfully move that sword, I’ll give you a thousand gold each. I promise.”

“A th-thousand gold?!”

The two mercenaries’ eyes widened.

“A th-thousand gold? I could get married with that!”

“Me too, with a thousand gold, I wouldn’t have to do dangerous mercenary work…”

“I don’t care what you do. We don’t have time for this. But I promise this: if we move that sword, I’ll give you a thousand gold each. On my honor. You guys know how serious a mercenary’s honor is, right?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“I guess.”

The two mercenaries nodded, but mercenaries didn’t really have honor.

Honor was something knights talked about.

“Alright, then push hard. Use all your strength. Why are you mercenaries so weak?”

Belmont started pulling the cart again, and the two mercenaries groaned as they pushed from behind.

Even with three big mercenaries pushing, the cart moved very slowly because of the impossibly heavy Ragnarok inside.

‘Damn it…!’

Belmont gritted his teeth and pulled the cart. His arms were trembling, but he had to push the cart no matter what.

If Ariel woke up while they were dawdling here…

“Huh?”

Just then, someone shouted from ahead.

“It’s that bad guy from earlier!”

Belmont looked up.

The girl in the shabby robe he had seen at Delight was pointing at him.

And next to her stood Ariel, quietly watching Belmont.

“…….”

Belmont felt the shadow of death looming over him.

This was why he wanted to get out of this area quickly, but now he had run into Ariel.

The two mercenaries behind him spoke.

“What are you doing, Belmont? Hurry up and pull the cart.”

“Yeah, hurry up and sell this heavy sword so we can get our thousand gold.”

“Shut up…”