"Tsk."
The soldier scoffed and left the barn without bothering the pair.
"Screw this. That brat must be long gone already."
"So you found nothing?"
The soldier called out, and his comrade asked.
"Oh, I did find something – two commoner brats rolling in hay for at least the past hour."
The annoyed soldier pointed out angrily.
"Can't we take them in?"
The other one suggested.
"Forget about it. Instead of scoring points, bringing two brats who probably aren't even from this part of the city and just holed up here for a round of shagging will only get us in trouble. Both of them look too pretty to be beggars, and you remember how much shit Douglas got for bringing in the merchant's son on false charges last time... the barn right by the temple had a cow, which means that someone is living in the house next to it – let's get them. At least we can bring them for interrogation because they live so close it will make sense."
"...fair point..."
The two soldiers gave up on the chase and left the way they came, undoubtedly to harass the commoners who were simply living in the wrong spot.
"...nn-haah..."
"...nnnh..."
The boy pulled away from the girl and broke the string of saliva connecting their mouth.
"..."
*crunch*
As the girl didn't even budge besides watching him with tearful eyes, he breathed out. Then, he put his hand under her chin almost teasingly and lifted it up, causing her to crush the magic pellet that the boy had carefully positioned moments earlier.
"...eh...?"
Breaking the dark-green marble unleashed the magic stored within, and the healing spell washed over the surprised girl as her scratches, bruises, and even swollen ankle all healed up in a moment.
"Haaaa... we are really lucky, you know?"
Seeing as the girl sat up and checked her healed-up body in surprise made, the boy breathed out in relief and sat down while smiling wryly.
"If that soldier wasn't one of my big sister's clients, we would be dragged for and interrogated."
The boy said while pointing his index finger over his shoulder at the half-open door.
"..."
The girl didn't seem to be paying attention, far more occupied with gently touching her lips as if worried that the kiss from before had damaged them.
"...hmm...? Eh...? Why?!"
Then suddenly, she furrowed her brows, looked up at the resting boy, and asked.
"What...? Haven't you heard how hard he tried to get his friend to leave us here? I am the only kid with hair like this in the entire city, and he will surely try to win some favors with my sisters with that. A...!"
The black-haired boy scoffed and shrugged his shoulders while grabbing a strand of his hair to show them off... before his eyes wandered to the girl's lips, and he blushed and hurriedly covered his face with one arm.
"...you aren't going to say anything about getting healed? Healing pellets aren't cheap, you know?"
Trying to hide his embarrassment, the boy began to act grumpy and scoffed at the girl.
"...ah...! B-but you... my first kiss..."
The girl fidgeted and cowered, pressing her hands to her lips as she looked down with tearful eyes.
"Who cares if it was the first or the thousandth? A kiss isn't equal in worth to a healing pellet! Especially not the strong stuff that I used on you! Three small... I mean, one big silver coin!"
"I... I'm sorry! I will... I will make up for it, I-I swear!"
The boy scoffed, capping his hands together angrily to mask that he almost said the actual price he paid for the dark-green marble, which instantly caused the girl to lower her head even more and apologize.
"...wha...?"
The girl's sudden panicked apology took the boy by surprise.
He had never met someone who would just take such unreasonable demands and, instead of retaliating, just accept them.
"...you are messing with me... What is it you will be getting out of it?"
An alarm instantly went off in the boy's head, and he pulled away while glaring at the submissive girl.
"Hiiii....!"
The girl cried out and prostrated herself with such skill that she must have been well used to doing that in her life... or past life...
"I... I have no means to repay you for the healing pellet at the moment, but I will soon! Just, please, be patient with me! I have spent all of my money and even sold my personal belongings in order to be able to afford the ingredients for the medicine for the Foul Reaper and rent the shrine by the temple, so I can't do it right now... Two... two weeks... please give me a two-week extension...!"
"..."
The girl cried out while pressing her forehead directly on the dirty barn-floor, leaving the black-haired boy speechless for a few seconds.
"O-one week...!"
The troubled girl misunderstood the silence and decreased the amount of time she was giving herself without any input from the stunned boy
That's' right. She's the stupid girl who hasn't noticed a thing while being scammed... So she paid off everything by herself...? She's so stupid it's...|
The black-haired boy blinked a few times before coming to his senses and didn't finish his own thought, focusing on the matter at hand.
"Hmph. If you can't afford to get my money's worth, then just pay with your bo-body..."
The boy squatted in front of her and tried to scoff but blushed and fumbled at the very end of his sentence.
"Eeehhh? But... but I am very weak...! I can't work in construction or anything... and I am really clumsy, so I can't be a maid – I will break something and only get into more debt! Unless...!"
The girl trembled and raised her but a bit so that it looked as if she was prostrating even lower and pleaded before flinching and shily looking up at the black-haired boy's face.
"Hold on... I was just jo..."
The boy became flustered, thinking that the blond girl realized what he really meant by paying with her body, and seeing her fearful lamb-like expression, he felt the urge to calm and reassure her...
"...unless you are getting used by some criminal who wants to get me in so much debt that it will force me into debt slavery...! I... I will not be worth much! Please, child, have mercy...!"
"..."
...but then the girl slammed her forehead against the barn-floor once more and cried even more pitifully, causing the boy's expression to turn blank.
Ah... she is really, really stupid...|
The boy realized, gazing upon the back of Zorivia's head.