At those words, Jelena raised an eyebrow.
"What, are you going to stop paying?"
"No, no, no, no!!! This is definitely not ..."
The man shook his hand hastily, sweating in front of Jelena's intimidating eyes, and peered cautiously at Jared and Caroline, who were standing behind Jelena with puzzled expressions. Then he reached up and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead before continuing.
"Actually ... the remaining bounty we have here is no longer enough to pay both of you, so ..."
"No kidding!"
Jelena hit the table with a slap that made the poor guy jump.
"How can the reward not be enough? Given the wealth of this place, 500 gold coins shouldn't be a problem!!!"
"Yes, yes yes yes that's right, but ... I'm very sorry, before you came here, our bounty here has already been claimed by one person for most of it. Unless we wait until next month, we won't be able to get enough money for you. Please believe me, I didn't expect someone to claim so much of the bounty, and we're having a huge headache. There are only about 100 gold coins left in the vault, which is not enough to pay you. But please don't worry, the councilor will sign a statement for you to prove your merit. As long as you take that statement to the council hall of Glory City, you can get your money as well."
"So it is."
Not caring about the waiter's panicked defense, Jelena's face became much more serious.
"Did the 'Bounty Killer' come here?"
"Ms. Jelena, what's a 'bounty killer'?"
Jared asked with some curiosity, in fact, although it was a pity that he couldn't get the money, but he wasn't very concerned. After all, Florence will also pay them, so even if they can't get the 500 gold coins, the two of them are not particularly concerned about it. Caroline also turned the small umbrella in her hand, and seemed to have doubts about it as well. Are they robbers who specialize in bounties?
"That's not true."
In response to Jared's question, Jelena replied with a bitter smile.
"In fact, no one dares to hit the bounty idea, because then he will be all mercenaries as a target, this money is not so good. As for the 'bounty killer'... in fact, that should also be a mercenary."
"Should it be too?"
Sensing the uncertainty represented by Jelena's words, Jared repeated them with some confusion.
"That's right, no one knows if the Bounty Killer is a man or a woman, or what she looks like. The only thing we know is that the places where 'bounty killers' will appear will all change like this ..." said Jelena, knocking on the table in front of her with a self-deprecating smile." There is no bounty to take, because the 'bounty killer' to complete the task is high difficulty and high risk, so the bounty collected is also the most. But while that guy ate all the porridge, we didn't even get any soup. Almost all of the bounty was taken by that guy alone, and even if there is a surplus, it is not enough for others to share ... This is the reason why we call that guy 'bounty killer'."
"But if the other party came to collect the bounty in person, at least someone should have seen it."
"That guy never shows up, no matter where it is the same, without noticing it will suddenly find a cloth bag on the table containing the wanted head. Then the vault will somehow disappear with the same amount of gold coins as the bounty, and that weird guy will also leave a note ... really strange guy it."
(Sounds downright geeky.)
Caroline's exclamation caused Jared to smile helplessly and bitterly, but Jelena apparently had no way of hearing her.
"I've tried to catch him a few times to ask him about it, but no matter how heavily guarded the defenses are, he seems to be able to get in and take the gold coins. In addition, apart from his strange methods, the 'Bounty Killer' has taken all of his money legally, so there's no way to put a warrant out on him for that. Plus, even if he's wanted, there's no guarantee that anyone will catch him."
"Is it because you're afraid of the power of the 'bounty killer'?"
Jared's rhetorical question caused Jelena's eyes to widen in slight surprise, and she gave Jared an approving look before nodding.
"That's right, that guy kills dangerous guys that even our mercenary group may not be able to kill, and he's so sneaky that we don't need to mess with such a tricky guy if we can't even catch him with a magician watching us."
At this point, Jelena seemed to have lost interest in the subject, and whistled as she watched the waiter hand Jared a gold-stamped, magically-stamped envelope.
"That's all there is to it for now. ... Well then, may you be blessed by the Goddess of Fate. I still have mercenary group business to attend to, so I'll take my leave."
With that, she just turned around and left.
(What a strange lady.)
"But it's a good thing she helped."
Jared put away the envelope, glanced at the motionless waiter, and then walked with Caroline out of the house.
"I'm afraid things wouldn't have gone so smoothly if it was just us. But no matter what, now is at least our chance to integrate into the world."
(Are we leaving Mr. Florence?)
Walking out of the council chambers, Caroline snapped open her small umbrella and shielded her head from the blazing sun. The air was dry and hot, and Jared was a little envious of Caroline's weaponry. At least his "Green Sky" couldn't protect him from the wind and rain, but looking at the crowd of people and the strange animals on the road, Jared pondered for a moment before giving his answer.
"Let's go back, see how much commission Mr. Merchant can give us, and then we'll make our plans."
(What if he betrays us? What do you think the chances of that are?)
"The odds are against it, but it's hard to say. I don't think he'll rat us out, but let's not be unnatural about it. It's a common human trait that the more natural you are to them, the less they'll notice your behavior. I'm sure you're well aware that people are very sensitive to special gestures."
(I understand.)
Caroline nodded lightly.
The two of them left the council chamber and returned the way they came, because they had already agreed with Florence to meet at the carriage, so they were not in a great hurry. But when the two of them walked to the street, Caroline suddenly stopped and looked to the side with a puzzled gaze.
(Jared?)
"Huh?"
(Is it customary in this world ... to sleep outside?)
"How is that possible? Didn't we sleep in a tent the other day?"
Jared said, as he followed Caroline's gaze. Then he realized why Caroline had asked.
In the corner of the road, a 12 or 13 year old girl was leaning against the wall, sleeping soundly. Normally, a person lying on the side of the street would have attracted attention, but many people passed by the girl without paying any attention to her. The girl's own expression was unusually peaceful, with no sign of pain at all, as if she were just sleeping. In the original world, this kind of strange scene would have been immediately recognized as abnormal. But in this completely unfamiliar world, such a sight that was beyond reality and beyond everyone's knowledge, it was no wonder that Caroline had doubts.
（So, what happened to the kid?)
"... Anyway, let's go over there and take a look first."
With 80% curiosity and 20% concern, the two men came to the girl's side.
（"It's beautiful, like a mannequin.)
Caroline couldn't help but marvel, and in fact she was right. The girl's thick and long hair was like a wave, and at a glance it looked as if the girl's small body was wrapped in it. Her long eyelashes fluttered, and a slight blush appeared on her small, white cheeks. Her long blonde hair reflected the sun's luster, making her look unusually warm. Jared noticed that the girl was also holding a very worn ragdoll with several patches on it. The wide, white-on-black dress looked luxurious and elegant, and didn't match the doll in her arms.
"It couldn't be a heat stroke ."
Jared looked up at the hot sun in the sky, and Caroline was fine because of her Tectonic Harmony. But this was the edge of the desert, and the climate was dry and hot, so heatstroke was not out of the question. Although Jared was a little surprised that the people around him were ignoring the situation, he reached out and shook the girl gently.
"Uh-oh?"
The girl opened her eyes in surprise, her emerald green eyes as beautiful as onyx. She blinked in surprise, staring at the two men in front of her.
"Are you okay? Why are you sleeping in a place like this?"
"Ah ..."
Only after hearing Jared's words did the girl start to look around as if she were waking up from a dream, and then slowly stood up. Her eyes were half-lidded, and she looked as if she hadn't woken up at all.
"Oooh... actually fell asleep."
The girl's steady, serene voice didn't sound at all like that of someone who found herself sleeping on the street.
"Really sorry ... big brother big sister, scared you guys right."
"That's not true, but are you okay?"
Caroline had an incomprehensible look on her face, and Jared had a bitter grin on his. The girl seemed completely unimpressed.
"It's okay Oh ... just felt the tenderness of the sun, inadvertently fell into it."
(Really ... is a very poetic way of putting it...)
Caroline's sentiments were not far from what Jared was thinking inside, this girl was just too strange to know what to do with someone so different from the norm. However, neither of them had the intention to show their thoughts. Jared stood up and let out a light breath.
"Anyway, it's good to be awake, it's still too dangerous to sleep outside, be careful."
"Oo... big brother big sister is very concerned about Kura it, here to meet the person who will wake up Kura, big brother big sister or the first it."
The girl buried her face deeply into the doll, looking a bit shy and lazy. But this makes Jared and Caroline quite a bit uneasy, is this world of people are so heartless and unsympathetic? But when you think about the unnatural scene just now, there seems to be something wrong.
"So, what about Kula going first ..."
The girl, barely able to stand on her feet, bowed slightly to the two of them, then walked forward with a wobbly step and soon disappeared into the crowd. No matter how you look at it, it was a strange girl, but to the two of them, it was just a small incident.
(That girl is really very peculiar.)
"It's weird, isn't it."
Jared's being very unkind.
"I really don't know whether the culture of this world is good or bad, if it were in our world, I'm afraid that such a completely defenseless girl would have been caught and sold or taken into custody by the police."
(That's true, but there was one thing I was concerned about, the fact that no one around me noticed her at all was a bit unusual now that I think about it.)
Caroline's calmly spoken words made Jared realize what was wrong.
Yes, everyone passed by the girl, but no one looked at her. It was a very unusual sight, normally when humans looked at something in front of them, they would make some subtle evasive maneuvers if they wanted to deliberately ignore it. If they don't have to, their eyes will also subconsciously skim over it. But it was a bit strange to think that no one had glanced at the girl who was so obviously leaning against the wall.
"It can't be a ghost ."
(No, it won't be ....)
Caroline's voice in her head was a little shaky, Jared suddenly remembered at this time, Caroline herself seemed to be very afraid of ghosts and other things. It should be said that it is not suitable at all, basically even when the companions tell stories about spirits, she will excuse herself or close the communication connection with the other party, because Caroline usually seems to be a calm and mature aristocratic young lady, giving people a kind of difficult to get close to the feeling. Therefore, there are also many people in the partner who want to intentionally scare her, such as instantaneous movement ability will sometimes suddenly tap her shoulder and then immediately leave this kind of thing has happened, once a period of time to make Caroline scared a lot. After all, they were all teammates, so they didn't go too far with the jokes in the end.
Things seem to be getting a little dicey.
Jared suddenly remembered that Florence had mentioned to himself and the others during the journey that the priests of this world possessed a very powerful purification technique. At that time, the two did not pay attention to it, but now Jared thought about it carefully, but he realized something that should have been noticed.
The reason there's a Purification spell is because there's something that needs to be purified.
With this in mind, Jared's eyes naturally began to look around again. It was a habit he had started a long time ago, but when Jared's eyes landed on a certain object, he felt nothing but weakness.
（Jared, what's going on?)
Noticing Jared's strange behavior, Caroline asked in a puzzled voice. Jared, however, didn't even bother to say anything, pointing helplessly to the side of the road.
The girl was hugging the doll, leaning against the wall with her head buried in a deep sleep in a motion that was basically the same as the one she had made a moment ago.