Chapter 49: Overgearing Is Always The Answer (3)

When you acquire a new weapon, it’s almost a primal instinct to want to test it out.

However, today was designated as a day of rest. Lydia was adamant about maintaining this schedule, and she wouldn’t entertain the idea of a quick trip to the labyrinth, even if I suggested it.

For that reason, I considered persuading Lemon and Apple to casually explore the entrance of the first floor with me.

“Ah. There’s no need to go that far.”

My curiosity was reaching a fever pitch, almost driving me insane… but it wasn’t enough to make me break my promise to Lydia that we must enter the labyrinth together, at least for now.

After all, we were planning to go in tomorrow, so I just needed to muster a bit more patience.

So, I decided to engage in something as thrilling as testing the new weapon. That was, engaging in the gacha…!

I don’t know what came over me, but I rose from my seat and put some distance between myself and Eve, who was bubbling over with excitement.

“Lemon! Apple! Let’s go do some work together.”

“Eh. We’re not going to the labyrinth.”

“We’ve already been today. We’re exhausted.”

“No, it’s not about that, so just come with me. Ah, thank you for today, Eve. I’ve got something to take care of, so I’ll be heading out now!”

“Eh? Oh… Okay?”

With a polite bow to the puzzled Eve, I seized Lemon and Apple by the wrists and made our exit from the store.

Thud!

The sound echoed behind us, like someone was slamming their forehead on a desk, but it was probably just the noise of the door closing.

Lemon and Apple glanced at Eve but followed me without any complaints.

Even now, after we’d gotten quite far from the store.

“Lemon. Apple. Aren’t you going to ask where we’re going or what we’re doing?”

“We don’t need to know that.”

“The important thing is that Jonah is still holding our wrists.”

They giggled like idiots, following me simply because I was holding their wrists—not even their hands.

“Sigh. Maidens.”

“…But isn’t Yona also a virgin?”

“A sudden attack like that hurts, y’know.”

“It’s okay. Even if it hurts, it can be healed with the unicorn dagger. And do you think that the value of a virgin and a maiden are the same?”

“That’s this world’s fault!”

“We’re both of the same pure body, so why are only maidens ridiculed!”

Having memories from my past life, I couldn’t help but sympathize with Lemon and Apple, who were indignantly discussing such a topic.

Their conversation made me chuckle for a moment. But now, it seemed the topic had shifted as their voices grew heavier.

“When I was being healed earlier, it felt good but also somewhat off.”

“Being healed means it’s proof of being a maiden. The body’s wounds may heal, but the heart’s wounds do not.”

“No, if you put it that way, what does that make me? It’s like I’m walking around, revealing my virginity constantly.”

“Wow.”

“This isn’t the time to be amazed and say ‘wow.’ What are you going to do if Jonah’s dagger turns black and splits into two one day?”

Apple nudged the side of Lemon, who had just been admiring me without any thought. After a moment of hesitation, Lemon seemed to ponder for a while, then finally spoke in a serious tone.

“I guess I’ll have to kneel and beg for him to do it with me.”

“Are you seriously insane?”

Whack!

Eventually, Lemon received a full swing to the back of her head by Apple, then grimaced in pain.

I chuckled at the dumb-and-dumber-like bickering of the two, then spoke in a subtle voice.

“Well, not now… but later. After I’ve become an adult and achieved my goals, if both of you are still virgins, I’ll take your first times.”

“…Are you serious?”

“We elves consider 10 or 20 years as nothing. You must speak carefully.”

“Of course, I’m serious. Ah, but there’s a queue, so you might have to wait a bit.”

“We know that Boss is first in line.”

“Honestly, having been lonely for a thousand… no, for a long time, we understand.”

“……?”

I was talking about Ellie and Lydia. Why was Eve coming up here? I hadn’t even flirted with Eve, had I?

Except for slightly leaning in when she was explaining about the unicorn dagger, I hadn’t done anything.

…Is it just that I’m her type?

With my brain’s translation function seemingly malfunctioning these days, I decided to downgrade my assessment of Eve by one notch in my mind.

Seems suspicious but ‘still’ a good person (X)

Seems dangerous but ‘still’ a good person (O)

“Hmm.”

As I nodded to myself, Lemon and Apple cautiously began to speak.

“By the way, can I ask where we’re going now?”

“I’m starting to get curious.”

“About what?”

“Where are you taking us?”

“This direction seems to lead to a somewhat questionable neighborhood, doesn’t it?”

“Ah, don’t worry. I’m not taking you to the red-light district or any cheap inns nearby.”

“A shame, really…”

“We’re disappointed because that’s exactly what we wanted…”

These girls really are candid about their desires, aren’t they?

I sighed deeply and tightened my grip on the wrists I was still holding, determined not to let them escape.

“There’s an alleyway before we get there, right? Towards the industrial district.”

“…Isn’t that where we first met Jonah?”

“Don’t tell me you’re planning to bury us there to settle past grudges…”

Lemon and Apple began to tremble. Come to think of it, the industrial district was indeed where my transmigrated self first woke up.

It’s also the place where Lemon and Apple extorted me.

“What do you even think of me? We agreed to settle it last time when I received compensation for saving your lives. I won’t resort to such things now, all right?”

“I’m asking just in case, but what if you still harbored a grudge?”

“Would it end just with us being extorted?”

Lemon and Apple asked cautiously. I turned to them and gave a light smile.

“Elves are indeed a race with many uses.”

“Organ trafficking…!”

“Human trafficking…!”

Seeing them tremble, a sense of satisfaction blossomed within my heart.

Why was it so enjoyable to torment Lemon and Apple? Was it because they reacted in such an amusing way, slightly different from Ellie?

I slightly lowered my arm and, instead of holding their wrists, took their hands, then added on.

“It’s a joke. At most, I would have scared you like I was scared and then used you as errand girls.”

I had been extorted, but it wasn’t like I was physically harmed. They just acted a bit menacing and frisked my pockets, taking the money I had begged for that day. So, it was something that could be forgiven with some money.

“Anyway, the reason we’re going this time isn’t to bury you guys. It’s to try doing what we did last time again.”

“What we did last time…?”

“Are you talking about becoming an undisputed ruler of the back alleys?”

“Similar, but slightly different. Last time, we had to disband because we were reported, right? So, I thought about it, and we shouldn’t have tried to unify in the first place. If we grow too big, we’ll just end up attracting more attention from the guards.”

Gang members and a gang organization indeed feel entirely different, don’t they?

“So, let’s just extort them and then let them go. This neighborhood is riddled with unresolved issues anyway.”

“What if they come after us, even if we drop them like last time?”

“You mentioned you had no intention of uniting them back then, either.”

“Why overthink it? We’ll just knock them all out.”

Unlike Lemon and Apple, I haven’t yet received any compensation from these local thugs. They have no clue how miserable my life as a beggar was.

“I’ll aim for ten times the amount.”

It might also be the perfect opportunity to test the power of the unicorn dagger.

I suppose I shouldn’t stab people… But it should be acceptable if they aren’t exactly people, right?

The results were a resounding success.

Swoosh!

I returned to the Fairy and Silver Coin, emptying today’s earnings onto the desk.

“Let’s see… what’s the total?”

The pile included the proceeds from farming Iron Wolf leather, after meticulous preparation. I then tallied it up, adding the amount I had extorted while encountering those familiar faces once again.

“1 gold, 26 silver, 92 copper, is it?”

Among this, the Iron Wolf leathers alone brought in more than 1 gold.

That’s when it dawned on me why the somewhat strong adventurers didn’t stoop to thuggish behaviors.

“Just going to the labyrinth once or twice earns more than shaking down all the local thugs…?”

It made sense to avoid such petty crimes if they weren’t profitable, especially if those acts could draw the guards’ attention.

Unless, of course, you harbored a grudge like me.

“Now it’s double. Just need to go four more times.”

Ah, the performance of the unicorn dagger exceeded my expectations.

Of course, I hadn’t used it on people, so its effects, such as the special non-virgin attack, were unknown to me… but it had sliced through weapons and thick padded clothes with ease.

Not only had I effortlessly cut through thick wooden clubs, but I had also sliced through quilted jackets known as gambesons, which served as makeshift armor, as if they were mere sheets of paper…

Although I hadn’t verified it yet, with this capability, slicing through the hide of an Iron Wolf should pose no problem.

If I could inflict direct damage, then my combat style could undergo a drastic transformation.

Just in time, the armor crafted from the hide of the Iron Wolf, which I had commissioned, will be completed tomorrow. This marks a significant upgrade in the quality of my equipment.

With this enhancement, beyond Iron Wolves, I could potentially take on Giant Mantises… and perhaps even a Hobgoblin tribe.

However, that wasn’t my immediate concern.

“She mentioned it increases luck, didn’t she…?”

I placed the symbol of the Temple of the Goddess of Love, which Karen had given me, on the desk, positioning the unicorn dagger in front of it.

It wasn’t that I was attempting to exploit any blasphemy or intimidation tactics.

Since manual dexterity wasn’t my forte, I placed the dagger in front of the symbol rather than a statue, banking on its supposed ability to bring good luck.

Lastly, clutching the Lucky Strike I always wore with both hands, I activated the gacha system.

Ding!

“Let’s go, 120 pulls…!”