Ch#120
"What? A total of 15,000 gold?"
Back at the mansion, Tie nodded to the astonished Veil.
Then she pulled a handful of gold coins from the sack and held them out to him.
"Oppa, want some?"
Veil's eyes widened.
But he soon waved his hand dismissively.
"No, it's fine. I haven't done anything to earn it. Give me some later if I do something."
"What do you mean you haven't done anything? We've been adventuring from the checkpoint all the way here together."
"True. But I've just been freeloading off you the whole time. And I even caused trouble back in Kaldbain-Ridge."
Tie's mouth fell open wide.
'Veil oppa's still blaming himself!'
Ever since punching Reginald.
Veil had been down in the dumps.
To the point where if Reginald came up, he'd fidget and glance at Tie before excusing himself.
"Tie kept saying it's okay though......"
But no matter how much she reassured him, Veil couldn't shake it off.
With no choice, as Tie put the gold coins back in her pocket—
"Now our mercenary corps has real income, Astie."
Nordics patted her head fondly.
"We'll figure out how to spend it step by step. With such a large sum, we need to think about where to store it too......"
"Ppup!"
Just then.
Feeling something tapping her knee, Tie looked down.
At the end of her gaze was Ppuppu, trunk pointing into the air with wide eyes.
"Ppuyung—"
"Huh?"
The next moment, an exclamation burst from Enzo.
A black hole had opened wide where Ppuppu's trunk pointed.
Recognizing it, Tie shouted.
"It's the subspace!"
Nordics, Veil, and Basto's eyes went wide.
Meanwhile, Ppuppu cheerfully climbed onto the sack of gold coins, picked one up with its trunk, and tossed it into the subspace.
"Waaah—!"
Tie dashed to the subspace Ppuppu had made.
Peering inside, the child's eyes sparkled.
"Subspace storage!"
"Storage?"
Only then did the members swarm around the subspace.
Inside the not-so-large entrance.
The single gold coin Ppuppu had thrown in truly glittered on the wooden floor.
"......Ppup! Ppuyung."
"It says no one can steal it if we put it here. And we can take it out whenever we need it."
At Tie's words, Nordics' face brightened.
"Really? That's perfect. No need to rent space in the national vault then."
Nobles with great wealth usually converted some to currency or pure gold and stored it in the national vault.
But using the vault required hefty annual fees, and they needed a dedicated financial officer to simplify procedures.
"It really was Krazar......"
Meanwhile, Veil muttered beside them.
Basto nodded with a stiff face.
"Yeah. We knew roughly, but seeing it again like this......"
The Krazar announced as vanished was alive and well.
In a harmless form, right beside Tie, known as the Sovereign King.
"Is this really okay?"
As anxious Veil and Basto exchanged glances again—
"It's fine, it's fine. All in the past."
Nordics laughed to lighten the mood.
He tied one sack securely and tossed it into the subspace.
"Move these too."
Basto and Veil began transferring the remaining gold sacks into the subspace.
Ppuppu helpfully enlarged the entrance as if waiting for it.
"Um, could a person fit in there too?"
Enzo, watching, asked.
Tie grinned brightly.
"Neeeng! It says people can go in too."
"Oh ho......"
"Alright, alright. If you're all done, time for lunch?"
Just then, Marshal emerged from the dining room holding a large ladle.
Whatever she'd made, sweat beaded on her forehead.
"To celebrate Agavert's first earnings, I made meat pie with homemade sauce."
"Waaah, perfect timing—I'm starving. Thank you."
Raoul stood with a bright face.
Enzo followed.
Tie confirmed the subspace closed, then quickly hoisted Ppuppu onto her shoulder.
"Lucarion! Let's eat!"
Shouting, Lucarion slowly appeared from the second-floor stairs.
Still holding a book filled with indecipherable ancient script.
'What book is that?'
Tilting her head curiously, Tie just giggled.
Then she grabbed Lucarion's hand tight and headed to the kitchen.
Thinking how nice it was to have a house.
And a family living together in that house.
The next day.
Agavert members gathered cozily by the fireplace.
The first-floor living room felt incredibly warm with the soft carpet Marshal had laid down.
"Dinner tonight, huh."
Veil, lounging at the end of the 8-person sofa, muttered at the ceiling.
"Never thought I'd get invited to a Holy Knight's house—let alone the Grand Commander's......"
Raoul, sitting on the carpet, nodded.
"Tell me about it. Never happened even when I was in the Holy Knight Order. Didn't expect it as a mercenary."
"Come to think of it. Didn't the Grand Commander specify an exact time?"
Tie, hugging her Bear Doll Orb, looked up.
"Neeeng. No time, just the date is today."
The date the Grand Commander wanted to meet was when the second full moon rose after the day he and Tie met.
"First full moon was in the Weapon District, second is today, Nordics grandpa said."
"Then today it is. They have intel too, so they know we've set up base. Probably sending someone at the right time?"
Just then.
Knock, knock, knock—
A clear knock echoed from the front door.
Basto and Veil straightened up from the sofa.
Marshal, sitting by the stairs, widened her eyes too.
But before the members could move.
"Waaah!"
Tie sprang up and dashed to the door.
With an excited voice, she shouted.
"This is Tie's house! Who is it?"
After a moment of silence.
A young, prim reply came from beyond the door.
"From the mansion across the street."
"Huh?"
Then the door opened.
Across the threshold, Tie's eyes went wide.
No wonder—her mouth fell open at the sight of the guest before her.
'So pretty......'
A girl her age with hair tied in a single ponytail stared at Tie with a haughty face.
Her purple eyes sparkled like jewels.
"Did you move into this mansion yesterday?"
If this were Hanbit Kindergarten, she'd definitely be in the quail class.
"Um, well......"
Tie's eyes shook at the girl's unusually prim, clear pronunciation for a child.
The girl continued.
"I came to tell you about an old tradition in Rosewbelga. If a new house moves in, it's courtesy to at least show your face at the neighboring mansions and greet them politely."
Oh no.
Did Dad's hometown have the custom of distributing rice cakes after moving too?
As Tie panicked, the girl crossed her arms.
Then, for some reason, she asked haughtily.
"Are you the young lady?"
"Huh......?"
"Is the young lady the owner of this mansion?"
Tie unwittingly closed her mouth.
Ignoring that, the girl pressed on.
"Greeting guests at the entrance is the owner's role. So if the young lady came out."
The girl stared straight at Tie.
"It means the young lady is the owner of this mansion, right?"
Tie blinked dazedly.
Then she thought.
'Who's the young lady......?'
This was Tie's house though?
She had no idea why the girl kept looking for someone called the young lady.
Finally, after agonizing, Tie hesitantly spoke.
"Um, the owner here is Tie."
"Pardon?"
"Not the young lady, it's Ti, e."
As Tie innocently pointed to herself, the girl's brow furrowed.
