Chapter 139
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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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I'll Purchase Divine Power with Money
Chapter 139
"All that training is really paying off."
Even after four hours in the saddle, my body wasn't in terrible condition.
Just a bit of soreness in my hips and lower back?
Still, it wasn't the crushing exhaustion that would have knocked me out before.
Compared to when I first arrived at Rubar Village, when I thought my backside would split open, this was tremendous progress.
As I reached a secluded forest path, I brought my horse to a halt and collapsed onto a flat rock.
I activated the map system while eating the sandwich I'd purchased from the village on the way here.
"I've covered quite a distance."
If I'd taken a carriage, it would have taken a full day, but pushing the horse without rest had brought me close to my destination.
From here, even taking my time, I could arrive before nightfall.
After closing the map, I took a large bite of my sandwich and surveyed my surroundings.
Brilliant sunlight poured down through the dense canopy of leaves.
Deep in the mountains like this, it felt as though I'd stepped into an arboretum.
I drew in the crisp air deeply.
Fresh air, warm sunlight, and birds whose gentle songs brought natural peace to the heart....
"Well, well. A woman, deep in these mountains no less. Quite the courageous one, aren't you?"
...Or so much nonsense.
As I turned my head, eight burly men emerged from nowhere, surrounding me.
What the hell are these guys?
"Haven't you heard? Bandits live in these mountains."
"Look at her face, boss. Her clothes are plain, but that face couldn't possibly belong to a commoner, could it? She must be some noble out on a journey."
"But she has no escort at all? We've searched the area thoroughly—there's no one hiding anywhere."
From the way they spoke, these were definitely bandits.
I'd heard that meeting bandits in the mountains was as common as kicking a pebble on the road, and now I knew it was true.
"Hey there, miss. Hand over everything you've got, and we'll let you go peacefully. We're not such bad fellows, after all."
"That's right, that's right. Just do as we say, and you won't come to any harm."
"We don't kidnap every woman we meet. Though it is a shame about that face...."
I felt the bandits' gazes licking across my face.
Well, Hyunjin is quite beautiful, after all.
Too beautiful to waste on these bandit fools.
"...How much longer are you going to keep eating that damn bread?!"
One of the bandits, who had been snickering, suddenly bellowed.
I scrunched my face in displeasure, continuing to eat my sandwich despite their chatter.
"Even dogs won't bother you while you're eating. Why did you have to show up and cause trouble while I'm in the middle of a meal? Who attacks someone while they're eating?"
These guys didn't even have basic manners.
"What are you talking about! Of course the standard is to attack during meals or sleep!"
"What? Why?"
"Because that's when people's guard is lowest!"
Now that I think about it, that makes sense.
Incidents typically occur when people are eating or sleeping.
Even I would get deployment orders the moment I tried to have some instant noodles or fill up a cup of water. And it wasn't just once or twice.
...Suddenly, tears blur my vision.
"These are some truly wicked bastards, aren't they?"
Not even letting people eat. I'll never forgive them.
I shoved the remaining sandwich into my mouth and sprang to my feet.
"As a detective, I'll punish you in the name of justice."
"De... what?"
"You don't need to understand."
I pulled out a freshly crafted, steaming new weapon from my inventory.
Thud!
"So, which one of you should I deal with first?"
"...."
The bandits' gazes fixed on the weapon in my hand.
A sleek black body with menacing spikes protruding from a spherical head.
My proud iron mace, Divine Punishment, making its debut before others.
"W-wait, a mage? Did you just pull that weapon from a subspace?"
"What kind of mage uses an iron mace! Where's your staff?"
"B-but there are spellblades, right?"
"Those use swords! I've seen mages with spears, but this is my first time seeing one with an iron mace!"
Well, that's because I'm not a mage.
I pointed my iron mace at the hesitant bandits.
"Hand over everything you have. Then I won't beat you. I'm not that bad of a person, after all."
Besides, I'm broke anyway, so this works out perfectly.
Extorting money illegally accumulated by villains was something the Sun God approved of, so I felt no pangs of conscience.
【'Sun Crawling from Death' applauds, saying the user is right!】
Basking in the god's enthusiastic support, I infused divine power into my iron mace.
The jet-black mace began to glow with an ominous golden light.
"Either hand it over or take a beating."
I grinned widely and swung my mace enthusiastically at the bandits.
* * *
The bandits, thoroughly beaten with my iron mace, were bound like dried fish with rope and delivered to the Nearby Village.
The money I extorted from those bastards came to a whopping 50 gold.
If I dug through their hideout somewhere in the Mountains, I could probably squeeze out more, but I didn't go that far.
That belonged to the villagers who suffered from their crimes.
"Quite lucrative. Maybe I should wander the Continent beating up villains instead?"
That's my real specialty, after all.
I entered the Dining Hall and ordered meat dishes and beer, pondering this seriously.
"Have you heard? Monsters have appeared in the Western Region too."
I gulped down the beer that had arrived first, when I overheard an unbelievable conversation from the adjacent table.
Monsters? In the Western Region, not the Southern Region?
"I heard about it too. I was so shocked because it's not even the southwestern area but right in the heart of the Western Region."
"Everyone living near there has evacuated. Apparently the situation is more serious than expected."
"There have been deaths, haven't there?"
Deaths? If that's the case, this is far from an ordinary situation.
Could it be that Lute Sheary's urgent business was because of the monsters?
Then why didn't she tell me?
"Even the Sheary Duchy's knights mobilized, but they couldn't stop it, apparently."
"I heard they were completely wiped out?"
"My goodness, the Sheary Duchy's knights completely annihilated? Isn't that a major disaster?"
I set down my beer glass.
The Sheary Duchy's knights were the elite of the elite.
There was no way they could have been completely wiped out.
The rumors must have been exaggerated, certainly...
The real concern was Lute Sheary's physical condition.
What if the black stains still lingering in her body reacted with the monster's poison and went berserk?
What if Lute Sheary, having fallen into slavery to Evil, was the one who annihilated the knights?
"This is no time to be drinking."
The taste of the beer turned bitter.
I asked the shop owner to wrap up the remaining meat, then moved over to the adjacent table where they were conversing.
"Excuse me, but where exactly did the monsters appear?"
I had to get there as quickly as possible.
Fortunately, the location where the monsters appeared wasn't far from the village.
Somehow, the Western Region usually had good security, so I'd wondered why bandits were running rampant.
It seemed they didn't have the leisure to deal with mere bandits while contending with the suddenly emerged monsters.
Taking advantage of misfortune to commit evil deeds. I should have crushed them to pulp.
【You have entered the Contaminated Land.】
I halted my horse as a System Message suddenly appeared before me.
The place where the monsters appeared was the largest Forest in the heart of the Western Region.
The people from the Nearby Village said it was mainly used for hunting and gathering, so the paths were well-maintained and the Forest wasn't particularly treacherous...
Now it looked as if a pitch-black darkness had settled over it, dreary and oppressive.
"Mark where the monsters are for me."
I opened the map and gave the command, and red dots appeared scattered throughout the vast Forest.
"There aren't that many?"
Perhaps the rumors really were exaggerated? At this level, Lute Sheary shouldn't be in much danger.
【'Sun Crawling from Death' informs you there is one intermediate-level monster.】
At that moment, with the Sun God's words, one of the red dots on the map began to glow.
A dark crimson color far more ominous than the others—unmistakably dangerous to anyone's eyes.
Fortunately it wasn't a high-level monster, but intermediate-level monsters also had a high probability of carrying poison.
Can I handle this alone?
【The Sun Crawling from Death says it's naturally possible.】
Right, I'll have to fight until Evil dies anyway. This is a good opportunity to test the limits of my own strength.
Besides, I have a weapon ready.
I drew the mace in advance and began riding toward the blood-red dot on the map.
As I drew closer to my destination, the damp aura grew increasingly intense.
So this is the aura of a monster.
Neigh!
When I got close enough, the horse suddenly reared up in fear.
Once I stroked it with divine power, it calmed down quickly, but it seemed best to leave the horse here.
I was comfortable with riding, but I couldn't attack from horseback.
I tied the horse to a nearby tree, removed the cumbersome robe and draped it over a branch, then gripped the mace and slowly entered.
Because of the monster's thick aura, only the trees and grass in this area were withering away.
The monster was at the center of it all.
"...This is grotesque."
I knew the monster's form was bizarre, but seeing it in person exceeded my imagination.
Someone with a weak stomach might vomit just from looking at it.
A body five times the size of a bear, with countless spines protruding from its back like a porcupine.
Its mouth, split wide open, was crammed with teeth like tiny spines, and its two bulging frog-like eyes moved constantly.
It was certainly grotesque, but thanks to my mental barrier, it wasn't particularly shocking.
【Activating the skill 'Physical Enhancement'.】
The moment I activated the skill, I leaped forward and brought the mace down toward the monster's head.
Crack!
In combat, striking first is everything.
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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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