Chapter 143 Chapter 144 Returning to Absolute Poverty
Jima felt something was off as she snuggled closer; Jenna was unusually silent. Could it be that she was angry?
Sigh, she was just making a joke. She wouldn’t take it seriously, would she?
Only a fool wouldn’t understand that healing soul wounds is a high-level operation that money alone cannot buy. Twelve hundred gold coins should be the bargain price.
Jima quickly decided to apologize, lest she lose her chance for treatment in the future and fail to make her move.
She hastily looked up and saw Jenna’s face slightly flushed with embarrassment. When their eyes met, Jenna stammered:
“I… I’m sorry, but my family… really needs money right now.”
Is she that easy to bully?
“I’ll give you an extra fifty gold coins, how about we take a bath together, cuddle a bit, and give each other a massage?”
Jima nearly blurted it out, but remembering Jenna’s incredible feat of single-handedly fighting through a horde of orcs, she quickly swallowed the words.
Being too overt is not good.
Jima smiled understandingly and said, “I was just joking. Sister Jenna is just like George, has no sense of humor. A perfect match.”
Jenna cupped her face and laughed, “You’re quite a smooth talker.”
Jima took out the dimensional space bag and pulled out neatly packaged money pouches.
“One pouch contains a hundred gold coins.”
As she spoke, Jima placed the seventeenth pouch of gold coins before Jenna, neatly arranged.
“That’s one thousand seven hundred gold coins,” Jenna pushed back three pouches of coins, “You heard wrong; you gave me three hundred coins too much.”
“No, I meant to give one thousand seven hundred gold coins.”
Jenna resolutely refused, “Jima, thank you for your concern, but I can get through this tough time; you need the money more.”
Jima realized that giving money directly felt a bit like charity.
She grasped Jenna’s hand, held it to her nose, took a deep breath, and inhaled the scent of floral essential oils, saying:
“The extra five hundred gold coins are for your massage fee. Sister Jenna’s hands are so gentle; just one massage wipes away a day’s fatigue. In the future, I’ll want to ask Sister Jenna for knee pillow massages.”
“Really… really?”
“Really,” Jima lied, “I’m just a mundane person; I can’t sweet-talk, so I can only give a bit more money. Besides, most of my money comes from tricking your family’s steward, so I feel guilty.”
Jenna’s heart warmed; she felt Jima’s strong sense of loyalty and care for her dignity, cleverly finding a reason to give her the gold coins.
“I’ll accept it.”
Little did she know, Jima’s true intention was to drool over her body.
Jima’s tail, hidden behind her, was so excited it was nearly curling up.
A big-breasted saint giving knee pillow massages! Thank goodness for this body; otherwise, with Saint Jenna’s character, she would never agree.
“It’s getting late; I should head back,” Jima said as she got off the bed.
“Take care of yourself.”
On the snow-white bed, Jenna, with her fair skin radiating a soft light and her jade-like gentle eyes smiling warmly, waved goodbye to Jima.
Jima suddenly felt filled with positive energy, especially after looking again at Jenna’s snow peaks.
How could she have been taken out by that bastard George in one hit? What if she had won? Wouldn’t Jenna be lying on my bed, treating me every day? That guy must be my nemesis. Jima felt regret and wanted to smack her thigh.
She thought about it, showing a pure smile and said, “Hug.”
No one could refuse.
Saint Jenna stood up and hugged Jima. Taking the opportunity, Jima lifted her little leg, brushing lightly against Jenna’s leg, the black silk against white silk producing a soft sound of rustling.
Jenna’s stockings were quite nice; she’d have to ask her where she ordered them next time.
“Goodbye.”
“You take care too.”
Jima waved goodbye, not even glancing at the row of gold coins on the table as she walked out the door, declining the servant’s kind offer to lead her away. When passing through the empty colonnade, she looked around; no one was there.
She immediately clutched her chest. It wasn’t a soul injury acting up, but a heartache over money.
A sudden sound of footsteps approached, and Jima quickly put her hand down, showing a cheerful smile.
Lianxi was also staying at Jenna’s home, and Jima returned to the alchemy workshop with her.
Fifteen minutes later.
Jima was kneeling on the bed, counting her gold coins, “Five hundred thirty-four… thirty-five…”
Gold coins fell one by one onto the straw mat, accumulating into a small pile, then her tail swept over and brushed against a larger pile of coins nearby.
“Six hundred twelve plus seventy-eight silver coins.”
Jima fell back onto the bed with a thud, clutching her pained heart, as one gold coin rolled off the bed. She quickened her tail to coil around it, complaining, “Just like that, I’m poor again. It’s so hard!”
Money was spent too quickly. It was worth it to spend an extra five hundred to dig into George’s territory while craving the body of Saint Jenna.
The root cause was that guy who injured her last night. Who would have thought she’d run into such a powerful dark magic opponent who not only disrupted her precise divination but also struck her soul from afar?
Jima grit her teeth, snapping her fingers against the mat, a gold coin bouncing up: “I must dust off his ashes!”
She planned to tell George’s group about the divination results in her dreams when she went to sleep tonight. Although she only knew the enemy was hiding in Casson Duchy, a large area, having some intelligence was better than none.
However, afterward, she needed to provide more precise information to create confusion, but gaining more precise positioning would require dueling with the opponents, which demanded a lot of money.
Lying on her side on the bed, looking at the dwindled small pile of gold coins, she felt a pang in her heart. She stretched out her hands to embrace the pile of coins and said:
“My poor little coins.”
“I need to think of more ways to make money.”
Jima pondered for a long time but didn’t come up with any good means to earn money.
Mainly because legal methods were too slow to earn money. After thinking it over, she figured that robbery would be a faster way to make money. But right now, she was just a demon that could barely fight back.
Jima整理了一下从辛吉那搞来的资料，还有偷来的炼金笔记。这些东西短时间内还无法兑现成金钱，懂懂先生那里不能指望，否则会暴露自己的身份。
She had to copy the alchemy notes as a side task, intending to return them to the noble apprentice afterward to avoid causing any trouble.
“Forget it, I’ll have to go sell potions.” Jima rubbed her dry eyes, “Tomorrow I’ll head to the business district of Marlin City to see if there are any opportunities to make money.”
Time ticked by.
Night descended, and the moon rose into the sky.
At Le’an Port, the priests of the cathedral were debating whether or not to negotiate with the devil. A message dove in, bringing the latest intelligence, despite the cathedral lowering its status and asking the rangers, who had always had an eye on them in the forest, to pursue the trail of the dark elves.
But even the rangers couldn’t find a single clue. The information that the cathedral could offer was far too little.
After a long meeting, the cathedral team finally reached a tenuous agreement to attempt contact with the devil, but they required utmost vigilance. Every word spoken by the devil had to be noted down and studied together to see if there were any traps hidden within.
The long night wore on.
George was unable to sleep; holding a pencil, he was sketching on paper, the scratchy sound filling the air.
The tent flap behind him was lifted.
Iv Frostleaf, with silver hair down to her waist, cold as ice and fully armored, but revealing a glimpse of her thigh wrapped in silver threads, walked in and quickly approached George.
On the paper was a drawing of a powered armor with limbs spread wide, and in the center of the armor, a figure with arms outstretched.
“What are you drawing?”
“I’m hypothesizing whether the one in the armor is actually human?” George said, pointing with the pen at the hand extended out, which only reached the elbow of the powered armor, “The devil said it’s a human kingdom, but according to normal human anatomy, the arms are not long enough to wear the gauntlets of powered armor.”
Iv Frostleaf observed closely and realized it was indeed because the powered armor was too thick.
“The wearer should not be an ordinary human,” Iv Frostleaf said, “Through surgical modification, humans can become bizarre; our world already has similar methods.”
“There’s another possibility,” George drew a circle at the elbow, “It could also be controlled by fingers through the elbow guards, but I have my doubts about the authenticity of this matter. By the way, what brings you here so late?”
Iv Frostleaf said, “The devil is coming.”
George immediately put away the drawing and stood up to ask, “You should have mentioned that earlier.”
“Only short-lived beings count time so carefully.”
After George donned his helmet, he and Iv Frostleaf entered Mr. Dongdong’s tent together, stepping into the dream.
In the grayish dream, a passionate march echoed.
The two walked into the mist, approaching the source of the sound, and soon heard Mr. Dongdong’s pleas: “I beg you, let me go, let me go.”
“Ah~ breathe~… pathetic ant, you won’t die in your dreams.”
This time, the devil’s voice was very strange, mixed with a hoarse breathing sound.
George tightened his grip on his sword as he approached.
The gray mist parted, revealing a long rectangular table surrounded by marble pillars. Poor Mr. Dongdong was suspended in the air, an invisible force gripping his neck, lifting him up like a goose by its neck.
Seeing George arrive, the devil immediately released his grip. Today, he looked strange, cloaked in black, donning a black helmet and respirator, breathing out a raspy sound while draped in a black cloak.
The march came to a halt.
“Ah~ breathe~… I always miss the feeling of choking from afar in the previous world.” The black devil sat upon a throne forged from thousands of swords, “Have you figured it out?”
George remained calm, advancing with his sword, saying, “Are you eager for a trade?”
“Trade?” The black devil let out a laugh, “A mere cathedral may not qualify to trade with me; you must undergo a test first.”
As he spoke, the black devil raised his hand. Behind him, a clear image appeared, towering three stories high.
In the picture, wheat fields were ablaze, and a horned creature carrying a bloodied prisoner crossed the fields, while a nearby village was emitting smoke.
“Beastmen?”
“Did you see the wheat forest in the mountain area?” the black devil said, “Yesterday, the dark elves were somewhere in the mountains; as for where, it depends on your abilities.”
“What do you want?”
“Are you so eager to trade?” The black devil’s raspy breaths seemed especially mocking, “Unfortunately, I said, you’re not qualified.”
Iv Frostleaf coldly said, “Don’t regret it later.”
George took a few steps forward, gazing intently at the image, saying, “Even if I know the beastmen are causing disaster, there are many places in the Knight Bartow Kingdom where beastmen are causing havoc.”
“Casson Duchy.”
Before his words faded, George suddenly charged forward, in the blink of an eye, he was before the black devil, thrusting a sword towards him.
Iv Frostleaf also drew her dual swords, preparing to follow. This was a plan George had set up on the way; he suspected the devil’s strength and was determined to test it.
