After what felt like a lifeti of chaos, they'd finally landed safely—but before they could catch a proper breath, a brand new problem reared its head:
What now?
Truth be told, Steven hadn't planned that far ahead. He never did. He was the type to just take things as they ca, one step at a ti. Planning everything out in advance? That just killed the fun.
To him, this whole journey was like a giant cake—you never knew what the next bite would taste like. That unpredictability? That's what made everything so exciting.
But Skadi didn't share that sentint.
She just wanted to finish her mission for Rhodes Island as soon as possible, then get her deranged little companion safely back to a hospital bed. No more, no less.
Out of the three, the calst—by far—was the girl snoozing peacefully on Steven's back. Specter, still hugging his shoulders like a contented sloth, had drifted off into a serene sleep, her breathing light and steady. Being ntally unwell seed to co with an unexpected perk: total freedom from anxiety. Out of all of them, she was living the most carefree life.
"We'll need to cross that city first to reach my mission destination," Skadi finally said, pulling a folded map from the backpack slung over her shoulders. She studied it closely for a few minutes before pinpointing their current position—sowhere in the middle of Kazimierz.
Her finger tapped a massive, glittering mobile city on the map. The skyline of the thing was already visible from where they stood—towering buildings, gleaming streets, a city that never slept.
But Skadi didn't even blink at the sight. Her gaze was fixed solely on the target ahead.
To be fair, she could have waited a little longer at Rhodes Island before setting off. But Steven had already jumped down, and if she didn't want to be separated from him, then this was the only route.
"Hmm… how about this?" Steven suggested, casually shrugging. "You go deal with your mission stuff, and I'll just hang around that city for a bit. I'll look after this one while I'm at it. Seems like a win-win for everyone."
He gestured toward the girl resting her head on his shoulder. Her long white hair tumbled over his chest, carrying a sweet, youthful fragrance that tickled his nose.
Honestly, Steven had to admit it—this girl slled nice and felt soft, just like a proper beautiful gacha ga girl. If only she wasn't so crazy, she'd be perfect.
Still, over the past few hours, Steven had gotten surprisingly good at taking care of nutcases like her. Compared to Skadi, who always had a serious question lined up, Specter was actually… easier to handle. A little madness was more bearable than constant interrogation.
"No," Skadi said, shaking her head firmly. "One of my mission directives is to accompany you. Doctor Kal'tsit gave that order. Since it's part of my duty, I intend to follow through."
So stubborn. So painfully inflexible.
Steven sighed and scratched his head. "Tch… fine. Tag along if you want. Just don't start questioning every little thing I do, alright? Whatever I do, I've got my reasons."
Skadi thought for a mont, then slowly nodded. She didn't seem particularly thrilled, but at least she didn't argue.
With that settled, Steven stretched lazily and turned his eyes toward the distant mobile city.
His companions were taken care of for now. That ant it was ti to focus on the important stuff—like figuring out how to enjoy himself in this shiny, knight-obsessed tropolis.
This wasn't so snowy wasteland in the middle of Ursus. This was the heart of a rich, booming nation. No way was he going to settle for so shabby roadside box.
This ti, he was going to live it up—glitz, glamor, and everything in between.
Rubbing his hands together with a grin, Steven was already daydreaming about all the luxuries waiting for him inside that glittering mobile city—until reality rudely kicked him in the teeth.
He patted his pockets. Nothing.
Turning stiffly, he looked over at Skadi, who raised an eyebrow at his suspicious rummaging.
"Say... this place does take Lungn dollars, right?"
He'd gotten used to eating and drinking for free out in the wilds of Ursus. It was only now, standing in the shadow of modern civilization, that he rembered the golden rule of city life:
Money makes the world go round.
And this—this—wasn't the kind of place where you could barter a rabbit pelt for a hot al. Without cash, Steven wasn't even sure if they'd be let through the gates of that high-tech tropolis.
"Kazimierz has its own currency," Skadi replied, clearly anticipating where this was going. "And don't look at like that. I'm a hunter. If I had money, I wouldn't be working part-ti for Rhodes Island."
She gave him a helpless shrug. Lungn dollars might be widely accepted elsewhere, but in Kazimierz? That was a toss-up, even for soone like her who rarely set foot in such cities.
"That said, the Kazimierz General Chamber of Comrce has people everywhere. If you do have Lungn dollars, their agents should be able to exchange it at a fair rate."
Compared to Steven, who had basically walked into Kazimierz with no plan and zero research, Skadi had at least done a little howork. While she didn't know everything, she knew enough to point him in the right direction—naly, the omnipresent, profit-hungry trade unions of Kazimierz. If you needed money, they were the ones to talk to.
And besides… according to Warfarin, Steven was stupidly rich. Like, "probably richer than 99% of Rhodes Island" rich.
Which is why Skadi was having a hard ti believing the man was actually broke.
"Exchanging money sounds like a pain," Steven muttered. "And even Lungn dollars... I don't have that many."
He let out a sheepish laugh.
Sure, he was wealthy. But his so-called wealth was tied up in valuable junk—not sothing he could instantly convert into cold, hard cash. As for actual spendable currency? Aside from scamming a few tens of thousands off Gavial, he didn't have much.
He was basically the kind of rich guy who owned a mountain of gold bricks but couldn't pay for a taxi. Calling himself poor at this mont wasn't even a lie—it was painfully accurate.
"No money, no problem," Skadi said with her usual blank straightforwardness. "I can sleep anywhere. I have no complaints."
"…That's your takeaway?" Steven chuckled, exasperated. "Co on, where's your ambition? If we're broke, we don't sulk about it—we do sothing! Make money! Easy!"
Skadi's casual attitude didn't sit right with him. She might be fine roughing it, but he wasn't exactly thrilled about the idea of sleeping in an alley.
But as far as Steven was concerned, making money wasn't even a problem. For most people, sure—it was hard. For him?
Child's play.
He narrowed his eyes at the dazzling city ahead, a wicked little grin creeping across his face.
He already had a plan forming.
After all, who said he had to trade for money?
The fastest, most efficient way to get rich… had been written in the laws of every country since the dawn of ti:
Steal it.
Skadi frowned.
She could more or less guess what Steven ant before, but now? Now she was lost.
Making money… just like that? Was it supposed to be that easy?
"Anyway, let's head toward the Grand Knight Territory first," Steven said, stroking his chin thoughtfully with a sly grin. "If we're gonna make so money, we might as well start by targeting soone with a lot of it."
He didn't bother explaining further. Honestly, he doubted Skadi would follow even if he did. Her brain just wasn't wired for that kind of flexible thinking. That's why he'd lovingly dubbed her the Simple One.
"You're going to look for freelance work too?" Skadi asked.
The only scenario she could picture that involved "big wallets" was the bounty board. When she was broke in the past, she used to pick up odd jobs—escort missions, monster extermination, hunting criminals. Her reputation as a bounty hunter wasn't just for show.
In fact, within that world, she was actually kind of famous.
"No, no, no," Steven said with a laugh, waving her off. "Working for others is way too slow. Haven't you heard that saying? Robbery and arson bring the gold-laced belts."
His grin widened as he looked toward the distant city skyline. Since she was pressing for answers, he might as well be honest.
Why not just rob soone?
This three-man crew of theirs was practically made for that kind of operation. A chaotic neutral squad of weirdos? Co on, the "steal from the rich and give to the poor" routine was practically calling their na.
He refused to believe that in a place as money driven as Kazimierz, every business mogul was squeaky clean. All he had to do was knock a few skulls and squeeze the right throats—money would pour in like water.
Besides, what was the point of honest labor? Hard work was just a polite way of getting exploited by rich bastards. Better to beat them at their own ga—and shake out a few sacks of gold while he was at it.
As he flashed an evil little grin, a faint rustling ca from behind him.
He didn't even need to turn around.
Click
Like a switch being flipped, the peacefully sleeping Specter suddenly ca to life. Her mouth curled into a crazed, bloodthirsty smile as she mumbled sothing in a voice far too cheerful for the words she spoke.
"Kill kill kill! Spill it all! Heaven gives birth to ten thousand things to feed man, yet man has nothing to repay heaven with! Purge them all!"
The violent poetry that poured from her lips was… extrely out of place, especially given the nun-like robes she wore. If Steven didn't already know she was clinically insane, even he would have started running for his life.
He was only joking, but Specter? Specter didn't know the difference.
And in so places, ntally unstable people killing others wasn't even technically illegal. Whether that applied to this world was anyone's guess—but the way she was grinning made it clear she didn't particularly care either way.
"All right, all right, we'll 'purge them,' sure. Just don't purge , and we're good, okay?" Steven said, adjusting her so she didn't fall off his back.
Luckily, she seed to have so kind of instinctive aversion to attacking him. Once she heard his voice, she cald down—though her little hands were still twitching in anticipation, making slicing motions on his back like she was cutting invisible throats.
Compared to these two increasingly unstable lunatics, Skadi seed almost too normal.
She simply nodded, expression calm.
After all… now that she thought about it, robbing people for money…
Didn't sound like the worst idea in the world.
< >
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