blueteamnovel Chapter 81 There's no such thing as a free lunch
Chapter 81 There's no such thing as a free lunch
As the swordswoman slowly recovered, the others also rested for a while. The battle had left everyone in a state of stress—they needed some time to calm down.
Five minutes later, the mercenary tested her left leg and felt that the muscles could function normally. She finally stood up and looked at the halfling in front of her, her face pale.
"You're a complete and utter bastard... I've seen through you, halfling..."
"And you're still alive. You're welcome, Miss Mercenary."
"If you call me 'Miss' again, I'll cut your head off," the mercenary threatened weakly.
"Yes, yes, Blade Girl, I'm so scared of you. You took down those kobolds, right? You're pretty good. Too bad you were unlucky."
Geb patted her shoulder gently and said casually:
"The hostages are all yours now, I wish you good fortune."
Then they headed towards the kobold camp—the dwarf Dulin had already run over there to rummage through the chests and boxes, and Geb didn't want to miss the exciting moment of opening the chests.
Besides, we need to ask the dwarf to check the value of the gems on this ring—what if they're worth several thousand? We can't let them go to waste.
Geb became more and more excited as he thought about it, and his pace quickened until he was out of the mercenary's sight, leaving the two girls at the entrance of the valley.
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The female mercenary's gaze shifted to the little girl in the corner.
The little girl sat on the rock with her hands in her pockets, ignoring everyone.
The woman with the sword walked over to the girl and sat down beside her.
"What's your name?" the woman with the sword asked.
"..."
"My name is Dove," the mercenary said softly, her tone unexpectedly gentle.
"..." The girl still didn't speak, but turned to look at the swordswoman, her eyes swollen.
"Do you have somewhere to go?"
The girl hesitated for a moment, then shook her head.
"No family?"
The girl glanced in the direction of the kobold camp, then lowered her head, her eyes reddening.
"Mom told me to hide under the car... There were so many fires and so many noises that night... Then it got quiet, but I was too scared to come out... Ugh... Until the sun rose, the kobolds came..."
"...Where's your father?"
The girl shook her head.
"Grandfather? Grandmother? Uncle? Aunt?"
The little girl thought for a moment, then said with a choked voice, "My grandma's house is in... Silverwater City."
Dove frowned. Silverwater City, outside Shanhaiguan, was the heart of the Thirty Years' War.
Thousands of miles away.
Just as the female mercenary was about to speak, the little girl suddenly said:
"Why did you let him take my ring... That's not fair!"
Dove was stunned by the stubborn and resentful look in the eyes of the little girl in front of him.
She looks exactly the same as she did back then.
The mercenary hesitated for a moment, then took a deep breath and said seriously to the little girl:
"There is no such thing as fairness or unfairness in this world. What you cannot protect will be taken away by others."
"But you guys can do it... so why aren't you helping me?!"
"What good would it do us to help you?"
"I..." The girl choked, speechless. She kept her mouth shut, panting heavily, her face flushed, and tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Gebu saved you and then took your ring, so that's fair," the mercenary continued. "There are far more injustices in this world than that—this is the price of weakness."
"I don't need you to teach me..."
The girl said this in a huff, turning her face away from the mercenary. The little guy fell silent, gazing into the distance, lost in thought.
She seemed to have understood something important; her expression was half sadness and half resentment.
"If you're useless, no one will help you... There's no such thing as a free lunch."
The little girl muttered to herself.
Dove glanced at the profile of the person beside him and gave a barely perceptible smile.
The female mercenary struggled to her feet, supporting herself on her knees, and began collecting the scattered javelins and spears from the ground.
"Hey, hostage."
The woman said to the child.
"What are you waiting for? Come and help!"
The girl looked at the woman with some confusion. A few seconds later, she realized what was happening, quickly wiped her nose, jumped off the rock, and ran over to help pick up the things.
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The dwarves were busy searching everywhere in the kobold camp.
Gebu entered the camp, looked around, and found that the dog-headed man named Tutu was gone, leaving only a trail of blood leading to a crevice in the mountain covered by vines—
This guy has a pretty strong will to survive... He'll live even without eggs.
Gebu had no interest in continuing to track it; let it go. Goodbye, Dragon Knight Tutu.
He took two steps to walk behind the dwarf—what is this guy looking for?
The dwarf rummaged through the kobolds' trash for a long time before finally grabbing a box.
Hey, found it?
Gebu peeked at the box from behind. There were no special markings on it. It was made of wood, a bit old, and had a keyhole. It looked ordinary and unremarkable.
Dulin quickly pulled out a key from his waist, inserted it, and opened the box to take a look.
Inside the box, there is a folded piece of paper?
The dwarf opened the picture halfway, saw the pattern on it, confirmed it, and then let out a long breath, his tense face finally relaxing.
"Found it! It's alright...it's good that you're alright..."
The dwarf's body blocked the blueprints, so they were no longer visible; all that could be seen was that they were blue...
"What is this?" Geb asked.
"Oh dear!" The dwarf was startled. "No...it's nothing, just dwarf stuff, it's worthless."
He quickly folded it twice and put the paper back into the box.
"oh."
In that instant, Gebu saw a line of large characters drawn on the back of the blueprint.
"Machina: Anima Vas"
Hmm? Ancient sage's words?
Geb scratched his head. How did this dwarf know the language of magic?
Does he also know magic?
The dwarf smiled at Geb, revealing a face full of wrinkles.
"Found it?" Geb said, not wanting to expose the dwarves' secret, as it wouldn't do him any good.
"Found it." The dwarf gave a thumbs-up.
"And the reward?" Gebu reached out his hand.
"Uh... unfortunately, we didn't find any gold coins here... it seems we'll have to wait until we reach Chifang Town to give you your reward."
This was within Gebu's expectations; the gold coins had undoubtedly been taken by the first humans to raid the camp. This unremarkable box was the only reason it escaped their grasp and ended up in the hands of the kobolds.
"Don't worry, you can pay me back when we get back. I trust the reputation of your Jinkra clan... By the way, the names of your dwarf clans are quite strange."
"That's not surprising. Our clan has been jewelers for generations, and carat is the unit of weight for gemstones—it couldn't be more fitting. By the way, I haven't asked you yet. Your name is Gebu, what's your last name?"
"Forest."
"Your name is Geblin?"
"Ah," Geb replied.
The dwarf scratched his head. "Halflings shouldn't have surnames like... 'Swift Feet' or 'Flying Over Grass' or anything like that, right? Even if their surname is Lin, they shouldn't be named Gebu..."
"Uh...maybe it's because my dad has a better sense of humor?" Geb replied somewhat awkwardly.
"...It seems that halflings have a different sense of humor than dwarves."
The two remained silent for a moment, somewhat awkwardly.
Gebu began to speak:
"...Want to hear a joke, buddy?"
"you say."
Two brothers were walking in the rain, but only the younger brother got soaked. Do you know why?
"Why?" the dwarf asked.
"Because I don't get wet," Gebu said quickly.
……
……
……
The silence at this moment is so heavy that it could be recorded in history.