Chapter 33: Two Hundred Gold Only Merits One Person
When Chenxi pushed open the door to the house, he had not expected to be back this early today.
At that moment, Liya was sitting on a raised chair, carefully wiping down the table. When she saw them return, a slightly dazed expression appeared on her face as well.
“Lord Chenxi, you have come back very early today.”
“Yes. There are a few things we need to discuss, and also...”
Chenxi looked at Liya and said with complete sincerity, “Just call me Chenxi. Or Captain. Either is fine.
There is no need for ‘Lord’ or anything that formal.”
“But...”
“No more ‘buts.’ It makes me very uncomfortable.”
He set the heavy pack down by the wall. The way Liya addressed him had been making him uncomfortable for quite a while now.
Before transmigrating, he had been an ordinary person. After transmigrating, he still considered himself an ordinary person.
Having someone older than him address him with that much reverence just felt... strange.
When she had called him that just now, it had made his skin crawl!
Hongxu also took off her axe and flopped down onto the sofa without any restraint.
“Home is still the most relaxing place!”
Lina brought over the slippers, took the pair from her sister’s hands, and placed them at Chenxi’s feet.
The corner of Chenxi’s mouth twitched.
Please do not do this. Truly.
Chenxi pulled out a chair by the dining table and sat down, motioning for Hongxu and Lina to do the same.
Hongxu immediately got up and sat close beside him. Lina sat across from him, her hands resting on her lap and her head slightly lowered.
Out of the corner of her eye, she stole a glance at Hongxu.
Honestly... that was far too fast!
“Old Jack showed me a commission I am interested in.”
A worried look appeared on Liya’s face. Any task serious enough for Chenxi and the others to come home and discuss first was certainly not going to be simple.
She was truly very satisfied with her life as it was now.
She was terribly afraid of that life being broken.
“The deposit alone is fifty gold. Once the commission is completed, the total payment, including the deposit, will be two hundred gold.”
Chenxi added that calmly.
Hongxu did not look very enthusiastic. Two hundred gold was certainly not a small sum, but she disliked escort missions.
There was no joy in fighting during them. How many battles could there even be on the road?
With bad luck, it was entirely possible for a mission to pass without a single fight.
Lina, meanwhile, parted her lips slightly in surprise.
Two hundred gold? In a small town like this, that was practically an astronomical sum!
What kind of escort was worth that price?
A faint unease rose in her heart. Her thoughts were startlingly similar to Liya’s.
She was very content with her current life.
She was afraid that something might disturb it.
“Do not rush.”
Chenxi lightly clapped his hands once, drawing the others’ attention back to him.
Their reactions were understandable. Even with his strength, it would still take nearly a month of going into the Dungeon every day and repeatedly encountering powerful and rare monsters to save up that much.
The purchasing power of gold coins was considerable. Hongxu herself had only cost ten gold.
Chenxi continued, “Old Jack said the destination and schedule would have to be discussed in person with the employer. The client is apparently a little strange.
She only said it is some small town in the north... We do not know how far it is, or how dangerous the road might be.”
His gaze fell on Hongxu and Lina as he continued his analysis. “If we take this commission as a full team... then two hundred gold is too little.”
Hongxu blinked.
“Too little? Two hundred gold is still too little? Boss, that is two hundred gold!”
She simply could not understand the way Chenxi was thinking.
“If the three of us all go, it absolutely is not worth it.”
Chenxi explained patiently. He had already guessed Hongxu would not understand.
“The time cost of going there and back, the supply costs on the road, the risks we might encounter, and the losses from potential battles... once you convert all of that, two hundred gold is not especially generous.
And besides...”
He paused and looked toward the kitchen.
“Liya needs someone to take care of her.
The three of us cannot all leave.”
When Liya heard that, guilt and disappointment flashed across her face.
But she quickly hid it behind a gentle smile and lowered her head to continue wiping away dust that was not even there.
“I will go alone.”
Looking at Hongxu, Chenxi stated his plan.
“If the employer’s terms are acceptable, the distance is not too great, and the risk is controllable, then I will take this commission by myself.”
That was the only arrangement under which it made sense.
Traveling alone meant better mobility, a higher risk-to-reward ratio, and enough strength left at home to protect Liya.
If the team traveled together, there really was not much to gain.
“No!”
Hongxu shot to her feet so abruptly that the chair legs scraped across the floor with a harsh screech.
Her reaction was so fierce that even Chenxi was startled.
“Boss, you cannot go alone!
That employer sounds strange. What if it is a trap?
What if you run into some powerful bandit group on the road?
No, absolutely not!”
She shook her head hard, her eyes full of seriousness and resolve.
“I am going with you! I will not be at ease otherwise!
And... and besides!
Ever since you bought me, we have never been apart!”
Lina raised her head as well, her gray eyes fixed on Chenxi.
She looked at him pitifully, as if to say that if he did not take her along, she would cry on the spot.
Chenxi looked at the emotional Hongxu and the mournful Lina.
He knew they were worried about him, but the practical problem still had to be faced.
“Hongxu.”
A note of sternness entered his voice. “Calm down and let me finish.”
Hongxu was cowed by his serious tone. Biting her lip, she sat back down in a huff.
But her eyes still remained fixed on him, as though insisting that he was absolutely not allowed to leave her behind.
“Life is not a game of make-believe. We do not get to do whatever we want.
We have to look at things from the perspective of profit.”
Chenxi deliberately softened his tone a little. If he had not been stern just now, Hongxu probably would have erupted on the spot.
“First, if the employer’s conditions are unreasonable, if the distance is too great, or if I feel it is a trap, then I will not accept it at all.
Two hundred gold sounds like a lot to ordinary adventurers, but for us it is only so-so.”
Hongxu and Lina nodded quickly. Over the past half month, Lina had already seen how much money Chenxi’s team could make.
“Second.”
Chenxi raised a second finger.
“What about Liya? Her body is still recovering, and she cannot move around easily.
If all of us leave, who will take care of her?
Liya is still recuperating right now. In the future, I plan to bring her into the team as well.
Should we ignore her just because she is physically weak right now and cannot help?”
“Well, I... I can look after myself...”
“No, you cannot.”
“I really...”
“No, you cannot.”
Liya lowered her head.
“I... I cannot.”
There was a faintly aggrieved note in her voice.
Satisfied, Chenxi nodded, then looked back at Hongxu and Lina.
Hongxu opened her mouth as if to argue, only to discover that Chenxi was right.
Liya really did need someone watching over her.
Leave Lina alone at home?
Do not be ridiculous. Was anyone truly expecting a priest to protect someone?
“The two of you will stay behind. That way, you can still go into the Dungeon during the day as usual and come back at night.
If it is only Lina here, or only Hongxu here, I will not be at ease.
Looking at it this way...”
Chenxi rubbed his chin.
“There are only two possibilities: either I go alone, or none of us go.
We cannot make Liya suffer through unnecessary strain. Her body cannot handle it.”
“I... I cannot handle it.”
Under Chenxi’s gaze, Liya lowered her head again, sounding even more aggrieved.
“If she stays home, then someone needs to stay with her.”
Hongxu nodded as well.
“That is true. You are right.”
Yes, she had been persuaded.
“And besides.”
Chenxi continued, “There is no guarantee we will even accept it.
Two hundred gold only sounds like a lot. Whether it is actually worth it depends on the negotiation.
If the employer’s demands are too harsh, or the destination is too far and too dangerous, then naturally I will refuse.
We can just keep going into the Dungeon instead. It is the same.
Ten or twenty gold is not worth that much trouble.”
Lina nodded along eagerly.
“Yes, yes. Captain, we can earn gold in the Dungeon just the same!
And it is freer too. On an escort job, we would have to listen to someone else, but in our team, all of us only need to listen to you.”
Chenxi once again pushed Hongxu’s face aside as she leaned close.
“That is true. Still, it is best to at least go and have a look.”
...
“So someone has accepted my commission?”
The girl wore an elegant smile as she took a light sip of black tea.
“Good. Then I shall trouble you to arrange a time for us to meet. I will inform him of our destination then.”