Chương 10: 04-2: The Chapel, Brigands, and the Nun

Flint Town had gone quieter by the time I returned. I delivered Erina to the small town church first. The elderly priest's clouded eyes went wide the instant he saw her—he nearly dropped to his knees right there. But when his gaze moved to the blood on my clothes, the sack in my hand, and whatever expression I was wearing that clearly read I killed several people today, his face went through several remarkable stages.

After that, the process was straightforward—at least compared to fighting for your life in a chapel. Town constable. Guild counter. Wanted register. Bounty confirmation. The golden-haired clerk maintained her professional composure right up until she turned to a specific page and her eyebrow rose.

"Hold on—is this the one-eyed man? Mug?"

"If you don't have a second person around here who looks like a rotten pumpkin with one eye, then yes." She looked up at me, visibly suppressing something that might have been amusement.

"Three standard brigands—one large silver each. As for One-Eyed Mug..." She set the page flat.

"Guild standing bounty: twenty large silver. Plus a private noble supplement of three gold coins." I froze.

"How much?"

"I stated it quite clearly." When she pushed the coin pouch across the counter, her expression stayed perfectly composed—but her eyes said: Please don't faint in this state, the cleanup would be inconvenient. I didn't faint. But I was fairly certain my grip on that pouch was tighter than anything I'd managed with a sword today. She turned another page.

"The private supplement was issued because Mug's group stole a luxury expedition carriage commissioned from a capital workshop several days ago. The client is a noble. The carriage remains unaccounted for." My expression didn't change. I nodded.

"I see." Internally, I was thinking with perfect calm: So what I dragged into the back alley isn't just a carriage. It's a rolling catastrophe. But a catastrophe with extraordinary value. And more importantly—for people in our situation—something very close to a mobile base of operations. Outside the guild, even the night wind felt agreeable. People really are shallow. Money in your pocket makes the cobblestones feel like they're cheering you on.

That pleasant feeling lasted exactly until I reached the inn's back alley.

"Oh, you're back, little lordling." Jessi, naturally, spoke first. She leaned against the wall with arms folded, smiling like a fox who'd just finished raiding a henhouse and was already eyeing your purse. Moonlight caught the side of her face, making those eyes look bright and dangerous. Lucas stood beside her clutching a spell-book larger than his own face, expression solemn as a man taking inventory of someone's estate. Then Jessi's gaze moved past me to Erina, who had quietly followed me back.

The air went briefly, distinctly quiet. She looked at me. Then at Erina. Then down at my blood-soaked clothes and the sack in my hand. One eyebrow climbed slowly.

"... I sent you to check on a delivery commission." She said it with great deliberation.

"You went to a slaughterhouse and came back with a woman?"

"If you genuinely want to know, I can start with the slaughterhouse part."

"No need." She raised a hand immediately, nose wrinkling.

"You currently smell like a fishmonger who fell into a barrel of pig's blood. I'd like to survive dinner."

"Impressive timing on the insults, as always."

"I can't help it. I'm always honest with you." This woman would rather die than go two hours without drawing blood. Lucas accepted the sack from me. His face went white immediately.

"This—there are heads in here?"

"What were you expecting?" Jessi glanced at him.

"Sweet rolls?"

"At least sweet rolls don't have faces—" I ignored both of them and tossed the bounty pouch onto the wooden crate nearby. The heavy thud it made turned both their heads simultaneously. The speed was almost impressive.

"Bounty," I said. Jessi blinked. Her smile went from sharp to blinding.

"You've suddenly become very attractive, little lordling."

"Three seconds ago you said I smelled like pig blood."

"Money helps."... Right. Currency over everything. I opened the pouch. Large silver coins and gold caught the lantern light. Lucas drew a sharp breath. Jessi let out a low whistle. Even Erina, who had been standing quietly behind me, visibly startled at the sight of the three gold coins.

"Three standard bounties, one major, plus the private supplement." I kept my voice as level as I could manage.

"Starting tonight, we don't have to fight over black bread anymore."

"I wouldn't mind fighting you over something better," Jessi said brightly. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

"That's not about minding. You were born with a knife pointed at other people's wallets."

"Thank you for recognizing my strengths." I breathed in slowly, turned away from her, and walked toward the far end of the alley—toward the shape covered by a torn canvas sheet. I'd been thinking about this since I left the guild. Mug had earned his extra bounty not for being particularly ugly, but for stealing a luxury expedition carriage commissioned from a capital workshop. That meant trouble—the high-class, well-connected kind that might have someone following the trail all the way to the capital.

But it also meant value. Extraordinary value. And for people like us, right now—something very close to a mobile base. Wind moved through the alley. The canvas snapped.

"What did you drag back this time?" Jessi asked from behind me.

"Please not more heads," Lucas added quietly.

"Not heads." I took hold of the canvas edge and looked back at them.

"Worth considerably more than heads." I pulled it off in one motion. Even Jessi's eyes went wide. Under the torn canvas sat the deep blue luxury expedition carriage. Despite the deliberate concealment, it clashed absolutely with the moldy, filth-stained alley—like a gemstone shoved into coal dust. The silver trim caught the lantern light in cold flashes. The axles were thick and solid. The ornamental paneling ran all the way to the door edges, and the handle alone was more refined than most inn front doors.

Jessi was quiet for one full second. Then she practically pressed herself against it.

"... This is a carriage?"

"Currently not resembling a coffin, no."

"That's not what I—!" She ran her hand along the door, eyes lit up in a way that was genuinely alarming.

"This isn't anything a town merchant would own—" She pulled the door open. Inhaled sharply.

"There's a bath in here?" Her tone was more stunned than it had been at the gold coins. I looked at her.

"Is your relationship with bathing unusually intense?"

"You don't understand." She turned to glare at me with complete seriousness.

"For a woman, being able to wash without freezing to death is called civilization."

"For me, not sleeping in a stable is civilization."

"Then you have a long way to go." Lucas had drifted over by then, studying the markings along the side panel. His expression moved from surprise to something closer to reverence.

"There are permanent inscriptions here... not just one kind. Weight reduction, spatial expansion, and an outer layer of basic defensive shielding. This isn't from an ordinary workshop. You'd need capital-grade inscription craftsmen at minimum." Jessi turned to him immediately.

"Speak Common."

"Expensive."

"That I understand."

"Not ordinarily expensive." Lucas swallowed.

"If you took this to a proper market for appraisal... it would likely approach one hundred gold coins." The alley went silent. This time I went silent with it. I'd known it was valuable. But when one hundred gold coins actually came out of Lucas's mouth, it felt like being struck in the skull with a full coin purse. Jessi turned her head slowly toward me. First came shock. Then excitement. Then something considerably more dangerous lit up behind her eyes.

"Little lordling." Jessi ran her tongue along the corner of her mouth, smiling like someone about to rob the royal treasury.

"I'm suddenly very glad you went to that chapel." I didn't respond. I was watching Erina. From the moment the canvas came off, her expression had been tight in a way that went beyond simple surprise. This was anxiety she was actively working to suppress. She knew this carriage—knew its history—probably knew more than I'd assumed. She wasn't saying anything, and I wasn't going to push. Not yet. Then rapid footsteps echoed from the alley entrance.

The old priest came around the corner, breathing hard, a young church attendant trailing behind him. When he spotted me, he braced himself against the wall and caught his breath before speaking, voice unsteady.

"Lord Cedric... please forgive this old body for arriving so late."

"If you're here to thank me, tomorrow morning works just as well." I looked at him.

"I'm tired enough right now that I'm starting to feel like one of the corpses." The priest gave a pained smile, then drew a small pouch from his robes and held it out.

"This is what the church can offer as thanks. And... there is a request." I took it. Heavy—clearly more coin. Jessi's gaze locked onto it immediately.

"I've decided I like this old man very much," she said with complete sincerity.

"You like the money, not the man."

"Money is the crystallized effort of human labor. I respect people who work hard."... She has a twisted justification for everything. When the priest's gaze moved past me to Erina, his expression shifted into something more complicated. Not the way you'd look at an ordinary novice. More like looking at something sacred—precious, fragile, and absolutely not allowed to be lost.

"Please..." His voice dropped.

"Escort Miss Erina to the capital." The alley went still. Jessi's eyebrow climbed slowly. Lucas, clutching his book, wore the expression of a man who'd been expecting exactly this. I looked at the priest and didn't answer immediately.

"Since you clearly know she's not an ordinary novice," I said, keeping my voice level, "you should at least give me a reason that doesn't sound like a death sentence." The priest lowered his head, visibly weighing how much to say. After a few seconds, he spoke in a low, measured tone.

"I cannot say everything here. But the brigands who attacked the chapel today weren't after valuables. They were looking for her. Keeping her in Flint Town will only draw more people into this." Erina pressed her lips together slightly—but didn't deny it. Good enough. Incomplete, but pointing in the right direction. I looked at her directly.

"And you?" Erina raised her head. Golden lashes caught the lantern light as they trembled faintly. She seemed to be reaching for her usual composure, but exhaustion bled through anyway.

"... I have to reach the capital." Jessi made a small sound beside me.

"What a nuisance. Another one with secrets."

"You have any standing to say that?" I shot back immediately.

"I've at least never worn a nun's habit."

"That's not a point in your favor." She gave me a smile that clearly said it might be, and I made the executive decision to pretend I hadn't seen it. Lucas raised one finger, like a student preparing to correct the teacher.

"If we're genuinely planning to travel with this carriage and Miss Erina, I'd recommend addressing the visibility problem first. This vehicle is far too conspicuous. Without disguise work, we'd be marked before we cleared two waypoints." I looked at him.

"Can you manage it?" Lucas pushed up glasses that weren't there—a habit apparently too ingrained to notice—and straightened his spine with effort.

"Visual concealment and basic outer interference, yes. I can make it read as an ordinary farm wagon, and layer two warning inscriptions over the doors and axle. Anyone who tries to tamper with it in the night will at least question their life choices afterward." Jessi nodded immediately.

"I like this plan."

"You like that someone else is doing the work so you don't have to."

"You understand me better every day, little lordling." She looked genuinely pleased. I pressed my fingers to my temple and exhaled at length. The road from Flint Town to the capital was not going to be peaceful.

My current party consisted of: Jessi, whose tongue was sharper than her knife and whose hands were faster than her conscience; Lucas, academy-trained, not much use in a fight but at least functional above the neck; and Erina, whose origins were suspicious enough and whose actual identity was probably significant enough to get people killed. And I was standing at the center of all of it. Not a combination that promised quiet days.

But then—I looked down at the bounty pouch still warm in my palm, then up at the deep blue carriage. A bed that didn't let the wind through. A roof that kept the rain off. Enough space to keep Jessi at least three feet from my face. And most importantly— The only real capital we had. I stepped forward and pressed my hand against the carriage door. Cold metal, absurdly refined. Jessi watched me, eyes lit like she was waiting for a fuse to catch. Lucas held his breath.

Erina watched quietly, as if waiting for a verdict. I let out a long breath.

"This carriage—" A pause. I could feel myself pushing things in a more complicated direction. But somehow—just imagining no more sleeping in stables, no more gnawing bread that could break teeth, no more waking up wondering if the rain had turned me into a stray dog overnight—I decided the complication was worth it. So I finished the sentence.

"—I'm claiming it." Jessi blinked once. Then she laughed. Sharp, bright, with undisguised excitement—like someone had finally lit the fuse she'd been waiting on.

"Good, little lordling." She tilted her head, smile pulling wide.

"I always knew you weren't really the well-behaved type underneath." And looking at this group of people who were absolutely guaranteed to turn every road ahead into chaos— I found, strangely, that I didn't mind at all.