Chương 82: Payment

They ended up not joining the celebration. General Marlowe had looked positively devastated when Levi informed him that they wouldn't be able to stay. He looked even more pained when the three of them refused to accept any additional rewards. However, in Liliya's words, they were just doing their jobs. General Marlowe didn't protest after that; he understood that to insist would be to trample on both their pride and his.

Without any further delays, Levi, Liliya, and Andevar swiftly boarded their mounts and left the city of Canum. The ice flowers had begun melting, the magic imbued within them dissipating. The result was simultaneously a rather picturesque and grotesque sight; the water and blood intermingled to slowly submerge the thousands of corpses. Canum's garrison had already begun the arduous task of cleaning up the mess.

Hundreds of soldiers fanned out to manually use [Loot] on all the monsters; the skill automatically stripped their remains of anything deemed valuable before decomposing them to dust. The spoils of war had been left entirely to Canum for their rebuilding efforts. That had left not only General Marlowe but also his men within earshot choking up. Clearly, they weren't used to such generosity from adventurers.

They had probably anticipated the city going hungry for a while as everyone scrounged up enough funds to repair the considerable damage.

"We didn't have to leave so quickly," Andevar muttered as they rode through the field. Levi glanced at him from where he was absently casting Cleave to clear a path before them. Sever acted as a fine scalpel while Cleave was more a sledgehammer. Paired together, the two formed 'Sever and Cleave', Levi's signature attack; however, for use cases like these, the raw force of Cleave alone better suited Levi's needs while being more magically efficient.

"What do you mean?"

"We could've stayed for the celebration. After how you saved the city, they would've undoubtedly given you a hero's welcome. Showered you with adoration and gifts." Levi raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't save them for that."

"I know. Nevertheless…" Andevar trailed off, looking a little guilty. Levi's gaze softened.

"You looked like you were in a hurry to get back to Luxanne. I didn't want to delay things any longer than necessary."

"Why?" Andevar asked, sounding hopelessly confused.

"You don't even know the reason why I'm in such a hurry."

"I don't need to. You pushed yourself so hard and took on so many missions because you needed the money for something important, right? Something urgent." Andevar hesitated. Then, he gave a small nod.

"Yeah."

"Then that's all I needed to know," Levi said simply.

"If you can't afford to stay for the celebration, then we don't have to. Besides, I'm not the biggest fan of crowds anyway. Much less crowds where I'm the center of their attention." His instincts always made his skin itch like crazy, akin to getting hugged by a swarm of mosquitoes. Like right now.

"Levi," Liliya murmured as she cast a glance behind them.

"They're–" And Levi smiled.

"I know." With that, they left Canum behind, General Marlowe and his five hundred men standing at attention with respectful salutes, bidding them farewell. Later that night, when the ever-full moon hung above them in the sky, they reached a small village around the halfway mark between Canum and Luxanne. It was located in a dead zone: an area with no magical leylines running underneath and very little ambient mana present. These zones typically had extremely low monster activity.

They were not to be confused with 'death zones', which were areas suffused with above-average ambient mana, thus resulting in high levels of monster activity. They checked into the village inn, which was really just the mayor's home that he rented out to travelers. The mayor, a kindly old man, welcomed them as though they were his own children. As he served them a home-cooked meal in his kitchen, they learned that indeed, his children had left the village long ago to try and make a living in the capital.

"I worry for them sometimes," the mayor said quietly, his eyes becoming unfocused as steam drifted lazily from the stew on the table.

"City folk don't tend to look too kindly on villagers like us. Though," he smiled as he looked between Levi, Liliya, and Andevar, "perhaps times are changing if two nobles are in the same party as a commoner." None of them had the heart to correct him. The mayor's house was large, easily the largest in the entire village, but even then it was small by Luxanne's standards. He had only one guest bedroom, within which were four bunk beds, two on each side.

The upper beds were suspended by a combination of rope and chains. Despite how structurally unsound it appeared, it had a rather cozy vibe. Levi and Liliya entered the room and began setting up defensive traps as Andevar stood at the doorway, frozen in place. After several seconds, Liliya looked over from where she was booby-trapping the window.

"What?"

"We're all sharing a room," Andevar said slowly, his eyes flickering around anxiously as though there was a prismatic camera concealed somewhere. Liliya nodded.

"Yes." On their way to Canum, they had stayed in a different village. The inn there had been large enough for them to each have their own rooms. Andevar stared at her like she'd just told him to put his hand into a vat of boiling oil.

"But…"

"But…?" Liliya repeated, brows furrowing. Levi looked over as well from where he was setting up defensive enchantments, interest in his gaze.

"But you're a girl!" There was a faint red dusting Andevar's cheeks. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Liliya blinked.

"I am. And?"

"A-And we're two guys!" Andevar said, flustered.

"We can't share a room together! It's not proper!" A hint of amusement entered Liliya's eyes.

"Don't worry, it's not like we're taking our clothes off." Andevar gaped at her cavalier attitude. He looked to Levi for assistance, but Levi merely shrugged. Realizing that neither of them were overly fussed about it, Andevar bit his lip and fell silent. It was around three in the morning that Andevar left the room. He quietly got up from his bed, tip-toed over to the door, opened it silently, looked behind him to make sure that Levi and Liliya were still fast asleep, then shut it without a second glance.

Several moments passed. Then, Levi and Liliya both stopped feigning sleep and sat up in their beds.

"Where is he going?" Liliya asked quietly.

"Bathroom break?" Levi shook his head.

"His pulse was too erratic for it to be a mundane reason."

"Hmm. Follow?" Levi nodded. Cloaked with invisibility and sound-deafening spells, the two of them followed Andevar as he made his way through the village. Their eyes narrowed when Andevar left the village altogether and began retracing their path from earlier that day. After around thirty minutes, the ambient mana grew stronger. Andevar veered off the path and entered a small forest to the side.

"Where is he going?" Liliya asked quietly.

"Why is he sneaking out the village in the middle of the night to go to a forest?"

"I don't know," Levi said slowly. Soon, though, the reason became clear.

"Hah!" Andevar let out a battle cry as he charged at a gigantic snake. It hissed menacingly as it coiled in preparation. Levi and Liliya watched as Andevar fought the snake with all his might. With tremendous effort, he was able to slay it with his massive axe. Then, three snakes took its place. Andevar tossed himself at them with another battle cry, sweat pouring off his face and moonlight reflecting off his glasses.

"Is he… training?" Liliya said, sounding impressed. Levi hummed.

"Maybe." That explanation didn't feel right, though. And so, when Andevar finally collapsed, a pile of snake corpses around him, Levi undid the stealth spells obscuring them.

"What are you doing?" Andevar let out a high-pitched scream as he practically leaped into the sky. He landed in a low crouch, axe at the ready, only relaxing when he saw it was just Levi and Liliya. Strangely, his expression grew a little ashamed.

"Oh," he said.

"It's you two."

"Were you training?" Liliya asked, stepping forward.

"It's dangerous to be here alone." Andevar didn't respond. Levi answered for him.

"It wasn't training," he said.

"You don't sneak away from your teammates in the middle of the night solely to train." His eyes were intent as he examined Andevar.

"You were farming them for the loot, weren't you?" Andevar swallowed. Then, after several moments, he nodded.

"What?" Liliya scrunched her eyebrows in bewilderment before she understood.

"For money?" Andevar nodded.

"But why? You're risking your life, going out by yourself like this. We just finished a platinum-tier mission. You're going to get paid very well–""It's not enough," Andevar said, not meeting their eyes.

"Especially after redistribution." Levi frowned.

"Redistribution? What is that?" Liliya was frowning as well; she didn't seem to be aware of this term either.

"You know," Andevar said, staring down at his shoes. One of them had a hole in it.

"Redistribution. For the mission payment. You two will be getting the lion's share of the reward, no?" Levi and Liliya exchanged a glance.

"What?" asked Levi.

"I don't blame you or anything," Andevar went on hurriedly.

"I didn't go on this quest expecting equal shares, and–""Andevar, what are you talking about?" Levi asked, cutting in.

"Of course we're splitting the reward equally." Andevar stared at him.

"We are?"

"Yes…" Levi said slowly.

"Isn't that normal?"

"No?" There was a moment of silence. Levi glanced at Liliya.

"Am I going mad? That is normal, right?"

"I think so?"

"No, it most certainly isn't," Andevar said.

"On quests where nobles and commoners are in a party together, mission rewards are automatically redistributed to be 70-30, noble-favored. And that's just the base split."

"That's ridiculous," Liliya said, aghast.

"Who said that was a thing?" Andevar shifted.

"I mean… It's official Guild policy?" Levi and Liliya exchanged another glance, their horrified expressions mirroring each other. Andevar was still looking down, so he didn't see it. Instead, he clenched his fists.

"When I first graduated, I joined a party of five. Other Institute graduates. I did most of the work, but when we went to get our payment for the missions from the Adventurer's Guild, my payment was far smaller than theirs. It was only then that I learned about the redistribution policy. That's why I did only solo missions after that." Neither Levi nor Liliya had any experience with normal parties – their party with Qorbin had been anything but normal. Levi supposed it made sense.

Of course nobles would set the system up in such a way that it disproportionately benefitted them. Especially since many of the 'good' missions weren't even available to the public; it was all about connections. That meant that most commoners had no choice but to join a party of nobles if they ever wanted to go on a higher-tier mission, even if that meant receiving much lower pay. Andevar hadn't even complained. He must've thought it was normal. Hell, for most adventurers, it probably was.

"So from the very start…" Levi said.

"You thought we were going to take most of the payment?"

"Well… Yeah? I mean, again, I'm not complaining," Andevar said hurriedly.

"You did most of the work on this mission; Canum wouldn't be alive without you–""I never paid you for my most recent homework assignment, did I?" Levi said suddenly. Andevar blinked.

"What?"

"Yeah, I must've forgotten. Sorry about that, it completely slipped my mind. Man, I sure am late on the payment, huh? Probably racked up a bunch of late fees. Tell you what, why don't you just take my share of the quest reward and we'll call it even?"

"W-What?"

"I am sorry, Andevar." Now, it was Liliya's turn to speak.

"But the truth is… I used to steal the lunch you brought every day to the Institute."

"... I ate cafeteria food every day–""The guilt is getting to me," Liliya said, her expression completely serious.

"I must pay you back, otherwise I'll never get another good night's sleep." Andevar stared at them both.

"You guys…" His eyes were a little bright.

"Thank you." They reached Luxanne the next day. The gate guards waved them through – Levi noticed their stares linger on him a bit longer than usual. They immediately made their way to the Adventurer's Guildhall in the middle of the city. Inside, they lined up at the clerks. There weren't too many adventurers in the Hall, and soon, they found themselves next in line. They had a letter from General Marlowe stating that they'd completed their mission, stamped with his crest.

As soon as the clerk read their names in the letter, however, his eyes flicked back up. Oddly, it wasn't Levi or Liliya he looked at, but rather Andevar.

"Andevar Baker?" he asked quietly. Andevar nodded hesitantly.

"Yes?"

"The hospital asked us to pass on an urgent message to you when you returned from your mission. Your mother's condition has worsened significantly. She has about a day left." Andevar's entire body stiffened.

"What?" he croaked out.

"They asked me to deliver that message yesterday." The clerk's expression was full of regret and pity.

"I'm sorry, son. If you hurry, you might make it in time to say goodbye."