Chương 71: The Smiling Tiger

Happy, right?

A smiling tiger, huh?

Just you wait, I'll sink you into the sea and feed you to the black sharks in a little while!

Seeing the hypocritical expression on Bill's face, Richard sneered, took out his lute to encourage his teammates, and said loudly, "How come a busy man like you has time to come all the way to this little fishing village to wait for us?"

Bill smiled and shook his head:

"There's nothing I can do. Who told you to ally with the goddess's enemies? No matter how busy I am, I can only make time to see you."

"As for why I was able to guess that you would come here... it's probably because I carefully read your mission report when you cleared out the snake people, and I know that you are not people who can be judged by common sense."

"When everyone thought you would escape Phoenix City as soon as possible and head to Turbulent City and Red Mountain City, I wondered if you would do something unexpected again? Like, take the waterway?"

"As it turns out, I guessed you were thinking correctly... From this perspective, we might get along very well and be good friends."

So you choose to entertain your friends with arrows and golems? That's pretty cool.

But you're really smart. Back in Starsword, only William could keep up with your train of thought...

Richard pursed his lips, then reinforced Levin and Hammer with the Adamantine Shield, before losing interest in further conversation and preparing to begin the battle.

But then Bill changed the subject: "Gentlemen, I was serious just now. Before we continue fighting, could you please let me say a few words?"

Richard raised an eyebrow: "What do you mean?"

Bill replied, "What I mean is, as a believer in the goddess of wealth, I still hope to resolve this issue in a way that minimizes cost and risk. For example, I could offer you some compensation in exchange for laying down your weapons and voluntarily handing over that halfling."

Amy, who was singled out, trembled.

Richard, however, looked disdainful.

Bill continued:

"After all, you've only just met this half-human, right? He's hardly your friend, so why are you risking your lives for him? It's just not worth it."

"Of course, I know you're worried that even if you surrender, the church will still eliminate you completely... but you've really misunderstood the church. We are pragmatic, and everything is negotiable."

"If you demonstrate sufficient value, we can abandon the option of murder and instead sign a contract with you."

"With the goddess as our witness, we'll use a contract to manage the risks, and then set out hush money and hefty penalties for breach of contract..."

Richard, on the other side, was completely stunned.

A good deal? A contract? Hush money? Penalty for breach of contract?

Ah, no wonder it's the Church of the Goddess of Wealth.

So, when you faced the Red Dragon, you also felt that keeping me around wasn't worthwhile or economical, so you simply agreed to let Jostein throw me off the carriage?

Thinking about this, Richard gradually became angry.

But his anger didn't make him lose his temper; instead, it made his thinking clearer and faster, leading him to notice several suspicious points...

Golems are expensive and slow-moving. How did Bill manage to get so many and place them in the small fishing village?

Moreover, this guy speaks much slower than when he was an adventurer. Could it be that his personality changed after he became a priest?

Or……

He frowned, suddenly raised his hand, and unleashed a shattering sonic wave at the four golems beside Bill!

Under the surge of energy, three of the four golems melted away rapidly, just like snowflakes in the sunlight!

Richard, along with the three members of the Forest Arrow Squad and Amy, stared in astonishment.

So, only one of the four golems was real, and the others were just illusions?

No wonder this priest kept trying to persuade them to surrender; he simply didn't have enough fighting strength and was just trying to buy time while waiting for more reinforcements to arrive!

Fortunately, the poet saw this, otherwise we...

All four broke out in a cold sweat, then looked at Richard with admiration.

Across from him, Bill's face immediately darkened.

"So you found out... Oh well, so what if there's only one golem? It's enough to stop you bottom-level adventurers..."

boom!

Before he could finish speaking, Grace had already rushed in front of him with a smile, like a whirlwind, wielding the heavy sword that Jostein had kindly gifted her, and slammed it hard into the golem's shoulder!

Because of its sturdy material, the golem did not fall apart, but it could not withstand the terrifying impact of the copper dragon lady and was knocked to the ground, lying on its back.

Meanwhile, Richard and the Forest Arrow Squad also launched an attack.

Peas and crossbow bolts, the summoned wolves and dwarf warriors—the four of them combined their attacks into a torrent, fiercely charging towards the four mercenaries beside Bill!

Two of them were killed on the spot, three were seriously injured, and the last one tried to escape but was hit by Richard with a shattering sonic wave, and lay on the ground bleeding from all seven orifices.

Bill barely managed to save himself thanks to the two shields of piety that he activated in succession.

As he watched his own men fall to the ground like overturned golems, a huge question mark and an even bigger exclamation mark popped into his mind.

Yes, he was different from the Phoenix family. He knew that Richard and his group were quite powerful, so he pretended that he had many golems on his side at the beginning in an attempt to avoid a battle.

But he thought that even if a battle really broke out, his side, with its larger numbers and that golem, could still hold out for a while until reinforcements arrived.

Unexpectedly...

Did they really lose so quickly?

The opponent's strength was actually higher than he had overestimated!

Their previous reports about eliminating cult members were all true, without a single exaggeration. Are they even adventurers?!

No, I can't tough it out...

I need to go back and bring the detailed information to the teacher!

Bill's Adam's apple bobbed slightly. Without further hesitation, he pulled out two specially made gold coins from his pocket and tossed them into the air.

The next second, one of them turned into a golden warhorse, while the other split into six semi-transparent warriors in golden armor.

He then had six summoned warriors block Richard and his men's path, mounted his horse, and galloped off into the distance.

Before leaving, he only left one sentence:

"Going against the church is pointless; you're just going further and further down the wrong path..."

Richard rolled his eyes.

That sounds impressive, but why don't you try to slow down the horse's hooves?

These two spells are quite interesting, though. A special version of Spirit Guardian and Mount Finder from the Church of the Goddess of Wealth...

Despite his curiosity, Richard didn't delve too deeply into the matter due to time constraints. Instead, he focused on cooperating with his teammates to eliminate the remaining enemies as quickly as possible.

Fortunately, those six semi-transparent golden-armored warriors looked magnificent, but their strength was about the same as that of a level 1 professional, allowing Levin to easily blow their heads off with a crossbow.

Even more fortunately...

From the perspective of the crossbowman, these summoned creatures could actually be counted as heads!

[That felt great! My life with crossbows is now complete!] You have received a gift pack from the Moonfire Crossbow.

Richard: "!"

You should have said so earlier! If you had, I would have turned into more wasps and let you kill them!