Published: February 1, 2026
Around noon today, news finally spread among the adventurers that Ain and his group had conquered the labyrinth.
Speculation ran wild about how they had done something absolutely impossible by the strength of mere adventurers alone.
For a while, they would probably be badgered and praised to an annoying degree, but Ain and his group ignored it all and simply basked in their joy.
They had obtained the treasure they found in the deepest part of the labyrinth: one thousand gold coins. It would be strange not to be delighted.
Though apparently, their excitement had dropped considerably when they discovered those thousand gold coins weren’t in a treasure chest at all, but just scattered over the floor of a small side room.
Incidentally, they had already visited Lizel the previous night and handed over five hundred gold coins, just as promised.
Lizel had, impolite as it might be to admit, been inwardly surprised that they had honestly handed over half their reward without trying to cheat him.
But from Ain and his group’s point of view, they never imagined they could get away with deceiving Lizel and Gill, so this was only natural.
The previous night, they had showered Lizel with flowery words of thanks, then headed off in high spirits to celebrate their conquest.
“Each of them gets a hundred and twenty-five gold coins, right? Is that a lot?”
“If they’re thinkin’ of gettin’ good gear, more than half of that’s gonna be gone in a flash. And if they’re aiming for higher ranks, it’s obviously not gonna be enough.”
Now, that night, Lizel and Gill had come back to the bar where they had first met.
Gill sat at the counter and ordered liquor. Lizel hesitated, and the same fruit water as last time was placed in front of him.
Watching the rows of bottles behind the counter with interest, Lizel took a sip of the fruit water.
It was less sweet than before, which suited his taste perfectly.
“It’s delicious.”
“……”
At Lizel’s smile, the proprietress only flicked her gaze his way and nodded silently.
She was never much of a talker to begin with. She wasn’t friendly, but her skills were real, so customers never stopped coming.
Lizel quietly set his glass down and, with one hand behind his back, took a cloth pouch from his belt.
It was a pitch-black pouch embroidered with gold thread. When he placed it on the counter, the clink of coins rubbing together sounded.
The pouch lay exactly between Lizel and Gill, but Gill didn’t look at it. Resting an elbow on the counter, he looked only at Lizel.
The calm face that so often wore a smile had lost it now.
Just by existing, that face carried an air of purity, and those languidly sweet eyes, which made people feel benevolence regardless of his true feelings, stared straight into Gill without wavering.
Seeing that face, Gill finally understood why younger people would end up attached to him if he spoiled them with that expression.
“Thank you for this past month.”
It had been exactly one month since Lizel and Gill met.
In other words, the original contract Lizel had proposed ended today.
“I couldn’t manage to use up all my money after all.”
“You went and earned a stupid amount right at the end…”
Lizel’s teasing smile made Gill click his tongue and grimace.
He wasn’t truly frustrated. It had only ever been a probe in the first place, since he had no idea how much money Lizel actually had.
His reaction was simply a protest against Lizel, who brushed it off so easily and then teased him.
Even without looking, it was obvious the pouch was full of gold coins.
And from one glance, it was clear that was far too much for a single month of looking after him.
Lizel had spent the month learning the going rates; he could not possibly be ignorant of them. So this was no mistake.
Leaving the pouch sitting on the counter without touching it, Gill knocked back his drink.
“That’s a hell of a lot.”
“It’s gratitude. And a reservation.”
“A reservation?”
The way he said it, as if their business was done and he meant to walk away, made Gill openly frown.