Chapter 13: After the battle, of course we have to dig up the bodies

I gently touched the two egg babies, seeing they’d gone back to sleep, and let out a sigh. Tucking them under the blanket, I took a deep breath, ready to deal with the bodies at the door.

Glancing at the time, it was nearly five or six in the morning—I got home around nine last night, slept a bit past midnight, and after the mental outburst and brain damage, five or six hours had passed.

Now I had a rough idea of how long it takes my brain to self-heal.

But first, I needed to handle the bodies.

Well, “bodies” isn’t quite right… they’re technically still alive.

Alive, but dead.

My mental storm destroyed their brain’s central nervous system, but their bodies kept functioning… except for the two my egg babies hit, who were outright killed.

Why was I so precise at targeting their brain’s core? Because I was a dark mage. Human anatomy was second nature—knowing the brain’s most vital, fragile parts was routine.

Still, six bodies at my doorstep was a problem. I had to deal with them.

I thought, grabbing my knife for protection and cautiously approaching the door.

Pushing it gently, I found it jammed by the bodies, only opening a small crack.

“Phew…”

I took a breath, saw no movement outside, and tossed the knife out lightly while squeezing through the gap.

…Good thing I’m skinny now; a normal-sized person wouldn’t fit.

I barely made it out and saw the six motionless mercenaries on the ground.

Among them was the guy whose finger I broke.

“…Hmph, as expected…”

I blinked, a chill flashing in my eyes, but then I shook my head at the six mindless husks.

“Blame your bad luck… ugh!”

I exhaled, then dragged the body blocking the door aside. It wasn’t easy—despite their lack of strength, they were burly men, and I’m a frail girl now. It took effort.

After clearing the door, I squatted by the six bodies, hands roaming over them—no, not like that! I’m not into guys!

But mercenaries carry money! Maybe even valuable items… For someone as broke as me, even one silver coin is worth grabbing!

I searched and found six coin pouches.

Sitting on the stairs, I counted… only twenty-six silver coins.

“Tch, broke losers.”

Six guys, and just twenty-six silver coins? I clicked my tongue, disappointed—I’d hoped for a hundred, but this was it.

Still, the money wasn’t the main prize.

The real loot was their gear.

I licked my lips and kept searching.

They smelled awful, like they hadn’t bathed in days, but I didn’t care—anything sellable was fair game.

Their armor and shields were too bulky to take or sell easily, so I focused on smaller items like daggers, knives, and trinkets.

After searching and thinking, I got three daggers, one knife, and three bottles of low-quality healing potions… That’s all they had. The valuable armor was too hard to carry or sell, so I left it behind regretfully.

“Phew… looting done. Now, the bodies.”

I blinked, then thought for a moment before pressing my hand to one mercenary’s head.

My barely-recovered mental energy drained fast, but I gritted my teeth, etching a tiny magic array.

Soon, I planted faint arrays in three mercenaries’ brains. They stood like zombies, each grabbing a fallen comrade and slinging them over their shoulders, then shambled downstairs.

The purely mental-energy arrays hijacked their destroyed nervous systems—lasting only fifteen minutes, but enough to get them to a nearby ditch.

“Ha… alright, time to sleep…”

I watched the six walking corpses descend, yawned hugely, and prepared to crawl back to bed—casting three small arrays nearly drained me again.

Tonight was too much. I needed sleep to function… and with this small haul, my immediate financial stress eased a bit.

Yawning, I thought to myself, then climbed into bed, hugged my egg babies, and drifted off.