Chapter 2: Thirty copper coins.

The road back to the city wasn’t particularly long,
but for Hill, it felt like a grueling test of willpower.

Every time she lifted her leg,
the muscles in her thigh sent sour protests aching through her body.

Every breath she drew,
felt as though her lungs were scraping against rough sand.

This body called Hill truly had atrocious endurance.

Yet the person walking beside her—Phyllis—looked as relaxed as if she were merely strolling through her own garden.

This self-proclaimed lost healer, despite wearing long robes that clearly weren’t suited for vigorous movement,
hadn’t even broken her breathing rhythm once.

“Miss Hill, would you like to rest for a moment?”

Phyllis stopped once again, looking at the sweat-drenched Hill with visible concern.

“The road ahead is a bit rough. I can cast a Featherweight spell on you…”

“No need.”

Hill took a deep breath and stubbornly straightened her back.

“Magic power is a precious resource. It shouldn’t be wasted on something trivial like hurrying along the road.
Besides, I have to get used to this level of physical exertion.”

If she didn’t push this body to its absolute limit,
the muscles would never grow.

That was an iron rule she had learned in her previous life as a warrior.

“…You really are a strict person, aren’t you?”

Phyllis blinked, a faint glimmer flashing through her eyes.

“A Miss Hill who is so strict with herself… is really dazzling.”

“I just don’t want to die by the roadside.”

Hill didn’t take the words—which bordered on flattery—seriously.

She adjusted the bag of moonlight grass in her hand and quickened her pace.

Ordis Adventurers’ Guild.

The moment Hill placed ten stalks of moonlight grass and the massive corpse of the gray wolf onto the counter,
the entire hall fell silent for a beat.

Especially the same receptionist who had earlier advised Hill to go wait tables—his eyes nearly popped out of his head.

“This… this is a forest gray wolf?”

The receptionist examined the carcass.

“One-hit kill. Severe strangulation marks around the neck… caused by advanced binding magic?”

His suspicious gaze darted back and forth between Hill’s slender, thin arms
and the smiling Phyllis standing behind her.

Clearly, no matter how he looked at it, this didn’t seem like something a level-1 rookie like Hill could have accomplished.

“It was Miss Phyllis who—”

Hill began to explain.

“Miss Hill was the one who discovered it.”

Phyllis cut in smoothly before Hill could finish.

Her voice was clear and pleasant, instantly drawing the attention of the surrounding adventurers.

“This wolf tried to ambush us. Fortunately, Miss Hill reacted extremely quickly and acted as bait to pin it down,
which allowed me to calmly complete the casting from behind.”

“If I had been alone, I’m afraid my throat would have been torn out long ago.”

She clasped her hands together and gazed at Hill with open admiration.

“The calm and composed way Miss Hill faced the magical beast—it really carried the bearing of a knight!”

Hill was momentarily stunned.

While the facts were more or less accurate,
Phyllis’s version had artfully glossed over the part where “Hill was nearly bitten to death”
and instead emphasized the tactical value of “Hill bravely serving as bait.”

For a newcomer’s reputation, this was an enormous protection.

The originally contemptuous looks around them subtly shifted.

While no one thought this silver-haired girl was particularly strong yet,
at the very least they no longer regarded her as pure dead weight.

“Ahem, so that’s how it was.”

The receptionist withdrew his disdain and began calculating the reward.

“Collection quest reward: 3 copper coins.
The gray wolf’s pelt and magic stone are quite valuable. Although it was a joint kill, since you brought it in together…
how about 1 silver coin and 50 copper coins total?”

That was a fortune.

In this world, one silver coin equaled one hundred copper coins.

Hill’s original goal had only been the three copper coins needed for black rye bread.

Hill accepted the coin pouch; its satisfying weight made her previously injured wrist dip slightly.

Without hesitation, she opened the pouch, poured out the single silver coin along with most of the copper coins,
and pushed them toward Phyllis.

“This is your share. You were the main damage dealer. I’ll just take the pay for luring and gathering.”

Though Hill desperately needed money,
she had no intention of taking advantage of someone—especially not someone whose strength far surpassed her own.

Yet Phyllis did not reach out to take it.

She clasped her hands behind her back, leaned slightly forward, and looked at the pile of coins with a troubled expression.

“Oh dear, this is difficult… Actually… I am currently practicing austere cultivation.”

“Austere cultivation?”

Hill frowned.

“Yes. I belong to the Ascetic faction of the Church. Apart from necessary food and lodging, I am not permitted to hold excessive wealth.”

Phyllis lied without the slightest change in expression,
yet those pure, flawless blue eyes overflowed with sincerity.

“If I accept this much money, my prayers will lose their effectiveness.
So… could I trouble Miss Hill to hold onto it for me? Or… consider it a thank-you gift for guiding me back to the city?”

“That’s too much.”

“Then…”

Phyllis’s eyes darted around before landing on the guild’s announcement board in the corner—specifically the day’s special menu posted there.

“If Miss Hill really feels bad about it, how about treating me to dinner instead? I happen to be hungry too.”

Hill followed her gaze.

It was the guild tavern’s signature dish: braised beef with white bread. One portion cost 15 copper coins.

To the former Rayne, this would have been something not even worth rinsing his mouth with.

But to the current, penniless Hill, it genuinely counted as luxurious indulgence.

At that exact moment, her stomach let out a small, traitorous gurgle.

A flush instantly crept across Hill’s cheeks.

This body’s physiological reactions were far too honest.

“…Fine.”

Hill quickly gathered the coins again, hiding her embarrassment.

“Since you insist.”

In a corner of the tavern.

The steaming plate of braised beef arrived, its rich aroma instantly awakening every starved cell in Hill’s body.

She picked up the spoon and tried to maintain dignified table manners,
but the speed at which the spoon traveled to her mouth betrayed how desperately her body craved the food.

Delicious.

The meat juices soaked into the soft white bread; warm food slid into her stomach, slowly replenishing the stamina she had completely exhausted.

“The way Miss Hill eats is just like a little squirrel.”

Phyllis sat across from her, cheek resting on one hand.
Her own plate had barely been touched.

She simply narrowed her eyes, attentively watching Hill chew.

“…Stop staring at me.”

Hill swallowed a piece of beef, feeling slightly uncomfortable.

“Because you look so happy.”

Phyllis smiled and picked up her napkin, naturally reaching across the table.

“There’s something on the corner of your mouth.”

Hill instinctively wanted to pull back, but Phyllis’s movement was too swift and too natural.

The napkin, carrying a faint floral scent, gently wiped the corner of Hill’s mouth.
Through the fabric, her fingertip brushed—barely—against Hill’s lips.

A fleeting touch, then gone.

“…Thank you.”

Hill murmured softly.

Ever since meeting Phyllis, she felt as though her entire rhythm of life had been swept into this gentle, slow current.

“By the way, Miss Hill, where are you staying?”

Phyllis asked seemingly casually.

“If you’re going back to the forest tomorrow, I’d like to continue accompanying you. I’m still not very familiar with the area, after all.”

“Old Oak Inn in the west district.”

Hill answered.

It was the cheapest inn in the slums—drafty on all four sides, with bed boards hard as stone and security that left much to be desired.

Upon hearing the name, a faint shadow passed through Phyllis’s eyes.

How could a place that filthy and chaotic possibly be fit for milady?

Rats, fleas, lecherous men…

Just imagining Hill sleeping there made her want to reduce the entire block to ashes.

But outwardly, she only covered her mouth in surprise.

“That place… the environment doesn’t seem very good. Is it really alright for a young lady like you to stay there?”

“It’s cheap. That’s enough.”

Hill wiped her mouth and set down the spoon.

“And I’m not some pampered young miss. As long as there’s a bed to sleep on, it’s fine.”

“I see…”

Phyllis nodded thoughtfully and said nothing more.

Suggesting that Hill move in with her right now would be too soon—it would only raise suspicion.

But now that she knew the location…

nothing could stop her anymore.

After dinner, the two parted ways at the guild entrance.

“Then, see you tomorrow morning at eight, Miss Hill.”

Phyllis stood in the afterglow of sunset, waving goodbye.

The evening breeze lifted her golden hair, making her look like an angel stepped straight out of a fairy tale.

“See you tomorrow.”

Hill nodded, then turned and melted into the dim alleys of the west district.

Though she didn’t want to admit it, that meal had genuinely allowed the nerves she had kept taut all day to relax just a little.

Phyllis might be a bit overly enthusiastic and strangely fixated on cleanliness,
but she was undeniably a reliable and generous teammate.

“If only she weren’t so clingy.”

Hill silently evaluated in her heart while patting the pleasantly heavy coin pouch at her waist.

With this money, at least she wouldn’t have to worry about starving this week,
and she could even buy some healing salve.

Once Hill’s figure had completely disappeared around the corner,
the smile vanished from Phyllis’s face in an instant.

The holy warmth dissolved without a trace; a bone-chilling coldness and frenzied obsession quietly rose to the surface.

She lifted the napkin that had just wiped the corner of Hill’s mouth and brought it to the tip of her nose, inhaling deeply.

The fragrance of beef mingled with the faint, distinctive milky scent unique to the girl.

“Ah… Hill… Hill…”

A low murmur rose from deep in her throat.

Then she took out a map from her bosom and viciously pressed her fingertip onto the location of Old Oak Inn, leaving a deep crescent-shaped nail mark.

“This cage is far too shabby.”

Phyllis murmured to herself, then turned and walked in the direction opposite the church.

That path led toward the dark alleys of the black market and underground guilds.

“I have to clean it up… I need to turn the place where Hill sleeps into the cleanest, purest place in the world.”

At that moment, two drunken men with ill intentions blocked her path.

“Hey there, little saintess, dressed all pure and holy—where you headed all alone?”

Phyllis stopped.

She raised her head. Her blue eyes held no emotion whatsoever—as though she were merely looking at two obstructing stones.

“Get out of my way.”

She said.

“I’m in a very good mood right now. I don’t want to dirty my clothes.”

Before the drunks could even sneer,
a pitch-black magical gleam flashed at the girl’s fingertips.

“Ah—!”

A short, sharp scream rang out in the alley, only to be immediately swallowed by the wind.

Thirty seconds later, Phyllis emerged from the lane.

She adjusted the hem of her pure white skirt, and that gentle, dripping-with-kindness smile returned to her face—
as though she had merely swatted two mosquitoes out of mild annoyance.

“I still need to prepare breakfast for Miss Hill tomorrow…
If it’s freshly baked honey bread, will she make that adorable expression again?”

Humming the melody of a sacred hymn, she cheerfully vanished into the night.