Your Majesty's money, why don't you engrave my name on it?

"Okay." Leslough nodded and leaned over to remove a tile from the roof.

As a cunning jackal attempted to circumvent Black Arrow's already precarious frontal defense and prepare to attack from behind, the sound of an object bursting through the air jarred the eardrums of the monsters and humans below, simultaneously exploding the jackal's skull. Black Arrow hastily withdrew, using his remaining arrows to kill another gnoll before withdrawing and looking diagonally upwards.

"Only once," Leslaufer mouthed to the crowd below, turning and catching up with the other three.

What a pity, the mercenary thought silently in his heart.

If Angelita had been a little more kind-hearted, he could have had some meat today, but the girl didn't give him the chance and let a passerby pick it up for nothing.

Reslover deliberately slowed down his pace and fell behind, listening intently. Like a drunkard who still smells the scent of alcohol even after quitting, he was also "sniffing" himself, but the fight in the alley on such a small scale really didn't have much "smell". After just a short while, Reslover could no longer hear any sound.

"Mr. Racelover?" Daisy saw Racelover falling behind, so she slowed down and walked over to him, teasing, "What are you listening to? Can you really tell who won?"

"It's hard to say," the mercenary shook his head. "I can't hear anything now. It could be the end, or it could be a last desperate stand."

"Are you really listening?" Daisy's face changed and she muttered, "I was just joking..."

"Just some insignificant hobbies. As for you, was what Black Arrow said earlier true?"

"At least the part about me is pretty much the same," the bard argued, assuming they disliked her harboring a fugitive. "How do I know the dwarf is a bad guy? He doesn't have an alignment grid to show me if it's in the three evil columns. Besides, even if he did, it wouldn't mean anything..."

"What a mess!" said Rathlough, interrupting her chant with a violent gesture. "What does he look like?"

"What did he look like?" Daisy thought for a moment. "You've got the point, then. That dwarf was quite distinctive. He was very tall, almost as tall as us, and as strong as a boulder. But his beard was burnt yellow, not very attractive."

It was definitely Vondar. Reslaufer got the answer he wanted: "Then why did you hide him? From your description, he doesn't really need your protection."

"No matter how strong he is, he's just an ordinary man," Daisy gestured at the matte in her hand. "But I know magic. He said he needed to find a place to hide, so of course I can protect him!"

"When I met him, I was earning some money in the square. He came over like a beggar, and I thought I had taken over his stall!" Daisy laughed so hard that her body shook, but the movement that accidentally touched her wound made her smile disappear in an instant. "Turns out, it wasn't him. He liked my violin and said he could rebuild it and make it even better!"

"Let a blacksmith modify your wooden piano?" Bella raised her eyebrows. "Good idea."

"Hey, what do you know, you druid?" Daisy said with a proud wave of her hand. "That's a dwarf, a dwarf!"

Chapter 69 Taking a day off

I'm very sorry, I have a lot of work to do these two days, so I'm taking a day off.

Chapter 70: Gods of the Empire

Dwarves, known for their ability to build anything, are strong and reliable. The vast majority of this race are considered skilled warriors, miners, and craftsmen, a stereotype shared by almost everyone in the world.

Considering Reslaufer's own past experience in Haidong, this cannot be considered wrong.

"But be careful he might give you a pure steel 'piano,'" the mercenary shrugged. "Then you can really use it to blow people's brains out."

"Pure steel—" Daisy was stunned for a moment, then screamed, "That's impossible! Do you know how heavy this guitar is? Replace it with steel? I might as well put four wheels on it and ride it around!"

"That's a good idea. You can mention it to him. By the way, since you are such a kind person, willing to help a dwarf you have never met before and who is not even a different race, have you asked his name?"

The poet thought for a moment: "Uh, Havhell?"

"Banqiu, Vondar Banqiu." Leslaufer turned and nodded slightly towards Angelita. "That's him."

"Do you know him?"

"This warhammer, his craftsmanship!" Angelita held up her weapon to show off to Daisy. "Look at the owlbear head on it!"

"Ah, ah..." Daisy admired politely, and then secretly made up her mind that if she really wanted to ask the dwarf to modify her piano, she would never let him leave any animal decorations on it.

The aesthetic concepts of dwarves and humans in this world are different, and the difference between them and hers is even greater.

But then again, she couldn't do that now even if she wanted to - if Black Arrow hadn't lied, the dwarf had disappeared shortly after she had charmed the demon follower and left following the clues she provided.

And another point is that her injuries have not yet healed. Although her life is no longer in danger, it is unknown how long it will take for such serious injuries to be completely healed.

"This shouldn't be the case..." On the way back to the hotel, the poet finally couldn't hold on any longer. She stumbled and almost fell to the side of the road. Fortunately, Angelita and Bella beside her quickly supported her. "How long have I been holding you up? Don't even think of six seconds. It's been six minutes! How come you're still—"

"Your injury requires six months of rest to eliminate any root causes," Leslaufer glanced at her. "Six seconds? Even those ogres in Haidong can't heal that quickly!"

"But I've seen characters like that before only get a bonus action after being lifted up, and can act normally the next turn!" The bard started to talk nonsense. "I've even been healed by a healing spell! Right, Miss Bella?"

The druid became visibly embarrassed. "Well... theoretically, that's right."

"But?" Daisy narrowed her eyes, waiting for the other party to continue.

"But... druids are different from priests. We won't try to bypass the natural healing process. That wouldn't be consistent with our beliefs. Furthermore, even for priests and divinities, since they worship different gods, the effectiveness of their divine healing spells varies. Most of them are probably only slightly better than a druid's healing spells."

When it comes to saving the dying and healing the wounded, the believers of the resurrection goddess Kolesil clearly have an absolute advantage.

Bella gave Daisy a brief introduction to the empire's pantheon: In the empire, there are eight gods corresponding to different fields who are worshipped by the royal family, and therefore naturally become the main force of faith in the empire.

Serak, the god of knowledge and the arcane, who rules the realm of knowledge; Kolesil, the goddess of resurrection, who rules the realm of life; Eldath, the tranquil one, who rules the realm of nature; Aston, the god of fire and light, who rules the realm of light;

Angora, the light drinker who has the power of death, Haifakus, the primordial who holds the power of storms, Evandra, the lord of change and the path pioneer, and Okchuwa, the god of war and commerce.

"Temples and worshippers of these eight gods are the most common throughout the empire. If someone is injured or sick, the first people to look for are of course the followers of Goddess Kolesil. If there are none, followers of Eldas and priests of Aston like me can also be trusted," Bella explained further. "But you know the effect. Ordinary believers like me don't have much power."

Daisy gave Leslough and the others the impression that she had never heard of these gods. Only when she heard the names of Eldas and Evandra did this bard, who should have been knowledgeable, react.

"But... I don't understand?" Daisy's eyes were full of confusion. "That's it? Only eight? Where are Selûne and Shar? Where are Helûm and Vol'jin? Where are Loviatar and Sune?"

"Stop, stop," Daisy said, naming a series of names that might be gods, completely shocking the druid, who knew little about them. Angelita had no choice but to interrupt Daisy. "Bella just mentioned the eight gods worshipped by the imperial family, that is, the Matt family. Miss Daisy, those you mentioned should be gods from other places, right?"

"Don't worry, the Empire won't oppose these beliefs. As long as your deity teaches people to be good, it will be listed among the righteous gods of the Empire and can be worshipped. I'm not sure about the others, but at least Ms. Suni's followers will not be inconvenienced at all."

I could even enter the palace and become the princess's etiquette teacher, Raslaufer thought silently in his heart.

Daisy nodded blankly. When she was quiet, she didn't look crazy at all. Instead, she looked even more beautiful than Angelita in her women's clothing. Unfortunately, this scene couldn't last long. When Daisy had roughly digested all this, she immediately let out a nonsensical sigh with the most exaggerated expression:

"So... this really isn't the Sword Coast?"

Where is that?!

"This is Xinmu City, Miss Daisy," Angelita had to remind her, "but if you're eager to go to the place called 'Sword Coast', you can ask Uncle Leslaufer. He's been to many places and might know where it is."

"Thanks, but that's not necessary," Daisy waved her hand. "It's just... a place name in the story. Don't mind it. I'd be surprised if you ever told me you found it!"

"But now, Miss Bella, look at me like this. Am I really going to stay in bed for six months? I feel like my bones are falling apart."

"Like I said just now, if you want to get better quickly, the priests of Klesir can help you," Bella spread her hands. "Due to the considerable friction between the druids and Xinmu City, it might be difficult to find the church of Eldas here. However, the Goddess of Resurrection is always welcome."

"The only problem is... those priests usually charge quite a bit." Bella looked at the poet, who was wearing only a thin, blood-stained shirt, with some embarrassment. "Miss Daisy, do you have any money?"

Chapter 71 Gold Pound

Daisy naturally only had a few copper and silver coins on her at the moment, but she said she had saved a few gold coins from her performances in Xinmu City. Hearing her say this, the others helped the poet back to the tavern where the lumberjack had undergone the strange transformation.

The first floor of the tavern has been almost renovated, and the owner who had held Daisy back from going out to die recognized the bard as expected, and enthusiastically sent the bard's luggage away after letting a few people stand to the back - with the mentality of sending away the plague god.

only……

"Where's my money?" Daisy's eyes widened as she searched through boxes and drawers for her purse, but to no avail. "Boss, when you packed my luggage, didn't you see a cloth bag? It contains all the money I've earned these days!"

"You didn't bring it with you?!" The boss looked even more surprised than she was. "You haven't come back since that day. I thought you at least remembered to bring the money! I didn't even see it when I was helping you pack!"

"Daisy, you've lived here for a while. You know me. How could I possibly steal your money? It's hard enough for a girl like you to make a living outside—"

The tavern owner thought about it, and the thunder seemed to ring in his ears again. Finally, he decided to swallow back the words "not easy enough".

"I know, I..." The bard stood up dejectedly. A moment later, she immediately became furious. "That assassin! It was that bastard! He stole my money, it had to be him!"

She didn't believe that her boss would steal her money, nor did she believe that Vondar Banqiu would do such a thing, so there was only one truth, and that was that damn assassin!

He sneaked into her room, and after looking around without finding anyone, he simply took away her most valuable thing - her money!

"What, assassin?" The boss looked confused. It was impossible for someone like him to detect the whereabouts of Black Arrow. He knew nothing about it.

"What should I do? Should I go back and get it?" Bella blinked. "I can go back and forth quickly. I can turn into—"

"There's nothing left now," said Leslaufer. "Although the gnolls look like beasts, they're not real beasts. They or their masters also need gold."

"So what should I do?" Daisy collapsed on Angelita as if all her strength had been drained away. "Can I save enough for my treatment within six months?"

"Even if I could, I'd have to go without food or water for six months—and most importantly, why would I even have to work?!"

Daisy couldn't help coughing. When she let go of her hand that was covering her mouth, there was a small pool of bright red blood on her palm - her wound must have opened again after all the tossing and turning.

"Miss Daisy, you..."

"Never mind, it's okay. It's nothing. I'll just eat dirt." Daisy forced a smile, pushed Angarita away and stood up again. "Thank you, sincerely. Thank you too, boss. You're all great people."

"But I think we should just leave it at that for now. This is all my own fault. If I hadn't fought alongside you and then meddled in other people's affairs, perhaps this wouldn't have happened."

"I thought I was a hero, the protagonist, the origin character, but now it seems, haha..." Daisy smiled and shook her head, "I don't think I found the load button, so that's it."

"Anyway, I'm just a little weak, right? I have hands and feet, a mouth, and a piano. I can survive, and live well. Even if I can't... at least I'm still doing what I like. I like music."

Daisy bowed to each of them, picked up her matte, turned around and prepared to walk out the door - the most urgent thing was to find another place to stay.

"Miss Daisy, you can actually continue to live here with me." Seeing the poet's pitiful and destitute appearance, the tavern owner no longer had the heart to care about whether it was auspicious or not. He opened his mouth and tried to get Daisy to stay in the store again, "I can not charge--"

"No need to bother you," Angelita's voice suddenly rang out. She stretched out her hand to stop the boss from speaking, and in her other hand, a heavy, yellow, long object suddenly appeared. "Ms. Decarios, please wait a moment! I can cover your medical expenses!"

"No need for that. I know without even thinking about it that those priests' fees are definitely not cheap." Daisy turned around and was about to give this kind half-elf "brother" a strong but resolute smile, but the next moment, her eyes were fixed on the object in Angelita's hand. "What is this...?"

It was a block of metal that was three centimeters long, two centimeters wide, and only half a centimeter thick. It was finely cut and had rounded corners, as if it had been born in this shape - but that was not the most important thing!

This thing, if Daisy had received even a gold coin in recent days, she would not mistake it! This thing is gold!

"This is a 'gold pound', or you can call it a gold brick." Noticing the surprised looks from Daisy, Bella, the tavern owner and even Leslough, Angelita blinked innocently and tossed the metal bar in her hand.

Gold bricks are not real bricks and are not that big, but just a small piece like this can weigh a full 500 grams.

"Gold pounds?" The tavern owner stared at the gold bars in Angelita's hand and swallowed hard.

After all, he opened a tavern in a big city like Xinmu City. Of course, the tavern owner would use a virtual unit called "gold pound" which was equal to one hundred gold coins when keeping his own accounts, but he had never seen anyone have a real, physical one!

"It's 'gold pound'." Angelita corrected in the Imperial language with a pure Magpares accent. 'Pound' and 'pound' are pronounced basically the same in the Imperial language, except that the former is a unit of weight, while the latter is a unit of virtual accounting currency. It was the former that she wanted to emphasize with stress and tone.

The gold brick in her hand weighed one pound! Its value...during the reign of her grandfather, Henry III, would have been around six gold pounds. But now, with the increasing value of the new currency, it was roughly eighteen to twenty gold pounds, or six hundred imperial gold coins or just under two thousand new coins!

Leslaufer received the deposit for this commission across half the empire with just one palm from Angritta!

The two people present, except for Leslough and the tavern owner, did not understand the specific conversion. But even if "pound" and "pound" were regarded as one, it was still worth as much as one hundred gold coins. Not to mention letting a priest treat her once, it was enough to hire a priest to take care of Daisy every day!

"Thanks for the tip... Boss, you're so generous?" Daisy's eyes became dull and she started talking nonsense again.

Chapter 72 Light Drinker

"I don't think it's the right choice for you to take it out." Leslaufer glanced at the tavern owner, whose back was almost immediately wet with cold sweat. He wished he could dig out his eyes to prove that he didn't dare to have any greed.

If it were physical gold pounds, it would be fine. He had seen a hundred gold coins before, but this was different! Even if the tavern owner repeatedly hypnotized him not to have any unreasonable thoughts, could he really not?

How can it be!

"You'll get some money and go to a temple to lose your memory," Angrita said softly, looking at the completely bewildered tavern owner with some pity, "It's good for both of us."

"Understood, understood," the latter nodded quickly as if he had been pardoned. "Don't worry, I will never tell anyone about this. After today, even I won't remember it."

Even if he used his own hair to think, he knew that the girl in front of him, who didn't even look like an adult, was not an ordinary person. And even if he had the courage to be greedy -

"Think about the lumberjack." The mercenary's words made him completely sober.

"But...how do I spend this?" Bella stared at the gold brick in disbelief. She had previously thought she had seen through all of Angelita's disguises, but now it seemed she had been overconfident. "Just take it directly to the temple?"

"Let's go to the temple," Angrita nodded, "but not to the place where the goddess of resurrection is worshipped. We will go to find another god, the Light Drinker Angora."

"Sir, do you know where there is a temple to Angora?"

"I know, I know. It's a little far, but I go to a nearby brewery every Thursday to stock up," the tavern owner said quickly, wringing his hands behind his back. "How about I come with you? It'll give me a chance to forget about this."

"I think you're right. It's better for all of us to forget about it." Unconsciously, the boss had changed his address. And such a trivial flaw could very well bring him fatal disaster in the future.

"I don't understand," the druid frowned. "An... Barty, do you want to explain?"

"Do not."

Bella felt that the person in front of her seemed to have changed in just one word, becoming so far away from her, as if they would never meet again in their entire lives, but the next moment, it seemed like some kind of illusion.

"The priests will understand. That's enough, Sister Bella." Angelita forced a smile and went to greet Daisy. "Sister Daisy, please come over. We can help you over."

"I have a cart! I have a donkey cart!" The tavern owner didn't dare to watch this man helping others. He ran out the back door and prepared the cart.

Even if he hired a Xinmu puppet today, he wouldn't dare watch this young lady do it herself! He didn't know the origins of this half-elf, but he was guaranteed to be a marquis or higher! Because he had never heard that Earl Xinmu had even a single gold brick like that!

In fact, the tavern owner's estimate was still too conservative. Not to mention the Marquis, even the Grand Duke who was now confronting the Emperor in the central part of the empire might not have many gold bricks at home. Even if he did, they would definitely be different from the one in Angelita's hand.

"Aren't you worried that we might covet your gold?" Leslaufer asked coldly after the tavern owner left. "Even wizards would be tempted by such wealth."