CH 106.1

Katarina’s sword dance was impeccable.

Sometimes heavy, sometimes fast.

Her ever-changing sword dance can deal with a variety of opponents.

If there is a problem, it’s Katarina herself using the technique.

“You must have felt so in yesterday’s combat, but you are not using your skills duly.”

No matter how excellent a technique is, if used without thoughtfulness, it is worse than a run-of-the-mill horizontal slash used at the opportune timing.

The sparring between Katarina and Neria the day before yesterday was staunch proof of that.

Katarina jutted out splendid sword dance moves from beginning to end, no doubt, but she couldn’t even scrape Neria’s skin. On the other hand, Neria subdued Katarina with minimal movement, not even her brilliant skill set at use, even throwing away her shield and sword.

This is the difference between knowing how to use your skills properly and not to.

“There’s nothing better than gaining experience through actual combat to get the gist of it.”

I slapped three sheets of parchment on the table.

Shedia, Neria, and Katarina’s gazes were fixed on the parchments.

“What are these?”

“Maps marking the location of dungeons.”

I answered Katarina’s question.

Inside the dungeons marked on the map, lay the weapons of epic proportions once used by the Heroes of the Kingdom of Prona, now inert.

Something they told me themselves, so there’s no doubt about it.

‘I couldn’t get hold of an answer to my question as to why they’d made dungeons to hide their weapons.’

It’s stranger when you think about it now, but at that time, maybe it was for the best?

Regardless, it will be easier to level up Katarina, so it was not a bad outcome.

“The three of you can form a party and explore these dungeons.”

“The three of us? You aren’t coming?”

“I have to keep my hold here. I am the only one who can deal in case of any unexpected situation.”

“But…”

She knew the state of the city, so Katarina, despite herself, kept herself from expressing her exasperation.

I smiled and spoke.

“I have prepared all the equipment and consumables necessary for dungeon exploration, just load them up. Listen carefully to Neria in the dungeon. She knows more about dungeons than you do. Neria, you are the leader of this party. Take good care of the two of them.”

“…alright, leave it to me.”

Neria nodded her head.

Everything after that happened quickly.

They packed up their belongings and headed out for the dungeons. I looked at the backs of the girls leaving the city and spun around.

The spot where my steps halted was in front of a large building located in the center of the city.

Building belonging to a guild, the owner of which and all of his family members had died during the Heavenly King Incident, and so the building was unoccupied. Past tense.

We were currently using this place as a temporary administration hub.

When I opened the door and walked in, I could see piles of documents and people reviewing them, milling around here and there. These are people who originally worked for this guild, and we hired them temporarily when they lost their jobs.

They knew how to read and write, as they were the ones who worked for the upper strata.

“Ah, Hero?”

The one spotting me was a woman carrying loads of paper as she bowed her head.

“What are you doing today?”

Anxiety flickered in the quailing eyes.

I waved my palms.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t bring you a new assignment. I just came to see Leslie.”

“Is that so…”

She breathed a sigh of relief.

I couldn’t find in her the fresh impression when we had first met.

I could only see the face of a salary man who was tired of overtime.

Ooh, look at those dark circles.

Poor lady was definitely not a zombie.

“If it gets hard, take a short break and do it. If you work without rest, you could die from overwork.”

“This is what you brought me yesterday.”

She pointed her chin at the heavy pile of papers she was carrying. The pile of stacked papers reached from her belly button to the chest.

“Your sacrifice will be remembered, comrade.”

I patted her on the shoulder and made my way upstairs. I felt a stinging gaze from behind, but I ignored it and opened the door to the room where Leslie worked.

“Whoever came in without knocking, rude is… Oh, if it’s not Mr. Cloud.”

The furrowed brows relaxed when they found me.

I tilted my head at the pile of papers piled on her desk.

“The amount of documentation seems to be the same as yesterday, do I assume it to be a hallucination?”

“No hallucination for you, only unending work for me. Whenever I finish one, a new one comes in.”

Leslie said, rubbing at her dark circles with her fingers. Because of her pure white skin, her dark circles stood out distinctly.

“Looks like there’s more work than I thought.”

""

“Yes. From the money to be donated to the church, to the money to be assigned to the citizens who have become homeless, to the money allotted into rebuilding the city. Just sorting the budget… there are so many popping up that I feel like I’m going to explode, but with complaints coming in… I have no time to rest.”

“Are there complaints coming in?”

“Yes. These are complaints from citizens, most of whom were wealthy. Aren’t they the ones who suffered the most this time around? As a result of that, they are forced to incorporate themselves into the working class dependably, so there are begging us to do something.”

Perhaps her head hurt, Leslie sighed and pressed her temples.

“May I help you?”

“If you do, I will be grateful. Would you like to sit next to me?”

“Sure.”

I pulled a chair and sat next to Leslie.

As I turned my head to ask what I could do, her soft redness pounced upon my lips. Before I could react, her tongue squeezed in.

– Chep… Chewp… Churp…

“Haa… I feel like my head is clearing up a bit now.”

Leslie parted her lips and put on a look of satisfaction.

“Is this what you were asking for help with?”

“Yes. Sitting next to me and giving me your lips whenever I want. Isn’t it so? My ‘salary’?”

“…yeah. Do whatever you feel like.”

As I raised my hands in a gesture of surrender, she smiled and pressed our lips together again.

– Chewp…