The adventurer at the bottom is fantasizing again.

Chapter 113 Eileen: Lily is a good girl! (4K)

Piper shouted out some nonsense he'd heard from who-knows-where, his face radiating confidence and piety: "A highly respected old halfling once said that halflings never lie!"

"Did he ever mention that halflings snore?" Lorraine tried hard to suppress a laugh.

"Pip said it wasn't snoring! It was singing! It was singing!"

"Okay, okay, it's singing, it's singing."

Eileen leaned against the tree, watching the two of them bicker, completely forgetting what she had just wanted to ask.

Lorraine stood up again, glanced at the camp where the flames were dying down, kicked Piper who was still muttering nonsense about "digestive resonance" and "stomach brewing," and said, "Alright, alright, the fire is almost burned out. Go in and see what good stuff you have. If you don't get some loot, I won't have the money to pay for your barbecue feast."

The three of them returned to the camp.

The flames burned the tent down to its charred frame, with flickering flames still rising from the rough wood. The ground was a scene of utter devastation, littered with the corpses of jackals and hyenas.

Eileen stood before the mangled corpse of the gnoll leader, its chainmail armor almost completely burned away.

This guy is definitely hiding something from me... She glanced at Lorraine, who was happily rummaging through the ruins.

She was starting to feel afraid that she wouldn't be able to keep up with him.

No! Cheer up! You're Eileen!

Eileen cheered herself up and decided to go back and study the spell model of the second-circle spell [Mirror Image] properly.

She'd been holding onto the fact that Lorraine had said she'd be sarcastic; once she learned this spell, hmph...

"What are you thinking about now?"

Lorraine glanced speechlessly at Eileen, who seemed lost in thought.

He searched through the ruins for a while and found several spears and two short bows that had luckily escaped the destruction.

They must have been stolen from the watchtower by the jackals, but the poles had been burned to charcoal; only the spearheads could be salvaged.

There were also the weapons of the gnoll chieftain who had been rescued by Lorraine earlier—a long-handled sword and a longbow, both of ordinary quality, probably worth some money, which he had already left outside the camp.

"We've found traces of the sentries!" the little guy shouted.

"They're here."

Lorraine slung the two short bows across his body, carefully stuffed the spearheads into the backpack he had brought back, and then walked toward it.

On the ground of the gnoll chieftain's tent, Piper found three soldier nameplates. Although they were charred by the flames, the names and numbers engraved on them were still visible.

Lorraine used his dagger to lift the still-warm nameplate and quickly found the soldier's name that appeared in the journal—Jason.

There were exactly three nameplates; it seems they were all dead.

"I've avenged you."

He put the cooled-down nameplate into a compartment in his backpack, along with the duty log, and then clapped his hands.

"Let's go, an unbeatable barbecue feast!"

"Awooo!"

'

It was already dark when the three returned to the city.

Lorraine told the two to go back to the tavern and order some food, and to take the spoils back with them, while he himself went to the Viscount's mansion with the logbook and the attacker's identification.

After a brief announcement, a servant quickly led him inside and into the reception room.

The old butler, Marcus, had been waiting there for some time and was not surprised to see him alone, as if he had expected it.

He nodded to Lorraine and greeted him, "Mr. Lorraine, your efficiency truly surprises this old man."

"You're too kind. I'm sorry, I didn't bring any good news." Lorraine placed the three sentry nameplates and the duty log on the table.

Then, at the old steward's instruction, he placed the bag containing the gnoll chief's head and six gnoll left ears onto a tray.

Finally, a brief description of the situation at the watchtower and the gnoll camp was given.

The old steward listened to him in silence, then flipped through the logbook, examined the three nameplates, and finally sighed, saying, "Thank you for your hard work. The Viscount will have the city garrison send men to take over the watchtower, and we will make proper arrangements for the families of the three sentries."

He opened the cloth bag on the tray, checked the quantity, and then nodded, saying, "Please wait a moment while I go collect your payment."

"OK."

Marcus didn't keep him waiting long. After a short while, he returned to the reception room and placed a familiar small leather case in front of Lorraine. He said, "The bounty for a gnoll is 10 gold coins per gnoll, and 45 gold coins for the chief. I'll take these on my own initiative. You don't need to make a trip to the Adventurers' Guild to collect your bounty."

He smiled and opened the leather trunk, which contained rows of neatly stacked gold coins. He continued, "The reward plus the bounty totals 165 gold coins. They're all here; you can count them. If the Viscount wishes to entrust you with any tasks in the future, I will deliver them to you."

"Thank you very much, and please thank the Viscount for me as well."

Lorraine counted the gold coins one by one, without feeling that doing so was undignified.

However, the gold coins were stacked very neatly, with 50 in a row, making them easy to count. He finished counting them in just a short while.

Each of them received a full 55 gold coins this time, which is almost equivalent to a formal lower-level mission, and it didn't take much effort; at most, Piper suffered a minor injury.

This kind of safer mission is better. He already has 124 gold coins, which is enough to pay the remaining balance for the Rusty Throat Reforging.

If we take on a few more missions, and add the money from that shipment of goods and spell scrolls, we might actually be able to raise enough to cover the cost of injecting Rusty Throat.

"Then I'll take my leave, Mr. Marcus."

"This way, please. I'll see you out."

Led by the old butler, Lorraine left the manor and returned to the tavern laden with spoils.

The familiar aroma of roasted meat and wine wafted over, and his stomach, which had been busy all day, started growling uncontrollably.

"Good evening, Lorraine!" Gustav refilled a regular customer's glass of wine and greeted him with a smile.

The regular customer also recognized him, and after taking his glass, he raised it to him in return, calling out, "Hey! Good evening, ghoul hunter!"

Good evening, you two!

Lorraine responded with a smile and soon spotted the two of them.

The short guy occupied the largest table, which was covered with a dazzling array of roasted meats and sausages, and even a whole sliced ​​roasted lamb leg.

"Here! Lorraine! One!"

He waved a grilled rib at Lorraine, nearly spilling sauce on Eileen, who was munching on a small piece of bread while looking at a spellbook.

"My spellbook!" She moved aside in disgust.

"Hehe...sorry."

The short guy scratched his head, accidentally wiping all the sauce off his hands onto his head.

"How will you get along with the halfling girl you like in the future if you act like this?"

Lorraine patted the short man's head, used magic to clean the sauce off him, then sat down between the two of them and placed the leather suitcase full of gold coins on her lap.

"Pipe's still young! He doesn't want to find a girl! Piper's telling you..."

'

The short man was just excitedly preparing to tell Lorraine about "how women are," but out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Eileen secretly eavesdropping from behind her spellbook.

"Uh... anyway, we halflings aren't in a hurry... not in a hurry..." His words caught in his throat.

Lorraine grabbed a piece of toast to tide her over, then devoured a grilled rib, finally satisfying her empty stomach.

"By the way, aren't you still a minor? How old do halflings live? I think they live longer than humans." He took another sip of the dwarven special brew that had been prepared for him and had been placed on the table long ago.

"Wow...that feels so good."

"Bansen still... hiccup..."

The short man swallowed the meat in his mouth and burped again: "He can probably live to be around 150 years old. If Piper has dwarf blood, maybe he can live even longer."

If it's any longer... two hundred years old? Hair follicles indicate the little guy is currently fifteen to twenty years old; if we convert that to human years...

Lorraine froze in mid-air, her hand gripping the ribs, hardly believing the numbers she had calculated.

He glanced at the short man, whose body was covered in muscles and whose length was almost the same as his body.

Eight years old? This thing is equivalent to an eight-year-old human!?

"What's wrong with you?" Eileen looked at him suspiciously when she noticed his strange expression.

"It's alright."

Lorraine put down the ribs, picked up his cup, took a sip of the dwarven special brew to calm his nerves, and continued, "It's just that I suddenly feel a bit of awe at the speed at which halflings grow and develop."

The short man didn't understand what he was saying at all, and thought he was being praised, so he proudly shook his head: "Pip is so strong! Instructor Jill said Piper is the most talented halfling he's ever seen!"

Is it really that amazing?!

Lorraine was surprised for a moment, but then realized something was wrong—where the hell did this second halfling barbarian come from!

Eileen wasn't particularly interested in studying the ages of halflings. She picked up a small piece of bread, dipped it in jam, took a bite, nodded in satisfaction, and said, "Have you received your payment?"

"Of course, Marcus also paid the bounty for us. We got a total of 165 gold coins, 55 gold coins each. We'll distribute them to you when we finish eating."

Lorraine patted the box on his lap with great interest, then swiftly snatched the roasted rib from Piper's hand, which he hadn't yet had a chance to eat, took a bite, and said, "Now we have enough money for the Rustthroat reforging. We paid a deposit of fifty gold before, and we still need a hundred gold. After deducting this share of the profits, we'll still have some money left."

Eileen said in a cold voice, "We're still short of the money for the injection."

"You! Don't mention money when you're eating meat..."

""

Lorraine was furious.

"Then what are you going to mention? How did you use a fire arrow like a fireball? Or how did you single-handedly burn that gnoll leader to a crisp?"

Eileen gave him a playful look, then said, "Our dear ghoul hunter, would you be willing to enlighten this ignorant little mage?"

"Cough cough cough... Ah... the ribs seem a bit salty today. Don't you think so, Piper?"

Lorraine used the same trick again, changing the subject.

"No, not at all," the short man angrily betrayed him.

"Hey shorty, that's not fair of you! I paid for the whole barbecue feast, what's wrong with eating a rib!" Lorraine said angrily.

"Those are Piper's! You stole Piper's ribs!"

"No need to fight over it, I secretly brought you some barbecue. Hehe, good evening, you three great adventurers~"

Lily tiptoed over and served a plate of roast meat, glancing back at Gustav with a serious air, only to be spotted by the old man who was looking in their direction.

"These are for you! Eat up, lads! Oh... and Ms. Irene too, haha!" Gustav laughed and waved at them.

"Oops... I've been found out."

Lily stuck out her tongue, slung the tray over her shoulder again, and glanced at the three somewhat travel-worn figures. When she saw the short man's long, newly scabbed wound, she gasped softly in surprise, "By Lady Joy! You've gone on another adventure? Little Piper, your arm... ouch... does it hurt?"

"Of course it doesn't hurt anymore! Piper single-handedly took on six gnolls today! Uh... five or six... um... anyway, a lot! Piper smashed them all away!"

The short man immediately puffed out his chest proudly.

Lily obediently covered her mouth: "A gnoll? You mean that monster that walks upright and screams like a ghost? Little Piper is that amazing!"

"Of course!"

The little guy couldn't resist the praise and was already overjoyed. But then he suddenly remembered something and angrily shouted, "Lorraine promised to let Piper have a fair fight with that gnoll leader. He's a powerful guy with demon blood, and Piper has been wanting to meet him for a long time!"

But he secretly cooked it himself, and Piper no longer trusted him. "Give me back Piper's roasted ribs!"

"Who knew it was so fragile... Could you please bring us another plate of grilled ribs later, Lily? I just can't stand this guy." Lorraine said helplessly, rubbing her temples.

Lily was genuinely surprised. Her eyes widened slightly as she asked with concern, "Demon blood...that sounds like a terrifying thing. Mr. Lorraine, you're really amazing. Are you alright anywhere?"

"It was just a sneak attack, nothing particularly impressive. And it was thanks to the two of them holding off the jackals and hyenas that I had this opportunity."

Lorraine smiled, picked up her glass, and raised it to the table: "Cheers! This one...to our comrades!"

"Cheers! Burp!"

"snort."

Lily watched the three of them raise their glasses in celebration with a smile. She suddenly felt a little envious of the girl who could be by Lorraine's side, but... at least she had had him, hadn't she?

"Ms. Eileen must have been a great help too. You must be exhausted from following them around. These guys only know how to order what they like to eat. I'll bring you a warm bowl of snacks later," she said with a smile.

Eileen looked up in surprise.

She had studied magic and aristocratic etiquette for so many years, but no one had ever taught her what to do in this situation.

Lily's sudden, thoughtful concern left her somewhat bewildered, and her mind began to wander.

Is this... giving up because the opponent is oneself? Hmm... that must be it...?

She's a sensible and likable girl.

"Thank you, Lily."

"You're welcome. Then I won't bother you any longer."

Lily tilted her head and smiled at them, then turned and left with light steps.

Eileen glanced at her retreating figure, then turned to Lorraine and remarked, "She's actually a pretty nice person."

Lorraine watched as Lily walked halfway, then secretly turned her head to look at her. When she realized that Eileen wasn't looking at her, she winked at her playfully.

"yes..

""

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