CHAPTER 38
I headed to the Pioneer Association with Baby Babiyen and Maman Aranseol.
Having eaten her fill of mamma, Babiyen wore an incredibly satisfied expression.
In contrast, Aranseol’s face was etched with fatigue.
Still, they had spent time together as fellow disciples in the past.
Seeing Babiyen in such a regressed state was something she couldn’t bear to watch with open eyes.
“That girl… she’s strangely attached to you, Harua.”
Aranseol said, narrowing her eyes at Babiyen, who was following closely behind me, clutching the back of my clothes. Just as she said, Babiyen had been trailing me non-stop ever since her stomach was full.
For some reason, she’s been following only me since we were in that cell.
“I wonder if she imprinted on me or something before she became like this.”
I didn’t know the reason either.
I just hoped Babiyen would return to normal as soon as possible.
The room is too small for the three of us.
“More importantly, how do you get tangled up in such an incident just because I’m not with you for a single day? Harua, don’t you think you need to get rid of some bad luck or something?”
Perhaps it was because trouble erupted everywhere I went.
Aranseol looked at me with a worried face.
Just as Aranseol said, I was getting involved in incidents wherever I went.
But I had to set the record straight.
“I’m the one who goes to places where incidents are bound to happen.”
I wasn’t the one causing the incidents.
Every incident had its warning signs.
If I had noticed the signs beforehand, I never would have gone.
“More than anything, there have been too many incidents all over the world lately.”
“Things are chaotic because of Black Dawn.”
It wasn't just where I was that incidents were breaking out.
Right now, Black Dawn was carrying out acts of terror all over the world.
Since the sheer number of incidents was high in the first place, it was inevitable that I’d get involved with a high probability.
“I need to become strong enough to take care of myself as soon as possible.”
Holy magic aside, I had a feeling I needed to improve my self-defense skills.
“But more than that, Aranseol, I’m more curious about your changes.”
Aranseol had been sick for a day after taking the elixir.
At the very least, it needed to have some effect now, or the money would have been a waste.
Aranseol’s lips curled up at my question.
“Don’t worry. The effect was real.”
“Sounds like you can feel something.”
“You can look forward to it.”
I decided to get my hopes up.
As we talked, we arrived at the Pioneer Association office.
“Ugh, uuu…”
I brought Babiyen, who was groaning as if from all the walking, inside with me.
There, I saw a familiar face.
“Vandal-ssi.”
The dwarf pioneer from Callen’s team, Vandal.
He was there.
At my call, Vandal turned to look at us.
“Oh, it’s the Holy Mage fella.”
“Is your head alright?”
“Haha, it got cracked a bit, but I’m fine. Dwarves have thick skulls.”
His face was incredibly bright.
For him to be this cheerful after what happened yesterday, he was quite the character.
“Um, what about the others on your team?”
“Miren said she’s quitting being a pioneer.”
Miren hadn’t told anyone that I had revived Callen.
It seemed the two of them planned to leave the capital, just as I’d told them.
“As for the little brat…”
The gnome, Pingle.
He was nowhere to be seen when we reached the exit of the Moss Flower Cave.
“What on earth happened?”
When I asked about the situation, Vandal scratched his beard.
“I don’t know. There was nothing on the way to the exit besides a few spiders. So we were planning to clear out the spiders and wait, but then those criminals suddenly showed up. It was as if they knew we were there.”
A battle broke out immediately after, and Callen’s team fought back to clear a path.
During the fight, Pingle, whose combat abilities were lower than the others, ended up fleeing for his life.
After that, the battle unfolded as we had seen.
“I don’t even know if the brat is alive. I checked, but he wasn’t on the list of people who returned.”
Vandal let out a sigh.
The team he had been with for so long had been shattered in a single day.
For him, it was a bolt from the blue.
“So, I’m planning on taking a break for a while, too. I even got a nice sum of money thanks to this incident.”
“Pardon? Thanks to this incident?”
When I questioned him, Vandal grinned widely.
“That’s part of why I was waiting for you. Go talk to a staff member at the Pioneer Association. I’ll be on my way.”
Vandal gave my back a hearty slap and walked past me.
With that thrilled look on his face, he didn’t seem like someone whose team had just disbanded.

After Vandal left, I immediately went to find a staff member as he’d suggested.
And only then did I understand why Vandal had been so excited.
“The bounties for the criminals are being paid to us?”
“Yes, after an investigation, the Regular Army has decided to distribute the bounty payments between Harua-nim’s team and Callen’s team.”
The criminals who had fled into the 2nd World.
The payment for their bounties was being given in our names.
I had a good idea who was involved in this.
The Regular Army’s Lieutenant General, Inferno.
It had to be him.
Damn, this is crazy!
There was someone else I should have been treating as a benefactor.
As expected of a fellow Transferee, he was a magnificent gentleman.
Hooray for people from the same homeland.
I didn’t know what country he was from, but I registered him as an honorary Korean in my heart.
From now on, any attack on Inferno would be considered an attack on me.
He and I were one, inseparable.
“How much is it?”
“It came out to 300 gold per person.”
300 gold!
In Korean Won, that’s about 9 million!
Considering there were a total of seven of us this time, it was an enormous reward.
Should I start hunting criminals from now on?
I felt the urge to become a bounty hunter rise within me.
Equips a sword in the helmet slot.
With 300 gold in my hands, I couldn’t be more thrilled.
If I could just gather another 700 gold, I too could purchase an elixir from the designated merchant.
“And this is Babiyen Asteria-nim’s share.”
The staff member then took out Babiyen’s portion as well.
Since Babiyen was stuck to my back, it was the natural course of action.
“Next.”
And just like that, I was shooed away from the counter.
Somehow, I ended up holding Babiyen’s gold as well.
My eyes met Babiyen’s.
“Babiyen, would it be okay to consider this payment for taking care of you for the time being?”
“Eung, eu-eung?”
Babiyen tilted her head with a bright expression.
“You just said ‘eung’ [yes], right? Thanks. I’ll put it to good use.”
As I patted Babiyen’s head with a delighted face, she also giggled with joy.
“Harua.”
But Aranseol was staring at me with cold eyes.
“Yes.”
“Babiyen earned that money by risking her life, too.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Even if you use some of it for her expenses while you look after her, shouldn’t you give her the rest?”
It was a shame, but I didn’t think differently.
It would be a problem later if Babiyen set me on fire demanding her money back.
“…Still, I think about 100 gold as a caretaking fee would be appropriate.”
Just then, Aranseol spoke while casually looking away.
Aranseol and I are really on the same wavelength!
“You’re in a tight spot for money, Harua. I’m sure Babiyen would understand.”
“You’re saying that since Babiyen has been spending money like water as a noble, her sense of money is so broken she wouldn’t notice, right?”
“Now, I didn’t go that far.”
What does it matter either way?
The important thing was that I had money.
“Ah, Aranseol-ssi, Harua-ssi.”
As I was doing a little dance of joy, another familiar face appeared.
It was Horizon.
“Oh, Horizon! Go to the Pioneer staff right now!”
“Ah, y-yes, yes!”
At my instruction, Horizon hurried over to the staff member.
And then, just like us, she received 300 gold.
Horizon wore a shocked expression.
It was the face of someone who never imagined she would earn money from this incident.
“You went through a lot, too. It seems a bit cheap considering we almost died, but at least we got something.”
“Almost died…”

As I chattered excitedly, Horizon glanced my way.
Ah, right. Horizon and I really did die.
Horizon opened and closed her mouth for a moment before stopping. An awkward silence fell between us.
“Harua, so what are you going to do for the time being?”
It was Aranseol who broke our silence.
I had to collect a thousand gold in less than a month.
There was no place to earn money as well as the 2nd World.
But an incident like this had just happened there.
The Regular Army would likely forbid entry for at least a few days to sweep for criminals.
The fact that the Pioneer Association office was so quiet despite it being midday was proof of that.
“Right. Should I get a part-time job at a hospital or something?”
Since there were few Holy Mages, they were always welcome at hospitals.
But at my current level, it would be hard to receive a large sum of money.
If I revealed I could use resurrection magic, a thousand gold would be easy to earn.

But revealing that carried a greater risk.
What should I do?
I was pondering this when…
“U-um.”
Just then, Horizon raised her hand.
“I-if you’re in urgent need of money, Harua-ssi, I know a way to earn some.”
“What? What is it?”
“W-well, about that. You’ll definitely earn money, but. It’s, umm.”
Horizon seemed hesitant to speak.
The moment I saw her expression, I knew what kind of job it was.
“It’s a back-alley job, isn’t it?”
“……Yes.”

Horizon answered reluctantly.
Being a pioneer was a high-risk profession.
Due to the nature of the job, one often got involved in illegal activities.
Bulldog-ajusshi had told me to avoid getting involved as much as possible, but even as he said that, he would often buy magic ingredients from the back alleys, saying they were cheaper.
“Harua.”
I could feel Aranseol trying to stop me.
“It’s fine. Let’s hear her out first.”
If Horizon was suggesting it herself, it probably wasn’t too dangerous.
Given her personality, it seemed unlikely she’d get involved in anything risky.
“Ah, f-first of all, it’s at a shop where an acquaintance of mine works.”
“What kind of shop is it, for it to be a back-alley job?”
“It’s, it’s, umm.”
Horizon lowered her head, her face flushing slightly.
“It’s a job in the… pleasure district.”
The pleasure district.
So…
“Are you asking me to become a male prostitute?”
“W-what?!”
Horizon was horrified.
And for some reason, Aranseol smacked me on the back.
“T-that’s not it! Since you’re a Holy Mage, Harua-ssi, I was thinking of asking you to treat the people who work in the pleasure district.”
Bewilderment spread across Horizon’s eyes.
Aha, so that’s what it was.
Among those who work in the pleasure district, there are some who can’t come out onto the streets.
Such people have no choice but to hire someone from the outside to receive treatment.
“Pleasure district… so it’s syphilis.”
“Y-yes, most likely. I heard there have been a lot of cases recently, so they asked me to introduce them to a Holy Mage if I knew one.”
Horizon answered, looking embarrassed.
She was so innocent to be this shy over something that wasn't even her own business.
Even though what she was carrying was the furthest thing from innocence.
Even if it was syphilis, the fact that they were calling someone from the outside meant they would pay a considerable amount.
“Aranseol, what do you think?”
“……You’re in a tight spot for money. This isn’t the time to be picky.”
It wasn’t like I was going to hurt anyone; I was going to heal them.
Aranseol didn’t seem opposed to it either.

Alright, my bodyguard has given her consent.
To the other side of the capital, Valterion.
We head for the pleasure district.