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“Huh? Gold coins?”

Myre felt her intelligence insulted. What was this guy doing at such a critical moment? Could it be that he intended to use these gold coins to buy their lives?

Ha, who would fall for such a foolish trick? Myre? Or…

“Gasp…”

Myre’s expression froze.

Because she suddenly sensed the woman beneath her wavering.

“Wheeze… wheeze… gold… gold coins… so many…”

Loya had completely forgotten about fleeing, her arms trembling as she uncontrollably stepped towards the fake Moore.

“Eeeeeeh? Wait, Miss Loya, wake up, this is obviously a trap!”

Myre tried shaking Loya’s head, but her gaze was fixed on the gold coins, unwilling to shift her attention.

“Kahaha, it’s not a trap, it’s a transaction.”

The fake Moore lavishly scattered a handful of gold coins on the ground. The round coins rolled everywhere, and Loya’s gaze followed each rolling coin with an unnatural speed, tracking their every position until she was sure of each one’s location.

“Actually, I have no quarrel with you, Miss Loya. I’m only interested in the little girl behind you.”

The fake Moore was left with a single gold coin, which he weighed in his hand.

“How much did that guy called Moore pay to hire you?”

“Fi… fifteen silver coins a day.” Loya swallowed hard.

“Fifteen silver coins… that’s pitiful. Hard work for ten days, and you can’t even earn two gold coins.”

The fake Moore tossed the gold coin to Loya, generously saying, “I’ll give you fifty gold coins, hand over that little girl to me!”

“Fifty… fifty gold coins!?”

Loya exclaimed as if it was the largest sum she had ever heard of in her life.

“How about it? After all, you and that little girl are just strangers who met by chance. Just for giving up a stranger, you can get this amount of money you couldn’t earn in a lifetime. Aren’t you… tempted?”

The fake Moore gestured to the scattered gold coins at his feet, speaking in a highly enticing tone, “If you’re tempted… come and take them yourself.”

“I… I…”

Loya clenched her fists, trembling as if struggling…

“Miss Loya…”

Myre gently rested her head on Loya’s shoulder, merely sighing softly without any attempt to persuade.

She felt Loya’s hesitation and understood that those fifty gold coins might be a significant sum for Loya.

More importantly, as the fake Moore said, they were originally strangers. Loya was only hired by her brother to take care of her for ten days. Once her brother sorted out some issues, the contract would end.

Myre hung her head low, her eyes closed as if she had already fallen asleep, silently waiting for Loya to sell her to the fake Moore, having given up on struggling.

Because Myre knew, being utterly powerless now, she couldn’t possibly escape from their grasp.

So… There was nothing to say, and even less to hate. If there was to blame, it was her own weakness.

“I… I don’t want to!”

“Good… I like your kind of… eeeeeeh??”

The fake Moore, who had been confident of his victory, suddenly froze, incredulous at the sight of Loya gasping for air as if more exhausted than after a great battle. After a moment of stunned silence, he exclaimed in frustration:

“What? What did you say? Why wouldn’t you want to?”
“Because compared to gold coins, I prefer pure and beautiful girls!” Loya shouted.
“Hey, hey! You’re crying as you say that! Can you please be true to yourself!”
“Mind your own business!”

Under the shocked gaze of the fake Moore, Loya, with the fastest hand speed he had ever seen, grabbed a few of the nearest gold coins and then ran into the room, slamming the door shut with a bang.

“I…” The fake Moore stared at the closed door, his complexion turning from pale to flushed, making his eerie green eyes seem less intimidating by comparison.

◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

“Sob sob sob… Why am I so cheap, letting go of fifty gold coins just like that, enough to buy ten years’ worth of grains and meat for the whole village!”

Once inside, Loya slowly crouched down, burying her head and sobbing loudly.

“Why can’t I change my penchant for pretty girls?”

“I’m… I’m sorry…”

Myre patted Loya’s head, somewhat amused and at a loss for words. She had already braced herself for the worst, but Loya’s actions always managed to surprise her.

After a while, Myre seemed to remember something and said:
“Maybe… I can ask my brother to give you a raise…”

“Really?” Loya suddenly looked up, her eyes still red but staring intently at Myre as if afraid she might change her mind.

“Of course, it’s true!” Myre nodded affirmatively. “You saved me; my brother will surely agree!”

“Miss Myre is so kind to me, waaaa…”

Loya hugged Myre, burying her head in her chest and continuing to sob uncontrollably.

Though her chest was uncomfortably damp, Myre, feeling warm-hearted at the moment, gently embraced Loya’s head.

“There, there… don’t cry.”

“Sniff sniff…” Loya rubbed her head against Myre, and in the moments she shook her head, Myre precisely caught the smile at the corner of her mouth.

“…Miss Loya, are you really crying?”

“Boohoohoo!!!”

“……”

◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

After the brief commotion, they sat side by side against the wall.

The fake Moore outside seemed not to have left yet, with his footsteps and frantic knocking sounds occasionally coming through.

Sitting silently, head against head, they didn’t speak.

After an indeterminate amount of time, Myre broke the silence: “After this is over, where will Miss Loya go?”

“Home.”

“Home… Where is your home?”

“A small village on the frontier.” Loya’s gaze became slightly distant as she looked at the empty ceiling and softly said: “It’s a small village with fewer than a hundred people. Due to the empire’s constant wars with the demon races, the men in the village either died or were conscripted, leaving only the elderly, children, and women.”

“So, the women in the village have to bear everything. Fortunately, the women in our village are very strong.”

Loya held up a gold coin, examining it carefully, her lips curving into a happy smile.

“Especially me, strong as hell. That’s why I confidently participated in the Martial God Tournament, aiming for the championship’s substantial prize.”

Her expression turned slightly forlorn at this point.

“But I didn’t expect to be eliminated in the first round and have to roll back home in defeat, so poor I couldn’t even afford the travel expenses. Ah, how sad.”

“How could that be…”

Myre leaned in, gripping Loya’s hand tightly, her eyes teary: “Miss Loya is not pathetic at all, you’re a very strong person.”

“People who give up the competition shouldn’t come to console this loser.”

“No, I am serious.”

Myre looked straight into Loya’s eyes, earnestly saying, “Miss Loya, overcoming your purest desires to save me is truly remarkable.”

“Miss Myre…”

Loya was deeply moved, “It’s the first time anyone has ever said something like this to me…”

Then, as if suddenly remembering something, Loya pulled out a pendant from inside her garment,

“Look at this, isn’t it beautiful?”

“What is this? It’s really beautiful…”

Myre was immediately captivated by the pendant.

The pendant looked dull and was carved from an unknown material, but its depiction of a goddess in a feathered robe was incredibly lifelike, almost as if it were about to come alive.

“This was handmade by my mother.” After saying this, Loya took off the pendant and handed it to Myre, “I’m giving this to you.”

“Eh? I can’t accept…” Myre was surprised and waved her hands, “Such a precious thing…”

“It’s not anything valuable.” Loya rolled up her sleeve to reveal several similar pendants dangling from her wrist. “This one was made by my aunt, this by my third aunt, this by the auntie from next door…”

Loya laughed heartily, “We’re poor in our village, so we give these handmade trinkets as gifts. They’re not worth much.”

“Oh.” Upon hearing this, Myre reassuredly and obediently put on the pendant.

“Does it look good?” Myre asked somewhat shyly.

“Of course.” Loya gave a thumbs-up, “Let me tell you, this pendant is not just beautiful, but it also has the effect of calming and focusing the mind. I was able to stay so calm just now all thanks to this pendant.”

“You were… calm just now?”

Myre silently commented, but indeed, she felt a warm flow from the pendant that made her mind much clearer.

Eh?

Myre wondered why such an effective and beautiful pendant, which could probably sell for a good price, wouldn’t make that small village rich. Could it be they hadn’t thought of it?

“Loya, actually, this pendant could…”

Just as Myre was about to suggest, she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her chest.

“Ugh… what’s this…”

Heart spasm?

Myre couldn’t believe it, clutching her chest as the severe pain made her small frame tremble uncontrollably.

Pain… so much pain…

Why would her heart spasm now? Could it be because the tension she had been under was suddenly released after feeling safe?

But upon further thought, it made sense for her heart to have problems now. After all, she hadn’t fully recovered and had engaged in intense physical activity, which her brother strictly forbade.

“Miss Myre… Miss Myre… what’s wrong?”

Loya’s face turned anxious as she supported Myre, flustered and unsure of what to do.

“It’s… it’s nothing, just a heart spasm. It’ll pass if I endure it a bit…”

Myre struggled to speak, each word seeming to squeeze through clenched teeth.

The lack of blood supply caused by the heart spasm turned her complexion as pale as paper, with large beads of cold sweat dripping continuously from her forehead.

“That’s right… I have medicine, a decoction Mr. Moore instructed me to prepare.”

Loya somehow brought out a bowl of steaming medicinal soup, offering it to Myre.