The Hero Turned Into A Potato And The World Fell To Ruin Chapter 95: Are You the Ones?

Mervant was at a loss.

For three days straight, he had been slogging tirelessly from dawn to dusk, braving the elements and wild on his gathering jobs. With each successful job, his personal reputation rose steadily, and after completing today's job that paid a hefty 180 gold Kagas, his savings had finally surpassed the 500 gold Kaga mark.

He was pleased at being a quarter of the way toward his goal of 2,000 gold Kagas and decided it was time to take a break, head back to the inn, and celebrate with Calidora. Perhaps they could enjoy a quiet moment together and share his small victory.

But when he arrived at the inn, he was shocked to find a long line of people waiting outside—a stark contrast to the once quiet, out-of-the-way inn. Seasoned hunters were chatting and laughing, and a few even recognized Mervant and greeted him warmly.

At that moment, Mervant had a feeling Calidora had probably done something to keep herself busy while he was away.

But what really left him speechless was seeing the very sword he had been saving for, sitting casually on the counter inside the inn.

"Cali… that sword… how did you…" His voice faltered as he struggled to find the words.

"Two thousand gold Kagas," Calidora said with a slight smile. "There aren't many swords that sell for that price, so it was easy for me to figure out which one you were talking about. What surprised me was that you weren't being ripped off. This sword is really worth every single Kaga."

The sword on the counter was magnificent. The scabbard was a deep rich red, like polished amber, with woven intricate patterns of golden threads across the hilt. Even with the blade still sheathed, its intimidating sharpness was unmistakable.

"But… two thousand gold Kagas? How did you…" Mervant began, but before he could finish, two hunters emerged from a nearby room, bid Calidora farewell, and left the inn, laughing and chatting.

As soon as they left, two more hunters walked in, placed 20 gold coins on the counter, and said, "Boss, two full-body massages with maximum strength, please."

"Of course." Calidora smiled, making brief eye contact with each of them before gesturing to a nearby room. "Just find an open bed in that room."

The two hunters acknowledged happily and headed into the large room.

Mervant watched in stunned silence as Calidora casually pocketed the 20 gold coins. He couldn't believe it. He had only made 10 gold coins after hours of work on his first day out in the wild.

"Don't look at me like that." Calidora shrugged. "I didn't plan for things to turn out this way.

"It all started when three idiots came looking for trouble. I wanted to teach them a lesson and make a quick buck, but they were too noisy, so I used a temporary pain-numbing spell on them. They left surprisingly happy, and then more started showing up. I tried to scare them off with the high price I'd used to overcharge the first guys, but for some reason, more and more people just kept coming."

"Wait, so you've already earned two thousand gold Kagas doing this?" Mervant asked in disbelief, lowering his voice.

"More than that actually," Calidora whispered. "I've got eight strongmen working here, each handling 11 or 12 clients a day. Plus, there's the occasional request for that girl's services. We get about 90 clients a day. Even after buying your sword, I still have a few hundred gold Kagas left over…"

Mervant's lips twitched.

While he was deeply touched to receive the sword he had been coveting, he couldn't shake the strange complicated feeling deep down as he stared at the measly 500 gold Kagas he had worked so hard to earn.

"Cali, don't you need a new staff too?" Mervant asked. "You can't keep using that old practice staff forever."

"Don't worry," Calidora said, pulling Mervant to sit beside her. She leaned her head on his shoulder and said, "I've already found the one I want. I'll buy it in a few days when I've saved up a little more. Besides, I wanted to get your sword first so you'd have a reason to stick around with me…"

"Uh, well… yeah…" Mervant scratched his cheek, feeling a rare flush of warmth on his face. There was a bit of gratitude, a bit of shyness, and maybe… just a little bit of…

Well, strange sensation of becoming a kept man.

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At the Hunter's Guild, Guoguo stood at the counter, submitting her completed jobs.

"Mm, a total of 10 bulletin board jobs, which brings your total reward to 486,400 Kagas. Since they were completed so efficiently, we're rounding it up to 50 gold Kagas. Here you go," the receptionist said, handing her a small pouch of coins.

"Ah, thank you…" Guoguo took the pouch, feeling a little conflicted.

Though she knew that these jobs were minor, the arrows she had been eyeing cost 1,000 Kagas each. A single gold Kaga could only buy 10 arrows. If this sum was split between the three of them and the seven potato younglings, she would barely have enough to get 50 arrows.

It felt like… too little.

After thanking the receptionist, Guoguo left the guild hall. The huge lizard they had brought back was still lying on the open square outside.

Yaine was negotiating with some guild staff, while a crowd of onlookers had gathered.

Seeing the situation, Guoguo jogged over, weaving through the crowd. "Yaine, what's going on? Are they not buying it?"

"Yeah, it's a bit tricky." Yaine nodded. "Since we didn't take a job related to this monster, they are only willing to purchase it at a discounted rate of a corpse. If we want full price for a live specimen, we'll have to wait and see if someone posts a job for it. Also…"

"Also, it's really unusual to see a Gnarled Lizard this close to town," one of the guild staff uttered while scratching his head. "Are you sure you didn't pick up someone else's lost quarry?"

"I already told you—no! Have you ever seen a 'lost' quarry chase people around, trying to bite them?" Yaine snapped. "And if it had escaped from someone else, then we'd still be credited for catching it, wouldn't we?"

The staff exchanged uneasy glances. Yaine's team didn't have much of a track record, so they were hesitant to make a decision.

Just as the situation seemed to reach a stalemate, a voice called out from the crowd.

"Huh? What's going on here? Why is everyone gathered here?"

Everyone turned to see a tall, muscular man, nearly 1.9 meters tall, with a massive sword strapped to his back, stepping through the crowd.

"Ah! Sir Hunt King!" The guild staff perked up as if they had found a lifeline. "There's a bit of a situation here. These folks say they encountered a Gnarled Lizard in the nearby forest."

"Really? The nearby forest?" Bumigake was surprised. "That's odd. Why would there be a Gnarled Lizard there?"

"That's what we'd like to know too," Yaine said, frowning. "But that's exactly where we ran into it while collecting the crimson flower."

Bumigake turned to Yaine, then glanced at Liu Ji standing beside her. When he noticed Liu Ji's striking green hair, his eyes widened in surprise.

"Wait a minute! Are you the ones… who cleared the entire bulletin board?"