Listening to Ash’s words, Aqua opened her mouth, wanting to retort, but found that she…
couldn’t seem to win the argument.
Her tears began to fall.
She wasn’t faking; she was actually driven to tears by anger.
“Waaaahhh…” Aqua wailed loudly, her voice so booming that the entire guild trembled.
“Liar!
Big liar!
I want to go back to the Celestial Realm!
I don’t want to stay in this dump anymore!
I’m going to find eris and file a complaint against you!” Megumin watched Aqua crying uncontrollably, then looked at Ash’s expressionless face, a flicker of complex emotion passing through her red eyes.
“Ash…” She spoke up.
“Even though I also think you’re a scoundrel, Aqua is crying like this; you should at least comfort her a little.” “She’s faking it.” “It’s real this time!” Aqua lifted her tear-streaked face.
“Look!
The tears are actually coming out!
It’s real!” “Fine, fine.” Ash looked at the sobbing Aqua, then raised his hand as golden ripples spread beside him.
Three bags of eris flew out of the ripples, landing precisely in front of Aqua, Megumin, and Darkness.
“Twenty thousand each.
Considering the upcoming missions will require your cooperation, I’m giving you your corresponding compensation in advance.” The three were stunned; though the chains were still on them, their gazes were completely glued to the money bags on the floor.
“Ash, I knew you were the best!!!” “Did you just say twenty thousand?!
Not two thousand?
Twenty thousand?!” “Your ears are working fine.” “Ash!
Are you an angel?!
No, you’re more of an angel than an angel!” Aqua’s chains hadn’t been released yet, but her entire body was already twisting in the air like a pretzel.
“Hurry up and let me go!
I want to take the money!
I want to take the money!” She looked down at the chains on her body, then back at Ash, her expression turning fawning.
“Darling, could you please undo this first?
I promise I won’t make a scene anymore.” Ash raised his hand, and the chains loosened from the three of them, retracting into the ripples and disappearing.
Aqua was the first to hit the ground, scrambling toward her money bag and clutching it to her chest, terrified that Ash might change his mind.
Megumin’s reaction was much calmer than Aqua’s.
Her red eyes stared at the money bag on the ground, her lips pursed, and then she looked toward Ash.
“Why?” “Why what?” “I didn’t cast Explosion Magic today.
And I wasn’t the one who killed those frogs.
If we’re distributing based on labor, I shouldn’t take this money.” Hearing Megumin’s words, Ash nodded.
“You’re right.
So of this twenty thousand, ten thousand is for food expenses, and ten thousand is an advance on your wages.
You’ll have to cast Explosion Magic one extra time tomorrow.” “One extra time?” “Tomorrow you cast two shots.
I’ll store two shots.” Megumin fell silent, her expression complex, as if she were in a fierce mental struggle between ‘dignity’ and ‘having a full stomach’.
Three seconds later…
“Deal!” Megumin said decisively.
“However, tomorrow you must let me see an explosion with my own eyes.
Just once will do.” “Depends on your performance.” “I will perform excellently!” Fighting spirit ignited in Megumin’s eyes.
She first picked up her staff, then bent down to retrieve the money bag.
Darkness was the last to take her money.
She held the bag in her hand, glanced at it, and then nodded seriously.
Darkness was the last to speak.
She looked at the money bag on the ground and then at Ash, her voice somewhat hesitant.
“Can…
Can I take this too?” “You are a member of the party as well.
Although your combat effectiveness is…
rather unique at the moment, you certainly have a knack for tanking damage.” “But I didn’t kill any enemies today either…” “You got swallowed by a frog.” Ash said expressionlessly.
“That counts as a contribution.
Even if the nature of the contribution is a bit skewed.” Darkness’s face turned red again.
“Then, then alright.
I’ll accept it.” Darkness was the last to take her money.
She held the bag in her hand, glanced at it, and then nodded seriously.
Seeing that all three had received their money, Ash stood up from his chair, walked to the window, and watched the sky outside as it began to darken before speaking.
“Starting tomorrow, we’re going to farm skeletons.” “Skeletons?” Megumin tilted her head.
“Those lowest-tier undead?” “Yes.” “My Explosion Magic on skeletons?
Are you looking down on the Crimson Demon Clan?” Megumin’s tone carried obvious dissatisfaction.
“It’s not for you to blast skeletons.
You’ll store the ammo, and I’ll do the blasting.” “Besides…” Ash thought for a moment; skeletons possessed both attributes.
One skeleton would count for two points of progress.
Megumin blinked.
“Then wouldn’t it be easier to just go to a graveyard and blow everything up in one go?” “The problem is…” Ash’s gaze fell on Aqua, who was currently lost in counting her money.
He wasn’t sure if ordinary skeletons would meet the system’s judgment criteria.
“I need a more efficient method.” He walked up to Aqua and reached out to flick her forehead.
“Ouch!” Aqua clutched her forehead and looked up.
“What was that for!
I’m counting money!
You flicked me and now I’ve forgotten where I was!” “I recall you can use Purification, right?” “Of course!
This Goddess is an Archpriest!
Purifying the undead is my specialty!
Hmph!
Finally realized This Goddess’s importance, haven’t you!” Aqua immediately became smug.
“I told you so!
Without me, you lot couldn’t even defeat a single skeleton!” “Then give me your Adventurer Card.
I want to learn it.” “Huh?” Hearing Ash’s words, Aqua was stunned, Megumin was stunned, and even Darkness opened her eyes, revealing a hint of surprise.
Aqua blinked at Ash.
“You’re a Collector; can you even learn it?” “Why don’t you guess why I’m called a Collector?” “Uh…
oh, right!” Aqua thought about it, then clapped her hands.
“Fine!
But as for the tuition fee…” She pointed to the money bag in her hand.
“Half of this belongs to me now~” “You already have twenty thousand.” “That’s wages!
Tuition is a separate price!” Ash stared at her for a few seconds, then turned and started to walk away.
“If you won’t teach me, forget it.
I’ll go find a Lich to learn skills from.” “Wait, wait, wait!” Aqua hurriedly chased after him and grabbed his arm.
“I’ll teach!
I’ll teach for free!
No money!
You’re my husband after all, what’s mine is yours!” Ash’s attitude was very clear.
“Even if I can’t learn it, I still need to know how.” He paused, adding a line in his heart…
In this world, there were indeed barriers for different classes to learn skills.
But his ‘Collector’ class was essentially a forced arrangement by the system to accommodate the gate of babylon.
If it can hold Noble Phantasms, why can’t it hold skills?
He might not use them, but he couldn’t not have them.
Moreover, he had another plan.
Ash’s thoughts drifted a bit.
According to the original plot, after Aqua descended to the lower world, a Dullahan from the Demon Kings Army would come to Axel to investigate.
That Dullahan was a genuine high-tier undead, and he brought a group of undead subordinates with him.
If he could lure the Dullahan out and wipe them out in one go, both missions would be completed immediately.
But the problem was…
Ash didn’t want to overexploit the resources.
What if the system issued more missions requiring the killing of undead or demonic enemies in the future?
If he wiped out the Demon Kings Army all at once, where would he find mobs to farm later?
Furthermore, even if he used the Sword of Termination to summon a flood and directly submerge the Demon Kings Army headquarters…
What about those hundreds of millions in bounties?
Ash silently calculated the accounts in his head.
Each executive of the Demon Kings Army had a bounty of tens or even hundreds of millions.
If he killed them all, he could use that bounty money to buy the entirety of Axel.
But if he drowned them in a flood and couldn’t find the bodies, who would pay him the bounty?
No!
Mustn’t be impulsive!
Farm the small mobs first, complete the missions, get the Noble Phantasms in hand, and then consider how to make a big headline.
“As expected, my peerless wisdom is just that impressive—!”