Five hundred and twenty.

  520.

  That's how many gold coins I earned from selling my scrolls, the amount didn't just dwarf all the money from the stall we've made so far, it outright made it eat dust.

  For context, 5 gold coins is how much money dad makes annually. This is including all the aberrant meat that he harvests during the culling, which isn't much but it is definitely substantial.

  Well apparently not substantial enough because I made over a hundred times that in less than an hour.

  Naturally, this caused the rest of my group to just keep staring at me for the rest of the day. Howaph's eyes never left the pouch I was holding and he acted like it's going to get stolen any minute now. Jasiin, Upinte, and Maldan feel like they're hesitating to ask whether or not they'll get paid by me again while Wardcruncha...

  He just seems happy to exist and I honestly don't know what to say in response to that. Later, I hope I can surprise him with my own brand of bullshit.

  Eventually, our food emptied and we packed up. It's only halfway through the afternoon so it's still early, giving us time to process what happened at the tavern. Everyone did it in their own way, but almost all of them kept their mouths shut.

  Of course Howaph didn't, he's my brother after all. He eyed me while pushing the cart, his face complicated, "No wonder you decided to give the stall to Laself..."

  "Oh yeah, that reminds me." I grab my pouch and start pouring down cold coins on the floor of the wagon. I counted around a hundred and then handed it to Wardcruncha, "for you, I wouldn't have been able to do this without you."

  "I don't need it, little Rontress." The wizard shook his head, smiling. "Keep it."

  "Yeah you don't have a choice in this, I'm throwing this in the middle of Ghorise tomorrow if you don't take it." My threat made him move, I smirked. "Thank you, now then, I guess everyone else gets one gold each? I won't give you anymore after this by the way."

  The three guards looked excited as they received their share, they thanked me and then all eyes were on my brother and sister-in-law.

  "Well then, you two." How much should I give them? "... Five gold each, I guess? You can use it however you want, just don't expect me to come with you tomorrow."

  "Thank... You." Laself murmured, she looked at the gold coins weakly. "I never thought I'd be able to hold this much money in my lifetime."

  "Eh," I shrugged. "You'll hold more." She looked horrified at that.

  "You don't have to help us anymore! We're okay!"

  "I know." As always, I nodded but deep down I know damn well I'm not giving them a choice in all this.

  "By the way, you said you won't come with us tomorrow? Why?" Howaph asked.

  "I'll be searching for a building to buy." I admitted. "You don't have to worry about it."

  "My assumptions were because you needed time to make more scrolls." Laself looked me in the eyes, "what are you gonna need an entire building for?"

  "Nothing, you don't have to worry about it." I waved her off, not wanting to tell her that it's because I wanted it to turn into a food joint that they can use. "Anyway, the cull is coming soon huh? You guys excited for it?"

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  "Are you?" Howaph asked. "It's my first ever cull, dad says I can go and kill my own aberrant this time."

  "Lucky you, as for me? I'll head into the forest. I won't come out until winter ends." My answer was noncommittal, vague. Come to think of it, I haven't found the cottage I've been searching for right? "Good luck with whatever that is, I'll be busy in my own right."

  Why am I feeling like I'm missing something? Wait...

  "You guys don't have a place to stay during winter right?" My eyes went to Upinte and Jasiin, "what are you all doing during that time? I don't see you at church?"

  "... Nothing, we can deal with it."

  My eyes narrowed, "right." I killed the topic, my mind churning with what I can do for them.

  As an ex acolyte, I know the reason why the church doesn't let anyone from the pier enter their doors during winter because there's so many people there, and helping one person will force them to help the rest.

  Igloos. It's just snow right? How do Eskimos survive with just those things in Antarctica of all places? No... I think I remember something about how snow can actually be warm, it's possible that Igloos can act as a house for the pier people when winter strikes.

  "Where will you be staying during most of the winter Rontress?" Laself suddenly asked, breaking the tension.

  With a new topic, Upinte nodded. He looked forward, towards the horizon, his eyes scanned the distant trees beyond the swamplands, "she's right, it's not like there's a place for you to stay inside that forest."

  "And not to mention the food." Howaph added. "You can just stay at home, like always."

  "No, I want to do something." Conquering the dungeon should be impossible for the current me but grinding my levels using the monster it spawns shouldn't be too hard. "And as for where I'm going to be staying? The mender had left cottages across the swamp didn't she? I'm gonna find one and then stay there."

  "That's a myth." Howaph pointed out, his eyes full of skepticism. "You know the swamp mender isn't real right? People made her up."

  "No, she's real." I shake my head, the cottage I had my magical awakening in still fresh in my mind. I'm pretty sure the swamp mender also had her own magical awakening, otherwise she wouldn't build her cottages on top of the leyline...

  ... Oh.

  "... I think I know how to find the cottage I'm looking for." How come it never crossed my mind until now?! Of course I can use the leylines to locate them! That's probably how the mender navigated the swamp in the first place!

  So does this mean that certain areas in the swamp have specific uses for her? Is that why there are so many cottages? And can I use the leyline to locate the full [Mender's Set]? Hopefully in a single winter?!

  "So the mender is actually real?" Laself seemed to believe what I'm saying. "Where did she live?"

  "In the swamp, I'm pretty sure there are a bunch of cottages in there..." Not just sure, but certain. "And all of them are built by the mender."

  "That so?" Laself nodded. "I hope you find them then, I don't know what they're for but they must be important right?"

  "They should be." Someone as influential as the swamp mender wouldn't just build random buildings in the middle of nowhere. "I think she might have witnessed the founding of Flotol even, which is pretty interesting."

  That or she's already dead by that point, either way it's a fun thought to have.

  When we arrived back at the village, our group split up until only me, my brother, and Laself were left. When it was just us, Howaph started talking to me, I thought he would scold me at first but I guess not?

  "Laself really wasn't exaggerating when she said that you knew what you were doing huh?" He said with a proud grin. "I thought that everything she said about you in Ghorise weren't true but I guess I was wrong! Good job!"

  "Thanks?" What else am I supposed to say? "I think it's normal for me to do that though, it's only natural that I try to help out after all."

  Because 8 years old is already considered an adult here. Neat stuff.

  "Anyway, I'll be even busier starting from now so you guys will only rarely see me whenever you go to Ghorise." Hopefully I find the building that I'll turn into their store as soon as possible, that way I don't have to worry about these two. "All I can say is good luck with whatever you two are doing because you need it."

  "Thank you, Rontress." Laself replied. She giggled, adding, "You know, I expected that I would be the one to say those kinds of things to you but I guess not huh? It's like you're older than me sometimes."

  "Smarter than you." I corrected, hoping that she doesn't continue with that line of thought. "Everyone has their own pace in life, it just so happens to be that some people are far faster than others."

  "Mmm." Laself hummed, she looked at Howaph. "Just look at your older brother, you're so much younger than him and yet you've already surpassed him."

  "You're older than Rontress too, idiot." Howaph rolled his eyes, his tone playful.

  "Well but I'm not her sibling now am I? I don't have the same kind of pressure as you do, being related and all." Laself teased back.

  I feel like I want to run away. Should I? I considered it and decided that the cart is more comfortable so no, I wanna keep riding this thing.

  "I don't feel pressured by Rontress actually, I feel more proud of her than anything." Howaph retorted, which I think is kinda sweet.