Ding—
Her fair, slender fingers fell weakly onto the tabletop like drifting leaves, and a crisp ring burst out with them, wavering through the air. It only traveled a few meters before it was swallowed by the noisy voices all around.
"Next..."
Molly lowered her head. Her listless voice was barely any clearer than the bell.
Her right hand was tucked beneath the counter, her fingertips rubbing back and forth over a clean handkerchief she had prepared long ago, leaving several wet, bright-red streaks across its white surface.
—This was the bloodstain left just now when she had been counting loot for a Half-Orc who could not even count numbers properly, and who had to take off his shoes and use his toes once the total went past ten.
She knew full well that no matter how clean she wiped them now, it would not take five minutes before the next blood-seeping Loot Bag was thrown onto the counter, and her hands would once again return to that sticky, foul-smelling state.
Even so, Molly still did her best to maintain this brief cleanliness. At least this way, she could feel a little better inside.
Thinking back on it was rather emotional.
Never mind that now, she could hold a Bear Goblin's head in both hands, bloody and mangled like a peeled watermelon, and consciously ignore the maggots writhing in the hole in its skull, as well as the rotten stench surging up through her nostrils.
She could turn it left and right, studying it carefully.
And with a calm expression and clear logic, she could explain to the bearded Dwarf at the counter, who was shouting at the top of his lungs and spraying spittle everywhere, why only half the bounty could be paid.
Who would have thought that this