As the Price of Borrowing Money, You Wouldn't Want...

Lokkishi was somewhat surprised.

"Boreas Greyrat? You?"

Allen smiled.

"You didn't expect me to be a noble?"

Lokkishi hurriedly shook her head, seeming to recall something.

"Are you going to Buena Village?"

Allen leisurely asked in return.

"How did you know?"

Lokkishi carefully examined Allen's face, but unfortunately, Rudy and Allen bore no resemblance to each other.

Rudy had delicate, gentle features, with soft hair falling over his forehead and cheeks. The boy before her, however, had sharp, imposing brows and eyes. His dirty hair was messily swept back, with only a few strands hanging beside his forehead.

Allen noticed why Lokkishi was studying him and found it somewhat amusing.

He and Rudy were not even from the same branch of the family. Forget looking different—their inherited preferences were different too.

The Notos line, represented by Paul, liked big breasts. Allen had not personally verified that, but the novel had long made it abundantly clear. The Boreas Family, represented by Eris, liked beastgirls. As for that... well.

Allen himself could attest to it.

Of course, perhaps because Rudy was a transmigrator and his origins were impure, he had not completely inherited the family preferences. This... Blue Mom before him was proof enough.

Huh? Wait, something seemed off.

The problem was that Allen himself had impure origins too, didn't he?

Why was he still a furry enthusiast?

This...

While Allen sank into self-questioning, Lokkishi continued speaking.

"To be honest, for the past two years, I have been employed by Sir Paul Greyrat, a knight of Buena Village, as the tutor of his son, Rudeus Greyrat."

She paused.

"Could it be that you are going there to seek refuge with them?"

Allen quickly came back to himself and feigned delight.

"What a coincidence! To be honest, I caused a little trouble in the Asura Royal Capital, so I came specifically to hide out with Uncle Paul. This place is rather remote, after all. So, Lokkishi, if you go to the Asura Royal Capital and anyone asks, please do not reveal my whereabouts."

With that, Allen pressed his palms together in a pleading gesture.

Lokkishi, on the other hand, relaxed. Just now, she had worried that Allen's bedraggled state after crossing mountains and rivers did not look like someone seeking refuge at all. It looked more like he was going to settle a score.

Had he caused trouble at home? Boreas, and in the royal capital... he should be the child of the Boreas heir apparent, then. Philip Boreas Greyrat, the mayor of Roa in the Fittoa Region, seemed to have only one child—a rather troublesome young lady, according to rumor.

What kind of trouble could leave him in such a state? Allen seemed steady and not like someone who would casually stir up trouble. Wait, though—he was quite practiced at flirting with girls. Could he have caused trouble in that regard? Had the other party's family chased him out of the royal capital?

Mm. The men of the Greyrat Family were all lecherous. And their smooth talk was apparently hereditary too.

Unhealthy relationships between men and women were also common among the nobles of the Asura Royal Capital. She had heard that the atmosphere there was especially uninhibited; aphrodisiacs could even be found everywhere on the streets. It was completely different from Millish.

If something happened and became a laughingstock, nobles would generally resort to this sort of soft exile out of consideration for appearances. They would wait a year or so for the uproar to die down, then bring him back. Was that why he had no guards with him?

Allen did not know what Lokkishi was thinking, but her expression changed several times. She stared at him as though he were scum, then finally slapped her hand into her palm with an expression that said, "Deduction complete." He could more or less guess what was going through her mind.

Still, Lokkishi was smart and good at filling in the blanks. At a time like this, that was a good thing.

Women who could think for themselves were generally good women.

Allen meant that it saved him the trouble of explaining further.

As for being scum... whatever.

If a handsome man was called a scumbag, it was fine, because everyone here was a scumbag.

At that moment, Lokkishi generously responded to Allen's request.

"I am only planning to take a carriage to the royal capital before traveling near the Dragon King Mountain Range. It seems only the Asura Royal Capital has long-distance carriages that go directly there. So I will not be staying in the Asura Royal Capital for long. I most likely will not hear any rumors about you, so do not worry!"

He could not relax at all. Blue Mom had already imagined the whole thing.

"Thank you. By the way, I was traveling through the forest to avoid being noticed. What about you? Why did you not take a carriage or something?"

Lokkishi froze and blinked at Allen.

Allen raised a brow.

"Don't tell me you have no money? Did Uncle Paul hire child—uh, illegal labor?"

Lokkishi scratched her cheek in her usual signature gesture.

"Mr. Paul has already paid me, but unfortunately, I still do not have quite enough. Mm. The cost of carriages and horses for long-distance travel is very expensive."

The corner of Allen's mouth twitched.

The god of poverty was still a god. How true. Come to think of it, the Taiwanese edition had called her Roxy. There was a reason she had poverty in her name.

As he spoke, he pulled three or four Asura Kingdom coins from the pocket of his Swordsman's Outfit. There was even a gold coin among them.

Then he extended his hand and offered them to Lokkishi.

"I still have some money. Consider it repayment for your kindness in helping me out, as well as hush money. You know nobles do not lack money. Take it without worry and use it to ride a carriage."

Lokkishi did not accept it.

"Helping you out does not require money, and this is far too much for hush money. This will not do, will it?"

"Why not?"

"It just will not."

"It has to."

"Fine."

"Can't you not?"

Lokkishi, who had suddenly become agreeable, blushed. She swiftly took the money from Allen's hand before he could keep arguing, but looked off toward the forest.

"Just consider it a loan. To be honest, traveling the world costs far too much money. The Asura Kingdom is manageable, but on the Millish Continent, someone with my appearance has practically no opportunities to earn money.

"Studying at Magic University also drained all my savings, so I am desperately short on money. Since you are Mr. Paul's relative, you can ask them about my character!"

"So."

Lokkishi looked up at Allen cautiously.

"You can leave me an address. I promise I will send it back to you."

Allen stared blankly at Lokkishi's flustered expression.

It seemed the god had truly been frightened by poverty. Come to think of it, Lokkishi had been ostracized and discriminated against on the Millish Continent. She really had no savings. The fact that she could be hired for a monthly salary of two silver coins made that obvious.

But that was also because the Asura Kingdom was founded on commerce and a small-scale agrarian economy. To protect its citizens, it regularly organized purges of nearby monsters, leaving no proper adventurer work to take. Thus, she could only accept tutoring jobs like this to make a living.

Another reason was... the world's prejudice against Lokkishi's hair color had never ceased, even within the Asura Kingdom, far from the Demon Continent.

Allen's eyes flickered as he watched Lokkishi clutch the gold coin, still struggling over whether to put it away.

"You do not need to repay it. I happen to have a favor I need your help with, and this is enough to offset it."

Lokkishi froze.

The night breeze stirred, and the leaves rustled.

In the firelight, a lone man and woman looked at each other.

"As the price of borrowing money... you wouldn't want—"

Allen made as if to lean closer to Lokkishi.

Her eyes widened as she leaned back.

The next moment, Allen pointed at his bloodstained clothes.

"You can smell me, right? Please use Water Magic to wash my Swordsman's Outfit, and my hair too. It would be even better if you could dry it. After all, it would not do to meet Uncle Paul for the first time covered in blood and reeking. Also, we need to soak and wash the Terminator Boar meat. I heard this type of monster has pretty good meat."

A growl interrupted Allen.

Allen smiled when he saw the legal loli hurriedly cover her stomach.

"Looks like..."

"You agree."