Taking Ellie's shortsword, Xue Yunfeng examined it closely for a moment. It was Yondalla's Hornblade, a silver-glowing shortsword with a strange symbol carved into its hilt. It was probably ancient Halfling script, rarely used nowadays.
Given the priestess's status, it was likely a reward bestowed upon her by Yondalla.
Ellie said softly, "I put everything that needed to be said into the Hornblade."
Then she rummaged through the small pouch at her waist and held out a cluster of soft, glowing spiritual energy... As soon as it touched the ground, it transformed into six animal horns of different shapes.
Xue Yunfeng paused before saying, "You could wait until the mission is completed to give these to us. There's no need for a deposit."
Ellie shook her head. "This isn't a deposit. It's simply our side's portion of the payment in advance. The other four will be provided by the grand temple of the Restin Community.
Technically, they should be paying more, but who told them to get robbed?
Anyone capable of stealing such an enormous Divine Artifact definitely wouldn't leave any other valuable items behind.
This time... the thieves were greedy beyond all comparison! When I first received the news, I almost thought I was having a nightmare!
Then I came to my senses. Even Halflings' nightmares aren't that bizarre!
Sigh!
To protect ourselves, we Halflings never keep gold, silver, jewels, or anything like that in our warehouses. There are rarely even any gold coins... but surely there should be some stored food!
But... I heard that not even a single grain of rice remains in Restin's temple warehouse.
A Halfling community centered on agriculture actually had to buy grain from humans one day! What a farce."
Xue Yunfeng frowned. "Was this a band of thieves?"
Ellie shook her head.