Chapter 184: "Glen Love Story

A few minutes later, after finally retrieving the money pouch, Lu Wei didn’t waste a moment and immediately returned to the general store.

The pouch contained 6 gold and 5 silver, with no Copper Coins.

Just goes to show that Professionals are on another level.

Lu Wei was, of course, thrilled to have scored another windfall.

However, when he thought back on what had just happened, he still felt a twinge of fear.

That’s right. From the very beginning, Lu Wei had no intention of actually fighting. His plan all along was to bluff Gante’s trio, forcing them to compromise out of fear of harming Furen.

After all, he was facing two Professionals at once. Even though they were both melee fighters, conveniently countered by his [Force Field], he still had no guarantee of victory.

And reality had borne this out.

Under the effects of a five-times-strength Force Field, Gante and Cersei could clearly still put up a fight.

One-on-one, Lu Wei was confident he could win.

But one-on-two? The outcome was much less certain.

And that wasn’t even factoring in Mirana.

‘Sigh…’

The thought of Mirana made Lu Wei sigh.

To be honest, he still didn’t understand why Mirana had helped Freya with the poisoning.

But that question didn’t seem to matter anymore.

In any case, what Mirana did was an undeniable act of betrayal.

This was completely different from when they were ambushed by Kobolds over a month ago.

Back then, they were just two separate squads who had run into each other in the forest.

Lu Wei could completely understand why Mirana had hidden key information and roped the Mushroom Squad into fighting alongside her—she was just trying to protect herself and her teammates.

But this time was different.

Even though Mirana had never officially acknowledged herself as a member of the Mushroom Squad, they had fought side-by-side so many times that Lu Wei, Furen, and Bai Ya all considered her a comrade.

They would have trusted her with their backs in a fight.

And now…

‘Damn it! I’m a terrible judge of character!’

‘Playing double agent, were we?!’

‘If I hadn’t gotten here in time, my whole ‘three birds with one stone’ plan would’ve gone up in smoke!’

‘I knew there was something wrong with that woman!’

‘I actually figured it out a long time ago!’

‘It’s all Furen’s and Bai Ya’s fault! They clouded my judgment!’

Stepping through the door of the general store, Lu Wei firmly placed the blame on Furen and Bai Ya, resolving to cut ties with Mirana for good.

Even though Mirana seemed to possess some incredible lucky aura, her good fortune was irrelevant compared to having a teammate who might stab you in the back at any moment.

Betray me once, and you’re done for life.

In this Otherworld, where the bonds between comrades were even more important than those between spouses, that saying fit Mirana perfectly.

And this was a key reason why he had insisted on keeping Furen—

he didn’t want to let Mirana get her way.

Beyond that, it was, of course, for the sake of his “three birds, one stone” plan.

And also…

Walking up to the second floor, Lu Wei looked at Furen snoring away on a straw mat and suddenly realized something he was reluctant to admit even to himself.

He’d grown attached to Furen.

Er, not *those* kinds of feelings, of course.

It was a genuine friendship, one that transcended money.

Of course, to say it *completely* transcended money… well, that wasn’t necessarily true.

If Viscount Delaroca offered him 1,000 Gold Coins, Lu Wei would, without a second thought, personally tie Furen up and haul him back to Kalin Port.

800 would work, too.

In a pinch, he’d even consider 500.

In short, this so-called “friendship that transcends money” definitely had its limits.

But at least for now—or rather, in that split second when he saw Gante’s trio trying to take Furen away—Lu Wei’s decision had been made from the standpoint of a comrade.

He might be a Crafty Merchant,

but who ever made a rule that a Crafty Merchant couldn’t have friends?

…

…

“I admit it. I am a Professional, and the Light-guided Arrow is indeed one of a Priest’s Professional Skills.”

“But I can’t get into the specifics. There are some very complicated problems and powerful groups involved.”

“It’s about other planes of existence, and a kind of mechanical behemoth called a ‘Dayun’.”

“Basically, it’s better for you if you don’t know.”

“Even my own father doesn’t know about this.”

About ten minutes later, on the first floor of the general store, Lu Wei briefly explained the [Light-guided Arrow] to Theodore and Clara.

It was all true. Not a single word was a lie.

Meanwhile, Furen was still asleep on the second floor, with no telling when he’d wake up.

Lu Wei had just slapped him a couple of times, but he hadn’t even stirred.

Clearly, what Mirana had given him was no ordinary Sleep Powder.

“Ah, so it was the Light-guided Arrow!”

Theodore exclaimed in realization. “I must have misremembered it as Tubular Arrow. No wonder it sounded so strange!”

???

“Ahem, it’s Light-guided Arrow,”

Lu Wei said with a dry cough. “Tubular Arrow is a different Skill.”

“Oh, I see… So, does anyone else know about this?”

Theodore asked curiously, “I saw that Mirana looked pretty surprised, too.”

“Mm, she doesn’t know, and neither do Furen or Bai Ya.”

Lu Wei nodded and said in a deadpan voice,

“Uncle Theodore, as you know, I’m a very low-key person. I just want to live among everyone as an ordinary man, so I’d appreciate it if you could help me keep this a secret.”

“Er, that’s no problem for me, but…”

Theodore glanced over at the craftsmen working on the east side of the Dome Tree, a troubled look on his face.

“I trust them, but with so many people, there’s no guarantee someone won’t let it slip by accident.”

“That’s true… Well, just do your best. Don’t stress over it.”

Lu Wei thought for a moment but didn’t dwell on it.

After all, besides the construction crew, Gante’s trio now knew he was a “Priest.”

His identity would be exposed sooner or later.

There was no point in closing the barn door after the horse had bolted.

“Alright, I’m going to check on Furen again.”

Standing up, Lu Wei, still thinking about those two-hundred-plus ears, quickly headed back to the second floor.

Furen was still asleep, his backpack lying in the corner.

It looked rather flat.

Hmm?

Lu Wei froze. A bad feeling suddenly washed over him.

He hurried over, opened the backpack, and checked inside.

Sure enough, the ears were gone!

‘Wait, they couldn’t have started to stink already, could they? Did Furen throw them out?!’

“Anna!”

With four Gold Coins on the line, Lu Wei immediately yelled for Anna to come upstairs.

“What about that big bag of ears? Did you throw them out?”

“Ah, no, we didn’t.”

Anna shook her head, looking blank. “They should be in Mr. Furen’s bag. I could still smell them this morning when I came to clean.”

Lu Wei’s brow furrowed. “Then why are they gone now?”

“I…”

Startled by his serious tone, Anna suddenly grew flustered, helplessly clutching the hem of her clothes.

“Mr. Lu Wei, I didn’t steal them! I really haven’t stolen anything!”

“P-Please, you have to believe me!”

…

?

‘Who said you stole them?’

‘A bit of a knee-jerk reaction?’

‘Then again, you and Zovir do have a record.’

Lu Wei glanced at Anna and waved his hand in resignation.

“Stop yelling. I didn’t say you stole them. Just try to remember who came up to the second floor today.”

“O-Okay…”

Anna nodded quickly and began to recall. “Mr. Gante came up this morning.”

“Then it was Miss Mirana and Miss Cersei.”

“After that, no one else came up until Uncle Theodore and Miss Clara carried Mr. Furen upstairs just now…”

‘Okay, so there are five suspects in total.’

‘First, rule out Theodore and Clara, since I was here with them.’

‘So it must have been one of Gante’s group.’

‘Considering that both Warriors and Holy Knights are Professions with certain moral requirements, they wouldn’t stoop to stealing another’s loot. Besides, they probably wouldn’t have any interest in a bag of ears anyway.’

‘Which means the culprit is…’

After a moment of stunned silence, Lu Wei exploded in anger.

“Oh, just great!”

“Not only a traitor but a Thief, too!”

“I’ve been saying all along that woman was bad news!”

“This is all Furen and Bai Ya’s fault!!”

…

…

It had to be said, Lu Wei and that bag of ears were simply not meant to be.

Through another twist of fate, the two had missed each other once again.

If this were a movie, it could easily be called *Crazy Ears* or *A Glen Love Story*—

an upright merchant and a bag of goblin ears in Gelan Forest, endlessly searching for and missing one another.

It sounded very moving.

In any case, since the ears had been “stolen,” Lu Wei could only accept reality and wait quietly at the general store for Furen to wake up.

In contrast, Bai Ya, who had remained in town, had a much more eventful day.

In the morning, she went clothes shopping. At noon, she stayed at the small clinic to have lunch with Aryan, who recommended a reliable carpenter’s shop.

Negotiating the price, explaining the requirements, paying the deposit… by the time she had ordered thirty Wooden Boxes of various sizes as Lu Wei had asked, it was already past four in the afternoon.

Carrying Hess on her back and humming a little tune, Bai Ya returned to their cabin. From over ten meters away, she spotted a gray cloth bag sitting outside the gate.

Puzzled, she opened it, and a foul, rotten stench immediately hit her.

“Ew, it stinks…”

Bai Ya took one glance before quickly tying the bag shut. Pinching her nose, she complained in annoyance,

“Captain, why’d you leave the ears here? You should take them to the Adventurer Association and turn them in!”

…

There was no reply.

“Huh?”

Confused, Bai Ya pushed open the gate, bag in hand. She searched the cabin but couldn’t find Lu Wei.

‘Did he come back and then have to go out again?’

Back in the front yard, she muttered to herself but didn’t think much of it. She put on an apron and began to prepare dinner.

But even as the sun slowly sank below the horizon and the stew in the pot began to bubble and steam, Lu Wei still hadn’t come back.

“Where on earth could he have gone…?”

Standing outside the gate, Bai Ya stood on her tiptoes, peering down the path. She was finally starting to get worried.

It wasn’t that she was worried about Lu Wei’s safety, though.

She was more worried about the bag of ears.

She had only glanced at them for a moment, but she’d already seen that several of the ears were starting to rot.

If they sat out for another night, more would surely be rotten by morning.

The Adventurer Association closed at 7 p.m., so there was still time to make it.

But Lu Wei was still nowhere to be seen…

‘Oh, forget it. I’ll just go turn them in for the bounty myself. Otherwise, we’ll lose a lot of money for nothing.’

Glancing at the darkening sky, Bai Ya finally made her decision.

She immediately took off her apron, extinguished the fire in the stove, and, grabbing the cloth bag, jogged off in the direction of the Adventurer Association.