"Hm?"
As the voice in his mind gradually faded away, Kurose Akira stood there in a daze.
It felt like he hadn't done anything at all… and yet, somehow, it also felt like he'd done everything.
He reached into his pocket and took out the Mind Pendant. The pendant was emitting a faint halo of light.
Did this thing just save my life?
Lady Natasha really was a goddess of fortune!
With the witch's remnant soul dispersing completely, the water fairy seemed to lose the very source of its power.
After Loserine severed its head for the seventh time, the creature finally collapsed into a puddle of clear water, utterly motionless.
[Water Fairy defeated (1/1)]
And at the exact moment the water fairy died, the lake itself began to dry up at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"Not a single drop left?"
Akira stared at the dried lakebed, a trace of surprise crossing his face.
Fortunately, both commissions were now complete. The difficulty hadn't been high, but that witch's remnant soul just now had genuinely shaken him.
Even though players could use resurrection coins to revive, facing the threat of death still stirred instinctive fear and unease.
Besides—
He was afraid of pain.
"Did it really leave nothing behind?"
Akira walked to the center of the dried lakebed. The entire lake had vanished, leaving behind only a few exposed rocks.
And hovering in midair—
Only visible to Akira—
Were a few floating tags.
Akira collected them.
[Water Fairy]*
Combined with the previously obtained [Soulmate]*, Akira now had two additional tags available for use.
Because [Soulmate]* wasn't suitable for either Ivsha or Loserine, it had remained unused all this time. But [Water Fairy]*…
Akira's gaze shifted toward Ivsha and Loserine.
Perhaps he could choose one of them and test the effects of adding a new tag.
"Mister Akira, look—there's a strange stone here."
Ivsha suddenly sensed a faint trace of magic and pointed it out to him.
"A stone?"
With curiosity, Akira walked over and picked up the black stone.
[Strange Stone: ?]
"?"
It really was a strange stone…
He had no idea what effect it had, but he knew one thing for certain—
Any item marked with a "?" was definitely extraordinary!
Better to pick it up first and worry about it later.
"Let's head back."
"Yes~"
White light flashed, and Akira returned to the Adventurers' Guild.
After turning in the commissions, the experience pool had accumulated to 2,300 points—but that was only enough to level Loserine up once.
"Still short on EXP…"
Akira sighed softly and poured all the accumulated experience into Ivsha instead.
[EXP -1800][Your adventurer Ivsha has reached Level 8!]
"Thank you for your generosity, Mister Akira~"
Ivsha looked at him with radiant gratitude, her joy unmistakable.
"And then…"
Akira added the [Water Fairy]* tag to Loserine.
As for why he didn't give it to Ivsha?
Because Ivsha never lacked water.
[Loserine has gained a new tag!]
[Water Fairy]: A companion spirit created from soul elements.
"A companion spirit created from soul elements?"
Akira was intensely curious about this new tag Loserine had acquired. When he looked closely at her, he was surprised to find a tiny water spirit snake made of pure water elements perched on her shoulder armor.
And since it was formed from Loserine's soul element—
That meant it was a little female snake?
Also…
Why did this little snake have a pair of tiny wings?
Akira extended a finger and gently poked the small snake resting on Loserine's pauldron.
The sensation was incredibly smooth, like poking a lump of jelly.
However, his touch didn't provoke any response. The little snake remained fast asleep.
"Never mind. I won't wake it."
Akira decided to let it continue sleeping.
"Let's go. There's still time—let's make another trip to the church."
"As you command~"
The scene shifted.
Akira arrived at the church once more.
This time, he had come to ask Sister Carrie about the production capacity of Nun Talismans.
These holy items, condensed from a nun's blessing power, were usually produced in limited quantities, and individual differences played a significant role.
For example, a nun with high magical power might only need two weeks to produce one nun talisman, while a nun with weaker magic might need a month—or even longer.
Ivsha certainly wouldn't know the exact numbers behind such logistical details, so Akira needed to consult Sister Carrie directly.
After some inquiries, Akira roughly learned that the nuns of the church could only weave about twenty nun talismans per month using their magic.
When Sister Carrie learned that Akira intended to help sell their backlog of nun talismans, she was quite surprised.
After all, the profit margin on nun talismans was extremely thin. Each talisman sold for 5 silver coins, while the material cost alone was as high as 4 silver coins.
Moreover, items that only provided a small increase to Luck weren't necessities for ordinary townsfolk, so sales had always been poor. This left Sister Carrie puzzled as to how Akira planned to sell them.
Even so, she didn't reject his proposal.
She even handed him ten nun talismans directly, letting him handle them as he pleased. As for how future profits would be divided, she decided they could discuss it after seeing results.
Akira understood very well why Sister Carrie trusted him so unconditionally.
To a large extent, it was because of Ivsha's relationship with the church.
Ivsha's close ties with the church had caused the other nuns to develop a strong sense of goodwill toward him as well.
To repay their trust, Akira decided to purchase a collective prayer from fifty young nuns.
A nun's prayer possessed miraculous power, capable of granting temporary attribute boosts and various buff states to the one being prayed for—such as increased Luck.
The more nuns praying, the stronger the effect.
And for a player, these buffs were absolutely worth it—possibly even insanely profitable!
Of course, what Akira was most looking forward to was the sight of fifty nuns praying for him at the same time.
His action also brought the church a sizable income, prompting the nuns to express their gratitude repeatedly and immediately begin preparing for the prayer ceremony.
"Mister Akira is so generous~ Ivsha has no way to repay you~ so I can only offer myself to you~"
Taking advantage of the fact that the other nuns were busy with preparations, Ivsha quietly hooked her arm around Akira's, speaking seductively.
"Warming your bed, bathing together, wrapping around you~ whatever Mister Akira desires, this little woman is willing to serve~"
"Ahem!"
Akira turned his head away, looking slightly embarrassed.
The nuns were watching~
Ivsha was really getting bolder by the day.
"Um… this is for you~"
At that moment, the young nun they had met before—Emily—suddenly stepped forward and handed Akira a cloth doll.
"This is for me?"
Akira asked curiously.
"Yes!"
Emily nodded, revealing a pure and kind smile.
She wanted to express her gratitude by giving him her beloved toy.
"I appreciate the thought, but this doll…"
Akira was about to politely decline. He was practically at the age of entering university—well past the age of playing with dolls.
However—
Wait.
His words came to an abrupt stop.
His gaze landed on the doll, where a shimmering tag caught his attention.
[Demonic Spirit Doll](Rare Tag! When used for combination, guarantees recruitment of an Epic-quality adventurer!)(Trigger Condition: Emily's cloth doll)
"I really like this gift. Thank you, Emily."