Chapter 6: As the Price of Borrowing Money... You Wouldn’t Want...

Roxy was somewhat surprised.

"...Boreas Greyrat? You..."

Allen smiled.

"I'm a noble. Didn't expect that, did you?"

Roxy quickly shook her head, as if she had thought of something.

"Are you... heading to Buena Village?"

Allen raised an eyebrow and countered with a question.

"...How did you know?"

Roxy stared at Allen's face, scrutinizing it carefully. Unfortunately, there was no resemblance between Allen and Rudeus.

Rudeus had a gentle and delicate appearance, with soft hair falling over his forehead and cheeks. In contrast, the boy in front of her had sharp, striking features, with messy, dirty hair pushed back, save for a few strands hanging by his temples.

Allen noticed Roxy's scrutiny and found it amusing.

He and Rudeus weren't even from the same branch of the family. Not only did they look different, but their inherited... preferences were also different.

The Notos family, represented by Paul, had a thing for large breasts. While Allen hadn't personally confirmed this, the novels had already made it clear. Meanwhile, the Boreas family, represented by Eris, had a thing for beast girls. This... well...

Allen could personally attest to that.

Of course, Rudeus, being a reincarnator with mixed origins, might not have fully inherited the family's... preferences. This... the Blue Mommy in front of him was proof of that.

Wait, hold on. Something didn't add up.

The problem was that Allen himself wasn't pure-blooded either.

So why was he still a furry?

...Hmm...

While Allen was lost in self-reflection, Roxy continued speaking.

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

She paused for a moment.

"Are you... planning to seek refuge with them?"

Allen quickly snapped out of his thoughts and feigned surprise.

"What a coincidence! To be honest, I got into some trouble in the Asura Kingdom's capital... um... so I came here to lay low with Uncle Paul. Since this place is pretty remote... um... if you're heading to the Asura capital, please don't mention seeing me if anyone asks."

With that, Allen clasped his hands together in a pleading gesture.

Roxy, on the other hand, breathed a sigh of relief. She had been worried that Allen's disheveled appearance and long journey might indicate he was seeking revenge rather than refuge.

'Did he get into trouble at home? Boreas... and from the capital... He must be the child of the Boreas family's acting head. The mayor of Roa in the Fittoa region, Philip Boreas Greyrat, only has one child, right? I heard it's a rather troublesome young lady...'

'What kind of trouble could have led to this? Allen seems level-headed and not the type to cause trouble... Wait, he's quite smooth when it comes to flirting with girls... Could it be something related to that? Did he get chased out of the capital by the girl's family?'

'Hmm... The Greyrat men are all quite lecherous... And they're all smooth-talkers...'

'Improper relationships between men and women are quite common among the nobility in the Asura capital... The social atmosphere there is... unusual, to say the least. You can even find aphrodisiacs sold openly on the streets... It's completely different from Milis...'

'If something scandalous spread and became a topic of gossip, the nobility would usually handle it discreetly, like exiling the person for a year or two until the rumors die down. That's probably why he doesn't have any guards with him...'

Allen didn't know what Roxy was thinking, but judging by the way her expression changed several times, eventually settling on a look of disdain as if she were staring at a scumbag, and then her triumphant 'case closed' expression, he could guess what was going through her mind...

Honestly, Roxy's intelligence and tendency to overthink things worked in his favor this time.

A woman who can think for herself is usually a good woman.

What Allen meant was that it saved him the trouble of having to explain himself...

As for being a scumbag... Whatever.

If you're handsome, people will call you a scumbag. That's fine, because everyone here is a scumbag.

At this point, Roxy generously responded to Allen's plea.

"I'm just planning to take a carriage from the capital to the King Dragon Mountains for some travel. It seems only the Asura capital has direct long-distance carriages... So I won't be staying in the capital for long. I probably won't hear any rumors about you, so don't worry!"

'Don't worry? You've already finished your mental fanfiction, Blue Mommy...'

"Thank you... By the way, I've been traveling through the forest to avoid being seen... What about you? Why aren't you taking a carriage or something?"

Roxy blinked at Allen, caught off guard by the question.

Allen raised an eyebrow.

"Don't tell me... you're out of money? Did Uncle Paul hire child labor... uh... cheap labor?"

Roxy scratched her cheek, her signature move.

"Paul has already paid me, but I'm still a bit short on funds... Long-distance travel is expensive..."

Allen's mouth twitched.

'The Goddess of Poverty is still a goddess. How fitting. Speaking of which, in the Taiwanese translation, your name is "Locksey," which includes the character for "poverty." No wonder you're broke.'

With that, he pulled out three or four Asura Kingdom coins from his pocket, including one gold coin, and handed them to Roxy.

"I still have some money. Consider it repayment for your kindness and... hush money. You know nobles aren't short on cash, so take it and use it for the carriage fare."

Roxy didn't accept it.

"Kindness doesn't need to be repaid with money, and the hush money is too much... This isn't right."

"Why not?"

"It just isn't..."

"It has to be."

"Fine."

"It can't not be... Huh?"

Roxy, suddenly agreeing, blushed and quickly snatched the money from Allen's hand, her eyes darting to the forest nearby.

"Consider it a loan. To be honest, traveling the world is expensive. The Asura Kingdom is manageable, but in the Milis continent... With my appearance, it's hard to find work..."

"Studying at the magic university drained my savings, so I'm really short on funds. Since you're Paul's relative, you can ask them about my character!"

"So..."

Roxy glanced up at Allen cautiously.

"You can leave me your address. I promise I'll pay you back..."

Allen stared blankly at Roxy's flustered expression.

'It seems the Goddess is truly desperate for money. Roxy faced discrimination and exclusion in the Milis continent, so it's no wonder she has no savings... The fact that she was hired for just two silver coins a month says it all.'

'But this is also due to the Asura Kingdom's economy, which relies on trade and small-scale farming. To protect its citizens, the kingdom regularly organizes monster hunts, which means there aren't many legitimate adventurer jobs available. So, she had to take on tutoring jobs to make ends meet.'

'...Another reason is that people's prejudice against Roxy's hair color never stopped, even in the Asura Kingdom, far from the Demon Continent.'

Allen's eyes gleamed as he watched Roxy's conflicted expression, her hand clutching the gold coin, hesitating to put it away.

"No need to pay me back. I actually have a favor to ask of you, and this should cover it."

Roxy was taken aback.

The night breeze rustled the leaves.

Under the glow of the campfire, a man and a woman sat alone, facing each other.

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

Allen leaned closer to Roxy.

She widened her eyes and leaned back.

The next moment, Allen pointed to his blood-stained clothes.

"...to smell the stench on me, right? Could you use water magic to wash my swordsman outfit? And my hair too. If you could dry it, that would be even better. After all, it wouldn't be appropriate to meet Uncle Paul covered in blood and reeking of sweat... Oh, and we should also wash the boar meat. I heard the meat from these monsters is quite good..."

A growling sound interrupted Allen's words.

Allen chuckled as he watched the legal loli hurriedly cover her stomach.

"It seems..."

"You agree."