Chapter 59 Favor

“Whoa! That sword strike was incredible!”

Alton hugged his exquisite little lute to his chest and stared at Xia Nan with wide eyes.

Although he had not formally gained a class level yet, Alton was already developing toward becoming a bard.

That naturally shaped his fighting style.

He stayed near the rear and used music to support his teammates.

Which meant that from his position atop the wagon, he had seen almost the entire battle.

“You’re too kind.”

Xia Nan smiled and nodded.

“Your music helped a lot.”

He was not flattering Alton just to be polite.

The halfling’s music really had improved his combat ability to a certain extent.

Without it, those four goblins would still have died to one swing.

But Xia Nan had definitely felt the difference in his body.

“Really? Oh, no, no, it wasn’t that much! Hahaha!”

Alton immediately lit up.

His eyebrows practically danced as he burst into delighted laughter.

Most halflings were like this.

A simple compliment could make them ridiculously happy.

They were easy to satisfy and generally easy to get along with.

No wonder their reputation across the Aifala Continent was so good.

At the same time, despite being naturally curious and enthusiastic, Alton knew where the boundaries were.

He never asked Xia Nan sensitive questions about his combat techniques, his weapon, or anything similar.

Then he suddenly seemed to remember something.

Alton hurriedly lowered his lute.

His smile faded.

Turning toward the direction the night owl had flown earlier, he pressed the fingers of each hand together, crossed both hands over his chest like a pair of short swords, and bowed slightly.

That gesture was different from what Xia Nan had seen him do before.

“Are you praying to the Goddess of Fortune?”

“Nope.”

Alton finished his salute and immediately smiled again.

“That was for Lord Arvoreen.”

Xia Nan searched his memory.

Arvoreen.

Another deity of the Hin Pantheon.

The God of Vigilance and War.

That only made Xia Nan more curious.

There was nothing strange about a halfling paying respect to one of the gods of his own pantheon.

But…

“What about the Smiling Lady? Don’t you need to pray to her too?”

Xia Nan asked cautiously.

Very cautiously.

Alton did not seem bothered by the question at all.

He lowered his head and inspected the strings of his lute.

“She doesn’t care about that.”

“Tsk.”

Xia Nan clicked his tongue.

Fair enough.

There were barely any temples or shrines dedicated to Tymora across the entire kingdom.

A goddess like that clearly was not going to obsess over little rituals.

…

Kalanfor was already very close.

Aside from goblins, the nearby wilderness held almost no real danger.

The group dealt with the green-skinned corpses, moved a little farther down the road, then made camp again.

After that, everyone went right back to eating.

For adventurers, fights breaking out without warning were simply part of life.

They had just been cutting apart goblins.

Their clothes were stained with filthy, foul-smelling blood.

And yet they sat around the campfires chatting as if nothing had happened.

One adventurer was halfway through tearing into a strip of dried meat when someone pointed out that a piece of goblin intestine was stuck to the back of his clothes.

The man reached behind himself.

Pulled it off.

Tossed it into the fire.

Then kept eating.

Xia Nan sat alone near the edge of the camp with the longsword resting across his knees.

He slowly wiped the blade clean with gauze.

From the outside, everything looked the same as before.

But he could feel that something in the camp had changed.

Among the caravan’s adventurers, everyone except Xia Nan and Alton either belonged to the same small party or had worked together before.

Xia Nan was the outsider.

Naturally, they had kept some distance.

There had never been outright hostility, but the sense of detachment had been obvious enough.

Xia Nan had not minded.

Less conversation meant more peace.

But after the battle, that invisible barrier had weakened.

Maybe it was because his [Spinning Slash], already trained to maximum level, had been too eye-catching.

Maybe fighting side by side had simply proven that Xia Nan could be trusted.

Either way, several adventurers had become noticeably friendlier.

The man who had directed the battle even approached Xia Nan on his own and struck up a conversation, speaking with far more respect than before.

Xia Nan himself did not care much about the change.

Still, if others were willing to be friendly, he saw no reason to reject them.

So he exchanged a few greetings and made a little small talk.

“Crackle.”

A spark burst from the fire.

Orange-red flames curled softly beneath the dark sky.

Xia Nan sat on a cushion and watched their reflection dance in his eyes.

In his previous life, work had left him exhausted every day.

Even when he finally reached a day off, he had rarely wanted to do anything except stay home and lie down.

Now, he simply watched the campfire shifting with the evening breeze.

Warmth brushed across his skin.

For a moment, his thoughts seemed to sink into the flames with him.

He felt as though he could sit there all night without getting bored.

Nearby, Jeff and Alton were talking.

“Captain, you were way too reckless back there!” Alton’s voice was light and cheerful. “You’re the one who hired us. You don’t need to fight like your life depends on it. Leave that stuff to us!”

“How could I do that?”

Jeff’s answer came without hesitation.

“This caravan might not mean much to you adventurers. Lose the money, take a few more jobs, and maybe you’ll earn it back. But me? I spent half my life saving for these wagons.”

Alton blinked.

“Just these few wagons?”

“Heh.”

Jeff smiled awkwardly.

“Both my children are studying at an academy in Neum. Tuition alone costs me quite a bit every year.”

He sighed.

“I have to make money.”

“Then what about later?” Alton immediately followed the thread, curiosity written all over his face. “What do they want to do when they grow up?”

“Will they take over your caravan?”

“Or become adventurers?”

“No, no, no. Not adventurers.”

Jeff waved his hands almost instinctively, rejection obvious on his face.

Then he suddenly remembered who he was talking to.

His hands froze.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean anything by that.”

Alton just laughed and waved for him to continue.

He clearly did not care.

“Jamie… One of his teachers at the academy said he has some talent for languages. So maybe he’ll become a Common-language teacher.”

Jeff scratched his chin.

“Lilina told me before that she wants to open a tailor shop. I’ve saved a fair amount over the years, but I’m still a little short.”

Then something seemed to occur to him.

Jeff looked at Alton with a trace of expectation on his plain, honest face.

“I heard you worship the Goddess of Fortune?”

“That’s right!”

“Then… if I prayed to the goddess, would she bless me?”

“Depends what you’re praying for.”

“Heh.”

Jeff scratched his head and gave an embarrassed smile.

“Nothing special. Just to earn a little more money. Keep my family safe. Keep everyone healthy.”

“You know how our work is. We travel all over the place, and sooner or later, we always run into…”

“She will.”

Alton’s tone changed.

The cheerful halfling suddenly looked serious.

Sincere.

He answered slowly, one word at a time.

“The Smiling Lady watches over heroes.”

“And she also watches over those who work hard to live their lives.”