Chapter 25: The Goblin’s Left Ear

Page 1 of 3

“It’s all right.”

Reverend Catherine had anticipated this. She simply produced another Bible of the Church of Fortune, palm-sized and two fingers thick, and held it out to Li Rui.

“As one favored by Fortune, so long as Fortune has not abandoned you, I believe that one day you will come to understand the greatness of our goddess. I’ll give you this book as well. Consider it my blessing.”

Given Li Rui’s obvious resistance, he clearly was not ready to be converted. All she could do was leave a seed of faith behind and prepare to make use of it later.

Li Rui accepted the Bible.

Although he was not yet prepared to offer his faith to a deity, he considered the Goddess of Fortune one of the most worthy gods to worship. There could be no harm in maintaining a good relationship with the Church of Fortune.

There was nothing more for Li Rui to do here. He should have said his farewells and left.

Instead, he suddenly spoke. “Reverend Catherine, Guildmaster Nova, I have a proposal. I hope you’ll hear me out.”

“What is it?” A trace of puzzlement flashed through their eyes.

“I hope”—Li Rui pointed at himself—“that you’ll invest in me.”

………………

A few minutes later.

Li Rui emerged from the rear hall of the temple into the main chapel. Gazing at the towering statue of the Goddess of Fortune, he clicked his tongue helplessly.

He was no good at public speaking, and he had no idea how to solicit an investment. Clearly, he had failed.

He was not afraid of others learning about his cheat ability. After all, it had no mechanism that would kill him for revealing its secrets.

Thus, he gave the two women a general description of what it could do, emphasizing that by killing enemies he could rapidly and continuously gain strength. He highlighted his enormous advantages and his destined rise to legendary status.

After hearing him out, Reverend Catherine and Guildmaster Nova both praised his boundless potential.

But when he asked the Church of Fortune and the Adventurers’ Guild to provide money, manpower, and equipment to help him hunt monsters and grow stronger, the two women began dodging the issue, forcibly ending the conversation by saying they would “need some time to consider it.”

Page 1 of 3

Page 2 of 3

What he did not know was that Guildmaster Nova had refused because she was not yet familiar enough with him, while Reverend Catherine had already begun devising plans for further evangelism and was preparing accordingly.

“Alas.” Recalling the disastrous failure of his negotiations, Li Rui could not help shaking his head and murmuring, “My eloquence is still too poor. If only I could communicate online, I’d definitely be able to convince them…”

Paul and the other three were waiting for him in the front row of the chapel. When they saw him emerge, they rose and walked over.

“Li Rui, why did Reverend Catherine keep you behind? Was it something good?”

Over the past few days, Li Rui had grown quite close to them, so he naturally did not mind sharing his good fortune.

“You guessed it.” Recalling what Reverend Catherine had told him, a smile immediately spread across his face. “Reverend Catherine said that the Goddess of Fortune has taken notice of me. Starting today, I am one of her chosen!”

“Good heavens!”

All four members of Paul’s party widened their eyes. Both their nostrils flared in astonishment until they were large enough to fit a thumb.

One of the chosen!

To the four members of the low-level adventuring party Claw of the Earth, this was an existence as distant as the tales sung by bards—rarer even than legendary heroes.

After all, the master of Fisher’s Mage Tower to the south was a legend. Everyone in Golden Wheat Town had heard of the legendary mage Fisher. But the chosen were beings whom no one had ever seen or even heard of.

As long as they fought and studied without cease, and lived long enough, many adventurers in this world could reach the threshold of legend.

Considering that this world continued to expand and its population kept growing, it would not be an exaggeration to say that there were tens of thousands of legendary figures in the world.

But the number of gods was limited. Although no one in Golden Wheat Town knew exactly how many deities existed throughout the world, it was estimated that the total number of gods and demigods did not exceed a thousand.

Moreover, each deity could have only a limited number of chosen. A mother could not possibly divide her affection among thousands upon thousands of children.

Some gods never showed particular favor toward anyone at all. Some even deliberately ordered their churches to hunt down the chosen of other gods. This made the chosen even rarer.

Earlier, when Paul had used two cantrips in succession to help Li Rui become a would-be druid, his three companions had been so jealous that their eyes had turned red.

Now Paul, like the others beside him, understood what it meant to be so jealous you wanted to hit someone.

Page 2 of 3

Page 3 of 3

“You little bastard!”

Garon, the party’s rudest barbarian, took a huge stride forward. Relying on his advantage in height—he stood six foot three—he hooked an arm around Li Rui and tucked him beneath his armpit, then vigorously rubbed his head with his other hand.

“I’m jealous as hell! You’re buying us drinks tonight!”

“All right, all right!” Having been punished for showing off, Li Rui hurriedly wriggled free and raised his hands in surrender. “Come to think of it, I still haven’t thanked you for bringing me out of the forest. Let this count as my repayment.”

After they reported the matter of the mind flayer and the intellect devourer, it was no longer relevant to these low-level adventurers. The group soon put it out of their minds and left the Temple of Fortune.

Once outside, they crossed the street and first went to the Adventurers’ Guild, where they exchanged the note Reverend Catherine had issued for money. Without pausing, they then entered a building south of the guild.

The Goblin’s Left Ear was the tavern with the widest selection of drinks and dishes in all of Golden Wheat Town. It was also the only tavern in town frequented by every adventurer.

Through Jay’s Common Tongue Memories, Li Rui learned why the Goblin’s Left Ear had managed to hold every adventurer in its grip, ensuring that they never spent their money at any of the town’s other taverns.

The reason was that this tavern possessed an overwhelmingly enormous advantage.

The Goblin’s Left Ear was willing to let adventurers—who might run off without warning one day, abandon the profession, or die in some forgotten corner—run up a tab!

Of course, not everyone was allowed to drink on credit every time.

The unspoken rules were that an adventurer had to have completed at least one quest, could not be universally shunned by the other adventurers in the tavern, and could run up a tab only once at a time. The next time they came in for a drink, they had to settle their previous debt before being allowed to borrow again.

Completing a quest proved that a person had the ability to survive in the profession. That gave them standing, and the owner was willing to use credit as a way of establishing a relationship with newcomers.

Anyone universally shunned by the other adventurers would not last long, so naturally the owner would no longer be willing to extend them that courtesy.

The rule about paying off the previous bill before borrowing again worked the same way. If someone could not even repay their last drinking debt, it proved they were no longer able to make it in the profession. What business did they have drinking? They might as well leave the trade while they still could.

Page 3 of 3