He Even Thanked Us

Nanako's eyes widened instantly, and she swiftly turned around, counting on her fingers while muttering to herself.

"One is 2000, two is 4000, three is 5000... Nanako earns 100 gold coins a month, deducting 20% tax leaves 70 gold coins. I give my disciple 5 gold coins as pocket money, and after other expenses, I can save 10 gold coins each month..."

"The repair fee for the Mage Tower is 200 gold coins, crashing into Grandpa Andrew's Mage Tower costs 400 gold coins, and damaging the trial grounds equipment is 1000 gold coins..."

Nanako murmured, "Nanako won't be in debt anymore..."

Meanwhile, Elina and her mage team were also wide-eyed, whispering among themselves.

Lynn pricked up his ears to eavesdrop.

All he could hear repeatedly were two words.

Poverty!!

The King of Secret Source swallowed hard and asked softly,

"Is your master really that poor?"

Lynn sighed, smiling meaningfully,

"Poor? But they’re considered middle-income in this world. A farmer earns less than twenty silver coins a month, a small craftsman earns around 1 gold coin, and even the better-paid industrial workers make at most 3 gold coins a month..."

"Do you still think we’re poor now?"

The King of Secret Source was left speechless.

He glanced at the priceless crystals and then at the scattered, luxurious Holy Church garments on the ground.

For a moment, he didn’t know what to say.

Seeing the girls still hesitating and worrying,

Lynn smiled faintly.

He then took out a crystal and strode towards the large white pigs, saying,

"Alright, alright, everyone. If you can’t make up your minds, why not just ask the parties involved?"

Everyone was stunned.

Then they saw Lynn squatting in front of two large white pigs engaged in some activity, speaking gently,

"Brothers, do you still need these crystals?"

One of the pigs angrily snorted, "Oink—oink—"

Lynn turned back, saying seriously, "They said they don’t need them anymore, so we can take them."

The pigs: "!!!"

Everyone else: "???"

The pig wailed, "Oink—oink oink—"

Lynn turned back, "He said they’ll always be pigs now, so they don’t need these worldly possessions anymore."

The pigs (ΩДΩ): "Oink—oink oink oink—"

Lynn smiled humbly, pointing at them, "He’s thanking us, actually."

The pigs (ΩДΩ): "!!!"

Everyone was dumbfounded.

What kind of absurd operation was this? Could a normal person even come up with something like this?

...

About ten minutes later.

All the girls were blushing, heads down, each carrying a large bundle on their backs.

As they walked, the bundles jingled, and no one knew what was inside.

Nanako also widened her eyes, using the brim of her large witch hat to shield her gaze, feeling as if she had done something wrong as she walked ahead.

Glancing at Lynn’s nonchalant expression, Nanako whispered,

"Disciple, is... is this really okay? Taking so much stuff, Master’s heart is pounding, like I’ve done something wrong. My chest feels tight..."

Lynn said, "Chest tight? Should I help massage it for you?"

Nanako shook her head, "This isn’t about massaging..."

"..."

*Thwack—*

Nanako angrily hugged her chest, steam puffing from her head, cheeks puffed as she stomped ahead.

Meanwhile, a bump had formed on Lynn’s head, steam rising from it.

The King of Secret Source laughed heartily, "Hahahaha—"

*Thud—*

"Huh? Mr. Rein, what’s wrong?! Why did you faint?!"

"Mr. Rein, are you okay? Don’t scare us!"

"Mr. Rein, wake up!!"

Soon.

The group cautiously ventured deeper into the massive ruins.

As they went further in,

they soon saw a long passageway leading downward in the depths of the ruins.

Nanako opened her big blue eyes wide, alert,

"Everyone, stay sharp! We’re going in. If you notice anything unusual, warn everyone immediately! Understood?!"

"Yes, Lady Nanako!" the girls shouted.

Soon.

They followed the ancient, winding passageway, descending deeper underground.

Along the way, apart from scattered rubble, they encountered no major obstacles.

After walking for about ten minutes, the view suddenly opened up.

A massive underground hall appeared before them.

Everyone’s eyes widened in disbelief.

The walls were densely engraved with countless cryptic runes, and broken chains were scattered across the floor. An indescribably ancient aura filled the air.

"Is this..." Elina muttered, "The ruins of the King of Secret Source?"

A mage girl quickly approached the runes, pulling out various archaeological tools from her ring to carefully dust them off.

"These runes seem to be some kind of ancient sealing array..." the girl murmured, engrossed in her study,

"I think I’ve seen these characters somewhere before, maybe in some religious scriptures..."

"The language of the gods."

At these words, everyone’s hearts skipped a beat.

The girl frowned slightly, "But it’s strange. These runes seem to have been active not long ago. The energy fluctuations haven’t dissipated yet..."

[Of course they haven’t dissipated →_→, since the seal here was broken less than a day ago.]

[But is that what we’re focusing on now? Of course not! What we care about is what useful things we can find here!]

Then he glanced aside.

The King of Secret Source stood not far away, arms crossed, whistling a light tune, acting as if it had nothing to do with him.

Lynn hesitated.

[But something’s off!]

[From his expression, he doesn’t seem worried about his home being ransacked!]

[And throughout this journey, his escape has been half-hearted. Is he really not afraid I’ll clean him out?]

Lynn hesitated, then walked up with a smile, patting his shoulder,

"Mr. Rein, do you have any insights to share?"

The King of Secret Source glared at him, then elegantly smiled,

"This ruin indeed holds great research value. It seems something was once sealed here. I don’t know why the seal disappeared, but since it’s a sealing site, there probably wouldn’t be anything valuable left."

"Is that so?"

Lynn looked around with interest.

In an instant.

An imperceptible energy wave emanated from Lynn’s body, enveloping the entire volcano.

The King of Secret Source shuddered.

Damn it!!

Lynn, you bastard!

(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻

You’re going too far!

You’re really taking this seriously, huh?!

You’ve truly lost your humanity!