I helped Cellestra skin the last deer crudely as the spiderlings devoured the insides and explained the two skills I’d just gotten, or well, they had gotten.

“Five well-preserved pelts,” I commented as we removed the last one. “Four gold coins each. That’s twenty total.” I was suddenly reminded of the words my parents said about their pay, which was only a few gold each month. “Damn, adventurers really do have it better, don’t they?”

“It’s a lot of money, like a whole lot to make in a single day, but keep in mind that I don’t think the average adventurer can manage to get five Firags down in such a short time,” She replied. “And then there is of course the risk that this profession carries, especially if you don’t have the money for good armor and weapons. It’s kind of… I don’t know, sad?”

“Can’t argue with that. Money begets more money. Let’s load these up and make our way back out. Don’t know what time it is, I bet it’s late in the afternoon, and I’m sure you still want to do some training with Elira.” I smiled at her as we loaded the pelts on my abdomen. “And you know what? We should do training of our own as well. Maybe after dinner at home?”

“That sounds wonderful,” She said with a smile of her own. “What spell would you like to teach me?”

“I was thinking about the new version of the ice lance spell, but if you fancy something else, feel free to choose that instead.”

“Ice lance sounds fine. It’s an easy, yet accurate and effective spell. I’m kind of excited to find out if knowing the previous version of it will make this one easier to learn.”

“Now you have me curious as well. Let’s get these hides turned in… Hey, Felmar’s here today, right?”

“I believe so. Why, you wanna see if we can get a better price?”

“I doubt we will, but if we had someone else, I can imagine them offering less.” I let out a sly smile and made sure Cellestra saw it. “Now, at least he’ll have to offer the same price again.”

She giggled as she hopped on my back, and I petted Elle who’d eagerly taken me in for a hug after they had finished the last cadaver, all too happy to know that we just got stronger again.

“Great job, Elle. Let’s have you try out that spell tomorrow, okay?”

Her pedipalps were lowered and appeared to be drooping, saddened by my words. I hadn’t meant it like that, but now it made it appear as if I didn’t want them to cast the spell at all now.

“I didn’t mean it like that, Elle. I’m sorry. Go ahead and do it if you want to see what it looks like. I know I want to.”

Immediately, she was cheered up and broke the hug before skittering a few yards away to make space and cast the spell. Much like its ice counterpart (I’d assumed it was a counterpart due to the similar name) an icicle, but one of fire, appeared in the air above her head. Then, it was launched into the distance where it hit the grass and pierced it, burrowing into the soil where it was extinguished.

“That’s pretty awesome,” I said cheerfully. “Now I’m kind of jealous. I want that too.”

Cellestra giggled again as Elle performed some kind of dance out of happiness, but after that, we left for the surface.

One there, we got some funny looks from the soldiers when they laid eyes on our cargo. One of them even grinned, and in a friendly manner as far as I could tell.

As expected, after knocking on the single building’s door, it was Felmar himself who showed up, and the once wary guild clerk immediately smiled when he saw me. It only grew when his eyes traveled to my abdomen and the huge amount of loot we’d collected from the dungeon.

“Holy,” He called out, shaking his head. “You do know that if you bring me too many of those, the value is gonna go down, right?”

“I don’t know much about economics other than our own money,” I replied. “And even that, I’m quite forgetful about, which is why Cellestra keeps track of things. Though, is what you said really a thing?”

Felmar chuckled, then smiled.

“Not quite yet. For that, you’d need to supply us with a lot more, but I figured I’d warn you. You know, just in case.”

“Well, thanks for the heads up.”

Cellestra dismounted and started unloading the pelts which were still slightly chilly and had a decent amount of meat left on them in order to prevent them from drying out. It would have to be removed as soon as possible however, but I’d been told there were people here ready to take care of such things.

“Five Blazing Firag pelts,” Felmar muttered as he took a closer look, running his hands over some of the fur. “And this coldness… You did that?”

“That was me,” Cellestra said, raising a hand. “To preserve it better.”

“You really did try to keep it in excellent condition, didn’t you?” He said, looking at Cellestra and then me before shaking his head. “Well, I suppose I’ll have to offer the same price as before then. Four gold coins a pelt, times five makes twenty gold coins.” He then paused a bit as he wrote on his clipboard. “When there are monetary transactions made of this scale, I am obliged to ask another question. Would you like to donate one coin to the guild to supply new adventurers?”

“Sure,” I replied almost immediately. Only after I’d said it did I look at Cellestra who nodded with a smile, one that said that she didn’t mind or blamed me for speaking before consulting her.

She and I both were in a position to help out those not as fortunate as us, and added to that was the fact that it would go against all I believed in if I didn’t at least donate some to help others out. There was also the teeny tiny part where I feared that the Goddess would judge me if I didn’t, or even worse make fun of me about it. She did feel like a little bit of a tease at times.

“I’ll be back in just a second then.”

I nodded and watched the black-robed man disappear inside to collect our payment. When he returned with a coin pouch and started counting, however, movement at the edge of the clearing caught my attention, and I felt my heart skip a beat when I noticed the same ominous man from before approach.

What made things even worse was the fact that he was followed by a group of ten or so soldiers. The sight caused the other soldiers around the campfire to stand up, but there was confusion on their faces. Their surprise was genuine, they were clearly in the same boat as me and had no idea what was going on.

Felmar, on the other hand, merely gave him a quick look before he continued counting, not caring in the slightest.

Cellestra moved away from the hides and stood close to me, apparently looking for what felt like safety.

The spiderlings felt uneasy too, very much so. Amarys placed herself between me and the approaching man, but I mentally ordered her and her sisters to my side, close to the wooden wall.

“Kealyna,” The man said as he closed the gap. “You are hereby arrested on charges of the suspected murder of Nelion Qualthan. Please make this easy and come along quietly.”

Suspected murder?

I raised my eyebrows at that. I had made abundantly clear, and it was impossible according to the guards, that I had no involvement in this. How he got to know the person’s name was also a mystery to me. Something about all this, and this person in general, stank.

“On whose authority?” Felmar calmly asked, clearly catching the other man off-guard as he came to a sudden halt.

“The adventurer’s guild in Arlnore,” Came a raspy reply.

“Mind if I take a look at your orders? And I’m going to assume you were given an emblem too, right?”

That’s the second time I’d heard about this emblem. From what little I knew about it, I gathered that it wasn’t carried by everyone and instead, seemed to bestow some kind of special power on the person wearing it.

The inquisitor was visibly annoyed by the bureaucracy that Felmar laid before him, but pulled out a small scroll and metal object from his pocket nonetheless. The guild clerk walked up to him to inspect the items, but I noticed his legs shake.

It was ever so slightly, almost unnoticeable, but he seemed to be nervous, even if his words and actions didn’t show it in the slightest.

He read the scroll first and handed it back before taking the metal object and observing it from up close. He nodded, handed the items back, and walked back towards the building.

“As I thought,” He said before turning around. “A counterfeit emblem. Care to explain?”