"This is Joey, the traveler I told you about who took down the monster last night!"
Grandma Mary Sue stepped out of the crowd, came to Joey's side, and introduced him to him.
"Is it really him? He looks like an ordinary person!"
One of the villagers asked with some doubt.
"Yes, wasn't he supposed to be a knight? Where's his horse? Where's his sword?"
Once one person raises a question, others begin to have doubts as well.
"Who says a knight has to ride a horse and carry a sword? Do you even understand chivalry? Otherwise, who would bother with this low-reward, high-risk business?"
Joey was no pushover. Seeing that he was being suspected, he immediately darkened his face and shouted at the villagers.
"Are you trying to renege on your debt and not pay the payment?"
Joey put little Catherine down, leaving her to look after her, and then walked ahead with an air of self-righteousness. He was no saint; if you angered him, he was capable of murder.
The villagers saw the fierce glint in Joey's eyes. Now that the village was full of women, children, the elderly, the sick, and the disabled, they really didn't have the confidence to argue with him.
"Joey, don't blame them. It's just that people claiming to be knights came to the village before, but they disappeared after taking the reward!"
Seeing that something was wrong, Granny Mary Sue immediately went to Joey's side to explain.
"Getting paid for work is a matter of course, I won't bring up labor laws or anything like that!"
"I won't ask for more. Now that the matter has been investigated and the monster has been eliminated, the twenty gold coins are the minimum!"
Joey seemed determined to get the money right now. The villagers looked at each other, feeling resentful that they hadn't found the monster's corpse or the missing person, and remained silent.
"The monster was killed by this traveler and turned to ashes. He's the one who saved me!"
Just then, Vivian came out of the inn carrying the child and began to explain to the villagers.
"Vivian!"
"It really is Vivian!"
"Her child was born too!"
"..."
When the silent villagers saw the missing Vivian appear before them, they no longer doubted Joey's claim of eliminating the monster.
They showered Vivian with concern, completely ignoring Joey, who was still furious.
"Can I get my wages now?"
Once the villagers' enthusiasm had subsided somewhat, Joey spoke slowly, looking rather impatient.
"sure!"
Grandma Mary Sue heard what Joey said and she told everyone to quiet down.
He then gave a wink to someone in the crowd, and that villager took out a money bag from his pocket, held it in both hands, and slowly walked towards Joey.
Joey's expression instantly brightened, and she cheerfully stepped forward to take the money bag from the villager's hand.
Unlike the bearded man who could tell the amount of gold coins just by weighing the money bag, he took out the gold coins one by one from the money bag and counted them carefully in front of all the villagers.
Catherine couldn't stand it any longer. Without a word, she walked over to Joey, snatched the money bag from his hand with one hand, grabbed Joey's collar with the other, and dragged him toward the hotel.
"What are you doing? What are you doing?"
"What kind of behavior is this, pulling and tugging in public?"
Joey verbally refused, but his actions betrayed his words, and he readily followed Catherine back to the hotel.
"Don't embarrass me!"
Back at the hotel, Catherine put her hands on her hips, looking angry.
"I'm nobody to you, so if I lose face, it's my own fault!"
Joey was indignant. He earned the money through his own hard work, so what was wrong with checking the quantity in public? Catherine, being from a wealthy family, didn't understand the meaning of "no responsibility after leaving the counter".
"Count them again, and I'll make up for the ones that are missing!"
Catherine said very generously.
"You should have said so earlier, my dear Lady Catherine. With your words, why would I have bothered counting?"
Joey was secretly delighted, feeling like she had latched onto a rich guy.
"By the way, when are we leaving?"
Catherine put aside her disdain for Joey and asked seriously.
"Let's pack up and go, Saipan is still a few days away!"
It wasn't that Joey didn't want to stay any longer, but firstly, he didn't know if there were any pursuers behind them, and secondly, now that he knew Catherine's true identity, he felt it would be safer to send her to a safe place as soon as possible.
Of course, the third reason is also the most important: he needs to cash out his investment as soon as possible, otherwise he will feel uneasy about it being delayed for too long.
Once they reached an agreement, they began packing up the supplies they had prepared that day.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
