Chapter 139: Allocation

Chapter 139 -135: Allocation

“All counted! It’s 26 gold and 2 silver in total!”

It took Marcus and Bai Ya nearly ten minutes to finish counting the coins in the Wooden Box.

The main reason it took so long was that most of them were Copper Coins.

There were 14 Gold Coins, over a hundred Silver Coins, and the rest were all Copper Coins—well over a thousand of them.

There was no telling how many unlucky souls’ life savings this represented.

After changing hands from Adventurer to goblin to War Lizardman, all this money had finally ended up back with Lu Wei’s group. From a certain perspective, it was a kind of “natural cycle.”

To borrow a phrase from his previous life, ‘money never disappears, it just moves around.’

“According to our sixty-forty split, sixty percent comes out to 15 gold and 6 silver.”

“Here, Brother Lu Wei, this is your share.”

Marcus took all the Gold Coins and 6 Silver Coins from the pile, then counted out 1 more Gold Coin from his own pouch, handing a total of 15 gold and 6 silver to Lu Wei.

Hm?

Lu Wei was a little confused. “Brother Marcus, what are you…?”

“Oh, you guys are continuing with your quests, right? It wouldn’t be convenient to carry so many Copper Coins.” ℴ

Marcus smiled. “We’re planning to head back tomorrow morning, so we can just take the Copper Coins back to town.”

‘Wow, he’s that considerate?’

‘What a good guy!’

Lu Wei quickly thanked him. “Thanks a lot, then. That’s a huge help for us.”

“Hahaha, don’t mention it. If it weren’t for you, we would’ve gone home empty-handed.”

Marcus laughed heartily. “Besides, we’re friends now. It’s only right that we help each other out a little.”

“Alright, I’ll take you up on that.”

Lu Wei nodded, took the money, and then turned to look at the other pile of “exquisite little trinkets” on the ground.

It was the same old stuff: Brooches, pendants, buckles, Rings, Adventurer’s Badges.

Marcus had already checked them one by one. They were all Ordinary accessories.

Although their prices certainly varied, it would be far too much trouble to meticulously calculate the Value of each item.

Considering they were “all friends,” the two of them discussed it and decided to just divide them by a simple count to be done with it.

“Alright, time to divvy up the money.”

After stuffing a dozen or so cheap trinkets into his backpack, Lu Wei called Furen and the other two over.

“The total is 15 gold and 6 silver. Bai Ya, do the math.”

“Mhm, okay.”

Bai Ya came up with the answer in less than two seconds. “The captain gets 7 gold and 8 silver, and the three of us get 2 gold and 6 silver each.”

“Hmm…”

Lu Wei nodded and distributed the money to Furen and Bai Ya.

However, he put Mirana’s share directly into his own pouch.

He didn’t even pretend otherwise, acting as if it were a matter of course.

Mirana, for her part, had no complaints.

After all, this was something they had agreed upon long ago.

She just turned to Furen, her eyes sending a clear reminder—

“Five Gold Coins, thank you!”

“Oh, right. Here.”

Furen quickly handed her the money he had just received, then emptied his pouch to scrape together the remaining 2 gold and 4 silver.

And just like that, he too became one of Mirana’s creditors.

Add to that the 1 gold and 5 silver Bai Ya owed him for the Mage Badge…

“I’ll pay you back once we get back to town, okay?”

Bai Ya weighed the coins in her hand, thinking aloud, “Besides, I might need to bid on some loot later. It’s better to owe you for now than to have to borrow from you again then.”

“No problem, you can pay me back whenever.”

Furen waved his hand dismissively, seemingly unconcerned about it.

He even seemed happy that he was “able to help his comrades.”

This, however, made Lu Wei a little unhappy.

‘Look, I don’t mind you helping, but don’t get in the way of me making money!’

‘I don’t care! I’m adding the interest for that 1 Gold Coin to your tab!’

“Alright, Marcus and his group are done with their share. It’s time to auction off the remaining Equipment.”

Lu Wei looked at Furen and said persuasively, “By the way, Furen, there’s a pair of Arm Guards in there that I think would be a good fit for you.”

Furen was taken aback. “Huh? You mean those Blocking Arm Guards? I didn’t see anything special about them.”

“That’s exactly why they’re perfect for you! Because they’re not special!”

Lu Wei tried to reason with him patiently, “You can’t use High Level Equipment anyway, and this pair of Arm Guards is top-tier among Ordinary Equipment. They’re just right for you!”

“Uh, what makes them top-tier…?”

“The color, of course! Look, how intimidating is that!”

“Huh? The color?”

“Not just the color! They have steel plates embedded in them. They can at least block a goblin’s claw attack.”

“Now that you mention it, that does sound pretty useful…”

Under Lu Wei’s relentless coaxing, Furen began to waver.

After all, he didn’t actually have any Arm Guards yet, so buying a pair to use for now seemed like a good idea.

The problem was, he was now out of money.

“Money’s not an issue! I can just lend you some!”

Seeing the time was ripe, Lu Wei immediately clapped Furen on the shoulder with a smile.

“We’re good brothers. Don’t worry, I’ll only charge a tiny bit of interest!”

…

…

Ten-odd minutes later, the “internal team auction” officially began.

After two rounds of bidding, the [Judge’s Longsword] and the [Blocking Arm Guards] were won by Mirana and Furen, respectively.

The former sold for a final price of 3 gold and 5 silver, far below market value.

Evidently, just as Lu Wei had expected, Marcus and the others didn’t think an attribute like “feel no guilt from killing” was of any use.

The price of the Arm Guards was even lower, only 8 silver.

The two pieces of Equipment added up to less than 5 Gold Coins, causing Lu Wei’s “predatory loan” scheme to fall through once again.

‘Damn it! Fine, don’t borrow then!’

‘When I invent the Heroic Assistance Loan in the future, plenty of people will be lining up to borrow!’

Muttering fiercely to himself, Lu Wei shifted his gaze to the three remaining pieces of Equipment by the campfire.

A Dagger, a Cloak, and a wide-brimmed Felt Hat very much in the style of Robin Hood.

Although they were all High Level Equipment, they only had the most Ordinary stat-boosting Attributes.

And all they boosted was [Agility].

Such uniformity suggested they probably came from the same Adventurer.

Likely an Archer or someone similar, aiming for the [Ranger] Profession path.

And the cause of death was probably the frontline teammate failing to hold the line.

‘Newbies should just play a Warrior. What’s the point of playing a ranged class?’

Lu Wei shook his head and looked away, with no intention of making a bid.

After all, he didn’t have much need for [Agility], so it was better to save his money and buy some more suitable Equipment back in town to shore up his weakness in [Physique].

Mirana and Furen had already gotten what they wanted, so naturally, they wouldn’t be “bidding on credit” again.

So in the end, only Bai Ya and Andrew participated in the bidding.

Andrew took the Cloak and the Felt Hat.

Bai Ya got the Dagger.

With that, the Equipment auction came to an end.

After the money from the auction was also split proportionally, the spoils of this venture were finally, completely divided.

Lu Wei’s final haul was 12 gold and 6 silver.

Including the pile of Ordinary accessories in his bag, the total wouldn’t exceed 15 gold.

Frankly, it wasn’t a small amount, but it wasn’t a huge amount either.

The most crucial thing was that there were no unexpected surprises like [Imitation].

But Lu Wei wasn’t disappointed.

Because in his view, his biggest gain this time wasn’t money, but a major client like Nick.

‘Maybe I can sell him some more powerful weapons in the future.’

‘Crossbows, armor custom-made for War Lizardmen, maybe even Magic Items.’

‘After all, War Lizardmen are moderately intelligent creatures, capable of using such Equipment.’

‘And if that happens, Nick’s tribe should be able to grow and strengthen much faster, maybe even become a dominant power in Gelan Forest.’

‘Hmm, I’ll go talk to Nick again tomorrow morning…’

Half an hour later, Lu Wei was lying in his sleeping bag, gazing up at the starry sky and dreaming about the future.

After a little while, Bai Ya came over, dawdling as she hugged Hess.

“Do you really have to use him as a pillow…?”

“Of course. Being my pillow is one of its responsibilities.”

Lu Wei grabbed Hess, stuffed him directly under his head, and waved a hand.

“Alright, you should get some rest too.”

“Oh…”

Bai Ya walked away, looking back every few steps with a pained expression.

Before long, quiet fell over the campfire once more.

The night was as black as ink, dyeing the forest into a boundless, silent green sea.

The Flame burned vigorously, like a beating heart, casting the long shadow of Marcus, who was sitting beside it, onto the ancient tree trunk behind him.

And through the silhouetted leaves, faintly illuminated by the firelight, was the incomparably vast, starry sky.

It was as if a god had overturned a box of diamonds. Billions of brilliant stars blanketed the entire firmament, a magnificent galaxy the likes of which Lu Wei had never seen in his previous life.