Chapter 86: Discussing the Future

"Was it really necessary? Was there any point in making things so hard for yourself?" Counting the gold coins in his hand, Zhou Tian finally glanced over at the portly innkeeper not far from him once he was certain the amount was correct, and mocked, "See, if you'd just cooperated from the start, none of this would have happened. Why act tough for no reason? Sure, I can't take on the whole Joyful Inn, but you're just the manager of a tiny branch, and on my turf no less. Acting so arrogant—weren't you just asking for trouble? I hope you've learned your lesson this time. Next time, keep your eyes open." With that, he no longer cared about the innkeeper's miserable expression and simply waved for Mike to escort him out.

"Captain, you're truly devious! To think you'd come up with such a scheme to deal with him. After this, I doubt any of the other factions will dare ignore you now!" Although Zhou Tian had achieved his intended goal, Afra, by nature, didn't particularly approve of his methods, so once the plump innkeeper had left, she couldn't help giving Zhou Tian a little jab.

"As long as I get results, why should you care about my methods?" Completely ignoring Afra's sarcasm, Zhou Tian glanced at the magical clock nearby and muttered to himself, "They should be arriving soon."

"Who's arriving soon?" Afra asked instinctively, picking up on his words.

Before Zhou Tian could reply, Mike returned and reported, "Captain, there's someone outside requesting an audience!"

As if expecting visitors, Zhou Tian waved his hand dismissively. "I'm not interested in meeting anyone. Just have them leave their delivery and go."

"Understood." Without questioning Zhou Tian's reasoning, Mike nodded obediently and left.

It wasn’t long before Mike returned again, this time producing over a dozen chests of gold coins from his spatial ring. The sight of such wealth nearly turned Afra’s eyes into gold coins themselves.

"So much gold! No one’s allowed to touch it—it's all mine!" Whether it was her true nature or the effect of a contract, Afra suddenly seemed very much like a dragon; the moment Zhou Tian produced such a pile of coins, she shrieked and threw herself onto the heap.

With a dull thud, Vivienne knocked Afra out with a punch, then, withdrawing her demonic aura, glanced curiously at Zhou Tian. "Though there are too many factions involved for us to make trouble for them, we shouldn't let what happened before slide so easily. Captain, what's your intention in handling things this way?"

"My intention?" Zhou Tian murmured, then suddenly slammed the table and exploded, pointing at Vivienne and the rest. "You dare ask me that? Thanks to that old man named Rayne, the funds the Pope allocated to us never arrived. And you lot, ever since we got to this town, have been spending money as if it’s water. The little we had is nearly gone! Why am I resorting to this? If I didn’t, in a few more days, we wouldn’t even have enough for food!"

"Really?" Vivienne seemed genuinely surprised. She turned to the others. "We're out of money?"

"Sister, you’re just realizing this now?" Even Afra couldn’t help but chime in.

Vivienne slammed the table, pointing at Afra and the others in admonishment. "Honestly, you people are so reckless with money! You have no sense of frugality at all!"

"Afra spent over three hundred coins on food, I used more than two hundred to repair my weapon, but you, Sister, spent over five thousand on various outfits. You wear a nun's habit every day, yet you still splurge on clothes you never wear. If anyone has no right to talk about thrift, it’s you!" Hearing Vivienne, even Anna couldn't help but tally up their recent expenses.

Vivienne stared, pointing at herself. "I really spent that much?"

Anna and Afra nodded in perfect unison.

"Oh, is that so?" Vivienne nodded as if nothing had happened. "Well, if all that money was spent on such important things, there’s nothing to be done. If it’s necessary, we have to spend it. Luckily, our captain is so adept at making money, so let’s leave those matters to him!"

"Could you at least try to have some shame?" Zhou Tian had always thought only a certain shrine maiden was shameless, but now it seemed even the candidate saint by his side was just as bad. Realizing the problems he’d have to deal with in the future, Zhou Tian couldn't help but point at Vivienne and complain.

"It’s nothing!" Vivienne waved it off, then suddenly clapped her hands. "Alright! Now that our revenge is done, shouldn’t we discuss what to do next?"

"Is there really anything to discuss? We’re near the Monster Forest—apart from adventuring, what else is there?"

"I want to practice swordsmanship!"

"Aren’t we supposed to be spreading the faith?"

"I think we should focus on our future. Why not form a mercenary group and take commissions at the Mercenary Guild?"

Zhou Tian had originally wanted to listen to their suggestions, but as the conversation went on, he realized their ideas grew more and more unreliable. Aside from Catherine’s brief mention of missionary work, the rest seemed to treat their posting at the border town as nothing more than a vacation. Their opinions were not only worthless but also infuriating.

Unable to bear it, Zhou Tian slammed the table. "Enough! All of you, be quiet!"

With a cross-shaped vein bulging on his forehead, Zhou Tian glared at them before speaking. "Our purpose here is to spread the faith. Put away all your ridiculous ideas. If you can’t come up with anything useful, fine. I’ll assign you some tasks, and I expect you to finish them properly."

"Yes." Though usually informal with Zhou Tian, after so much time together, even if not cowed by his strength, they'd developed enough respect for him that, when he was angry, not even the troublemaker Vivienne dared to speak out. They all nodded quietly, awaiting his orders.

"First, Sister Catherine!" To everyone’s surprise, Zhou Tian started with the middle-aged nun who had joined their group last. Ignoring the curious looks from the others, he addressed her directly. "Sister Catherine, the God of Light is merciful, and all living beings are His children. Though some have sinned in the past, as clergy, we cannot abandon those in need. From today, please purchase a supply of food from the major merchants each day and establish several charity points in the town to aid those who have fallen on hard times."

Hearing this, Catherine immediately nodded. "You are truly compassionate, Bishop. I will carry out your order and ensure that everyone in need in this town feels the blessings of the God of Light." With that, and at Zhou Tian’s signal, she took some gold coins and left to buy provisions.

While Catherine was present, the others had nothing to say, but as soon as she had gone, Vivienne immediately objected. "Captain, why bother with such thankless work? Just like before, even if you help those wretches, they won’t thank you for it. Why do this at all?"

Zhou Tian knew why Vivienne was upset, so he wasn’t angered by her protest. He motioned for her to sit before explaining, "There may be bad people in this world, but there are good ones too. Sister Catherine's past may have left you all with a deep mistrust of the beggars, but you must remember that those who did such things were only a fraction of those in need of help. There are still many who truly need our aid. We can't abandon the rest because of Sister Catherine’s experience. As clergy, as long as we have the ability, how can we ignore those in need?"

Stare—

"Alright, I admit I lied," Zhou Tian confessed, unable to withstand the way they all fixed him with their gaze, too familiar with him to believe he was so altruistic. Finally, under the intensity of their stares, he had to come clean. "We’re here to spread the faith, right? You haven’t forgotten the Church of Light’s doctrine, have you? In the end, helping these beggars costs little, and a small expense buys us a good reputation. Why wouldn’t we do it?"

"Knew you had an ulterior motive."

"So cunning! The captain is just too crafty."

Zhou Tian nearly spat blood.