Chapter 90: Blood Spider Patrollers
Dorothy led Bai and Eleanor through the town to a more remote residential area.
Although, to Bai, it was less a residential area and more a slum, even worse than the one in the capital.
At least the slums in the capital had been built during the Empire’s great reconstruction. They were small and cramped, but they were still livable.
But this place… was a mess. A pigsty.
She had been surprised that the Blood Spider sisters, children of Queen Arachne, had been living in a small, dilapidated shop.
But compared to this, their shop was a luxury hotel.
“It’s a roof over your head. And if you don’t have a place to stay, the Blood Spider Patrollers will kick you out,” Dorothy sighed.
She knew these so-called “residences” were just another way for the Hellblood Spider clan to exploit the other beastkin.
To train in the Wild God Altar, one had to rent a place to live, a sort of admission ticket, and the Hellblood Spiders owned all the tickets.
And for someone like Dorothy, whose strength was only at the high-level Collapse Class, living on the outskirts, where the bloodlust was weakest, was the norm.
And since there wasn’t much to be gained from the lower-class beastkin, the Hellblood Spiders didn’t bother with maintenance, letting the buildings fall into disrepair. There were always more beastkin willing to pay.
And the tenants weren’t about to spend their own money to fix up a place they didn’t own. So, a vicious cycle had been created.
“It’s not so bad,” Eleanor said, entering the shack and knocking on the roof. It was surprisingly sturdy. “Better than my last place.”
Bai remembered meeting Eleanor in the sacred lands of the Bewildering Forest.
She had been in a sorry state then, bullied by a red-haired elf, even though she was the Holy Maiden.
And her treehouse had been so small that even the petite Bai had felt cramped.
“You’ll get used to it,” Dorothy shrugged. She had.
“Thank you,” Bai said.
“You’re welcome,” Dorothy smiled, then held out her hand. “The lease has a month left. Rent is thirty gold coins. As a friend, I’ll give you a discount. Twenty-five gold coins.”
“Huh? We have to pay?” Bai asked, confused. Eleanor also looked surprised.
“…Why wouldn’t you?” Dorothy’s lips twitched. “Miss Hong, this is the first time we’ve met… and besides, the rent is expensive. I can’t afford it.”
Bai’s thousand gold coins had stunned the Karina sisters (though that was because they were broke). But for an ordinary Collapse Class being like Dorothy, thirty gold coins was a lot.
She and her friend had only come here to train for their promotion to the Destruction Class.
But her friend had been promoted and had left, leaving Dorothy with the remaining lease.
She had been looking for someone to sublet to, to recoup her losses, and then Bai and Eleanor had appeared.
Besides her initial curiosity, Dorothy had also had her own little scheme.
“Ah, my apologies. I misunderstood,” Bai said, scratching her head. She pulled out a bag of gold coins from her tail, counted out twenty-five, and handed them to Dorothy.
After paying for the offerings and their travel expenses, she didn’t have much left.
Eleanor probably had some, but it was all from… fishing for bounties with her innocent appearance.
“I’m starting to think you’re not spies,” Dorothy said, taking the gold.
“Why?”
“Because spies are usually not this dumb,” she said with a mischievous smile.
Bai paused. She was used to calling others “idiots,” but this was the first time someone had called her one.
“Miss Hong, Miss Eleanor, please rest well. I won’t disturb you any longer,” Dorothy said, then turned to leave, but paused. “By the way, you should change your clothes. The beastkin merchant disguise won’t work in the Wild God Altar.”
“…”
Bai watched her go, a thoughtful expression on her face.
“She recognized us?” Eleanor asked, her voice serious.
“It was to be expected,” Bai said softly.
The beastkin merchant disguise was a common one, a well-known fact in the Savage Lands.
So, the Blood Spider Patrollers Dorothy had mentioned would also know.
Which made their disguise a dead giveaway, practically an announcement that they were hiding something.
And Dorothy had never mentioned their disguise, not once.
She knew something was amiss, and there was no need to ask.
“By the way, don’t you know any of this?” Bai asked, turning to Eleanor. “You’re the Holy Maiden of the Bewildering Forest. The Savage Lands are your mortal enemies, aren’t they?”
“Sigh, Bai, what are you talking about? You know what kind of Holy Maiden I am,” Eleanor said, a look of despair on her face. “The High Priestess doesn’t care about me. I have plenty of resources, but none of the authority. The council has it all.”
“I remember you have a lot of books…”
“They’re all elven history and magic textbooks, and the novels I secretly bought. You’ve seen them, haven’t you?” Eleanor asked, then, her expression turning somber, she continued, “And then the High Priestess went into seclusion. Not only did I lose my authority, but my resources were also cut off. I was stuck in a treehouse on the outskirts, a shut-in, though I do enjoy being a shut-in.”
And the rest, Bai knew.
Although she had been exiled to the Twilight Marsh, her optimistic nature had kept her from despairing.
At least, on the surface.
“Let’s get settled. And I need to borrow the sacred artifact fragments,” Bai said. “I’ve mastered the advanced magic circle construction methods. I can now try to recreate the summoning circle you used to summon me.”
“No problem. Just let me know when you need them. I always keep them with me,” Eleanor said, patting her pouch, a look of pride on her face.
If she had a tail, it would be wagging furiously.
“Thank you… thank you very much,” Bai said softly. She wasn’t good at expressing her emotions.
“What are friends for?” Eleanor said cheerfully, then, as if just realizing, she said, “Oh, right, Bai, why is your lisp back?”
