Chapter 74 Human Greed

Slam!

Jeanne slammed the door hard. It was the office room door from the head of the Adventurer's Association.

After exiting the office room of the head of the Adventurers Association, she descended the stairs and walked out of the Adventurers Association headquarters.

"Tch!"

She clicked her tongue in annoyance.

As she continued to walk, she also kicked every single thing in her path. From trash to pebbles.

What made her stop kicking all sorts of things was when she realized that the pebbles, trash, and other items she was kicking had scared away the cats that were busy foraging in the trash.

Meeeow!

The cat's growl could be heard clearly until it made her head cool down again.

The reason why she had been in a bad mood was, she was fed up with the Adventurer Association's head nature, where that person ignored every single remark made by her.

She continued to try to deny that she was the only one defending the guild staff.

She said that there was another person who had intervened first. Even so, the head of the Adventurer's Association named Gyas always ignored her words.

What's more, she realized that during their meeting, Gyas' eyes were always looking at her body with a fiery gaze, including her hands, shoulders, thighs, and all the way to her toes.

Although it was not a lascivious gaze, she still wanted to smash the middle-aged man's head. Because that person kept looking at her strangely.

But she realized that she couldn't do it. If she did, she wouldn't be able to become an Adventurer anymore.

That was not the only reason why she could not restrain the furious turmoil within her body. The main reason why she did not go berserk was because she had been rewarded.

"Why do I feel like a cheap chick?"

She started to get annoyed again when she realized it.

She walked towards a place while shaking a bag full of money.

The money she was carrying was a combination of earnings from the sale of Magic Crystals and gifts from the head of the Adventurer's Association.

The place she went to was an orphanage.

As soon as she arrived there, she was greeted by a group of children. The children stopped playing and started crowding around her.

Jeanne was a lover of children. So her mood instantly improved once she saw them. She felt anxious as the children swarmed around her.

As she stroked the children's heads, she realized there was one child who was not present there.

"Hmmm. Where's Colby?"

She frowned and asked the Nanny who was in charge of taking care of the children at the orphanage.

"Anu... Sorry! When it was breakfast time, I hadn't seen him. So I don't know. I wanted to look for him, but ...."

She knew that Nanny's worry was real. At least, that's what she thought when she saw the worried expression on Nanny's head.

She could not blame the Nanny for not looking for a child named Colby.

She realized that the Nanny had to focus on watching the other children. The Nanny couldn't go looking for the bad boy who had gone missing without giving any news.

What's more, the child named Colby was indeed a child known for his mischief. So it was not unusual for him to suddenly leave and cause trouble.

'If we had another Nanny from back then... If I had more money, I would have hired another Nanny long ago.'

She felt responsible for not being able to earn more money.

Then she gave the money in the bag she was carrying to the Nanny.

"Since we have more money, hire someone else to help."

"Ho-hoo?"

With the money she had earned, she could now feel a little relieved. She hoped that the Nanny would hire someone else to help look after the children.

And in terms of daily needs and other things, with the money she gives, it will be more than enough.

Along with Jeanne's relief, that Nanny, who received such a large sum of money, couldn't help but drool. The drooling was a sign of greed. But Jeanne didn't realize it.

"I'll go look for that brat. As usual, I'll leave the other children to you, Nanny."

Jeanne walked away leaving those words behind.

Something that Jeanne didn't expect at all to happen.

As soon as Jeanne turned to leave, a big smile was plastered on the Nanny's face.

The nanny pressed the large bag of money against her cheek. She felt the weight of the money bag carefully. She stroked the bag with joy.

Especially when Jeanne was no longer in her sight, a joyful laugh escaped from the Nanny's mouth.

"Huhehehe-"

She ignored the strange looks of the innocent children who did not understand her greed.

Unfortunately, she had to stop laughing when she saw a group of burly men wearing weapons coming.

"Tch-"

The direction the people were heading in was the orphanage where she was.

***

Veronica and I came out of the eating place.

When we were about to part, I asked her first.

"Do you know where the inn is that is a bit secluded and not many people pass by? The fewer visitors the better."

"I know a suitable place. What are you asking for?"

"As someone who has lived in this city, don't you already know about the layout of the city's territory? Instead of me having to search by myself, wouldn't it be faster if I asked you?"

"Hm."

"It would be strange if I could know where the inn is in this city even though it's my first time coming to this city."

"Alright. I will lead you to the appropriate place."

"If you don't mind."

I followed her from behind.

Among the crowd of people in this city square, I managed to focus on following Veronica because the aura she gave off was distinctive. She seemed to sparkle more than the insignificant people in the background.

We didn't walk too far from the city center square. We just took a short walk. Until we arrived in front of a building that looked like an inn.

"We've arrived. Then, goodbye."

When we arrived, she left as quickly as she had come.

The definition of nonchalant she showed.

She walked to the Adventurer's Association again.

Meanwhile, I started to pay attention to the inn shown by her.

The inn's signboard was above the entrance. But the inn's signboard was tilted to the side. It seemed that the signboard was ready to fall at any moment.

People would mistake this place for an empty house.

Even so, there were no holes in the walls or cobwebs. So I guess this inn was still habitable.

This inn was deep in the passageways of the building.

Access to get here requires navigating a narrow and ugly road.

Because this inn was also far from the city crowd, a quiet atmosphere enveloped this inn. Even the area here was also very quiet.

This place was not very suitable for lodging.

However, the location of this inn even matched the inn I wanted.

The size of the inn was also quite large. Maybe 20 square meters? So this inn would be useful for my future plans.

I walked inside.

But I was bumped into by a child who had just come out of the inn.

The little boy immediately fell to the ground.

He ran without looking ahead, it was only natural that he bumped into me.

Then there was another person who came out of the inn. He was a middle-aged man holding a knife in his hand. He pointed the knife at the little boy who had just bumped into me.

"How dare you steal again, little boy. Come here, I'll skin you alive!"

The person's face clearly looked very angry. Perhaps he was the innkeeper, where he was chasing away the little boy who had allegedly stolen something from him.

As for the little boy who had bumped into me, he immediately stood up and ran away. But it seemed he was out of luck today. After running a few steps, he bumped into someone again.

When I saw who it was, I realized that the person the little boy had bumped into was Jeanne.

It seemed that Jeanne had finished meeting the head of the Adventurer's Association. At first, I didn't realize why Jeanne was here, but then I knew the reason.

Jeanne, upon seeing the little boy who bumped into her, immediately made an angry expression.

"Colby! Where have you been? Are you making trouble again?"

She snapped and scolded the little boy. It seemed that the two of them knew each other. From the start, Jeanne seemed to be looking for that kid named Colby.

Was the little boy one of the children from the orphanage under her responsibility?

I knew Jeanne was a child lover. A heroine who likes to help young children without parents.

Well, it does fit what a main heroine should do.

"Hey, who are you? Are you the guardian of that little boy? Do you know what he did?"

"Sorry, sir. I will compensate you for all the harm caused by this child. So can you forgive him just this once?"

In just one glance, Jeanne already knew that the child she was protecting had stolen some of the innkeeper's food.

It could be seen from the few breadcrumbs scattered on the ground when the child fell to the ground. And the little boy also seemed to shrink while hiding something under the torn clothes he was wearing.

It was just a small loaf of bread, but the innkeeper was so intent on killing a child.

That's how life was.

Jeanne bit her lip.

The innkeeper wanted to argue, and Jeanne was ready to blow off her steam.

It may be rare for people to know, but Jeanne's true nature was hot-tempered. From earlier, Jeanne had seemed to be holding back anger. It was evident from the veins that appeared on her temples.

Suddenly, Jeanne threw some coins.

"Take these. Are you satisfied!"

Jeanne shouted loudly.

However, the innkeeper suddenly insisted on punishing the little boy.

He said he was afraid that the little boy would steal again if he was not punished.

From there, Jeanne's anger became apparent. She kicked the innkeeper to the ground.

The innkeeper rolled like a ball, ending up on his back on the ground.

It wasn't over yet. Jeanne looked like she wanted to wring the innkeeper's neck. She had already placed her hands on the shield at her back.

I felt like I was being sucked into a gravitational field of trouble, where the main heroine, Jeanne, was the center of the gravitational pull of the trouble.

I felt like I had to stop Jeanne, who wanted to squash the innkeeper.

But… should I?