IGSAGCSAWAYSH) Winsdale (Patreon)

The town of Winsdale. It was a medium-sized town with a population of over a hundred thousand. It had a long history of exporting a special kind of fruit that only grew in its region, the Goddess Apple. A golden apple that could only grow in certain conditions. The apple was said to be a gift from the goddess since it was said to cure many diseases. A single apple cost almost a thousand gold, but even though it was expensive, they would still sell out every harvest.

“Sounds like a bunch of crap to me.” Shizuku snorted. If such a fruit did exist, it would be coveted and cause wars around the world. It seemed more like a gimmick. Not to mention, the church would covet it even more. “I won’t say anything, but it seems more of a tourist trap than anything geared to the rich and stupid.”

“Pfft!” Lishia let out a laugh, as did Miyumi. Mei covered her mouth to hide her smile, and Mino looked on in confusion. “You are one hundred percent right. But it’s because people think it works that they keep buying it. However, many have started to smarten up over the years. I have bought one to try it, and well… to be honest, it’s bitter. I was hoping for one thousand gold. It would at least taste good, but it doesn’t. Sadly, there is no way to return it, so I was out a bunch of gold.” 

“Next time, just steal one. With your skills, you should have been able to, no?” Shizuku did not understand why waste so much money on a single apple if you could just take it. 

“I thought about it but decided to forget it. You only live once, right?” Lishia had really thought about it but ended up paying in the end.

“I guess that’s true. You can build up the bank, but once you die, what’s the point? If you do not have any loved ones, it would all go to people you hate. But don’t people live a long time here? Like a few hundred years, even if they are humans?” Shizuku had been wondering if the level had any effect on people’s life span.

“Only at high levels. Once I hit level 100, I can live for five hundred years. But how many can actually hit such a level without diving deep into dungeons all the time? But it’s also not so much level but mana pool and health. For me, while my mana pool is low, my health is high. I have almost two thousand health. So you can think of it as every one thousand health is about two hundred and fifty years. In about twenty levels I will be just over two thousand health. If I decide five hundred years is enough, I can stop leveling at that time and live out my days. But if I wish to keep leveling and risking my life leveling up, I can basically become immortal. I have heard rumors of a few human immortals, but I am not sure if they are true.” Lishia explained.

“So if I were to add in mana?” Shizuku was curious. Would it be the same or even more?

“It’s up to two hundred and fifty years per five hundred mana,” Lishia explained.

“So it would still be quicker to raise my vampire ranking….” Shizuku pursed her lips. She looked at Mei and Miyumi. She did not know how long dryads lived, so eventually, she would need to turn Mion as well. Shizuku did not want to see her loved ones die. 

“What about me!?” Lishia pouted. She had become Shizuku’s slave too!

“Hmmm? Well…. You can just keep leveling, so it’s fine.” Shizuku couldn’t help but tease Lishia.

“Fine! I will show you I can do it!” Lishia took Shizuku’s words as a challenge. As such, she was burning with fighting spirit.

“At any rate, we are lucky the rain stopped the next day.” Shizuku changed the subject. “Now I do worry that they will let us in. I mean, a Fallen in a town where they sell golden apples?”

“Don’t worry. They won’t say no with me around. If they dare to, then I will never come back to the town, is all. No matter how much they beg, I will never come to help the guild here do any of the requests.” Lishia would never allow her friends to suffer while she was around nor would she treat those kindly who looked down on her friends.

The girls walked up to the gate of the walled town where six guards were standing. When they saw Lishia, one of them rushed forward and bowed his head. “Sword Saint! It has been a while.”

“It has. I am only here to take a small rest before continuing my journey with my friends. I hope you will not give them any trouble.” Lishia motioned with her head towards Shizuku and the rest. When the guard saw Shizuku, his face did not look too good, but he still forced a smile and nodded. “Don’t worry we will not cause her any troubles. A guest of the Sword Saint is our guest as well. But if she does cause an issue, you will be held responsible. Even if it is self-defense.” 

“Excuse me? Are you saying my friend will cause an issue? What if it is someone who starts with her? Is she not allowed to protect herself!?”