We returned to the guild right after clearing the ancient galleries.
The walk was quiet. Not because of exhaustion, but because of reflection. The fight had been too fast. Too easy. That was still spinning in my head.
When we entered, Gromek looked up from the counter.
"Already back?"
I placed on the table the plates taken from the queen and some parts of the smaller creatures.
"Galleries cleared. Nest destroyed."
He examined the materials carefully, called two dwarves who were at the back, and whispered something to them. The two nodded in confirmation.
Gromek looked back at me.
"That would have taken days for a common group. Maybe weeks."
Rai'kanna smiled.
"We're not a common group."
Lyannis remained silent, observing everything.
Gromek opened a small safe behind the counter and placed a heavy pouch on the table.
The sound of the gold hitting the counter was solid.
"10,000 coins."
I blinked a few times.
"All that?"
"You eliminated an old threat. Those tunnels had been closed for years because of those creatures."
Vespera stepped closer and looked at the pouch.
"That pays for a house."
"Or two," Elara added.
Liriel crossed her arms.
"Money is irrelevant when one is a goddess."
I covered her mouth before she could continue.
"Sorry."
Gromek laughed.
"I'm already used to it."
I picked up the pouch. The weight was real. Solid. Concrete.
Money had always been important to us. We always counted coins before going on missions. Always calculated expenses.
Now, in two days, we had received more than months of work.
We left the guild and walked through the city.
Briena was with us again.
"You seem surprised by the payment."
"Because it's a lot," I replied.
She tilted her head.
"For us, this is common when a serious problem is solved."
I looked around.
Houses with gemstones embedded in their façades. Merchants selling jewelry as if they were fruit. Children playing with small colorful crystals in their hands.
For the dwarves, wealth was something natural.
For me, it was still new.
Rai'kanna came closer.
"What are you going to do with all that?"
"Save it."
She laughed.
"You're so boring."
Lyannis commented calmly.
"That's why we're still alive."
We returned to the castle in the middle of the afternoon.
King Durgan received us in the main hall with the same cheerful smile as always.
"I heard you solved another guild problem."
"It was quick," I replied.
"That's how it should be when heroes are staying in the castle."
We sat down to eat something light. While we ate, I was still thinking about the fight. The ease. The sword.
Briena noticed.
"You're still thinking about the mission."
"I am."
"What bothers you?"
I thought for a moment before answering.
"I didn't feel any difficulty."
She frowned.
"Is that bad?"
"Maybe."
Elara joined the conversation.
"You always complained when things were difficult."
"I know. But this was different."
Vespera added.
"You didn't have to put in effort."
I nodded.
Lyannis spoke for the first time since we sat down.
"That changes the way you fight. You start depending on the weapon, not on yourself."
I fell silent.
She was right.
After the meal, we decided to take a walk through the castle courtyard. The weather was pleasant, the sky beginning to change color.
Rai'kanna walked beside me.
"Are you afraid of becoming too strong?"
"It's not fear."
"Then what is it?"
"It's the feeling that this has a price I still don't understand."
She looked at me for a few seconds.
"You think too much."
"Someone has to think."
She laughed.
Later, in the room, we spread the coins over the table.
Vespera counted excitedly.
Elara organized them into small piles.
Liriel looked with feigned disinterest, but clearly curious.
Lyannis watched in silence.
Rai'kanna tossed a coin into the air and caught it.
"This changes a lot of things."
"It really does," I replied.
"We don't have to worry about money for a long time."
I sat on the bed.
"That's good."
"You don't seem happy about anything today," Elara said.
I looked at them.
"I am happy. I'm just… thinking about what comes next."
Silence.
They all knew.
The stronger we became, the closer we were to what really mattered.
The Demon King.
That night, before sleeping, I spent a few minutes looking at the sword again.
I ran my hand over the runes.
It looked ordinary.
But it wasn't.
I lay down.
The women settled around me as always.
Rai'kanna rested her head on my shoulder.
"Stop thinking."
"Trying to."
I closed my eyes.
For the first time since we arrived in the dwarven kingdom, I felt that the rest didn't come from the peace of the place.
It came from the awareness that we were preparing for something much greater.
And that every coin, every easy mission, every calm victory…
Was just the world giving us breath before the next storm.
I fell asleep with that quiet certainty in my mind.