"Turns out the so-called 'original story' is all lies…"
Watching Erza diligently loot the bodies, Ur's eyes went blank as he muttered the words he had already repeated countless times since arriving in this world.
After all, in the original, Erza was supposed to be a knight who upheld justice and honor. However, looting corpses? That was completely out of character for her!
This was something Ur should be doing!
He felt a pang of disappointment deep down. Though whether it was disappointment in Erza's character, or in something else entirely, was hard to say.
But right now, there was something far more urgent.
Looting Jeris.
Perhaps because of inexperience, Ur had actually forgotten the age-old truth of "Where there's murder and arson, there's always treasure."
To beat Jeris and walk away without searching him? That was amateur hour. Definitely not how a proper cheat character should act!
Jeris didn't carry much, but his backpack, hidden beneath that black cloak, was suspicious.
Seizing the chance while Erza was still busy with the bodies, Ur quietly opened the backpack and peeked inside.
That single glance made his pupils shrink. His heart skipped a beat. He slammed it shut, gulped down several deep breaths, and only then managed to calm his racing pulse.
When his nerves settled, his eyes were already gleaming. Inside Jeris' backpack was nothing less than a pile of gold coins. The very fortune he had made at the auction.
Smart guy.
He knew keeping cash or even a stored-value card was risky, so he converted everything into gold. Easy to carry, relatively stable in value.
Now the only thing on Ur's mind was how to pocket them all reasonably. After all, the guild wasn't a charity. It was a marketplace.
You pay a price, and the guild handles your problem. Simple as that.
The mission Ur had accepted was to capture the thief Jericho. That's all. Which meant the reward was only a few tens of thousands of J. If the request had included "recover the stolen goods," the reward would've been far higher.
Whether the rich client had intentionally omitted that or just forgotten… didn't matter anymore.
What mattered was that the gleam of gold was already blinding Ur's judgment. One way or another, he was going to keep them.
Sure, this wasn't something a righteous mage would do. Though Ur had never once claimed to be one.
Compared to the other Fairy Tail mages, Ur was closer to the mercenaries of any ordinary guild: loyal only to jobs and money, not people.
"System, can these gold coins be used for top-ups?" Ur called out in his mind the moment he confirmed his haul.
Dingdong!
[Replying to Boss Host: Of course, gold coins can be used to top-up! And if you use gold coins, there are even extra benefits!]
The system had no voice, but even through text on the interface, Ur could practically feel the flattery dripping from its words.
Money makes you the boss.
"Good. Top it all up for me. We'll deal with the rest later."
[Right away!]
The words flashed, and the system happily bustled off to work.
Ding!
Moments later, several new lines appeared on the interface:
[Congratulations to the Host for successfully topping up 120 gold coins. Would you like to—?]
"No." Ur cut it off before the text had even finished scrolling.
Honestly, converting everything into top-up was a forced move.
A hundred and twenty coins wasn't a fortune by some standards, but it was definitely not a small sum. And walking around with that much gold on him? No way. Not here.
Especially not with Erza nearby.
If she discovered this stash, she'd interrogate him on the spot, then march every last coin back to the guild, or worse, to the original owner. Fairy Tail was full of bleeding hearts like that.
If that happened, Ur wouldn't even have the chance to protest.
Erza's current strength might not yet match what she had in the main story, but she was already far beyond what Ur could handle. Her talent had already surpassed normal S-class potential; she'd reached the level of self-awakening.
Monsters like her train at a pace ordinary mages couldn't even imagine.
On top of that, she clung to her knightly ideals with infuriating stubbornness. She might have her cute moments, but she was uncompromising, rigid, and utterly humorless.
…And when she fought, she fought hard. Mercy wasn't even in her dictionary.
"By the way, Ur, why did you kill all of them?"
Just as Ur finished his recharge, Erza walked over, having completed her looting, her eyes narrowing on him.
"It's nothing. Leaving black mages alive would only cause more trouble. Better to finish them off."
It was an excuse he'd made up on the spot, but not an entirely false one. Across the continent, the general policy toward black mages was exactly that: better safe than sorry.
Erza studied him for a long moment, then sighed softly. "Since your mission's complete, you should leave this place. It's far too dangerous for you."
"…Fine." Ur nodded. It wasn't exactly what he'd planned, but he didn't argue.
He turned to go, but then Erza's voice came again. Quiet, heavy, and oddly conflicted.
"Ur, I don't know what you've been through. But, I hope you don't let hatred and killing cloud your eyes. Don't lose yourself."
Ur: "???"