A week had passed since the day Ash took his first life, after getting himself killed twice. After completing Jacob's quest for the last time and earning quite a bit of money at once, he never went back to work for him again, since it wasn't worth it.

Jacob also learned about this from Linda, his regular customer, and as expected, not only did he not care at all, but he also breathed a sigh of relief. In order to celebrate getting rid of his extra trouble, he even gave Linda a hefty discount that day. Of course, he didn't forget to send a heartless taunting message, which earned him a few swats on the butt from Linda and a surprisingly advanced quest, but there was a requirement that Ash first had to become a very powerful goblin hunter.

Ash thought Jacob was trying to escape from Linda's wrath, or motivating him with his empty, cold words, and didn't give much thought about it, just like Linda, blue tick no reply.

In addition to the 70 coins, he also exchanged the goblin ears that day for a bounty from the Old Mayor, earning himself 20 coins and the title of "Wolf in Sheep's Clothing" from the guard at the entrance of the Mayor's house. He was a nice guy. Except for that small windfall, for the entire past week, he had been working tirelessly from 8 to 6 o'clock, a total of 10 hours at Ronald's shop, and earned a huge sum of 350 coins.

Surprisingly, for some reason, he noticed that Ronald's behaviour towards him had become better. If before he was a good and caring boss who knew how to make his workers work honestly and delightfully, then now he was behaving like someone who was his father's best friend and genuinely cared about him, which was clearly very suspicious. However, after investigating the source of Ronald's sudden change and not finding anything, he gave up. He had more important things to do, and if the other party was behaving more kindly and teaching him honestly from the bottom of his heart instead of using him as a cleaning boy, then it was clearly a wonderful thing.

During this period of time, Ash successfully bought leather armour and gloves from his generous boss for 200 coins. Yep, no discount. Although he behaved very nicely like a close friend, there was clearly no compromise with money; this was the bottom line. Ash also paid a visit to the clothes shop and bought two pairs of underwear and a casual t-shirt for 100 coins, after arguing with the shop owner Edger, a middle-aged fatty (a kind but greedy bastard) for half an hour. 

Out of curiosity, he also checked out the price of the leather jacket given to him by Jacob, and when Edger raised five fingers in front of him, that too was because the jacket was too old, otherwise he might have raised a few more fingers, Ash's mind was blown up in shock. That day, Jacob's image in Ash's heart surpassed everyone he had met in this new world till now and directly took second place, just below Linda.

After doing some simple shopping, Ash was left with 145 coins, from which he wanted to give 50 coins to Linda for rent and his meals, but she, as always, refused him strongly, and currently, they were arguing fiercely on this matter of giving but not accepting in the kitchen during breakfast.

"Please, Grandma Linda," Ash pleaded gently, pushing a small pouch with 50 coins toward her. "Accept this money. Otherwise, I won't feel good. The feeling of being a burden on you would always haunt me. Please, for my sake, take them," He wore a helpless expression.

"How many times do I have to say it? I don't need your money. If I take it, I'll be the one feeling uncomfortable. Do you want to see this old lady worry? Also, didn't we agree to the meal fee? Where did this renting matter come from? You do chores in your room, and teach James those weird numbers and calculating skills, which I have no idea about but seem practical. Tell us those entertaining night stories, play with him in the morning before going to work... and even then, if I took your money for letting you in the home, then I might not be able to face you out of guilt. I have my own morals, and I can't break them for something small like money. Take it back; you need it more than me," Linda stubbornly refused Ash's request and pushed the money pouch back to him.

"Grandma, why don't you just take the money and gift something back to Brother Ash later, and finish this matter once and for all? It's been half an hour since you two started arguing about this," James, who was eating breakfast while watching the family drama between Ash and Linda, advised, trying to maintain his existence. After Ash started teaching him, James also got affected by him, and now his brain was already walking on a logical path. However, his oversmartness cost him an angry scold from Linda.

"If you don't wish to get spanked and cry in a corner, then silently eat your breakfast, and don't put your nose in our business!" Linda exclaimed, giving James a fierce gaze.

Ash sighed. "Sorry, Grandma Linda, but you leave me no choice. I'm forced to do this." He paused, took a deep breath, and continued, "Grandma Linda, take this money, otherwise..."

"Otherwise?" Linda repeated the last word nervously, with a raised eyebrow, she had a bad feeling from this.

"Otherwise, I will leave your house and never come back again. Like you, I also have my morals, and I will never compromise with them," Ash threw the ultimatum with a heavy heart, but there was clear determination on his face that he was not going to give in.

Linda, who heard Ash's warning, felt like she was struck by lightning. She stared at Ash with wide-open eyes in shock and disbelief. She stayed like that for an entire minute, and after confirming that he was not joking, she took a deep breath, silently picked up the pouch, and headed back to her room absentmindedly.

"Brother Ash, you're too much," James commented in a low voice. "I've never seen Grandma like this before. You broke her heart."

Ash stared at Linda's back until she closed her room door, sighed helplessly while shaking his head, and replied, "Don't worry, she'll be alright. And if not, I'll apologize later. She's easy to coax anyway. But today, please take extra care of her, okay? I'm going to work. See you in the evening." 

Ash then hurriedly gulped down his milk, grabbed two honey-glazed bread slices, and rushed out. He'd prepared for this situation, saving an extra file. If things escalated and his relationship with Linda suffered a heavy blow, he'd restart everything, never mention it again, and find another way to help repay her favour.

"I don't think she will be fine," James muttered with a helpless sigh before picking up a plate of food and heading upstairs. He first looked at Ash's room before opening the opposite one with the key and went in with a fake cheerful smile.

"Mother, I brought breakfast..."

...

Sigh, whoever bastard said that working at a blacksmith shop is a fun job, just don't get caught in my hands, otherwise, I wouldn't mind digging a grave. My poor, soft hands, they never had so many scratches on them before; they look like drylands, Ash muttered with a crying face as he glanced at his hands and saw the soft skin now marred by angry red scratches. He was walking on the street, which still was as empty and lifeless as before without any traffic, completely deserted. 

The morning silence was broken only by the wind whispering secrets to a lone tumbleweed rolling across the empty road.

Suddenly, Ash spotted Edger, the rotund owner of the clothing shop, pacing nervously outside his store. "Huh? Edger? What's that fatty doing out so early? Has something happened? He looks quite tense," Ash muttered with a frown and raised an eyebrow.

A glint of mischief lit up Ash's eyes. "I can smell the scent of a new quest on him," he muttered with a grin. "Maybe today's my lucky day." He hurried towards Edger, ready to become a good guy who was eager to solve others' problems with kind and selfless motives.