While Milla was still in the vault handling the disbursement of the bounty reward, her colleague receptionist, who had been taking care of the hostages all along, finally stepped closer to the counter desk where Calian's group was gathered.
The neatly uniformed woman bowed her head slightly, offering a respectful greeting before speaking.
"Excuse me." the woman informed them with a polite and professional tone. "We have finished registering all of them. From the registration results, we found that more than half of those captives actually originate from the Sellon City region."
Knowing that more than half of the hostages came from the Sellon City region, which was quite far from Gias City, the group instantly fell silent. A momentary silence washed over them, especially for Calian.
The youth racked his brain. Those people had just survived a horrifying experience. Their physical condition was weak, their belongings had been completely stripped away, and their mentality was still shaken. If the guild or the city simply sent them home just like that without adequate escort, it would be extremely dangerous for their safety while undertaking the long journey across the inter-regional routes. The risk of them being attacked by wild monsters or other bandit groups was very high.
Calian slowly turned his head toward Eralio, who was standing not far beside him.
"Mr. Eralio, could I ask for your help in managing the return journey for all of them?" Calian asked, his tone of voice calm yet possessing an undeniable firmness. "Please immediately handle everything from the administration and transportation, down to the escort fees, until they truly arrive safely at their hometowns."
The request that came out of the imperial prince's mouth immediately made Eralio flinch in shock. His eyes widened slightly.
It was not a simple request. Hiring wagons and professional escorts for a cross-regional journey would incur an enormous cost. However, Eralio was fully aware of who he was talking to. He absolutely did not want to disappoint the future emperor.
"Is that all I need to do for you, Calian?" the middle-aged man asked, ensuring that there were no other additional instructions he might miss.
Calian nodded slowly. "Yes, just that."
Without thinking twice, Eralio immediately moved quickly. He promptly discussed with the guild staff to arrange the return journey for everyone who had been saved. The merchant generously spent a lot of money to rent several comfortable passenger wagons, and even hired several Rank B and Rank A adventurer parties all at once directly from the guild to escort the group during the journey.
In the corner of the room, Robert stood frozen, silently observing the entire transaction process. His eyes recorded how easily Eralio doled out many gold coins without the slightest hint of objection on his face.
For a veteran adventurer like Robert, this was extremely peculiar. It was highly impossible to ask a merchant to throw away his money just to handle the administration and safety of dozens of strangers. Humanitarian affairs like this were usually the responsibility of the temple or the city government, not the concern of a merchant who was always profit-oriented like Eralio. Hiring several Rank B and Rank A parties simultaneously was not cheap, especially for a fairly long escort route to Sellon City.
This is truly absurd! Robert thought, his chest rumbling with a mixture of awe and bewilderment. I'm extremely curious about who this youth named Calian really is. What kind of influence and secrets does he possess that he can make a major merchant like Mr. Eralio obey him as if he were his servant?
Robert truly did not understand, and he knew absolutely nothing about the youth's background. His curiosity thrashed about, yearning to be answered immediately. However, the memory of the stern warnings from Eralio and his wife, Catrina, echoed in his head once again. In the end, all the muscular man could do was stand rooted to the spot, swallowing his own saliva without daring to express his curiosity in the slightest to the purple-haired youth.
....
A short while later, all the matters concerning the return journey of the rescued people were finally completely and perfectly handled by Eralio.
Right at the same time, the double doors leading to the guild's storage room opened. Milla emerged from the vault carrying a wooden tray that looked quite heavy. On top of it, a pile of shiny coins had been prepared as their main reward.
"This is your reward for eradicating the bandit group that had become fugitives, and this has also been combined with the payment for completing the caravan escort mission." the receptionist said in a highly respectful tone as she placed the tray on the counter desk.
The melodious sound of clinking metal was heard as the tray touched the desk. Arranged neatly on top of it were 22 gold coins and 5 silver coins, reflecting the light of the lobby lamps.
"The grand total is 225,000 Lens." Milla continued to explain.
"Thank you for your assistance, Milla." Calian replied politely.
The youth then began picking up the gold coins and distributing them directly to everyone involved.
He distributed 3 gold coins per person for the seven of them. A total of 21 gold coins were divided evenly. Then, he took the remaining silver coins from the Eralio caravan escort mission payment. He handed over 3 silver coins to the Black Axe party, and kept the remaining 2 silver coins for himself and Wolvin.
Now, only 1 gold coin remained on the tray, its value equivalent to 10,000 Lens.
Upon seeing the last gold coin, Calian picked it up. Without the slightest hesitation, he reached out his hand and directly gave the large-denomination money to the Black Axe party group.
Seeing the youth casually giving extra money to them, all the members of the Black Axe party instantly widened their eyes in unison. Spontaneously, the five people raised both hands in front of their chests, giving a firm gesture of refusal.
"No, no! We absolutely cannot accept that extra money, Calian." Catrina said in a polite tone yet full of refusal, feeling very uneasy and unworthy of accepting extra money that they were not entitled to. "You have already distributed the money to us evenly. That's already more than enough for us."
"Never mind, just take it for your party's necessities." Calian insisted with a flat facial expression, not wanting to be refused. "This is in accordance with our agreement from the start. The two of us only move as two individuals, while you move as one unit of five. Can't the distribution already be considered even if, in the end, each of the five of you receives a total of 2,000 Lens from this remaining coin?"
"Of course the logic does not work like that!" Nora chimed in with a shocked tone, holding her dizzy head seeing how the purple-haired youth calculated.
"Anyway, you must accept this money!" Calian pressured them even further.
Losing his patience for a lengthy debate, Calian stepped forward, approaching Esteban, who was standing closest to him. Without permission, he directly took the final gold coin and forcefully stuffed it into the pocket of the shield-user man's pants.
"Hey! W-Why are you forcefully giving us even more extra money like this?" Esteban asked with a panicked face mixed with bewilderment, his hand feeling his pants pocket as if the gold coin were a chunk of hot stone.
"I already said that you move as five people, right?" Calian answered again with an absolute tone, refusing to be argued with. "Just consider it as your rightful share. The two of us could get far more than this if we wanted to. You do not need to think about it too deeply."
Hearing the protracted, unending debate between his husband and the members of the Black Axe party regarding the distribution of the gold coin, Wolvin, who had only been silently observing all along, finally chimed in. He crossed his arms over his chest and let out a long sigh.
"Never mind, guys, it is better if you just accept what he gives." the Night Wolf youth said in a firm tone, but ending it with a small smile. "My husband will always be extremely stubborn when he has made a decision like this."
Wolvin then looked at the faces of the Black Axe party members one by one with his sharp gaze. "Do you truly want this protracted debate to continue until tomorrow just because of a trivial matter like a single gold coin?"
Hearing the words from the beastfolk of the Night Wolf clan, Robert finally exhaled in resignation. He stepped forward and acted to make the final decision as the leader of the Black Axe party.
"Very well... we will accept that money." Robert decided wisely, feeling he truly had no other choice to refuse the married couple's stubbornness. "Once again... thank you very much for the generosity of the two of you. We will never forget your kindness."
The answer of surrender coming from Robert's mouth instantly made Wolvin smile in relief. And as for Calian, he only nodded slowly without showing any significant change in expression.
Then, feeling that all matters regarding the escort mission and reward distribution had been thoroughly completed, the members of the Black Axe party immediately bid their farewells to leave the guild building, preparing to celebrate their great achievement today at the nearest tavern. Calian, Wolvin, and also Eralio invited the five adventurers to go with a parting nod.