After bidding farewell to William, the group headed for the Golden Apple Tavern.
The owner of the Golden Apple Tavern was Joseph Lesua. The last time the Last Defender of the Way adventuring party had come through, they had been after a chance to use the teleportation circle anonymously.
Joseph was the blood brother of the supervisor of the Central Teleportation Hub, and that connection let him arrange anonymous rides on the circles.
Back then Joseph had demanded an outrageous sum—an absolute fortune. EeDechi and Barrett could only bide their time and look for another way.
Then a dramatic scene played out: Joseph was slumped over the washbasin in the restroom, cursing Ainz Ooal Gown at the top of his lungs. Barrett happened to overhear every word. They had their leverage. They forced Joseph to arrange teleportation for the Last Defender of the Way adventuring party.
Now EeDechi needed to travel to Baharuth, and the fastest route was still through the tavern keeper. She would find Joseph and have him pull strings at the Central Teleportation Hub. It had to be said that the corruption running through E-Rantel's underbelly went far deeper than Ainz could ever control.
It was afternoon, and the tavern was nearly empty, with only a few half-elf servers sweeping and wiping down tables.
EeDechi kept her face hidden beneath a scarf. Barrett and Franco stepped up, rapped on the counter, and told the server behind the bar to fetch the owner.
The server looked puzzled and disappeared into the back of the tavern. A moment later Joseph Lesua stepped up to the counter. He still wore the same handlebar mustache, a sharp black suit, white shirt, and red bow tie.
The instant Joseph saw Barrett and the others, his face clouded over. Nobody enjoyed being blackmailed. He gave the servers an impatient flick of his hand, and they filed out one by one.
"What do you people want?" Joseph asked lazily, looking at EeDechi and the others. He appeared ready to adopt an adversarial stance.
"Same business as last time," Barrett said with a smile. "We need to make a long-distance trip without tipping off the authorities. I'm sure a little thing like that is a piece of cake for you."
Joseph's expression darkened further. "Don't push your luck. Helping you once was already my limit. Keep pressing me and I'll drag you down with me. I'll report you straight to the Sorcerer Kingdom. Unauthorized use of the teleportation circle still gets you executed!"
"Easy there. This time we're doing it by the book," Barrett said, smiling as he slid a gold bar across the counter.
At the sight of the gleaming bar, Joseph's face relaxed a fraction. He picked it up, hefted its weight, then bit down hard. A faint tooth mark showed on the soft gold.
"This is worth about 300 gold coins," he said, glancing at Barrett and the other two. His eyes lingered a moment on the scarf-masked EeDechi.
Barrett held out his palm, and one by one the gold bars dropped from his spatial ring like eggs being laid, stacking neatly on the counter. In the blink of an eye there were ten of them.
"Whew~" Joseph's eyes lit up at once, his breathing suddenly quick and ragged. It was like a man who had been locked up for decades with zero sex finally staring at six heavily made-up, seductive beauties—every drop of blood in his body was about to boil over.
He reached out carefully and scooped the bars together. After confirming they were real, the cold mask on his face melted into open greed.
"How about it?" Barrett asked, perfectly relaxed.
"A piece of cake."
Joseph was already busy planning exactly how he would spend this fat stack of wealth. He suddenly glanced up at the scarf-masked EeDechi and felt a twinge of unease. Money that came this fast really did feel hot to the touch.
"Can you tell me your real identities?" Joseph asked cautiously. "After all, we're partners now."
He knew damn well these three had more than enough coin to use the teleportation circles the normal way, yet they had still gone out of their way to find him. There had to be a reason. For all he knew, the three of them were wanted criminals in the Sorcerer Kingdom.
"If you can keep your curiosity under control, we'll have plenty more chances to work together in the future," Barrett said. "We're not short on money."
As he spoke, he pulled an ancient gold coin from his spatial ring, toyed with it for a moment, then crushed it into a crumpled lump with one hand as easily as if it were putty.
"Good, I'll arrange it right away," Joseph said respectfully. "When do you wish to depart?"
"The sooner the better."
...
Baharuth, a city in the west.
The white glow of the teleportation circle faded from sight as EeDechi and her companions stepped down from the platform. The teleportation hall before them was vast and spacious, its décor utterly different from E-Rantel's—layer upon layer of luxurious tapestries draped the walls, displaying the vivid, ornate style of Baharuth.
After leaving the teleportation hall, EeDechi and the others hired a carriage and rode out to the city outskirts.
"It's time," EeDechi sighed softly. At last she could make up for her past mistakes and fill the regret that had haunted her heart.
EeDechi took two small copper cans from her spatial ring. The copper cans were etched with antique patterns and inlaid with gold and silver—high-grade resurrection items.
Recalling how Ainz had once used the resurrection items, EeDechi channeled her own mana into the copper can. In her mind she pictured the name of the person she wanted to bring back, along with every memory tied to him.
"Sean Tachya..."
Magic rippled through the copper can. It began to twist and writhe like a column of flowing water. Golden light spilled from its engraved patterns, swelling larger and larger until it formed a radiant orb that swallowed the twisting copper can whole.
The orb of light dropped to the ground and stretched outward, taking on the shape of a person. The glow gradually thinned and faded, revealing limbs and a head. In the end, the curled-up body of a young man lay on the cold ground.
Their old companion, the archer Sean Tachya, had been brought back to life.
The newly revived Sean still looked utterly bewildered. He sat up, completely naked, turned his head, and saw Barrett and EeDechi. His lips moved as he spoke in a daze. "Captain… Senior… Did you two die too?"
"No, we didn't die. You're the one who came back," Barrett said with a soft sigh. He pulled a fox-fur coat from his spatial ring and draped it over Sean's body.
EeDechi stayed silent. She picked up another small copper can, silently recited Stella's name in her heart, and recalled every memory they had shared.
"Stella Famillion..."
Just like before, the small copper can was wrapped in mana and transformed into a pure white orb of light that dropped to the ground. The white glow slowly faded, revealing a girl with chestnut-colored long hair lying facedown. Her long eyelashes fluttered slightly, and her tightly closed eyes opened bit by bit.
"Wow! A naked beauty!" Franco stuck his head forward, eyes sparkling with excitement.
BAM!
EeDechi didn't even glance at him. She swung her arm back and punched him square in the face. Franco flew backward, crashing hard into the trees.
Stella sat up on the ground, her eyes still foggy with confusion. The moment she realized she was completely naked, she clamped her legs together and hugged her chest, a blush spreading across her cheeks.
"Don't look, Barrett!" Stella snapped sharply. "You've entered Gaia's divine realm! Even if you're not one of Gaia's followers, you still have to follow the rules!"
Barrett chuckled and shook his head. He draped a mink-fur coat over her pale shoulders. "Relax. We didn't die. You're the one who came back!"
"Revived?" Stella looked around in confusion, rubbing her wrists. She spotted Sean beside her—also naked, wrapped only in a coat.
The two young adventurers instantly threw their arms around each other. Tears burst from their eyes like a dam breaking, flooding down their faces as they clung tightly.
Sobbing uncontrollably, they cried, "We really came back to life!"