31: Chapter 31 Team Voting

Richard spun his halberd in his hand, the tip feinting a strike toward the Swordsman Captain's face.

Taking advantage of the moment he raised his sword to block, the shaft of the halberd flipped downward, and the axe blade bit into the inner side of his right knee.

The Swordsman Captain let out a howl of pain, his right leg gave way, and he dropped to one knee, his broadsword nearly flying out of his hand.

His left hand finally reached the healing potion at his waist, and he hurriedly uncorked it and downed it.

But after the potion went down his throat, the warm, healing sensation he expected did not fully arrive.

The effects were suppressed; the wound was still bleeding, and the sharp pain in his knee had not subsided much.

He continued to struggle to parry with his broadsword, and a look of intense fear finally appeared in his eyes.

Richard did not give him much time to feel fear, instead granting him release.

The spear tip thrust into the Swordsman Captain's mouth, pierced through the base of his tongue and soft palate, and exited from the back of his neck.

The light of life faded from the Swordsman Captain's eyes, and he pitched forward onto the gravel ground, a spreading pool of dark red liquid quickly forming beneath him.

System prompt: [Kill Human Warrior × 1 — — Gain 80 EXP] [Current EXP: 680 / 1600]

Richard hadn't expected to gain experience points from killing humans; this adventure system surprised him a bit.

But Richard soon accepted this fact. He would only choose to kill enemies and would never trade the blood of innocents for experience points; he was no psychopath.

"Captain Kate!" a Rogue let out a sharp cry of alarm.

But her scream did not last long; Cecilia's sword had already pierced through her back, the tip passing through her chest cavity and emerging above her collarbone.

The Rogue looked down at the half-blade protruding from her chest, her lips twitched, and then she slumped at Cecilia's feet.

Black Cat dealt with the other Rogue; her dagger precisely thrust into the heart through the gap in the opponent's ribs, and the Rogue fell without even having time to scream.

When the dagger was withdrawn, the wound barely spurted much blood; the technique was quite clean and efficient.

The remaining Shadow Priest and Archer found themselves in vastly different situations.

Seeing her captain skewered by Richard's halberd from the high ground, the Archer did not hesitate to abandon her teammates, sliding down from the back, disappearing into the rocks of the fern forest without even having time to unstring her bow.

The Shadow Priest couldn't get away; her divine arts had been constantly disrupted by Morpheus and Jinbao.

Just as she raised her hand to cast a shadow spell, her staff was pinned by Black Cat's crossbow bolt, and the agate stone shattered into pieces.

Shadow energy leaked from the shattered agate, exploding into a cloud of corrosive black mist at her feet, burning several holes in her robes.

Her knees buckled, and she knelt on the ground, clutching her head, her voice cracking as she shrieked: "I surrender! Don't kill me! I... I am from the Pirate Council..."

Richard walked up to her, carrying the still-dripping halberd.

He looked down at the shivering female priest kneeling on the ground, his gaze cold and stern.

The Shadow Priest was so terrified by the undisguised killing intent in Richard's eyes that tears and snot streamed down her face, her voice trembling so much that the words were barely audible:

"My father is a member of the Pirate Council! My name is Esther Salazar! If you let me go, my family will pay a ransom! Any amount! You can have whatever you want..."

Morpheus stood still, looking down to tidy his cuffs, which had been dirtied by dust, seemingly uninterested in this proposal.

Cecilia stood by Richard's side; her expression hidden beneath her veil, but the tip of the sword in her hand remained pointed at the kneeling female priest, not lowering in the slightest.

Black Cat and Jinbao exchanged a glance; both coming from the lower social strata, they were very sensitive to the weight of the word "ransom."

Jinbao brushed the dust off his beard, hesitated for a moment, and said: "To be honest, the ransom is not a small sum."

"The people from the Pirate Council are indeed wealthy; keeping her for ransom would yield no fewer gold coins than the reward for this mission."

Black Cat also nodded slightly in agreement.

But Richard only believed in one thing: cut the weeds and dig up the roots; never leave behind future trouble.

Richard frowned and said word by word: "These guys came here to kill us and steal our gains. If we had lost, do you think she would have spared us when we begged for mercy?"

Jinbao opened his mouth, then closed it.

Black Cat turned her head away and said nothing.

Morpheus spoke softly at this moment, proposing his idea: "I have a suggestion. Why don't we vote to decide the fate of this priest."

"I vote to kill her." Richard raised his hand.

Cecilia followed suit and raised her hand; she also did not like being merciful to enemies.

"Opposed." Jinbao raised his short, thick finger, and Black Cat hesitated for a second before raising her hand as well.

Two to two; all eyes fell on Morpheus.

The silver-haired Mage Apprentice sighed softly, rubbed his temples with his slender fingers, and then looked up at Richard.

A flash of complex emotion flickered in his purple pupils, and then he raised his hand: "In favor."

Richard drew the battle axe from his waist and struck down the moment Morpheus finished speaking.

The Shadow Priest's plea for mercy was cut off by the axe blade before it could even be shouted, along with her neck.

Her head rolled off her shoulders, bounced twice on the gravel ground, and stopped. Her eyes were still open, and her lips were still twitching slightly, as if she couldn't believe she had really been killed.

The corpse swayed in place where it knelt, then toppled over onto the ground.

Another prompt popped up on the system panel: [Kill Human Priest × 1 — — Gain 80 EXP] [Current EXP: 760 / 1600]

Jinbao looked at the twitching head on the ground, swallowed dryly, and then lowered his head to start searching the deceased's belongings, his muttering much quieter than usual.

Black Cat walked up to Richard and looked at him expressionlessly. It took a few seconds before she spoke: "You acted too quickly; I still wanted to pry some information out of that person."

Richard hung the battle axe back at his waist and met her gaze: "Fine, I'll be mindful next time."

It took a while to loot the corpses.

Although the Shadow Priest's staff was shattered, the agate fragments embedded in the staff could still be sold for a little money.

There were several gashes on the Swordsman Captain's chainmail caused by Richard's strike, but it could still be used after repairs; the broadsword he used was of decent quality.

The two Rogues' equipment was relatively ordinary, but they had quite a bit of cash in their pockets; the four of them combined had over a dozen gold coins and a pile of loose silver coins.

The most unexpected find was the boots on the feet of one of the Rogues.

Richard hadn't noticed these boots at first; they looked too old, the surface worn white, and the edges of the soles showing slight signs of ungluing.

But the information provided by Appraisal surprised him a bit; this was also his habit—he would test any equipment he obtained with Appraisal.

[ Boots of Speed (Magic Item · Common) ] Type: Magic Boots. Effect: Can use Haste once per day, duration 10 minutes, movement speed increased by approximately 30% during the duration. Note: The style of the boots looks old, but the magic effect is intact; the creator obviously valued practicality over appearance.

"These boots have an enchantment effect." Richard took the boots off the Rogue's feet and said to everyone while holding them.

He then explained: "It can use Haste once a day, lasting for ten minutes, and movement speed can be significantly improved."

"Black Cat, you are a Rogue; these boots would benefit you the most; or, you can sell them and split the money. Decide for yourselves."