I Only Summon Villainesses

I stopped in my tracks and turned to him.

"They said you defeated the gate guardian. Did you?"

I looked to his left. A full-clad paladin stood behind him, positioned to the right, eyes dark and almost inhuman. His white cape flowed gently with the wind as the snow began to pick up around us.

I thought about my response for a moment, weighing the pros and cons according to what my smart ass could afford to think up right then.

If I told him the truth, it'd only raise more questions. If I lied, it would certainly raise more questions too.

But the two types of questions were different.

The first would put me under suspicion — intense questioning about who this mysterious individual was, what they looked like, what they could do. All of which I had no answers to. The church and I weren't exactly on the same page about... well, anything. This could lead to a lot of problems I wasn't sure I had the capability to handle.

The second set of questions, however, would surround my strength. Their pride and haughtiness would prevent them from accepting the reality of this F-rank's capabilities, which would lead them in circles until they eventually left me the fuck alone.

'Option two it is.'

Instructor Stanley's heavy gaze fell on me.

"You're not gonna talk?"

I exhaled slowly.

"That's because you're asking me a rather infuriating question, instructor." I met his eyes. "You said it in class yourself — an S-rank could still lose, an F-rank could win. It all depended on how effectively they controlled their summon." I frowned at him. "Don't tell me you don't believe what you were teaching... sir?"

He looked at me with a small smirk.

"So... you're saying you defeated the Primal Guardian. All by yourself."

I frowned absurdly at him, letting genuine offense color my expression.

"All by myself? What? Hell no! My summon had a large role to play!"

He nodded with a chuckle. "Yeah, right."

I bowed politely. "Thank you, sir. Can I go?"

He nodded. "I'll need a comprehensive report of how your experience went. Make sure you don't miss a thing."

"Roger that, sir." I casually turned away and headed toward the gate, feeling his gaze boring into my back even as I crossed through.

'That man...'

I didn't know if it would be that easy to fool him. He was a seasoned and experienced summoner, after all. Either way, I'd bought myself time.

As I stepped through the gate, my heart leaped with joy. Apparently, according to Instructor Stanley after he'd rescued us, it had been ten days.

Ten days, and it all felt like a blur now. Of course, being trapped in that cave had felt like infinite suffering. I'd had fun, I'd suffered, I'd even thought I was going to die.

Twice!

But all of it was in the past now. I was out. Finally, I was going to see Lira again.

'I wonder if Tristan will be back!'

I was super excited — excited to share my experience and, most importantly, for them to help me sell the cores. Speaking of which... I'd dismissed Kassie earlier, chased Pyre Saint away from the Nave and put her there for the Soul Resonance function. Now I was holding the dirty bag myself.

We were about to enter our prepared chariot ride back home when Elena looked at my hands as we walked to our carriage.

"What is that dirty thing?"

I sneered at her words and the expression on her face.

'Will you look at this girl?'

I couldn't blame her, though. The church funded her lifestyle — she hadn't been introduced to the broke aspect of worldbuilding yet. I leaned in and whispered to her.

"These are actually spirit cores, the type we used to summon spirits back then. I figured you could harvest them after a battle. I'll sell them and make money."

I was already thinking about what I'd do with the profits. I needed something to expand my funds and create a cash flow.

'Should I become a loan shark?'

She looked at the bag of cores, impressed now.

"That's... impressive. I guess I understand the need for you to make money." She creased her brows, concern flickering across her features. "Still, it's baffling and unbelievable that the church isn't providing for you."

She looked genuinely displeased and wronged by this reality.

If I cared an inch about her approval, I just might have offered her some of my graceful kiss of gratitude at the moment.

'Ew... brother, stop that.'

She looked at me, though, expression shifting to something more practical. "Are you taking it with you to the city? Wouldn't they confiscate it or something? I mean, they didn't teach us about harvesting cores because they didn't want us to know." Her voice dropped. "The knights of the church could bully you and collect it. Shouldn't you hide it?"

We both stopped at the entrance of our ride.

'She has a point...'

The problem, though... where would I hide it so that it wouldn't be stumbled upon by some lucky bastard?

"I think hiding it is better than hoping they won't take it," she added, climbing into the carriage.

I paused and stood there for a moment, looked at the bag, then traced my steps into the bush by the side of the road.

I secured an area beneath some plants with large canopy leaves and placed the bag beneath them, of course after sneaking out two cores and hiding it with me. Then I commanded with Warlord's Command, focusing the power into the vegetation around my hidden treasure.

"Grow!"

[Attribute Proficiency has increased]

[Attribute: Warlord's Command has reached a new level]

I had no idea if it would actually work, but all I intended to do was give the plants a growth buff so they could fully cover the bag. I marked the area mentally — third tree from the gate, distinctive moss pattern on the trunk — and joined Elena in the carriage.

From five of us to two of us. It was a bit disheartening.

As I settled in and the carriage started moving, she looked at me seriously, her tone shifting to something dangerous.

"What happened with the D-rank? You better not lie to me."