Ch4 - Escort

 

"Mmmmmmn…"

I think I can now understand how a girl feels when they are being stared at. To be more exact, I'm forced to understand given the situation I'm currently in. 

I'm standing about ten metres away from a group of hunters but I can still feel their stares even at this distance. I'm not even able to ignore them as there are about a hundred pairs of eyes on me. Unable to bear it any longer, I pull my hood up to cover my face, avoiding eye contact as much as possible. I really feel like running away…

"Sorry for the wait, Kalia-chan."

Thomas-san said while approaching me in a slow jog.

"It's alright. I didn't wait that long."

I replied with a wry smile, trying to hide my discomfort. I couldn't wait to get out of here as soon as possible. 

"So, where is Rufus-san?"

"He is speaking with the captain over there."

He said while pointing towards two men talking quite a distance away. One of them is Rufus-san while the other one is a man with long blonde hair.

Just at the right time, the man noticed me looking at them and started waving towards me nonchalantly with a smile on his face. Before I knew it, both he and Rufus-san started walking over towards us.

As they get closer, I notice the man with long blonde hair has a pretty face as well. His body is also quite muscular and well built. He is a living example of what people refer to as a bishounen, and that's the type of people that I avoid. Good looking and sociable, they should just explode. I also notice that his ears are somewhat pointy. Is he an elf?

"Greetings, My name is Regio, I'm the captain of this group of hunters, and… even I will be embarrassed if such a beauty is staring at me this hard."

The man introduced himself with a smirk right after he arrived in front of me. 

B-be-beauty?!

My face turns bright red after hearing such a compliment directed towards me. Th-that's the last thing I would want to hear as a man!

Just so you know, I am not like any of the girls that you can just pick up on the street with your pretty face!

I turn my face away in annoyance. 

"I apologise if I offended you in any way. But I would definitely like to escort such a beautiful girl like yourself to the capital myself."

Regio-san said as he bowed like a gentleman, not knowing that what he's doing now is making me even more annoyed. 

"However, due to certain circumstances, I'm unable to personally escort you. My team must investigate what happened to the dragon so I'll leave the escorting to Rufus and Thomas here."

Regio-san continued like he truly feels regretful. At least he didn't abandon his duties, to escort me. He is much more responsible than I thought. 

"May I be so rude as to ask for your name?"

Unable to bear him any longer, I forced a smile at him.

"My name is Kalia, and thank you for your sincerity but, I wouldn't want to trouble you when you're so busy."

With that, I signal for Rufus-san and Thomas-san to follow me, leaving Regio-san there, standing alone.

---

 

"So, ojou-chan. What are your plans after reaching Distodia?"

Rufus-san asked me while we are on our way walking towards Distodia. He said that we would be able to reach before Sunset.

"Stop calling me ojou-chan! Kalia will do."

I'm still a guy inside!

Being called a girl again and again just gives me the chills. Please stop reminding me of something that I'm trying to push aside and forget. 

"Alright, alright. I get it. You don't have to be so angry."

That response just earned him a stare. (a.n. I would like to be stared at too.)

"Haaa…"

I sighed.

"I'll most likely be finding a place to eat and a place to stay after reaching Distodia."

"If that's the case then I can recommend you a cheap inn that also serves good food."

"Oh! You are talking about Sunset Valley Inn right? The innkeeper there is nice too!"

Rufus-san said followed up by Thomas-san. 

"Really? Thank you very much! That will be a great help!"

I thanked them with a bright smile. This will save me the trouble of looking for an inn.

Come to think of it, I'll need money for food and shelter, but the money in the game is stored in the item panel from the player's interface! Having come to that realisation, I started rummaging through my waist pouch. With some luck, there may be some money inside.

From my pouch, I found a black leather pouch with some coins inside. I take out one of the coins and started examining it. It is a gold coin about the size of a bottle cap with a dragon emblem carved onto it, the standard currency in DHO. I wonder how much is this coin worth over here.

"Hey, Thomas-san. How much is this coin worth?"

I asked Thomas-san while handing the coin over to him.

After having a good look at the coin in his palm, he suddenly freezes up.

"T-This is a gold coin, isn't it? Are you some noble's daughter?! This one coin can last you for more than a year!"

"No, I am not."

I answered with dead eyes.

Judging by his response, the gold coin must be worth a lot. If that's the case, I wonder how much a platinum coin is worth, it's the currency used for cash items in DHO. But I hold myself back from asking the question as they seem like they will cause an even bigger fuss about it.

Afterwards, they properly explained to me about the currency in Distodia. 

Here are the denominations of the currency used in this world: 
1 gold coin equals 10 silver plates.
1 silver plate equals 10 silver coins.
1 silver coin equals 10 copper plates.
1 copper plate equals 10 copper coins.

One day will cost about two copper plates for food and a place to stay. That will be about 1 silver coin and 4 copper plates per week, 5 silver coins and 6 copper plates per month, or 6 silver plates 7 silver coins and 2 copper plates per year. One gold coin can really last me a year if I spent it wisely…

When I looked into the black pouch, there are thirty gold coins inside, including the one that Rufus-san returned to me. Which means… I am rich! I can live a lazy life without working for at least thirty years in luxury! If I had all my money from DHO with me now, I could have lived my entire life luxuriously as I have billions of gold in DHO. It is truly regrettable that I have no idea where my money from DHO went.

Snapping out of my remorse, I hand a gold coin to Rufus-san again which resulted in both of them staring at me in confusion. 

"You two can split this amongst yourself as payment for escorting me to Distodia."

I said to them like it's only a natural thing to do.

That's one gold coin though, one year of lazing around gone. Not like I have any other choice when I only have gold coins with me. Not repaying them for their assistance will make me feel bad instead.

"Oh, no-no. We can't accept this from you."

"That's right, Kalia-chan!"

"Eh? But…"

"No buts. We are proud hunters. Helping out people in need is part of our duties as a hunter." (a.n. That's a lie.)

Thomas-san can be seen nodding his head in agreement at Rufus-san's declaration.

"If you say so…"

Looks like I'll just have to play along with them. Besides, which proper adult will accept money from a kid? (a.n. ME!)

---

 

"Uwaa~"

I leaked out a voice of admiration when we reached Distodia. Indeed, this looks like the Distodia in the game but it's also very different. This Distodia looks more developed and more lively. It's almost like a completely different place from the one I know.

"Welcome to Distodia."

Rufus-san welcomed me with a smirk.

---

 

Author's Note:

Bishounen - Pretty boy