+ + + Ian + + +

Tia and I got on the wagon and the wagon set off soon after. Tia began to doze off not long after the wagon moved. With nothing else to do, I decided to talk with the young merchant.

"Where are you headed to?" I asked.

"I'm off to sell my wares at the dungeon town of Nareña." the man answered.

"A dungeon huh? How far is it?" I asked again.

A dungeon, another staple of fantasy games and novels. 

"We'll arrive before dark if all goes well." he replied, "It's actually just a few kilometros away, so about half an hour or so. If on foot though, it'll take 2 hours or more depending on the speed."

"I see, it's actually pretty near then, isn't it?" I said.

"Yes, it's just a day away from the Capital after all." he said, "Oh where are my manners, my name is Johan."

"Well met good sir, my name is Gabriel." I only said Gabriel because that's what I told Tia to call me.

"Well met." he replied and asked, "What business do you have in Nareña?"

"Oh nothing much, just sightseeing.” I said in reply.

“Sightseeing huh? Well ain’t ya pretty well off, well you did pay me 2 Pises for a few minutes of riding in my wagon.” he said with a chuckle.

Pises? Tia did give him something a while ago, is Pises the name of their currency here? More questions to ask Tia later.

We continued conversing until we reached the gates of the town. The town was surrounded by a stone wall, around 3 meters tall. Guards halted the wagon.

I shook the sleeping Tia who was now leaning on my shoulders, "Hey Tia, we're here, wake up now."

"Hrmmm… *Yaawn*" Tia rubbed her eyes as she let out a yawn, "AAAH, sorry for that embarrassing display."

Both Johan and I shared a little laugh, “Well then, this is where we’ll part. I’m sorry I can’t take you inside, the guards will still need to check you,” Johan said.

Guards do that here too huh, can’t be helped then.

Tia and I got off Johan’s cart and waved him goodbye, “Til we meet again Johan.” I said as I watched him enter the gates.

“What’s your purpose here?” a guard asked.

“We’re just passing by.” Tia answered.

“The toll for visitors is a Kise each person, that’ll be a Pise for both of you.” the guard said.

Tia reached into her breast pocket and handed over a piece of coin.

That's a Pise then.

After paying the toll, the guards opened the gate and they let us in, "Try not to cause any trouble while you're here."

"We won't." Tia answered, we we're about to enter when Tia turned back and asked, "Excuse me, do you have a recommendation for an inn?"

“An inn huh, you can go to the SilverMoon Inn, food and bed is good and we patrol near the area so it’s relatively safe.” a guard answered, “If you decide to stay there, just go through the thoroughfare, once you reach the center of the town you can immediately see the inn.”

“Thanks.” Tia said with a curtsy.

Tia and I walked through the thoroughfare. The sun has just completely set but the streets are already almost empty, only a few people are still out. It took us a few minutes to get to the town center and just like what the guard said, we immediately found the inn. It had a pretty big sign which was glowing.

How come it glows like a neon light?

“Hey Tia, how is that sign glowing?” I asked while pointing at the inn’s sign.

“I think they used paint with powdered light mana crystals?” she answered unsurely.

“I see.” I replied, I guess magic for them is the equivalent of science on Earth.

We went inside the inn and walked to the receptionist, “How much for a room with 2 beds?” I asked.

“A twin bedroom costs 50 Pisas without meals, meals cost 10 Pisas per person.” the receptionist answered.

Not knowing what the prices mean, I turned to Tia, “We’d like to stay for 5 nights please, for the meal we’ll just tell you if we want to eat, is that okay?” she said to the receptionist.

“That is fine with us, for your lodging fee it comes to a total of 250 Pisas.” the receptionist replied.

“Here’s 3 Pises.” Tia said as she handed out 3 coins that look the same as the ones she handed to Johan and the guards.

“I received 300 Pisas, here’s your change, 1 Kise. Your room is at the end of the hallway upstairs, here's the key for room 5.” the receptionist said as she handed out a coin half the size of a Pise.

“Thanks. About the meals, can we have dinner please?” Tia asked and handed the coin she just received.

"Sure, just go to the dining hall, here's your change." said the receptionist after handing a bunch of coins to Tia.

Now those coins are smaller and it looks like they're made from a different material.

"Come on now Sir Gabriel." Tia said as she pulled me along 8nto the dining hall.

The dining hall was packed with people eating, there was also a separate bar area where men drank. Since the hall was packed, Tia said that we should just share a table with someone.

Amidst the crowd of diners, I spotted a familiar face sitting at a table. I tapped Tia's shoulder and pointed at Johan, "How about we sit there."

"Oh it's the merchant." She said with a hint of surprise.

We made our way across the hall and I called Johan when we were close enough, "Hey Johan."

Johan looked around until he eventually found us, "Hey, if it isn't Gabriel and the miss." he called back and beckoned us over.

We sat down on the empty chairs and our food was served not long after.

The meal consists of a piece of bread, a little meat, and a bowl of soup.

I took a bite of the bread, but I found it hard to bite. Tia and Johan gave me a funny look.

"That's not how you eat those." Johan said.

"First you soak the bread in the soup then you eat it together with the meat." Tia added.

"Oh, okay." I said before eating the bread again using the method they said.

The bread did soften up as it soaked the soup, but the soup's flavor was lacking. The same goes for the meat. It was very lightly seasoned.

"Some salt would be nice." I muttered.

"Only high class establishments can afford to splurge spices on their food, establishments like this will mostly use herbs found in the surrounding forests.” Johan explained.

“I see. Oh wait, I still have some leftover salt.” I said as I remembered the salt I got from my skill, I had 10g of it and I used half of it to season the rabbit.

I took out the paper packet from my pocket and sprinkled some salt on the meat and soup.

Mmmm, that tastes better.

Johan stared at me slack-jawed, once he regained composure he began asking me all sorts of stuff like, ‘Is that salt?’ ‘Why is it so fine?’ ‘Let me buy it for you.’ but I made him shut up by giving him the whole packet. It only has about a pinch or so of salt anyways.

After eating Tia and I went to our room. It was a small room, just enough to fit two single beds and a little drawer in the middle.

I sat on one of the beds and Tia laid down on the other, time to ask her some questions. “Hey Tia, what are the currencies used here?”

Tia answered all the questions that she can answer, for those that she couldn’t answer then i’ll just have to find a library or something. Here’s the rundown on what she has told me:

The Kingdom we are in, Holy kingdom of Bathal, was located on the western tip of the continent and was bordered by two other countries, the Kingdom of Alenburg and the Principality of Elyu, both of which are hostile to this Kingdom. There are 12 other independent countries, and according to her, this is the only continent. I doubt that though, I mean a world with only one continent? What’s this, the Pangaea? She also explained the currencies, all the countries use the same 6 currencies: Gold, Silver Plate, Silver, Half-Silver, Copper Plate, and Copper. She also mentioned the 12 gods of this world.

I still had some more questions I wanted to ask, but Tia said she was now sleepy. So I let her sleep. As for me, I was just laying on my bed, waiting for me to get sleepy.

I still need to buy some ammo for my 1911, I would also like to know how to earn some more points. Where is that voice when I need it anyways.

‘10.00% charged… Minimum functions restored… ‘

Holy crap, speak of the devil, how do I earn points?

‘Answer: Additional points can be earned by gathering the souls of other living creatures… the more powerful the creature is… the more points you can get.’

Damn that doesn’t sound easy, but I do need points. Oh wait, then that means the points I got was from the rabbit I killed. I also killed the 2 trash, so how much points do I have now?

‘Answer: 54.8 points in total… ‘

Woah, I earned some from those trash. 1 man’s trash is another man’s treasure right? Oh yeah, I need some .45 for my 1911.

‘Box of 35 .45 ACP bought for 10 points… Remaining balance: 44.8… ‘

A box appeared right beside me, why did the previous boxes fall from the sky? I opened it and saw a box of Ammo.

The voice did help me with my skill, I didn’t even open it,  I just said I wanted some and it automatically bought it for me. I feel sleepy now, but I feel unsafe if I just leave my weapons and ammo in plain sight. I wish I had a way to hide my weapons.

‘Request: way to hide weapons… Inventory System initialized… Item Box Skill added.’

Damn, this voice is pretty useful, but my eyes are beginning to feel heavy. I’ll just throw my weapons and ammo to my new skill and head to bed. I'll figure out our course of action tomorrow, *YAAWN*.