We've been on the road almost all day. And I find that my legs are far too short for such an undertaking. The last few days I didn't really notice that, because we never covered such long distances in one go.

So, I do what I learned during my time in the military. Ignore everything and just keep going. Because at a certain point, the legs move all by themselves. Of course, this means that my situational awareness suffers.

Which is why I don't notice Chloe talking to me. And when she stops in front of me, I almost collide with her. I give her a confused look, and she tries to get through to me again.

"You realise, Victoria, that we can take a break when you're exhausted?"

Still confused and not entirely clear in my head, so I just respond. "I'm fine."

She just rolls her eyes at it and answers. "If you're all right, we can keep going. And we'd better get a move on, too. We're moving a bit too slowly at the moment..."

After I finally understood what she was saying. Panic creeps into my face. "Uh... I think a break would be in order."

Chloe's obviously enjoying her little victory over my stubbornness. While I simply fall to the floor, exhausted. It's not exactly elegant, but I'm too tired to worry about it.

Still, once again, I realise how much I appreciate this new body. Okay, I am much smaller than I once was. The perspective with 145cm instead of 180cm changes enormously.

And also, the fact that I am a girl now presents me with one or two challenges. How big the upcoming trials will be, I will probably only find out in the town.

But the body is in perfect condition. I have been on my feet all day, but my feet do not hurt. Yes, they are tired. But before, my feet always hurt. Even the orthopaedic insoles didn't help much against my flat feet.

And what is more important. My tinnitus is gone! I had music playing all day long to be able to ignore it. Here without any technical equipment, I would have gone insane if I still heard it.

While I still think about my fortune. The others decide it's time to move on. After which my mood immediately decreases again. Don't let on Victoria, you'll be fine...

During the night, I noticed something strange. Or rather, I didn't notice. Because I was asleep. And I don't mean my body was sleeping, but my mind was too. Is it because I'm not in the Dungeon? It feels great to actually sleep again. However, the next morning there is a little problem.

I am a pretty heavy sleeper. And not a morning person at all. Since usually, my mind is already active because of Dungeon View, I haven't had this problem in the last few days.

In case of an emergency, I am immediately wide awake. But if it's just a matter of getting up, I'm useless without a hot shower. And the others seem quite amused by my morning face. Even Isgard the traitor!

"Now I'm sure you are a noble Victoria. No commoner could afford to look like that after sunrise.

*Grumble* "I love you too, Chloe."

It was late afternoon on the second day when we finally reached the town. And the view was quite impressive. The city wall was whitewashed all over and at least 8 meters high. In addition, the walls were reinforced by regular watchtowers. And a ditch seems to enclose everything.

"Are all towns so heavily fortified?"

Paula is not really surprised by my question. "Only in the border areas. Of course, there are many more villages than towns, and they have a palisade at best."

As we get closer, a small caravan comes towards us at some point. It's a rather large covered wagon, pulled by two horses. I have no idea if the size of the escort is average. But it is accompanied by eight infantrymen.

"I did not expect merchants to go into the Wildlands voluntarily."

"There's always someone who cares enough about profit. And even if there aren't many villages out there, they often have good hides for sale. They also depend on the purchase of tools and other necessities. Everything they can't make themselves." - Paula

"I guess that makes sense. After all, that' s one of the reasons we're here... That reminds me, is there actually a toll to enter the town?"

"I'd forgotten all about that. If you live in the town, you don' t have to pay anything. But in your case, it will cost two silver per person. Shall I lend you some?"

"No need, I got some money from the goblins. But I really hope we can sell the Stones of Light here. Otherwise, we'll return empty-handed. And of course, I won't be able to pay you two..."

"Don't worry, I'm sure my contact will be really keen on it."

Paula seems to ignore the last part of my remark. Shouldn't that be the most important thing for her? I mean, she does this for a living...

Checking the gate was no big deal. Chloe and Paula showed up with a metal plate, which I assume indicate they're adventurers, and I pay four silver coins as a toll. Our backpacks got a quick check, but other than our supplies, there's not much in them. I had decided to produce the Stones of Light later in the town, to not cause a fuss.

"All is well. Welcome to the free imperial city, Border Town." - Guardsman

I'm just nodding and trying not to laugh out loud. Border town? Border town? Really? I'm not at all surprised... Though I have to be careful not to call my settlement Dwarven village or anything. My own sense of names isn't really any better...

But at least I'm learning something. Free Imperial City sounds a lot like medieval Europe to me. It means that here I'm in an empire, not a kingdom. Besides, there are no nobles here.

While that sounds great and progressive. It doesn't really make much of a difference. ...it doesn't really make much of a difference. Instead of nobles, you have to deal with wealthy patricians. Probably they are even worse because they are actually fake nobles.

In the city itself, I immediately notice two things. First, it doesn't smell as bad as it's described in many novels. Even people in the Middle Ages had a working nose. Which is why there's not a lot of faeces lying around on the streets. But that doesn't mean that the roads are clean.

I once read that in those days there were people who walked through the city with buckets. Which, for a fee, functioned as portable toilets. Also, it was often under penalty to empty your chamber pot into the street.

The second thing I noticed. The buildings are neither gloomy nor dreary from the outside. The facades are at minimum whitewashed. And some buildings are even painted. Besides, the houses are all built high up. Three, four, sometimes even six stories.

But I don't see any windows made of glass, they are probably too expensive. Window openings are often only filled with straw. Could I perhaps earn money with it? Glass is just melted sand. I have to take a closer look at that.

Additionally, the streets are not very wide. At least by modern standards. And this is clearly not a planned city. But at least one road leads directly to the market place in the centre.

Paula wants us to go to the guild first. Before we find lodging for the night. The guild building is located in the market place, and it is much bigger than most of the other houses. You could almost think it is an inn.

And apparently, the guild has a lot of money. I can see many gothic windows made of glass. And it is built entirely of stone. Which applies to almost every building in the marketplace.

The inside looks like a mixture of the different adventurer guilds known. Apart from sunlight, the interior is also illuminated by many candles. There is a reception, but I can't see any cat-girls. Generally, I have only seen humans in the town so far.

Also, there are tables where people sit and drink something. But I can't see any drunk people or brawls. That's probably more for taverns as soon as the sun goes down.

As we approach the reception, the girls are recognised immediately. "Hey, Chloe, Paula, where'd you leave the guys?"

While Chloe can't look the receptionist in the eye. Paula does the talking. After a summary of what happened. In which some of the details weren't exactly forthcoming. Each of them receives 2 gold coins for their time on patrol and the bounty.

We go away empty-handed, as we were not on a mission and had no goblin ears to give. However, the two agreed that we may keep the weapons and backpacks of their deceased comrades. So, I cannot complain about it. And I hadn't planned to earn my money in the guild from the beginning anyway.

As it is already getting late, we next go to the inn where the girls usually stay overnight.