"I guess now that you’re able to understand me, welcome to the city of Rellea. Home of the free,” Merial said before continuing, “I’m sure you’ve already seen some of the city but there’s a lot more that you haven’t.”

‘So the city is called Rellea,’ Rin thought and nodded.

“What do you want to eat then? There are more places to eat than I can count,” Merial chuckled before pointing her thumb at herself, “Besides, this lady is loaded.”

The elf took a coin out of her inventory and threw it up into the air. Rin’s gaze followed the coin as it spun around, refracting the sun’s light.

Rin guessed that it was the standard currency used in the world.

“Hmm, I’m not sure... do you have any suggestions?” Rin asked as she didn’t know what kind of food was produced in the new world.

“Suggestions huh? There's a café near here that sells sandwiches and snacks. If you’re into that of course,” Merial said with a smile.

“Fine with me,” Rin replied.

As Merial led them through the streets, Rin looked at multiple buildings along with their signs. She couldn’t read the runes yet, but it was only a matter of time before she would learn them.

The pair continued to walk through the city before they turned a corner and were immediately hit by a wave of noise. The street was filled with all kinds of different people. There were elves, dwarves and humans, all busy with their own things.

Some were just standing around and chatting to their friends, while some were simply walking by. But the majority of the people were standing around colorfully decorated wooden stalls.

‘Are those demi-humans?’ Rin thought in confusion.

She looked at a cat-eared man who walked right past her, flinging his long tail behind himself. In her old world, their race was known to be victims of slavery. But here they were, walking around and co-existing along with the other races.

“Cool right, this is the bazaar,” Merial grinned, mistaking Rin’s confused expression, “Anyways, the café is just past here, if you see anything you like, just ask me.”

Heading into the bazaar, the thick smell of spices and exotic foods filled her senses. The vendors waved their hands in the air as they called out to passersby, beckoning them to come and buy their wares.

Rin looked around for anything that would catch her eye as shoppers haggled with vendors over prices. While musicians hidden in the crowd played lively tunes on their instruments.

As the two walked into the heart of the bazaar, Rin soon recognized an unmistakable scent lingering in the air.

Splitting off from the elf, Rin weaved her way through the crowd to find the source of the smell.

“Hey! Where are you going!?” Merial shouted from behind her, but Rin paid her voice no heed.

She blocked off everything else but the scent and soon found herself standing before a stall with a dozen cups containing a sparkly yellow drink.

Mesmerized by the liquid, Rin leaned over and reached for the cup before her hand was slapped away.

“If you don’t got the money, you ain’t getting that drink,” a high-pitched voice came from behind the stall.

[Mage – lvl 33]

Rin looked up at the voice, finding a red-haired girl with hazel eyes. She wore a wide brimmed sunhat and had a frown on her face.

“I’m sorr-”

“Don’t worry Emma, she’s with me,” Merial interrupted with a sigh, having walked up beside Rin without her noticing.

“Oh, it's you,” her gaze lightened at the sight of the elf, “Can you explain to me why she tried to steal from me?” the girl named Emma asked.

“Beats me, but I’m supposed to be taking care of her. We’ll be on our way now, sorry for the troubles,” Merial answered.

“Alright, see you later Merial,” the vendor replied and glared at Rin.

The pair once more started walking through the streets, albeit much slower as the shorter girl was dragging her steps.

“What’s the matter?” Merial asked, pausing her steps.

“...Nothing,” came a grumbled reply.

Rin didn't want to tell the elf about her addiction. There was a certain flavor that she had fallen in love with, and it was the taste of a cider.

Knowing that it existed in the world of Arphen brought her comfort. But being unable to take even a single sip when it was right there depressed the girl.

Feeling a gaze on the back of her head, Rin turned around to see the elf staring at her with a wide grin.

“...What,” Rin said blankly.

“We both know that it isn’t nothing,” Merial chuckled before continuing with the same grin on her face, “I have an offer for you.”

The elf walked over to the shorter girl and whispered something in her ear, causing the girl to frown before letting out a sigh.

Again, Rin found herself standing in front of the stall with the acidic drinks. But this time, she was holding a pouch filled with coins in her hand.

“It’s you again,” Emma frowned upon seeing the white-haired girl, “Have you come to apologize?”

“Yeah, sorry about earlier,” Rin said, scratching the back of her head, “But I’m also here to buy some of your wares.”

“Really!?” Emma exclaimed as a small fireball exploded above her head.

Several gazes whipped over to the commotion, but they went back to what they were doing after seeing that nothing was amiss.

‘A fire mage,’ Rin thought, seeing the magic.

“Whoops...I can’t really control it sometimes. But it’s just that I don’t get too many customers,” Emma explained.

Rin awkwardly laughed, “So how much are they?”

“Hmm... it’s been a while... I think it was five coppers a cup?” Emma responded.

Looking through the pouch, Rin could only find about fifty silver coins. Not knowing their exact values, Rin dumped the entirety of the bag onto the table.

“How many can I get with this?” Rin asked.

Looking at the amount of money on the table, the red-haired girl’s eyes widened in surprise.

“This... this is too much...” she stuttered.

“Is it?” Rin asked as it didn’t look like a large amount of money to her.

Emma looked at Rin as if she was crazy. This girl had this much money on her hands and was entirely clueless!

She took a deep breath inwards then released it slowly, “You can buy my entire stock with this.”

“I’ll just do that then,” Rin said with a smile.

Placing all the coins inside the bag, Rin tossed it over to the girl who nearly fumbled the catch. She then began touching all the glasses on the table and storing them in her inventory.

“Hey!” Emma exclaimed, “What are you doing?”

“Didn’t you say that it was enough to buy your entire stock?” Rin tilted her head to the side, “Also where’s the rest.”

Dumbfounded, Emma simply stared off into the air.

“Well?” Rin pressed.

“...Right, sorry.” Emma muttered, snapping out of her daze.

The red-haired girl started pulling out glass cups while Rin continued to store them as soon as they appeared.

She smiled, looking at the stack in the bottom right corner of her inventory that had the large number of 400.

‘Now for the taste...’ Rin thought as her mouth watered in anticipation.

Summoning a single glass into her hand, she watched as the sparkly liquid swirled around and glinted off the sun’s light. Bringing the glass up to her lips, she took a small sip and felt a wave of cool sweetness rush over her.

"Just how I remembered,” Rin smiled in satisfaction.

Emma couldn’t help but frown at the sight. Normally people would spit out her drink in disgust, but this peculiar girl seemed to love it.

Finishing the drink, Rin turned to Emma.

“Why don't you have more customers?” Rin asked.

Emma sighed, “I don’t know. People don’t seem to like it, but it’s the only thing I know how to make. And I can’t do anything else to make money.”

Rin locked eyes with the fire mage and tilted her head, “Aren’t you level 33, why don’t you just go monster hunting for money?”

Emma flinched under her gaze and looked at the ground.

“...I don’t know how to fight,” she muttered in a quiet voice.

Surprised, Rin opened her mouth to speak before she was interrupted by a certain elf.

“Hey guys,” Merial said, walking up to the stall before turning towards Rin, “You finished?”

“Yeah,” she nodded.

“Alright, let’s get going. I’m starting to get hungry too,” Merial chuckled and looked towards the vendor, “See you around Emma.”

Emma waved goodbye. “Thanks for the business. Please come again.”

Continuing through the bazaar, they soon reached the exit and turned onto a street.

“So how many did you spend?” Merial asked.

“I just used the whole bag,” Rin replied nonchalantly.

However, Merial had a completely different reaction. Her eyes went wide, and she paused her steps in the middle of the street.

“You what?” she asked in disbelief.

“I didn’t know how much a coin was worth, so I just gave Emma the whole thing,” Rin explained.

Merial buried her head in her hands before she sighed.

“It’s fine... a silver is 100 coppers just so you know. And how many did you buy from her anyways?”

“About 400,” came the reply, “And didn’t you say you were loaded?”

The elf immediately blushed and fidgeted with her fingers.

“Well....I,” she stammered, “I used to be...”

Feeling a little sorry, Rin pulled out a cider and handed it to the ranger.

“Thanks,” Merial muttered.

The elf brought the glass up to her lips and downed the whole thing in one go before she spat it all out.

“Euk!” she gagged at the and turned to Rin, “...You really bought 400 of these?”

Rin simply shook her head, “Let’s just get going.”

“Yeah, that’s probably for the best,” Merial agreed.

A few minutes later, Rin found herself in front of a wooden door.

“This cafe is called Open Sesame,” Merial explained, pointing to the sign hanging above the door.

Rin examined the runes and smiled when she found that she was starting to understand them.

‘Soon,’ she thought.

Opening the door, a bell chimed as they walked through the entrance. While the two looked for a place to sit, a waitress walked up to the pair.

“Welcome to Open Ses- Oh! Merial! How have you been!?” the waitress asked with a bright smile.

“Hey Sophie,” The elf replied with a smile of her own, “It’s been a while, but I’ve been great.”

“That’s good to hear, and who might this one be?” Sophie asked, looking at the white-haired girl who nodded slightly.

“This here is Rin. She’s new to the city and I’m just showing her around.” Merial answered.

“Well, I hope you enjoy the food dear,” the waitress said to Rin with a smile.

Sophie led the two to an empty table next to the large window overlooking the street.

“So, what would you two like to have today? We have sandwiches, drinks and snacks.” Sophie stated, handing over the menu for the café.

Scanning the menu, Rin looked at the pictures for something enticing.

‘Hmm, that looks nice,’ Rin thought, looking at a sandwich with a yellow substance oozing between the slices of bread.

“I’ll have this one,” Rin pointed at the picture.

“The Philosopher’s Sandwich? That’s a good choice. Would you like anything else?” Sophie asked, jotting down Rin’s order on a piece of paper.

“No thanks,” Rin said.

“And what about you Merial?” Sophie turned to Merial.

“Hmm... I'll have the same thing and some ale,” the elf replied.

“Awesome, the food will be ready in a pinch,” the waitress smiled and left for the kitchen.

A few minutes later, Sophie walked up to the table carrying a tray with two large sandwiches.

“Enjoy your meal girls, call for me if you need anything,” Sophie said, carefully setting the tray on the table before she walked back to the counter.

Rin looked at the sandwich in front of her that was the size of her forearm. As she hadn’t eaten anything for the day, she couldn’t wait to dig in. But the gooey liquid oozing from the sandwich stopped her from taking a bite.

“Merial?” Rin called.

“Hmm? What’s the matter?” Merial replied with a mouthful of food in her mouth.

“What’s this yellow stuff,” Rin asked dubiously.

Merial didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as she spat out a mouthful of the sandwich in front of her.

Rin quickly created a shield of ice in front of her. Catching the bits of food while Merial regained her composure.

“You don’t know what cheese is?” Merial asked in disbelief, “Just try it.”

“If you say so,” Rin cut a portion of the sandwich with a shard of ice and brought it up to her mouth.

Chewing the sandwich, the flavors of the meat and vegetables along with the cheese made for quite a delicious taste.

‘Not bad,’ she raised an eyebrow.

“So, did you lose your memory or something? How do you not know about cheese,” the elf asked, leaning forward on the table.

Rin thought for a moment about what to say before she responded, “Yeah, I think I lost my memories. I don’t remember anything before waking up in the Ice Forest dungeon.”

She didn’t want to reveal the fact that she had been reincarnated, not at the moment at least.

“Well, we could try and look for your family if you’d like, it would take a while but the guild can definitely help you.” Merial suggested while Rin took another bite out of her sandwich.

“No, it’s fine, they're gone,” Rin immediately replied without any emotion in her voice.

They sat for a couple of minutes, Rin’s chewing the only noise between the two as Merial finally broke the silence.

“You know, I once had a little sister. she meant everything to me, but I wasn’t strong enough... they took her, took her from us... and I couldn’t do anything.”

It all made sense to Rin now, understanding why Merial was so attached to her even if they were complete strangers.

“I’m sorry, but you don’t have to take care of me, I can find my own way.”