Reymond arrived at the inn where he temporarily stayed together with Miguel. Before approaching the reception desk, he pulled Miguel aside and placed two silver coins into her hand.
— I'm giving this to you as a temporary loan. You can return it later when your situation improves. For now, go to the reception and get a separate room for yourself, — Reymond said while putting his wallet back in place.
Miguel looked at the silver coins in her hand, then at Reymond with confusion.
— Why a separate room? Wouldn't it be much cheaper if we just took one shared room? — she asked, unwilling to spend extra money.
— No, that's not possible. Right now, you look completely like a girl. Staying in the same room with you is inconvenient for me in every sense. Besides, my room isn't empty; I already have other roommates staying with me, — Reymond replied firmly, rejecting her suggestion.
— I see… alright, I understand, — Miguel said after a brief pause, then raised her main concern before Reymond could walk away. — But starting tomorrow, where am I supposed to earn money? How am I supposed to survive in this world?
— We'll discuss that properly tomorrow morning after sunrise, — Reymond said, yawning slightly, unable to hide his exhaustion. — Right now, I'm extremely sleepy. I'm tired, — he added and walked toward his room.
Reymond opened the door to his room and stepped inside. However, the room was empty—there was no sign of his companions.
— For some reason, they haven't been around for the past two days, — he said, looking around in confusion. — Or something happened? Well… whatever. It's not my problem anyway… — Without overthinking it, Reymond collapsed onto his bed under the weight of his physical exhaustion and quickly fell asleep.
Meanwhile, Miguel also took the key and headed toward her assigned room. After entering, she sighed in relief when she saw no one inside. The room was quite simple: only two beds and a small table in the center. The window on the wall was slightly open, and a single flower pot stood on its sill. Miguel chose the right-hand bed and sat on its edge.
— No matter what happens, I need to learn more about this world and somehow survive, — she said with a deep sigh, staring sadly at her new, delicate hands.
Regardless of how strange and confusing the situation was, the most important thing now was to regain strength. Miguel walked to the wall and turned off the light.
— I'll think about everything else tomorrow, — she whispered and wrapped herself in the blanket, lying down to sleep.
—
The next morning, around ten o'clock, Reymond slowly opened his eyes. The previous day's nonstop running around, the intense battles with goblins, and the mysterious journey through the forest had drained all his strength, so he woke up very late.
He turned slightly in bed and looked at the bright sunlight flickering through the small window. The sun was already high in the sky.
— I guess I woke up too late… I was really exhausted yesterday, — he muttered and forced himself to get up.
After leaving his room, he walked through the inn's hallway, still not fully awake. He kept rubbing his eyes with his right hand and yawning repeatedly. After going down to the first floor dining area, he washed his face and hands to clear his head.
Then he ordered some fried chicken and hot tea to fill his stomach. After finishing his meal, he paid 8 iron coins at the counter. That left him with 7 silver coins and 57 iron coins. He then went back upstairs.
He stopped in front of Miguel's room—the one he had paid for the previous night—and knocked.
Knock, knock, knock…
— Are you there? Or are you still sleeping? — Reymond asked, leaning closer to the door.
When no response or footsteps came from inside, he tried the handle, but the door was locked. The fact that it was locked from the inside clearly indicated that no one was currently there.
— Damn it… where did she go this time? Do I have to go looking for her again? — Reymond said irritably, letting out a heavy sigh.
He went back downstairs to search for Miguel and left the inn, stepping into the crowded city streets.
Reymond felt another headache forming—on top of his own problems, his newly assigned "companion" was becoming an additional burden. He sighed deeply and stepped into the noisy main street filled with hundreds of people.
In truth, finding Miguel in such a large crowd should not have been too difficult. Her outfit, battle-torn armor, and unusual appearance made her stand out from ordinary citizens. Moreover, due to the System's "joke," she currently had a stunning, elegant appearance—far more attractive than most women around, if one ignored her unchanged, rough personality.
As Reymond walked through the streets, unease slowly built up inside him. Miguel's aggressive temperament, blunt speech, and striking appearance were a combination that could easily cause trouble in the city center.
As he approached the market square, the crowd became denser and the noise grew louder. The shouting of merchants, the wheels of carts on stone roads, and the clanking of weapons mixed into a chaotic soundscape.
Reymond pushed through the crowd, still unable to find Miguel. Searching for one person in such a dense mass felt like looking for a needle in a river. With time passing, his concern steadily increased.
Then, through the noise, a voice resembling Miguel's suddenly rang out—soft yet sharp, angry and unmistakable. Reymond immediately turned toward the direction of the sound. However, in the crowded street, he could not yet see her—only heard her arguing with someone.
He forced his way through the crowd and finally spotted Miguel standing near a shop, loudly arguing with the merchant.
— I'll only give you one silver coin for this, — Miguel insisted, staring stubbornly at the shopkeeper.
— No, absolutely not! This is a very rare item, I won't sell it for less than one silver and seventy iron coins! — the merchant replied, waving his hands defensively.
— What? These things are everywhere in other shops! Why is yours suddenly "rare"? One silver coin, that's it! — Miguel said firmly, refusing to back down.
Reymond squeezed through the crowd and stepped closer.
— What are you doing here? Why did you leave the inn without telling me anything? — he asked, grabbing her shoulder, slightly irritated.
Miguel frowned at him.
— Since when do I need your permission to go somewhere? — she replied coldly, then pointed at the item on the counter. — This greedy merchant is trying to sell something common at an outrageous price, so we were negotiating.
— Common?! This is not common at all! This is a fully matured Stone Dragon Core! — the merchant shouted, slamming the counter. — The ones you see elsewhere are just weak cores from young stone dragons! They cannot even be compared!
— A matured Stone Dragon is extremely difficult to hunt. This core should normally cost at least two and a half silver coins. I'm already selling it cheap because it has a crack from the extraction process, — the merchant explained. — That's why I'm asking one silver and seventy iron coins. I won't go lower.
— What is a core? — Reymond asked, staring at the object.
On the counter lay a fist-sized sphere. Its surface looked like ordinary gray stone, but a faint red light flickered from deep inside. As the merchant said, a thin crack ran across it.
Reymond narrowed his eyes, examining it carefully. It was the first time in his life he had seen something like this.
— Have you never played games in your life? — Miguel said, noticing his reaction. — This is a core dropped by bosses or powerful monsters. It can be used to gain new abilities or enhance weapons. This is basically a game world, so things like this are normal.
— Fine. Final offer: one silver and twenty iron coins, — Miguel said, raising her bid.
— No. Add at least thirty more iron coins, or the deal is off, — the merchant replied, shaking his head and reaching for the core again.
— Wait. Fine. One silver and forty iron coins, — Miguel said quickly, unwilling to lose it.
— …Alright, deal! — the merchant immediately agreed, as if he had made a great sacrifice.
He handed over the wrapped core. Miguel counted out one silver and forty iron coins from her pocket and paid him. In reality, after breakfast, she had exactly one silver and eighty iron coins left from what Reymond had given her. After the purchase, she was left with only forty iron coins.
— Idiots… — the merchant muttered after they left, smirking. — That broken thing is worth at most eighty iron coins. I simply tricked them. I set a high price and forced them to believe it was valuable. I made almost double profit.
Miguel, completely unaware of the scam, happily walked alongside Reymond, satisfied with obtaining a matured dragon core, as they moved deeper into the market.