As they stepped out of the pawnshop and turned back into the noisy, crowded street, Lucrezia, who had been holding her breath, finally couldn't take it anymore.
"That damn old fox! Profiteer! Bastard!"
She complained indignantly in a hushed voice, her small face flushing red with anger.
"Those earrings! They were worth at least 10 gold coins! He actually tried to brush us off with just a few silver coins at first! He's absolutely heartless!"
She kicked a pebble on the side of the road as if it were the shop owner's head.
But then, her tone shifted. Her rose-red eyes flicked toward Leon, who was walking calmly beside her, and a spark of admiration lit up her gaze.
"Hmph... though, I didn't expect a guy like you to be so capable."
There was a hint of awkward praise in her voice as she reached out and patted Leon's arm.
"Not bad, not bad! As expected of... my servant! You handled him easily and made him cough up so much more money! I guess it takes a villain to deal with a villain!"
"..." Leon twitched his lips, ignoring the compliment that didn't quite feel like one.
"We're rich! We're rich!"
Lucrezia happily accepted the "fortune" Leon handed over—1 gold coin and 80 silver coins.
She carefully tucked the money into her inner pocket and patted her bulging waist pouch. Her previous gloom vanished instantly, and she began to imagine a bright future.
"We're switching to a luxury hotel tonight! I want a room with a big bathtub!"
"I'm going to take a fragrant hot bath! With lots of essential oils! And then a feast! I want roast chicken! I want pancakes!"
"No."
Leon ruthlessly interrupted her fantasy, like a bucket of cold water over her head.
"I suggest you save it. We currently have no income, and this money won't last long."
"You—! Cheapskate!"
Lucrezia's fantasy bubble burst instantly. She puffed out her cheeks like a sulking pufferfish.
Both of them pulled their hoods lower and walked quickly through the crowded streets.
As they passed a dark corner at a crossroad, a small, thin figure caught their attention.
It seemed to be a cat demi-human... a young boy?
He looked no more than seven or eight years old, wrapped in rags dirtier than floor mops. A pair of furry cat ears drooped weakly, stained with grime.
His eyes were tightly shut; he seemed to be blind.
In front of him sat a chipped, broken bowl. He was humming a tuneless, desolate melody that seemed tiny and insignificant amidst the bustling crowd.
Lucrezia's footsteps faltered.
She looked at the boy and subconsciously touched her newly filled pocket.
Perhaps she felt empathy because of her own recent displacement, or perhaps... she simply felt her purse was too full and wanted to make room for those hard copper coins.
She walked over, fished five heavy copper coins from her pocket, leaned down, and gently dropped them into the broken bowl.
Clink.
The crisp sound made the boy's body jerk violently.
His tightly closed eyes seemed to crack open in panic, revealing cloudy pupils.
He frantically made a couple of "ah-ah" sounds toward Lucrezia's direction as if expressing gratitude, but his hands traced a strange "wiping" gesture in front of him.
"He's a mute too... how pitiful."
Watching this, Lucrezia sighed with some sadness. She turned back to Leon's side and merged into the flow of people.
After walking a short distance, Lucrezia's excitement from her "good deed of the day" faded.
Reality set in once again.
She began counting on her white fingers like a little accountant.
"That old fox gave us six gold coins... it seems like a lot. But the travel expenses from here to the capital of Virado, Crede, will be significant. And once we're there, we have to buy airship tickets to the Floating City..."
After calculating, she realized with horror that six gold coins—even if she pawned her remaining few accessories—would likely be a drop in the bucket.
"Oh my god!"
Her face visibly slumped, and she muttered dejectedly, "Do we have to beg our way there?"
"Wait! I have a plan!"
Suddenly, as if she had hit upon a brilliant idea, she clapped her hands. Her dimmed red eyes instantly sparked with the light of "wisdom."
"Oh?" Leon glanced at her with his hands in his pockets, a slight smile playing on his lips. "You have a plan? That's a rarity."
"You—! What do you mean by that!"
It was as if Lucrezia's tail had been stepped on. She jumped up immediately, her pink fist clenched, and punched Leon's chest in protest.
"I am a top student from the occult academy! The incarnation of wisdom!"
Thud.
As it happened, her fist landed precisely on the freshly scabbed wound on Leon's left shoulder.
"Hiss—!"
Even though it was mostly healed, the dull throb made Leon gasp, his eyebrows knitting together.
Enduring the pain, he irritably reached out and grabbed Lucrezia's furry little head, turning it like a bottle cap.
Then, he curled his knuckles and unceremoniously rapped her smooth, forehead twice. Bang, bang.
"Just say it. Stop being dramatic."
"Waaah! That hurts!"
Lucrezia clutched her forehead, her rose-red eyes instantly filling with moisture as if little pearls were about to fall.
"Tsk."
With practiced ease, Leon fished two copper coins from his private purse and flicked them with his thumb, landing them precisely in her lap.
"Hmph!"
Lucrezia caught the copper coins reflexively and stopped "crying" instantly. She stuffed the money into her pocket with a beaming smile, her mood changing as fast as flipping a page in a book.
"Listen up! We can become adventurers!"
She seemed inspired by the newspaper from this morning, lifting her small chin proudly like a little peacock.
"We can earn money by taking commissions while heading toward the Floating City! Plus, with adventurer status, we'll have many conveniences! For example, gathering information through guild channels! I've wanted to try being an adventurer for the longest time!"
"Anyway... anyway, I'm already 'dead' now! No one knows me! Who would expect a dead princess to become an adventurer running around for bounties? It's the perfect cover!"
"That's actually viable..."
Leon rubbed his chin, a hint of approval flashing in his eyes.
This was indeed a way to integrate into this world and a reasonable method to acquire information and money.
Most importantly, it would add some fun to this boring journey and provide a chance to level up.
"Smart for once."
Leon snapped his fingers. Ignoring the little girl beside him whose tail seemed ready to wag at the praise, he strode forward with his long legs.
"Alright, let's go. We'll head to the guild and check it out."
Rate on N.U.
