No matter what, the Magic Crystal had been stolen, and no amount of regret would bring it back.
Li Xian could only sigh, accept the 10,000 Gold Coins, and walk out of the shop.
Although losing one potentially priceless Magic Crystal was a heavy loss, selling the other seven Magic Crystals still earned him a full 10,000 Gold Coins.
Looking at the Magic Crystal Card in his hand, Li Xian’s pain slightly eased.
With this 10,000 Gold Coins, at least he wouldn’t have to worry about money for the time being.
Come to think of it, money in this world was actually pretty easy to earn.
Holding the Magic Crystal Card, Li Xian suddenly felt like a rich man and couldn’t help but feel a little lightheaded.
What he didn’t realize was that high-grade Magic Crystals were already extremely difficult to obtain.
Not to mention that only Adventurers of Gold Rank or above could handle high-grade Magic Beasts, even then, a single Gold Rank Adventurer was often no match for one; hunting them usually required a group.
The drop rate of Magic Crystals from high-grade Magic Beasts was already terrifyingly low.
Normally, having one Magic Crystal drop from over a dozen high-grade Magic Beasts would be considered very lucky.
Li Xian had killed only thirty or forty and obtained seven Magic Crystals—that was practically a god-tier drop rate.
So, high-grade Magic Crystals were indeed quite rare, and obtaining them was no easy task.
With the Magic Crystal Card in hand, Li Xian suddenly felt no pain in his waist or soreness in his legs.
He strode forward with reckless confidence, leading Sara into the inn where they had stayed yesterday.
“Two rooms, hmm… let’s start with ten days,” he said as he placed the card on the table.
The receptionist glanced at the card and then said, “Sorry, sir, our inn has no available rooms today.”
“…” Li Xian’s expression changed from confident and calm to surprised, then bewildered, and finally to dejected and frustrated.
His mouth twitched, but he could only lead Sara out.
Hmph, he was no longer the same person as yesterday.
He looked down on such a low-class inn now—he wanted to stay somewhere better… the best inn!
The life of a rich man was so simple and dull…
“Sir, our best room is the Royal Princess Suite, reserved exclusively for the royal family. It’s 6,000 Gold Coins per night. For two rooms, that totals 12,000 Gold Coins.”
“???”
When Li Xian heard that figure from the clerk, his expression was utterly stunned.
‘Six thousand Gold Coins for one night? Why don’t you just go rob someone?!’
He coughed twice, grabbed Sara, and immediately turned to run.
The clerk was left stunned—she had seen plenty of people pretending to be rich without money, but this was the first time she’d seen someone just run away like this…
He must have been really nervous!
But as an employee of the top royal inn in the Imperial Capital, she quickly suppressed her thoughts and turned her attention to the next guest.
The next moment, she nearly dropped the Magic Pen in her hand.
“P-Princess!”
Of course—it was none other than Princess Ellie, the sole princess of the Roland Empire.
The most luxurious of the three princess suites in the Royal Hotel was always kept ready for her.
“Princess, what brings you here?”
Even so, Princess Ellie rarely stayed at the inn, since living in the actual Royal Palace made the princess suites seem insignificant by comparison.
Ellie frowned and glanced unhappily in the direction where Li Xian had just left in a hurry with Sara, accidentally bumping into her.
‘That’s why those disgusting men were so despicable—no money yet still trying to act like big shots. ‘
Compared to that distinguished gentleman, they were just pitiful.
“Has the Royal Hotel become a place anyone can enter now? Next time, if you see someone who’s obviously here to cause trouble, just kick them out immediately,” she said with a frown, clearly displeased.
“Yes, Your Highness, understood,” the clerk replied anxiously, dripping with cold sweat, terrified of offending the princess in any way.
“May I ask what brings you here today, Princess?” she carefully asked.
After all, the princess rarely came here, and even when she did, she almost never stayed overnight.
“This time I’m here to ask you to keep an eye out for someone. Tell Elder Sister Karinya to notify all the staff,” Ellie said seriously, her expression grave.
The clerk grew even more nervous.
Who could possibly warrant such seriousness from the princess?
“It’s a young man, wearing a black cloak…” But since Ellie hadn’t seen the gentleman’s face clearly, she couldn’t describe him well.
After a round of vague explanation, she had nothing concrete to add.
The clerk could only smile wryly, unsure how to respond—there were too many such people, appearing every few days or so.
“Anyway, if you encounter someone like this, just record it and have Elder Sister Karinya help investigate,” Ellie added.
According to her reasoning, a powerful gentleman like that, if he came to the Imperial Capital and had nowhere to stay, would most likely seek out the most luxurious royal inn.
If they could check every similar visitor and find no background information, that person was probably the one.
“If Elder Sister Karinya can’t find any information about him…” Ellie continued, “no matter what, make sure he stays—give him my room—and immediately notify me. At any time, notify me.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” the clerk responded, recognizing how important this matter was to the princess.
Though surprised by the order, she dared not ask further.
Who could possibly be so influential that the princess spoke so urgently about them?
She understood the wisdom of asking fewer questions and doing more, committing every word the princess said to memory, afraid to miss a single detail.
“That’s all…” Ellie said after finishing, then suddenly felt a wave of emptiness.
She had been searching for so many days with no useful information.
In the palace, she had pondered all possible ways to find that gentleman, which was why she had come to the Royal Hotel unexpectedly.
If this still didn’t work…
A sense of despair crept into her heart.
She hadn’t slept well for several consecutive nights, and the accumulated exhaustion made her grow increasingly pessimistic.