*Ding-ling-ling*
The swinging wooden door of the inn opened, causing the wind chime hanging on it to let out a pleasant sound.
“Take care~”
“Oh, good afternoon, Mr. Ron and this lovely young lady.”
Having just sent off the previous guest, Madam Lida stood behind the counter, wiping it with a cloth. She greeted Ron and Lifa as they stepped forward.
“Hello, Madam Lida. I asked you earlier to keep an eye out for a vacancy, but that’s no longer necessary.”
Ron responded with a smile. Both he and Lifa had changed into clean, tidy clothes, preparing to head to the adventurer’s guild in Gaderade to apply for their credentials.
“Oh~ I understand~”
Madam Lida, who still possessed the charms of her youth, let her gaze linger on the faces of Ron and Lifa. After flashing a meaningful smile, she fished out five silver coins from under the counter.
“Here is your deposit, returned in full~”
Lifa stepped ahead of Ron and snatched up the money. She felt the landlady’s gaze toward her and her teacher was a bit strange, and she wanted to pull Ron away immediately.
“It’s nothing~ Arguments between boyfriends and girlfriends are inevitable. The more it happens, the more you need to stay together to work it out.”
Evidently, the gossip-loving Lida had misunderstood the relationship between Ron and Lifa.
From her perspective, Ron had first wanted separate rooms, only to change his mind and agree to stay together within the time it took to go up and down the stairs.
Looking at Lifa’s current state, she looked exactly like a girlfriend in a young couple who had just reconciled after a sulk. As someone who had been through it herself, Lida was quite happy to see it.
“Actually, between us… Hey!”
Ron realized they might be staying at this inn for a while and intended to explain their true relationship, but Lifa, whose face was practically on fire, dragged him away before he could finish.
“Hehe~ To be young again~”
Lifa’s expression and little thoughts were all seen by Madam Lida. The beautiful woman rested her chin on her hand at the counter, a reminiscent look appearing on her face.
“Lifa, walk… walk slower…”
By the time Ron managed to get Lifa to stop, they were already a dozen steps away from the inn.
“Whew — she definitely misunderstood. I’ll explain it to the landlady eventually.”
Ron, panting slightly, massaged the wrist that had just been pulled. Because Lifa had gripped it so tightly, a red mark had been left behind.
“Mm.”
Lifa was in front, so Ron could only see the young girl’s blonde hair swaying slightly as she nodded.
What did ‘Mm’ mean?
Ron was full of confusion, not understanding her reaction.
But if he were to walk around to the front of Lifa right now, he would see a complex expression on the girl’s face, a mix of embarrassment and calculation.
‘There’s no need to explain. Please, just let them keep misunderstanding.’
Lifa rubbed her cheeks to calm her heart.
Ever since the thought of striving to become her teacher’s wife had taken root, she felt as if she had suddenly become much smarter!
Even if the timing for her to confess or reveal her heart wasn’t mature yet, and Teacher Ron had no idea of her feelings…
As long as she kept staying in the same room as her teacher and everyone around them thought she was his partner, everything would eventually fall into place without her even needing to confess!
“Teacher, you don’t need to go to the trouble of explaining.”
Lifa turned around, trying her best to make her tone sound calm and nonchalant.
“Because of that landlady’s gaze just now, I remembered that Teacher still has some ‘troubles,’ so I overreacted a bit…”
Avoiding eye contact with Ron, Lifa proactively took hold of his arm.
“Let’s go, Teacher. Weren’t we going to the adventurer’s guild?”
Lifa’s sequence of actions and words easily diverted Ron’s attention.
“That’s true. The guild staff will probably be off work if it gets too late.”
Ron agreed. He had already asked the landlady for the guild’s location.
Since they still had a bit of a walk, he figured it was a good time to tell Lifa some common knowledge regarding adventurers and the Uthis Continent.
“Lifa, counting the five silver coins from just now and the ones I gave you in the village, how much money do we have in total?”
Since this was serious business, Ron’s tone became much more earnest. Lifa, familiar with Ron’s mannerisms, began to calculate meticulously.
“Aside from that silver coin, the rest are inside the storage pendant. In total, it’s 84 silver and 720 copper.”
Lifa thought for a moment before providing an exact figure.
“Very well. Lifa, both you and I were in the village before, so we didn’t really have much use for money.”
“But in reality, whether it’s adventuring or doing anything else, you can’t get around it.”
To give Lifa a clearer understanding of their current financial crisis, Ron suggested she compare their total savings to the rent for the inn.
“Oh… Teacher paid 10 silver coins for five days of rent. The money we have left is only enough to stay in the city for… one month!?”
Once the simple multiplication was finished, Lifa quickly understood why Ron said they didn’t have enough money. In her surprise, she even let go of Ron’s arm.
“Exactly. And that’s not even counting other expenses. Furthermore, adventure-related equipment and items… the level of healing potion Lifa used to drink probably costs about 50 gold coins a bottle.”
Ron was glad Lifa understood so quickly, so he used another example to lead into the next point of knowledge.
“Gold coins?”
“Yes. Although the value of gold coins varies slightly from place to place, the general ratio between gold, silver, and copper is 1:10:100.”
50 gold equals 500 silver, which equals 50,000 copper.
In the past, as the monsters in the magic beast forest grew stronger, Lifa had returned to the village covered in wounds more than a few times. Naturally, she had consumed many healing potions from Ron.
“Whoa… then, then Teacher, back then I…”
Lifa quickly calculated what was, to her, an astronomical figure. At this moment, she spoke with a stutter, looking like a child who had done something wrong.
“Haha, the past is the past. Little Lifa, don’t worry too much. Once we become adventurers, we’ll have a stable income.”
Ron looked at the surrounding streets and led Lifa around a corner.
“Adventurers can take on commissions from the guild and use their strength to complete them for rewards.”
Ron was also afraid that Lifa would become overly obsessed with money. It wouldn’t be worth it if she developed a ‘stingy’ personality.
“Lifa, you should be around Level 40 right now. In Gaderade, you’re already among the very capable adventurers.”
“Level 40 or so?”
“I mean a Fourth Stage Swordsman.”
Ron habitually used the game terminology from his time as a player.
After all, the natives of the Uthis Continent used ten levels to define a stage because they couldn’t see refined divisions like an experience bar.
“Ten levels count as one stage. Our little Lifa is a standout among her peers.”
Seeing Lifa’s brow unfurl as she regained her spirit, Ron did not hold back his praise and encouragement.
“Oh, oh~ then what stage is Teacher?”
The girl, having recovered her confidence and vitality, wanted a unit for comparison.
Level 0.
Zero Stage, probably.
Speaking of his level returning to the very beginning, Ron had already accepted the reality that he had ‘lost all his inner power’ after the journey through the magic beast forest.
“Level 78. Seventh Stage.”
After a moment of awkwardness, Ron rubbed his nose and announced the level he held back when he was a slave trader with a secondary combat class.
“Mm.”
Lifa’s reaction was quite calm.
“Teacher really is a powerful, great figure, just like Village Chief said.”
As they continued forward through the explanation, the giant sign of the adventurer’s guild could finally be seen at the end of the street.
Along the way, Ron explained more common knowledge regarding strength assessments, and finally, he began to instruct Lifa on the procedures for becoming an adventurer.
“Lifa, there’s one more thing you need to know.”
“The adventurer’s guild has its own internal rating system, just like the grading for weapons and equipment.”
“Based on an adventurer’s experience and their completion of commissions, adventurers are divided into six grades: Bronze, Steel, Mithril, Gold, Platinum, and Legend.”
The two of them stepped through the doors of the adventurer’s guild, and Ron pulled Lifa closer to his side.
“Lifa, I want you to apply for an accelerated certification for the Steel grade. Be prepared; there will be a combat assessment.”
Ron could sense many gazes turning toward him and Lifa, but he felt quite good at the moment.
After all, joining the adventurer’s guild counted as completing the first small goal of the ‘Lifa Raising Plan.’
As long as they proceeded steadily from here, Lifa could safely increase her adventurer rank and personal level within the guild’s system.
Later, by combining his game experience and insights, once the economic crisis and development period passed, Ron was confident he could quickly grow Lifa into a new ‘Hero’ who would not be inferior to Isis.
“Mm-hmm, Lifa understands.”
Walking into the center of the first-floor guild hall, the noisy sounds of the crowd made Lifa frown.
However, the various things around her — many adventurers and their equipment — made Lifa’s eyes light up. She stayed close to Ron, asking questions from time to time.
“Teacher, what is that? I see so many people gathered over there.”
“Oh, that’s the bounty board. Generally, you can exchange high rewards for capturing or killing a certain person.”
“At the same level, the profit from one bounty is often worth ten ordinary commissions.”
Ron looked in the direction Lifa was pointing. Initially seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he gave a brief introduction.
“I see. Then let me look…”
Having just been worried about their terrible financial situation, Lifa stood on her tiptoes, eager to learn about the income of an adventurer.
“Wow — “
“Teacher, look! The bounty at the very top!”
In the most conspicuous position on the bounty board, Lifa’s finger pointed to a poster with a blurry portrait.
“Bounty… Traitor of the Northern Empire, secret agent, ambitious madman…”
“Rhein Virgil… 500,000 gold coins!”
“Teacher Ron, his name sounds so much like yours~ If we could catch him, we’d have endless gold coins.”
“Eh? Teacher, why aren’t you saying anything?”
Noticing her teacher had been silent for a long time, Lifa tilted her head beside Ron, looking confused at his motionless state.
At the same time, a mysterious adventurer wearing a hood walked through the guild doors. After bypassing the crowd, they headed straight for the stairs leading to the second floor.