Last night, Sylphy's innocent, clumsy, angelic little kiss of comfort
had indeed done a great deal to soothe, to some extent,
Cui Ciyou's "minor anxiety" over his nearly empty wallet.
Still, touching as it had been,
the financial pressures of reality would not ease in the slightest because of a girl's soft, sweet-scented kiss.
Early the next morning, they ate the breakfast provided by the inn run by an eight-eyed spider Demonfolk,
which was jaw-droppingly expensive, yet tasted... well, there were no good words for it.
Cui Ciyou felt his shriveled beast-hide money pouch.
Only a few scattered Demon Continent coins remained inside, clinking together.
His expression turned serious, and he addressed everyone in a low voice:
"We've run into a rather difficult problem."
"Our money is about to run out."
Alice was using her specially made short blade
to laboriously cut through a piece of unidentified monster meat on her plate, roasted as hard as a rock.
At his words, Alice took a bite of the monster meat.
Then, with her mouth full, she asked carelessly:
"Run out?"
"Didn't Uncle Rowin give you a big bag of money before?"
Cui Ciyou explained patiently, a trace of helplessness appearing on his otherwise calm face.
"The cost of living in Old Kishirisu City is far higher than I expected."
"The travel money Uncle Rowin gave us,"
"along with the money we earned from selling those Pax Coyote pelts,"
"has gone toward our room fees these past few days."
"After buying the changes of clothes we needed and yesterday's gifts,"
"there's barely anything left."
"I'm afraid we might even struggle to cover food and lodging for the next three days."
"Huh? We're out of money already?"
Alice looked a little surprised.
Then her ever-lively face visibly fell.
She had still been hoping