An Unexpected Encounter

The next morning.

"These are Larcy Gold Coins!"

"These are relatively common coins around the Empire, with a gold content much higher than our local Hutrall Gold Coins."

At a currency exchange shop somewhere in Oysaster, the shopkeeper rubbed his hands together as he looked at Guter, a sharp glint flashing behind his glasses.

"But I'm sorry, sir."

"Since they're not the mainstream currency circulating here in Oysaster, if you want to exchange them for Hutrall Silver Coins, well... you understand there'll be a bit of a... hmm?"

"A conversion loss, is it? That's not a problem."

"But shopkeeper, you're not the only one doing exchange business on this street. I think it'd be wise to keep the fees reasonable."

"Haha, sir, you jest. Of course."

The shopkeeper adjusted his glasses and said, "In this line of exchange business, we operate on trust. The fees are fixed; there won't be much fluctuation across the entire city."

"Heh."

Guter let out a light laugh, neither confirming nor denying the shopkeeper's words.

Still, he couldn't be bothered to visit another currency shop, so he simply pushed the Larcy Gold Coins in his hand over to the shopkeeper.

After all, haggling would only save or lose a few copper coins at most.

The shopkeeper carefully took the gold coins Guter had pushed over, stowed them away, and deftly pulled out Hutrall Silver Coins from his cashbox one by one. After filling a small pouch, he added a few copper coins, then held it out with both hands to Guter.

"Sir, it's all exchanged. Would you like to count them?"

"No need."

Guter grabbed the pouch and pushed open the door to leave the shop.

On the street, feeling the heavy weight in his hand, Guter couldn't help but sigh.

It seemed that no matter which world he was in, gold was truly a precious metal.

After all, just last night, Guter had stuffed himself at a decent restaurant, and the bill had only come to two silver coins.

And for one gold coin, he could get a whole pouch full of silver coins like that.

Still, the value made sense—even nobles in this world typically only had twenty or thirty gold coins on hand.

Suddenly, walking down the street, Guter stopped and fixed his gaze on a corner of the block.

Over there, an elderly woman sat kneeling on the ground, her eyes vacant. In front of her was a broken clay bowl for begging. She sat there silently, neither asking passersby for anything nor showing any sign of her own misfortune—like a ascetic monk quietly cultivating amidst the bustling crowd.

Guter reached into his money pouch, pulled out a few copper coins, and intended to give them to the old woman.

But just as he dropped the coins into the broken bowl in front of her, his posture stiffened unnaturally.

At that moment, the old woman, who had been keeping her head low, looked up, her murky eyes fixed on Guter.

After a few breaths, she thanked him in a hoarse voice, and Guter nodded back at her before walking out of the block as if nothing had happened.

Not long after Guter left, a lean man dressed like a mercenary approached the old woman, standing in the shadow of a nearby eaves, and spoke to her in a low voice.

"Commander, should I follow him and take a look?"

"..."

The old woman pondered for a moment, then shook her head and replied, "No need."

"Keep up the surveillance. That child was probably just an accident."

"It's a pity—to be able to sense my magical fluctuation in an instant, such talent, yet he chose not to serve my Empire..."

"That child coming to Oysaster is likely because he heard news of Serie somewhere..."

The old woman muttered to herself, but the lean mercenary who had been standing in the shadow of the eaves had already vanished without a trace.

Beside the inn, in a quiet park.

"The Empire's Magic Special Operations Unit? Or... the Warrior in the Shadows? Or perhaps some secret agency trained by another faction?"

Leaning against a lush tree, Guter released his magical perception over a wide area while replaying the encounter with the old woman in his mind.

His magical perception and instincts at the time had definitely not been wrong—that old woman was, without a doubt, an extremely seasoned magic user.

Moreover, she was one who could suppress her magical fluctuation to an extreme degree.

Even if her method of suppressing magic wasn't as refined as Frieren's or Feren's, her technique was still highly skilled.

Relying on his magical perception as a magic user and his keen instincts as a warrior, Guter confirmed his judgment on the spot and sharply caught the faint tremor of magic around the old woman.

But Guter chose not to make a fuss, just as the old woman, presumably from an Imperial secret unit, hadn't sent anyone to tail him.

Between the two sides, a subtle understanding had clearly been reached.

Guter continued sitting in the park for a while longer, until he was certain he couldn't detect anyone following or watching him, before finally getting up.

But to be cautious, he didn't head straight back to his lodging. Instead, he picked a random road and began wandering aimlessly through the city.

Along the way, Guter reviewed the events of the past two days in his mind.

First, he had encountered an unprecedented identity check and interrogation at the gates of Oysaster, and then today, he had run into a mysterious magic user disguised as a beggar.

Guter absolutely refused to believe there was nothing behind this.

The only reasonable explanation he could think of was that Serie, that "Magic Old Timer," had emerged into the world.

The establishment of the Continental Magic Association was no overnight task; many preparations had to be made well in advance.

Even for an Archmage like Serie, who had survived since the mythical era, she couldn't avoid contact and negotiation with secular powers when it came to key points like venues, construction, recruitment, and dissemination.

Given that the lord of Oysaster and the Empire had already begun related actions, Serie's efforts seemed to have made considerable progress.

It appeared the time he needed to wait in this city wouldn't be too long.

Thinking of this, Guter's mood improved slightly. So much so that when he noticed a cute little girl by the street, pressing her face against a candy shop window and staring at the exquisite sweets, Guter generously bought a small bag of assorted fruit candies and gave them to her.

Under the little girl's incredulous gaze, Guter ruffled her head and left her only with his receding figure.

[Ding!]

[Daily Quest: Daily Good Deed has been completed]

Only when the system's prompt sounded in his mind did Guter suddenly realize.

So, the alms he had given to that old woman this morning hadn't been counted as a good deed.

Right, after all, that old woman wasn't a real beggar. Those few copper coins naturally couldn't help her and earned him little gratitude.

Thus, children really were more adorable.

After letting out a sigh of emotion, Guter found that after taking a long detour, he had somehow circled back to the same quiet park as before.

Oh well.

Since things had come to this, he might as well return to the inn for a bit of rest. The inn also served meals during dining hours, so he could sample the chef's skills.

But just as Guter was hurrying through the park, he inadvertently sensed an extremely faint fluctuation of magical power.

Following the trace, Guter's heart shook violently.

This magical fluctuation...

It was the Magic of Blooming Flower Fields.