The pocket should have held his last two gold coins and a dozen or so silver coins, but now it was completely empty. Nothing remained.
Lucian felt around frantically, even turning the pocket inside out to inspect it, but he could not find so much as a single silver coin. Panic surged through him.
That was all the money he had left. Without it, he could not stay in Doral City to look for a suitable job. He did not even have enough to travel home.
More importantly, he now had no way to pay the dozen or so silver coins for the meal in front of him.
The noodle shop owner had seen plenty in his time. One look at Lucian told him exactly what had happened, and the smile on his face turned cold.
"Sir, please pay your bill."
Lucian clutched his pocket as a bead of cold sweat slipped down his forehead, his mind racing desperately.
What should I do?
What should I do?
When Lucian remained silent, the owner's expression grew colder, and he raised his voice a little.
"Sir, you aren't planning to eat without paying, are you?"
Hearing the commotion, the other customers in the noodle shop turned to look.
At the sight of Lucian's slightly panicked face and his clothes washed pale from wear, they burst into laughter.
"Ha! Some penniless brat came here hoping for a free meal. Just accept your bad luck, boss."
"Boss, one look at him tells you he has no money. I'd say you've lost the money for that bowl of noodles."
"Hey, the kid looks honest enough. How could he bring himself to do something so shameful? Was he starving or something?"
Listening to the comments flying around him, Lucian flushed bright red, but he could