Night Raid at the Inn

After leaving the weapon shop, the two of them neither went to a Monster Materials shop to sell the day's spoils nor sought out the Monster Shop to buy equipment for Bruce.

According to Myne, it was already late. They might as well eat, wash up, and get some rest early, leaving those errands until the next morning, just as they had today.

Chuan Wenwu thought that made sense and headed toward the inn instead.

After asking, he learned that lodging here cost thirty copper coins per room per night.

(Note: 1 gold coin = 100 silver coins = 10,000 copper coins.)

Since all his spending that day had been at the weapon shop, and everything had been priced in silver coins, he still had little understanding of this world's prices. But if a night's lodging cost only thirty copper coins... Chuan Wenwu did a quick conversion. It seemed that one copper coin had roughly the purchasing power of five to ten yuan in his original world.

It was only an inn, but it was an inn in the town where the royal palace stood-the equivalent of the capital... assuming prices were normal.

In that case, the lousy old king had given him eight hundred silver coins, equivalent to eighty thousand copper coins, or several hundred thousand yuan, all at once. And he would get that every month. That really was incredibly generous!

"Then we'll take two guest rooms," he told the innkeeper.

"Of course, of course. No problem. I hope you'll both continue to favor us with your business." The innkeeper gave them a practiced smile of thanks, then rubbed his hands together as he told them where their rooms were.

According to the innkeeper, the number of visitors to town had increased considerably lately. Many of his rooms had been booked, and since guests checked out at different times, the vacant rooms were scattered all over the place. Thus, although their assigned rooms were on the same floor, they were not next to each other, with several rooms between them.

"The room's pretty decent."

After briefly looking over the furnishings, Chuan Wenwu offered that assessment.

He told Myne, "Let's do it this way, then. Myne, since you're a woman, you can have a room to yourself. I'll share with Bruce. That should keep people from gossiping, too."

"You're so thoughtful, Sir Hero~" Myne clasped her hands together with a radiant smile.

Next, the two of them headed to a tavern near the inn for dinner.

Chuan Wenwu had said he would cover Myne's food and lodging, and naturally, he intended to keep his word. He ordered a five-copper set meal for each of them and the dog. The food looked appetizing, smelled wonderful, and came in generous portions.

Having spent the entire day "fighting" in considerably heavy plate armor, Chuan Wenwu was naturally ravenous and eagerly tucked in.

Just as he was thoroughly enjoying his meal, Myne, sitting across the table, suddenly asked softly in a seductive tone, "Sir Hero, won't you have a glass of wine?"

Hm?

Chuan Wenwu set down his utensils and looked up at her suspiciously. Myne was sipping crystal-clear wine, her cheeks flushed and her eyes brimming with affection. The warm lamplight cast a faint golden glow over her, making her look utterly alluring.

"No."

Unmoved, Chuan Wenwu gave that flat reply before lowering his head and continuing to devour his meal.

"But..." Myne's smile stiffened. Inwardly cursing the man for being so oblivious to her charms, she tried to persuade him further.

Chuan Wenwu refused outright. "I don't drink. Drinking gets in the way and harms your health. I'd suggest you drink less, too. This is only our first day. If you get hungover tonight, tomorrow's adventuring will have to be put on hold. You're the 'outstanding adventurer' that king selected, aren't you? You should focus more on your actual job. You haven't exactly done anything impressive today."

That shut Myne up. She ate in sullen silence, with no telling what she was muttering to herself inside.

The meal passed quickly, but Myne was still eating in tiny bites. He gave her a brief word before leaving the noisy tavern ahead of her and returning to the inn where they had booked their rooms.

Perhaps because they returned at different times, Chuan Wenwu did not run into the other three heroes.

Maybe they would be back later, or perhaps they were still celebrating together at some other restaurant? After all, each of their parties had far more members than Chuan Wenwu's...

Chuan Wenwu did not dwell on it. He first spent some effort removing his plate armor in his room, then washed in the inn's bathing room before returning to his guest room with Bruce.

Sure enough, he felt refreshed after washing up. He sat at the desk in his room, placed his money pouch on it, and began tallying the day's expenses.

"...So I've still got 544 silver coins and some copper... Sure enough, weapons and equipment are the real expense in this world. A slightly better sword costs as much as several months of ordinary food, clothing, lodging, and travel."

Chuan Wenwu murmured, "My current gear is complete, so I don't need to replace anything for now. The weak monsters we'll face early on can't get through my defenses. That just leaves Bruce's equipment, and that Myne..."

At that, he paused before continuing his analysis. "Still, although outfitting an adventurer is expensive, easily costing dozens or hundreds of silver coins, adventurers really do have an easy time earning money. Materials dropped by Balloon Monsters, which we can kill without any trouble, are worth a copper coin each. Kill a few extra, and we've got our meals covered for the day. And materials from stronger monsters are bound to be worth even more..."

"Bruce!" he suddenly called.

"Woof, woof!!" came the immediate response.

"Since we've come to another world, we ought to earn money by living more like people in another world! From now on, we're going to level up properly! Work hard, get stronger, and see what this world's toughest monsters look like, and what its strongest equipment is like!"

"Woof, woof, woof, woof, woof!!!"

"Hahaha!"

After putting the coins he had poured out to count back into the pouch, Chuan Wenwu rose from his chair, straightened up, and stretched comfortably.

I'm getting sleepy. Better turn in early.

He casually extinguished the magical oil lamp hanging on the wall, then sat on the edge of the bed and lay back, pulling the rather stiff blanket over his belly.

"Big Yellow, I'll leave the night watch to you. I'm going to sleep..."

Chuan Wenwu merely mumbled those instructions to Bruce before drowsiness overtook him, and he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Meanwhile, Bruce wandered around the room twice, then found a suitable corner and curled up for a nap...

Deep into the quiet night, at an uncertain hour, the groggy Chuan Wenwu seemed to hear a jumble of curses.

"...Get lost! Get away, you damn dog!"

"Woof! Woof, woof, woof, woof!"

"You want to die?!"

"Grr..."

It sounded like a woman's voice and Bruce's low growls.

Chuan Wenwu snapped awake, immediately rolled out of bed, and stared fixedly toward the commotion. His door was open, and for some reason Myne was in his room, holding the money pouch he had left on the desk. Bruce stood facing her down.

There really was something wrong with this woman!

Chuan Wenwu charged straight over, swinging the shield on his arm in a wide arc into the back of Myne's head. Although it did not inflict any damage, it still made her stagger.

"Damn it, you woke him up!" Myne flew into a rage. Her formerly gentle, sunny demeanor seemed to have shattered completely, replaced by the expression of someone who no longer cared about keeping up appearances.

Taking advantage of her stunned hesitation, Chuan Wenwu rushed in without hesitation and drove a heavy elbow into her from behind, knocking her off balance and onto the floor.

Seizing his chance, Chuan Wenwu pressed in, pinned her thigh beneath his knee, and twisted both her arms behind her back. He locked them in place with one hand while pressing her head down with the other, holding her firmly against the floor so she could not move.

"Talk! Why did you sneak into my room? What are you trying to do? Who sent you?" he demanded harshly.

But Myne ignored him completely. She shot him a resentful glare, then stared fixedly at Bruce, who was barking at her nearby.

If it weren't for that damn dog, I'd have succeeded already. That shield was sleeping like a dead pig...

The more Myne thought about it, the angrier she became. She wanted nothing more than to slaughter that damn dog to vent her fury.

"Speak!"

Chuan Wenwu's thunderous demand exploded beside her ear. Thinking of how she was being pinned down, she felt as though she was about to burst with rage!

Myne unleashed a torrent of curses. "Damn you! You bastard! How dare you treat me like this! Do you have any idea who I am?! I'll make you die a horrible death!"

"I don't care who you are. You snuck up beside me, a hero, with malicious intentions... Talk! What are you trying to do?"

"Woof, woof!"

Neither the man nor the dog took her seriously at all. Burning with rage, Myne began muttering, "As the source of power, I hereby command..."

"What the hell are you babbling about?!"

Chuan Wenwu's heart lurched, and a terrible premonition rose within him. He immediately moved to stop Myne from chanting any further, grabbing her long hair and slamming her head toward the floor, trying to smash her chin against it and keep her from speaking. But he had still underestimated how quickly a mage could chant.

By the time he heard her and reacted, Myne had already finished the last few words of her incantation. "...Flame Burst!"

A dazzling crimson light materialized before her, quickly gathering into a fireball that shot straight toward Bruce, who had ruined her plans. If it hit him, Bruce would probably end up not merely a dead dog, but a roasted hot dog.

"Fuck you!"

Furious, Chuan Wenwu slammed her head into the floor, leaving the vicious woman bloodied. Then he immediately bent forward and stretched his arm out as far as he could, striking the fireball like a tennis ball to knock it off in another direction.

Boom-!

The fireball struck the room's wall and instantly exploded, its roar splitting the night sky.