Crying All the Way to the Bank

On the streets of Orario, Tavian walked through a city that looked as if it had stepped out of the Middle Ages.

"Hello."

"How much is this fruit?"

He stopped at a fruit stall and looked over the display.

He was hungry.

He had just arrived, then immediately gotten into a fight.

By now, his stomach felt completely hollow.

"Twenty valis each."

The fruit seller saw that Tavian wanted to eat and gave him the price.

When Tavian heard the word valis, his expression turned a little awkward.

He did not have any.

"Do you take gold?"

He took out a small pouch and pulled out a piece of gold that was not especially pure.

"Are you here to..."

The fruit seller almost asked whether Tavian had come to mock him.

Then something clicked.

"Newcomer, huh?"

The vendor understood at once.

If this boy lived in Orario, the money in his hand should have been valis.

"Newcomer."

"Pulling out gold at my stall is one thing."

"At another shop, they would skin you alive."

"And do not flash your money."

The fruit seller kindly warned him not to show the pouch around. There were already a few people nearby with less than honest intentions.

"Oh. Thanks."

Tavian knew he had run into a decent person this time.

Even so, he casually dropped the pouch of gold into his pants pocket.

Plenty of eyes on the street followed the spot where that pouch had gone.

The fruit seller noticed it too, but he said nothing.

This was his corner, and he knew how far his responsibility went.

"So."

"How much do you want?"

The vendor looked back at Tavian.

"As much as this gold can buy."

"I'm starving."

Tavian placed the gold in front of him.

"That much?" the fruit seller asked, surprised. "Can you even finish it?"

"Of course I can."

"I followed a wagon all the way to Orario and haven't had a decent meal on the road."

"Then I had barely reached the gate..."

"And I ended up having a quick match with one of the guards there."

"Now my stomach feels like it is about to cave in."

Tavian rubbed his stomach. If he did not eat soon, he felt as if he might run out of fuel right there on the street.

He needed the juice and sugar from the fruit just to get himself moving again.

The fruit seller stared at him.

Damn. A newcomer had just arrived and already fought someone from the Ganesha Familia at the gate.

This rookie was reckless.

Then the vendor noticed that Tavian did not have a speck of dirt on him, much less a wound from a fight.

"Don't tell me you fought a Ganesha Familia member and won," the fruit seller said in surprise.

Tavian nodded.

He had no reason to deny it.

"Actually, it was not much of a match."

"I just knocked him out in one punch."

Yes.

One punch.

The fruit seller felt as if he were dreaming.

A newcomer had arrived and dropped an adventurer with Falna in one hit?

That had to be a joke.

But the boy in front of him did not look as if he were joking. There was not a single injury on him.

A newcomer with no Falna had defeated a veteran with one punch.

It was almost impossible to believe.

Better not think too hard about it.

The fruit seller changed the subject.

"Take what you want."

He handed Tavian a paper bag and let him handle it himself.

If he kept talking to this kid, his entire view of the world might crack.

"Works for me."

Tavian had no objection.

He picked up the paper bag and began filling it with the fruit in front of him.

Naturally, he chose the best pieces.

He ate while he picked.

"Mmm. Not bad. This works."

Once he had almost finished choosing, Tavian asked,

"By the way, boss, do you know where I can find an inn? I need a place to stay."

The fruit seller understood the question.

Newcomers needed lodging.

"Go that way."

He pointed down the street.

"Walk straight and you'll find an inn."

"If you want something nicer, look for an inn run by one of the divine Familias."

"Or go ask at the Guild."

Tavian caught the last part.

"The Guild."

He had never seen an Adventurers Guild in person before.

Even as a transmigrator, he had never actually stepped into anything like one.

It was like the guilds in adventure games. He knew the idea, but seeing the real thing was another matter.

He knew this world.

Facing it as reality was different.

"For a newcomer, going to the Guild is a smart move," the fruit seller said. "Take this street straight for two intersections, turn left and walk a short distance, then turn right and keep going. You will see the Guild from there."

He gave Tavian the directions carefully.

"Thanks."

"Then I'll head out."

Tavian picked up two bags of fruit and walked in the direction the man had pointed.

"Good luck, newcomer."

The fruit seller watched him head toward the Guild.

"Rookies these days..."

"So easy to overcharge."

He looked down at the gold in his hand. It was not especially pure, but it was still mid-grade, and the piece was close to half a pound.

A few pieces of fruit, normally sold one at a time, had just been traded for a sizable chunk of gold.

The fruit seller had made a killing and looked sorry about it.

Still, he had only gouged the price.

In truth, he had not lied.

Tavian had paid too much, and the vendor had inflated the price of the fruit, but the important information he gave was real.

The inn he pointed out was real too.

Compared with the places that existed only to bleed newcomers, that inn had a perfectly decent reputation.

If some fool wandered into a shady place anyway, there was nothing he could do about it.

This was his corner, but he could not watch every street.

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