The night went without an incidence and contrary to Kiyu's original assumptions, the two had tried nothing stupid towards her or Laki. This at least gave Kiyu hope that there was still something in them, even if it was only respect for the stronger ones.

Breakfast turned out meager for the two girls with some bread, considering that Jorgas and Durgo enjoyed delicious meat. But still it was their property, and the last thing Kiyu wanted was to become a thief like them.

"We'll reach Jarifa around early afternoon," Jorgas said as he put out the campfire and packed up their belongings to put everything on the cart. "That's where we part ways."

"Is Jarifa big?" Laki wanted to know. This information was also quite interesting for Kiyu, and she waited for the answer.

"Several thousand citizens live in Jarifa," Jorgas replied. "There is not much left of the former village you perhaps heard of. It's a city now."

Both Laki and Kiyu stood open-mouthed when they heard the answer. That was the last thing Kiyu had expected. But it would mean more protection and more opportunities for the two of them. There was more wealth and prosperity in a city than in a simple village.

"We'll drop you off just before that." he continued to explain. "Our kind is less welcome there."

"No wonder," she said with derision without paying attention to how the others took it.

And although she could have imagined better traveling companions, she was still glad for the distraction. Laki was, as often with new things, captivated by her curiosity for Jarifa, and Kiyu was far too preoccupied with her dislike of bandits, so neither of them had the chance to focus on past events.

'A small consolation, but one,' she reassured herself in her thoughts.

So it was time to think about how they should proceed in the city. The most important thing was to get some money as soon as possible, so they could support themselves for a while.

But how should they get money at all? Apart from their clothes, the two had nothing of value with them. For a moment, she even thought about making money somehow with her powers, but she had rejected the thought.

She was a quick learner and didn't stop practicing her skill throughout the trip in secret. But fighting against more experienced fighters was something she would fail at. If they weren't weaklings like her two companions, only drunks would be workable opponents.

Of course, she could have just asked them for some seed money, but that was beneath Kiyu's dignity. No! She had to and would come up with something else in order to earn some money, of that she was sure.

"What were you looking for in Harios?" she asked, to the surprise of the others. So far they had never come to the topic to speak, and Kiyu wondered what some outsiders planned to do there.

"Well," Jorgas opened," I guess something similar to what you guys were doing: seeing what to get here after the fire."

"We saw the smoke from a distance and knew there had to be a village or something like that burning somewhere," Durgo continued. "So we looked to see if we could get some easy money."

'Of course... what else.' Kiyu thought to herself, calling herself a fool for having to ask extra, even though she could have figured it out without asking.

"And what are you going to do now?" she continued.

After all, the two of them had as much luck as Laki and Kiyu, which was like none.

"Oh, who knows." Interjected Jorgas in time after he notice Durgo seemed displeased at the question.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

"We'll find something here or there."

'Argh! It's no good like this. They're not much help to us.' Kiyu had hoped to learn how the two would now make money after their unsuccessful foray.

Depending on what it would have been, they might have been able to pull off something similar in the city. But everything just lined up against them.

'I guess we'll have to move forward without collateral,' she gave up.

"It's over there! I can see it!" Laki jumped up and walked all the way to the front of the cart.

"Yes, that's Jarifa. The city...." Jorgas was about to explain, but got interrupted.

"The city of lord Xianzhu, the Savior." Kiyu interrupted him, having also glanced ahead, albeit with an improved view.

"Uh, yeah? How do you know that?" wondered Jorgas.

Kiyu raised her arm and pointed her index finger in the town's direction.

"It's right there on the entrance sign, just above the gate."

If they couldn't help her, she'd just have her fun with them and pretend it was normal for anyone to read signs from this far after all.

"Right, Laki?" she added afterwards, glancing in her direction.

"Huh? Oh, yeah! Says so on the sign."Laki confirmed.

"Says so on the sign." repeated Durgo, absent first.

"ARE YOU GUYS KIDDING US? We're still about a mile from the town here!"

"Hmph." Kiyu wrinkled her nose, shrugging her shoulders as if she didn't see the problem with that.

"Who is this Xianzhu anyway?", Kiyu now asked more seriously again.

The last time they had heard of the village was a year or two ago, but so much had changed that she knew nothing about the city or this Xianzhu.

On the one hand, she didn't like the idea of entering a foreign city with no information, but on the other hand, she would encounter that more often in the future on her journey.

"Well. As the sign correctly says, Xianzhu is the lord of the city. He bought it out and has ruled it ever since," Jorgas explained to them.

"He lets it go to waste, you mean!" shouted Durgo just to the back, but without turning around.

It didn't seem, however, that Jorgas felt the need to tell much more about the town.

"No matter what you do, do nothing to snub Xianzhu or his subordinates. We've never been to the city because of our background, but we've heard that he's a very.... strict ruler," Jorgas concluded his explanation.

"Sounds like a pleasant contemporary," Kiyu scoffed after hearing Jorgas's prissy description.

But most of all, it meant to her that while they were safe from raids in the city; they were not safe from the dangers of the city itself. But that problem shouldn't be weighing them down just yet.

The rest of the route was unspectacular. That they had encountered no merchants or travelers in their direction had surprised no one. Harios was rather uninteresting for most of them.

In front of the gates, however, they could see some merchants with their wagons. One by one, they went into the checking progress made by the city guards and all goods needed to be shown for security reasons.

'Well, this will be great,' thought Kiyu annoyed, who already saw herself standing at the end of the queue.

But on closer inspection, she noticed that simpler travelers without wagon loads were being checked in a second line. This queue turned out to be much shorter and they would be in town faster.

"Well then," Jorgas said after they had come to a sudden stop. "This is where we part ways."

They had come to a halt a few minutes' walk from the gates of the town. "Take care of yourselves and be well," Jorgas bid them both goodbye with a smile.

"Yeah, take care, too," Laki replied, also smiling.

'Urgh. How can she make friends with these people?' For Kiyu, it was just incomprehensible. No matter how friendly they had been.... their first encounter was anything but friendly.

'At least I don't have to see them again,' she thought to herself, trying to look on the bright side.

She allowed herself to be tempted by Laki to wave, while the two of them continued on with their cart, past Jarifa.

"Did you at least take something?" she asked Laki, still waving, without making a face.

"But of course." replied Laki, as if this question had been unnecessary. From under her shirt, she pulled out a small silver coin and showed it to Kiyu.

"Hey that's amazing! So they weren't blank after all!" she gasped when she saw the silver coin in Laki's hand.

As quickly as she had brought out the coin, Laki hid it under her shirt again.

We need a bag or something similar,' Kiyu thought. After all, Laki couldn't keep hiding all of their possessions under her shirt. Although the idea was a kind of funny.

Somewhat exhilarated, they walked towards the gate of the walled city and joined the queue.

"Haaaalt! The entrance to Jarifa costs 1 iron coin and 9 copper coins per person!" one guard yelled at them as they were about to pass.

"That much?!" Kiyu would not believe her ears. For two people, that meant 3 iron coins and 8 copper coins. That was almost half of their fortune.

The rate was simple. 10 copper coins was one iron coin. 10 iron coins were one silver coin, and 10 silver coins were one gold coin. Beyond that, there was platinum, but she had never seen that in her life, anyway.

They owned 10 iron coins through their silver coin, so to speak. Of these, they now lost almost 4 iron coins just by entering the city.

"Is everything so expensive here?" Kiyu wondered and feared the worst.