When Markus arrived back at the room he was careful not to open the door while other guest where nearby. Once he was sure the area was clear the door is quickly opened, then shut tight, behind him. There's a sense of relief before Markus walks over to his fae companions sitting on the dresser, dropping off the food plate near them. He grabs a muffin and walks over to the window while the girls start picking at the fruits and bread on the plate.
The fae spend their time conversing between each other while eating. Markus meanwhile is looking outside the window to see if anything interesting can be seen as he eats. Soon, he spots an older gentleman walking below on the cobble streets. It's his outfit that catches the eyes of Markus. The old gentleman is wearing an old Victorian style suit, but on his wist hangs a sheathed sword. A rapier or fencing sword.
Markus finishes his muffin before walking over to the corner where his hammer weapon and hunting knife sit. He grabs them and equips them on his belt the way he had them last night. Now, he was confident the weapons wouldn't stand out. Walking back to the window, he watches people go by again. Markus is looking for advantages, anything he can copy to better blend into the world.
After a short while, Markus spots a young boy pulling out his wallet to pay a woman for something. The wallet looks leather made, but no paper money is pulled out, only coins. The young boy is given a receipt by the woman, which he places inside the wallet. A similar transaction takes place with a courier dropping off a package at a store down the street.
Turning around towards the bed, Markus grabs his wallet and pulls out all the paper money. He then says “Forty-four dollars... maybe I'm rich in this world.” The money is tossed aside, along with the plastic cards and identification inside the wallet. Everything is taken out until the wallet is empty.
The money pouch from the dead man is grabbed next and emptied onto the bed. Coins spill out with clinking sounds. Markus digs through the pile with curiosity, seeing unexpected numbers and symbols. On the copper and silver looking coins, one side is dedicated to the symbols of the Kingdom of Ronoa. Crowns, a coat of arms, the face of a king, and Latin markings. However, on the other side, Markus sees large English numbers such as 100, 20, or 10.
“Hey Aurora and Eclair. Come over here for a second.” Markus calls out to the fae. They were done eating, and just now finished dressing. All their armor was equipped and their drawers were neatly organized. They fly over to him to see what he needs.
Markus happens to notice their weapons are missing and says “No weapons?”
“With our bags. No reason to have them while in town. Besides, my spear got me stopped all the time in the past.” Aurora remarks, then says “So, what is it?”
Markus points to the coins laying on the bed. He's flipped them all so their English numbers show. He asks “How much money do we have here?”
Aurora and Eclair start adding the numbers, and they both nearly speak at the same time saying “two hundred ten dollars.”
There's a confused look on the face of Markus. After a moment he says “Okay... I counted the same number too. But why did you say dollars?”
“Because Ronoa uses dollars as the local currency. I believe they got that from your country.” Aurora replies back, but then her eyes light up when she sees the bills on the bed. “Oh wow! Is that money from your world?”
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
“Really!?” Eclair excitedly replies. Both girls quickly land beside the bills and spread them out to examine them closely.
“This is amazing. I've never seen the paper money before.” Aurora says with a happy tone. “I'll give you a quick money lesson I learned from a merchant a few years back. Hundreds of years ago, countries from Noverra started adopting currency and economics from the countries they connect with from Earth. Ronoa specifically adopted the dollar.”
“Ha, of course.” Markus interjects. “Makes things easier for me at least.”
Aurora continues by saying “That's not everything. When paper money became prevalent in your country, Ronoa wanted to copy it too. Unfortunately, they ran into major issues with counterfeiting. They tried for decades to counter it, but ended up going with coinage using the paper money values instead.”
Thinking to herself, Aurora then remembers some more information. She says “Our world also has a major nation called Roma. They're to the far east, but their language, culture, religion, and more has been around since ancient times. Anyway, their money is basically accepted all over the world too.”
“Oh my god... It all makes sense now. Ancient Rome made it to this world too, but they actually survived here.” Markus says with amazement. Rubbing his chin while thinking, he feels growing stubble. He ignores it when an idea comes and he says “I've come to understand the humans of this world work in three ways.”
Using a hand, Markus talks while counting off “One, they will outright copy anything from my world. Two, if they can't outright copy it, then they will bastardize it to work. And three, if they can't do the first two options, then they simply record all the information. I'm almost certain all the governments of your world filter or choose what information releases to the masses.”
“Well... that makes sense. We fae have taken our time to adapt to human methods because our size limits us.” Eclair says while rubbing her hands over the paper bills. “But the humans here, I think it's turned into an obsession to follow your world no matter what.”
“Maybe...” Markus replies with a sigh. “But it doesn't matter to me. Let me hide all of this stuff then we can head outside.”
The fae leave the bed and fly back to the dresser as they wait for Markus to hurriedly put away all the items on the bed. The backpack is loaded again with almost everything it had before, plus the items from the pant pockets. The books and journal are placed on the nightstand. The wool beanie, gloves, ornate dagger, and locket are placed in a bottom drawer. Markus grabs the folded rifle and wraps it again in the blue cape, putting it under the bed with the backpack.
The empty wallet is grabbed as Markus stuffs it with old receipts. Some Ronoa coins are also placed inside, with the remaining coins put back into the money pouch. Both the wallet and pouch go into a front pant pocket. Satisfied he's hidden or blended items into the room, Markus motions to the girls to get ready to leave.
When ready, the entire group moves out of the inn room together. Markus locks the door, but keeps turning the knob to make sure it's actually locked tight. Tearing himself away from the door, the group heads down to the stairs to the lobby.
In the lobby, Phil is having a conversation with a young lady at his counter. The young lady has a small boy grabbed by the hand as she talks. Phil sees the group heading out, and provides a smile as they leave.
Outside, the sounds of Montillo come alive. People are talking, horses walk by, and in the distance the sound of a train whistle can be heard. Markus moves to the side wall with the fae. He says to them “Okay, here is the plan. First thing to do is keep the promise for Eclair. Me and her will find police or whoever to tell them about the poor guy in the forest. In the meantime, Aurora, can you look for some things for me?”
Aurora nods in agreement, then asks “What do you need?”
“See if you can find a weapon shop or something. Maybe we can sell some of the stuff we found, like this hammer.” Markus says while pointing. “A book store or somewhere that sells maps would be good too. Oh, and be on the look out for the bat-woman named Versa.”
“What do you mean? Why keep an eye out?” Aurora says puzzled.
“Because I've realized she is the only person in this town that knows about me. I know Little Creek knows about me too, but I trust Jonathan won't let people talk until I'm far away.” Markus replies back.
“I see. I've never met her, but I do have an idea of how she looks. Beastial bats are also rare around here too.” Aurora says back while lifting higher into the air. She then says “I'll find you both when I finish.” Aurora then taps the enchanted ring on her finger, which causes the magical tether to appear.
Markus looks down at his own ring, and slowly, the magical guide is gone. He looks up, but sees Aurora already flying above the rooftops. Turning to Eclair, he says “Alright, we can do our part.”