"Given the plans you have in this city, I guess you won't be accompanying me anymore, right?" said Zeph after a moment.

He was right, though I hadn't expected him to breach the subject right away.

“Indeed,” I confirmed.

His offer was to help him travel until Caldris, and it may have been better to keep up appearances until then, but it wasn't necessary anymore.

“Therefore, I was wondering how to deal with the Heavenshard. Can I take it you don’t have any plans for it?” He asked.

“You’re right.” I had been too busy to think about that thing.

“I thought so.” He then paused for a moment, before saying, “I’ll be frank. It's extremely useful to me, so I thought a lot about what to give you as compensation for your share of it.”

And that’s why you left it with me, instead of keeping it on your fake body.

Now I understood what that “just in case” meant when he left the coin with me.

It was also a good incentive to come back to the city, besides his concern for our wellbeing.

“I won’t be able to offer as much as it’s worth in my country, but I also have something priceless on this continent.”

He took out two leather pouches. They looked quite plain and didn’t seem too special at first.

“These are dimensional bags. They’re not as good as my ring, and they can’t stop the time for the items, but they have expanded space inside. You can also use them without a Class since you can just put your hand inside to search for your item,” he said, opening one and putting his whole harm inside.

Okay, that’s pretty special. Looks be damned. The dude was a walking treasure trove.

“I’ll also add a hundred golds for you and Freya each. The money is inside,” he said, putting the two bags on the table for us.

I reached for a bag, followed, hesitantly, by Freya. She was only there for moral support during our journey, but since she was there with us, and she got to share the danger, I didn’t mind her getting her share. And moral support was pretty important, anyway; having only moody Zeph around would have been tough.

“You came prepared,” I said absentmindedly, as I opened the latch that held it close.

The interior looked really strange. It was dark, and I couldn’t see the leather inside. There was a bag that was slowly floating towards me, though.

“It’s annoying when you have to retrieve things, but it's useful, and it's something you can use, unlike the rings,” said Zeph as I was trying to reach the pouch inside. “When you open the bag, they slowly gather at the entrance of the pouch, and you have to shift things away to get what you need. What do you think?”

Does it even need to be said? I thought, looking up after grabbing the coins.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

I took a moment to think, before asking, “Do you think it’s a fair exchange?”

It sounded stupid to ask the one who was paying me, but who else could I ask?

It didn’t seem like a bad offer to me, anyway.

“In the current circumstances, yes. I’m not sure how the churches here deal with the Heavenshards, but even if they get paid as much as the ones in Ademil, I doubt you’ll be able to get the same price by looking around. And it's not something people usually trade around.”

There’s also a good chance things would go poorly if I tried to sell it to the wrong guy.

“The Dimensional Bags, or DBags, as they’re more popularly called, should be quite valuable here. They’re expensive even in my country.”

Well, basically, this is a no risk trade with which I can gain something useful and rare, in exchange for something dangerous and useless.

Was there a need to think more about it?

“Fine. It’s not like I need the disgusting coin. And I already love this DBag.”

He nodded, satisfied.

“By the way, it was pretty light even with the coins inside," I said as I weighed the bag of gold.

“Yes. You won’t feel the weight of the things you put inside. The bag will also look fuller on the outside when you fill it. Nice, right?” he asked with a grin.

“It is,” I admitted. "What do you think, Freya?"

"It's good," she answered.

I spent some time to put random things I found in the room and taking them out. Freya also played with it by taking out and putting the coins back inside a few times.

I guess she really likes it.

“You’re a rich girl now. No more debts!” There was no need for me to pay for her expenses now.

“Yes,” she said, with some hesitation.

It was a bland reply, but maybe she still had to process it.

We then chatted for a while before walking back to my inn to grab the Heavenshard.

I also informed him that Maximus had a ship heading to Caldris. If he found nothing better in the meantime, I could ask him if he had space for him on board.

I left both the coins and the Dimensional Bag with Freya. Until I was sure nothing was going sideways with the church, I didn’t want to keep anything with too much value on me.

In the afternoon, I went to look for armor.

There were many crafters in the city, given its size and relative wealth, but I found out that most of the equipment produced here was of wood or leather.

Rivergate was also the obligatory stop for all the merchants coming from Caldris, which had many blacksmiths, so there was still an abundance of metal armor.

When I tried a few on, I found out that the weight was fine, but it limited some of my movements. They felt too uncomfortable, and I wasn't going into battle with something that didn't convince me.

Opting to get some advice from one of my instructors, I left the market.

I've got an idea on the prices at least, I thought, walking back to our inns.

I also wanted to buy some leather armor for Freya, so that she could have some protection when we went to the forest without Cato and Odwic protection, but likewise, I opted to wait for an expert opinion.

We wouldn't be going out this week anyway, so she could wait.

“See you tomorrow,” I told her as we were about to part ways.

“Silvester,” she said, stopping me.

I looked back and said, “Yes?”

“Shouldn’t you have the coin and the pouch?”

It took me a moment to think about what she meant.

“Oh, you don't think you deserve them?”

“Yes,” she answered. “I did nothing. You should have it.”

“Nah. We’re partners in crime. We have to share. And besides, if I got Zeph right, he did it to be fair and help you out. He’d get pissed if I took it,” I said, waving away her concerns. “Now go back to meditate, read a book, and relax. You should enjoy it when you get a windfall.”

After a moment, she nodded. "Thanks."

“Going now. Bye.”

“Bye.”

I could feel her looking at me as I walked away.

A few months and she’ll be happy to have the money, I thought. She was improving, and once she started being more independent, she was going to be glad to have coins to spend.

Taking a long breath, I looked at the evening sky.

I need to figure out how to level now. I planned to pass the evening studying my notes to understand how I was getting my levels.

There had to be a reason, and I was sure that if I looked hard enough, I could get a clue.

I just needed to find it.