Luna had been wandering past a few blocks before she headed back to Pearlsmore Inn for a meal. Few heads were having their meals at the tavern, no more than ten in total.

A group of adventurers were seated at the middle - three humans, and an elf. They chatted merrily about the quest they had just completed, killing monsters in the northern forest. On another table was a group of traveling merchants, chugging down the beer and munching on smoked meats.

Luna took a seat on the corner. The waitress rushed to the kitchen with a handful of plates before rushing to wait at her table.

Another man stood behind the bar, keeping his hands busy with the barrels of beers stacked on the floor. He smiled at Luna and lifted the empty mug, signaling if she wanted a drink.  She flashed a friendly smile and shook her head. The man frowned playfully and head to the kitchen.

Her lips curved upwards, amused by the man and the sight of the waitress heading towards her with a plate of lamb stew and a glass of Muggleberry juice. Regenerate your stamina and give you beautiful skins too, the waitress suggested.

She was not in need to restore her stamina. Luna had been observing her health and stamina bar all night long. To her delight, her health and stamina bar regenerated at 1 point per minute. As long as she was not performing heavy task such as fighting, walking wouldn’t cost her any stamina point. Her health too, after she was heavily wounded during the fight in the forest, had made their way to recovery. What amazed her was the treatment she received from Lady Rethe. With a bottle of healing potion, her wounds were mended, leaving behind only scars.

The scars were still ugly to her sight, but it was far more acceptable than seeing open wounds that usually took week to recover. In a world where magical things happened, Luna was confident about finding a potion that can heal scars too.

Still, her curiosity about mana remained. How to activate mana and how to learn the magical abilities had been lingering on her mind for some time. Luna was interested in spells and sorcery. The probability of using magic to sweep the floor or wash the dishes excited her. She was the laziest lady on earth – according to her mother, and that was probably the only thing she agreed with her mother.

Luna tried purchasing sorcery book from Summoning Scroll, a bookstore specializing in spells and sorceries, but was stopped by Elric Butterbuff, the bluffing Wizard when she failed to show her practicing license from any of the approved guilds in the continence.

It turned out that certain items had restrictions on them. She couldn't just simply buy anything from the merchants. Another option was to buy from the black market, a place where almost everything were available as long as one was willing to pay the price.

Luna enjoyed her hot meal, although the taste was not comparable to those she had eaten before. Though to her surprise, the Muggleberry juice tasted really good and her skins felt suppler and her scars recovered a bit.

Bit by bit, she tore off the bread and dunked them in the stew. In her head, she made a long list of survival plans in the coming days.

‘Now, I have one more problem. Money.’

Luna overheard the discussion of the group of adventurers next to her - about going to the adventurer’s guild to pick up quest and the generous payment they received. Hence, she made up her mind. She will make a visit to the adventurer’s guild to check on the requirement needed to become a member. She frowned when she heard them comparing their level and skills, hers were unworthy to mention about.

‘Go to the forest, kill monsters, loot, and level up? Why are these people so keen on dying so fast?’

Luna shook her head, disapproving their argument.

When she was done with her meal, Luna called the waitress and asked for a bill.

“One silver coin,” She said.

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Luna took out her pouch and stared at the gold coin. The waitress, who had been waiting at her to pass the gold, stood there for a minute before she lost her patience, “Staring at the gold coin pitifully won’t give you a free meal. Your pouch looks pretty heavy. Quite a bit of gold you have in there. Now, you’re paying or not?”

Luna smiled sheepishly at her, “Is one gold coin enough?”

“Lady! You can eat ten serving of meat stew with that coin!” Liliath, the waitress – which she learned her name after getting scolded over and over again for calling her ‘hey’ – Shook her head, realizing the human in front of her didn’t know anything about coins or sort.

“You’re not from around here, are you?” Liliath asked.

“Yes, a traveler from a far, far away land.” Luna answered.

“No wonder, your face said it all. Now don’t go around looking like that, or you might get your coins cheated. This might be a safe town, but one or two greedy merchants are out there, finding every chance to rob you of your golds.”

“You seems to know a lot.”

“The perks of working around drunk travelers, can't help listening to all those gossips,” Liliath winked, "and tons of secrets too."

“Well, if it’s not a bother to you, would you mind explaining to me a thing or two about this place?” Luna asked.

“Sure, if its within my knowledge,” Said Liliath. She pulled a chair and sat down.

“Well, as you know, I come from a far, far away land. I don’t really understand how money works around here. I have some gold, but I don’t know their value.” Luna played with the gold coin in her palm.

“One gold coin is equal to 10 silver coin or 100 copper coin, while one silver is equal to ten copper coin. Its basic. You ought to know this."

“A plate of bread and meat stew worth one silver coin. The baker next door is selling a loaf of bread for four copper. A single meat bun is worth one copper coin.” Luna paused for a while, “How much can I earn if I work as a waitress or maid?”

“It usually ranged from eight to fifteen gold coins for one lunar.”

“Huh?? One lunar??”

Liliath sighed and continued explaining, “One lunar is the period from one full moon to another. It's around twenty-nine nights.”

“A month! I see. So that’s how it is…”

Thinking about the monster core she picked up previously, Luna took it out and showed it to Liliath, “What about this? Does it have any value?”

“This is low-level monster core. It worth five silver coins. You can exchange this core at the Treasurer Guild for coins. Some merchants do accept this, though their exchange value is much lower. Only the Treasurer Guild willing to pay at its face value.” She picked up the core and study it for a while.

“Is there any Treasurer Guild in town?”

“Ah, yes. Nearby the temple, the one at the corner end of the building. It’s just next door to the Blackguard Adventurer’s Guild.”

“Blackguard Adventurer’s Guild? That is where I go to pick up a quest, right?” Half relieved now that some of her worries were answered, Luna started calculating how much money she had left as she planned her daily expenses.

‘I have twenty four gold coins, plus these monster core. I can last here for few weeks. But I need to find a way to earn a living.'

“What is this Kingdom called?”

“This is the Kingdom of Moros.” Liliath stared at Luna with her bulging eyes. Her mouth slightly dropped in disbelief. Her face said it all, she couldn’t believe what a clueless girl Luna was that she couldn’t even tell where she was.

“Well, one last question. Who is the Queen of Rheathea?”

Bang!

Liliath dropped the mug of beer in her hand.

“Shhhh… That’s not a name you can say casually. If she hears you…” Liliath made a throat-slitting gesture as her wild eyes scanned all over the room to ensure no one heard the name.

‘Chopped off my head? Been there, done that.’

"Ahh… I see. Thank you for the warning,” Pitying herself on the near-death experience she had a day ago, Luna sighed. “I think that’s all for now. Can I find you back anytime?”

“Consider me a friend.” Liliath took the piece of gold from her, coming back later with nine silver coin.

***

A little girl sat and sobbed under the oak tree, holding a basket full of fish.

“Hello, little girl. Are you alright?” Luna asked the little girl.

She sobbed and answered, “I lost my cat..”

“Don’t be sad, maybe he just went out for a walk.”

“It’s a she.”

“Right, maybe she just went out for a walk,” Luna repeated.

“Poor baby cat waiting for Mama to come home,” She sobbed again, clear fluid ran down from her nose. “Will you help me to find Ginger?”

New Quest

The Missing Pet

* Ginger the tabby cat had not come home for days. Find out where Ginger is and bring her home.

Accept or reject?

“Of course, I will find her.”

“Ginger is a tabby cat, she had two arms and two legs. She treasured her whiskers as much as her nine lives, and oh-“ She added, “She will trade anything for Friskie fish.”

Luna frowned at the details, there was no lack of ginger cats in the town. She must had passed dozens of them since she reached the town.

“Ginger, is it? Alright. Where she usually hang out?”

“Sleethallow Bridge where she usually basked under the sun, or at the Jolly Fish, the fishmonger at 4th Land, Grog Road. If you found her, take her back to Witching Flours. My family’s bakery.”

With a new quest in hand, Luna headed to the Jolly Fish.

‘Just looking for a missing cat, how hard can it be?’