On the next day, Ronny kept an eye on the spot of the wall that he could escape to wilderness from. It was mostly untended to—with its only visits coming from the boss and a few others of similar status. Climbing over it without anyone noticing would have been easy.

He, of course, didn’t plan to, but kept the option in the back of his head nonetheless. As always, work was good, but progress was slowing. He only earned 82 silver before calling it quits for the day. It was a good sum of money, no doubt, but only a small improvement over the previous day. His stats weren’t going up as fast anymore either, but that was only natural. After all, he was still only ‘level one’.

Ronny’s progress up to then was mostly just from getting into shape—a process enhanced greatly by The System. From now on, it was still technically possible to progress with just training, but it would be an inefficient method. He’d learn how to level up the proper way sooner than later though.

He arrived to the Inn early, and found Alice in the lobby talking to someone he hadn’t seen before. It was the first time he’d witnessed anyone other than Alice and himself visit the Inn.

The visitor turned to face Ronny, “Who’s this?” His voice was harsh and almost carried a threatening tone.

Ronny took a seat in one of Inn’s newly acquired chairs and leaned into it, “I’m Ronny McKitty, a resident here. How about you?”

The visitor was an elf—as indicated by his pointy ears and slender frame—and probably about thirteen if I had to guess, “None of your business, Mister.” He was dressed in clean, neat clothes and had an angry face.

Ronny smiled, more amused than anything, “That so? Well maybe you can at the very least tell me why you’re here today?”

The boy examined Ronny and scoffed. For whatever reason, the boy wasn’t interesting in talking to him. After some silence, Alice was the one to answer, “His name is Theodemir and he’s going to be staying with us at least until the war ends. He doesn’t have anywhere else to go, so its not like I can just turn him away.”

“Got it. I’m not sure how that factors into our rationing, but we’ll make it work.” He got up and reached for a handshake while trying to look as friendly as possible, “Good to meet you, Theo.” The boy spat on Ronny’s shoe in response. Somewhat frustrated, Ronny sat back down in his chair and took a deep breath in.

Alice also had a disappointed look, “I’ll just say that he doesn’t really trust adult men. Family reasons.”

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“Awesome.”

The three of them walked into the kitchen and sat down for dinner. Ronny, in an attempt to be festive, pulled out some cheese and apples he’d gotten a few days before in addition to the usual bread. In his suspended malnourishment, Ronny’s mouth couldn’t help but water at the sight of the feast. He put the foods out on a tray and brought it to the table, humming a little as he walked.

Ronny and Alice started eating right away, enjoying the novel flavors of fruit and dairy, but Theo was less impressed. He stared at the food without interest.

“Theo, you’ve got to eat!” Alice pushed the plate closer to him, “We don’t eat this well very often.”

In response, Theo sighed, “You call this ‘eating well’? I thought you were from the Grivelspyre family. Guess I should have known you really were just a commoner.” He pushed the plate back to her.

Ronny interjected before Alice could respond, “Kid, I don’t know where you’re from, but you shouldn’t say things like that. I don’t know how you know Alice, but the fact is that she’s giving you a place to stay. At least pretend to be thankful.”

“It’s okay Ronny. Theo just isn’t used to this lifestyle. He didn’t mean it.”

The boy’s reddened face and clenched jaw suggested otherwise, but probably just to appease the others, he took a slice of cheese from the plate. “Rancid…” he murmured.

Alice chuckled to herself and continued with the meal. She kept her eyes down on the platter, probably hoping Ronny wouldn’t bring up the ‘Grivelspyre’ thing. By now, surely even he knew that the country’s royal family shared the same name—and with the knowledge that she used to be part of it, his opinion of her might change. He didn’t bring it up at all though. He decided she could tell him on her own time.

After another minute of silence, Ronny couldn’t bare the awkwardness anymore, “So, Theodemir, you’re used to eating nicer meals than this?”

Theo responded in a boasting tone, “Much nicer. I have steak, wine, or even monster-meat on a daily basis.” He added, “Not that you would know anything about that.”

“I suppose not.” Ronny looked amused. When he was alive, he’d had the money to buy things like Wagyu Beef and Truffles whenever he wanted them. The kid’s bragging fell flat on him. “Are you from a noble family or something like that then?”

Thanks to his familial pride, Theo was more apt to talk about it now, “I’m a member of the Thelza Family! That’s as noble as it gets!”

That really was pretty noble. Ronny was familiar with the name because he’d seen some brick-and-mortar stores bearing the same name in the trade market. Their shops specialized in extremely expensive goods like magical scrolls and enchanted artifacts—and prices at those places often reached into the ‘platinum’ territory. One platinum coin was equal to 100 gold ones, so that was saying quite a lot.

“I see. Then why are you somewhere like this?”

The boy’s confident persona quelled instantly, and he returned to the accusatory tone he’d had earlier, “That’s none of your business, Mister.”

Ronny exhaled forcefully, “Whatever you say kid. I won’t pry.” He got up and pushed his chair into the table, “I’ll let you eat in peace.”

Ronny left the room and went to bed unsure of what to think of the Inn’s newest resident.