Meeting up with Cole, the three made their way into the elevator as its jazzy music flowed into their ears.
‘Two weeks, is it enough?’
With the festival coming up in two weeks she would be able to at least make some money from dungeon diving. However, the question that posed in her mind was ‘could she be able to compete against the stronger ones in the tournament?’
Rin didn’t know about the specific details such as the rules and course of action. Or even if there would be level capped sections as the difference between those with their third advancement versus those without, was massive.
‘At least level forty.’
With the only resource at her disposal being time, she wouldn’t waste it.
Ding!
The elevator doors opened to the ground floor, and they headed out into the crowd. But she soon noticed that she was gathering a ton of stares.
Wondering why, she looked down at herself as her smile faded into a frown.
‘Damn this body,’ she sighed.
Currently, she was wearing the blue dress as her cloak had been scorched to a crisp from the fight with the wyrm. And it would've been fine, except that the dress perfectly accentuated how she looked. Maybe it was a testament to the elf’s fashion choices, but Rin wasn’t too fond of the attention.
'First clothes, then dungeons.’
Walking through the crowd, they soon saw the familiar faces of the rest of the party. Both seemed relatively cheerful.
“Hey Jamie, we rich yet?” Merial said.
The man only responded with a grin as he tossed a pouch to each of the party members. Clinking was heard from the pouches as they travelled through the air. And as Rin catched the bag, the noise ended with a resounding clank.
Opening the bag, Rin’s eyes widened in shock.
“Did we really get this much?” she muttered.
Inside, she counted 28 gold coins and 72 silvers which brought her total net worth to—
[Gold Coins – 28]
[Silver Coins – 101]
Looking up from her screen, Rin glanced at the rest of the party and found that they had the exact same reaction as her. Astounded shock.
“What sold for so much?” Merial asked, eyes glued onto the coins.
“It was the Infernal Core,” Jamie replied. “Even though there was a crack in the core. It was valuable enough for a travelling blacksmith to buy.”
“Just don’t go and spend it all in one day,” Alana added sternly. “Cole... Merial...”
Merial released a groan while Cole averted his eyes towards the ground.
“It’s not my fault that the drinks taste sooooo good,” the elf complained.
“And that’s why you're broke.”
Rin watched as the party bickered about their spending habits with a palm at her forehead. Yet, she also found it a little amusing.
“Anyways, it’s almost nightfall. Let’s go grab something for dinner,” Jamie said.
“Yeah, maybe we can go to that restaurant near the ocean,” Alana suggested. “We have plenty to spend right?”
“You mean THE Ocean’s Mistress?!” Merial exclaimed.
Alana simply shrugged seeing the jaw dropped elf.
“Why not? It was our first dungeon together in a little over a year, doesn’t it call for a celebration?” Alana said before turning to Rin. “We even have a new friend with us, you’re coming too right Rin?”
“Friends...” she muttered, tasting the word on her tongue.
It was an unfamiliar concept to her. Especially with the only person she could call a friend in the past being Malkorn. And that, didn’t end too well... Yet being around the party didn’t sound so bad as a small smile replaced the look on her face.
“I’ll come,” Rin replied.
“Alright, it’s settled. We’ll meet at the restaurant in thirty minutes,” Jamie said. “Sound okay?”
Nodding in agreement, the group soon dispersed and went their different ways as Rin stood alone.
‘Thirty minutes,’ she thought.
Not having anything else to do, she thought it would be nice to get some new clothes. Something a little more inconspicuous than the dress.
Checking her map of the city, she quickly found Malkorn’s store and headed out of the auction house. By now, the night was cast over the sky of Rellea and the final rays of the sun were bidding farewell. Replacing its warmth were the streetlights as their glow illuminated the city with white.
Rin set off to her destination as she admired the sight of the city’s night. And just a few minutes later, she found herself in front of a familiar storefront.
‘Malkorn’s Dresser,’ Rin read the sign above the door.
Although she didn’t fully trust the man, his workmanship with clothing was second to none.
Taking a deep breath into her lungs, Rin entered the shop as she recognized the same vanilla scent that lingered through the air. It seemed that their earlier encounter hadn’t changed much, and the man was doing his business as usual.
Walking through the racks and shelves, Rin searched for anything that suited her preference. Which unsurprisingly was plain and simple clothing.
‘Not bad,’ Rin thought.
Finding a white shirt coupled with a pair of black trousers, she picked the two up from the shelf and inspected the outfit. The texture of the fabric was soft as she traced her hand over the neck of the shirt. While it easily expanded and stretched when she pulled on the material. It would be perfect for fighting. As for the pants, it were the same.
‘Probably need more,’ she thought, remembering how easily she had lost her cloak in the dungeon.
Taking a second pair from the shelf, Rin turned to look for something else before she paused with a frown. Glancing back at the clothing she stared at it for another second then grabbed three more pairs.
Her thinking was pretty straight forward. The more clothing she bought now, the less she would have to see the man.
‘Almost done...’
Strolling around the shop, she picked out a couple more sets of clothing, mostly simple black and white with a couple of hooded cloaks.
‘This should be fine,’ she thought, looking down at her arms.
Currently, Rin was holding about twenty different outfits as she made her way to the counter
“Hi, what can I do for you?”
A voice echoed from behind the counter as Rin glanced around the pile of clothing. Thankfully, it wasn’t the person she so feared, instead it was just a bored looking man sitting on a stool. The nametag on his chest read Garmond.
[Warrior – lvl 30]
“Hello, just these please,” Rin said, placing the pile on the countertop.
Looking at the clothing, the cashier got to his feet and sighed.
“Alright... this is quite a lot,” he said. “You sure you have the money?”
“I’m sure.”
Rin placed her hand down on the table for a second before lifting it to reveal a stack of gold coins.
“Five golds should be enough, right?”
Sighing once again, the man began to ring up the order as Rin began to tap her foot in impatience.
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And a few minutes later, the man was done.
“Three golds and 42 silvers,” he said with a yawn. “Do you want a bag?”
“No thanks,” Rin replied.
Preparing the money, she was right about to hand it over, but the man was staring at a piece of paper.
“White hair...” he muttered, his glance shifting over to the girl. “You know him?”
“Who?”
Any trace of his previous boredom had vanished.
“The owner.”
“Malkorn?” Rin asked. “What about him?”
“...It’s nothing to do with him. It’s just that this note says that any white-haired girl that comes in doesn’t have to pay.”
‘Huh...’ Rin thought. ‘Is it another one of his tricks?’
“Welp... boss’s orders,” he said. “Have a nice day.”
Ending off on that note, the man returned to his stool and hunkered down to whatever he was doing earlier. While Rin could only stare at the pile of clothes with narrowed eyes.
She didn’t know whether this was a ploy by the man—hence the suspicion, but there was nothing else to do.
‘I better be going,’ she thought.
It was almost time for her to arrive at the dinner and here she was complaining about a free purchase. Shaking her head, she quickly grabbed the clothes and stored them into her inventory. Not even bothering to swap into the clothing as the dress would suffice for a fancy restaurant.
Glancing back one last time towards the cashier, Rin left the shop and immediately pulled up her map of the city.
‘Next to the ocean...’ Rin thought.
Running her finger over the paper, she quickly located the restaurant and traced the route from her location. It seemed like it would take her a five-minute walk.
Setting off, the tall buildings of the city grew shorter the closer she got to the ocean. She supposed that it was constructed like this so the buildings in the center of the city wouldn’t have their view obstructed.
A greater appreciation was held for the civil engineers and mages that built the city.
Continuing, she noticed that the air had changed considerably as the salty scent of the ocean filled her lungs. And soon, she arrived at a boardwalk that ran across the ocean line. Couples stared up at the sky, hand in hand, as travelers from afar simply enjoyed the view. While lamps fitted with mana stones lined the brick-layered path.
Rin thought it was quite pretty, but her attention turned towards a large building that stood in the distance. From its chimney, smoke billowed from the building and dissipated into the sky. While a delicious aroma overpowered the salty scent.
‘Should be it.’
Walking up to the restaurant, there were a bunch of well-dressed people sitting on the patio. Likewise, there were also a bunch of people standing in a long line from the entrance.
‘Am I early?’ Rin thought.
She was sure at least 40 minutes had passed since the party was at the auction house. Though the party was nowhere in sight.
But her thoughts were soon interrupted as a young-looking waitress approached her.
“Welcome to the Ocean’s Mistress,” she said with a cheerful smile. “Do you have a reservation?”
“Er... not really, I’m just looking for some people,” she replied.
“Hmm, okay,” the waitress murmured, taking a closer look at the girl. “By any chance is your name Rin?”
Hearing her name, she raised a brow but soon nodded in response.
‘Guess they’re already inside.’
“Right this way miss,” she said. “Your friends are waiting.”
As the waitress led the girl into the restaurant, Rin was able to quickly find the party, while those that still were in queue could only look at the sight with either annoyance or a slight contempt.
“Ah, Rin! There you are,” Merial exclaimed.
Looking around, it seemed that the party hadn’t ordered yet and that they were all waiting for her to get started.
“Come sit here,” the elf tapped the chair next to her as Rin obliged.
Sitting down, a menu was placed in front of her while the waitress was to be called back in a couple of minutes.
"Sorry, I’m late,” Rin said. “Had a little something to do.”
“That’s fine. As long as you’re here,” Jamie said with a smile.
Meanwhile, Cole looked to be a little grumpy.
“Can we order yet,” the boy groaned a complaint as Alana let out a light laugh.
“Patience Cole,” Alana soothed the boy. “We have to let Rin see what she wants.”
“That’s right!” Merial said. “Just look at what they have Rin, they have so much here.”
Glancing around the restaurant, Rin looked at all the different plates on other people’s tables. It was true, there was a large variety of colorful dishes while their aroma filled the air with a savory scent.
“She’s not wrong. Anything you want, you can have. Money won’t be an issue,” Jamie added.
‘Guess everything’s free today,’ she thought. ‘It’s too good to be true.’
First the clothes, then the dinner would be completely free of charge. Regardless, she was in a good mood as she brought the menu up to the eyes.
[Ocean’s Mistress – Menu]
Examining the menu, every dish had a picture and a brief description attached to it. And most of the items looked delicious. However, Rin was able to narrow her decision down to three.
[Tidal King’s Feast – 2 G]
A large assortment of seafood
[Sea Sprite Salad – 1 G 90 S]
The finest of vegetation from the sea with added meats (Gluten Free Available)
[Roast Sturgeon – 3 G]
A roast sturgeon, what did you expect?
“I’ll take the salad,” Rin said.
“Anything else?” Jamie asked as Rin shook her head. “Perfect, let’s order now.”
The man quickly called the waitress over as he relayed what everyone wanted.
“Alright, I’ve got everything,” the waitress said. “Any drinks?”
“Oooh! I want ale,” Merial exclaimed.
While Jamie glanced over to Alana, whispering something too quiet to hear before turning back to the waitress.”
“Bourbon for us please.”
“Got it,” the waitress scribbled down a note. “And for the others?”
“I want juice,” Cole said.
“And for you dear,” she said, looking at Rin.
“Is there apple cider available?”
“No sorry, we do however have apple juice,” she replied.
Feeling a little dejected, she wanted to sigh but held it in.
“I’ll just take a water,” she said.
“Alrighty, I’ll be back in just a pinch,” the waitress smiled and headed for the kitchen with their order in hand.
As the waitress disappeared, the party immediately interrupted into conversation. Merial cracked jokes with the boy while Jamie and Alana chattered away. As for Rin, she simply listened to the conversations being held, occasionally quipping in when needed.
Sometime later, the waitress returned with two large trays and began to plate the table. While another waiter came and filled their glasses with the designated liquid.
“Enjoy your meal everyone,” the waitress said before leaving.
Looking at the food, Rin’s mouth watered at the sight.
‘Wow.’
Although what was in front of her paled in comparison to what the greatest chefs in her former world could cook up. This being the first experience with relatively fancy food didn’t disappoint her in the slightest.
“To dungeons, and to a new friend,” Jamie called for a toast, raising his glass.
Clinking their cups together, the party began to feast on their food.
“So why don’t you tell us more about yourself Rin?” Merial looked up from her plate. “We nearly died in a dungeon together. Don’t we deserve a little something?”
The other party members perked up at the question as they were also interested in her past. All of them knew the general information of her just showing up injured. But that didn’t explain anything such as her degree of combat prowess.
Rin took a moment to think about how to reply as she didn’t want to reveal anything about her reincarnation and her past of being above level 500. But she did agree with the elf, she owed them at least a bit of information.
“I don’t think I'm from here,” she said simply.
Merial placed a hand on her forehead and let out an exasperated sigh.
“That’s obvious enough. I want to know where you learned to fight or how you even learned to fight like that,” the elf pressed.
This was a tricky question for her since it was Malkorn who taught her most of what she knew. And he was also in this world which meant that if her answer tipped something off, it could end in unknown consequences.
“I’m not sure... everything before waking up in the ice forest dungeon is hazy,” Rin said. “But I do remember that someone definitely helped me learn how to fight.”
Rin thought it was a sufficient answer. It both revealed a certain amount of information while also creating a bunch of questions that had the illusion of not being able to be answered at the pretense of her amnesia.
Merial flashed a frustrated glare, muttering a quiet curse as she stabbed into her food with her fork.
“Was the person who taught you strong?” Cole piped up.
"What are you talking about. Of course they’re strong, have you seen how she fights?” Merial said, staring daggers at the girl. “You would think the f*cking sword saint taught her.”
“But she’s a mage,” Alana said.
“Exactly!” The elf slammed the table with a fist.
The clamor sent a couple gazes looking their way, but upon seeing that nothing was amiss, the other customers simply went back to eating.
“Sword saint?” Rin asked.
“Hoh, interested?” Jamie said as the girl nodded. “Give me a second.”
Taking his glass, he downed the entire drink and cleared his throat.
“Sword Saint Jason, the first of the house of Aren and the strongest human in history,” Jamie began. “He was rumored to be untouchable. Possessing a blade that could cut anything. Not a single challenger could defeat him. But...”
“He disappeared,” Merial interjected.
“Yes. Three hundred years ago, Aren’s progenitor had disappeared. His death has not been confirmed, but ever since then, the Aren nobility has been in a steady decline.”
“What if he disappeared just to train a certain girl,” The elf narrowed her eyes.
Jamie chuckled, “Could be, but I doubt it. Anyone with the direct guidance of the sword saint would be far stronger than any of us could imagine.”
‘Would this Jason be stronger than me...?’
A sudden feeling of wanting to meet the sword saint sprung into her mind, but someone at his level of strength who wanted to stay hidden would stay hidden. Plus, there was no use as she was but a shadow of her former self.
The party continued to eat their food as they chattered and talked about dungeoneering. While Rin returned to what she was doing earlier, and simply listened. Her social battery not yet on par with the others.
'Might have to come here again,' Rin thought, finishing the final bite of her salad.
She glanced around at the table and saw empty plates along with downed drinks. Alana, Jamie and Merial were all passed out entirely from drinking too much liquor. And as for the boy, he was happily munching away at a piece of fish.
“Hey Cole, I'm going to take a little break. Take care of them okay,” Rin said as the boy nodded.
Excusing herself, she left the table and walked out of the restaurant. Heading towards a bench on the boardwalk that faced the ocean. She gazed up at the night sky, a serene calm filling her being as she bathed in the silver light of the twin moons.
‘One day... we’ll meet again,’ she thought.
It was about time to say farewell to the party. She knew that in the coming weeks she would far surpass their strength. And by default, they would no longer be of any use to her.
Yet they were her friends.
“Friends...”
Her murmurs were drowned out by the crashing waves as the infinite canvas of stars cast shimmering reflections on the tranquil ocean. The feeling—was melancholic.
Thank you...