"From what I can tell, these missions are not currently feasible even if we get into the city." Leina pondered deeply on how to enter the city.
Leina went once again to ask people for money, using various excuses such as forgetting her wallet at home or being robbed on her way there.
Eventually she found someone interested.
"Actually, one of our expedition members was unable to arrive at the last minute, and we require one more person for the expedition. Preferably one that can draw the attention of the monsters while our Stellaris perform his threadweaves. The purpose of this expedition is to cleanse the area around Amania Lake in the eastern part of Luxias Forest due to an increase in the number of monsters. Don't worry, we're not going into the forest; we're going around it. It should last at most 50 days." A man in his forties explained.
"The payment will amount to thirty silver coins." The man assured. "With an initial payment of fifteen silver coins, followed by an additional fifteen silver coins upon successful completion."
'I actually don't know if this is much but it's at least enough for me to enter the city. I just need to convince Igu to do it while I take the money...' Leina thought on how she was going to do this.
"I need to discuss this with my friend."
The man nodded as Leina went back to Igu.
"I found a way to get in the city, but for this you will have to work. You said that you are strong right ? Then go help these people over there, they are willing to pay us enough money for us to enter the city if you help them kill some monsters." She pointed at the direction of the man and his group.
"Hahaha, finally some action ! Sure you can count on me Leina." Igu said with a wide smile as he clenched his fist.
"Also, remember to never talk about our situation." Leina precised again.
The group of two went back to the middle aged man and his group.
As the group prepared to leave, Leina got the bag of money and counted fifteen silver pieces in total.
"Now then, let's see if this new world was worth being transported to." Leina went to the entrance of the city with great expectations.
Two soldiers motioned for Leina to come to a halt.
These guards were wearing what seemed to be chainmail armor that only allowed enough space for their eyes to be visible.
"Entrance fee !" One of the guard shouted.
Leina quietly handed three silver coins to one of the guard and was eventually allowed to enter.
The wall outside the city were really thick, about 40 to 50 steps in width.
What immediately caught Leina's attention was the many lamps illuminating this always night-shrouded city.
"This... is really beautiful."
The magic city seemed to come alive under the enchanting glow of the numerous lamps that adorned its streets. Each lamp, with its soft yet radiant light, cast a mystical aura over the surroundings.
Leina continued to wander through the labyrinthine streets, her eyes never tiring of the captivating beauty that surrounded her. She couldn't help but feel a sense of reverence for this magical city, where darkness and light harmoniously coexisted.
"The priority right now should be to find a place to stay and somewhere to eat but the problem is that I don't know if the 12 silver coins remaining are enough..." Leina thought as she looked around for any inns or restaurants.
She asked various inn, and the prices ranged from 3 silver to 11 silver for 10 days. The expansives one had meals included.
Leina also visited different store of all kind.
"Now I realize that the entrance fee was really expansive."
"Also, are the woman not working in this world ?" Through all the stores Leina went the only women she saw were servants or slaves.
"I'm afraid the mindset of the people here is somewhat traditional, leaning towards favoring men over women. Slavery is quite common from what I've seen too." Leina analyzed the attitude of the resident of this city.
"Alright, let's say I want to live here for a month, I would need 7 silver if I want an inn with meal included for 10 days, but I also need new clothes which are around 25 bronze and from my understanding a hundred bronze is 1 silver and a hundred silver is 1 gold..." Leina did some quick math as she quickly came to an answer.
"At the bare minimum I need 22 silver, and I currently have 12 silver so I'm still 10 silver short."
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"Whatever it is this world or Earth, money is still the problem..." Leina sighed thinking of her situation.
"But that guy from before, he truly is stupid. I didn't even tell him where and when we will meet again and I managed to get money while getting rid of him."
Although Leina and Igu were in the same situation, Leina felt relieved when she left Igu.
'Even though he might have valuable information, the risk of him leaking the secret of our transmigration outweighed the benefits. Now that he is far away, there is little to no chance of getting exposed for the time being. Of course, the best course of action would be if he died during that expedition, keeping the secret until the grave.' Leina thought to herself.
Also now, Leina was free to plan however she liked without having to care for someone else !
But things would only get tougher from now on.
One could imagine the mentality of the people here just by going through the street.
There were no women working !
And the merchant from earlier only restrained himself from harming Leina thanks to Igu.
"I can see that women are not appreciated in this world. Maybe it's only this city ?" Leina asked herself.
If the people of this world had such mentality toward women then what about strangers ?
No matter which world it is, stranger were never welcomed, let alone transmigrator from another world !
"I should gather more informations about this world. I still don't know anything yet !"
After some time a shriek was heard.
"Help !"
Leina turned around in the alley only to witness three men attacking a boy in a dead-end.
"Please, someone help me!" The boy's shriek grew increasingly desperate as he was starting to get beaten up.
"Shut up you kid ! Give me back the things you stole from us." A hoarse voice could be heard from one of the men beating the kid.
None of the passerby dared to step in to help the little boy.
'They're obviously trying to attract attention by attacking someone in this alley off the main road... I see, it's merely an act. But I must say, that boy acts quite well, to even get beaten up until blood flows.' Leina smiled, knowing what was going on.
"I suppose they're trying to draw people in, then rob them." She easily guessed the purpose of this show.
...
A few hours later.
The sky was dark as always.
"With the veil above the city it's hard to know if it is the day or the night... Right now I think it should be night outside. I should hurry." Leina went into an inn she visited before.
"I want a room for 10 days with meals included." Leina asked for a room while dropping 7 silver on the counter.
"Are you alone ?" The man behind the counter asked.
"No, my husband will come in a few days." Leina didn't want to take any risk so she invented a husband just in case.
"Alright, here are the keys, your room is the second one when you go up the stairs. You can decide what you want to eat and whatever you eat in your room or downstairs the next days by filling this paper." The man grabbed the silver coins while giving Leina a paper and a pen.
Leina was really feeling hungry : "Can I eat right now ?"
"Sure, go sit at a table, one of our waitress will come to take what you want to eat."
Leina nodded and went to an empty table and began to fill the paper.
'All I want to do right now is to eat and sleep...'
'But from what I learned, the easiest way to have a steady source of income while elevating my status is to become a Stellaris !'
'Tomorrow I gotta check how I can become one. From my understanding they are the magicians of this world.'
"What do you want to eat ?" The waitress broke Leina's train of thought.
'She is young, maybe 12 or 13...'
"I'm looking for a simple yet filling meal." Leina decided after some thought.
After some time the waitress came back with a plate of what seemed to be meat and some soup with a bread.
The food was nothing peculiar but still filled Leina's empty stomach.
'I expected something more "otherwordly" but I guess that's it.'
After that Leina went straight to her room and went to sleep after getting her clothes off.
'What a tiring day... But I finally get to sleep in a proper bed after a good meal.'
...
The sun was slowly rising from the east.
"Nothing can truly replace a night of sleep." Leina yawned as she woke up.
All the fatigue from yesterday had disappeared.
Leina hastily dressed herself and then requested breakfast from the innkeeper, and a waitress brought it to her room.
It appeared to be rice porridge with eggs served on the side.
'So I currently have 9 days left until I'm thrown out. I need to make at the very least 2 silver coins in the following days otherwise I will have to live on the street. And from what I've seen, if a woman like me is alone on the street it's game over.' Leina reminded herself as she filled her empty stomach.
Leina went back to a store she visited yesterday and bought a black-purple colored robe.
'I now only have 1 silver and 72 bronze, but it was worth it. With such attire it will be easier for me to merge into the city.'
"Now I have to check on that Stellaris thing." Leina headed northwest of the city, where she had previously seen what appeared to be a library.
After wandering down a dimly lit alleyway, she found herself before a building that was neither too big nor too small, with a sign that read 'Library'.
As she entered, a bell ringed.
After a minute, no one came to greet her.
"Hello, is there anyone here ?" Leina asked as her voice echoed through the room.
...
There was no reply.
'This place looks abandoned, but the sign at the entrance stated that it was open.'
The place appeared somewhat worn-out, with spiders reigning as the overlords of the area, their webs strewn about.
'The less the people the better I guess.'
After some time of searching...
'Found it !'
A book named Stellaris and more was quickly found by Leina.
"I should probably take some children's stories. That way, I will learn about how this world works and gain a basic understanding of it. This should also be easy and fast to read." Leina planned carefully.
After that she went to a borrowing desk even though there was nobody to reception her.
There was this message on the desk, 'Because of the lack of customer, this library will shut down in less than year, and all the books will be taken to the inner city thus take anything you want.'
"If the price to borrow these books was too high, I would have simply read most of them here. But since I can borrow them for free, I won't limit myself!" Leina felt glad
The importance of these books to Leina was almost vital. You could ask people for information but there was a limit too it.
"Is it possible to be this ignorant ? Are you sure you are not an alien or something ?"
People would immediatly guess that Leina was not from here or even worse.
You could ask books whatever you wanted, even the most basic thing and it would answer you without any judgment and still be mostly neutral.
As usual, Leina came back to the inn by only taking paths with some light and people around to be safe.
Once in the inn, she requested some tea for about 5 bronze coins as she headed to her room for a reading session!