Vincent flustered when he remembered he only had thirty-three copper coins in the small bag. He quickly turned to Ester and whispered in her ear, "I never asked about the value of normal money of this world. Can you pay with this bag of coins?"
Ester nodded after remembering only mentioning hollowed engraved coins. She examined the bag and took out one silver coin. Vincent saw the interaction happening and the forty copper change being placed in her hand. It meant one silver coin was equivalent to hundred copper coins.
Next, Vincent prepared his heart for the following action.
"Show me your hand, my fiancee." Said Vincent while picking the flower engraved ring. Ester was caught by surprise after Vincent lifted her nervously stiff hand placed the ring on her fourth finger. He could barely look directly in her face from nervousness, but from the slight glimpse he got, Ester's face was bright red.
Vincent then picked the fang engraved ring and turned to Lupa. She quickly raised her hand before he could. Lupa was impatient to receive the ring and gaze at her finger.
Lupa knew the ring signified that it makes her his mate. So she couldn't wait. Being the second to receive the ring was also a factor in her eagerness.
Vincent placed the ring on her fourth finger while saying, "Here is yours, my little wolf." He wasn't as embarrassed this time, maybe because he wanted to laugh.
Tula watched Lupa happily recieve the ring on her fourth finger. She could feel a breeze of wind from the excited wagging wolf tail. Lupa was about to make a small dust cloud if she didn't stop soon.
Two girls were happy, but one wasn't. Tula was left out, and her pouting was displaying her unhappiness for all to see. Ben couldn't help but smirk when noticing her childish actions.
"Which hand do you want me to wear your rings?" Asked Vincent.
"Any hand for me. " Ester responded after remembering a certain competitive wolf girl beside her.
"Right! Right!" Lupa insisted.
Vincent smiled while placing the flower engraved ring on his left fourth finger and the fang engraved ring on his right fourth finger. Then he put the number three engraved ring on his left pinky finger. It signified the promise he made to Kazumi about not forgetting about her.
Tula was still expecting the last ring going to her after Vincent, Ester, and Lupa wore theirs. But the last number three carved ring went inside his pocket. The ring wasn't for her, and a frown soon appeared on her face.
"Not fair big brother! I want one too. " Tula grumpily said. She was about to throw a tantrum.
[I wonder what you will do next, hehe.]
Vincent tried to look for an answer as Kazumi seemed to like watching him fluster. A delicately carved wooden hair ornament caught his eye a few seconds later.
"How much is that?" Asked Vincent while pointing at the hair ornament.
"You have a great eye valued customer. I will give you a fifty percent discount and sell it for twenty copper." The trinket merchant became happy that he was about to sell more items.
The recent streak of slow or stale days finally ended, and he decided to give a discount. The passerby gazes made him even happier as a woman stopped to watch their interaction. He might get another customer after Vincent left.
Vincent paid this time as he became more confidant with the money of this world. It felt like an achievement to pay with a currency he never used. This also made him think about the overpriced price of salt in Tival Village.
[1x Small Bag (Multiple Items) (Common Quality) (53x Copper Coins, 34x Silver Coins, 2x Gold Coins, 1x Hollowed Silver Coin.) gained.]
[1x Wooden Ring (Common Quality) gained.]
Vincent stored the bag of coins and the number three carved ring. Then he grabbed the hair ornament.
Tula puffed her cheeks and pouted, "Me next, me next. Big brother. Don't forget me."
"Fine little Tula. Here you go." Vincent casually clipped the head ornament on her hair and then patted her head. Unlike Ester and Lupa, he wasn't nervous or embarrassed. It was like he really treated Tula like a little sister.
Ben stood behind them with a stare locked on the four, unable to say a word from such an event. He didn't think a small stop to a trinket stand would result in such a grand thing.
It was surprising and a thing he never expected of witnessing. It reminded him of how he proposed to his wife multiple times until she accepted.
'My wife played hard to get, but now she can't let me go. Women are strange. I can't understand them. This Vincent seems an expert in handling women. At least Tula is happy, and that's all that matters in my book.' Ben thought.
"Shall we continue? Other customers want to browse the stand's wares." Ben finally decided to encourage them to continue. Many eyes were on them and the trinket stand. Unlike his best friend Koss, Ben wasn't fond of attracting attention.
"Yes. That would be best." Vincent nervously said. His heart couldn't calm down from what just happened. It was now official. Ester and Lupa accepted. They want to be with him even in his current state.
Ben noticed Vincent's blushing face and raised a smirk. "Follow me. I don't think there will be more unexpected stops, haha." Ben continued, teasing Vincent with a wink.
[Haha. This Ben is good.]
Vincent felt more embarrassed after getting double teamed by Kazumi's and Ben's teasing laugh. Vincent tried to count numbers to forget, but the number three always made him think about the three rings on his fingers.
Ben continued onward with Vincent and Ester, too embarrassed to look at one another.
Lupa was wagging her tail and hitting a few people with it, but no one dared to say anything since she was with a vice captain.
Tula happily walked behind Ester while touching her hair ornament with a wide joyous smile. She was delighted to receive a gift and couldn't wait to show it to her mother.
"We are here. " Ben announced after leading them to the lower district city square.
A fountain was the first thing to catch their attention. Not a single speck of dirt could be seen on the ground. Small rectangular stones placed next to each other covered their entire sight.
Vincent felt he was on Earth by such a familiar ground style. Furthermore, the difference between the districts became apparent from low class to high class in a couple of minutes of walking.
Many shops circled the city square, but one building was too eye-catching. The building was the only one made out of stone, and the size was extraordinary.
"That's the guildhall. I need to go there and remove the missing person quests I made. " Ben had noticed how Vincent, Ester, and Lupa stared at the large stone building. He didn't need to point at which building he was referring to because of this.
"Is it easy to apply in the adventurers guild?" Vincent wanted to know if they were in for more unexpected surprises.
"No need to worry. I know the Guild Leader and can book an appointment if you wish. They will inspect your stats and test your abilities if you possess a class. But since you survived Aero Forest, I will ask for the test to be an easy one since the three of you must be strong." Ben wanted to help the three that brought Tula any way he could.
"Then can you apply for three? We don't have a place to stay, so we need an income." Vincent said.
"I can host the three of you for a couple of days. That's the least I can do for bringing Tula back." Ben offered.
"No! Big brother and big sisters will stay and play with me." Tula puffed her cheeks and showed dissatisfaction with the offer. She didn't want to separate from them just yet.
"Then your mother will have to decide. " Ben retorted to her tantrum. Then he continued, "You can wait for me here while I finish. It shouldn't take too long." Ben momentarily left and entered the guildhall.
"Big sister Ester. Big sister Lupa is happy to stay with me. Her tail is funny." Tula didn't know that Lupa was actually looking at her ring the entire time.
"Yes, she is happy. " Ester said while secretly touching hers. She couldn't believe a man wanted her. Being hated so much made Ester think of her appearance negatively. She was never an ugly woman, but pretty instead.
[You're happy too, right?]
-Yes, but I feel nervous looking at Ester and Lupa now. It is similar to the first time I met them. I might die of a heart attack if my heart doesn't calm down.-
[Well. That's to be expected. You proposed to three women on the same day after killing the Demonic Beast and then got us three rings together. I'm proud of you, casanova.]
-...-
When Vincent wanted to hide somewhere from being nervous, he heard a possible couple fighting.
"Let me go! I'm afraid of women like you!" A fat young man shouted. He looked in his teens and wore elegant, high-class-looking clothes.
"Not enough! Stay for a little longer!" A good-looking woman wearing a unique, appealing outfit was acting clingy and didn't seem to want the man to leave.
[Don't tell me there are bed warming services everywhere we go. I don't want to think this world is that horny. Tival Village was full of brothels. I hope there isn't a lot in this district.]
-Well. It doesn't matter to me. I don't need such services.-
[Look at you talking like a pro. Where is the Vincent of a few minutes ago? He was nervous and didn't want to look at Ester or Lupa in the eye.]
-...-
Vincent once again kept silent. He didn't know how to retort or continue the conversation.
The fat man finally pushed the clingy woman as hard as he could, and she almost fell. However, the next part surprised them. The young man ran as if running for his life. Vincent wondered what was happening.
"Isn't it, Tula? How are you? I haven't seen you for weeks. There was a quest to find you, your father, and your uncle. I was worried sick, you know. " A woman said from behind the four.
Vincent, Ester, Lupa, and Tula turned around and noticed a pretty elegant woman with an ample chest and a pair of small pointy ears. Her pointy ears looked like that of an elf, and her long brown braided hair quite fancy.