“So what are we going to do, Sae?” asked the archer, Pireni. “Do we charge in there now, or do we eat first and then wait a while?”

“On one hand, we can finish the job quickly,” replied Sae. “But on the other hand, I’m starving! I don’t think I can hold my shield and sword all that well without something in me first.”

“If you put it like that, then let’s just get it over with. It’s just rats we’re dealing with, they’re not that strong.”

“But what if they are?” asked Sae with a frown. “They could be giant rats, the kinds you find in dungeons alongside other monsters.”

“The rat problem isn’t that bad, stop spreading even more rumors!” shouted Ruba from the back of the bar.

Artyom sat back in his chair and watched the scene straight out of a sitcom unfold. All he needed now was a drink…

“Here’s some sparkle on the house to keep you quiet about anything these three say,” said Ruba, sliding over a mug of a frothy red liquid over to him.

“Oh thanks, but I’m not looking to get drunk this early in the day.”

“Drunk? Ha!” said the bartender with a laugh. “This town hasn’t been around long enough for our brewer to be that high level.”

Artyom made a closer inspection of the beverage and noticed it was the same bright red liquid Sae was drinking when Artyom first entered the inn. The color was almost cartoonishly vivid, and a rush of bubbles rose to the top to create a light frothy cap reminiscent of most freshly poured beers, save for the foam’s light pink color more akin to a peony. No soda back on Earth looked anything like this.

Artyom slowly lifted it to his lips and tasted a sip. His eyes widened.

“So you like it, then!” exclaimed Ruba with a wide grin that showed much of her teeth. “It’s our town’s specialty.”

The drink was in fact soda, but none like Artyom had ever tasted. It held a hint of fermented sourness that paired well with the cherry flavor to make it stand out from the closest beverages to it from Earth. The bubbles were definitely from carbonation, but at a level far greater than any mundane beverage; it was near-overwhelming but didn’t detract from its enjoyability.

It was perfect.

And the best part for him and the adventurers, there was no alcohol, so they could drink as much of it as they wanted to before anything important, if you ignored needing to use the bathroom.

While Artyom pondered the wonder of his drink, the conversation between the adventurers continued.

“Come on Pireni, the soup smells so good! I want to eat some now!” said Sae. “Even having it nearby makes me feel weaker than I would otherwise.”

“You won’t smell any of it while we’re in the basement, you’ll be fine once you’re down there.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“But… need… food-”

“H-how about if we drink some more sparkle first?” asked Skeya.

The other two party members looked over to the redhead and stared at her in silence.

She immediately began to blush, the color of her cheeks slowly growing to match that of her hair, and she looked back into her drink.

“That’s not a bad idea, actually…” said Sae. “It’s really sweet and I feel a lot of my energy back after I drink it, I think one more mug will keep me until we finish the job.”

“Yeah, great idea, Skeya!” exclaimed Pireni while giving her teammate a thumbs up.

Skeya looked back at the two with a smile, but the blush on her cheeks only intensified under the praise.

“One more round of sparkle for us, please!” said Sae, reaching into a small bag on his side.

“On me,” said Artyom. He threw down an unmarked silver coin onto the table in front of him. “And another for me as well.”

The adventuring party turned to look at Artyom, surprised at first but their expressions quickly turning into one of gratitude.

“You didn’t have to do that, you know,” said Pireni. “But thanks.”

“Yeah thanks, I didn’t think we’d get far enough for people to be treating us to drinks so quickly!” added Sae.

Skeya nodded and said, “Thank you, Artyom.”

“Hey don’t mention it, I-” Artyom stopped mid-sentence as he noticed Ruba was looking over the coin with a deep frown. “Is something wrong with that?”

“It’s odd,” said the bartender. “My [Calculate Change] Skill isn’t working on it, but my [Detect Counterfeit] Skill says this is definitely a real silver coin.”

Artyom recalled what he knew of Skills, a type of special ability granted alongside levels by the System. They were independent from magic, and ran on the power and authority of the System itself. Each class had its own pool of Skills its user could unlock, and they were generally related to the matching profession. The Skills Ruba mentioned likely did what was written on the cover; automatically tell the user how much change was due and whether a coin was counterfeit respectively.

“Oh, well then…” Artyom began.

While the coin wasn’t native and likely minted in an entirely different world, the standard size and blank face should have made it a match for the local tender. The fact that Ruba even said [Detect Counterfeit] returned a negative proved it.

“So what’s actually the problem?”

“I already told you, my [Calculate Change] Skill doesn’t work on it.”

“How much does a mug of sparkle cost?” asked Artyom.

“Two bronze coins.”

“And how many bronze coins in a silver coin? Is it ten?”

“That’s right.”

“So that’s two bronze coins in change.”

“My Skill doesn’t work, how can you be sure?”

Artyom froze. And then he blinked. And after that, he could feel imaginary fans whirring to life in his brain as it tried to make sense of the situation before he stated the obvious. “Each mug is two coins, and I’m ordering four cups. Two times four is eight, in this case eight bronze coins for all the drinks.”

Ruba looked at him and nodded.

“And that silver coin is worth ten bronze coins, so ten minus eight is two. Two bronze coins are left over, and that’s the change you owe me.”

“Well…” said Ruba as she looked away from him nervously. “I’ll take your word for it, if that’s what your Skill says about it.”

Artyom blinked again, but before he could say anything more, a mug of the red fizzy liquid was placed in front of him and the adventuring party called out a round of cheers.

The man from Earth grabbed his mug and lifted it in the air alongside the others, then took a sip from it.

It didn’t taste alcoholic, but maybe there was something else in it?