Chapter 5 - Money

BOOM!

"Kyaaaaa!" Sara exclaimed, rolling to the ground to evade the explosion. "Ouch! Ryu! At least tell me when you drop a fireball, it almost hit me!"

It was already three weeks when we started training with my father. Our bodies seem already adjusted to the daily routine. I remember when we first started and almost can't stand up the next day due to muscle pain.

I scratched my head softly. "Sorry aunt," I said apologetically, "I just haven't been able to release my magic freely like this for weeks."

The reason why I can use magic now is that we are outside of the city in the south. Of course, without our parents knowing.

Remember the quest my aunt took when she became an adventurer? This is the last week that she needed to submit a quest per 30 days. Today was the 71st out of 90 days of spring. But since aunt Sara just became a member, we are allowed to submit it later than the 60th.

Sara frowned. "You know, whenever I talk to you is like having a conversation with an older brother rather than a nephew," she said confused. "And we only need to gather some herbs, why do we need to battle with monsters?"

I slowly came down from floating in the air with my wind magic. "All right, all right. Let's focus on grabbing herbs."

"That's good to hear. We should go home and be good, my sister might have a surprise visit," she explained.

I shivered. "Y-Yeah, I think we should go home soon."

...***...

Rook Guild

"Ryuuuuuu!" Sara squealed. "I-Is this really, really silver coins I am holding?!"

I quickly covered my mouth and suppressed my laughter. "Mmhmm... I told you, aunt, we will get back the money, all you have to do is to believe me."

Her eyes gleamed with respect, bowing in front of me. "Hail my great nephew!"

"Stop that, it's embarrassing," I begged, pulling her to stand up.

We gathered around two small sacks of herbs within a day. By submitting it to the guild earned us 2 silver coins and the quest is completed. If Sara would work as a maid, it will take 2 years to obtain the same amount. Which is the explanation to her amazement.

An ordinary rank-F group wouldn't be able to get the same result, because we were only able to gather this much due to my immense magic capacity, pushing through the hoard of weak monsters with ease.

"Ryu, you're amazing," Sara said. She closed her eyes and grinned. "I'm glad you are my nephew."

I redden. "Mmhmm... Then, how about we get another quest?

Her eyes suddenly lit up. "A quest?" she asked excitedly. "I-I know, why don't we get something that pays gold coins?"

"But that would be too hard-"

"How about this dragon slaying quest-how about the black grizzly bear-turtle dragon-white thunder wolf-or, or this one-"

"Aunt, calm down." I sighed. "Just remember what mom said."

Sara stomped his palm with her fist. "Oh... Right...," she understood. "Then... Herb gathering?"

I nodded. "Yes. For now, let's not rush things and die." I pulled another sack which contains our loots from the monsters we killed, I handed them to my aunt. "And sell this to the guild store."

Sara tilted her head, she asked, "Are these even worth anything?" She grabbed the sack and went towards the store counter. "Hello mister, I want to sell these loots."

The store clerk was a little bit surprised, but since he already knew us, he didn't ask another question. "What do ya got here lass?" When he opened the sack, his eyes went wide open, closing the sack quickly, and opened again to confirm.

The sack contained some wolf, rabbit, boar, and snake parts. We can only take the small parts like teeth and claws though since some of them got burnt with my fire magic. But I believe we can still earn money with this, so we collected them.

When the store clerk finished counting, he said, "Here ya go, 13 silver coins. I will convert this to 3 silver and 1 gold coin."

When Sara heard the total price, she fainted.

...***...

"Ryu?"

"Yes, aunt?" I replied we are currently walking on the street to get back home. We just submitted the quest and applied for the same one, took the reward, and sold our monster loots. We have now 1 gold and 5 silver coins. "Is there any problem?"

"C-Can you pinch me?" she asked, "I can't believe we earned this much for one day... Well, it was due to your magic though."

I shrugged my shoulders. "We are just starting, aunt. So you should keep yourself together which just this much."

Converting the amount of one bronze or copper coin is equivalent to around $20, a silver coin is $200, and a gold coin is $2000. The lowest position of maid would only be able to earn one bronze coin per month. This is how imbalanced the economy here since all resources are given priority to the adventurer to protect the rich nobles. The kingdom despatches some soldiers from time to time but is not enough.

"Really? Does that mean we will earn much, much more in the future?" she asked excitedly.

"Hahaha. As long as you master father's swordsmanship."

"Alright! I will give my all to training! Let's go!"

Clack.

We are having a fun conversation while walking when I suddenly noticed something. "Aunt, I'm tired, can you carry me?"

The face on Sara went confused. "This is weird, it's the first time you asked for my help." She sat down and carried me. "So what's the problem?"

I smirked. "Aunt, your senses are getting better." I leaned on her pretending to be tired, I whispered, "Do not shout or panic. There are people following us. Run to the next alley so I can use magic to escape."

"R-Ryu."

I felt the arms of my aunt grabbing me tightly. "Don't be scared, aunt. I'm here with you."

Even though I can't relieve all of her nervousness, my words still calmed her. I can feel her breathe relaxing. "Ryu, I'll start running now."

"Okay. Go!" I confirmed. I looked at the back and saw three men who also started to run. "I'm right, people are planning to rob us."

"Rob?!" Sara raised her eyebrows, suddenly fastening up her pace. "How dare they steal our money!"

This is where I learned not to joke with my aunt when it comes to money. And it did help me in the future.

My aunt who is carrying me went inside the dark alley, this is a dangerous place, but also the ideal place to go when you need to lose those thieves.

"Hahaha!" One of the guys following us laughed, he said, "You think a kid like you could outrun us? We lived in these alleys before you even learned how to walk."

"Huff... Huff... Huff...." Sara panted. "The training... Is... Effective... Huff..."

I felt that my aunt is already reaching her limit. "Aunt, turn to that corner."

"O... Okay."

It was a dead end. But this is exactly what I was hoping for.

"Ryu, a dead end!" she groaned. "Haaaa..."

"Don't worry aunt, hold me tight." I started to open my mouth to chant. "As petaxoume."

A giant whirlwind formed, carrying us to the sky as we hopped between the roofs.

"W... Where did they go?" The people who were following us were shocked when they found no one.

Hop!

"Ryu... This is safe right?" Sara asked. I can feel her being frightened as her fingernails nudged through my skin. "I trust you."

"It's fine, aunt. Look, we have arrived." I canceled my magic as soon as my aunt's feet reached the ground. It was a perfect landing.

"...This. Is so cool! Why don't we use this often? We could have saved time."

"We need to exercise though, or we would become dependent on magic and grow physically weak."

"You do have a point. But using this from time to time is fine right?" she laughed.

"Mmhmm..."

"Yey~ Let's go inside, Ryu."

Today is one fruitful day. We can do this step by step. And one day, even she would be capable to hunt on her own. Then I wouldn't have to worry if I ever leave this home.

To build a kingdom, I need somewhere that is not under the jurisdiction or ownership of anyone. And I found 3 perfect places for that.

The first one is in the far south, humans call it the dark continent, where large monsters inhabited the land. This will be good because the humans are too scared to touch it, if I can completely own it, I can even train my monster army. The problem here is that I need to become strong, stronger than the king of monsters who lives there.

The second one is the snow continent in the north. It has harsh living conditions, and only a few tribes can live there. It is a good choice because it is near the Valenz dukedom where Yume lives. I can easily protect her and the place of her family.

Last but not least is a land in one of the dragons, fairy, or beast kingdom. They are not much territorial like humans, so it can be a choice if the first and second choice fails.

For a few years, I will focus on improving my swordsmanship, magic, and finances.

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