Chapter 57

A snow-white dress, kissed by strands of blonde. Rire’s golden hair danced in the cool afternoon breeze. Pollen drifted from somewhere, tickling the tip of my nose.

September here, unlike September in Korea, was cool and refreshing. The faint scent of dry wood permeated the streets. Probably because of the many buildings constructed from timber.

For a while, Rire and I wandered around asking passersby if there were any good restaurants nearby.

Most folk pointed me towards a flour noodle shop run by dwarves. Spicy and cool, they said, best to try it before the weather turns colder.

“…Doesn’t sit right with me.”

As expected, I didn’t want to go to the flour noodle shop recommended by so many.

The reason, of course, being that so many recommended it.

“…Bread and coffee, in the end.”

“What am I supposed to do if popular places don’t appeal to you?”

“Then why bother asking around?”

“Lir told me to.”

We ended up in a café for bread and coffee, as always. To me, a Korean, bread and coffee felt closer to dessert than a full meal, but in this world, rooted in medieval Europe, it was undeniably a hearty repast.

“Didn’t see any instrument shops nearby, though?”

“I looked into a place beforehand, it’s a bit past the alleyways, but not too far.”

“You didn’t scout out a place for us to eat together, but you looked into instrument shops in advance?”

Lir stopped drinking her coffee and glared at me with sharp eyes.

What on earth did I do so wrong to deserve this?

“Well… yes.”

I quietly lifted my cup, as if I had nothing to say. In my cup was warm black tea, not coffee.

Black tea does contain caffeine… but compared to coffee, it wasn’t enough to worry about a shock, so I could relax, hold it in my mouth, and enjoy the aroma.

Beyond the café window, horses and wagons passed by. Merchants with heavy loads on their backs wandered by, and children laughed as they ran off somewhere.

Unidentified birds landed on the ground, only to quickly scatter at the sound of the children’s footsteps. A gust of wind swept past, briefly unveiling a woman’s veil.

The black tea was warm, and today was peaceful.

It was a decent day. The kind where, given sheet music and a pen, a passable melody might be coaxed into existence.

“The bill, please.”

I offered the proprietor a single gold coin I’d brought along, intending to be on my way. The owner, having barely served two slices of bread, coffee, and tea, broke into a cold sweat upon receiving the gold.

“…Forgive me, but I do not have enough change.”

“Ah.”

Understandable, really. In this era, a gold coin was a currency of considerable worth. An ordinary slice of bread or a cup of coffee cost about one penny… and one hundred pennies equaled one copper, one hundred copper equaled one silver, and one hundred silver were practically the same as one gold…

My act of handing the store owner a gold coin was akin to buying an Americano at a local café and then handing over a check for ten million won. Utter madness.

Back in my time, the owner would have looked at me with a face that screamed, “…Is this guy crazy?” but the medieval shopkeeper, on the contrary, seemed a bit frightened.

Apparently, those wealthy enough to carry gold coins in this era were highly likely to be nobles.

“I am sorry, young lady.”

But, with a preemptively fearful expression, the shopkeeper apologized to Rir.

“…?”

Well, upon closer consideration, it wasn’t that strange. I was wearing plain clothes, while Rir was in a dress, radiating an air of nobility from her very face, even the hat couldn’t hide it.

The owner probably thought I was something like her servant.

Now that I think about it, that’s a little offensive, isn’t it?

“Keep the change.”

I stared directly into the eyes of the shopkeeper, who judged people by their appearances, and slammed the gold coin down on the table!

…Actually, it wasn’t quite a “slam!” At best, a “thump”? No, perhaps even just a “tap.”

I then darted out of the shop as if not to give the owner even a moment to apologize.

I’ll teach you a lesson with money, you uncultured medieval…!

“Eh, are you just leaving?”

“Yep!”

Lir followed me out belatedly as I burst through the shop door.

“I’d already gathered up some pennies to pay. You could have just let me take care of it.”

“It’s fine. I said I’d buy it.”

“…Well, if it doesn’t matter to you. That shopkeeper just got an unexpected windfall.”

Maybe I should make a bit more effort with my clothes, even if it’s a bother? Between the Guinevere Count incident and this, living in normal clothes in this medieval world feels trickier than I thought.

Leaving the unpleasant feeling behind, I walked through the alleys. Sunlight was partially obscured by the buildings that rose three stories high.

As we entered the dark alley, Lir leaned slightly toward me. I could barely keep my own balance, and I didn’t understand why she was doing this, so I turned my head to face her.

“There are robbers following us. Don’t go flaunting money in strange places… Uh?!”

Lir’s face was much closer than I expected. She probably intended to whisper, but I turned my head at a bad time, and our eyes met at that close distance.

Thwack!

A slender finger struck my back with impressive force. My spine curved like a bow for a moment.

Usually, when you slap someone’s back, you hear a *smack*, but my body, which was all bone and skin, only produced the sound of hard bones colliding.

“W-Why did you suddenly turn your head like that!”

Is she a crazy elf?

She’s the one who stuck her face in mine, so why is she getting angry at me?

I glared at Lir, my hand on my aching spine. Lir quickly realized she’d made a mistake and apologized in a small voice.

“No, well, anyway! There are robbers following us, I’m saying.”

Lir stepped back a pace or two, offering an excuse.

“How do you know they’re robbers? Maybe they’re just going the same way. Aren’t you being a little paranoid?”

“Because I heard the sound of a dagger.”

“Ah.”

…What kind of era even *is* the medieval period?

This isn’t some backwater village, it’s the capital of the Unified Kingdom, for crying out loud. Just because I showed off a gold coin or two, a robber’s immediately on my tail… Doesn’t this era have any police?

“Is it the clothes?”

Usually, if someone’s pulling out gold coins from their pocket, they’re backed by a reputable noble family.

And your average street thug wouldn’t even *think* about robbing a noble’s offspring. They’re always with guards, and even if they aren’t visible, there could be a bodyguard hiding nearby. And even if they *were* alone, the consequences would be unbearable.

But right now, I’m clearly dressed like a commoner, and even though Lir is wearing a dress, it doesn’t have any fancy embellishments. In fact, there are clumsy repair marks where embellishments *should* be.

From a medieval point of view, maybe I’m the one who’s in the wrong for jingling gold coins while dressed so plainly.

A kid who looks like he doesn’t have any backing is flashing gold coins? Gotta take that!

…This world is crazy. Seriously crazy.

“Lir, can you take care of them?”

“Me again? I worked at the pizza bread shop last time too.”

“I bought you dinner, didn’t I?”

“Hey, that’s different.”

Lir and I spoke quietly so the little rats tailing us wouldn’t hear.

“This time, *you* do something, Bin.”

The only magic I have is Blooming, and the only technique I have to supplement my regular attack is ‘Red Crystal’.

I obviously can’t use Blooming… And if I fire off Red Crystal here and mess up, it could go right through the chests of the robbers chasing us, pierce the wall of the coffee shop, and burn the hair off the chef kneading dough in the kitchen.

Dajin… naturally, he wouldn’t even be on the list. If it was that guy, he’d probably turn the capital into a total mess under the pretense of catching some petty thief.

And wasn’t it absurd to call upon a being practically divine just to chase away a common robber?

Unless we wanted to burn down the entire village instead of just catching a flea, it was better not to even think about calling Dajin.

“Ah, whatever. If Lir doesn’t do it, I’ll just let them stab me with a knife.”

“…You’re being utterly unreasonable.”

We continued our conversation as we entered a dim alleyway. It wasn’t particularly to lure out any attackers. It was simply the fastest way to the music shop.

“Hey.”

A medieval, cliché, and utterly unoriginal threat blocked our path, as if it had been waiting for us.

“Hand over the woman and the money, and get lost. If you don’t, you can hand over your lives too.”

As the sunset began, the silver blade the robber pulled out was stained crimson.

I know it’s strange to expect creativity from thugs who rob kids not even twenty years old, but weren’t these lines just too stale?

“What’s a little brat like you doing carrying gold coins? Is he the son of some successful merchant? Business must be pretty good, huh?”

“And the girl beside him is a product of superior quality, beyond imagination, eh? Boss, can I have a little fun with her before we sell her off?”

“Ugh…”

Is there some kind of thug academy somewhere that I don’t know about? Why do all these low-class robbers spout the same tired lines?

Lir and I, almost simultaneously, sighed and looked around at our front and back.

Lir’s expression in that moment was quite something to behold. Pure disgust and annoyance were plastered all over it, and it sent a chill down my spine.

Probably because they were treating her like some object, calling her a “product of superior quality.”

Looks like she’s going to take care of this on her own, even without me asking her to work.

“Don’t kill them. If a corpse shows up, the guards will get called, and we’ll have to be investigated… It’ll make things unnecessarily complicated. Let’s just enjoy our day off, alright?”

“I know.”

Though judging by her expression, you wouldn’t think so…

“Boss, what are these two spouting?”

“Kill us? Unbelievable. I may be old and not what I once was, but back in my day, I was a pretty well-known adventurer. Ever heard of Axe-Hand…?”

*Whizz!*

A stark white flash descended for a moment in the dim alley.

Electricity surged up from beneath Lire’s feet, piercing through their shoes and snaking up their peripheral nerves, incinerating the gang of thugs that surrounded us.

The stench of burning flesh filled the air.

Faint sparks of lightning flickered where the white flash had been.

“…Oh.”

I let out a quiet gasp of admiration, watching the flash Lire had conjured.

Something… something was different from the lightning Lire usually unleashed.

Not only had the speed at which she converted mana into lightning increased, but the phenomenon of lightning spreading through the air had noticeably decreased, its purity heightened.

I’m not exactly in a position to teach or praise anyone, but… I could feel in my bones that Lire’s level had risen to an incredible degree compared to what I had witnessed just days ago in the dungeon.

“Your level’s gone up a little, hasn’t it?”

“…Is it that obvious?”

An overall improvement in her abilities was evident. I even suggested that maybe she had risen a circle, but she just laughed, telling me not to tease her, and thumped me on the back.

*Thwack!*

…And my back arched like a bow again.

There’s definitely going to be a handprint left on this.

“At twenty-one, reaching 5 circles, you’d be the youngest Electromancer even counting humans.”

Lir let my words wash over her with a pleasant smile.

Neither of us suspected that today would mark the day the youngest 5th circle Electromancer’s name changed.