After several hours, the two arrived at a town. Taichi dismounted a fair distance away and decided to observe the town before they made their approach. Since Taichi was worried a full-grown Fenrir might startle the citizens, Luke shrank his body once again.
“That’s not a town; it’s a city,” said Taichi.
“I believe it is the second biggest city in Shul’cucu Kingdom. If I remember right, it’s called Rellim,” said Luke.
“Rellim, huh?”
True to being the second biggest city in the kingdom, Rellim had a steady flow of traffic along its highway filtering in and out of it. There were grassy fields all over, with farms dotting the outskirts of the city outside its walls on the western side. These enormous walls encircled the city proper, with a gate at the front to relegate entry and exit. Large buildings jutted up from within the walls. It looked like a pleasant city to stay in. For transportation, there were horses and carriages, though many trailed on foot.
“It looks so peaceful,” Taichi murmured.
“Hmph,” Luke grunted. “Of course it is. They have dozens of adventurers here and a proper city guard, so there probably aren’t many monster attacks. Plus, the view is nice.”
“That’s good to hear.”
Taichi was glad to know there were safe centers of civilization in this world full of monsters. He wouldn’t be content to settle down in a village that lacked the proper assets to defend itself. Plus, a café won’t have any meaning without potential customers. But a city of this size would surely have some people in it who wanted to relax at a café.
“Okay, let’s enter the city! I’m actually rather exhausted after everything that happened today, so I’d like to rest,” said Taichi.
Luke scoffed. “Tsk, how frail you are!” Despite the barb, his tail was wagging furiously. He was probably anxious to rest and enjoy the city as well.
“Aha ha.” Taichi started forward. “C’mon, then. Let’s go.”
They kept a leisurely pace as they crossed the grasslands to the city gate. A crowd of people had gathered to seek entry, but their line was moving along quickly enough. It was Taichi’s turn before he knew it.
“Whoa!” cried one of the guards. “That’s a huge wolf you’ve got with you. It’s not dangerous, is it?”
“Of course not,” Taichi assured the two guards processing his entry. I guess I’m the only one who can communicate with Luke because of my skill. The guard, on the other hand, probably only heard barks when Luke was talking. “I tamed him, so he obeys my commands.”
“Oh, all right. Since you’ve tamed him, it shouldn’t be a problem. You’re free to enter the city after you show us some personal identification.”
“Personal identification...” Taichi mouthed the words to himself, panicked. His back broke out in a cold sweat. He wasn’t carrying anything that would work as personal identification here in this world. How did that even work, anyway? Did the government here provide people personal identification from the moment they were born, or what?
They probably won’t take a Japanese driver’s license, will they?
“Don’t you have something?” one of the guards prompted with a tilt of the head as Taichi hesitated. “If you don’t, you’ll need to pay five thousand Chel in order to enter. So what’ll it be?”
“Uh, um...just a moment while I check my savings!”
“Sure thing.”
Taichi was relieved there was an alternate way to enter, but Chel... That was some kind of currency, right? He checked the Bottomless Bag the cat god had given him. I know I have food in there, but I’m pretty sure there’s some money too. Indeed, he soon discovered he had a wallet stowed inside. This must be it! Taichi pulled it out and found three silver coins inside. Glad I’m not completely broke, but I have no idea how these coins convert to Chel.
Discreetly, Taichi peered behind him and whispered to Luke, “How much is this?” He showed the wolf his coins.
“I know these people have their own currency, but I have no idea what the current conversion rate is,” Luke told him.
“Oh, all right.”
This was turning into a real pickle.
Taichi could ask the guards directly, but it might arouse unnecessary suspicion if he admitted he knew nothing about the value of money in this world. And they might not let me inside if they think there’s something fishy going on with me.
With no other recourse, he muttered, “How much is that again...?” He plucked two of the coins out and held it out in his palm for the guard, gauging how the guard reacted to get a better feel for how much five thousand Chel amounted to.
“Oh, you have large silver coins, huh? Then I’ll need to get you some change. If you happen to have some small silver coins, then that’d cover it just fine.”
“I’m afraid this is all I have,” said Taichi. “Would you mind giving me change?”
“All right.” The guard collected his money, passing over five smaller silver coins in exchange. “There you are.”
Looks like the coins I had are considered large silver coins. When he handed over one of his silver coins, he received five small silver coins as change. That would suggest that one small silver coin was equal to one thousand Chel. Ten thousand Chel was equal to one large silver coin. Pleased to have deduced all of this, Taichi nodded to himself. He had enough money to get by for the moment. His next concern was covering his basic necessities.
“Um, sir?” said Taichi. “Do you know of a nice inn I could stay at? Preferably an affordable one.”
“Let’s see... If you go straight down this street here and take a right at the Adventurers’ Guild, you’ll see Crescent Moon Inn. You get a night and a nice hearty meal there for four thousand Chel a night.”
“Thank you! That’s my next stop, then!” It seemed to Taichi that one Chel was equivalent to one Japanese yen. If this was the price here in a big city, things were probably even cheaper in more remote areas.
I’ll need to do some market research before I establish my fluffy café. He could only hope that this world had a plethora of drinks, like coffees and teas.
With all these thoughts in mind, Taichi entered the city of Rellim.