After Lugentz and I shook hands, I left the Seven Fortunes, taking the money I’d made and the big old book with me. I’d never forget this pawnshop—not just because I was able to finally sell my things, but because the kindly old shop owner had put his faith in me with this deferred payment plan.
I probably wouldn’t be back again to sell any more stolen items, but I decided that I’d sell anything valuable I picked up on my adventures to Lugentz as a token of my gratitude. And I swore to myself that I would definitely be back to pay for that book.
“Thanks again for showing me around today. I got a lot more for those accessories than I expected to, and I owe that to you.”
“Three gold coins, was it? Lucky you. It takes us at least a few months to make that kind of money, and you got it in one single visit to the pawnshop.”
“Hey, how about I treat you guys to a meal at one of the restaurants you pointed out to me?”
“Huh? Really?!”
“Ugh, Hester! Use your brain for a moment! Not only did we have to hand back everything you stole today, but we wasted the entire day showing this jerk around, and we don’t have a single copper to show for it. We need to get our hands on something we can sell.”
“Okay... But I feel like saying yes to a free meal would be a whole lot easier and more reliable than trying to find someone else to pickpocket...” muttered Hester.
Ralph, who was clearly determined to get rid of me as quickly as possible, seemed ready to argue with her, but I could tell from his face that he knew she’d made a good point. He nodded reluctantly several times.
“O-Okay, fine. I guess we wouldn’t have to scrounge for food money if we’re getting a free meal tonight. B-But...don’t you think it’s weird that the guy we tried to steal from is offering to treat us like this?!”
“I don’t see what’s so weird about it,” I chimed in. “Consider it a token of appreciation for showing me such a great pawnshop. In fact...you can thank the owner, Mr. Lugentz. This meal is technically on him.”
“Great. We’re broke, so we’ll take you up on your offer,” said Hester, and that was that. Ralph had given up trying to argue with her.
I’d only gotten a one-off payment, so I wasn’t exactly in a position to go around blowing all my money...but I felt good about this choice. After all, I’d just spent the past month living alone in the woods. Hester and Ralph might have been pickpockets, but it was nice just to have some company for a change.
Besides, everyone in the backstreets seemed to know them, so it would probably be advantageous to get on their good side.
And so, just like that, the three of us headed to a cheap and cheerful restaurant for a bite.
“Wow... You look like you’re really enjoying that. We ordered the exact same thing, but yours looks a whole lot tastier.”
“I might’ve mentioned this before, but I ate pretty much nothing but unseasoned orc meat the whole time I was living in the woods. It was actually really good, but proper food is a completely different experience. This is so tasty, I feel like I could cry.”
“Wish I could enjoy it that much... But anyway, I’m impressed you managed to survive out there for a whole month without any provisions.”
“It was rough. For the first few days, I ate anything I could get my hands on so I didn’t starve. I even drank literal mud water just to survive.”
As we ate, I told them about my time in Patia Forest.
Remembering those first few days I’d spent there made the food I was eating right now taste even better somehow.
“Anything you could get your hands on...?” Ralph repeated. “But what if you ate some poisonous plants or something? Couldn’t you have died?”
“Oh, I don’t have to worry about that. I’ve got a poison resistance skill.”
“Hey, uh... Are you sure you want to just blurt out your skill like that?”
“Doesn’t bother me to talk about it. I mean, it’s a pretty worthless skill. I may as well not even have one.”
“You’re either awfully trusting, or awfully stupid...” Ralph said. “Anyway, we know a few people with poison resistance, but it doesn’t nullify the effects of every kind of poison. It just gives them a slightly higher alcohol tolerance or makes them a little less likely to get food poisoning... That kind of stuff.”
“Really? That’s weird. I ate a whole bunch of sketchy-looking fruits and mushrooms without anything bad happening. I even ate some rotten meat too.”
As I said this, the two of them exchanged a look of realization and nodded.
“So that’s why he was able to chase after me like nothing happened even after I hit him in the face with an allyl orb! And here I thought I must have missed...”
“Allyl orb? You mean that red thing? Yeah, you hit me straight in the eyes with that...”
“You’ve gotta be kidding me... Allyl orbs shock you so hard you go numb for a whole day. I’ve never heard of them not working on someone before.”
“Jeez... You guys have some pretty brutal methods. Sounds like you could’ve blinded someone if you’d hit anyone but me.”
I was pretty shocked to hear that, but I was also too distracted by the realization that my skill clearly wasn’t just a normal poison resistance to dwell on their actions too deeply.
I couldn’t help but hope that maybe my skill wasn’t a nothing skill after all. Maybe it was actually a super useful, rare skill?
“If even allyl orbs have no effect on you, then maybe it’s not just a poison resistance, but a poison immunity?! That being said...I still can’t imagine it being all that useful.”
“Well, it did help me to survive in the woods for a month—and to get my stuff back after you guys tried to steal it. So, at least there’s that, right?”
I felt compelled to defend my skill a bit, but to be honest, Hester was probably right. Whatever uses my skill had, they seemed pretty limited. Whether I had poison resistance or immunity, it didn’t change the fact that I’d only be able to make use of it in extremely specific situations.
“I guess that’s true... Anyway, what’s your plan now?” asked Ralph.
“For now, I’m thinking I’ll become an adventurer. My sword-fighting skills are nothing special, but I’ve got some training. I’m just looking to make enough money to eat.”
“An adventurer, huh? Fair enough. I guess the only two real options available to you when you’re homeless are a life of adventuring or a life of crime.”
“What about you two? Are you going to keep picking pockets to fill your bellies for the rest of your lives?”
At this, Hester stopped eating and hung her head.
I knew I was probably butting my nose in where it didn’t belong, but I really couldn’t imagine them keeping this up forever.
“Well, that’s my plan,” said Ralph. “If you don’t have what it takes to be an adventurer, you don’t really have any other choice if you want to survive.”
“If anyone other than me had caught you today, you two would probably be rotting in a jail cell right now. I just think you should consider some other options.”
After I said my piece, the table went quiet, and we finished the rest of our meal in silence.
“Wow, I’m so full. Thanks for treating us,” Ralph said as we stepped back outside.
“Yes, thank you very much,” Hester added.
“No, thank you for showing me around town. I’d say this makes us even now, all things considered, so I won’t make any further demands of you. I’ll probably say hi if I see you around town, though. We’re around the same age, so let’s look out for each other.”
And with that, I said goodbye to my two tour guides in front of the restaurant and headed for the main street. After spending a full half day with them, I’d learned that they weren’t bad people—they only stole to survive.
Claus and my dad, on the other hand, might have seemed like upstanding people to anyone who didn’t know them well, but they were rotten to the core.
Thinking about my family made me so angry that my head started to hurt, so I tried to switch gears and figure out my plan for the night instead. There were two lodging options that Ralph had suggested: the Pigeon Inn, on the main street, and the Shangri La Hotel in the industrial district.
The Pigeon Inn boasted a private shower and toilet, as well as good-quality bedding. As far as Realzahd lodging options went, it offered the best bang for your buck. The Shangri La was a lot less luxurious, but it was apparently the cheapest option in the city.
Really, it was a choice between comfort and cost. But there was one more consideration: the Shangri La was located in the industrial district, which was where I’d also find the Adventurers’ Guild. That probably made it the ideal choice for a broke novice adventurer like me.
With that in mind, I decided to stay at the Shangri La Hotel. It would at least give me the opportunity to make some connections as an adventurer—although whether I could actually pull that off was another question altogether.
Once I’d made my way back to the main street of the commercial district, I kept going, walking straight past all the shops as I headed east through the city.
There were much fewer people here in the industrial district, and the streets were crammed with factories. It felt distinctly cold and mechanical.
As I walked farther, though, I came to a bustling street lined with guilds for all kinds of different trades, among them the Adventurers’ Guild, which had throngs of people gathered nearby. It looked even more lively than the commercial district.