Chapter 22: A Refreshing Stop and a Grand Quest

While Aldoran recuperated from her injuries among the Harpy tribe, Lance pressed on with her journey, traveling at full speed.

Her initial destination was Joseph City, a journey of merely a month from Alampa.

The city lord there shared a good relationship with her, a connection Lance hoped would prove beneficial for her travels.

Having now traveled continuously for about half a month, Lance arrived at a small town on the morning of the sixteenth day.

“Phew~”

The day was exceptionally scorching.

The blazing sun baked the earth, and the wind whipped up waves of oppressive heat, causing pedestrians to trudge along, their heads drooping listlessly.

Lance wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead, her gaze falling upon a quiet, unassuming tavern by the roadside.

What could be more enticing on a scorching afternoon than a glass of cool, thirst-quenching iced fruit wine?

“Perfect! I’ll go have a drink right now!” Lance clapped her hands, her decision made.

Pushing open the tavern door, a wave of refreshing coolness washed over her.

The subtle chill emanating from the Ice Stones made the entire establishment remarkably crisp and clean, a stark contrast that felt like an entirely different world compared to the sweltering street outside.

“Ah, welcome, customer! What can I get for you?”

Behind the counter, a beastkin girl, who had been idly toying with a wine glass, looked up.

Seeing Lance enter, a wide smile spread across her face, which was covered in thick, golden fur.

A feline beastkin girl, Lance noted.

“Ah! Hello there! May I have a glass of iced peach wine?” Lance settled onto a stool before the counter and laid out several gold coins.

“Customer, a glass of peach wine costs six copper coins,” the girl said, scratching her head with a paw. “I’m afraid I can’t make change for gold coins.”

Lance, however, looked utterly stunned, as if she hadn’t the faintest idea what the girl was talking about.

“But aren’t gold coins quite common?”

“Customer, gold coins are far from common,” the girl replied, eyeing Lance with a hint of embarrassment.

A single gold coin was worth a staggering two hundred silver coins, or forty thousand copper coins, making it an incredibly valuable currency for ordinary people.

Yet, the girl before her claimed it was commonplace.

The beastkin girl couldn’t help but speculate that this young woman might be a pampered lady from a wealthy family, having grown up without any real understanding of money.

“Um… customer, do you truly not have any copper coins?” the girl asked, her expression troubled.

Her small tavern’s daily earnings rarely exceeded a single silver coin, making it impossible for her to provide change for such a large denomination.

“No need, we have copper coins.”

Just as the girl’s face creased with difficulty, a soft ‘clink’ sounded.

A purple-haired girl, accompanied by two black-haired girls, placed a string of copper coins onto the table.

These were, in fact, the three individuals who had been discreetly following Lance.

“While you’re at it, bring us a few glasses of peach wine as well.”

Lance turned her head, and the purple-haired girl offered her a smile.

“Thank you so much, everyone,” Lance expressed her gratitude.

“It’s nothing, really. We’re all travelers far from home, so consider it a good deed,” the purple-haired girl said, waving a hand dismissively.

“Hello, my name is Olivia.”

She then introduced her two companions to Lance, one by one.

“This one, wearing glasses, is Lias, and this is Haleine.”

“Pleased to meet you all, I’m Lance,” she replied, extending her hand warmly and shaking each of theirs in turn.

“I’m truly grateful for your help this time. I would have been quite troubled without you.”

“It’s truly nothing,” Olivia reiterated, waving her hand again.

“As a token of my gratitude, please accept these gold coins as a small thank-you,” Lance said, producing several gold coins and offering them to Olivia.

She believed the best way to express her thanks was to present the trio with a few gold coins.

“Thank you so much!” Haleine exclaimed, beaming with delight, and reached out to accept the gold coins Lance offered, only to be stopped by Olivia’s quick hand.

“There’s no need. It was just a few copper coins, nothing to worry about,” Lias interjected, gently restraining Haleine, whose eyes were still fixed on the gold.

Speaking for Olivia, she added, “Please, Lady Lance, take them back.”

“But you’ve helped me so much! It would be truly heartless of me not to repay your kindness!” Lance insisted, still attempting to press the gold coins into Olivia’s hand.

“No, no, it’s quite alright,” Olivia firmly refused to accept Lance’s gold, continuing to decline. “If Lady Lance truly wishes to repay us, then perhaps you could tell us where you’re headed?”

“Oh, I see,” Lance responded, nodding her head and retracting the gold coins.

Beside her, Haleine’s face fell into a visibly disappointed expression.

“Actually, I’m preparing to search for Jotunheim.”

“Jotunheim?” Olivia and her two companions exclaimed in unison.

Jotunheim, the Land of Giants, was a realm that existed only in legends.

That Princess Lance’s quest was to seek out a country no one had ever truly seen was utterly astonishing.

While they had heard whispers in the palace about the princess’s peculiar ideas, her ambition to find Jotunheim was something Olivia and her companions had never anticipated.

“Oh, I see, well, Lady Lance certainly has grand aspirations,” Olivia managed to say, unsure of how else to respond.

“I’ve heard that the Giant race is incredibly powerful,” Lias added, pushing up her glasses.

“They can grow dozens of meters tall, with each step causing the ground to tremble, and it’s said that even the weakest giants can master intermediate magic.”

“Eh?” Haleine looked utterly bewildered.

Having never passed an exam in her life, she naturally had no idea what Lias was talking about.

Consequently, Haleine silently accepted the drink offered by the beastkin girl and quietly listened as Lias and the others continued their conversation.

“Exactly! That’s precisely where I’m going!”

Unlike the others, Lance appeared full of vigor and excitement, completely oblivious to the deep sense of helplessness etched on Olivia’s and Lias’s faces.

There was no other choice; protecting Princess Lance was a mission assigned by Lady Arell, and Olivia and her companions had to see it through, no matter how daunting.

Their only hope now was that Lance would quickly abandon this notion, for if the three of them were to track Lance all the way to find this so-called Jotunheim, it would likely be a wild goose chase that would last until the Year of the Monkey (TL Note: A Chinese idiom referring to a very long, indeterminate, or never-arriving time).

Since Haleine couldn’t understand what they were discussing, she simply drank her wine in silence, occasionally offering a few agreeable sounds.

She would sometimes interject with an irrelevant remark that derailed the conversation, only to return to her quiet drinking.

Haleine had never once passed her studies.

“So, where are all of you headed, then?” Lance asked, downing the fruit wine in her hand and signaling the barkeeper for another glass.

“We’re, of course, protecting…” Haleine’s eyes lit up at the mention of this, and she slammed her hand on the table, about to stand.

“Mmph…”

Before Haleine could finish her sentence, Lias clapped a hand over her mouth, gently pressing her back into her chair.

“Protecting?” Lance’s interest was instantly piqued.

She leaned forward, asking curiously, “What exactly are you protecting, everyone?”

“Protecting… protecting goods, yes, we’re escorting cargo.”

Olivia slapped her thigh, explaining.

“Escorting cargo?” Lance narrowed her eyes, pondering for a moment.

“Now that you mention it, on my way here, I believe I saw a cargo escort team, and there were as many as fifteen people!”

“But the three of us have the exact same combat prowess as fifteen people!” Lias released her hand, and Haleine immediately declared with pride.

Lance nodded, sensing that the trio’s magical prowess was roughly at the third tier of low-intermediate magic.

Within the kingdom’s army, they would certainly be considered to possess the strength of squad leaders.

“What kind of goods do you primarily transport?” Lance continued to inquire, as everything outside the palace, where she had lived since childhood, was utterly novel to her.

“We’re mainly responsible for transporting medicines and such,” Olivia said, her mind racing to weave a believable tale.

“And how many gold coins do you all earn in a month?” Lance then asked, full of curiosity.

“Ah, no, Lady Lance, gold coins are extremely valuable currency. Our monthly wages only amount to about thirty silver coins.”

To prevent the princess, who clearly had no concept of money, from being swindled during her future travels, a rather helpless Olivia decided to seize this opportunity to thoroughly educate Lance on the intricacies of currency.

Allowing the princess to continue squandering money like this was simply not an option.

“First, Lady Lance, you must understand that copper coins are the most widely circulated currency in daily life.

One gold coin can be exchanged for two hundred silver coins, or forty thousand copper coins.

A typical worker’s monthly wage is roughly twenty-five silver coins, meaning an ordinary person earns only about one gold coin in an entire year.”

Lance’s eyes widened, her expression one of utter astonishment.

She had always assumed gold coins were the most common currency for transactions, especially since the very clothes she was wearing were worth two gold coins.

“And most of the time, building a small house costs around five gold coins,” Olivia continued.

“Which means, Lady Lance, the money you just offered could build a small house.”

“I see!” Lance exclaimed, a sudden realization dawning on her, though her idea of a “small house” was more akin to her own grand villa.

“So, I just gave the tavern owner enough money for an entire house!”

“It’s fortunate the tavern owner isn’t a dishonest person,” Lias interjected.

“Otherwise, Lady Lance, you wouldn’t even realize you’d been swindled.”

“Oh, oh!” Lance chuckled.

A few gold coins meant little to Lance in the grand scheme of things, yet she remained deeply grateful to Olivia and the others for kindly imparting this knowledge.

“Thank you all so much for telling me these things!” Lance raised her cup, draining its contents in one gulp.

“Don’t mention it, don’t mention it,” Haleine and Olivia replied cheerfully, likewise downing their drinks.

Lias, however, was an exception; she first swapped her wine for fruit juice before mimicking Lance and the others, finishing her cup of juice in one go.

“Given the scorching weather, perhaps Lady Lance should rest here for a while and only depart when the afternoon cools?” Olivia suggested after they had finished their drinks.

“It would also give us ample time to converse properly with Lady Lance, as once we set out on the road, there’s no telling when we might meet again.”

If anything were to happen to the princess due to the heat, they would find it difficult to report back to Lady Arell.

Lance glanced at the shimmering heat waves outside the door, then nodded in agreement, a bright smile still gracing her lips.

“Then let’s continue drinking!”