Bab 9: Chapter 7: Money is Everything(1)
It is early in the morning and Jane puts on her casual clothes and stared at the pouch money that she received from the crown prince with a dumb expression.
'No way, this much? I didn't saw it properly because it is nighttime and I'm pretty tired at that time. But... Isn't this too much for hush money? I could buy a decent mansion with this, heck, I could even buy a small village... What a filthy rich bastard.'
Jane looked inside the pouch and counted the coins and jewels in it. Every time she counts a coin. She could feel her heart beating wildly. Jane in her past world could never even imagine receiving this much money, so these gold coins that are shining brightly under the sunlight in front of her are an unimaginable sight to look at.
One, two, forty-five, sixty-seven, one hundred twenty...
Jane held her breath when she finished counting the money... It is an amount of money she could never imagine having.
'Five hundred thousand gallons and ten jewels! That is a crazy amount of money! I'm rich!'
Jane looked at the money she accumulated in just one night in front of her. Her eyes were shining brightly while smiling ear to ear. Seeing this, she confirmed one thing.
'I need to loot more money from the crown prince in exchange for information in the future.'
Her original plan is to become a man, get all the useful magic container powers, earn money and buy a peaceful area away from the war and live there, tell the main characters the information about the demon world that she knew from the novel, and finally rest in peace for the rest of her life.
'But now, things have changed... I won't tell them the information for free, I will loot all the money the crown prince has and use it solely for myself.'
Jane couldn't contain her happiness inside her and started to laugh. The black beast who is sitting at her bed looked at her like she was some sort of crazy person. He then frowned and speak.
"You like those gold thingies that much? If you could've said so I could give you more than that."
Jane stopped laughing and looked at the black beast like he was a cute kid.
'Puh-lease, there is no way a kid like you have this much money, no, I bet you didn't even have some from the beginning.'
Jane just patted his head and smiled at him.
"Let's buy some delicious food once we got out here. I'll buy you food that you like."
The black beast's eyes glistened at my words and asked in an excited voice.
"You mean it? There is no going back! You'll buy me what I want right?"
Jane nodded and said.
"Of course, ill buy you what you want. But only food okay?"
'What could a kid like you buy? I'm sure that you'll just buy some candies and you'll already be satisfied.'
"Okay!"
The black beast's tail wags and his eyes were shining. Jane just smiled at him like she was satisfied and put the pouch on her bag.
The black beast turned invisible and I walked out the door. When I opened the door I saw Finesse's closed fist up in the air like she was about to knock on the door. She looked surprised and retreated her hand immediately.
"Sister! I was about to knock to check if you are ready but it seems like you are already ready."
Finesse clutched her handbag and smiled at me. She wears a common dress just like me. I smiled at her and said.
"Yes let's go, sister."
Finesse's eyes brightened and caught up to me, who is already walking in the hallway, and exclaimed.
"Yes, sister!"
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The carriage that we are riding on stopped in front of the plaza in the capital. Finesse and I went down the carriage. I, Finesse, and the invisible black beast started to walk around while checking some shops. We are about to go to the clothing store but Finesse stopped me.
"Ah, sister! Let us eat first! You didn't eat breakfast earlier so you must be hungry."
Jane looked at Finesse, she was about to say that she was fine but then she heard the black beast's voice.
• Hey, I'm hungry... Buy me some steak.
Jane stopped for a moment before opening her mouth again.
"Sounds good, I'm pretty hungry anyway."
"Ah! Then let's go! I know a place! They serve the best foods! My treat!"
"Are you sure? I have a pretty monstrous appetite you know."
• I'm hungry, I'll buy everything... You'll pay for me, right?
'More precisely, my black beast companion is the one with a monstrous appetite...'
"Ah! You must be hungry! Don't worry! Noah gave us a lot of money. He said to spend it as much as we want!"
"Ooooh!"
Jane let out a gasp of admiration, she now has seen the true power of male leads. They are so rich that even giving you a truckload of money is nothing for them.
'As expected of the male lead and his out-of-this-world logic to where the heck did he get money from!'
Finesse dragged me on the streets until we arrived in front of an extravagant restaurant that is made of marble and... Gold?
"Uh, are you sure we're in the right place?"
Jane looked at the gold-colored sign above the shop's door and read it.
[Extravagant Adventure Restaurant]
Jane peeked at the other building, with the same marble walls and gold pillars, not too far from the restaurant, and read its same gold-colored sign.
[Extravagant Adventure Inn]
'Ho, so it has a restaurant and an inn at the same time.'
"Yes! When Noah and I first came here their dishes are so delicious that I ended up eating all the dishes on their menu!"
"Hmm, well this restaurant seems to have a-'I'll feed you so give me all your money.' vibe. I bet the foods here are expensive base on the gold pillars in front of the restaurant."
"Haha! I think so too at first! But don't worry! They sell their foods at a fair price! The owner of this restaurant is a good man and a famous merchant! And don't worry about the pillars, they are gold plated."
'... That is worst than saying the pillars are just painted with gold color.'
Jane looked at Finesse with disbelief. But she brushed it off when she saw a man in his late twenties wearing a neat brown coat walking out of the restaurant and walking in their direction. Finesse noticed the man and smiled brightly at the man and greeted him.
"Ah! Sir Tim! How are you? Long time no see!"
"Miss Finesse! How are you? I heard that you are unwell in these past months. Are you okay now?"
"Yes! I am now fine, it is thanks to my sister that I am now fine!"
"Sister?"
"Yes, this lady is my sister! Her name is Jane and soon to be Jane Viscellete as Noah's sister!"
The man looked at me with astonished eyes. He offered me a handshake and I accepted it.
"Nice to meet you, my name is Timothy Cheylin. Owner of the Cheylin Merchant Guild. Please call me Tim."
"Ah nice to meet you too, My name is Jane. And Cheylin Merchant Guild was it? You mean the 3rd biggest Merchant Guild in the continent right?"
Jane stopped herself from smirking when she saw a cold gaze brushed into Tim's eyes. Jane snickered internally and thought.
'This guy, he is obviously not satisfied with just being the 3rd place... How greedy.'
The name Timothy Cheylin appeared once in the novel when his merchant guild took advantage of the chaos and tried to negotiate with the crown prince. They found a mining site where countless highest-grade mana stones are stored. With the need for more effective magic power in the war, the crown prince agreed and bought the mining site with a hefty amount of money. That made the Cheylin Merchant Guild leap from 3rd place to 1st place real quick.
But Unfortunately for them...
'I'll be the one to loot that mining site and sell them to the crown prince. Sorry in advance Tim, but I can't just let the money go right in front of my eyes.'
Jane smiled at the thought of money pouring into her pocket. Thinking about it made her in a good mood. Finesse and Tim noticed her bright smile and smiled back while having a thought
'Sister is such a bright person! With that smile, I'm sure she'll be the center of social events in no time!'
'How cheerful and friendly. It is not fitting to be part of the cold and sharp Ducal family but I guess they decided to have an oddball to make a change.'
Jane let go of the handshake with Tim and Finesse took over for her.
"Sir Tim, we are quite hungry because we left the estate without having breakfast."
"Oh dear, then please come in. and please enjoy your time here. I'm sorry if I can't accompany you two but I have some business to attend to."
"We will, thank you."
Tim smiled and bid goodbye and hopped in his carriage and left. On the other hand, Jane and Finesse went inside the restaurant and one of the workers inside guided them to a table.
We sat at the table and looked at the menu. Jane is surprised because unlike the extravagant design of the restaurant, the prices of their dishes are quite reasonable.
While looking at the menu she slowly placed the menu to cover her mouth and whispered so that Finesse couldn't hear her.
"Hey... Tell me what you want."
She feels her lap becoming heavy and felt some light tapping on the menu she is holding.
• I choose numbers 3, 6, 8... Oh! I want this dessert too!
Jane nodded lightly and told the waiter her order. Finesse also ordered and passed the menus to them. While waiting, she excitedly tells some stories about her experience in this place.
I quietly listened to her stories until our orders arrived and observed the interior of the restaurant. I stopped when I heard Finesse's voice.
"Ah! Here's our order! Wow, sister! You ordered a lot! You must be that hungry."
"Uh, yes. I'm very hungry."
"Oh dear, please eat till your full. If you still want more please tell me."
"Okay, thank you."
We started eating and I secretly put some plates under the table. I could feel the black beast munching on the food so I started to munch the food in front of me too.
Jane ate the steak in front of her and started to taste it. She stopped eating for a moment and thought.
'This is delicious, who cooked this?'
Jane started to eat a lot faster while praising the chef who cooked it in her mind. Never once in her life, she could enjoy her breakfast until now. Finesse, Jane, and the black beast all finished their breakfast and touched their full stomachs.
"That was delicious."
"I know right? We should come here more often sister."
• Let's go here again next time!
Jane slightly nodded and stood up. Finesse stood up too and went to pay for the food. After that, they left the restaurant and started to head towards the clothing store. They both stopped in front of the store and it took Finesse a while to process where they were and asked.
"Uh, sister? Why are we in the men's clothing store?"
"Uh, to buy clothes?"
"But why the men's store? Shouldn't we suppose to head towards the women's boutique?"
"It's a gift for someone."
Jane wanted to explain more but felt like it was bothersome and just went inside. Finesse followed behind her with a confused expression. A store employee welcomed them.
"Welcome, may I ask what you ladies need?"
"Can we please check the men's casual and formal clothing?"
"Ah yes, this way please."
The store employee guided them to the men's casual attire aisle first and Jane started to look at the formal wear displayed in front of her.
She picked some simple and plainclothes and moved towards the formal wear section and started to pick some suits and a long black coat.
Jane kept picking clothes. She picked too many clothes that the employee and Finesse helped her to lift some clothes and went to the counter.
The person at the counter looked surprised at the number of clothes but decided to pack them anyway. Finesse, who is fidgeting to the side, finally asked Jane.
"Uh, sister? What are you going to do with these clothes? They are too many to be called a gift for someone."
Jane looked at Finesse with a slightly surprised expression and thought.
'She's smart, as expected of the female lead.'
Jane decided to be honest and answered Finesse while not looking at her
"I'll be the one who will wear it."
Silence fell and Finesse looked at me with a shocked expression. I looked at the person at the counter who has the same shocked face looking at me, I didn't care and paid for the clothes. Finesse seemed to realize that I'm paying with my money and exclaimed.
"Ah, sister! I'll pay for it!"
"No need, you've already paid for our breakfast so at least let me pay for my own stuff."
"No, I can't do that!"
"...Why?"
"Noah said that we need to spend the money he gave us! If he noticed that we only spent a little he might get angry."
"Ah is that so...? Okay then."
Jane put the money back in the pouch and chuck it back in her bag. Finesse stepped forward and paid for the clothes. Jane smiled and truly admired the power of main leads.
When Finesse was done paying for the clothes, Jane and she carried the bags full of clothes outside. Finesse placed the bags in front of her and said something.
"Please help us carry these."
Once she said that two knights in civilian clothing stepped forward from the crowd and carried the bags full of men's clothing. The two knights looked confused while looking at the bags but did not ask anything. Jane smiled and looked at Finesse who is also looking at her.
"Let's go to the weapons shop next."
This time, Finesse fully expressed her shock while the two knights looked at me with confusion. Finesse asked me while stuttering.
"W-why? Weapons? W-why do you need that sister?"
"Why do I need that? Well, I need it for hunting in my vacation."
But of course, that is not the reason.
The first magic container that she'll obtain. The [Herculean Strength]. It could give you a crazy amount of strength and power when obtained. And the location of that power is at the top of Mount Ceb in Ceb City.
Mount Ceb is said to be the place where lots of monsters reside and the more you climb, the more dangerous monsters appear. That is why that mountain is one of the 10 dangers in this world.
Usually, Jane could never imagine climbing that mountain alone but now it's different.
'I got one of the strongest beings in the world beside me. Why should I be scared?'
As she thought about that she heard the young voice in her head.
• Why would you need a weapon when you already have me?
Jane smiled at the child's statement. Of course, she has no plans to fight monsters, she will leave that to the black beast but once she obtained the power of [Herculean Strength], she will immediately head to the next location of the other magic container that had something to do with the sword.
Jane started to walk towards the weapons store and tries to look around. Finesse looked at Jane with a worried expression. Jane noticed it and smiled at her. Jane's smile made Finesse feel a bit better but could not fully get rid of her worries.
Jane stopped in front of a store that sells a lot of swords and smiled. The owner of the store noticed Jane and greeted her.
"Welcome! Are you perhaps interested in swords young lady?"
"Yes I do, and I wanted to buy one. Please show me the best sword you have."
The shop owner looked at me with interest and started to caress his mustache.
"Oh? What kind of sword?"
"Ah, a sword that knights normally use, please show me the best one."
The owner looked at Jane with a surprised expression but returned back to normal as if he understands.
"Hoho, is it for your lover? Is he a knight or something?"
Jane smirked at the store owner and declared.
"No sir, it's for me."
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone