Joining Up?

Our little conversation ended the moment we arrive at the general goods store.

Well, I suppose I would ask Erina later on when we finish shopping.

But upon entering the shop, I have no idea what had to be bought at all. I mean all of this was Erina's idea, after all, she's the person who told me to buy things for my basic necessity.

"Umm… what are the stuff that I would be needing?" I ask Erina that.

She replied, "Probably stuff like toothbrush or soap." She answered while looking around inside the shop. "I'm not sure if you need these but there is also shampoo here too so just take whatever your body needs," said Erina as she looked through the shelves of different types of items.

"Ah understand... So it's something similar to those hygiene products?" I asked again if there was other basic stuff that I need, as I mention about clothing.

Erina shook her head lightly before answering, "No, you don't really need any clothes for now as what you wearing right now should be sufficient, plus clothes cost money as in this place. All clothes are custom made by each individual, even though they're mass-produced, making them more expensive than usual ones..."

Hearing Erina say 'expensive' makes me think how much I have spent since coming into this world. Well, I didn't exactly go out buying anything yet but 1000 credits is surely not that many.

So it might not be the best time to look for clothes then... But still, why can't I get some new clothes from somewhere else? Like maybe a market stall where people sell their used clothing and accessories?

It'll probably be cheaper than getting one customized here. But I doubt such stuff exists because if it exists, I'm sure Erina already mention it.

Asking Erina once more whether there was another option left aside from buying clothes here will only make her annoyed again, so instead of doing that, I decided to wait until we finished our shopping here.

While Erina picks up the stuff for me, I simply stand behind her back observing every single thing within reach. I mean I am sure Erina is picking the good stuff for me, like she was here before me!

It took us quite a long to find everything that we needed especially because Erina insisted on having quality over quantity. Like I ask whether it's cheap as she should be aware that I don't have that much money.

But Erina insists saying that she wouldn't mind paying the extra amount if it means a better product.

I am glad that she would cover for it but that means I am using all of my money just for buying basic necessities. And well, I guess I won't be able to do anything about it now. Because if I refuse, Erina will definitely argue with me and end up being mad at me. After all, I did agree to let Erina choose most of the stuff that I need.

The problem starts when we finally reached the counter to pay for the stuff that we got.

Because the cashiers said that all of the items together are worth over 1500 credits which makes me wonder what kind of prices those common household goods actually sold here.

Is this the standard price for these types of stores? Or is this the normal retail price of each item? Or probably because it is a quality product and that's why they charge more?

Anyway, I handed Erina my keycard. As expected, Erina has paid for almost half of the total sum that I have given her. The rest were mine.

And I know that it is not fair to leave this whole burden on Erina alone, but I couldn't help myself but just follow as I don't have enough money to pay for it.

I mean I could just say that we should pick a cheap product first and work our way down to more expensive stuff. That would solve the issue of budgeting. However, Erina refuses to listen to me.

She insists that she wants to get me high-quality stuff right away.

After finishing paying, we walked outside the store as Erina give me back my keycard.

Then, Erina started talking again, "You see? This is how it works. You spend your own money to buy whatever you want. If ever we run out of money, then all we need to do is earn more of it!"

Wait... That's totally the wrong way to do things!

Like I understand now that Erina is a big money spender. Which explains why she always wanted to go shopping.

Even though she knows that I don't have much money, she still insists on going shopping. And because of that reason, I ended up spending almost all of my savings in this world that I just received.

I feel like I really shouldn't follow everything that Erina has been doing because now I left with no money left. At least, I hope that I haven't.

However, I cannot afford to complain about it anymore either. In fact, I am thankful to Erina for letting me use her credit card for this.

I guess the only choice I have now was to look for a way to earn money quickly. Although I am unsure whether there's an opportunity available for me to do so.

Just then, Erina suddenly stopped walking and turned around to face me. Her eyes are staring straight at me, asking me whether I heard her.

"...What?" I reply.

Erina sigh deeply before replying, "You don't pay attention to anything I've been telling you, do you?"

Her tone is filled with anger and exasperation, which makes me confused as to what I should answer next.

Ah! Probably I just space out just now as I am thinking about what happened earlier. I am sure that I didn't hear anything from her just now.

Erina looks angry, "...Do you remember what I told you?"

This time, I am certain that I didn't miss out on hearing what she said.

"About what?" I ask again, hoping that she will tell me what she meant.

"I'm asking you whether you wanted to join my faction… the adventurer faction as it does pay well and the job is fun! Recommend you to join plus it would be nice to have you around me." Erina answers.

"Why would I want to become an adventurer?!" I exclaimed loudly.

There are plenty of reasons why I would never want to be an adventurer. One of the biggest problems is the fact that adventurers usually die. But to be honest, I don't really think there's much to do in this world because it looks like everything here was already nice and done.

Although it doesn't seem that way to me. It feels like there's nothing interesting happening anywhere... no danger whatsoever.

"Well... becoming an adventurer isn't bad per se. I'm sure that there are tons of benefits that come along with it. For example, I can learn more skills without having to pay for the training fee, which will eventually increase my chances of surviving in the battle against monsters. Also, the guild gives a lot of rewards to its members depending on their achievements, so it would be easy for me to get rich if I manage to accumulate enough credits," explained Erina.

Forget about learning new skills, what surprises me is that we need to fight the monster. Like isn't the monster could delete us meaning kill us instantly?! Isn't it best to just stay inside the city?

Also, the reward that Erina mentioned sounds great, but the risk that came along with it is too risky for me. There's no guarantee that I can survive if I decide to try joining the adventurer faction.

"Could you explain why we need to fight the monster? Like it could delete us.... like the point of this city is to protect us from that monster." I question Erina.

Erina sighed once more, "If we defeat the enemy, then we could expand the city. You do aware that there are a lot of characters who get sent here and this city couldn't really handle them all or would I say fit all of them? We need to build more rooms in order to accommodate everyone."

That's true, I thought. I mean, there's a limit to how many people can live in this tiny city. Especially when the number of people keeps increasing every day.

"To be honest, I am not interested in fighting monsters. Besides, I have no intention to become an adventurer. Not to mention that I have absolutely zero knowledge about this world... so I probably wanted to take time to think," I answered honestly.

Erina nodded, "Yes, that's fine. Don't worry, I understand. But you don't have to rush yourself to figure out your life plan here. Take your time, relax, and enjoy this city for a bit longer. But you don't have any money so it's better you hurry up and start earning money soon. Otherwise, you can't survive here at all."

Now I understood Erina's words and why she force me to use all of my money today. She just using me to make me join up her faction. What a fearsome lady she is.