Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"So, are you going to pay the whole rent now, or are you planning to do it later?" The innkeeper, showing a slight smile, asked. With 70 bronze coins altogether, he could purchase many things he needed for the inn and to attract new customers at the same time save some money too.

Haruto got lost in thought for a moment, as he didn't exactly remember how much rent this innkeeper charged. He didn't want to take out too much money right in front of him. "How much is it going to be? I'll pay after dinner, if that's alright?"

The innkeeper beamed inwardly and said, "Sure, that's fine. The total rent for you is going to be 70 bronze coins." At this point he wouldn't even care, if the man in front of him were to pay rent after a week.

'That's 10 bronze coins for each day. I don't know if that's too much or too little, but I'll find out after I see what price I can get for the monster core,' Haruto thought. With that in mind, he nodded at the innkeeper and asked, "Anyway, is there a clothing shop here? I had to give away my shirt to a certain someone, and that was the only shirt I had."

"Give away?" The innkeeper raised an eyebrow, his curiosity piqued by Haruto's mention of giving away his shirt. However, he didn't press for details, as he had heard of adventurers losing pieces of clothing in slime dungeons due to their acidic attacks.

"Well, do you know of any?" Haruto asked again. He didn't want to stand there shirtless in front of an old man. 'Well, if it was Mrs. Aleena, I don't think I would have minded,' he thought, but he quickly suppressed that idea, as his current body was in no condition to be flaunted in front of beautiful women.

"A clothing shop, eh? There's Fiona's place, just down the street. Turn left at the blacksmith's forge, and you'll see a small shop with a sign shaped like a needle and thread. She probably has everything you'll like, except something that allows you to show your body naked," the innkeeper chuckled gruffly, eyeing Haruto's bare torso. "And if you're looking to sell those monster cores, which I guess you've hunted quite a bit, you can head to the adventurer's guild in our village." Since Haruto had asked him about dungeons and such that early in the morning, the innkeeper thought he might need help with other things as well.

Pushing every bit of information into his mind, Haruto calculated his finances, which were around 6 silver coins and 21 bronze coins, along with the two slime cores he could sell. With all that, he figured he had enough to cover the inn's rent and possibly buy a new shirt, or even a new outfit altogether.

"Thanks for all the info," Haruto said, offering a polite smile. "I think I'll head there after grabbing some food. Speaking of which, is dinner ready soon?"

The innkeeper gestured toward the door behind him. "Aleena's finishing up in the kitchen; it should be ready in half an hour. Same as breakfast—5 bronze coins for a plate."

Haruto's stomach growled at the mention of food, and the thought of seeing the busty beauty once again sparked a flicker of interest, though he quickly pushed it aside. Suddenly, he had a great idea to start a conversation with her, but for now, focusing on the man in front of him, he said, "Sounds great, I'll be back for that." He turned to head upstairs to his room.

As he climbed the creaky wooden stairs, Haruto's mind raced. Earlier that morning, listening to Bruno and his friend, he had believed that to see an adventurer's guild, he would need to go to a big town or something. But here in this small village, an adventurer's guild existed. If this world followed the isekai tropes, he might get more information about this world and monsters from there, which would have otherwise given him a headache.

Back in his room, Haruto lay down on the bed after taking out the two slime cores, rolling them in his palm and feeling nothing but coldness from the stones. "Seems like there's nothing extraordinary about them, or are they just too low level to show anything?" With isekai tropes in his mind, Haruto had thought that with the monster cores' help, he could strengthen himself as well, but nothing of the sort seemed to be happening.

Or perhaps one needs to be a mage to use the monster cores as a supplement? That too was a possibility; however, Haruto immediately pushed that thought aside and decided to get washed up first.

After a quick wash using the basin in the corner, Haruto sat back down on the bed and called out, "Status."

The translucent screen once again opened up in front of him. "Let's see, is there any storage space icon?" he mumbled, as before going down, he wanted to take out the coins so he wouldn't have to show the system's tricks in front of others.

After clicking on the icon and finding the storage space, he took out two silver coins, as that was probably going to be enough, he guessed. Then he headed out of the room. Dinner was still not ready according to the innkeeper for which he appologised, so he decided to head out first.

The village was quiet in the late afternoon, with only a few villagers milling about, and the beast-people from earlier nowhere to be seen.

"That's the blacksmith's forge," Haruto noted, seeing the blacksmith's forge, as its chimney was puffing faint smoke continuously. He turned left from there and found the clothing shop the old innkeeper had talked about—it was a modest wooden building with a faded needle and thread sign swinging gently in the breeze.

Ding..

As Haruto pushed open the door and walked in, a bell chimed. Inside, a woman dressed in a black outfit that matched her eyes and hair looked up from a pile of fabric. "Welcome, how can i help you?"