Chapter 26

After finishing the purchase of equipment, we headed towards the inn. For low-rank adventurers, inns typically offer only a basic bed without meals. However, even after buying the equipment, we still had a considerable amount of money left.

The total amount of money that Nina and I have is: 87 gold coins, 345 silver coins, 58 half-silver coins, and 86 copper coins. A typical family of four in the village can live comfortably for a month with just one gold coin.

We have earned a significant amount of money through activities like hunting thieves, selling monster materials and magic orbs, completing quests, and selling the potions I made, which is far more than what ordinary F and E rank adventurers can obtain.

"Yu~ Since we have plenty of money, let's stay at a slightly better inn~"

"…I want to take a bath"

"I understand. The inn should have private rooms with baths and meals included."

Nina and Rena were delighted, saying "Yay~" We had received some recommendations from Colette for inns, so we were heading to one of them, the most expensive one called 'Weather Vane Inn.'

This place costs 8,000 Madoka per person per night with meals included, which is higher than the market rate, but the food is highly recommended, and each room has a private bath.

As the sun began to set and it started to get dark, we arrived at the Weather Vane Inn. The exterior was quite impressive, and the inside was bustling with many people. Even though a basic inn costs 500 Madoka per night and a regular inn costs 3,000 to 5,000 Madoka per night, the fact that this place is so popular suggests that it is indeed a good inn, as Colette had mentioned.

"Welcome! You're cute adventurers, aren't you!"

When we approached the counter, an energetic lady greeted us.

"Three people, 10 days with meals included."

"Sure thing♪ Do you want to stay in the same room? If so, it's 8,000 Madoka per person per night with meals, which totals 24,000 Madoka for three people. For 10 days, it would be…"

"240,000 Madoka, right? Can we pay with 2 gold coins and 4 silver coins?"

"Wow… You look like an adventurer, but are you a noble or a merchant from somewhere?"

In this world, even simple arithmetic seems to be something only merchants or nobles can learn. I thought this was the case, but Nina was also surprised, so I realized I need to teach them arithmetic during our study sessions.

"No, we are just beginners as we look."

"Hmm, are you sure you want to stay in the same room?"

"Room is fu—"

"Together~"

I tried to suggest separate rooms, but Nina interrupted me. Even though Nina keeps saying we need to save money, the fact that we are staying at an inn that costs more than the market rate means that saving money is not really an option. I looked at Rena, but she seemed fine with staying in the same room.

"Sure thing~♪"

I didn't like the suggestive smile the lady gave us, but arguing here would be a waste of time, so I ignored it.

Once we entered the room, we started to take off our equipment. We had been wearing it since we left the village, so it felt good to finally be able to relax.

"Nina, can you give me the magic orbs you carried?"

"Do you mean the complete ones?"

Magic orbs are obtained when defeating monsters, but most of them are fragments and are mainly used as fuel for magic tools. I had a rough idea of what complete magic orbs could do, so I decided to try it out right away.

Despite hunting so many monsters in Ressel Village, we only managed to get 8 complete magic orbs. Even a magic orb from a Rank 1 monster can be sold for one gold coin if it is complete. I had been selling the fragments but keeping the complete ones.

After receiving the magic orbs from Nina, I used the Heal spell on them, or rather, infused them with it. I looked at the magic orb infused with Heal.

Magic Orb (Rank 1): Infused with the power of Heal.

As expected, but the real test is yet to come.

"Is Nina's earring important to you?"

"Not really~"

"…?"

I took the earring from Nina and used alchemy to combine it with the magic orb. Nina looked excited about what was about to happen, and Rena seemed to have no idea what I was doing. The alchemy was successful, and I looked at the earring.

Ordinary Earring (Level 6): Increases HP recovery speed.

"It worked. Nina, can you lend me the other earring?"

I took the other earring and infused the magic orb with the Poison Cure spell. After activating the alchemy, it was also successful, and the earring now had increased poison resistance.

When I explained the skill infusion to Nina, she was overjoyed, her eyes sparkling.

"…Skill infusion on equipment is a secret technique of the Alchemy Guild. It's best not to let others know about it."

Rena seemed quite surprised, and her usual expressionless face was gone. She handed me the triangular hat she bought today.

"…I want a skill infused on my hat."

"Rena has low HP, so increasing HP recovery speed would be good~"

For some reason, it was decided that I would infuse skills on Rena's equipment, but it seems I need to provide the magic orbs. Nina was smiling, the good-natured one…

I performed the skill infusion on Rena's triangular hat to increase HP recovery speed.

"…Thank you."

Rena seemed satisfied and gave a faint smile. We moved on to the next experiment.

This time, I infused the magic orb with the Flame Lance spell. The magic orb shattered.

"What, why~"

"…I have an idea."

Rena seemed to understand. The Flame Lance spell is a 2nd Tier spell, and the magic orb is Rank 1. It's probably because the rank of the magic orb and the spell don't match, causing it to shatter. When we get a Rank 2 magic orb, we need to experiment with infusing 2nd Tier spells and see if we can infuse two 1st Tier spells… It might require 'Alchemy LV3' or higher for 2nd Tier spells, so I should work on raising my skill level through daily potion making.

After that, I infused Nina's 'Steel Dagger' with a Fireball-infused magic orb to give it a fire attribute. For the other 'Steel Knife,' I left it as is because there might be monsters with strong attributes.

We continued our experiments, and the day passed by.