Chapter 8

Hearing Rain's words, the dwarf's smile diminished somewhat.

His gaze swept over Rain, noticing that he had come in empty-handed, without even a single piece of luggage, and he muttered under his breath.

Raising his hand to scratch his scalp, the dwarf replied, "There are double rooms at the back of the inn, reasonably priced at 8 copper risos per day. But I think you wouldn't want to share a room with someone else. The rooms on the second floor are more suitable for you, 12 copper risos per day. If you stay long-term, I can give you a discount."

Rain nodded, acknowledging that the dwarf had read him correctly; he indeed did not want to share a room with anyone else.

"How long do I need to stay to get the discount?"

"At least half a month."

The dwarf picked up the beer on the counter and took a large gulp, the liquid and foam wetting the beard around his mouth. He wiped it off with his hand without a care and continued, "If you stay for half a month, I'll only charge you 150 copper risos, and I'll provide a free breakfast every day."

Rain did not respond immediately.

As the dwarf lifted his beer glass, something at his waist caught Rain's attention.

If he hadn't seen it wrong, it was a gun!

Guns existed in this world, with formidable power, and they had a special name: "Soul Gun," a very precious weapon.

The appearance of a Soul Gun was extremely similar to a pistol on Earth, but there were significant differences.

The principle of their destructive power was similar, but Soul Guns used a special type of bullet. The user had to possess soul power or other supernatural abilities to fire, and each shot consumed the user's soul power. This made Soul Guns unable to be used on a large scale like guns on Earth. Giving a Soul Gun to an ordinary person would be less useful than a dagger.

In fact, in recent years, a new extraordinary profession had emerged in the empire, called "Gunner," who primarily used Soul Guns as their main combat weapon, and it was quite popular.

Dwarves had a longer history of using Soul Guns, and the famous "Dwarf Musketeers" were well-known to almost everyone.

However, Rain had never heard of a Soul Gun that ordinary people could use.

In other words, this world did not have gunpowder!

Was this possible?

Rain suppressed his doubts, not lingering on the dwarf's Soul Gun, and nodded, "Then I'll stay for half a month."

Besides the reasonable price, this inn had another advantage: it was not far from the Justice Cathedral. If there were any Fallen to be judged, he could promptly go there to absorb souls once the bell rang.

"Alright, a deposit of 200 copper risos, with any excess refunded."

The dwarf, having made a deal, became cheerful and took another sip of beer.

In Rain's eyes, the dwarf's soul changed from white to light green. He smiled inwardly, took out two 100 copper riso bills from his pocket, and handed them over.

The dwarf opened a book on the counter, preparing to register.

"My name is Rain." Rain volunteered his name, and the dwarf scribbled a few strokes, replying, "I'm Zoltan Winestone, the owner of this inn. If you need anything, you can come find me, or let the staff relay the message."

After saying that, Zoltan threw the book under the counter, pulled out a set of keys, and led Rain up the stairs to the side.

The entire second floor had over a dozen rooms, most of which were occupied.

Rain chose a room on the street side. The layout was very simple, similar to the apartment he had previously stayed in. Fortunately, the floor's soundproofing was decent, and the noise from the lobby below was much weaker here.

Zoltan handed the room key to Rain and, before leaving, suddenly asked, "Rain, do you know how to play cards?"

Rain was taken aback, "No, why?"

"Pity."

Zoltan regretfully shook his head, his hair, which resembled a rooster's comb, swaying. He said, "Many of my inn's guests come specifically to play cards, and my inn is quite famous in the Rien district. There might even be a card club formed in the future. If you want to play cards, just find me. I have a complete set of cards, including many rare ones, and the prices are guaranteed to satisfy you."

Rain understood; this dwarf owner was a seasoned card player, running an inn while also dealing in card games.

"Alright, I'll consider it."

Rain politely declined; he had no interest in playing cards right now.

Zoltan said no more and returned to the first-floor lobby.

Rain closed the door, lay down on the bed, and immediately opened his phone interface to check the two icons he had just activated.

The first icon looked like a plant, with several leaves and a main stem, but instead of a flower at the top, there was a strange, twisted head. The face was very abstract, making it hard to tell if it was a monster or some other creature, and it looked a bit scary.

Rain remembered that this app was previously used to identify plants, so why had it changed to this?

He opened the icon and fiddled with it for a moment but found no use for it.

Closing this, which might be some kind of encyclopedia, Rain opened the second icon.

This icon was much simpler and clearer, resembling a three-dimensional bullet. When Rain opened it, a list of options immediately appeared, each displayed as a smaller icon.

Seeing the mini icons, Rain almost jumped out of bed.

He was very familiar with these icons.

It turned out to be a gun disassembly game that Rain had downloaded!

This was a mobile game from abroad, with very few players, and it was quite niche. Rain had played it because he had studied mechanical engineering in college. Although he did not pursue a career in the field after graduation, he had always been interested in mechanics and had played many mechanical-themed games, including this one.

The gameplay was simple.

It provided hundreds of three-dimensional models of firearms, and players had to disassemble them in the correct order into a pile of parts and then reassemble them, timing the entire process to compete for speed with other players.

The game included a wide variety of firearms, from pistols, rifles, and submachine guns to several heavy artillery pieces.

Rain opened the top option, and sure enough, a three-dimensional model of a pistol appeared.

As his gaze moved, the pistol slowly rotated and then quickly disassembled, turning into a pile of parts in less than half a minute. He did not immediately reassemble it but carefully examined the parts, magnifying them to display their parameters and materials.

If Rain wished, he could maintain the parts' state and use them as a reference to manufacture real parts.

Rain counted and found that there were only about twenty types of gun structures.

"These are all the guns I've played with in the game."

He had only recently started playing the game and had not unlocked all the three-dimensional models, possibly not even a tenth of the total, which was quite disappointing.

But it was enough.

Rain did not know if this world had gunpowder, if it could be used, or if bullets could be manufactured. If not, all this would be in vain, and even ten thousand gun structures would be useless.

Moreover, he believed that even if he could manufacture guns, they would only serve as transitional weapons.

The world of Alrenus had supernatural powers, and the power of firearms had limits. They were external objects, far inferior to possessing power within oneself. Ultimately, he still aimed to achieve his own power!

However, if he could manufacture a gun, it would be enough to seek revenge on Ramsey and Esberg.

Ramsey was an ordinary person, and one shot would take him down.

Esberg might be more troublesome, but he was only a low-level extraordinary being, and firearms could still cause him fatal injuries. As long as he found the right opportunity to shoot him in the dark, Rain did not believe he could withstand it.

He immediately got up and went downstairs, where Zoltan was sitting behind the counter, counting a stack of cards.

"Boss, give me a cup of Lava Castle Black Beer."

Rain sat down at the counter, took out a copper riso, and ordered the cheapest drink.

Zoltan carefully put away the cards, opened the valve of the barrel behind him, and filled a large cup of black beer, placing it in front of Rain and taking the copper coin.

The cool beer refreshed Rain, and he comfortably burped.

"This beer is good. Is it really made from black wheat from Lava Castle?" Lava Castle was a famous dwarf fortress located in the World Mountains, far from the empire.

Zoltan chuckled but did not answer.

Rain tactfully did not press further, drinking the beer while casually chatting with the dwarf.

After a while, Rain found it hard to continue the conversation; they had no common topics.

Zoltan's talk was almost entirely about the All-Soul Cards, to the point of obsession. Besides boasting about his card skills, he was trying hard to invite Rain to play cards, even offering to sell him a set of beginner cards at a discount.

"Cards, cards..." Rain mentally ranted, "I'll play your head!"

He quickly finished the last sip of beer and directly asked, "Zoltan, do you know where I can buy alchemical materials nearby? Preferably a wide variety. I want to buy some things."

"Kid, are you an alchemist or an alchemy apprentice?" Zoltan looked at Rain suspiciously.

Alchemists were not extraordinary professions, and ordinary people could also do them, but it was a very mysterious profession. Alchemy had wide applications, from manufacturing weapons and equipment to brewing magic potions and enchanting, and many official alchemists were extraordinary beings and members of the Alchemy Association.

The Alchemy Association was the top power in the empire, and almost no one dared to provoke it.

"Neither. I just want to buy some materials for personal use."

Rain knew nothing about alchemy. He had tried to learn it in college but failed the basic entrance exam and did not obtain the qualification of an alchemy apprentice.

Zoltan thought for a moment and whispered, "Tell me what materials you need, and I can get them for you cheaper than the Alchemy Association, but you can't tell anyone."

Rain was somewhat surprised.

From this, it seemed that Zoltan was likely an alchemist and engaged in underground business.

"I need many types of materials, some of which I can't name. Can I see them first?" Rain knew the method of making gunpowder and the raw materials needed, but he did not know what they were called in Alrenus and needed to see them to match them.

"Alright." Zoltan called a staff member, gave him some instructions, and said to Rain, "Follow me."