In the end, under the assumption that this young man had left his family under some odd circumstances, Mage Lian handed Michael some money before leaving.
10 gold coins and 30 silver.
Now alone, Michael found a quiet corner in a restaurant and finally took a proper look at the pouch. Find adventures at My Virtual Library Empire
He counted the coins carefully.
“A gold coin?”
[Gold Coin – Kingdom of Lionheart Currency]
There was no further explanation.
Not that he needed one. The coin’s appearance alone made its purpose clear.
Money.
However, what he wasn’t sure of was how valuable these coins actually were.
It wasn’t that he doubted their value—far from it.
Given the way Mage Lian treated him, he doubted the old mage would give him something too small to be useful or too large to seem excessive.
But that was just his assumption.
Who knew what kind of person Mage Lian really was?
Michael had only known him for a few hours.
Still, if the rules of value in this world were similar to those in Aurora or Earth, then gold and silver had to be worth quite a lot.
“Excuse me, sir. Is there something you’d like to order?”
A voice interrupted his thoughts.
Michael looked up.
A young woman stood before him, dressed in a black gown with a white inner lining, giving off the air of a noble attendant.
She wasn’t the only one dressed this way—all the staff in the restaurant, regardless of gender, were similarly well-dressed.
It was a small but clear sign.
This restaurant wasn’t ordinary.
Of course, that much should’ve been obvious—this was the inner city of the capital.
Anyone who could set foot in this region was capable.
Not everyone was a scam like him.
Michael thought for a moment, then responded.
“What do you offer here?”
Still maintaining her professional smile, the attendant gracefully listed the dishes along with their prices.
Michael’s expression didn’t change, but internally, he was frowning.
Every single dish was priced in silver.
Did that mean there was no lower currency?
Was silver just that common, or was it the weakest form of currency here?
Or…
Was this restaurant just that high-end?
It was in the inner city, after all.
Michael had tested the silver coins in his pouch. They were real.
He refused to believe they were so common that even a casual meal demanded silver.
In the end, he ordered a dish worth three silver coins.
One, he was curious about the food.
Two, it was one of the cheapest options available.
Fortunately, his order didn’t seem unusual—or maybe the attendant was just too good at hiding her reaction.
Either way, Michael wasn’t about to spend money carelessly.
He was broke.
Until Mage Lian helped him, he could almost smell it.
As he waited for his food after paying—ignoring the attendant who lingered a little longer than necessary, probably expecting a tip—Michael reorganized his thoughts.
He wasn’t sure how long he’d stay in the capital city, but even after dealing with the monster issue, he had a feeling it would take some time.
Thanks to Mage Lian being a good host, Michael had learned about some of the notable establishments in the capital.
Among them, two stood out—the Hunters Guild and the Adventurers Guild.
Between the two, Michael was a little more familiar with the latter.
Though Mage Lian hadn’t gone into much detail—probably expecting Michael to be “aware” of common knowledge—he had still managed to piece together some useful information.
First, the Adventurers Guild was exactly what he had expected—a place where individuals, known as adventurers, accepted quests in exchange for payment.
The Hunters Guild, on the other hand, functioned more like a hunting club. They gathered information about monsters, had people eliminate them, paid a small fee, and then purchased the corpses for their own purposes.
Of the two, the Hunters Guild seemed far more dangerous—but also far more appealing.
If there was one thing attractive to any Awakener, it was experience points.
And from what he gathered, the Hunters Guild seemed like the perfect place to provide exactly that.
If they had information on monster gatherings or particularly powerful creatures, then the speed at which he could gain experience in the Land of Origin might actually compare to—or even surpass—his rate of growth in the real world.
The Land of Origin lacked certain advantages the Federation had, but it also possessed opportunities that the Federation didn’t.
However, it was too soon to judge.
Still, Michael had already made his decision. After this meal, he was heading straight to the Hunters Guild.
It was located outside the inner city, but thankfully, Mage Lian had not only given him money but also a token that allowed him free access between the inner and outer city.
As for why both the Hunters Guild and the Adventurers Guild were located outside the inner city, Michael figured it was a matter of accessibility.
After all, the inner city wasn’t a place just anyone could enter.
Michael’s situation was a bit different.
The honest truth was—even without Mage Lian’s intervention—entering the inner city wouldn’t have been an issue for him if he had chosen to reveal his power.
With power came status.
But there were far too many things that could go wrong with that approach.
Not that his current situation was completely problem-free, but so far, things had been going smoothly—no major issues yet.
“The Adventurers Guild and Hunters Guild are also good ways to integrate better into this world. Aside from that, they can serve as a steady source of income.”
The more Michael thought about it, the more convinced he became that his current direction was the best—at least for now.
As he continued pondering, his thoughts drifted between various matters—his future in the Land of Origin, his real-world circumstances, and even more pressing concerns like his undead and the corpses he had left behind in Evermoon Forest.
Before he knew it, he had been lost in thought for quite some time.
It wasn’t until the aroma of freshly prepared food reached him that he realized his meal had finally arrived.