"I swear, you are the absolute bane of my existence! What if you made me stupid?! Answer me, you bastard!"
Roche clutched her head, rambling angrily at Li Ke while aggressively gnawing on a chicken leg.
Thanks to the healing properties of Li Ke's dragon fire, Roche's head injury had mended almost instantly. However, the impact had hurt so badly it initially left her speechless, and she had spent a good while chasing Li Ke down to get even.
Fortunately, as long as there was an abundance of food on the table, Roche didn't hold a grudge for long.
"Uh, look... how about you get to decide what we eat for the entire next month?" Li Ke offered, shifting uncomfortably. He felt thoroughly guilty, knowing full well that Roche only got hurt because he had let his success get to his head.
"Now that's more like it!" Roche slammed her hand down heavily on the table.
But right on cue, Ruohua chimed in. "The problem is, aren't we supposed to be heading to the Grand Flores for our training? For the next month, won't most of our meals just be wild campfires and trail rations?"
Hearing this, Roche's pacified expression instantly warped back into a highly dangerous glare.
"About that, I was thinking you two could just spar with me for the time being," Li Ke quickly interjected. "We can rent a training hall right here in Hendon Myre. Given your current strength levels, you probably can't beat me anyway, and I happen to need some time to polish a few of my own techniques."
Li Ke had recently acquired the training methods of both the Blade Master and the Asura, alongside Agamemno's insights on Awakening. He had absolutely no intention of blindly testing these out in the wilderness. Training inside a controlled hall meant walking away with a few bruises at worst; testing unpolished skills against wild monsters in the forest was just asking to get killed.
They had plenty of money, ample time, and a clear direction for their training. It simply wasn't time to head out into the wild yet.
"But what about the funds for renting a hall...?" Ruohua started to ask, but she helplessly shut her mouth the moment Li Ke fished a massive gold bar out of his pocket.
Unlike the video game where players tossed around hundreds of millions of gold pieces like pocket change, a few thousand gold pieces in this real world was a fortune a commoner couldn't hope to accumulate in a lifetime. A few tens of thousands of gold pieces could buy a legendary weapon, or even a so-called Epic weapon. After all, in this era, the vast majority of Epic weapons were treated as ancient, legendary relics.
The single gold bar sitting in Li Ke's hand would take Ruohua at least three years of nonstop mercenary work to earn—and that was assuming she never got injured, never replaced her clothes, and never bought any supplies or rations during those three years.
"You really are something else..." Ruohua bit her lip. She had always prided herself on being self-reliant.
"Why are you still drawing such hard lines between us? Besides, I genuinely need a training partner. Consider this your salary for the job, especially since I don't even know where to buy training gear around here," Li Ke said, wagging a finger at Ruohua to tell her not to stress over it before smoothly pressing the gold bar into her palm.
He had smuggled a massive haul of gold bars out of the Demon Slayer world. He had a literal backpack stuffed full of them. If his backpack hadn't been specially reinforced by the system, the sheer weight would have torn the straps right off.
Only someone with his monstrous physical strength could carry that much gold around as casually as if he were lugging around a few school textbooks.
"...I honestly don't even know what to say to you anymore," Ruohua sighed. She knew Li Ke well enough to know he wouldn't take the money back. Yet, holding the cold weight of the gold bar made her face burn intensely. It felt like if she kept accepting things like this, she would completely become his property.
And yet...
Looking at Li Ke's grinning face and that vibrant, almost predatory tongue of his, Ruohua couldn't help but look away, her heart hammering as she muttered to herself.
As if there's any difference between now and then anyway... Good grief, have I really become this shameless?
The mere memory of that rough tongue tracing over her delicate flower petals sent a sudden, involuntary shiver running straight down her spine.
"Fine. You never listen to me anyway," Ruohua relented, trying to steady her voice. "We actually don't need to purchase heavy training equipment. We can just go to the training hall run by Master Pungjin. His rates are very cheap, and you don't have to pay any extra fees even if you completely smash the wooden training posts or stone pillars—Master Pungjin's disciples replace them all for free. That being said, we should probably buy a few personal training accessories."
Li Ke nodded, while Roche instinctively clutched her coin purse, a flicker of awkwardness crossing her face.
The money she had was all given to her by Li Ke. While it was more than enough to cover her meals, using it to buy specialized training gear was a different story...
As for simply using Li Ke's money freely the way Ruohua did?
Roche knew exactly why Ruohua was comfortable doing that—the two of them were basically already a couple. She wasn't thick-skinned enough to just copy her.
"Alright, we'll head over right after we finish buying the property," Li Ke said, nodding as he swallowed his last spoonful of soup.
Once they finished their meal, the group headed straight to the building Li Ke had scouted earlier. After tracking down the owner and explaining their intent to buy, the landlord didn't waste any time and escorted Li Ke directly to city hall.
To Li Ke's surprise, buying property here was incredibly cheap. The government had actually implemented standardized, mandatory pricing that private citizens were strictly forbidden from changing on a whim! This wasn't just some unspoken local custom, either; it was an official decree passed down by Her Majesty, Queen Skardi, specifically to prevent predatory buyers from strong-arming vulnerable homeowners into selling at dirt-cheap prices, thereby protecting the interests of the common people.
The actual transaction process turned out to be rather tedious. Professional city clerks had to be dispatched to thoroughly assess the property's physical value, forcing Li Ke to wait around for quite a while.
However, remembering the state of Hendon Myre—where you couldn't walk two steps without running into street urchins and sketchy thugs—Li Ke quickly came to understand the necessity of the policy.
Even with the controlled pricing, the purchase still drained thirteen of his gold bars. But the trip also yielded a useful piece of information: the Bel Myre municipal government allowed citizens to exchange gold bars for official currency. The exchange rates were pegged directly to the current month's market value, making it exceptionally fair, barring a minor processing fee.
"Well, this Queen certainly has a sharp head for business," Li Ke couldn't help but mutter as they finally stepped out of city hall.
"Of course she does. Bel Myre has always been the capital of commerce, and Queen Skardi herself comes from a wealthy merchant family," the seller explained, letting out a weary sigh. He cast an envious glance at Li Ke, and then at Seria standing by his side.
Initially, he had assumed Li Ke was buying the property for himself. Discovering that the young man was actually purchasing it entirely for the girl beside him instantly sparked a massive wave of envy in the older man's chest.
"Regrettably, this city is a haven only for victors; it has no room to spare for those who fail. If it weren't for... Ah, never mind. Young man, we're officially squared away. I'll throw in the tables, chairs, and benches inside the house for free."
The seller sighed heavily, looking as though he wanted to say more but ultimately swallowed his words. He climbed into his carriage and drove away, his retreating figure radiating a distinct aura of loneliness.
"That uncle looked like it really broke his heart to let the place go," Roche murmured, watching the man's somber departure.
"Yeah. In business, you win some and you lose some. Still, I really didn't expect Her Majesty to be such a seasoned expert in market dynamics," Li Ke mused, thoughtfully rubbing his chin. He could clearly see how both of Queen Skardi's policies were specifically tailored to safeguard the Bel Myre Principality.
Because merchants flocked here from all corners of the world, allowing property values to skyrocket out of control would deter new businesses from settling down. It would also invite gang interference and encourage people to resort to illegal, strong-arm tactics. By enforcing a government-mandated price ceiling and processing the entire transaction through official clerks, it added a bit of bureaucratic red tape, but it drastically minimized the chances of thuggish syndicates showing up at a homeowner's doorstep to extort them.
Naturally, the system had its downsides, but considering this was a pure commercial capital, it was about as good as it could get.
"What do you mean by all that?" Roche asked, her massive eyes blinking with an aura of pure, unadulterated ignorance.
Staring at her face—gloriously unpolluted by the burden of higher education—Li Ke gave her a pitying pat on the head. "There's a good girl. Go be stupid somewhere else."
"I'll bite you to death!"
Furious, Roche instantly lunged forward and clamped her teeth firmly onto Li Ke's arm, causing him to let out a sharp yelp of pain.
"Are you a literal dog?!"
Li Ke repeatedly shook his arm, desperately trying to pry Roche's jaws open, but his efforts were entirely futile—she wouldn't budge!
Their noisy commotion quickly shattered the peaceful, dignified atmosphere of city hall, instantly drawing the attention of numerous onlookers. Among them was a woman standing on the second-floor balcony, casually taking in the view.
"Who are they...?"
Draped in exceptionally luxurious robes, Queen Skardi—who had inherited the throne following the untimely death of her husband—gazed down at Li Ke and Roche with genuine curiosity. She couldn't help but linger on the pair for a moment, her expression turning slightly blank at the comical, vicious faces they were making at one another.
"Your Majesty, shall I have them escorted away?"
A female swordswoman standing beside Queen Skardi spoke up. She watched as Li Ke finally managed to peel Roche off his hand, only to immediately exact his revenge by pinching her cheeks, all while Roche relentlessly kicked at his shins.
"No need, it's just two youngsters fooling around," Skardi replied smoothly, not taking the display to heart. However, looking at Li Ke's robust, muscular physique, and then at Seria, whose eyes practically overflowed with deep affection, the Queen couldn't help but let out a soft sigh.
Her husband had passed away at a very young age, leaving her without a child. Ever since she inherited the crown, her days had been entirely consumed by stabilizing the political climate or locked in endless negotiations with various powerful factions.
While she had never once regretted marrying her husband, deep in her heart, she still yearned for a romance of her own.
Seeing Li Ke and Seria, who were so obviously a devoted couple, a sudden pang of envy struck her chest.
Yet, she knew her reality. She was a ruler. From the very first day she sat on that throne, she was destined to never let her guard down.
"What is the Empire's current stance? Have they caused any more trouble?" Seeing that the Queen was no longer paying attention to Li Ke and Roche, the swordswoman naturally pivoted back to her official duties.
"They haven't actively caused any trouble, but a strange new shift has emerged along the Bel Myre defensive line. Word has it that some sort of 'Otherverse' rift has appeared..."