"Wow! The walls are so tall and huge!" Roxy looked up at the massive city walls before her, her eyes full of shock.
Honestly, the walls of the royal capital Ars might be the tallest and largest in the entire world. After all, it was the world's number-one superpower—this much prestige was necessary.
Outside the walls were crowds of people waiting to enter the city.
From what the people ahead were saying, it turned out that someone wanted by the Adventurers' Guild had tried to sneak into Ars amid the crowd but was stopped by the soldiers at the gate.
In the end, the person was surrounded by a group of soldiers and escorted to the Adventurers' Guild.
Letting someone that dangerous into Ars would likely cause unimaginable chaos.
Dan Feng, meanwhile, quietly read a book while waiting for their turn.
After an unknown amount of waiting, it was finally their turn to register and enter the city.
Once inside, the two handed the horse over to the person managing the stables at the gate and paid for a period of boarding.
When they stepped onto the extremely spacious main street, both of them paused for a moment in surprise.
"As expected of the royal capital of the world's greatest nation—the streets are this wide!" Roxy's eyes curiously scanned the surroundings. Then, as if spotting something, she ran off in that direction.
Seeing Roxy head that way, Dan Feng followed after her.
"Excuse me, what is this?" Roxy asked, sniffing the skewered meatballs roasting on the stand, drawn in by the enticing aroma.
"Little miss, want one? These are really delicious meatballs~" The vendor smiled warmly at Roxy, greeting her enthusiastically.
Roxy's gaze was fixed on the fragrant, steaming skewers. She swallowed involuntarily, hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded. "Mm, then I'll take one skewer."
The vendor quickly took a hot, sizzling skewer from the grill and handed it to Roxy.
Roxy accepted the skewer and was about to take a bite when she suddenly seemed to remember something. She turned to Dan Feng beside her and asked, "Dan Feng, do you want one too? It really smells amazing!"
When Dan Feng heard Roxy's question, he immediately shook his head. He felt the price-to-value ratio wasn't worth it.
He gave a reassuring smile and gently shook his head again. "No thanks, I'm not hungry."
Seeing this, Roxy didn't insist further and turned her attention back to the meatball in her hand.
At that moment, the vendor smiled and said to Roxy, "Little miss, this skewer costs one large copper coin."
Roxy couldn't help but exclaim upon hearing that, "The prices here are so expensive!"
She muttered to herself inwardly—one skewer costing a large copper coin? Back in Millishion, that price could buy several.
But this was, after all, the royal capital of the world's top nation, so higher prices were somewhat understandable.
Roxy stopped dwelling on the cost, paid up, and eagerly took a bite.
Instantly, the meatball burst in her mouth, the fragrant oil spreading and filling her entire oral cavity with aroma.
With that single bite, Roxy felt utterly satisfied, as if all her fatigue had been swept away in that moment.
The streets were packed with people. Dan Feng could only hold onto the hood of Roxy's adventurer cloak to keep from losing her in the crowd.
"Dan Feng, I remember that the magical beasts around Ars have all been cleared out by the knight order. That means high-rank requests probably won't appear on the Adventurers' Guild request board," Roxy said while eating. The reason they had gone crazy earning money back in that town was precisely because Ars had no requests.
"That's correct, but we should still go take a look afterward."
Later, Dan Feng found a relatively affordable inn nearby.
However, when he asked if there were any other vacant rooms, he received disheartening news.
There was only one room left!
Dan Feng looked at the innkeeper in disbelief, his hands gripping the front desk tightly. "Boss, are you sure there are really no other rooms?"
The innkeeper nodded helplessly and explained, "Recently there's been noble activity, and people from all over the world have been flooding into the Asura Kingdom to join in the excitement, so rooms are extremely scarce. This is the very last one."
With that, the innkeeper took a key from the drawer and slowly slid it toward Dan Feng, as if telling him this was the only option.
Dan Feng hesitated for a moment and turned to look at Roxy standing nearby.
He had intended to tell her there were no other rooms, but at that moment he noticed her gaze wasn't on him—it was fixed on some flowers to the side, seemingly oblivious to the awkward situation.
Dan Feng cleared his throat lightly to get her attention, then said, "Um… Roxy."
Before he could finish, however, Roxy suddenly interrupted him.
She quickly turned her head, forced an unnatural smile onto her face, and said with pretended calm, "I… I don't mind."
Though she tried to make her tone sound casual, Dan Feng still keenly sensed her unease.
Especially noticeable was how Roxy's originally fair cheeks had flushed bright red, like a ripe apple.
"As long as you don't mind, that's fine." Since the woman herself didn't mind, why should he—a proper young man from the 21st century—make a big deal out of it?
Afterward, Dan Feng and Roxy walked into the only remaining room together.
The moment the door opened, a wave of fresh air greeted them, making the space feel especially comfortable—likely because of the green plants inside.
The room's furnishings were simple, and compared to all the places they had stayed before, this one was clearly much better.
Yet the most eye-catching thing in the room was the single bed standing alone in one corner, looking somewhat out of place.
Dan Feng set their luggage gently on the floor, then turned to look at Roxy.
"You take the bed. I'll sleep on the floor."
Roxy quickly waved her hands. "How could that be right? You've been traveling hard all this way—you must be more tired than me. You should take the bed."
Dan Feng shook his head and insisted, "No need. Sleeping on the floor is fine for me." Although he and Roxy were already quite close, he still had his own principles and boundaries in certain matters.
After some back-and-forth, they finally settled on Roxy taking the bed while Dan Feng spread out a blanket and pillow on the floor.
Once everything was arranged, Dan Feng and Roxy left the room to head to the Adventurers' Guild for a look.
As they walked, they discussed their plans for what came next.
They intended to first visit the Adventurers' Guild to get a sense of the situation, then find somewhere to eat and reward themselves for the exhausting journey.
But it seemed the roads were all made for horses.