Thirty minutes later, Orum emerged from the blacksmith shop, his pack now more than half lighter.
The half-orc Garr's greataxe, Dorian's leg guard, and chain mail had all been sold to the blacksmith shop owner, Rawn, earning a total of ninety-six gold coins.
Of these ninety-six gold coins, forty-two came from the half-orc Garr's greataxe, thirty-eight from the damaged chain mail, and sixteen from Dorian's leg guard.
As for Dorian's snow-pattern steel sword, because it paired perfectly with the combat technique Thrust, Orum kept it for personal use.
Orum compared several nearby blacksmith shops and found that, as Adventurer's Hall receptionist Lila had said, Boss Rawn's prices were indeed fair.
So Orum also ordered a fitted half-body chain mail suit from Rawn for one hundred gold coins, to be picked up in three days.
Feeling the expenditure of one hundred gold coins, Orum's heart ached.
This was already relatively affordable armor. If it were heavy plate armor, the price would be over a thousand gold coins.
However, Orum could neither afford nor wear such heavy armor as plate mail, and it would be quite inconvenient for moving through forests.
Plate armor knights in this world even required three attendants to help them put on or take off a full suit.
From every perspective, plate armor was far too extravagant for Orum.
"A property in Blackwater Town only costs three hundred gold coins. One suit of plate armor equals four houses?"
Orum had just felt he'd struck it rich, but under the blow of plate armor prices, he was like someone doused with cold water, rapidly sobering up.
In this era, one silver coin equaled a full day's wages for a Blackwater Town laborer.
Factoring in food and drink expenses, even if a laborer worked diligently and lived frugally with unwavering persistence, it would take fifteen years to buy a property in Blackwater Town.
For rural serfs, the years needed would triple.
"It seems a bottom-tier adventurer can hardly hope to acquire plate armor before becoming a professional.
Even chain mail costing around a hundred gold coins is barely affordable."
Orum began seriously considering, "The blacksmithing trade is way too profitable. Should I switch careers and become a blacksmith right now?"
"Though, blacksmithing isn't as good as becoming a noble lord, and becoming a noble isn't as good as plundering nobles... Turns out the path to wealth is all written in the criminal code."
While his thoughts flew in all directions, Orum counted all the gold coins in his pockets.
Selling equipment: gained ninety-six gold coins. Ordering chain mail: spent one hundred gold coins.
Submitting three tasks: total gain of one hundred eighty-eight gold coins. Sending letters: spent forty-two gold coins.
The half-orc Garr and Dorian's two pockets together provided eighty-nine gold coins.
After all the additions and subtractions, the number of gold coins in Orum's pack had become two hundred thirty-one.
This sum was a fortune for ordinary people and bottom-tier adventurers, but not all that much for nobles and professionals.
"First find an inn to settle down, then figure out how to further improve my combat power and prepare for the next task."
Following the address Lila provided, Orum soon found the Oak Inn located in the town center.
The Oak Inn's main color scheme was varying shades of brown, from foundation to eaves exuding a rich natural atmosphere, as if it were a building that had grown naturally from the town's soil.
The inn's structure was built from sturdy oak beams and pillars. The main building stood two and a half stories tall.
The first floor had an open porch and public tavern, while the second floor contained guest rooms. The moment Orum stepped into the inn, a faint fragrance of oak entered his nostrils.
It was afternoon, and the Oak Inn's public tavern had few patrons, conveying a tranquil atmosphere. Only a scattered few adventurers sat at tables.
"Sophia, bring me another cup."
A bearded patron hiccupped drunkenly, raising his glass with bleary eyes.
"Mr.Jules, you're already quite intoxicated. If you drink more, I'm afraid I'll have to find someone to carry you home." A gentle, mature female voice responded.
"No, I want to drink!" The drunk's words had barely fallen when his head dropped onto the table with a thud.
Orum walked past the drunk, noting he was still breathing, just passed out in sleep.
Behind the heavy liquor cabinet, a voluptuous blonde woman was elegantly polishing a crystal-clear wine glass.
She lifted her eyelids and looked at Orum, her voice as mellow as fine wine:
"Welcome, honored adventurer. Are you looking to stay at the inn, or simply have something to drink?"
"Stay at the inn." Orum placed five gold coins bearing the king's image, along with his adventurer's badge identifying his status, on the smooth counter and said with a smile:
"Lila recommended I come here.
She said she works part-time as a chef here and I could enjoy a delicious dinner." He added, "Please book me a room for a month. Deduct meal costs directly from these gold coins during that time."
"How wonderful! Lila's cooking will definitely not disappoint you!" Sophia's face bloomed with a charming smile. She was around thirty years old, precisely a woman's most graceful and attractive age.
"Please follow me."
Sophia led the way, offering three guest rooms for Orum to choose from.
Each room was very quiet with good soundproofing and clean, tidy bedding.
Opening the window, one could overlook Blackwater Town nestled in the deep forest, seeing the densely packed houses, refreshing to the heart.
Orum finally chose the most secluded room at the end of the corridor.
Even during the noisiest noon on the streets, this room couldn't hear any noise.
For the convenience of adventurers, there was a public bathhouse not far from the Oak Inn.
After settling his belongings, Orum planned to go to the bathhouse for a thorough wash.
From a distance, Orum could see a large cluster of tents standing in the bathhouse area.
When he reached the bathhouse entrance, Orum saw several people dressed as adventurers sitting on a long bench, apparently waiting.
"You here to bathe too? What are you looking at? Get in line at the back!"
One of them, a man with a thick neck, saw Orum looking left and right and immediately shouted in displeasure.
"Wait, there's a queue for bathing?" Orum was shocked. Were the people of Blackwater Town really this hygiene-conscious?
His words had barely fallen when suddenly a high-pitched female voice came from one of the bathhouse tents.
"Oh, Saints above!"
A few seconds later, a sleazy-looking man emerged from the tent pulling up his pants with a lascivious grin, leaving Orum dumbstruck.
"My turn!" The thick-necked man saw someone come out and rushed to get in, but was stopped by a wizened old man beside the tent.
"Eighteen copper coins." The old man glanced sideways at the big man.
"Damn it, the price went up again! You bastards born from goblin mothers!" The thick-necked man cursed, fished out copper coins, and shoved them fiercely into the iron can in front of the old man before striding into the tent.
The same high-pitched female voice sounded again, like a passionate brass trumpet:
"Yes, yes, yes!"
Watching this highly impactful scene before him, Orum finally remembered just how wild medieval bathhouses could be.
At the bathhouse entrance, many people were queuing, but the line moved quickly. Before long, there was no one left in front of Orum.
Orum walked a few steps inside, his gaze complex as he looked at these tents that seemed ready to devour people, considering whether he should just find a wooden bucket to wash in instead.
At that moment, the wizened old man, leaning on his cane, shuffled up to Orum.
A pair of murky eyes looked him up and down as he spat out a few dry words:
"Eighteen copper coins."
"No, I really am here to bathe, not to find women." Orum squatted down and said earnestly to the old man.
"Six copper coins. Go to that gray tent."
The wizened old man raised his cane and pointed. Behind the many tents, a gray tent stood alone in a corner.
"Thanks!" Orum breathed a sigh of relief, took out change he'd prepared in advance, dropped it into the iron can in front of the old man, then turned and headed straight for that gray tent.
Orum didn't let his gaze stray even slightly, to avoid seeing unclean things inside other tents.
As for why he didn't hire a female worker to help scrub him...
Let's just say, this place with seven or eight men queuing behind every backside had far too terrible an environment.
Moreover, Orum really didn't want to catch syphilis.
New character, don't mess around!
...
When the clock hands pointed to four in the afternoon, Lila, who worked reception at the Adventurer's Hall, finally finished her daytime shift.
Lila's work hours were from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., a total of nine hours with no breaks in between. Her daily wage was eight copper coins.
"Linda, the workstation is yours now. See you!"
"See you, Lila."
After handing off to another pretty girl, Lila hurried through the streets and pushed open the Oak Inn's door with one hand.
"Ms. Sophia, I'm here for work!"
With that, Lila rushed into the back kitchen. She needed to take off her work uniform and change into a cooking apron.
"Don't be so hasty. Try my freshly squeezed apple juice first." Sophia was long accustomed to Lila's energetic tempo.
"What apple juice?" Before the words finished, Lila had already changed into a clean apron, put on her chef's hat, and poked her head out from the back kitchen curiously.
"This cup here. It's mixed with sugarcane and a bit hot." Sophia pushed the glass cup containing golden juice toward Lila.
Lila's fair, slender hands held the cup as she took a small sip and evaluated, "Ms. Sophia, it's sweet and delicious."
While Lila enjoyed the juice, Sophia said, "This afternoon, an adventurer you recommended came to stay.
He's quite generous, paying five gold coins for the room right away, and specifically said he wanted to try your cooking."
"Huh?!" In Lila's mind, she immediately recalled that adventurer who had collected a full one hundred eighty-eight gold coins.
"Is it that Orum?! He got such a huge sum!"
Lila couldn't help but bite her silver teeth lightly and quietly told Sophia about the afternoon's situation.
"He earned one hundred eighty-eight gold coins in one go?" Sophia was also surprised. "Is he a professional?"
"No, he's a quasi-professional with one combat technique." Lila shook her head.
"Right, a professional's badge would be different... and he's too young." Sophia said thoughtfully.
"Young?" Lila was puzzled. "Is he very young?"
"See for yourself."
Sophia said, pulling open a wooden window frame on the inn's first floor, revealing the view of the back courtyard.
In the courtyard, a slender, upright youth wearing clean cloth clothes bought from a general store held a training wooden sword, repeatedly executing Thrust against the air.
With each execution of the combat technique, faint white vapor rose from the youth's body like a furnace, tempering his physical body.
When Lila's gaze clearly saw that face, made especially handsome by the sheen of sweat, belonging to an eighteen-year-old, she opened her lips in surprise.
In the hall that afternoon, Orum's face had been covered with dust and dirt from Misty Forest, allowing only a rough view of his facial features.
She had thought Orum was a veteran adventurer in his thirties, so she'd been using honorifics reserved for elders.
Now she discovered he might actually be younger than her!
At this thought, Lila's ears turned red with embarrassment.
How awkward!