Reincarnated as a Dragon and Raised by a Demon

After the interrogation was over, I drew my dagger and returned to Aila’s side.

“You’re really good at intimidation.”

“Is this how it should be done?”

“Yeah. You did well.”

Aila complimented me, patting my head, and handed me a small pouch.

“This is your reward.”

As soon as I received it and opened the pouch, I saw a mix of copper and silver coins inside.

“How much is it?”

“About one hundred and fifty silver?”

If Ronan’s currency system is not very different from Latnia’s, that was quite a large amount.

“Is it okay to receive this much?”

“It came from their pockets anyway. Just take it.”

Aila replied, pointing to the criminals. It must have been the amount they would use while infiltrating Ronan.

A soldier beside me chimed in, saying it was better for me to use the money than for it to be used for criminal activities.

The interrogation was over, but Aila said there were still some formalities to handle and told me to go ahead first.

“When you get downstairs, there will be someone in the lobby. That person will be your security detail.”

I took the elevator down to the lobby.

A man in a neat suit with slicked-back hair bowed his head, looking tense.

“Are you the Ririan? I am Charles, assigned to your security.”

“Oh, yes.”

When he raised his head, we were surprised to see each other.

“It’s you from the train station!”

“What are you doing here…?”

He was the person who had lied to the criminals at the train station, claiming to be his daughter.

“So, you do know Aila.”

“Mr. Charles, you’re not just an ordinary soldier, are you?”

At that time, he had only introduced himself as a soldier, so I didn’t know his exact rank.

“I’m a knight.”

“I see. You can speak casually with me. I’m just a commoner.”

Charles looked to be at least ten years older than me. I wasn’t special enough to deserve honorifics from someone like him.

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Please speak comfortably.”

“You’re going back to the hotel, right?”

“No. I’d like to step out for a bit. Is that okay?”

“Sure.”

With permission granted, I first headed towards the city.

I wondered why Mr. Charles wasn’t carrying any weapons, not even a sword.

“Do you not carry any weapons?”

“I keep them hidden when there are people around. I can’t walk around flaunting that I’m a knight.”

Typically, knights would be proud to display their status, and there seemed no reason to hide it.

“Is there a reason to hide it?”

“Well, it’s natural to be proud, but it needs to be hidden during security details.”

As we chatted, we arrived at the city, and I decided to get a new outfit first.

My previous clothes were rather tattered from rolling around various places.

Ding~

When I stepped into a shop, the owner, appearing to be lost in thought, glanced at me and said in a casual tone, “Yes~ welcome~”

“Could you show me some clothes?”

The shop owner briefly looked me over before noticing Charles standing behind me and adjusted his posture slightly.

“Our shop is a bit expensive…”

At his words, I pulled out ten silver coins from my pocket and placed them on the counter.

The shop owner’s indifferent expression changed as he glanced at the silver coins and then at me.

I could sense a slightly dismissive look in his gaze.

Clink.

As I placed twenty more silver coins on the counter, that dismissive expression quickly vanished, replaced by a grin as wide as could be.

“What kind of clothes are you looking for?”

“I’d like something comfortable to move in. It should also be very durable.”

He stepped behind the counter and led Charles into a back room, also significantly different from the front store where the fabric was stored in glass cabinets.

“Let’s choose the fabric first.”

“Could you recommend something? Something suitable for what I mentioned earlier.”

The shop owner brought out a specific fabric and showed it to me.

“We do have one. However, this fabric is about twice as expensive as your current amount.”

“I’ll pay for it.”

I showed the owner thirty silver right then.

He applied some saliva to his lips and grabbed a measuring tape to start measuring my body rapidly and accurately.

“It should be ready by tonight.”

“Is it that quick?”

“The design will likely be similar to what you’re wearing now. It’s a tricky fabric to handle, so you can’t choose many designs.”

The shop owner said there was no choice but to accommodate my needs.

There was no need to be fancy.

According to the shop owner, the finished outfit would be as durable as leather armor.

I told him I would come to pick it up in the evening and stepped out of the shop with Charles.

“It feels like I’ve spent way too much on clothes.”

“Is sixty silver expensive?”

Honestly, I had never properly experienced using money.

In Tolris, the cost of living was typically quite cheap. The daily wage was also low.

The value of silver between the two countries seemed to differ significantly.

Mr. Charles said that Ronan’s silver was much more valuable than Tolris’s silver.

When I asked why, he explained that Tolris had a very low silver content.

“What about Ronan’s silver coins?”

“They contain at least more silver than Tolris’s. Plus, the silver coins minted in Tolris have no value outside the country.”

Tolris’s currency had depreciated significantly due to neighboring countries.

Thanks to that, while the domestic cost of living was low, the income was not very high.

That was when I finally understood why the mercenary guild had more power than the king.

They earned silver and gold from other countries.

“You can’t think of it in terms of Tolris’s cost of living. I’ll teach you about the imperial value of goods.”

I started receiving a basic lecture on the value of money from Mr. Charles.

“Though the units are the same, their meanings are completely different.”

“That’s probably true. The value of currency in the nations belonging to Latnia is all mixed up. But in Ronan, there are exactly two kinds of currency.”

One is the imperial currency minted in the Ronan Empire.

The other is a type that is rarely used by common people.

In essence, it meant that the commonly used currency was unified.

“What’s that special currency?”

“It’s the currency used by the military and organizations affiliated with the empire. It looks like a glass bead, called a crystal.”

It’s a currency for supply budgets within imperial agencies.

Apparently, soldiers and agency personnel used it to purchase necessary items.

“Why is it separated?”

“To prevent corruption. If taken outside, it doesn’t hold as much value as it does inside. It’s just a worthless gem, and if you attempt to exchange it, you’ll face punishment from the empire, so not many people try.”

From Charles’s explanation, it seemed that there had been attempts to trade.

“Someone must have tried to trade it.”

“Yeah. Since it’s essentially a gem, it holds some value once processed. There was someone who exchanged it for thousands of gold and ran away to Latnia.”

The escapee had apparently processed the crystal into jewelry to sell in Latnia.

Since then, the processing of crystals has been strictly prohibited by the empire.

Considering how many people have died trying to smuggle it in, it seems that it must be an enormous fortune worth risking one’s life for.

As I roamed the city, it soon turned to evening.

I returned to the shop where I first visited to pick up the completed outfit.

As soon as I entered, the shop owner jumped up from his seat to greet me.

“Oh! Young master has arrived.”

“Is the outfit ready?”

“Please wait just a moment. I’m wrapping it up.”

Shortly after, a blonde woman descended from the second floor, handing the owner a garment.

It seemed the second floor was where the clothes were made.

I stepped into the fitting room to try on the completed outfit.

It felt like the measurements were off, as the length was excessively long.

I slightly opened the fitting room door and called the shop owner.

“The clothes are too big!”

“Oh dear. Please wait just a moment.”

The shop owner shouted something towards the second floor, and someone rushed down urgently.

It was the blonde woman who had just brought the clothes.

With the fitting room door closed, it was just the two of us.

“I made the clothes in adult size. You’ll grow into them one day.”

“I need something to wear right now!”

“I’ll make it smaller right away.”

The blonde woman emitted a white light from her hands and began to brush over the clothes several times.

As she did so, the outfit gradually shrank to fit my body perfectly.

“Are you a magician?”

“Something like that. If the clothes get smaller in the future, bring them back. I’ll alter them for you.”

Before leaving the fitting room, I handed the woman a little silver.

“You don’t have to.”

Despite her words, she had already tucked the silver into her bosom.

“Well then. Take care.”

As I bid farewell, I exited the shop.

I arrived at the hotel with Charles and parted ways in the lobby.

“When you go out, just come to room 105.”

“You’re staying here?”

“The room was assigned by the captain.”

I handed Charles a few silver coins.

“You can’t accept that. Since you’re carrying out your duties as a soldier, your pay is supplemented separately for your security task.”

Unlike the shop attendant, Mr. Charles firmly refused.

Though it was a token of my gratitude for what I experienced at the train station, since he categorically declined, I gave up on offering it.

After parting ways with Charles, I returned to my room, where the soldiers were still guarding the entrance.

“Are those people going to keep standing there?”

“There was a terror incident. Security is necessary.”

I wondered if having guards around made this place easier to target.

“For now, I’m in charge here. Those people are also responsible for conveying my orders besides providing security.”

If that’s how the military system works, there’s nothing I can do but comply.

While having dinner in the room, I asked when we would be leaving.

“We’ll probably have to stay here for a while.”

“The interrogation of the criminals is over, though.”

“The damage at the station is so extensive that we can’t leave anyway.”

Even though there are other means of transportation besides the train, Aila seemed to want to wait until the station was restored.

Normally, we would each have our own room, but after the terror incident, we all had to spend the night in one room.

To prepare for emergencies, we arranged a rotating watch.

Despite the terror having likely ended, I questioned if we really needed to be this vigilant.

I fell asleep with my complicated thoughts unresolved.

---