The journey from the border region of the Kingdom of Astralrealm to the Holy City wasn't actually that far. After all, compared with the Ilandra Dominion, Astralrealm's territory was much smaller. If we flew at full speed, we could reach the destination in about half a day.
But we couldn't forget that Adrian still couldn't fly, so Cyrae and I inevitably had to slow down a lot. Add in the fact that we landed along the way to rest overnight, and it ended up taking nearly a full day to complete the trip.
Just like before, to avoid unnecessary trouble, we didn't fly straight into the city. Instead, we landed some distance outside, folded our wings, and prepared to enter with the ordinary crowd.
"So this is what the legendary Holy City looks like? Not bad—it really is something special!"
For Adrian and me, Norvale was a place we knew so well it was practically second nature. But for Cyrae, it was only a famous name she'd heard of; she'd never actually been here. Especially when she saw the massive royal palace rising like a tower into the clouds in the center of the lake, she couldn't hold back a gasp of admiration—almost exactly the same tone Cyra had used back then.
"Remember: once we're inside the city, try your best not to reveal your wings, and keep a low profile," I reminded her again, unable to help myself.
Thinking back to all the outrageous things Cyra had done in this city… Cyrae's face and appearance might already have been drawn and circulated everywhere by devout believers. She was basically a "celebrity." I took a deep breath, still uneasy, and reiterated the warning.
"Do you really not trust me?" Cyrae shot back. "I'm not that kid from back then."
As she spoke, she raised a hand impatiently and pointed toward the royal city. "So next we just go straight into that castle, and we'll be able to see Lady Elara soon?"
On the way here, I'd been keeping in contact with Elara at midday each day, so I already knew that the visiting angelic high-ranking members were being hosted by King Galahad in the core area of the royal city. That was our final destination as well.
"Uh… before that, we might have to wait a bit," Adrian said, looking slightly awkward. "I still need to take care of a small matter in the lower city first."
He obviously understood why Cyrae had traveled all this way with us. Afraid she'd be disappointed, he quickly added, "Of course, if you can't wait, Feliciana can go ahead with you into the royal city. It's not a big deal—handling it alone should be enough."
"It's fine. I'm not in a rush," Cyrae said. "And I heard Feliciana is good friends with that human named Vivianne. I'll come with you—I can also take the chance to see what the lower city, where ordinary people live, looks like."
With that reminder, Cyrae immediately remembered what it was about. When we were saying goodbye yesterday, she'd keenly noticed what Brennan privately told Adrian—he was worried Vivianne still hadn't gotten over the pain of her heartbreak. Since she was living alone in Norvale with no one to look after her, he specifically asked us to check on her.
In short: after returning here early, Vivianne had moved out and started living on her own. She then joined an expedition-style adventuring team and only came back safely not long ago. It was obvious she'd been deliberately avoiding the blow of Brennan and Yolanda's relationship.
Truthfully, I'd been worried about Vivianne's situation too. I was genuinely happy Cyrae had considered how I felt. So after we reached an agreement, we entered through the city gate, turned, and headed toward the address Brennan had given us.
The "lower city" naturally referred to the residential districts around the central lake—where ordinary citizens lived. The house Nicola and I had rented when we first arrived in Norvale was in this sort of area as well.
Along the way, we passed plenty of markets and trade districts. Much like the bustling scenes from before, the Holy City's street life hadn't really been affected by the recent wars. And thanks to the Kingdom of Astralrealm's long-standing open trade policy, the streets were packed with vendors and shops. Economic activity looked strong.
"Coincidentally, we're almost out of food and supplies in storage," Adrian said, glancing around. "Why don't we use this chance to restock?"
Storage rings had limited space, and we'd just spent several days traveling long distances outdoors. Besides, it didn't look like we'd be staying in Norvale for long, so keeping our supplies topped up was necessary.
"But I don't have this world's currency," Cyrae said.
She'd crossed over from Earth—of course she wouldn't have any Sila on her.
But after our huge splurge last time at the Rare Goods Exhibition Hall, Adrian and I weren't exactly rich anymore either.
"Altogether, we only have a few thousand Sila," Adrian muttered, looking at the loose pile of scattered coins in his hands. "We don't even have a single gold coin. That might be enough for one person, but for three… it's honestly a bit…"
Everyone fell silent.
After Cyra left, we'd been spending freely with no income—so our savings had run dry unbelievably fast. The problem was, where were we supposed to get money next?
"If we need something fast, I could make some holy water and sell it," Cyrae said, her eyes already turning as she returned to an old habit. "But I remember Cyra mentioned something about this… didn't the Church buy up the right to sell holy water? So would we have to negotiate with them?"
"Absolutely not," Adrian rejected it immediately. "In the True Church's eyes, you're their 'Holy Angel.' If you make contact with them casually, it's very easy to stir up new problems."
"Let's just borrow some," he continued. "I know plenty of acquaintances here—this should be easy to talk through!"
While he was still thinking and about to go for that "last resort," a flash of inspiration hit me and I quickly stopped him.
"That might've been true before, but things are different now," I said. "Don't forget—I've inherited at least a bit of the Water Angel's power. If we just need some money, that shouldn't be a problem."
"You mean…"
Adrian still didn't get it—until I opened my palm and several universally accepted continental gold coins appeared out of thin air. His eyes widened as the implication clicked into place.
"You made them… with water-element conversion?"
"Keep your voice down—don't let anyone hear!" I hissed, making a shushing gesture.
The truth was basically what he'd guessed. The water element could be used to convert one element into another and reshape it into a target form—healing magic was built on the same underlying principle.
For small items like gold coins, the raw material could easily be drawn from the surrounding environment. The only real difficulty was the sheer amount of "calculation" required when reassembling elements into stable matter. But after I woke up from being controlled by No. 18 Cyra for an entire day, that problem had mysteriously resolved itself.
The structure and appearance of continental gold coins were already familiar to me like the back of my hand. Molding a few coins out of nothing was effortless—and they were indistinguishable from the real thing.
"No way… if you can do this…" Cyrae picked one up, examined it again and again, and nearly blurted out.
Luckily, she remembered my warning. She immediately lowered her voice, but her excitement was still obvious as she whispered, "Then doesn't that mean we can have as much money as we want? Are we… instantly rich? Like—no, not overnight—one second rich? Are you sure nothing can go wrong?"
On Earth, Cyrae had accumulated plenty of wealth and even owned a large multinational company—but that had still been built up slowly, one step at a time. Creating money out of thin air was a completely different concept.
"Of course nothing will go wrong," I said. "You can use it however you want—assuming we don't make so many gold coins that we cause inflation, anyway…"
Thanks to Cyra, I'd gotten used to big spending lately. I also calmed down quickly from the excitement of an idea becoming real. In any case, small-scale elemental conversions didn't put much strain on me anymore—and this was the first time I'd applied it outside of combat.
As long as I kept the scale under control, I probably wouldn't have to worry about money in daily life anymore.
Since the money issue was solved, nobody cared about the rest. Even Adrian couldn't resist switching into full-on shopping mode, sweeping through store after store.
Before long, everyone's storage ring was stuffed to the brim. At last, following the address Brennan had given us, we arrived at Vivianne's new home.
A small detached house stood in front of us—probably a mid-range neighborhood by Norvale's standards. Even if Vivianne had saved up a lot from taking Adventurers' Guild commissions over the years, buying a place outright would still be a significant expense. Based on past experience, she was most likely renting.
"Vivianne, are you home?" Adrian called as he stepped forward and knocked decisively. "It's Adrian—I came to see you!"
Someone was inside. The one who opened the door was indeed Vivianne. At first glance, she didn't look as haggard as we'd feared. When she saw me and Cyrae behind Adrian, she broke into a long-missed smile and warmly invited us inside.
"Adrian? It really is you! I heard that after that, you and Feliciana went to the Sages' Alliance—so you're finally back!"