The next morning.
"Tsk tsk, they're larsi gold coin."
"These are gold coins that circulate more in the Northern Countries, their gold content is quite a bit higher than our hytrale gold coins here."
In front of a currency exchange shop somewhere in Oerest, the shop owner rubbed his hands together as he looked at Gut, his eyes under his glasses gleaming.
"But you see, young man."
"After all, our Oerest isn't the Northern Countries, so if you want to exchange them for Hytrale Silver Coins, you'll have to... tsk tsk, you understand, right?"
"Exchange loss, is it? That's not a problem."
"But boss, you're not the only one doing exchange business on this street. I think the handling fee should be a bit more reasonable."
"Haha, young man, of course."
The shop owner adjusted his glasses, "To be honest with this handsome young man, I~ saw your kindness at a glance, we hit it off immediately, I would absolutely never cheat you."
"Heh."
Gut chuckled softly, most of his face was covered by the high collar of his trench coat, plus the hat he deliberately pulled low, so he didn't know how the boss saw his handsomeness and kindness.
However, Gut was too lazy to go to another currency exchange shop, so he directly pushed the larsi gold coin in his hand to the boss.
Anyway, bargaining was just a matter of a few more copper coins.
The shop owner carefully took the gold coins Gut pushed over, put them away, then skillfully took out Hytrale Silver Coins one by one from the cash drawer. After filling a small bag, he added a few more copper coins, and finally handed it to Gut with both hands.
"Young man, I've exchanged them for you, want to count?"
"No need."
Gut picked up the money bag and pushed the door open, leaving the shop.
On the way, feeling the heavy weight in his hand, Gut couldn't help but feel a bit emotional.
It seems that no matter which world it is, gold can be called a precious metal.
You know, Gut had a feast at a decent restaurant last night, and it only cost him two silver coins when he settled the bill.
And for silver coins like these, one gold coin could exchange for a full bag.
However, this value is also reasonable, after all, even the nobles in this world usually only have funds of twenty or thirty gold coins.
Suddenly, Gut, who was walking on the street, stopped and looked towards a corner of the block.
Over there, an aged old woman was kneeling on the ground with vacant eyes, a broken pottery bowl for begging placed in front of her. She just sat there silently, neither asking passersby for anything nor showing her sad plight, as if she was just an ascetic silently practicing in the bustling city.
Gut reached into his money bag, took out a few copper coins, and planned to go forward and give them to the old woman.
However, when Gut threw these few copper coins into the broken pottery bowl in front of the old woman, his body unnaturally paused for a moment.
And the old woman, who had originally kept her head down, also raised her head at this moment, her dim yellow eyes fixed on Gut.
After a few breaths, the old woman said "Thank you" to Gut in a hoarse voice, and Gut, after nodding at the old woman, pretended as if nothing had happened and walked out of the block.
Not long after Gut left, a lean man dressed as a mercenary walked towards the old woman, stood in the shadow of the eaves nearby, and spoke to the woman in a low voice.
"Officer, should I go and follow him?"
"..."
The old woman pondered for a moment, shook her head, and replied, "No need."
"Continue the stakeout, that child should just be an accident."
"It's just a pity, to be able to detect my Magic fluctuations in an instant, such talent, yet choosing not to serve my Empire...."
"That child came to this Oerest, probably also heard news of Serie from somewhere..."
The old woman murmured to herself, while the lean mercenary who had been standing in the shadow under the eaves had disappeared without knowing when.
...
Next to the inn, a tranquil park.
"The Empire's Magic Special Forces? Or... Shadow Warriors? Or, some other force's secretly trained special agency?"
Leaning against a lush large tree, Gut released his Magic perception over a large area; while repeatedly recalling the scene of meeting that old woman in his mind.
His Magic perception and intuition at the time were definitely not wrong, that old woman was one hundred percent an extremely experienced Magic User.
Moreover, she was a Magic User who could suppress her own Magic fluctuations to the extreme.
Even if her means of suppressing Magic were not as exquisite as Frieren's, her technique could still be called superb.
Relying on his Magic detection as a Magic User and his keen intuition as a warrior, under double verification, Gut immediately confirmed his judgment on the spot and keenly captured that subtle fluctuation of Magic around the old woman.
It's just that Gut didn't choose to make a fuss, just as the old woman, suspected to be from the Empire's secret force, didn't send anyone to follow.
Between the two sides, a subtle understanding was clearly reached.
Gut continued to sit cross-legged in the park for a while longer, until he was completely sure that he could not detect anyone following or monitoring him, only then did he get up.
But for caution, Gut did not choose to return directly to his residence, but instead randomly chose a road and wandered aimlessly in the urban area.
Along the way, Gut replayed the encounters of the past two days in his mind.
First, he encountered unprecedented identity verification and inspection at the city gate of Oerest, and then today he ran into a mysterious Magic User disguised as a beggar.
To say there was nothing to it, Gut absolutely didn't believe it.
And the only reasonable explanation Gut could think of was the emergence of Serie, this "Magic Oldie".
The establishment of the Continental Magic Users Association is not a task that happens overnight, many preparations need to be done beforehand.
Even Serie, a great Magic User who survived from the age of myths, could not avoid contacting and communicating with secular forces when it came to the key points of venue, construction, recruitment, and dissemination.
And judging from the fact that the Lord of Oerest and the Empire have already started related actions, Serie's plan has likely made considerable progress.
It seems the time I have to wait in this city won't be too long.
Thinking of this, Gut's mood improved slightly. So much so that when he noticed a cute Little girl on the street, who had been peering through the candy store window staring at the exquisite candies, Gut generously opened his purse and bought a small bag of various fruit-flavored candies for her.
In the Little girl's disbelieving eyes, Gut rubbed her little head, leaving her only with a receding back view.
[Ding!]
[Daily Quest: Lakukan satu perbuatan baik setiap hari completed]
It wasn't until the system's prompt sounded in his mind that Gut suddenly realized.
So, the alms given to that old woman in the morning weren't considered a good deed...
That's right, after all, that old woman wasn't a real beggar, those few copper coins naturally wouldn't help her much and wouldn't earn much thanks.
So, children are still cuter.
After sighing, Gut found that after taking a big detour, he had actually circled back and returned to the tranquil park from earlier.
Oh well.
Since things have come to this, I'll go back to the inn and rest a bit. The inn also provides meals during meal times, so I'll taste the inn's chef's cooking.
However, as Gut hurried through the park, he inadvertently felt an extremely faint fluctuation of Magic.
Following the trace, Gut's heart was greatly shaken.
This Magic fluctuation...
It's the [Magic to Make a Field of Flowers].