We walked through the forest, on the path leading back to the town. But we weren’t there just yet, there was still a long distance.

The whole time, I kept a side-eye on katsu. I was still wondering. After I had asked “Are you the same as me?” he answered with “Something like that?”

This was still on my mind. What had he meant?

Katsu noticed my glance, despite the helmet obscuring his full view. This just showed how good his awareness really was.

“Is there a reason you keep looking at me?” he asked.

I replied, “Just wondering about earlier. Are you the same as me or not?? I just wanna know. Is it really that hard to give me an answer?”

Katsu sighed, “You’re still hung up on that detail? It’s as I said. It doesn’t matter.”

“But it does. Now I’m stuck thinking about it. Can you please just answer my question?”

“Listen, Amaya. Someday, we’ll talk about it. Just not today.”

Ugh. Why was he avoiding the question? Was the answer really that bad?

The conversation between us ended, turning to silence. It honestly felt awkward. We were practically friends, at least that’s what I considered us to be. Yet, he never spoke on personal details about himself. I wonder why that was. I guess it would be better to stop prying. His privacy had to be respected.

Still, it really was weird.

____________

Iarrived back at the Inn.

It was practically my home. Though, instead of paying monthly rent, I had to pay at the end of each day. It was a hassle, but I would only need to endure it for a while longer. Once we get to the capitol, I was planning to rent a small cabin or something. I had enough saved up.

My hand twisted the doorknob to my room. As I entered, I saw an unexpected sight. In the center of the room, Emi sat with a smile, directed at me.

I muttered, “Umm...what is this?...”

Scattered across the floor were crystals. Sparkling crystals. Tons of them.

What exactly was going on? Where did they all come from?

Emi spoke joyfully.

“Oh! Their crystals.”

“I could see that. But where did you get them from?”

“Easy. I found them.”

“Okay. But where exactly?”

By how valuable the crystals looked, I pretty much assumed she stole them. When I looked at her adorable expression, I shook that accusationfrom my mind. Emi wouldn’t do something like that. Right?

“I stole them from someone.” said Emi. She held a joyful smiled acrossherface.

“W-what?!” I gasped, “From where? Who did you steal them from?” I didn’t think she was the type to thieve. I guess it made sense, she was probably taught that way by living with Jackal.

Emi answered, her tone just as happy as ever. It was almost like she hadn't just committed a crime.

“I took them from a mean old man with a beard.”

“W-Whaaaattt???”

Oh no. This wasn’t good. Not only did she commit thievery, but it was an old man that she stole from.

“We...should maybe return all of this...” I wasn’t going to risk being placed in jail. With my luck, that would definitely happen.

Emi shook her head.

“Nope. The old man doesn’t need them back. It’s not like he can use them anymore.”

...What did this mean??? Don’t tell me.... Did she kill the old man?

This was so not good.

“Emi...what did you do?” I didn’t expect a fox girl to be a killer. Not at all.

“I didn’t do anything. The old man doesn’t have use for them anymore because he’s in jail, remember?”

Huh?? I was so lost. I didn’t understand what she meant.

“Wait...Who is this old man we’re talking about?” I asked.

“Jackal.” Emi grabbed a handful of crystals form the floor, “These were his. He had me burry them a long time ago. I still remembered where, so I dug them up and took them.”

It all became clear. My heart-rate calmed down. I had terribly misunderstood the situation.

“Oh...that’s what you meant...”

I laid my eyes on the countless crystals.

[Analyzing Numbers]

In total, there were 428 of them. I picked a single crystal off the floor, the held it above my eyes. I observed the way it sparkled, like a glass chandelier. Except, what I held was much more valuable.

The first thing to come to mind was money.

“This could probably fetch a good price.” But how much would it be worth?

I had my trustworthy [Analyze] skill for that.

[Analyzing Price]

[ Result: Magic Crystal- Price: 200 Silver]

Woahh. The price was unbelievable. In this world’s coin system, 200 silver was basically equal to a gold coin.

Here’s how coin system works if you’re interested. If not, you can skip, over it, no biggie.

Honor

Copper = 1 Honor Silver = 10 Honor Gold = 2,000 Honor

Copper is relatively used for small items and food. Silver is mainly used for equipment or valuable items. Gold is used for luxury items.

If I were to sell all of these crystals, I could be rich. I would have 856,000 Honor at my disposal. There’s no telling what I could buy. I could feel my body quiver with excitement. Though, I did have one question. Why were they worth so much.

[Analyze: Magic Crystals: A single magic crystal contains 10,000 magic power insides of it. Mages commonly use these for spells. This way, the Mage will not drain from their own pool of mana.]

I’m bad at understanding things, so I nearly got lost. But I did sort of understand it.

Cool. So, they’re also used for magic.

But I didn’t know how to use spells. In that aspect, the crystals wouldn’t be much use to me.

I grabbed my adventure backpack and opened it.

“Nice work, Emi. These crystals will help us a lot.”

By handfuls, I tossed the crystals into my bag, until no more could fit.

I guess I need a bigger bag.

There were still lots of crystals lying around. For now, I would just have to stuff the rest in a closet.

Grrrrr.

The noise from Emi’s stomach reached my ears. Eyes shut, she held her tummy.

“Amaya. Can we please get something to eat.”

Right about this time, I was feeling a bit hungry as well.

“Sure. What do you feel like having?”