Chapter 16: Immature Robber
“Miss, you’re eating so much—is that really okay?”
At the inn’s ground floor, the owner stared at the table piled high with food, speaking in astonishment.
When Lucia ordered such a large amount, he assumed she was ordering for a group, merely placing the order in advance.
But halfway through serving, he noticed she had already devoured most of the breakfast brought earlier.
Seeing the grease on Lucia’s lips and her unchanged slender waist, the owner felt like he’d seen a ghost.
“Oh… it’s fine. I’ve always had a big appetite, more than most people.”
Hearing this, the owner placed the plates he was carrying on the table and cleared away the empty ones.
As he walked back to the kitchen, he muttered to himself.
He’d seen many hearty eaters, but a girl as petite as Lucia eating this much was rare.
Satisfied and full, Lucia left the inn.
Though this was just a small town in the Kingdom of Londe, not particularly prosperous, strolling through the morning streets gave her a long-lost sense of familiarity.
The feeling didn’t belong to her current body, but it still relaxed her.
‘Deep down, my soul prefers living among people. At the very least, I need a place with some social interaction, not total isolation.’
These past days in the valley, the food… wasn’t great.
Fratina’s hunting skills were impressive, bringing back various game daily, but Lucia’s treasure hoard, filled with gold and jewels, lacked basic seasonings.
In dragon form, her pickiness for food and sensitivity to taste dulled significantly.
But in human form, she craved richer flavors and textures.
Even with Fratina’s cooking skills, it was hard to make something delicious without proper ingredients.
Tasting seasoned food again felt like a cleansing for Lucia.
Right now, she felt energized enough to transform into a dragon and fly home.
‘But that’s just a thought.’
She didn’t want to cause a scene here.
All she wanted was to find a quiet forest, shift into her dragon form, and return home as if nothing had happened.
With that in mind, Lucia headed straight out of town.
Unnoticed, a few figures watched her back, exchanged glances, and slowly followed.
In the outskirts, a forest.
Lucia wandered alone through the woods, walking far enough from the town to prepare to transform.
But just then, several burly men emerged from the path behind her.
Lucia froze, startled.
They carried no hunting bows or axes—they weren’t here to work.
‘Did they follow me all the way here?’
Cold sweat trickled down her back.
Thankfully, she hadn’t shifted yet. If they’d seen her face and form, blending into human society later would be troublesome.
She turned to them. “Um… you’ve been following me. What do you want?”
One of the men stepped forward, grinning at Lucia. “Little miss, those clothes look expensive. You must be loaded. We’re a bit short on cash—mind helping us out?”
This was blatant robbery, but in this remote forest, rarely visited by hunters or woodcutters, let alone ordinary folk, calling for help would be useless.
It might only provoke them further.
At that point, a fight would be inevitable.
These men seemed only slightly stronger than average. In dragon form, she could easily crush them.
But Lucia didn’t want to escalate things. Reluctantly, she rummaged in her pocket.
She pulled out a gold coin and tossed it toward the men.
The leader blinked, too stunned to catch it.
The coin hit the ground, spun, and stopped. Only then did he scramble to pick it up.
His companions crowded around, staring at the coin as if they’d never seen money before.
“Is this really a gold coin?”
“Man, I’ve never seen one. But it’s not copper or silver, so it’s gotta be gold, right?”
“Idiot, look at the inscription. I’ll read it: ‘Continental Standard Gold Coin, Minted by the Kingdom of Londe.’”
They bickered for a while, leaving Lucia dumbfounded.
‘Are these bandits really this* inexperienced? A single gold coin excites them this much?’
After yesterday’s spending, Lucia knew gold coins were significant currency in this world.
Her inn stay and breakfast hadn’t even cost a full silver coin.
While currency values weren’t fixed, a gold coin was typically worth over ten silver coins.
Silver coins weren’t even common for everyday transactions—most people used copper coins, with one silver coin equaling over a hundred coppers.
A small-town worker earned about ten coppers a day, meaning her coin was worth roughly a hundred days of their labor.
For novice bandits, this was a hefty haul.
The leader pocketed the coin, prompting complaints from his crew.
“Hey, boss, you can’t keep it all!”
“Yeah, we’re risking our lives following you!”
“Relax, we’ll split it later!”
He waved them off, then turned to Lucia, his tone awkward. “Uh, miss, since you’re so cooperative… next time you’re in our town, if you need help, come find us. We’ve got your back.”
With that, he hurriedly led his men away.
Lucia sighed in relief as they retreated, glad the matter was settled. She walked further into the valley, transformed into her dragon form, and flew home.