"Do you have any copper or silver coins? I don't have enough change for these gold coins."
"I only have this coin. Is there a bank around here or can you tell me where to exchange this money, Aunty?"
From a table, Odette watched and listened to Anwen's interaction with the middle-aged woman. The woman was the owner of the diner that Odette and Anwen were stopping at now.
When they arrived at the village, Anwen invited Odette to have lunch first before they continued their journey. In addition, Anwen also bought supplies for dinner because Anwen said that they would arrive in the forest by nighttime.
However, when Anwen wanted to pay for all her groceries, the shop owner didn't have enough change for the money Anwen gave her. Odette noticed the gold coins that Anwen had placed on the table as well as some of the copper coins that the shop owner had issued. Those coins also looked ancient, just like the clothes worn by everyone that Odette saw there.
"Fifty-seven, fifty-eight, fifty-nine, sixty. I only have sixty coppers," said the owner of the stall, as she counted the copper coins she took out. The number of coins was far from sufficient to give to Anwen as change.
From the conversation of the two people, Odette learned that one hundred copper coins was equivalent to one silver coin, and one hundred silver coins was equivalent to one gold coin.
Anwen's total purchases were only 70 copper, which meant that the aunt had to give a change of 9930 copper.
For a while, Anwen could only stay silent in front of the aunt, who owned the stall. Usually, Anwen would give up the money easily, but this time the situation was different. Right now, she only had that one gold coin, so she couldn't give up the change. She would need the rest of the money to sustain her while she was on the run.
Seeing Anwen so confused, Odette decided to come over.
"Miss Ody, auntie has no change," said Anwen as Odette stood by her.
"Auntie, is there no place here where we can go to exchange money?" asked Odette. However, before the older woman could answer, someone had come and placed a silver coin in front of Anwen.
"Let me pay," said the person.
Anwen and Odette turned their heads in unison towards the person. They saw a young man with blond hair with bangs hanging to the side and covering his forehead.
The young man smiled warmly when he came face to face with Anwen and Odette, who looked at him in confusion.
"Here's the change," said the aunt. But the young man said that it was not necessary, and asked for the aunt to keep them.
"Thank you. I'll pay you back later," Anwen said as she followed the young man as he walked out of the shop.
The young man stopped in his tracks.
"Do I look like a poor person?" he asked, pointing to his own face.
"No. It's just that I don't like to owe anyone money."
"You can treat me when we meet again. See you later!" said the young man who then walked towards a shop that sold weapons.
After the young man left, Anwen immediately suggested to Odette to continue the journey, while the young man turned to stare at them and smiled mysteriously.
***
The stars shone in the night sky, making it less dark at night. Anwen and Odette had arrived in the forest, and by now, they were sitting by the river overlooking the bonfire they had lit. The two of them were eating the ration Anwen bought this afternoon.
"Miss Ody, so what are your plans after this? You just asked me to take you here," Anwen spoke up, then took a bite of her bread.
"Two days ago, I fell into a river and when I woke up, I was in this place. I thought if I walked down this river in the opposite direction to the current, I would go back to where I fell and would be able to go home," Odette explained, then ate her bread too.
Anwen looked at Odette and blinked twice. "But, Miss Ody, this river has many branches."
"Huh?!" Odette was surprised to hear Anwen's statement just now. She looked at Anwen with a look that seemed to ask 'really?' and Anwen nodded confidently.
Anwen then explained that the Roterlive River in front of them currently had five major branches. The first branch from here led to the capital city of Panthera, the second branch in the North led to Randle Forest, the third branch in the South led to the Archaean Empire, the fourth branch led to the Naturi Kingdom, and the fifth branch to the North to the Orchidian Republic.
"W-what? Anwen, are you sure about that?" Odette refused to believe it, but Anwen nodded her head again, and Anwen's every nod looked very convincing.
"Anwen, out of all the people I've met here, I only trust you now, so please don't lie to me." Odette absolutely refused to believe it. This river was her last hope to return home. She did not know that this river had many branches.
Anwen shook her head. "I'm not lying. If we don't have problems with the border clearance and the conflict between the Panthera Kingdom and the Archadia Empire, I would have taken you to check it yourself, Miss Ody."
Odette was really dizzy now. Where did she actually end up? She remembered the map that the 'jerk' had shown her this morning. The names of the territories that Anwen mentioned just now were on the map.
Odette tried to put together every incident that she has experienced from the moment she gained consciousness until now.
First, she woke up in this dense forest, then she met the jerk and passed out, and then when she woke up, she found herself in a castle. Odette remembered that every outfit worn by the entire castle was old-fashioned. Their clothes were like medieval royal attire.
At first, Odette thought the castle was a hotel with a medieval royal concept but she began to feel unsure when she and Anwen arrived at the village earlier. The people there also looked old-fashioned.
Odette tried to think rationally, but everything she saw and heard made no sense.
Did she now have to start thinking irrationally as if she had been transmigrated to the Middle Ages like those characters in the movies?
'Stupid!
'I can't think like that. A psychiatrist must always keep her senses. Transmigration? That's impossible!'
"What year is this, Anwen?"
'Why do you even ask that? You look so stupid now for not knowing what year it is.'
"Year?" Anwen frowned.
"Yeah, the year, and can you tell me the name of this place, I-I mean, this area?"
Odette was so frustrated as she thought about her whereabouts now, which had made her think that she had transmigrated, like the ones in the movie.
Geez! She had just fallen victim to a movie.