Sofia had arrived at the rendezvous point. She was late since they both had set up a time to meet.
Zoltan could see Sofia acting nonchalantly about her late arrival. He then asked her, "You're late, did something happen?"
Sofia nodded and explained. "Yeah, my mother wanted to talk to me about a few things before we left. Well, I'm here now so let's go."
Zoltan didn't ask any further since it wasn't his business. They both walked up to one of the dimension portals, which looked like a distorted blue oval of space.
There were 5 portals leading to different countries; the Human, Elven, Dwarven, Beast, and lastly the Sea.
Zoltan and Sofia were heading to the Human country to meet up with the D-Class party, even though none of the party members were human.
Apparently, non-humans were allowed to cross the borders if they had identification stating who they were.
Anyway, they both went up to the portal leading to the Human country. Standing in front of the portal were 2 guards, who made sure to identify those who enter and leave the Vampire dimension.
The guard on the left saw Zoltan and Sofia walking toward him, so he did his usual routine check, "Stop, show me your identification."
The guards were a little uncomfortable seeing Zoltan and Sofia because they were masked.
Zoltan walked up to the guard on the left and presented his identification, while Sofia stood behind him waiting for her turn.
Zoltan pulled out a card that had little golden engravings on it. This indicated that he was a Baron, which made the guards become less tense.
The left guard nodded and said, "Alright, next."
Sofia, who was a princess, was slightly annoyed by the treatment she was receiving. She understood the reason, but it was still off-putting. However, she went to the guard and pulled out a similar card.
The guard on the left backed away and gestured his hand toward the portal, signaling for them to walk through it.
Zoltan and Sofia did so. They walked forward to the portal and entered it. Zoltan felt slightly uncomfortable, but that quickly passed.
A few seconds later, they both appeared in a dusty, mediocre room. It wasn't anything exciting, just a portal with a few storage containers in the corners.
Sofia scrunched her nose as if she was nauseous, while Zoltan looked fine. He actually felt at ease in a shabby room, since it felt like home.
They were told that once they left the Vampire dimension, they would enter a village in the human country. The village was called Noma and it was a few days away from the smallest city in the country, Leighton.
That's where Zoltan and Sofia were going to meet the D-Class party.
The human country has 3 cities. The largest one, Covington, is obviously where the royal family resides, while the 2nd largest is named Keaton.
The plan was to meet the D-Class party in Leighton, 4 days after their arrival in Noma.
After arriving in Noma, they were supposed to take a carriage to Leighton, but Zoltan figured they would have to stop along the way for breaks.
At the moment, Zoltan was pretty hungry so, to not eat any of the rations that he saved for the trip, he decided they should eat before they left.
Zoltan turned to Sofia, who looked like she wanted to leave this place immediately, he chuckled and said. "Let's go grab something to eat before we go. I would also like to see if they have anything we need for our travel."
Sofia nodded her head, but thought as she glanced around the room, 'Ugh, the food here is probably going to be unpalatable.'
Zoltan and Sofia headed downstairs and greeted the "store owner" that was standing behind a counter.
Right now, they were in a vampire safe house that transported vampires or trusted individuals to the vampire dimension.
The "store owner" was an old man, who had a gentle expression. If Zoltan didn't know the truth behind this store, he would've thought the old man was an ordinary kind grandpa.
Zoltan walked toward the old man and asked. "Hey grandpa, where could we find a good place to eat at?"
The old man laughed softly as he pointed toward his left, he then said. "If you walk down the road, you'll stumble upon the "Litzy Diner". You can't miss it."
Zoltan tossed 3 copper coins to the old man for the information. Naturally, the old man lived long enough to know Zoltan was thanking him, even if he could've easily found out if he looked hard enough.
Zoltan left the store, followed by Sofia, and headed in the direction he was told.
A few minutes later, they arrived at "Litzy Diner". They entered the diner and were greeted by a receptionist, which was a girl who looked to be in her early 20s.
She smiled and bowed a bit and said, "Welcome to Litzy's Diner! A table for 2, I presume?"
Zoltan nodded his head in response and proceeded to follow the receptionist to one of the tables that could only seat 2 people.
Both Zoltan and Sofia sat down and ordered. Zoltan was going to have a "Grilled Silver Panther" with some mead.
Zoltan's height and build made him look older than his current age. He looked like a 16-year-old, just a year older than the age where you become an adult in this world.
Conveniently, the receptionist didn't ask if he was of age but simply nodded.
Sofia was going to have a salad with some water. She thought that the food would at best be subpar. Thinking that, she thought just a salad and water should suffice.
It was 10 minutes later, and their food was already done.
Zoltan happily ate his grilled meat and sipped on his mead. Sofia, on the other hand, thought the food was as she expected.
She sighed and wondered if it was too late to go back to the vampire dimension.
After eating and paying the bill, which was 10 copper coins, they walked around the town to see if they could purchase something for their travel.
Sofia thought they were wasting time, but Zoltan assured her that if they could purchase something to make their lives a bit easier, then it wasn't.
It was 5 minutes later, they saw a stand selling bug repellant. Zoltan went up to the stand and saw a pair of siblings, a boy, and a girl. The girl looked older than the boy, but they both had gloomy expressions.
They saw Zoltan coming up the stand and they were relieved. The girl spoke, "Mister, would you like to buy some bug repellant? It's only 3 copper coins!"
Zoltan thought she was cute, so he took out 6 copper coins and gave them to the girl. "Definitely. I'll be going on a trip, so these will come in handy."
He wasn't lying. Noma was located in a forest surrounded by tall trees and grass. Zoltan was sure that along the way, he and Sofia would be swarmed with pestering insects.
'Hmm. That reminds me of an insect with black hair and red eyes' He thought, but was snapped out by the girl who handed him a bag.
She looked at Zoltan with a gleeful expression as she said. "Thanks, Mister! In the bag, there are 2 cans of ointments that you spread on your neck, arms, and legs. Having that will keep all the bad bugs away!"
Zoltan patted her head, then walked away. He was currently receiving curious looks from Sofia. Becoming uncomfortable, he asked her "Why are you staring at me like that?"
Sofia huffed and explained. "Hmph, Why did you waste your money on that when you could just release a bit of your mana, scaring off the insects?"
Zoltan shook his head as he shrugged. He then said. "A princess like you wouldn't understand the struggles of being poor."
Sofia had an "amazed" expression. She said in a flat voice. "But you do? A noble, even a duke at that?"
He didn't say anything further. He couldn't obviously tell her that he was reincarnated and in his last life, he struggled to get by, day by day. Well, at least not yet.
When he trusted someone enough, he thought of telling them that he was reincarnated. Zoltan could've told Aria, but thought it wasn't the right time.
They both walked to the entrance of the village and spotted a wooden carriage. A scruffy-looking man was sitting in the driver seat and in front of him were two brown horses.
They walked up to the driver, and seeing this, the driver simply said. "Need a ride?" to which Zoltan nodded.
The driver then asked. "Where do you want to go?"
Zoltan told the driver. "We're going to Leighton, how much?"
The driver liked Zoltan, getting straight to the point. He then told him his price. "Leighton is 4 days from here, and assuming we'll be taking stops along the way, it'll be 2 silver coins."
Zoltan thought it was a little much, but he didn't bargain since he would be earning the amount in the future when he becomes an Adventurer.
To give you an idea, 1 silver coin was able to have a family of 3 last for at least an entire month. He then handed 2 silver coins to the driver. Everything he spent today left him with 7s 35c.
The driver accepted the sufficient amount, then said. "Climb in back and we'll be off."
They did as they were told and climbed on the back of the wooden carriage. After doing so, they set off to their destination, Leighton...