Approaching the line of people waiting to be allowed entry from what seemed to be the city guards, we stood in line as well and patiently waited as we moved up the line at a decently moderate speed. Looking around, I refrained from using my skill, [Hereos Gaze], at first, out of fear of someone sensing me, but after remembering that Marlin, Simba, and Lily seemed to be oblivious whenever I used the skill, I activated the skill, though I made sure not to view someone status panel.
No one's told me not to view a status panel, but I'm pretty sure anyone with common sense would be able to discern such actions are reserved for critical situations; waiting in line wasn't one of those times. Using [Hereos Gaze], I could see through the numerous people and view the front of the gate, where two armored individuals, the city guards, were checking for some sort of ID while additionally accepting what looked like five bronze-colored, circular, metallic objects.
"Will I be able to enter? It seems the guards up front are checking for identifications along with what looked like copper coins, which I have neither of." Asked Alexander as he furrowed his brows and looked at Lily, feeling slightly concerned that everything may be for naught.
"Yes, don't worry; Identification only makes entering cities much cheaper since without them, it's one whole silver instead of five copper coins; however, please, for the love of a God or Goddess, tell me Lavy at least informed you about the currency system." Replied Lily calmly with a shake of her head before suddenly widening her eyes and staring at Alexander, who awkwardly looked away, causing her to cover her face in disbelief.
"I love Lavy, but she was a subpar Master; it's simply incredible." Muttered Lily as she looked at Alexander while rubbing her face, inwardly cursing Lavender.
"I can't comment on that; she's the only Master I've ever had." Replied Alexander with a wry smile while looking at Lily and rubbing his head, earning him another sigh from Lily while Simba and Marlin acted oblivious to the two's conversation.
"Well, thankfully, the world's currency is straightforward and easy to learn, so it's not like she screwed you over by not telling you; even without an explanation, you'd be able to figure it out relatively easily." Said Lily as she grabbed the bridge of her nose in exhaustion while lightly shaking her head.
"Anyways, the currency goes like this: Copper, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and finally Diamond. 100 copper equates to one silver, 100 silver equates to one gold, and so on and so forth. To give you an idea of how much money that is, 5 silver or 500 copper is enough for an average family to comfortably sustain themselves in an average city like Hyphen." Added Lily as she took a second to catch her breath while Alexander processed her words before continuing where she had left off.
"You won't see gold and platinum used by most people; only wealthy nobles and high-ranked Adventures will use gold or platinum. Diamond is reserved solely for kingdoms and Empire as they are the only ones capable of amounting to that much wealth; of course, there are outliers, like if you happen to find a diamond coin and whatnot, but that's so incredibly rare, and honestly, if you ever find one, don't use it until your strength is at comparable to an S class adventurer." Stated Lily with a nod as she finished her explanation, going silent and allowing Alexander to mull over her words.
"Yes, that is rather simple; thanks for telling me, Lily." Replied Alexander with a nod, smiling in appreciation while Lily reciprocated with a smile of her own.
"You're welcome; as your Master Aunt, it's the least I could do." Said Lily with a smile as she leaned onto Alexander, grabbing his arm and placing it right between her voluptuous breasts.
"Master Aunt?" Remarked Alexander skeptically as he eyed Lily, who chuckled in response.
"Yes, Master Aunt. Lavy was practically a Sister to me, so by that logic, I'm your Master Aunt, while Simba and Marlin are your Master Uncles." Stated Lily seriously with a nod, sounding believable enough to the point where Alexander couldn't tell whether she was lying or not.
"Why do I have a feeling that term is not real, and you just now made that up." Muttered Alexander as he suspiciously looked at Lily, who didn't bother replying and just smiled, causing him to sigh and shake his head.
After another fifteen or so minutes of waiting, it was finally our turn to enter; we stepped forward while the city guards repeated the same words they'd probably been saying all day.
"Five copper and IDs; if no ID, it'll be one silver." Stated the Human Guard on the right, closest to Marlin, as he looked up at him.
I expected Marlin to do as the Guard said, but nope, he instead brought what looked like an Adventures license, though it was much different from Master's, which I'd stored in my pouch, as Marlin's had a "C" on it instead of "SS". When the Guard grabbed the Adventurer license from Marlin's hand, his tone slightly improved; he no longer sounded utterly bored out of his mind; instead, he was respectful as he looked at us.
"Ah, an Adventurer; I assume these three must be your companions, Sir?" Asked the Guard as he handed the adventurer license back to Marlin, who calmly nodded.
"Yes, so we should be allowed entry?" Replied Marlin calmly as he looked at the Guard, who stood out of the way while nodding.
"Yes, and have a good afternoon, Sir and Sir's companions." Said the Guard as he gave a slight wave to Marlin, Simba, Lily, and Alexander, with Alexander being the only one to nod in acknowledgment.
Entering Hyphen, I couldn't help but whistle as I observed the surroundings; the place didn't look impressive by any means, but it was a brand-new sight, one that I was slightly eager to experience. Walking throughout the city, I would occasionally spot a duo of guards waking the streets as well, which were still decently packed with various species despite it being late in the afternoon.
"You okay, Lily?" Asked Alexander in slight worry as he saw Lily getting pushed around by the numerous strangers.
"Of course, I'm fine; don't forget, I'm an S-class Adventurer." Replied Lily softly with a sweet smile as she looked up at Alexander.
"Oh yeah, I completely forgot about that; anyways, speaking of that, why did you hand the Guard a C-class Adventurer license, Marlin? Also, why did he let us with needing to pay?" Questioned Alexander curiously as he looked at Marlin, who towered over the crowd, though the same went for Simba and Alexander himself, only a few passing strangers matching their stature.
"Showing that I'm an S-clas adventurer would be overboard; besides, it would bring you more harm than good; the news of an S-clas adventurer within Hyphen would quickly spread, and once we leave, you'd be a person of interest, which would be bad for you as you're not sufficiently strong enough to take care of yourself. He let us in for free, as C-class adventures and up can enter cities for free along with their companions or party members." Replied Marlin calmly as he and Simba walked side by side, practically pushing people out of the way.
"Oh, didn't think about that, so now that we're in Hyphen, are you guys leaving right away or in the morning?" Remarked Alexander as he looked at Marlin, Simba, and Lily, seeking their input.
"I don't know about those two, but I'm leaving tomorrow morning. I've been away from my business for quite a while; I'm sure some of my wealthy customers are getting anxious." Said Lily as she looked up at Alexander while gesturing to both Simba and Marlin.
"I'm also leaving tomorrow morning; I've got important things to do after all." Stated Simba with an excited smile, though neither Marlin nor Lily believed his words.
"I shall leave tomorrow morning as well; I'd like to quickly return to my adventures. Lily had called me out of nowhere and forced me to postpone some rather crucial things." Replied Marlin with a slight frown, which was hidden behind his dark cloak.
Silently nodding, I was honestly a little sad to see them leave so soon, not to mention I was slightly nervous at being left alone in a new world I knew nothing about.
'Well, not entirely alone; I'd have Talis by my side, but she won't be proving much help regarding knowledge about this world; she's more clueless than I am.' Mused Alexander with a slight smirk as he looked at his right shoulder, spotting Talis silently observing her new surroundings before lightly scratching the underside of her beak, causing her to purr like a kitten.
We continued walking through the streets until we eventually arrived at a large wooden building that reminded me a little of a motel from my past life.
"Breakfast & Inn; yeap, must be a hotel." Muttered Alexander quietly as he looked at the hanging sign right above the entrance, which the four entered.
The inside resembled a bar with a bar in the back, along with tables to my left and right, with some people occupying a few of them already. Approaching the bar, which seemed to also serve as the front desk, Marlin rented out two rooms, and I had a feeling I'd be forced to sleep with Lily once Marlin received the keys from the man behind the bar. We headed to the left and walked up a flight of stairs before walking down a hallway until we arrived at our room number.
'Yep, I'm with Lily.' Thought Alexander with a slight sigh as he saw Simba and Marlin enter a room while Lily practically dragged him into hers.