Ethan returned to speak with Rose once again. He asked how much it would cost if he wanted to buy new clothes, and also asked the price of a room at an inn for one person. After learning the prices, he left the guild and looked for a place where he could use some water.
He found a faucet not far away and washed both his sword and his face.
He tried to clean his hair as well, but it didn't help much.
Still looking disheveled, he returned to the front of the guild and began approaching one adventurer after another, trying to sell his sword. He needed money quickly, and this was the best solution he could come up with.
Ethan regretted not searching for money in that place before he escaped, but it was too late now.
Twenty minutes passed.
Whenever Ethan tried to talk to an adventurer, they refused to speak with him. The moment he mentioned that he wanted to sell his sword, the adventurers looked like they were about to laugh in his face. Judging by its appearance, there was nothing special about the sword, so the price Ethan was asking made no sense.
And there was no way for him to prove that the sword was actually exceptional.
Rose, who had been watching everything from inside the guild, began to feel sorry for him.
She left the guild and called out to Ethan.
"Come here, quickly."
Ethan followed her inside.
They went to a more private area, and Rose said, "Don't try to sell things in front of the guild. You'll end up causing trouble. Here, I'll buy the sword. We can always sell it to someone else later. You need money to buy clothes and stay at an inn, don't you?"
"Yes."
"Will you accept fifty thousand for it?"
"You believe me when I say this sword is worth far more than that?"
"Yes, I do."
"That's surprising," Ethan said to Rose without caring what she might think. Then he handed over the sword, which he hadn't managed to clean properly, and Rose gave him the money.
Even though she said she was buying it on behalf of the guild, she was actually paying with her own money.
Not even she knew why she was helping Ethan so much, but she felt compelled to do it. She could very well be getting deceived, yet she had sensed so much sincerity in everything Ethan said that she decided to trust him.
When Ethan saw the money, he smiled and looked at Rose.
"Thank you. I owe you one."
"..."
"I always keep my promises. If you ever need anything, I'll do it for you."
"Alright, alright. Now go. People are staring too much."
Ethan left without looking back, and Rose looked down at the sword she had just bought.
She knew a little about weapons, so she examined it carefully. Then another guild employee approached.
"What was all that about?" she asked.
Rose heard the question and replied,
"I just felt like I had to help him."
The other guild employee, who was also Rose's friend, heard those words and said,
"You're completely crazy."
From her perspective, Ethan looked like a drug addict desperate for money. She couldn't understand why Rose had helped him.
Then she looked at the sword.
"How much did you pay for this?"
"Fifty thousand."
"..."
Left speechless, the girl let out a sigh and walked away.
As she left, she thought,
'Rose has such a kind heart. I could never do something like that.'
Rose, who saw the sword as nothing more than an ordinary blade with an excellent edge, tossed it into the guild's storage alongside the other swords.
'I hope I made the right choice,' Rose thought before returning to work.
####
Ethan left the guild and hurried to buy clothes as quickly as he could. Before long, he had already purchased what he needed. Even though the shopkeepers found him suspicious, he had money, and that was all that mattered.
After buying clean clothes, he headed to the nearest inn.
When he arrived, he learned that a room cost two thousand Vanis per night, but meals were included. He could have breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the inn. He could comfortably live there for a while.
He paid for five nights in advance and then went to his room.
It was a small room, but still larger than the one he had when he was a slave. Better yet, it had a private bathroom that he could use whenever he wanted. With an expressionless face, Ethan took off all his clothes and threw them onto the floor.
Then he took a bath.
A long bath.
Once both his body and hair were finally clean, he stepped out. Fortunately, there was even a towel for him to use.
He dried himself, then stood in front of the mirror and dried his hair.
"Incredible."
It was the first time he had ever seen himself completely clean like this. He felt like an entirely different person. His hair shone with a beautiful golden color, and his skin was incredibly pale.
Before, it had been covered in soot twenty-four hours a day.
He let out a sigh before putting on his clean clothes: a simple shirt, a pair of long pants, and basic shoes. He had bought two shirts, two pairs of pants, a hoodie, and two pairs of underwear. He didn't have enough money to buy much more than that.
Now that he had a place to stay, he finally had time to think about what to do next.
For the moment, Ethan had decided not to contact any Familia. He wanted to deal with this problem on his own. But to do that, he needed to become stronger. In other words, he needed to find work at a forge.
Ethan remembered a character named Welf, who appeared at the beginning of the story.
'If I go to him, will I be able to get a job?' Ethan wondered.
The chances were low, but not zero. And since there were other blacksmiths near Welf's workshop, he could also ask them for work. The only thing he needed to do now was forge.
Forge as much as possible.
That way, he would become strong enough to face the Alecto Familia.
Or so he believed.
Ethan had no idea that the Alecto Familia had Level Five members.