"My reward?" Syla was confused at what Marrick meant. "Are you going to give me money?!"
Her face obviously lit up at the thought of her receiving a lot of coins, Syla waited for Marrick's answer curiously, expecting a big reward for her efforts.
"Hahaha! Do you want that? I could give you money if you want, but i also could give you something else." Marrick replied, he seemed to be giving Syla a hint, that she shouldn't have only asked for money.
"Something else?" Syla had to think for a few seconds, what rewards does she wants except for money?
'Maybe a sword? An artifact?.. An armor?..' Syla thought of a few choices, contemplating about which one would be better for her in the long run.
'All of them are good in their own ways– But my combat leaned more to agility rather than defense, so armor is out.. Then only artifact and a sword is left..'
"Then—" Syla said, locking her choice as she told Marrick the next words. "Can i get a new weapon along with the money? Ah and also a new set of clothes with accessories too.. Don't forget my satchel aswell as my Adventurer's Plate, then— Oop-"
Syla abruptly stopped talking and covered her mouth with her hands, it seems like she realized that she was going overboard with her requests.
"A- ahh, nevermind, i'll take just take the new weapon please.." She said with an embarrassed face.
Marrick stared at Syla for quite a while, at first she thought that he might be mad about her over the top requests, but what she didn't expect is that Marrick would be laughing at it.
"Hahahaha! You're really young aren't you." He said happily. "Don't be shy, i understand- I'll grant all of your wish."
"Really!?" Syla was stunned when hearing that Marrick would be willing to accept all of her stupid requests to the point that she almost believed he was playing with her. "But why?"
"Well, if you really want a honest answer, its because all of your requests aren't that expensive, to be honest im the one who got surprised when you asked for those things, because i had already expected you to ask for something like a thousand gold coins or maybe a magic artifact." Marrick explained.
'Ack!? So artifacts are really that expensive!? Wait but the merchants that was selling the Magic Transitter‐Magic telephone said that his artifact would sell for only a few..' Syla's jaw dropped in her imaginative world, she never knew that an artifact could have this much different in their prices.
After a few more detailed conversation, Syla and Marrick eventually agreed with the reward being a new weapon, new outfit, 75 Gold Coins, and new adventurer's plate.
.
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Tomorrow—
At a blacksmith near Marrick's house, Syla came out with looking refreshed, with her new sword on her waist, she strolled the main street embroidered in her new outfits that looked similar to the ones that she got from Demiria, a white ruffled blouse, black short skirt, a white steel left pauldron that has a flower motifs in it on her shoulder, a red bowtie, and a new leather satchel.
Although similar, her current outfits has more accessories than the ones from Demiria, and Syla also wore a black pantyhose this time as a protection from outside touch, when she was wearing a skirt and exposing her bare legs while traversing the wilderness, Syla often times had to deal with countless insect bites such as mosquitoes, but now that almost every part of her body is covered by a piece of clothing, she won't have to worry about it anymore, atleast for the most part.
After experiencing the consequences of her appearance for the first time, Syla started to become more cautious, despite her new beautiful outfit, Syla had to hide it under her cloak to not gather anymore unwanted attention, she also hide her face using the cloak's hood. As she walked along the main street, Syla suddenly saw a familiar face while glancing at the shop vendors.
"Hm?" Syla looked at the familiar person.
It was Gauss, the man that accompanied Syla on her way to Direwell, he was seen standing infront of a fruit vendor, seemingly wanting to buy the fruits as he checked each one for their ripeness, unlike the last time she saw him, Gauss didn't wear any armor today, he's just wearing a casual shirt and pants.
'Is he taking a break?' Syla thought. 'Should i greet him?..'
She walked over to the fruit vendor, not sure whether to greet Gauss on the way or just passing by and not bothering him, as Syla got closer, she could see Gauss's smile more clearly, and when she was right behind him, Syla continued walking pass him, she ended up choosing the second option andbl left Gauss alone.
However, unbeknownst to her, Gauss turned his head towards Syla, he seems to know who the person beneath the hood was, but he also seems to be in doubt whether his guts was right or not. But different from Syla, Gauss didn't hesitate to try and gamble on the odds, so he placed the fruit in his hand to the shelves and called her.
"Syla?" He said.
Syla who wasn't expecting Gauss to recognize her, abruptly stopped in her track and stood still. Of course, Gauss who saw this then immediately knew that his guts was correct, he quickly approached the hooded figure until he was right behind.
"—You're leaving?" Gauss softly said, as if he doesn't want to scare Syla.
Syla who heard Gauss calling for her name couldn't help but to turn around and see him for the last time. She and Gauss both smiled at each other after seeing their faces.
"I guess you have a sharp eyes.." Syla said. "Let's meet again someday."
Gauss froze for a few second, unable to come up with a perfect reply for it until he gave up on finding it.
"—Yeah, have a nice trip." He said as he saw Syla turning again and began walking away from him, if the first time was him that left Syla, this time it was the opposite, Syla left him for another place and Gauss could only watch as her figure disappeared among the crowds.
"Is our friendship really that deep? Even though we only met twice.. I feel like i've known that girl for years.." Gauss said before going back to the fruit vendor and continuing his day.
.
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At the west gate of Direwell—
Because of the recent destruction in the town, especially at the west district, the entrance gate also experienced some changes, one of them is that the increased security when trying to enter or leaving. Unlike before where people could enter with just a few checks and paying the fees, this time the guards have taken things a bit serious, every carriage need to be checked thoroughly, each checks could take around 3 minutes or more depending on the carriage size, and any individual that tries to enter or leaving now has to get their whole body checked too before continuing.
"Hm? Stop right there." A guard stood infront of a roofed carriage that was trying to leave the town.
"I have nothing but a passenger, you can check for yourself." The driver said.
As the guards began their thorough checking, they looked at the inside of the carriage from the back and saw a person hidden with a cloak. Beside the figure. the guards doesn't seem to find anything that could be suspicious, just like the driver said, the carriage doesn't have anything but a single passenger.
"Hey you, mind coming down?" One of the guard said.
"Alright." A soft girl voice came from the cloaked figure, startling the guards as they didn't expect it to be a girl, furthermore it was Syla that they're trying to order.
Syla went down the carriage, following the guards order and stood still.
"Take off your cloak, we're sorry miss but due what happened a few days ago, every person that wants to enter or leave need to be checked first." The guard said.
"I see, well i guess that makes sense." Syla responded and revealed her face as she opened the hood of her cloak.
"Huh?.. Wait–" As soon as the guard saw Syla's face, their mouth fell and they froze in their place.
"H- hey, she's— She's the naked girl that killed the leader of that kidnapper in that hole.." One of the guard seems to have seen Syla when she fought with Bruke and remembered seeing her killing him when everyone arrived at the scene.
"Huh?! really!? Then– a- Ahh!! Im sorry miss! I didn't know it was you." All of the guards suddenly bowed down and apologized, they then gave Syla a pass before allowing her to leave the town.
Both Syla and the carriage driver soon drove off from Direwell as they entered the wilderness.
"—Damnit.. Just how many people saw me naked at that time, ughh.... It's so embarrassing.." Syla said as she covered her blushing face with her hands.