Vol 1 Chapter 22 (1/2)

Part Twenty-two—translated by XianBang (proofread by Trespa.s.serby & Erro; C/E edited by lucathia)

Meng walked out somewhat shyly, a pink satin evening gown clinging gently to her body. The graceful satin material made her ordinarily too-slender appearance charmingly gentle. Her puffy dress and long, plain hairstyle, in addition to her shy blush, brought out an endearing air. Although not as gorgeous as Marisa, she had a different kind of attraction that made people involuntarily want to protect her.

“Every woman knows how to transform.” Sword Spirit was shocked. He could scarcely believe that she was the same white and blue slipper-wearing woman who had hair like an auntie.

Meng was a little nervous. She tugged at her hem and adjusted the satin of the bodice, then cautiously asked, “Does this look good? Is it a bit too cute?”

Only after Meng repeated her question several times did the intently staring Sword Spirit finally realize she was talking to him. A little embarra.s.sed, he turned his eyes away and carelessly answered, “It’s pa.s.sable. Go with that.”

”Oh,” said Meng, her head drooping. She returned to the dressing room to take the dress off. When she walked out again, the store clerk hastily took the dress and started packaging it. When he was done, he rubbed his hands while quickly saying, “This dress looks very nice on you. The price is also reasonable. It’s a wise choice to buy it.”

When she heard the word “price,” Meng immediately widened her eyes, cautiously asking, “How… how much does this cost?”

The store clerk smiled. ”This item isn’t this year’s newest fas.h.i.+on. It’s not expensive. It’s only fifteen gold ducats. I won’t ask for the odds and ends.”

Fifteen gold ducats? Meng was a little anxious. She ran to her bag and dug through it until she found her coin purse. She opened it, then looked a little puzzled.

“How many silver ducats are in a gold ducat?”

The store clerk thought it was strange, but still dutifully answered, “Ten.”

Meng’s expression became a little bit uneasy. ”Then… one silver ducat is worth how many copper ones?”

“Ten.”

Meng dug into her purse and then aggressively dumped the contents on the table. Of the many coins that came tumbling out, most were copper, a few were silver, but only three were gold. Meng carefully totaled her a.s.sets. They only added up to five gold and eight silver, a deficit of over nine gold, even completely ignoring the fact that Meng and Sword Spirit would still need to buy food.

“Not enough money…” Meng declared the hard truth, depressed.

Sword Spirit was shocked, too. He had considered everything except for the big problem of money. Needing cash, what could a sword like him even do? Sell himself? They’d have to find someone willing to buy him first!

The store clerk revealed an expression of disbelief. He had never imagined that the two people who had confidently walked into the clothing shop to purchase a dress could have merely five gold ducats on them. The pink dress, just as he had stated, couldn’t be considered expensive. Compared to the custom dresses ordered by the n.o.blewomen, this one was a complete bargain.

“This… I don’t have a solution either. You’re short by too much.” The store clerk wasn’t angry, but he did look troubled.