Chapter 8: Money is Everything(2)

The people surrounding Jane instantly go silent. A few minutes have passed and the ones to break the silence are the two knights holding the bags full of clothes.

"M-miss, swords like that don't suit you at all. I recommend you buying some swords that are light and thin. Those types of swords can be easily wielded by women."

"He's right miss, you should buy the light ones. A knight sword is heavy and is not easy to carry."

I put my hand in front of them to stop them and smiled.

"It's fine, and besides the heavier the better."

Jane smiled at the thought that once she obtained [Herculean Strength], she could probably destroy a giant boulder in one hit. Jane looked at the store owner with a smile and said.

"Please hurry, my schedule is a bit packed today."

That was a lie. But if she didn't say that, the owner of the shop will still keep looking at her with a dumb expression. The owner slowly turned around and spoke.

"...I'll get it right away."

"Thanks."

The owner moved through the shelves and brought a long box that could fit a sword in front of her. He opened the box and handed Jane a black sword. Jane received the sword and added some force in her grip so the sword would not fall from her hands. Jane weighted the sword in her hands and thought

'He's right, it's heavy but the quality of the scabbard and hilt is good so I bet the blade is good too.'

Jane slowly took out the sword from the black scabbard and saw the shiny blade of the sword. The sword is so sharp and shiny that she could see her reflection in it. Jane smiled at the sword with satisfaction and returned it to the scabbard. She placed the sword back in the box and asked the owner.

"How much?"

"One thousand gallons. Nothing more, nothing less."

Jane smiled at the owner and is about to pay when suddenly, Finesse interrupted.

"Ah, I'll pay-"

"No, it's fine. I want to personally buy this one."

Finesse hesitated for a moment before weakly nodding. I smiled and paid for the sword and happily carried the box containing the sword in my hand. We bought a few more things from the market and were finally done shopping. We walked to the plaza and looked at Finesse. I smiled at Finesse and said to her.

"It's getting late, let's go home sister."

"Yes sister, let's go home."

Finesse smiled at her but still worriedly looked at the sword that Jane is holding. Jane didn't notice and took the lead towards the carriage.

Once they got home, all of the stuff Jane bought are placed on her table. Jane smiled and started to put the newly bought clothes in a large bag. The black beast, who is staring at her from the bed said something that made Jane stop what she's doing.

"Why are you making things harder for yourself? I could make you a spatial bag so stop stuffing those clothes in one large bag. It is annoying to travel with a large bag like that you know?"

Jane looked at him with her eyes widened. The black beast frowned at her and talked in an annoyed tone.

"What? Don't tell me that you have forgotten me already?"

Jane looked at the black beast with nervousness. She averted her gaze from him and thought.

'Damn, I almost forgot that a powerful being that can cast almost any spell is with me.'

Jane flinched when she heard the black beast's unhappy tone.

"Give me a medium-sized bag."

Jane immediately snatched the medium-sized bag beside her and gave it to the black beast. The black beast held it and put a spell inside the bag in a flash. Jane let out a gasp of admiration to the black beast.

"Wow, thank you."

"It's nothing."

Jane smiled at him and started to put the clothes and shoes in the spatial bag. Jane smiled and finally finishes to put all the clothes. And finally, she brought the long black coat in front of the black beast and pointed at its pockets.

"Can you put spatial magic in the pockets of the coat?"

"That's easy."

The black beast easily put the spell in the pockets of the coat with his incredible casting speed. Jane smiled and put the medium-sized bag that has her clothes and shoes and put it in the pocket of the coat.

She then put the healing potions and herbs that she bought in the market in the other pocket of the coat. And finally, she grabbed the black sword in the box and put it inside of one of the large pockets of the coat. She then hanged the coat and smiled in satisfaction.

'It is truly amazing to have spatial magic, less baggage to carry.'

Jane turned to look at the black beast and took a bag of candy that she bought earlier in her bag and passed it to the black beast. The black beast looked at her with confusion.

"What is this?"

"That is candy, lots of kids love that stuff so I thought I should buy you one. If you don't like it then just chuck it in somewhere."

Jane turned around and is about to enter the bathroom but stopped when she heard the black beast's voice calling her.

"Hey, open this for me. It's hard to open it with my paws."

Jane turned around and smiled at the black beast. Jane walked towards him and opened the bag of candies for him. Jane then patted his head.

"Don't eat too much, it'll give you a toothache."

The black beast slowly nodded while trying one of the candies inside the bag. Jane then continued to head towards the bathroom and changed her clothes to pajamas. When she went out of the bathroom, she could no longer see the bag of candies in front of the black beast. Jane asked in confusion.

"...You ate all of it?"

The black beast's eyes widened and exclaimed nervously.

"No! I only ate five! Maybe ten... Okay, I ate twenty..."

"So you indeed ate all of it."

"I did not!"

"The pieces of candy that are in the bag are at the total of twenty pieces. Don't lie to me."

The black beast lowered his head and muttered.

"I'm sorry..."

Jane walked in front of the black beast and kneeled in front of him. She then patted his head.

"I'm not mad, but don't lie next time. Let me check your teeth."

Jane checked his teeth and asked him to wash them. The black beast followed her instructions and washed his teeth. After that Jane smiled and patted his head.

"Good job, now let's sleep."

Jane and the black beast went to the bed and started to close their eyes and sleep.

-------------

Six days have passed and Jane woke up from her sleep. She did a light stretching and sighed. She washed and wore a white oversized buttoned shirt with sleeves, long black pants, and the long black coat which is embedded with spatial magic in its pockets. Jane checked everything and smiled in satisfaction.

"Let's go."

The black beast nodded and turned invisible. She then walked out of her room. She walked past the maids who were looking at her in the hallway and headed outside. She then saw Finesse and Noah waiting for her outside. Finesse looked at her with a worried expression while Noah is frowning at her clothes. I smiled at them and walked towards them. Finesse is the one who said something first.

"Sister, please be safe. I personally picked the carriage for you so you can have a safe journey."

"Thank you, I appreciated it."

Jane then looked at Noah who is still looking at my clothes.

"Just where are you planning on heading? Wearing clothes like that... Are those clothes for men?"

"Don't sweat at the small kinds of stuff brother My attire is perfectly fine "

In the past six days, Jane started casually calling Noah 'brother' as per Finesse's request. The duke seemed fine with it and Finesse looked extremely overjoyed by it.

After I called the duke 'brother' we became pretty close, as close as real siblings and because of that, we often nag at each other whenever we have the time, we mostly nag at each other often in dinner though. The maids of the mansion started to respect me and treated me like I'm part of the Ducal family after that.

The duke frowned and then shot another question.

"What about luggage?"

"Uh... I don't need it?"

"What do you mean?"

"It's just, I don't really need it?"

"What kind of person goes on a vacation for three months without luggage?"

"Aaahh! Brother, please don't sweat the small stuff!"

"How is not having luggage for a three-month vacation small?"

Jane frowned at the duke who kept pestering her about luggage.

'If I told you that all of my stuff is in my pocket, would you believe that? You will get suspicious as to how I obtained a spatial coat when I just bought the coat in a normal clothing store.'

Spatial magic is a spell that most high-grade mages find hard to cast. And if they saw multiple spatial magic in each of her pockets? They might call her the archmage or a talented mage if that happens. Jane doesn't want much attention and she never wanted that so she just kept her mouth shut.

'To live peacefully, I need to avoid the spotlight as much as I can.'

The duke crossed his arms and glared at me.

"What? Not gonna answer?"

This time, Finesse butted in.

"He's right sister, why are you wearing men's clothing and have no luggage? You're just going to have a normal vacation... Right?"

Jane averted her gaze from Finesse's worried eyes.

"Uh yes? It'll be just a normal vacation..."

'Normal vacation my ass, I'll go on an adventure to become a man and is about to go towards the mountain of monsters and obtaining a power that could give me strength as strong as Hercules... You call that normal? Bullshit.'

"Anyway, I should get going now. Bye brother, bye sister."

"Just where the heck is your luggage...? You know what? Never mind, do what you want."

"As expected of brother, you really get me."

"Just get in the carriage before I chuck you in there myself."

"Alright, okay! I'll get in!"

Jane looked at Finesse who is still looking at her with worried eyes.

"Sister, be careful."

Jane smiled at her and looked back at Noah who is still glaring at her. Jane smirked and decided to mess around with him a little more

"Yes, you too. You know that there are wolves at night right? So be careful okay? I'm not here to protect you so protect yourself okay?"

"Sister... You still cared for me even though you are the one leaving all alone through dangerous roads. Don't worry sister! I have Noah here with me so I'll be fine."

Jane could feel Noah's piercing stare from the side. She pursed her lips to prevent herself from laughing and finally got on the carriage. Jane let the driver close the door and saw Noah's glare through the window. He then turned around and then bid her goodbye.

"Take care, you idiot."

"Oh my, you take care of yourself too brother."

Jane heard Noah's snort and walked away. Jane waved back at Finesse who is waving at her. Jane then peeked at the window to the driver's seat and speak to the driver.

"Let's go."

"Yes, miss."

The carriage finally moved and Jane saw Finesse slowly turning around while walking inside the estate. The carriage moves straight up to the northern gate of the capital. Jane smiled and crossed her arms and legs. She then took out three candies from her pocket and offered them to the seat next to her.

"Here, have some candy. The ride will be quite long so eat some candy if you're bored."

As soon as she said that, a black furball appeared in the air. He then grabbed the candies in Jane's hand and start to eat them one by one. Jane let him be and looked at the scenery outside the window.

After a few hours of traveling, the carriage that Jane is riding in finally exited the capital. She then looked at the black beast and the black beast nodded. She then opened the window to the driver's seat.

"Mister good work, you can stop now."

"Huh? What are you talking about miss?"

"Please stopped the carriage."

"B-but miss..."

"Please stop now."

The driver hesitated for a moment before stopping the horses from moving. Jane then opened the door and went out of the carriage. She then patted the driver's shoulder and gave him a thumbs up.

"I'll take it from here, so you return to the estate and say thanks brother and sister for the lift, ok?"

"W-wait a minute, miss!"

Jane didn't pay attention to him and instead whispered something in the air.

"Start"

• Alright.

Jane feels her body becoming lighter and kicked off the ground. She started to run from the carriage at an incredible speed thanks to the black beast's haste magic.

She continued to run towards the forest in the north and didn't look back. The driver saw this with wide eyes and cannot do anything but watch Jane getting away from him.