I Level Up With In-app Purchases

I Level Up With In-app Purchases – 67

EP.67 Let Me Stay Just for One Night (3)

Hunting monsters alone is already a difficult task, so how could one possibly go there alone?

Ariane needed people to take care of her.

“That’s why I’m going to hire mercenaries!”

Therefore, Ariane had planned to hire mercenaries according to the scenario.

If she had known we would become acquainted like this, there would have been no need to bother registering at the mercenary guild.

“You wouldn’t listen even if I told you not to go, right?”

“Of course not. If I don’t go, my sister will be in danger, won’t she?”

“Then leave the hiring of mercenaries to me. I’m coming along too.”

“Eh? You, boss?”

“Yeah, actually, I used to be a mercenary. I’m retired now, but my skills aren’t dead yet.”

Ariane looks up at me with her eyes wide open.

“It seems like a job where you could make a decent amount of pocket money, so I can’t just pass up a request that other guys could profit from. You brought a lot of money to hire mercenaries, didn’t you?”

“That’s true, but… you were a mercenary, boss?”

Ariane’s eyes sparkle as if this is very unexpected.

“Most people say it suits me well when I tell them I was a mercenary, and that I made a good career choice.”

I guess it doesn’t seem to suit me in her eyes?

“It’s really unexpected. I thought you were an illegitimate child of a noble family.”

An illegitimate child of a noble family.

In cases where they can’t officially register their name with the family, they often receive just enough support to live like commoners.

Especially in the case of illegitimate children who haven’t awakened, most of them follow this path.

And it seems Ariane thought I was such an illegitimate child.

Since an illegitimate child of a noble family would have no reason to do the harsh work of a mercenary, hearing that I was a mercenary made her realize her assumption was a misunderstanding.

“In all my life, you’re probably the first person to mistake me for an illegitimate child of a noble family.”

I had used an item to increase my charm to enter the Academy City, and it seems it worked a bit too well.

It must have, considering I’ve received a misunderstanding I’ve never encountered before in my life.

Asking a noble if they’re an illegitimate child would be a shameful insult, but asking a commoner is a compliment, so I didn’t feel bad about it.

From a commoner’s perspective, being asked such a thing means you look like a noble.

“But what are you going to do about the academy?”

If we go to hunt monsters, she’ll have to skip the academy without permission for at least a few days.

Since the travel time would be quite long, news would inevitably reach her home.

“Well, that…”

Ariane suddenly starts to hesitate.

The confident and brave Ariane’s demeanor gradually shrank.

It seemed that even the clever Ariane couldn’t solve the academy problem.

“It’s an unavoidable sacrifice. To do something big, you have to be prepared for some sacrifices, you know.”

Getting scolded by parents VS Sister’s death

Anyone would agree that preventing the latter is the right thing to do.

“You’re not going to report me, are you?”

I had no intention of blocking the scenario that could be an opportunity for Ariane to grow.

“No. Why would I? I can get a ton of money if I take you along.”

Ariane’s face brightens at my indifferent attitude.

“You’ve thought it through well! I’ll pay you a lot!”

“Well, you’re the daughter of a duke’s family, so I’m sure you can afford it.”

“Huh? You knew our family was a duke’s household?”

“…Somehow. You’re quite famous, after all.”

“I am quite popular, aren’t I? Hehe!”

Ariane has been a topic of conversation since childhood due to her cute appearance and genius skills.

There wasn’t a single student in the academy who didn’t know her, so she probably thinks there’s no way I wouldn’t have heard the rumors.

“Boss, can we leave right away tomorrow then?”

“Right away tomorrow?”

“Yes!”

“That’s a bit difficult. It takes a few days to find mercenaries, and we can’t leave empty-handed either.”

“We don’t have enough time. My sister will recover and start moving soon. We need to resolve this before that happens.”

Ariane looked extremely urgent.

For the sake of her already strained relationship with her older sister, she needed to handle this perfectly and return.

“Sigh… Alright. It’ll cost quite a bit, but I’ll try to prepare as quickly as possible. How about we depart at dawn the day after tomorrow?”

I had already made some preparations, thinking I might have to move with this kid.

Thanks to that, it was possible to set our departure for dawn the next day.

“If you can do that, it would be perfect!”

Since she was someone who just wanted to leave as soon as possible to catch the monster, she naturally didn’t refuse my proposal.

“I’ll make all the preparations for departure, so now go back to the academy.”

“Eh…? Go back, you say?”

Ariane was taken aback by my words.

“Why are you surprised? That’s the obvious thing to do.”

“But I can’t go back to the academy.”

“What nonsense is that? Why can’t you go back?”

It doesn’t make sense for the academy to not accept a student.

“Hehe, I was so shocked when I heard you were injured that I already left the academy without permission. If I go back now, I’ll probably be disciplined, which would make it impossible for me to leave again tomorrow.”

That was the reason why she couldn’t go back – she had already caused trouble.

If she disappeared again the next day after being severely scolded, how would the academy view it?

They would think she was mocking them and not taking them seriously.

Rather than being misunderstood like that, it was better to extend the runaway period by one more day.

‘She may look like this on the outside, but she’s actually quite smart.’

What is a suspended sentence?

It’s a legal provision where, after pronouncing a guilty verdict, the execution of the sentence is postponed for a certain period, giving time for guidance.

During this guidance period, one must not commit the same crime again. If one does commit the same offense during this time, they could receive a more severe punishment.

‘In other words, let’s end the running away with just this one time.’

It was an incredibly clever choice.

I would have thought so if it weren’t for what she said next.

“So, about that…”

“???”

“Can I stay just for one night? Hehe!”

I don’t know why she doesn’t lisp at times like this, but it was a request that made me want to cover my ears.

⁂ ⁂ ⁂

“Mwaaaaang~!”

Plop!

Ariane, wearing my borrowed clothes, came out after washing up, ran around the room, and then threw herself onto the bed.

It was something that anyone would see as childish behavior, so I felt a bit more relaxed.

‘Right, she may be 19 years old, but anyone would think she looks like she could be friends with 11 or 12-year-olds. There’s absolutely no need to be tense.’

Being nervous about letting her stay for one night might just prove that I’m trash.

“You’re kicking up dust.”

“Mwang~ Mwaaaaang~ So fluffy!”

It’s understandable that she’d be excited, considering how much money I spent on the bed.

Believing that nothing affects health as much as sleep, I sought out and purchased a brand that even nobles use for their beds.

It was expensive, but after using it so far, I don’t regret the money spent.

And as expected of someone raised as a noble, she recognized the good bed and immediately claimed her spot.

‘I was planning to have her sleep on the sofa.’

Ariane, who was stomping her feet and rolling around on the bed, spreading her scent.

The narrow-minded thinking of a noble who naturally assumes that sleep should be on a bed was quite evident.

“Mercenary boss!”

After rolling around on the bed for a while, she suddenly stopped moving and, still lying face down, lifted her head and called out to me.

“What?”

“I’m hungry!”

“….”

I’ve already provided a place to sleep, and now she wants me to serve food too?

“Am I your servant?”

“Hehe, no.”

“Then what should you do if you’re hungry?”

“…Go out and buy something to eat on my own??”

“Right. You know well.”

Some might say it’s heartless to send a young girl out into the dark night.

But she’s not really a young child like her appearance suggests, and she’s even a genius with incredible skills among the awakened ones.

If someone were to try to do something bad to Ariane, it’s the perpetrator we should be worried about.

“Mercenary boss, mercenary boss! It’s dark outside now, do you think there are any shops open?”

“There are plenty, why wouldn’t there be?”

At my words, Ariane pouts.

She probably doesn’t want to go out and get dirty after washing up, and it’s also bothersome.

“Sigh, fine. Wait. I’ll cook something for you.”

“Yay! Thank you~!”

As I was pondering what to make, I suddenly realized I was a bit hungry too.

If it’s not just her eating alone but me eating together, I should make something proper.

“At night, it’s got to be ramen.”

One of the few things that was difficult when I reincarnated into this other world was cooking.

Of course, I got used to the Western-style food I’d eaten since childhood, but don’t Koreans know?

That eating kimchi fried rice with kimchi on top is what makes one Korean.

I couldn’t bear my longing for kimchi, and after opening the general store, I spent my remaining time trying to recreate Korean cuisine.

The academy city was a place where unique ingredients gathered, so it wasn’t difficult to find substitute ingredients.

If you had money, recreating Korean food wasn’t that difficult.

And finally, after succeeding in recreating kimchi, I was in the process of challenging other Korean dishes.

Namely…

‘Ramen!’

It’s ramen.

It’s ironic that I craved ramen more than Korean dishes like soybean paste soup after kimchi, but…

‘Soybean paste soup can be sufficiently satisfied with kimchi stew.’

Both soybean paste soup and kimchi stew were my joint favorite foods.

But ramen was very difficult to recreate and extremely hard to make.

The noodles had to be steamed and then fried to achieve that unique texture, and making the soup base, known as the king of MSG, was incredibly tricky.

I made a broth using beef, added red pepper powder and mushroom broth, then salt, pepper, and so on.

I added various seasonings.

Through various experiments, I managed to create a taste similar to ramen, and I decided to make this other world version of ramen for Ariane.

‘It’ll be troublesome if she finds it too delicious and asks for it every day.’

Still, craving ramen right now, I took out a pot, poured in 1 liter of water, finely chopped some mushrooms and added them for the solid ingredients, skipped the chili peppers since Ariane probably couldn’t eat them, and added some green onions and a bit of minced meat.

If the meat isn’t good, ham would work too.

This being a fantasy world of sorts, ham was quite developed, and good quality ham could make the ramen taste richer.

Since I have minced meat now, I’ll skip the ham, and I’ve already mixed the egg yolk and white separately.

Sniff sniff sniff- Achoo!

I heard Ariane sneeze, probably because the food smell had reached the room.

When the water boils, I add two servings of the hard-earned ramen noodles I made.

Then I add the secret sauce I made to imitate ramen soup base.

I add some generously sliced green onions on top of the bubbling ramen, and when the noodles are cooked, I scoop them into bowls.

Into the boiling broth, I pour the pre-mixed eggs.

When the eggs start to set in the broth, I pour the soup equally over the noodles in the bowls.

Gulp!

My mouth was watering from the smell, and it seems I wasn’t the only one, as Ariane had appeared out of nowhere and was sniffing around.

Sniff sniff sniff-!

“Mercenary boss, what is this? I’ve never smelled this before!”

“It might be a bit spicy for you, but it’s the most delicious thing to eat late at night.”

Proud of the result of numerous failures, I proudly presented the ramen to Ariane.