We Became Poor? But We Were Rich Just Earlier
Lizzy tightly hugged the money pouch she was holding against her chest.
They climbed the narrow wooden stairs and walked down a long hallway.
The innkeeper guided them to a room at the very end.
She said it was the room with the best sunlight among the rooms with two beds. A good place for a child.
When they opened the door and entered, they saw two beds pressed against opposite walls. Even during the daytime, the room felt a little dim.
A small wooden shelf was attached to the wall in the corner.
It seemed to be where guests placed their belongings.
Right in front of them was a small window with wooden shutters. The window itself was small, but it faced the sunlight directly. Through the half-open shutter, a bell tower could be seen in the distance.
“Don’t leave important things in the room. There’s no lock or key. At night, just use the wooden bar inside to block the door.”
The innkeeper spoke while standing at the entrance.
The door could indeed be locked by placing a thick wooden stick across it. The stick used as the latch was tied to the door with a string.
“Meals are served on the first floor. You can come down a little later. The main menu is stew with meat and bread. There’s usually one extra dish too, but it changes often. Today it’s grilled herring. We also have beer. Wine costs extra.”
After saying that, the innkeeper lightly patted Lizzy’s shoulder.
“Stay strong. My husband’s an adventurer too, so he used to leave home often. This place is a bit safer even for a woman alone. I’m here, after all. Still, you should always be careful. Bad people exist everywhere. If anything happens, come tell me.”
It seemed the innkeeper thought Lizzy and Dorothy would be staying at the inn by themselves.
Lizzy shook her head.
“Our whole family will travel together—”
Then suddenly, she wondered if that was really true.
They had never actually talked about it.
When she looked up at Juhwan, her husband smiled softly and answered the innkeeper.
“We’re in the same party, so we’ll stay together all the time. But if she ever ends up alone, please look after her.”
Juhwan spoke so fluently now that the innkeeper looked startled.
“You’re planning to travel with a woman and a child? That’s pretty rare. So then, how about the room fee? Will you pay a month in advance?”
“We will.”
Juhwan answered calmly.
Lizzy held out the money pouch to him, but he did not take it.
When she looked confused, Juhwan smiled again.
“Lizzy.”
With his eyes, he glanced between the pouch and the innkeeper, as if telling her to pay directly.
“I’m really the one doing this now. From now on, wherever we go, I’ll be the one handling the money.”
Maybe to others it was nothing special.
But for Lizzy, spending such a large amount of money herself was something she had never done before.
She untied the pouch and took out a silver coin.
Spending such a huge amount all at once made her heart pound violently. The coin in her fingers felt incredibly heavy.
Slowly, hesitantly, she stretched out her hand.
Until the silver coin disappeared into the innkeeper’s apron pocket, Lizzy could not take her eyes off it.
“Oh dear, is it really that painful to spend?”
The innkeeper laughed loudly and left the room.
Beside the departing innkeeper, Lizzy saw Juhwan silently smiling too.
Did she really look that strange?
When the door closed, the room quickly became quiet. Even Dorothy, who was usually noisy, stayed silent, perhaps because the room felt unfamiliar.
Lizzy slowly wrapped the pouch shut again and looked around the room once more.
The room was so small that the two beds nearly filled the entire space. There was only enough room between them for a person to barely walk through.
“A room like this costs 1 lina for just two days…”
The money suddenly felt precious again.
But…
Lizzy carefully looked around once more.
The room was old, but clean. There was no strange smell, no filth or garbage.
The last time she had visited this village, Lizzy had been a bride being sold away.
Back then, she had not stayed at an inn. She spent the night in a filthy shelter where many people slept crammed together. It had been dirty and smelled awful.
They were given exactly one meal a day — a bowl of cold stew.
The merchant had simply poured water into leftover stew he himself had eaten.
Lizzy had never eaten especially good food to begin with, but that merchant’s actions had deeply humiliated her. She had left the village feeling so miserable that she never wanted to remember it again.
Compared to then, her circumstances had changed unbelievably.
The feeling was strange.
Juhwan wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
“Next time, let’s stay in a better room.”
He must have thought she disliked this shabby room.
Lizzy shook her head and quietly told him a little about what happened the last time she came to this village.
She explained that her life was simply so different now that it felt unfamiliar and surprising, and that she actually liked this room.
After hearing her story, Juhwan’s face stiffened slightly.
“If I ever meet that merchant bastard, I’ll kill him.”
He looked genuinely furious.
The arm around her shoulders tightened.
Meanwhile, Dorothy wandered around the room before suddenly running toward the window with tiny footsteps.
To block the cold, most buildings made their windows small. This place was no different.
Climbing onto the bed and peeking outside, Dorothy spoke in amazement.
“There’s a pointy thing over there. It looks weird.”
There had been no bell tower in the village where Dorothy grew up.
This was probably her first time seeing one.
“That’s a bell tower. When the time comes, the bell ringer will ring the bell up there.”
When Lizzy explained, Dorothy tilted her head.
“What’s a bell?”
That made sense. Dorothy had never even seen a bell before.
Growing up hidden away in a mountain cabin, she had never had the chance to learn what a bell was.
Just as Lizzy began explaining what a bell was—
Dong. Dong.
The bell tower suddenly rang.
Dorothy stared at the tower and shouted.
“That’s the bell? The bell is moving! It’s shaking around!”
The sound fascinated her. Dorothy held her hands over her ears and listened carefully.
Watching her daughter made Lizzy’s chest begin to pound.
The child marveling at something new overlapped with herself.
It felt as though she herself had become Dorothy.
Only now did it finally feel real.
Her life had completely changed.
Lizzy pressed a hand over her racing heart.
“Lizzy, what’s wrong?”
Juhwan asked.
Lizzy opened her mouth to answer, but her voice would not come out properly. Her throat tightened.
Until now, she had only been one ordinary farmer’s daughter among many.
From dawn until night, just like her mother, she carried water, worked the fields, cared for livestock, and sewed clothes. Every day was the same. Morning to night. Then tomorrow. Then another month.
Even after marriage, that life would continue unchanged. The only difference was becoming a wife instead of a daughter. And after children came, life only became harder.
But now things were different.
A completely new road had opened before her.
She would live a life entirely different from her mother, sisters, and everyone she had known.
This was her first time staying at an inn.
Her first time eating food prepared by someone else.
Her first time holding so much money.
She had barely even seen silver coins before.
But from now on, every day would bring new experiences.
There would always be more “firsts.”
Instead of waking up in the same house every day, she would go to new places and see new things.
Every day, she would do something together with her husband.
She wanted to tell Juhwan how amazing and overwhelming that felt.
But she knew he probably would not fully understand even if she explained it.
Lizzy tightly hugged Juhwan’s large body.
“Hm?”
Juhwan awkwardly patted her back, slightly surprised.
“Juhwan, I love you so much. I love you. Thank you for accepting me and marrying me. Thank you.”
Even those words could not fully express her feelings.
After hearing her heartfelt confession, Juhwan stayed silent for a moment before speaking.
“Lizzy… am I handsome?”
“…?”
Confused, Lizzy lifted her head to look at him.
Juhwan asked again with a serious expression.
“Did I become more handsome than before?”
“…”
Unfortunately… not really.
He still looked exactly the same. Still had that slightly scary face.
Apparently embarrassed by his own words, Juhwan covered his face with one hand and muttered,
“Sorry. Forget it.”
His ears had turned bright red.
For some reason, her husband looked adorable.
Lizzy giggled and hugged him again.
“You’re handsome, Juhwan. Always. You were the most handsome man in the village. And now you’re the most handsome man in this village too.”
“…”
His neck turned red too.
She truly loved this man.
Lizzy unconsciously giggled again before muttering,
“Before we go downstairs to eat, I should make a money pouch that hangs from the waist. It’ll be terrible if someone steals our silver coins.”
Yes. That was the most important thing right now.
Lizzy stepped away from Juhwan, clapped her hands together lightly, and rubbed them.
Alright.
As a member of her husband’s party, this would be her very first job.
Making a money pouch.
The inn’s food was delicious.
After taking their very first bite, Lizzy and Dorothy widened their eyes.
Then neither of them spoke another word.
They only ate silently.
The moment their mouths opened, another spoonful went in.
As soon as they swallowed, more food hurried inside.
Juhwan had never seen them eat so passionately before.
It must have been incredibly delicious.
Watching them made him think once again that he absolutely needed to earn a lot of money.
They had planned to explore the village the next day, but Lizzy and Dorothy both developed slight fevers.
The shock from the goblins and the exhausting journey after being driven from the village probably hit them all at once. The constant rattling of the wagon likely made it worse too.
Juhwan used healing magic to lower their fevers, but they still spent the entire day resting at the inn.
Even after the fever disappeared, their faces remained slightly flushed like peaches.
Though he tried not to show it, Juhwan remained anxious until both their faces turned pale and healthy again.
He also continued giving magical power to Oz every day, just as he always had.
Strangely enough, even though Oz’s wounds had already healed, the horned rabbit still constantly begged Juhwan for magic.
If he refused, Oz clung to him as if ready to chew his fingers apart or eat all his hair.
It became easier just to give him magic.
Whenever Juhwan did, the skin around Oz’s forehead sometimes glowed faintly.
Oz always demanded magic only after Lizzy and Dorothy had fallen asleep, so neither of them had seen the glow yet.
Juhwan secretly looked forward to the day they discovered it and got surprised.
It made him feel like a mischievous little boy planning a prank.
On the day they were supposed to visit the guild, Juhwan left the inn a little early.
Their appointment was around noon, but he wanted to look around the village first.
The first day at the guild had ended in complete chaos with endless chatter and blood everywhere, so he had never really gotten to properly look around the guild building.
Besides, Lizzy and Dorothy had both been excited since morning.
Since they had not properly toured the village yet, walking around before heading to the guild sounded like a good idea.
As they walked from the alley where the inn was located toward the central plaza, Lizzy looked around everywhere like an excited child.
Even so, she kept the money pouch turned toward the front of her waist and held it tightly with one hand.
Juhwan secretly thought she looked exactly like a country girl visiting the city for the first time.
Dorothy ran around the alleys with Oz like a little gang leader.
When traveling merchants visited their old village, she used to stay timidly close to Juhwan and Lizzy. But now, with Oz beside her, she seemed to feel invincible.
Sometimes she disappeared from sight so suddenly that Juhwan’s heart nearly stopped.
Still, he could stay calm because he trusted Oz.
For some reason, he felt that as long as Oz stayed with her, Dorothy would be fine.
As they reached the end of the alley, the village plaza finally came into view.
The plaza was crowded with people moving everywhere. Merchants, adventurers, and travelers filled the area. Because the village itself was much smaller than a city, it somehow felt even busier.
The moment Dorothy saw the wide plaza, she excitedly ran ahead.
Lizzy anxiously shouted for her to slow down, but it was useless.
Then suddenly—
Dorothy, who had already run far into the plaza, came sprinting back.
Her face was pale.
And for some reason, Oz was sitting on top of her head like rabbit ears.
“Dad! Dad! Three women are beating up a man!”
“…Huh?”
That sounded very strange.
Even Lizzy looked confused.
Dorothy grabbed both Juhwan and Lizzy by the hands and pulled them urgently.
“Hurry! Hurry!”
Juhwan could not tell whether she was worried about the man or simply excited because something interesting was happening.
“It’s super cool! They’re punching him! And they’re women!”
Ah.
Apparently, Dorothy thought women beating up a man looked cool.
“…”
Juhwan remembered a little of Dorothy’s childhood that Lizzy had once explained to him.
Dorothy had grown up watching her real father beat women. To her, women might have always seemed weak.
Maybe that was why seeing the opposite happen felt so shocking and amazing to her.
A bitter feeling lingered in Juhwan’s mouth.
Led by Dorothy, they entered the plaza and saw exactly what she had described.
In one corner, three women were literally beating a man senseless.
All three carried swords. One punched him with her fists, another kicked him repeatedly, and the last one—
“At this rate, he’s going to die.”
Juhwan muttered unconsciously.
The last woman was beating the man with her sword.
The blade remained inside its scabbard, but if she accidentally hit his head wrong, he could easily die.
People nearby tried to stop the women, but they seemed furious beyond reason. Even when others dragged the man away, the women stubbornly chased after him to continue attacking.
Lizzy quickly pulled Dorothy close and covered her eyes.
“You shouldn’t watch people fighting like that, Dorothy.”
“But Mom! Those women are adventurers! They’re stronger than men! They’re super cool! I want to become an adventurer too!”
Then Dorothy suddenly widened her eyes even more.
“Wait! I already am an adventurer!”
She stared at the hand Lizzy was holding and muttered,
“Mom, does that mean I’m super strong too because I’m an adventurer? Are you strong too because you’re an adventurer?”
While listening to Lizzy awkwardly explain that it did not work like that, Juhwan quietly watched the women and the man.
Whatever the man had done, he was covered in blood.
One of the gate guards Juhwan had seen a few days ago was standing in front of the injured man while trying to calm the women down.
But strangely, nobody tried to arrest them.
A few people criticized the women loudly, but nobody actually tried to stop them by force.
Maybe laws did not interfere in personal fights here, even if people died.
And although Lizzy had said women had few rights in this world, perhaps female adventurers were different.
Juhwan looked at Dorothy, who was passionately declaring that she wanted to become an adventurer.
If becoming an adventurer was the path that gave women the most freedom in this world…
Juhwan gently placed a hand on Dorothy’s head.
“Yes. I hope you become a great adventurer.”
Dorothy smiled brightly at his words.
“Right, Dad?”
“…But don’t beat people up like that. Hitting people is bad.”