360 Mindys days at the Dragon Empire (1/2)
After bidding Rou'khan goodbye, Mindy went back to her inn.
Wait. What?
Yes, that's right. Her inn. Let's rewind back a bit.
A few days ago, back at the Dragon Empire, as a token of appreciation for their new alliance, Zor'khan-dras bestowed upon Darian and Mindy new clothes fashioned by his family's tailor.
They were stylish. They were comfortable. They were luxurious. Most importantly… they were fireproof!
”Next time you bring back mana, you can do so without fearing for your modesty.” Zor'khan assured Mindy.
Mindy's face only grew redder. She absolutely refused to say a single word since emerging from the Portal Room. Not One Word.
”Relax.” Remian told Mindy. ”I doubt that was the first time the Emperor faced a situation of having screaming naked girls appear unexpectedly in front of him.”
Mindy raised her fist, then abruptly turned around, spread wings of fire and fled through the skies. Goodness knew where she ran off to.
But the Fortress Guards didn't stop her. In fact, based on the thoughts swirling around their heads, they were starting to believe Ling Yun was right, and that she really was a dragon in disguise.
As for Darian, they actually saluted him quite naturally. In their minds, he was a high level Draconian, and according to his strength, certainly a ranking Captain. Him wearing the same manner and style of clothes as the Dras Clan only served to heighten that impression. To be honest, considering his relationship with Kor'ag-dras, Remian felt that they weren't wrong.
”In any case, I think we can safely say that those two, at least, are completely immune to fire.” Remian cleared his throat. ”I believe it's best I leave the retrieval of mana from the other side of the Portal to them.”
This basically left the pair of them completely free to do whatever they wanted in the Dragon Empire. All they really had to do was supply enough mana crystals to keep the Beacon running when it was built.
So, what did they do?
***
Mindy went shopping. Seriously, what else did you expect when you put a pre-teen girl in the middle of the biggest city in the world? Especially considering her current level of income…
”Ten million!” Mindy wisely set herself a budget. ”I won't spend any more than that today!”
It was a good thing Darian was nowhere near. If he had heard her say that, he might have had quite a negative reaction…
But Mindy wasn't entirely wasteful with her spending. The first thing she bought was, in fact, a three-floor bed-and-breakfast inn by the riverside. The inn was actually in quite a bit of trouble at the time. Larger companies wanted to take it and raze it and build stylish hotels in complete defiance of the district's low density zoning, and it was only due to the united protests of their also small-building neighbors that they managed to hold out so far…
”Also, reserve the second-best room for my friend. He might need a place to stay too.” Mindy added, thinking of Darian.
This would cut into their profits, but profits weren't Mindy's agenda in the first place. No, Mindy's true agenda was having exclusive ownership of the corner balcony of the best room overlooking the river…
The second-best room also had a balcony overlooking the river, but that one was much smaller, just enough to fit an armchair and some walking space. Mindy's balcony was six times bigger and overlooked both the street in front and the river. Darian's would overlook the river and some of the alley behind the inn.
The inn cost her three million lir. She might have overpaid, but she felt sorry for the couple.
The second thing she bought was a carriage. An actual, horse-drawn carriage. While she could simply fly around the Capital, doing so would attract too much attention for comfort. The innkeeper couple already had a pair of horses and horsecarts, and they had three staff members able to drive, so Mindy didn't worry over having a driver or horses to pull it. The carriage wasn't particularly ornate or special, and cost her only some ten thousand lir.
No, her dresses cost more than that… in fact, for the first day, while Remian and Zor'khan were taking a huge fleet to the Wildlands, Mindy spent most of her time in boutiques and malls. As a result, she found herself needing more wardrobe space, and temporarily had to use the one in Darian's room to store some of her purchases…
What could she say? She liked the oriental fashion styles favored by the Dragon Empire.