ALL NOVEL Chapter 9: 9. Under Flesh, there are Bones
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Akeru finally stopped running after he was sure that he was at least dozens of kilometres away from the place.
'That granny was so suspicious, I am glad that I escaped' He didn't know how right his decision was.
He might have died already if he hadn't run at that time.
'Let's see, what was I thinking, yeah, not going to Vermillion House straight away, I first need to get some knowledge about this world, I don't want to appear like a transmigrator, I also need to know the political situation of this world, as this is real life not anime' Akeru mentally made up his mind.
'But, first, there is the most important thing to do' He in the next instant made a very serious face.
People who were near him, when they saw his face took few steps behind in terror on seeing him.
He quickly made his way to a nearby shop, which had glass as its walls.
'Won't they be first to break when somebody starts to fight here, then again, these guys probably have very much trust in the magic knights' He thought while shaking his head off the random thoughts and looking at his reflection in the glass.
He saw a face in the mirror, which then turned into shock and terror.
"Aahhhh"
"kyaaaa"
Akeru finally calmed down his heart when he realized that the person in reflection wasn't him.
"Ahem, Sir what do you want?" The other guy also calmed down and asked him as the salesperson he was supposed to.
"Nothing, my bad" Akeru straight left the shop.
'What a useless shop, it doesn't even have proper reflective glass on its outside, I would never buy anything from this shop' He cursed while ignoring how absurd his words were.
If a clothing shop like that doesn't put transparent glass, which allows people from outside to look at their products, then how are they supposed to attract customers and tell them that it's a clothing shop?
He finally found a shop that was selling mirrors and had put one outside for a demo.
'What kind of days are these, to look at my own reflection, I need to go to a mirror shop' He internally joked at his circumstances and finally looked at what he wanted to finally.
"No way!... I look average" Akeru was so shocked that he said this out loud.
'Where's my unparalleled charm which gives even people of the same gender to favour you' He found out that he didn't get the package a transmigrated person was supposed to get.
People around him looked at him weirdly.
"Mommy, what that guy is doing?"
"Don't look" the kid's mother said in a hushed tone while bringing the kid away.
Akeru had heard both conversations due to enhancing his ears with mana since he had ditched the granny.
"Ahem," He quickly left the scene, no change in his expression.
His Poker face could not break even then.
'My appearance doesn't matter, after all, under the flesh, everyone is bones only, it is pointless to care about appearance' He recalled the statement he used to say himself previously and chanted it again.
He bumped into somebody.
"Kid, look where you are going"
"My bad handsome nii-chan, please forgive me" He put a cheeky expression while saying that.
"Ahem, I will forgive you," The guy said, from his appearance, he could be said to be from a rich household and his appearance was even more average than Akeru's.
'Hehe, typical rich people who are said to have a good appearance' Akeru moved away from the place and steadily walked.
After 20 minutes, he moved into an ally.
'Nice that I am wearing gloves, Let's ditch it completely' He said while throwing away the purse he had stolen and then the gloves.
He put the money in a plastic bag with him and moved away.
He was afraid of somebody tracking him with that purse.
He had chosen his target while seeing the guy being not too rich, but kind of well-off, such that stealing this much money wouldn't really be that harmful to the guy's financial condition and he didn't have that much background to research him.
'Just in case, let's go to another corner of the city, I would have to change my clothes later too' Akeru finally blessed himself to have an average face.
It was easier to blend in with the crowd.
He took out new gloves so that he would be able to hold the money when paying for something and then started heading towards a restaurant.
'It's almost evening, I would also have to find an inn to stay in later, or maybe I should find an inn which gives food at all three times of the day' He made up his mind and started searching for an inn.
Soon, he found out and entered it.
A burly man was behind the table at the receptionist.
"I would like a room for night and dinner too"
"Dinner would depend on what you eat, so its payment would be done during your meal, for room, it would be 4000 Yuls for the night," THe man said.
'He definitely is scamming me, but whatever, It's not like it's my money' Akeru proceeded to pay the money and then went to have dinner.
He then went out of the inn and disposed of the gloves far away from the inn, he had used to pay for both instances.
'It would be all for nought if somebody has some advanced form of tracking, that could detect the person directly, but I could only do this much at a reasonable level of caution, anything more would take too much time to execute, which would be harmful to me if I waste too much time' He thought while covering himself with a blanket.
'Woah, this is soft' He thought while melting in the bed.
Thirty Minutes Later.
'I can't sleep on this soft thing' He grimaced and proceeded to sleep on the ground.
The next morning, he woke up with a few goals in mind. 'Have to get some information about this world, better to find a library or something along those lines, let's first have breakfast'
He looked at the receptionist who had changed from a burly man to a stunning lady.
'Is it his wife or daughter or someone completely unrelated' He wasn't really able to deduce the relationship between this woman and the man.
She looked at him and smiled.
Akeru felt something in his body when he looked at her smile.
He had to do his best to not show her outwardly.
"Do you want to extend the stay, Sir?"
"No, I want to checkout" Akeru said with his stoic face.
He then did it and without wasting any time headed out from the inn.
'Fuck, that lady's smile was so scary, I bet she has some malicious intentions, the way she looks at me is creepy' Akeru shivered while running away from the place discreetly.
He didn't have to dispose of the glove as he hadn't done any transactions at the moment.
He then proceeded to get some breakfast and after asking the shopkeeper, he got the location of where the library is.
'Both magic and common knowledge require you to pay money, these guys really like to monopolize information' He internally cursed while missing his previous life's internet, where information was mostly free.
He arrived at the reception of the library.
There was a board nearby that told about the price of reading required.
Akeru's eyes internally widened. 'Woah, 3000 Yuls for an hour? and magic things require 9000 Yuls per hour? What type of inflation is it?' He proceeded to pay the amount for one hour and decided to extend it if the library had some useful stuff.
He first looked at all the magic-related stuff and only a few topics caught his attention.
'If I were to steal this book, how many guards are there nearby?' He discreetly decided to scout out people guarding this.
'Not worth the risk' He after some time concluded and then moved to general-looking stuff.
Hours passed and he finally exited the library.
'This world is really big, plus the laws are ridiculous, there's not a thing called value for human - or more specifically commoner life, no wonder they are so unrestrained'
'Anyway, time to get some money'
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