Five loaves of white bread, two plates of smoked meat, and four cups of warm water comprised Cipher and her companions' dinner—a meager meal, to say the least.
While Aria placed the order, Cipher deliberately studied the menu. Each loaf of white bread cost 5 Copper Oaks, a plate of smoked meat was 1 Silver Lion, and the warm water was complimentary. The total came to 4.5 Silver Lions.
After a brief conversation, Cipher had grasped the world's currency system. The most valuable unit was the Gold Dragon, commonly known as a gold coin. One Gold Dragon equaled 10 Silver Lions, which in turn equaled 100 Copper Oaks.
Most commoners in this world toiled tirelessly all day, earning roughly 4 to 6 Copper Oaks. Their daily staple was black bread, worth 2 Copper Oaks—a hard, unpalatable loaf often mixed with strange ingredients like tree bark. Their lives were truly wretched.
Cipher took a bite of her white bread. To her, it felt as hard as stone, far inferior to the bread she had enjoyed in her previous life. The smoked meat was equally tough and tasteless, like chewing on wax, and the warm water had a peculiar, unpleasant tang.
"Ugh~" Cipher stuck out her dainty pink tongue, her face twisting in a grimace. She suddenly felt grateful for the System that had accompanied her during her transmigration, transforming her into this new body. If she had simply transmigrated into her old, pampered physique, she wouldn't have been able to endure even the food, let alone anything else.
Could a modern body, accustomed to luxury, truly withstand the coarse fare of the ancient world?
Aria noticed Cipher's discomfort immediately. "What's wrong? Don't you like the food?"
Aria's attentiveness stemmed from her lingering gaze on Cipher. Likewise, Cipher found herself drawn to Aria's youthful charm. Compared to the sobbing burly man beside them and the emotionless teenager, the lovely young girl was undeniably more pleasant to look at.
It was rather absurd: both girls found each other utterly adorable and couldn't help but keep a close eye on each other.
Cipher set down her half-eaten bread and nodded slightly. "You're right. I'm finding it a little hard to get used to."
Meanwhile, Aria and Feidric had already devoured their entire loaves, while Douglas had finished one and a half, silently staring at his remaining half-loaf.
Aria couldn't help but ask, "Hey Douglas, weren't you starving just now? Why aren't you eating anymore?"
Cipher casually replied, "Oh, I was just teasing him earlier. Douglas, he..."
But before she could finish, Douglas abruptly shoved the remaining bread into his mouth, mumbling incoherently, "Just taking a breather... burp... I'm stuffed... No, I'm starving! This bread is amazing!"
Cipher stared at him, speechless.
After the meal, the four split into pairs and returned to their respective inn rooms. The moment they entered, Aria hurried to the washroom and began lugging the wooden tub. "I'll go fetch some hot water now, Sister Cipher. Would you like to bathe first, or should I?"
"A... a bath?!" Cipher froze, startled. This was getting intense right away! She desperately wanted to ask if she could skip it, but she knew she couldn't escape the inevitable. Taking a deep breath, she said, "I'll go first."
Moments later, Aria returned with a wooden bucket full of warm water. After placing it in the washroom, she retrieved a small gray cube and a sprig of grass from her luggage, handing them to Cipher.
The cube was a simple soap made from animal fat and special herbs, while the grass was a plant called "Chew Grass." Chewing it into a pulp and rinsing with the resulting liquid served as a teeth-cleaning method—the most common "toothbrush" for adventurers in this world.
The reason it was specifically for adventurers was simple: commoners struggling to secure their next meal wouldn't have time to worry about hygiene.
Cipher took the items and slowly closed the washroom door. She swallowed nervously, removed her high heels, and stepped barefoot onto the wooden floor, savoring the long-forgotten sensation of her entire sole making contact with the ground.
Surprisingly, despite wearing heels all day and hiking through mountainous terrain, her ankles felt no soreness or discomfort whatsoever.
Cipher bent slightly, lowering her head to look at her feet—a position impossible to achieve without deliberate effort. The arches of her feet curved into elegant crescent moons, and her ten round, pearl-like toes were adorned with golden nail polish matching her fingernails. Her ankles were as slender and delicate as translucent porcelain, the subtle protrusions of her ankle bones tracing graceful arcs beneath her skin.
Suddenly, Cipher remembered something from her previous life: a notorious "Stinky Feet Forum" often claimed that wearing boots barefoot all day would trap sweat, resulting in an overpowering foot odor.
She sat down, lifted her right foot to her nose, and sniffed. "Hmm, there's no strange smell at all?"
The next moment, her face flushed crimson. She hastily lowered her foot. "Wait, what am I even doing?!"
With that awkward moment behind her, Cipher resumed undressing. She removed her hood, shirt, shorts, neckband, and leg bands. Though her outfit appeared intricate, its construction was surprisingly simple—except for the tail.
Holding her tail with one hand and her shirt with the other, she carefully maneuvered her tail through the specially designed opening in the garment.
It's worth noting that Cipher didn't have the strange "tail as an erogenous zone" trope. Touching her tail felt no different from touching her other hand or her leg. For her, her cat tail was simply an extra limb, like a third arm or leg. In contrast, the insides of her cat ears were genuinely sensitive.
After successfully undressing, Cipher approached the wooden bathtub. She lifted a small foot and gently dipped her toes into the water to test the temperature. Finding it just right, she slipped entirely into the tub.
Her fingers glided across her smooth skin, savoring the simultaneous sensations from her fingertips and her skin. Cipher's cheeks flushed crimson. She pressed her right hand against her chest, clearly feeling her heartbeat quicken.
Gradually, her fingers began to drift downward, her blush deepening until it felt like steam was rising from her head. Suddenly, she snapped out of it, shaking her head vigorously. She grabbed the cleansing supplies Aria had just handed her outside the tub and began washing herself properly.
She had nearly been led astray by some strange, inexplicable impulse, but thankfully, she stopped herself in time.