"This is the place?"
"The attic's been divided into four rooms. One room is one Gold Coin and two Silver Coins a month."
"Over a Gold Coin a month for a place this small? Is this a robbery?"
"So, you want it or not?"
"Show me something else."
"If you don't rent it, someone else will. And you can't afford anything better."
Lying in bed, Colin rubbed his face with his arm.
He'd wanted to sleep a little longer, but the incessant arguing outside his window wasn't about to let him.
Colin reluctantly got up, opened his door, and looked out.
A pot-bellied, middle-aged man in a robe stood downstairs, accompanied by a plainly dressed man from the Northern Lands.
"Mr. Mole, what's going on?"
Colin called out.
He was a bit nervous; the robed, middle-aged man was his landlord.
"Oh, Colin." The man known as Mr. Mole rubbed his hands together. "Next month's rent is going up by two Silver Coins. Do you have a plan for that? Oh, and there's still this month's rent."
The rent was going up.
Colin's heart sank.
Of course, he had anticipated this.
The refugees weren't all penniless wretches. Some who became Adventurers must have been earning money. With limited housing around Thousand Masts City, it was only natural for the rent to skyrocket.
In fact, it was surprising the rent hadn't gone up sooner.
Furthermore, Thousand Masts City was the largest city in the Northern Lands, so more refugees were bound to head this way. This price hike was likely just the beginning.
'A price hike is a price hike. As long as I can pay, there's no reason for him to kick me out.'
Colin thought as he climbed down from the attic.
He took out his money pouch and offered it to the man. "Sir, I've earned seven Silver Coins already."
"That's great news." Mr. Mole waved a hand dismissively. "Get it all together before you pay. I don't want any trouble."
"I'll have enough by the time it's due." Colin pulled his money pouch back.
"You'd better, Colin," Mr. Mole said. "The Blood Hand Gang has been putting on the pressure lately. They've been clashing with the refugees from the north. If I can't pay their protection fee, I'll be thrown out on the street. You know how it is, right?"
Colin nodded to show he understood.
Mr. Mole nodded, then took his client elsewhere.
Colin went to a nearby well to get a bucket of water, returned to his room, and started to wash up with a willow branch.
'He's telling the truth.'
The slums outside Thousand Masts City were built by generations of refugees. Legally, they weren't part of the city, so the City Guard paid them no mind.
Over time, various gangs took charge.
Law, public order, prices... Their reach extended over everything in the slums.
And now, with the winter disaster showing no signs of ending soon, the tide of refugees would surely impact the gangs as well.
'Will the refugees who've gained a foothold here form new gangs? Will prices in the slums keep rising? Will the number of available commissions keep shrinking?'
The more Colin thought about it, the more his scalp prickled with anxiety. The situation was getting worse.
'There was only one answer to all these problems: money.'
'I have to get a lot of money, fast!'
'With money, I won't have to be afraid of anything.'
SPLASH.
He scooped some water from the bucket and splashed it on his face. Colin grabbed a towel and scrubbed his face hard, trying to clear his head.
Once he was ready, he headed to the Black Heart Tavern to meet up with Kase.
Just like any stereotypical medieval tavern, the Black Heart Tavern was filled with long tables and benches. Behind the counter, a bushy-bearded owner wiped a mug with a rag.
The people still sitting around at this hour were mostly Adventurers.
Thousand Masts City locals sat in one corner, while those with faces from the Northern Lands sat in another.
The two groups kept to themselves, a clear line drawn between them.
For Adventurers, party members had to be trustworthy. After all, you can't guard against a teammate slitting your throat in your sleep.
That's why most Low-tier Adventurers preferred to team up with people from their own homelands. Someone like Colin, partnered with a Half-Orc, was a rarity. It was also why the two of them never found any other teammates.
No human would trust a Half-Orc they didn't know.
Colin scanned the room and walked toward a relatively empty corner.
Sure enough, Kase was sitting there, eating a bowl of oatmeal.
"A bowl of oatmeal," Colin said, sitting down across from Kase. "Has that cart driver, Bob, been by today?"
"Even if he does, he won't be here this early," Kase replied.
Just then, the tavern owner came over and placed the oatmeal on the table. Colin handed him a Copper Coin as usual, but after taking it, the man's large, hairy hand didn't retract.
"Two coins," the owner said.
'The food's gotten more expensive, too...'
Colin quickly fished out another coin and placed it in the man's hand. Then, he scooped a spoonful of oatmeal into his mouth.
No salt, no oil. It tasted like stuffing a wad of soggy toilet paper in his mouth, and it scratched his throat on the way down.
Colin never thought he'd see the day he actually missed the taste of instant noodles.
To distract himself, he looked at Kase and asked, "How short are you on rent?"
"I'm good for this month, but can't say for next."
"Looks like we're both in a tight spot." With that, Colin finished his oatmeal in a few quick gulps.
After breakfast, the two of them hurried over to the notice board.
Colin scanned it up and down a few times.
As usual, the job section of the board had been picked clean. Not a single offer was left. Only the bounty section was covered in notices.
But most of them were for bounties like "The Old Green Dragon, 'Heartrot'" or "The Frost Giant Chief, 'Bjorn'." Judging by the ever-increasing rewards and the yellowed paper, these quests probably hadn't been completed in decades.
After a long search, the two still came up empty.
'Bob said he'd find us in the future, but he never said when,' Colin thought with a sigh. 'What if it's after rent is due? Won't I get kicked out and end up on the street anyway?'
He glanced back at the thirty-odd Adventurers sitting in the tavern.
'Not to mention the other taverns... with this many competitors right here, finding a job wouldn't be easy. Lately, plenty of Adventurers had been using their fists to 'negotiate' over commissions in the tavern, too.'
"Colin, look at this."
Kase's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Colin looked at the request slip his partner was pointing to.
It described a great white bear nicknamed "White Frost" that had appeared in the north. Any party that turned in the beast's pelt or claws would receive a sixty Gold Coin bounty.
Colin coughed lightly twice.
Then he pointed at Kase, and then back at himself.
"A sixty Gold Coin bounty... you really think the two of us can take it on?"
"Heh." Kase gave a mysterious smile. "Do you know why they call me the Bear Hunter?"
"Because you're good at making bear traps?"
"Of course not! It's because I was the best bear-killing Hunter in my tribe," Kase grumbled. "What happened to that clever little brain of yours?"
"Let's think of something realistic..."
Colin suddenly remembered something Bob had said on the carriage the last time they set out—about refugees picking herbs for money. "Let's go find an apothecary and ask around," he suggested. "Maybe we can find some work there?"