Chapter Four: The Exceptionally Capable Senior

Having firmly resolved that every penny must be saved, Melina was no longer so resistant to moving into the Dasu Manor.

Or rather, she had already set down her luggage.

She was determined to stay here, even if it meant being thick-skinned about it. Even when Senior Sonia hinted again that she was a "super lesbian," Melina did not hesitate.

"I, Melina, only care about money!"

Though she roared this in her heart, she still felt a flutter of anxiety as she went up to see the room, terrified of finding a double bed.

"Deng-deng-deng-deng~" Sonia hummed a tune that sounded vaguely like "Red Sun" and opened the door, stepping inside first.

Melina followed, her luggage floating behind her.

She let out a long sigh of relief when she saw the room's layout.

It was a spacious room, reminiscent of a conference hall. In the center sat a round table with three chairs. Behind the chairs were three partitioned spaces, each covered by heavy curtains. Two had already been drawn back, revealing private areas the size of a single room, each equipped with a lofted bed—a sleeping area on top and a personal workspace below. On the left was a rack for luggage, and on the right, a rack for weaponry and gear. The floor was covered with a thick red carpet.

Beyond these three main sections were five additional zones: an alchemy workshop, a forging furnace room, a hot spring bathing room, a restroom, and an indoor greenhouse. It was as luxurious as it could possibly be; staying at an inn of this caliber outside would likely cost 30 gold lei per day.

Sonia had been secretly watching Melina's expression. Seeing her junior, who possessed such bewitching charm, repeatedly show signs of satisfaction, she happily put her hands on her hips and asked proudly in her clear voice:

"How is it? This is an expensive magic room, you know. In its true form, it's only the size of a turtle-car carriage."

Melina, looking a bit reserved while leaning on her lace parasol, looked up at Sonia's face.

"It's so good that I can't believe it's real."

"Hahaha." Sonia let out a rather unrefined, wealthy-person laugh and even suggested, "Do you want to pinch your cheek to see if you're awake?"

Melina frowned.

Before Sonia could say anything else, she saw Melina walk right up to her, stand on tiptoes, and firmly pinch Sonia's cheeks with both hands.

"Mmph, I meant for you to pinch yourself!"

With her soft fingers, the overflowing talent visible from a top-down view, and the irrepressible, silly grin she gave after causing mischief, Sonia had no choice but to accept her bad luck. She took a few steps back, muttering to herself, "What a sappy straight girl, truly a straight girl. I can't take this."

She clapped her hands.

"Just decorate the remaining room however you like. I'll wait for you downstairs. Oh, and by the way, you can use the facilities downstairs freely. For the facilities upstairs, check if our other roommate is using them—first come, first served."

"Roommate?" Only then did Melina notice the room she had overlooked.

In the other room, which didn't have a sign reading [Sonia's Boudoir], one could see a well-organized wall of mineral specimens and display cabinets filled with various soils and rocks. In the workspace under the bed was a set of new, expensive observation microscopes and a magic factor refiner. It clearly had a distinct personal style.

"Another transmigrator."

"?" Melina began to wonder if transmigrators were a dime a dozen.

"And a banshee, too."

"?" Melina couldn't hold back. She glanced at Sonia and asked in a strange tone, "Is she your junior too? Do you have other juniors who are better at chatting and easier to handle than me?"

Sonia put her hands on her hips.

"Actually, she's our senior. She's proficient in all kinds of minerals and is also a brilliant material processing master. In her past life, she was the one who won the 'Melina Cup'..."

Melina sensed something off and emphasized, "Let me say this again: I am not a lesbian."

Sonia remained obediently silent, though her purple eyes swept over Melina with a mischievous, wicked glint—a look that really made one's skin crawl! Just as she was about to provoke Melina's anger, she said leisurely:

"Not yet."

That sentence was chilling.

Sonia didn't wait for her to ponder the remark. "Anyway, for the facilities upstairs, it's first come, first served. Use the ones downstairs as much as you like. I'll head down first. Once you've put your things away, remember to change into something easier to move in... wait! You look fine in that outfit, too. Just wear something that suits you and come down; we have things to do later. Noon is just the right time!"

"What are we doing?"

"Mining. I know where the Tari Crystal mine is. There might be dragons nearby, but don't worry, I've hired a professional team."

"A professional team?" Melina couldn't help but imagine the bewitching music and the swaying African funeral procession.

Sonia saw her expression, her eyes darting around as she flashed a cunning smile and tapped her tablet with her left hand again.

"Respect, I get what you mean! But it's not that kind of team. They're good bros—a very professional hunting group, very Pro. Even if the two of us are total dead weight... oh, even if we just slack off and don't fire a single shot, they can still bring us back in one piece. The era of spiritual energy recovery hasn't started yet. Anything else?"

"...No, that's fine."

Having received her answer, Sonia walked out of the room. The sound of the metal plates on her skirt armor shifted from heavy to light—a rustling, like the friction of shrubs and the brushing of leaves. For most dragons with keen hearing, it would have been a cunning camouflage in the forest.

Explorers usually had a set of meticulously crafted armor, which also required magic factors to activate and connect. Unlike weapons, armor wouldn't be "blown out" by excess magic factors. This armor acted as a docking station for magic factors, allowing an explorer to adapt more accessories—for example, to enhance leaping power or regenerative ability... Naturally, the cost of such high performance was steep. Fortunately, Melina didn't need to buy five sets of these.

Melina first put her luggage into the storage cabinet and snapped her fingers; the trunks opened one by one. She eyeballed the size of the desk in the workspace under the bed and formed a plan in her mind:

"Read Magic Blueprint: [Workbench No. 4]"

Magic factors quickly selected items from the various trunks and arranged them on the desk.

By using magic factors to record the placement of items and saving that configuration as a blueprint, one could quickly recreate the setup whenever the items were stored in the luggage. Many people who could use magic had identical room arrangements because of this technique.

A massive map sandbox, large quantities of magic clay, a brass steam engine for storing magic factors, display cabinets filled with clay clothing drying via magic, and a few classical cameras.

Making dolls was Melina's hobby and her profession; high-quality dolls were very popular in the capital.

Watching her work items, Melina cast a protection spell.

Once the magic factors covered the objects, Melina grabbed her parasol and headed downstairs.

Downstairs, Sonia was in the alchemy workshop, tapping away at some equipment.

Hearing Melina walk down, she turned around, a bright, exaggerated smile on her sweaty face. She waved a hand: "Yo, that was fast."

Melina's attention, however, was entirely captured by a crossbow on the table, brimming with the charm of brass. It was nearly 1.3 meters long, its main body made of smooth dragon bone. The bow arms had a mechanism that allowed them to fold away; when opened, the brass arms were covered in brass-made feathers and scales, looking magnificent. The bowstring, made of thickened triple-composite metal fiber, was extremely sturdy, and the main body featured a brass gear-based winding winch.

This was the "Brass Series," known in the explorer industry as the "finest beginner's weapon." It had the best price-to-performance ratio and quality... Moreover, as a beginner's weapon, it was already equipped with three luxurious [Shooting Accessories]—enhancements that could let ordinary crossbow bolts pierce dragon hide.

It was all money.

"Your weapon choice is a crossbow?"

Looking at Senior Sonia's attire, Melina had expected something like a knight's sword and shield, a greatsword, or a knight's hammer and shield. She hadn't expected a crossbow.

"No, it's a light crossbow!" Sonia put away the items she had finished installing; the shimmering light of the magic factors made Melina realize they were [Spell Bolts].

Sonia tilted her head and gave her a brilliant smile. "Light as in effortless, crossbow as in the weapon. A light crossbow, see?"

"According to weapon classification, it's a crossbow," Melina murmured involuntarily.

"Have you decided what weapon you're going to use?"

This question troubled Melina.

She had a subtle case of choice paralysis. She couldn't pick one of three ramen types, couldn't choose one skin out of three in a game, and couldn't pick her favorite among three lovers... the last one was a joke, but she was indeed plagued by this difficulty. Before she knew she couldn't become an explorer, she had certainly imagined it.

Choose from the six basics? Sword, axe, hammer, spear, bow, greatsword.

Or from the three new-age ones? Crossbow, musket, nunchaku.

Weapons were bizarre and varied; these nine were just the common types. There were even those who used cards, scepters, or mechanical dogs (magical constructs). Of course, there was no shortage of Eastern-style weapons like katanas, kunai, and shuriken—this world seemed to have absorbed quite a bit of transmigrator culture. Melina had initially decided on a greatsword, but that was only based on "holding it with two hands." If she were to consider floating five at once, the greatsword seemed a bit too slow.

Sonia observed her reactions and said with a chuckle, "Then think about it as we go. It just so happens that the hunting group I found this time consists of multi-weapon explorers, so you can find some inspiration during the battle."

Explorers who prepared two weapons and switched between them flexibly in battle were called multi-weapon explorers.

Even for such explorers, the primary weapon's level would be higher than the secondary one; they wouldn't train two weapons simultaneously due to the immense economic pressure.