Chapter 5 “Monster Moving In Part 2”
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“Of course you don’t have to pay for it.” The catling nodded and pulled out several pieces of yellowish paper, “This should be enough, right?”
For a while, the room fell painfully silent as the guy and hamster face-palmed themselves. Speechless, absolutely speechless because those are banknotes, specifically, the previous dynasty’s treasury banknote.
“What? Something wrong?” Shadow saw the face they were making and got a little confused.
Dawn was the first to break the awkwardness by making a bittersweet smile: “After this country was founded after the collapse of the previous regime, the banknotes used previously are void. So those in your hand are paper only.”
It’s not exactly true these banknotes are worthless and without value. If given to an archaeologist, it would certainly be worth a lot. However, explaining where they sourced it would be too troublesome.
“….” Shadow silently withdrew the notes and awkwardly smiled in embarrassment: “They always did say human currency aren’t valuable… How about this then?”
The catling reached into her pocket again and pulled out a small gold nugget before placing it on the table. “I know gold has been the currency for thousands of years. I doubt this is abolished as well.”
Shining! Blinding! Never in Dawn’s twenty or so years of life had he been so wowed by a hunk of metal. Though small, this gold nugget was more than enough to pay for the rent with plenty more leftover. Acting casually despite being riled up like a thieving landlord, he picks it up and attempts to speculate on the price based on its weight. Definitely more than he could ever make in a year’s worth of salary, that’s for sure.
OH RICH MADAM!!!
“…. Don’t tell me this isn’t okay either?” Seeing the guy and hamster’s strange look, Shadow the catling sounded worried and nervous.
“NO! I MEAN YES!! This gold nugget is more than enough after I trade it in at the gold shop.” Dawn quickly explains, “To tell you the truth, the value here is way too high for me to give a proper estimate. With your lack of common sense, I suggest you keep the money hidden after I trade it in. Don’t let others scam you.”
Seeing Shadow nodding to his kindness, Dawn undoubtedly felt relieved inside. This showed the lady wasn’t a bad person when money was involved.
“Landlord, do you want a money transfer or email transfer?” Without needing the guy to ask, the little hamster brought out a smartphone and smoothly tapped on the screen, “And Landlord, please call me Boink from now on, short for Book Ink. Although I still don’t want to live under the same roof with this cat, it’s your territory. Please take care of me from now on.”
Huh? Since you can pay the rent then did you stay in the basement? If you’re so adept at money transferring, I bet you also did a lot of online shopping, right?
“Che~” Shadow glanced at the little hamster and didn’t mind the slight jab at her own lacking. In fact, she’s starting to grow interested at the smartphone in the hamster’s paw.
It didn’t take long for Dawn to receive the rent through his bank app. Have to say, this was a strange feeling to take a full rent from a tiny hamster. Ignoring the space needed for Boink to live, the food expenses are almost nonexistent. One human serving would likely last him a whole week.
Why do I feel like a slumlord taking advantage of my tenants?
Part of him wanted to return the money to the hamster, but for the sake of treating both monsters equally, he knew it would be inappropriate to do so. Swallowing his own pride, the guy takes it with some guilt.
“Stop looking at Boink’s phone, Shadow. I will get you one when I visit the gold shop tomorrow.” Dawn stretches out a hand and waves it in front of the hypnotized catling to bring her back to reality, “In this era, things are very different from a hundred years ago. Smartphones are very ordinary so you don’t need to be so captivated by them.”
He had to say this because the lady’s curious and heated gaze was starting to make the hamster uncomfortable. What if Boink mistakes her behavior as wanting to eat him? That would be catastrophic!