Starting Today, I’ll Work as a City Lord

Chapter 162: Elisa’s Renting Tale (2)

“Okay, here’s the key to the room. If you have any problems, you can go to the rental department.” Buff handed the key to Elisa and added, “It’s the same place where you just got your temporary residence permit.”

“Okay!” Elisa nodded, taking the key. She watched the naggy old man leave, still not knowing his name. Well, he seemed quite amiable and not high and mighty like the officials in the other cities. I wonder if he will make a fuss and try to capture and sell me for money if he finds out that I’m an elf.

“Hmph! Maybe he’s just good at disguising himself. Humans are always like that, extremely fake and hypocritical.” Elisa shook off the unnecessary thoughts and examined the key in her hand. After staring at it, she mumbled, “This is a key?”

This is only about as wide as my pinky! I really want to beat that old man up. I’ve seen keys before. They’re at least as thick as my middle finger. Since when did keys become small pieces of iron?

“Is it because I didn’t bribe him with copper coins earlier, and so he’s fooling me?” Elisa mumbled. That was the only plausible reason she could come up with. “Hmph! Opening a lock is as easy as cake for me.”

Elisa pulled out an iron rod the width of her middle finger from her bag and casually threw the key on the ground. This iron rod was the tool that allowed her to eat and escape, which she called the ‘universal key’.

Actually, it was just her lock-picking tool. She had successfully opened thirty-nine locks with this tool before, and she intended to pick the fortieth lock today.

“Ehhhhh…? What’s this? Where’s the lock?” Elisa stood in front of the door, puzzled as she looked at the door handle. Where is the big lock? Why is there only a small hole in the handle?

The locks in this world were as big as shoes, made of wood and bamboo strips, and wrapped with thin iron sheets on the outside.

They didn’t have anything like a burr puzzle lock. Most commoners didn’t use locks when they went out, as they either left someone at home to keep watch or simply carried their valuables with them.

Because a lock was expensive, only nobles could afford them. Right. This place only costs 15 copper coins a month; there’s no way they would provide those expensive locks. I’m dreaming. Elisa reached out and pushed the door, but it didn’t budge. She pushed again, but it still didn’t move.

“Ehhhhh…? Is there someone in there?” Elisa stood there dumbfounded for a brief moment. Then, she went around the building and pushed all the doors, but none of them would budge.

“Wait, did I get something wrong from the beginning?” Elisa slapped her forehead. “Right, that piece of iron.” She hurried back to the door she had originally been in front of, found the key on the ground, and carefully examined it. Only then did she notice the grooves on the key.

“Can this really be a key?” Elisa still couldn’t believe it. She inserted the key into the small hole on the door handle and slightly twisted it.

Click.

The door opened, and Elisa was petrified. She felt as if the whole world had turned gray.

“The iron piece really is the key. Then my actions just now…” Elisa quickly scanned the surroundings and didn’t see anyone. If someone had seen her foolish actions, she was going to silence them.

“Hmph, in the end, I still opened it.” Elisa raised her head proudly, then quickly picked up her package and rushed into the room, slamming the door shut.

Bang!

The room right behind the door was the living room. Elisa looked around the room and found that the room wasn’t very large. It was mostly gray, and it only had a table and four chairs. She opened the bedroom door and only saw a bed. She then went to the bathroom and found a pit inside, with a piece of paper on the wall that read, “Remember to flush with water after use!”

Elisa immediately understood the instructions. She returned to the living room and found that the house really was lacking everything. It didn’t have any wooden barrels, wooden plates, or anything similar.

“Sigh. Why did I pretend to be poor?” Elisa sighed helplessly, shaking her head helplessly. On the way here, Buff had mentioned that there were also some exquisite and elegant rental houses in the city that had enough stuff that one only needed to bring a bag with them to have all they needed to live there. Although it cost three hundred copper coins a month, Elisa could afford it.

“Forget it. That’s way too risky. Besides, those bounty hunters probably wouldn’t imagine that an elegant elf like me would disguise herself as a miserable person.” Elisa lifted her skirts and performed an elegant noble greeting. When she was alone, Elisa would be a bit self-indulgent and entertain herself.

Growl…

The sound of her hungry stomach made Elisa lose her elegance and slump into the chair, and she patted her stomach.

“Don’t growl, all the dry rations are gone!” Elisa was a bit stressed. She wanted to go out and get food now, but doing so during the day would highly increase the chances of her exposing her identity.

Half an hour later…

Growl…

Two hours later…

Growl…

“Forget it, I’ll go out and eat.” Elisa could not bear the hunger any longer. There were still about 2 hours left before the sun set, and she felt like she would faint from hunger if she waited until then.

As someone with a perfect excuse, Elisa acted quickly. She walked out of the house, wanting to check the places where West Sun City stored its strategic goods- in other words, food stores.

Open! Close! Bang!

Elisa looked around vigilantly for a moment, and upon finding that no one had paid attention to her, she started walking. As she walked and looked around, she thought, West Sun City is truly unique. The streets are very clean, devoid of the thick, foul smell other cities typically have.

“Guys, your houses are on the other side.”

The familiar voice made Elisa turn her head, and she saw Buff leading a dozen beastkins in another direction.

“Do you really want to rent one room for 12 people? Although it really saves money, one room is way too crowded for 12 people to live in,” Buff advised.

The beastkins all shook their heads one, insisting on having 12 people live together, mostly for a sense of security. After all, the more people there were in a place, the safer it was.

“Alright!” Buff sighed. They were the last group of beastkins moving in today.

Elisa watched the beastkins and Buff walk away and stuck out her tongue. I might have blamed the wrong person earlier. Maybe this city actually does accept beastkins and will treat them fairly… nah, no way!