“Orna, good morning!”

“Morning, Ollie! Do you want me to help you with your homework again?”

“Uh, no, I don’t go to school anymore. It’s pointless…” The boy saw the little girl getting upset so he quickly waved his hands, “Well, pointless for me. It makes total sense for you! Ah, by the way… That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”

Orna followed Oliver over to his house, which was literally only a few dozen meters away. Everyone in the village was technically a ‘neighbor’, since there were only a couple dozen buildings around a central square. On the outside of the village was a short stone wall, protecting them from beasts and bandits to a certain extent. On the northern side of town was the main entrance to the mining tunnels.

“Ah!” The little girl screamed when she saw the creepy angry naked woman the moment she entered the door, “Why do you keep that thing here?!”

“Hahaha~! Sorry, I haven’t decided where to put it yet. Verna’s parents only offered me 20 gold, which isn’t even worth the trouble it took just to carry the damn thing back here. It should be worth hundreds or even thousands of gold in an auction but… Well, the costs of taking it to a big town to sell would be so high. Not to mention the fact that every day I’m not in the mine is a day I’m not making any money…So-umm…”

“Ollie…” Orna looked at the heavy leather bag that was handed over casually. She could barely even hold it up with all her strength! 

“What is this? Do you need me to help you sort out the things you mined yesterday?”

“Huh? Oh, uh, yeah, that’d be nice. I still haven’t gotten around to that yet.”

When she opened up the bag and looked inside, the little girl was shocked and even more confused. Because the black satchel was filled with gold coins! 

Of course, they weren’t actually made of pure gold. But they were all newly minted modern currency of Kresvalia! There were nearly a thousand small coins inside with the simple words ‘Gold Dollar’ written in the Cursed Language engraved on the front. The back was the word ‘Kresvalia’. It was incredibly simple, but these coins were all created personally by a real ‘Minter’. They were extremely resistant to heat, corrosion, had high tensile strength and were generally very durable. Most importantly, as long as the coins were destroyed or damaged to a certain extent, they would disappear.

“I talked to Klein yesterday and he said that you’d only need like 600 gold to go to College in Kale Town. I know it’s not as good as the Capital of Kresvalia, but it’s the best I can do…”

“Why?” Orna started crying while her trembling arms struggled to hold the bag of coins, “This is too much… You worked so hard for this money, I can’t just take it for nothing. Don’t worry, I’ll save up enough to go to College on my own-”

“No you won’t.” Oliver frowned and pushed the bag back into her arms, “Listen, Orna, take this money and go. The sooner you graduate College, the sooner you can actually get started on your dream. Please, before you get sick… Get out of here and go become a Teacher!”

“Ollie… *Sniffle* Thank you.” She reached out to try and hug him but lost her balance from the heavy weight. Fortunately, he reacted quickly and caught her by the arm-

*Crack~!*

“Aaaaah~!”

A few hours later, the little girl was glaring at the blushing boy with a white cast on her right arm. Klein rubbed his aching head and complained, “We just warned you to be careful earlier and you already broke Orna’s ulna! Hahaha~! Eh-hem, sorry, but yeah, be more careful in the future. I’m a Plague Doctor, not an Orthopedic Doctor! If you want her to heal quickly and safely, you should send her to the hospital in Kale Town. It’s gonna cost you at least fifty gold though.”

“That’s fine.” Oliver sighed and smiled wryly at the pouting girl, “I’m really sorry Orna. You should go and become a Teacher. That way, when we meet again in the future, we can hug each other without anyone getting hurt.”

“I… Umm…” Orna blushed and looked away from him, “Thank you, Ollie. I promise, I’ll definitely become the greatest Teacher in the world!”

“Uh, you don’t need to be the best. Don’t put so much pressure on yourself.” Klein snickered and patted the tiny brat on her blonde head, “If it comes down to it, you can always come back to Verde and inherit Greenstone’s Cursed Word. None of the other kids want to be a Teacher anyway.”

“No way! I made a promise to myself, to Ollie, to my parents and to my big sister Orina! I’m going to become a Teacher with my own efforts and then work hard to be the best!”

“I believe in you.” Oliver smiled and gave her a thumbs-up with his right hand, “You go become the best Teacher in the world and I’ll become the greatest Miner ever!”

“Yeah!” Orna giggled and gave him a thumbs up too, with her arm that wasn’t broken.

It’s not like she could just teleport over to Kale Town though. Fortunately there was actually a caravan from the Greenstone Mining Company coming to the village that day. They would pick up all the ores, crystals and other mined goods that would be sold as raw materials in town. Not every village had their own dedicated caravan, but Verde had a ‘Miner’ for several generations, so they also received some privileges.

Verna’s parents would also follow the caravan to Kale Town for business. Specifically, they were going to sell a bunch of little statues, statuettes, figurines and antique gold coins at the auction in Kale Town. Where else would Oliver get those newly Minted coins? Only the angry naked woman statue wasn’t sold to them, because their price was just too ridiculously low.

“Ollie, aren’t you going to say goodbye to me?!”

The little girl trotted over and was actually a few centimeters taller than Oliver, which made him feel embarrassed. After all, she was only ten years old and he was already twelve! To be fair, both of her parents were over 180 cm, so it’s not really that surprising. Before he could say anything, she hugged him tightly and kissed his pale left cheek a few times.

“Hehehe~! You’re so cute~!”

“Uh, thanks, you’re cute too, Verna…” Oliver wanted to hug her back, but he was afraid of his own strength. So he just said, “Be careful in Kale Town. Make sure to stay with your bodyguards. I’ve heard a lot of scary stories…”

“Aww~! Don’t worry, Ollie, I’m not stupid.” After letting go of the white-haired boy, the red-haired, dark-skinned girl pouted at him. Poking his chest, “It’s you I’m worried about! You almost died in a tunnel collapse yesterday so take a break for a while! If you’ve got enough money to send Orna to College, then you shouldn’t take so many risks all the time!”

“It’s not a risk. I’m a Miner. I like to mine! What’s wrong with that?!” He retorted and then turned his head away when he saw her glaring blue eyes, “Umm… But I’ll take a break for a few days. I’m gonna go back to those ruins and see if I can find anything else I missed before.”

“Hehehe~! Then good luck~! I hope you find lots of treasures!”

“So your parents can rip me off and sell them at auction for a fortune?”

“Of course! Hehehe~! Love you, Ollie~! See you soon~!”

“Bye-bye Ollie~! Grandpa~! Uncle Klein! Auntie Emerald!” 

Orna also said her goodbyes, but unlike the cheerful Verna, she was actually crying her eyes out. Because she wasn’t just going for a short trip. At the very least, she would be gone for four years of boarding school, probably longer since she’ll get a job as a teacher after that.