Sleeping Beauty slept gracefully, but Ryuu would rather sleep peacefully; it was his belief that either sleep with no worries or not sleep at all. 

This was what led him to collapse in the first place. Because he couldn’t make enough time to get a good rest, he ended up falling under the system’s grace. 

Although he was put to sleep rather forcefully, it didn’t look so to anyone. Snuggled into the pillow, the blanket pulled up to his chest, and his face hidden into the covers so as not to be troubled by the little light that managed to pass through the gaps, he couldn’t have looked more comfortable. 

But it didn’t work for long. The struggling light rays finally managed to wake him up. 

[You have overcome the deep sleep.]

Ryuu leaned up groggily, trying to slide the system screen away, but failing, and lying back down again. 

[You have been asleep for three days, eight hours, forty minutes, worth ten days of healthy sleeping hours. Your body is in the best condition.]

The blanket dropped to Ryuu’s lap as he sat up abruptly. ‘How long did you say?’ 

Three days. That's how long chives and various radishes roughly took to sprout. Enough time to paint a decent-sized house or to read a long novel. 

Being out cold for three days? That's not sleep, but a coma. If the usual tossing, turning and snoring weren't involved, this would definitely be called a coma. Luckily that wasn’t the case, and Ryuu was only sound asleep. 

“You're awake.” Ryuu looked at Kai, who was leisurely sitting on a chair in a corner, streaks of light illuminating his face. As if giving an usual good morning.

Ryuu felt a bit annoyed to see him so calm. Is that how you react to someone waking up from a coma? 

“Why didn't you wake me up?” Kai’s job was to look over Ryuu’s shortcomings. But he just let Ryuu sleep for 80 hours. That’s like neglecting the job from the first day.

“I tried to, at first, but the system insisted that you needed to sleep.” 

But for three days?

 ‘You’re always telling me how important my job is and whatnot, then you just put me to sleep for three freaking days? Hey system? Are you high or something?’

[...

You are to go up against the strongest being on this continent. You need to be in your best condition for that.]

‘I can’t win either way. Stop wasting time.’

[...

I already told you to trust my judgment. You are not yet qualified to question the system’s plans.]

‘Hah!’

“Are we still in Selcouth?” Ryuu decided to move on from the topic. 

The atmosphere was too peaceful. There was the soft sound of birds singing , and a cool breeze was passing through the window cracks. 

Selcouth was like modern day capitals, full of sounds, annoying, human made sounds. Peaceful sounds weren’t easy to find here.

“Yes,” pause, “Should I have moved you elsewhere?” Kai asked as if calculating a mistake. 

That would have been super inconvenient. Or at least Ryuu thought so.

“Why would you? That's foolish to do, traveling with a dead-asleep person,” Ryuu said, “But where exactly are we?” 

Ryuu couldn’t really believe they were in Selcouth. He couldn’t hear the busy city, or feel the dusty air, how could this be Selcouth? He got down from the bed and opened the window. The cool breeze brushed against his bare skin, making him shiver. 

This had to be somewhere close to the mountains. But the surrounding area was unfamiliar, so he likely hadn't been to this part of the map. 

“It’s an inn a few miles north-east from the city.” Kai spoke. That would explain why he didn’t recognize it. Ryuu had only been to the city and the mountains. North-east from Selcouth wasn’t part of the game map.

“You could have just taken me to an inn nearby,” Ryuu sighed, “Dragging a dead weight around must’ve been hard.” 

“Have you looked at yourself?” Kai inquired, “Do you even have weight?” 

Ouch. Ryuu frowned at him. He wasn’t particularly bothered with his weight and all. Yes, he was rather frail, but he had a healthy, albeit neglected, body. 

“Should I dock your pay?” But must he be called out for this every other day? Back when he had just been transported here, the village people would constantly force feed him. It goes without saying that he didn’t get chubby like they intended.

“For what reason?”

“Not doing the job properly, disrespecting the boss, etc.” Note: There was nothing in the ‘etc’. 

“I only stated a fact. You’re skin and bones, you should eat more.” 

‘I eat enough. System! Punish him for body shaming!’ 

[System: You don’t eat enough.]

‘Who’s side are you on?’

[...

What do you want me to do? This is out of my jurisdiction.] 

‘Uhh…’

“I’m deducting your pay this month by twenty gold!” Yes, that was the perfect punishment. Ryuu felt quite proud of himself for finding a way to reduce Kai's salary.

“I spent more on the inn. You owe me.” 

“Wait, what?” Spent more than twenty on what? “You spent what on what?” Ryuu couldn’t believe what he heard. 

Basic living cost for travelers in the Ynistia continent:
Normal inns: 3 silver coins per night. 5 per day.
Mid-grade inns: 10 silver coins per night. 15 per day. 

High-class inns: 30 silver coins per night. 50 per day. 

Royal grade inns: 1 gold per night. 1 gold and 50 silver per day. 

If one gold equals a hundred silver, what kind of an idiot would pay more than twenty gold for an inn? That’s like, paying about six gold a day. It was a decent room and all but twenty? For two people? How?

Ryuu’s face showed clear confusion and discontent. 

Kai couldn’t answer his questions, so he shifted the blame elsewhere.“Ask him.” 

Ryuu’s eyes followed where Kai had pointed. There was a third person in the room whom he had completely ignored. No, he didn’t notice his presence. 

“Prince Neris? Why are you here?” The man stood there with his usual stoic expression, living up to the image of a glass doll. But Ryuu was fascinated by his lack of presence. 

Beautiful people were bound to stand out, no matter where they went. The sea prince of an unknown kingdom, Neris, had an appearance way above that. Anyone would agree with this when they see him. But when they weren’t looking at him, there was no way to tell he was there. Someone who doesn’t seem to exist in the human world unless you are looking directly at him. 

So, why was he here? 

“I was sent here to pass some info, but things happened,” He spoke, “We can discuss the details later. You need to freshen up and eat first. The human body can’t go without food for too long.” 

“Oh, right, I forgot about that.”

[System: (－‸ლ)] 

“Freshen up first, then we can talk about other things.”