CHAPTER 41: CH:41 BORROWED KNIGHT AND HALF-EATEN APPLE

As morning sunlight filtered through the grand windows of the guest palace, Dila woke up—just like every other day—on her plush throne-like bed. The maids dressed her in her usual royal-style gown, brushed her long silver-white hair, and brought her a tray full of breakfast that looked like it belonged at a king’s banquet.

After nibbling on her morning meal and sighing dramatically, she stepped out to the palace grounds with her usual entourage: two ever-serious guards and one soft-spoken maid.

Eventually, she made her way back to her favorite place these days—the knight training grounds.

There, in the shade of the sword quarters, sat Sarios on the bench, wiping his sword with a cloth like a man too tired to think. Everything was... as usual.

Suddenly Without missing a beat.

She spun on her heel in the middle of it and flapped her hands at them like she was chasing chickens.

"Shoo. Go away. I’m walking the sacred dirt of warrior territory now."

The two guards blinked. One opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off with a sharp wave.

"I don’t need a parade marching behind me every time I breathe. Go. Shoo."

The maid tilted her head, flustered. "Princess, this isn’t proper. It’s a training ground, there are knights here— plus, yesterday you did get an accident."

Dila pointed dramatically to the edge of the yard. "Yes, exactly. It’s oky, plus they don’t need a royal parade to go with their push-ups."

The guards hesitated, unsure if they were being dismissed, banished, or cursed.

"Go," Dila said again, with the grace of a swan and the sass of a goose.

Finally, they exchanged helpless looks, bowed, and retreated toward the castle, still trying to process what just happened.

Across the yard, Sarios had been watching everything from a bench near the equipment racks. He slowly turned away, dragging a hand down his face, Than look away doing again that what he was doing.

"...As always, what a weird girl," he muttered.

But still he leaned back and stretched, a small grin tugged at the corner of his mouth.

And than..

Dila trotted across the training grounds, her steps light and full of mischief. She waved one hand high in the air.

"Sarios!" she called out, grinning.

Some of the training knights glanced over, blinking in confusion. A few paused mid-swing, unsure if they were witnessing a royal emergency... or just Dila being Dila.

Sarios, still seated on the bench and wiping sweat from his brow, looked up just in time again to see her rushing over.

"Oh? What is it now?" he asked, a little wary.

Dila leaned in close—too close—and cupped her hands around his ear like she was about to deliver a kingdom-shaking secret.

"Did you forget our deal yesterday?" she whispered, eyes gleaming.

Sarios flinched slightly. "Guh—no, I didn’t forget," he said with a tired sigh. "I just... was going to start training today."

Before he could explain further, his mentor approached with a commanding stride, clearly about to speak to Sarios.

But Dila, in true Dila fashion, suddenly turned and bowed slightly with her hands clasped like a pleading child.

"Please, Mentor," she said with big sparkling eyes. "Can I borrow Sarios for today? Pretty please?"

The mentor blinked, caught off guard. "Borrow him?" he repeated, tilting his head. His face turned a shade pink as he muttered under his breath, "What kind of request is that..."

But after a moment of short-circuited thought, he gave up resisting and sighed, kneeling dramatically.

"Yes, Princess. You may... borrow him."

"Yey~!" Dila beamed. "I can borrow him!"

She suddenly threw her arms around Sarios in a hug of absolute victory. Sarios froze in place, blushing redder than a cooked tomato.

Some of the knights nearby had dropped their swords out of pure confusion.

Meanwhile, Sarios whispered with a twitch, "Borrowed...? I’m a sword, not a book..."

After the mentor left—still muttering something about "borrowing knights like library books"—Dila spun on her heel, arms behind her back like a plotting cat.

"So," she said, grinning at Sarios, "what do we do now so we can momentarily leave this castle base area?"

Sarios immediately raised both hands and waved his fingers like he was swatting away bees. "No no no no, Princess—absolutely not. It’s not safe out there. We might get in trouble. You might have a good amount of support skills, but I’m still a low-class hero right now. We could get—"

"Cooked?" Dila cut in, raising an eyebrow.

She snorted and tried to hold back her laugh, but failed. "Sarios, really—’cooked’? That’s the word you’re going with?"

Sarios chuckled, scratching the back of his neck. "Well... yeah? It’s accurate. You don’t want to be sautéed by some random forest troll."

Dila laughed harder, covering her mouth with her hand like a noblewoman hiding a scandal. "Cooked! Hahaha! You’re such a paranoid omelette."

Sarios shrugged dramatically, raising his shoulders. "Better paranoid than medium rare."

And just like that, the two of them stood in the middle of the training grounds—one laughing like a mischief-maker, the other already regretting everything.

And then, suddenly, Dila’s curiosity peaked.

She turned her head slightly, not quite facing Sarios but close enough. Her voice was quiet, almost like a whisper trying not to disturb the air.

"How does the currency of this world work?" she asked, eyes half-lidded, like she was thinking too far ahead already.

Sarios glanced her way, adjusted the strap on his shoulder, and chuckled lightly.

"You mean the money system? Ah, yeah, it’s a Dailly currency of all kingdom, Princess."

He raised a finger as if about to give a lecture, but then softened his tone.

"Alright, listen up. It starts with Copper Stars—they’re the smallest kind. Use them for snacks, drinks, simple stuff."

He counted on his fingers as he spoke.

"100 Copper Stars equals 1 Silver Moon. That’s used for gear, potions, maybe travel fare. Then finally, 100 Silver Moons make 1 Gold Sun. That’s the big one. Use that for rare magic items, land, enchantments—high-level stuff."

He gave her a half-grin. "So it’s like this: Copper to Silver to Gold. Easy, yeah?"

Dila blinked slowly.

Her gaze drifted to the cloudy sky above, lips parting just a little as her thoughts wandered.

"...Huh. Yep," she muttered under her breath. "This world is definitely not what I imagined..."

Her fingers brushed the hem of her gown, as if grounding herself to reality.

"...Definitely not Halo World anymore," she added in her head, almost amused.

And than suddenly dila said. "I really, really want to venture outside this castle," Dila suddenly burst out, her voice filled with urgency.

She took a small step closer, both hands closing into soft fists near her chest, her eyes shimmering with excitement.

"It’s been days already... I want to get stronger, and appraise my full stats. I want it real badly."

Sarios looked at her for a moment, surprised by her sudden burst of energy. Then he placed a hand on his hip, thinking deeply. A long sigh escaped his lips.

"Princess... I get it. Really, I do. But still... getting out won’t be easy. You’re, well—" He gestured vaguely at her with a single wave. "Wearing a royal gown. It’s not exactly low profile."

Dila blinked and glanced down at herself. The flowing, elegant dress shimmered slightly in the castle light.

"...Yeah. Princess-like," she muttered.

Sarios gave her a flat stare, expression deadpan.

"You didn’t notice? You’ve been wearing that everyday since you got here for days now."

She looked up at him and tilted her head, then giggled softly.

"Not really. I’m not fixated on dresses," she said with a tiny shrug.

Then, with a skip in her tone, she added, "Alright! Let’s go! Let’s see... where do we go at this point?"

But just as she started to turn, Dila stopped and held up a finger.

"...But first, I need to change my clothes."

Sarios exhaled through his nose, drawing the word out.

"Riiight..."

And then Dila leaned in a little, her voice lowering to a conspiratorial tone.

"Sarios, you should find a secluded area in the castle grounds. Somewhere quiet. I need to change into my former clothes."

Sarios blinked, confused for half a second—then turned red like someone had smacked him with a tomato.

"Ah—r-right!" he coughed, quickly straightening up like a soldier on alert. "I’ll, uh... I’ll scout out the least suspicious corner of this highly guarded castle. Easy."

Dila gave him a casual wave. "You’re a hero. Make it heroic."

Sarios muttered as he walked off, "Yeah, heroic sneaking. Totally normal."

And under his breath:

"...What am I even doing with my life?"

As dila has now in a move to find a hiding spot.

Dila crouched behind a tall tree deep in the castle gardens. The branches offered just enough shade and cover for her to do something very off-schedule.

"Alright..." she muttered, thinking and summoning something. "Time to open my spatial storage."

A soft shimmer appeared in front of her, followed by the delicate voice of her system companion.

☆ Spatial Storage: Opened

Contents: ☆

Magic Wand Staff [Arcane]

Magical Output: 500

Good for support. Bad for smacking things. (Seriously, don’t.)

Healing Potion (Starter Version) x1

Heals a paper cut. Maybe.

Half-eaten Apple

Still suspiciously fresh.

Dila’s Dress

Elegant. Soft. Slightly crumpled.

Dila blinked at the half-eaten apple floating in her storage space. "Oh yeah... I forgot about you."

She reached it using her mind and pulled it out. It still looked pristine, just like it did the moment she took one bite back during that chaotic market fight.

"Huh... brings back memories. Lol," she muttered, chuckling to herself before casually tossing it into her mouth for another bite. "Still crispy."

She then took out her dress, eyeing it like she was about to summon a boss battle.

"Nari," she said mentally, "does time pass inside spatial storage?"

☆ Not at all, master. Anything stored in here stays perfectly preserved. ☆

"Ohhh..." Dila nodded, impressed. "So no moldy apples or spoiled meat. Got it."

☆ Exactly. Though living beings? Nope. Only non-living items, food, tools, gear, and... your forgotten snacks. ☆

"That’s... actually really cool," Dila grinned. "Imagine stuffing cooked meat in here and pulling it out hot for lunch like a microwave pocket dimension."

☆ You say that, but I know you’ll actually do it. ☆

Dila just smirked.

"Next time... roast chicken."