Chapter 321: Birth Rate and Death Rate

Leon rolled his eyes and turned back to the old man.

"Three hundred nen?"

The man hesitated, then shook his head. "Two hundred and eighty is the max I can give you."

Leon shrugged and agreed easily. He had been expecting two hundred and fifty, but the man was actually going to pay higher. It was a win for him.

After emptying the bag again, Leon received two green notes and four yellow currency notes from the man. Then, he walked away.

Instead of leaving the market immediately, he stayed behind and decided to visit a restaurant.

Right now, he couldn’t go around asking people for information about the heart. He could only be patient and listen. Perhaps he might be lucky and hear someone speaking about it.

And if a Vaelari restaurant was really like he thought, the biggest yappers would be there.

It didn’t take him long to find one. A young girl in a maid outfit approached him with a broad smile.

"Hello, mister! Welcome to our Misty Sea Restaurant. Come take your seat."

Leon followed her and sat at an empty table while she fetched the menu.

"What would you like to order?"

Not knowing what their delicacies were, Leon simply said, "Give me the best I can get with fifty nen."

"Alrighty! Give me a moment," She said with a grin and turned around, skipping away to get his order ready.

Leon glanced around. ’They’re pretty cheerful for a dying civilization.’

There were other people in the restaurant besides him. Couples, workers, and even a group of friends.

The closest to Leon was the couple, and their lovey-dovey actions annoyed him. Not because he was alone—after all, he wasn’t single. He had a girlfriend too.

’Ah... I can’t wait to get back to Earth and see Thyra again.’

Still, he didn’t let himself wallow in longing. He pushed the thought to the back of his mind and focused on the conversation of the construction workers closest to him.

The two men had helmets on and ate what appeared to be hamburgers with a weird purple juice.

The taller one wiped his lips and licked his fingers. "Haha, this food is still the best. Even better than my wife’s cooking."

The shorter guy rolled his eyes. "Marv, you dare say that in front of her face? Tsk. Anyway, how’s your kiddo doing? Everything good?"

Marv grinned. "Ah, the little minx is doing fine. Other than her disturbing me whenever I come home, she’s a good girl."

The other guy laughed, shaking his head. "Well, it’s a good kid you’ve got there. When will she be going to school?"

Marv paused mid-bite. "Hm? In about a month. She’s already two years old and needs to start learning about the world. Sigh, I’m being pressured to give birth to another daughter quickly, but these people don’t know that raising children costs money. The Royal Family certainly won’t help on that."

His friend nodded. "Yeah. After my wife died, her parents had me marry her two sisters. We’ve been going to bed together, but none of them is pregnant yet."

"Well, that’s a special one. Enjoy, brother," Marv said with a toothy grin. "As long as you guys can produce a few kids, probably ten, the Royal Family will be satisfied."

"No way!" The other guy immediately shook his head, taking a sip of his drink. "Who wants to raise ten kids? Definitely not me. I understand that they’re trying to increase our population, but overdoing it will only backfire."

Marv laughed. "Haha, that’s true. They must have also realized it by now, so I guess it won’t be a big problem, I guess. They’re going to abolish the multiple children policy soon. Or find a proper solution to it."

"Here’s your order, mister!"

The young waitress in the maid outfit approached Leon cheerfully and placed a plate of food on the table.

Leon’s stomach growled.

Mistaking his stomach growl for hunger, the girl grinned. "Enjoy!"

With that, she turned around and left. Leon stared at the food before him, not even sure how to describe it.

’Is this... octopus soup or something?’

He wasn’t a fan of octopuses, so he felt a little disgusted. However, he had already ordered the food so there was nothing he could do.

Picking up the knife and fork, he cut into the meat and began eating.

’Hm... it’s actually tastier than I thought. And this has many more ingredients than that mutated chicken.’

He nodded to himself, gradually increasing his pace. He still listened in on people’s conversations, but none said anything regarding the heart.

Instead, most of them were discussing the multiple birth policy enforced by the Royal Family.

’A chance to make their birth rate equal their death rate, huh? Not a bad strategy.’

Leon stood up after taking a glass of water. Then, he went to the cashier to pay for the meal. After receiving his change, he turned around and left the restaurant.

The young waitress waved him off, but he paid no attention to her. Closing his eyes, he reminded himself.

’They’re all the same. None of them would accept you as a human. Remember that.’

After steeling his conflicted heart, he left the market and explored the city. The outer perimeter of the city was where most of the civilians lived, very much like how Eternal Night City was structured back on Earth.

He walked around until evening, noting the important structures around him. There were libraries, schools, guild houses, and several other establishments scattered throughout the area.

Deciding to end his search there, Leon headed to an inn he had passed by earlier. He stepped inside the building and immediately went to the receptionist.

An adult woman with wrinkles on her face looked at him from behind the counter, adjusting her glasses.

"You have a weird nose," She said. "You want to book a room?"

Leon nodded, ignoring her first comment. He couldn’t hide the fact that his nose looked unusual unless he wore a mask. After all, he couldn’t get plastic surgery to flatten his nose here on another planet.

"A hundred nen," The woman said, holding out her hand to him.

"How long?" He asked as he gave her the green note.

She accepted the money and gave him a key. "Three days. Come back to renew it once your time is up."

Leon accepted the key and nodded. He turned away from her and headed upstairs in search for his room.