Mission in another world with my transformed best friend

The next morning, everyone was awakened by Doolittle's knocking on the door, and then they were taken away again, but the destination was not the military base, but a place in the town of Merck that looked like a government office.

Here, several civil servants, holding a stack of investigation reports, briefly inquired about the "Tara Village" again in front of the group, and then handed Masha a stack of official documents resembling some kind of agreement.

Martha couldn't make up her mind for a while, so she invited Wang Kai and Zhang Lan to come and take a look, but after calling them for a long time, they didn't come over, so she turned her head to look.

The two people over there were like magnets with the same poles. When one of them took a step, the other would take a step. However, the distance between them was always a fixed one or two meters.

"Hey!"

Martha sighed, walked over and stood between the two, holding up the agreement in her hand. But the two still didn't want to come closer to look, so she could only grab Zhang Lan's hand and pull her towards Wang Kai.

"Oh, Martha, you and she can decide. I have no objections!"

Seeing this, Martha didn't press the matter further and handed over the agreement. Zhang Lan took a deep breath, picked up the agreement, and began to read it carefully.

The agreement simply stated that "Tara Village was destroyed by natural disaster, and the specific cause is yet to be investigated..." and below that was the settlement agreement for Martha, the "sole survivor of Tara Village".

The official agreements, in essence, mean that before the official investigation results are released, Masa's side, including Wang Kai and Zhang Lan, must remain silent and block the news.

Furthermore, since Martha is a legal resident of Tara Village, she is entitled to compensation under imperial law for the loss of her loved one, amounting to approximately 20 gold coins. After all, her only remaining relative is her grandmother, and given that she is a minor, this compensation will serve as compensation for her future livelihood.

The decision regarding whether the empire would rebuild such a small village was not mentioned at all, clearly indicating that "Tara Village" was to be erased from the map...

(Here's a brief explanation of the world's currency system: there are copper coins, large copper coins, silver coins, large silver coins, gold coins, large gold coins, and dragon crystal coins. Ten copper coins are equivalent to one large copper coin, and so on. The rarest dragon crystal coins are forged by high-ranking alchemists of the empire and are equivalent to 100 large gold coins. They are used only for transactions between empires and are strictly prohibited from being circulated among the general public.)

"Sigh, how much is a village, plus dozens of lives, worth? Standards vary from country to country, even in this other world... well... according to the prices in this world, 20 gold coins are only about 20. It shouldn't be a big problem for Martha to live alone until she becomes an adult, so..."

Before Zhang Lan could think it over carefully, Martha, who seemed to have read her mind, immediately said something.

"Sister Lan, I don't need that many gold coins right now. How about we use them as start-up capital for our 'adventurer's team'? Your and Brother Kai's equipment isn't very good, and you've never even seen magic potions or anything like that before..."

"what!?"

After hearing this suggestion, Zhang Lan was somewhat at a loss and reflexively cast a pleading look at Wang Kai.

In response, Wang Kai could only cough a few times, take a deep breath, and lean closer. He had heard Martha's suggestion earlier, so he nodded in reply.

“As I said before, everything will be done according to your opinion, Martha. Anyway, I’m about to start my adventure career, and the things I’ll be doing for now don’t have much to do with ‘team adventures’ and won’t cost much money… You agree, right, Lan!”

Zhang Lan was stunned for a moment.

"Yes, yes, Kyle is used to working alone, and I... well, I guess I'll just do it your way."

Martha blinked her big eyes and finally became absolutely certain that the obvious "distance" between the two was related to what happened last night. She felt she should do something, so she picked up a pen, signed the agreement, and handed it to the civil servants.

Wang Kai and Zhang Lan very "consciously" increased the distance between them back to the original level...

Soon, Martha, having completed the formalities, walked between the two men with a heavy bag of gold coins, speaking like a leader.

"I hereby declare that in order to give our adventurer team a base, I intend to live in Merck Town. The first thing we need to do is buy a house so that the three of us can live together!"

"Ah, buying a house!?"

Wang Kai and Zhang Lan asked the same question in unison.

Things that they wouldn't have dared to even imagine in their original world were now being spoken of so casually by a teenage girl.

Filled with frustration, the two looked at each other, somewhat at a loss...

"Of course, you just agreed to let me decide, so it's decided. What, do you want to wander around and have adventures, or do you want to go back to your hometown?"

The two exchanged another glance, only then realizing that they had absolutely no memory of "Kyle and Alice's hometown," and since neither of them had any plans for "adventure and wandering" in their future development, they shook their heads in perfect unison once again.

Martha smiled again.

"That's right. In times of danger, it's safest to entrust your back to your adventure partner. From now on, the three of us will stay together no matter what. Let bygones be bygones, and a new beginning awaits us. Come on, let's go get some food first, and then we'll look for a suitable place to stay."

……

Each carrying their own worries, they went to buy a house together, although the atmosphere between Wang Kai and Zhang Lan was somewhat awkward due to some previous "misunderstandings".

As the peacemaker, Masha could only start with Zhang Lan. The two quickly chatted about various small issues such as clothing, food, housing, and transportation, and then the girls started laughing and joking.

Wang Kai saw all this but couldn't say anything. He couldn't understand why he almost lost control of his lower body back then. Maybe it was because he ended up in the body of a boy in his "youthful and passionate era." Perhaps it was because no matter what, the other person's appearance was still "Alice," the irreplaceable goddess in the heart of the ultimate simp Kyle...

Wait a minute, Zhang Lan jokingly said before that this world might have magic like "soul transfer".

What if their souls... It would be good if they returned at the same time, but what if one of them "possessed" the other first?

I don't care. But if Kyle had come first and hadn't been able to hold back, wouldn't Zhang Lan have been...

The scene was too graphic and cruel; Wang Kai shook his head, unable to bear the thought… (A plot point has been foreshadowed; this is not intended to be offensive.)

Soon, the trio, who were full of hope for the future, were doused with a bucket of cold water by the cold reality. Although Merck Town was a "second or third-tier city" in terms of city level, it was after all an expansion of a former military fortress.

As a result, in slightly better locations in town, a small house of a few dozen square meters costs more than 50 gold coins to buy, not to mention the "rich area" planned in the town center.

You get what you pay for. After all, the town has city walls, a moat, and a garrison of a hundred soldiers, which can completely protect the town's residents from the harassment of wild animals outside the city.

These favorable conditions naturally increased land prices, and there was another important reason as well.

The town of Merck has excellent accessibility, making it a more bustling commercial hub than some large, remote cities.

Seeing Martha's slightly disappointed and helpless expression, Zhang Lan could only resort to the oldest method used by the poor—renting a house!

Martha was somewhat disagreeing.

"If we rent a place, our adventurer team won't have a fixed base. Besides, what if we can't pay the rent one day? Not only will we be evicted by the landlord, but we might also break the law and be forced to work to pay off our debts!"

Zhang Lan thought for a moment, then replied with great certainty.

"Don't worry, the accommodation is just a place to rest. As long as we're alive, anywhere is home... Renting is only temporary, Martha. Don't worry, I'll definitely get us a place to stay soon..."

As she spoke, Zhang Lan pointed to the "rich area" within the town, which was enclosed by another high wall.

Seeing this, Wang Kai could only sigh. After his recent "failure to buy a house," he knew that if he could own a house in a wealthy area, he would have to win at least five or six first prizes in the lottery.

Zhang Lan should know when to stop coaxing children. It's like those parents in the old world who would tell their children, "I'll pluck stars and the moon from the sky for you," but then they might just pick up a random rock from the roadside and tell you it's a meteorite—it's all so self-deceptive.