1-10 Back To The Town

Before eleven, we safely entered the town of Elmia and headed for the lord’s manor.

I was told we’d have to wait a bit, so they took me to the Adventurers’ Guild first.

I’d been nervous, wondering what would happen, but as expected, the magistrate’s pull was effective.

And this was a rural Adventurers’ Guild, too.

If it were the royal capital, even with a powerful person vouching for me, it might not have gone this smoothly.

While I was still spacing out, things moved along at lightning speed—I was registered as an adventurer without any trouble, and because of the bandit subjugation, the guildmaster’s ruling granted me an E-rank, one step above normal registration.

Apparently it was a reward for defeating the bandits.

They called it F or E, but it wasn’t Earth’s alphabet.

It meant “the fifth or sixth letter from the top in the letter order.”

Strangely enough, they also had twenty-six letters here, just like the alphabet.

Because of that, the isekai language skill translated it as “E” or “F.”

If so, maybe this was the influence of people who came here from Earth.

The letters vaguely resembled the alphabet, too.

Was this also the work of the rarefolk?

In a world where literacy was probably low, maybe it was easier for such influence to take root.

Even if not from the same era, it was already clear there were “people like me” besides myself.

An adventurer card was a special item that could never be forged, and it could record all kinds of information.

It apparently read and recorded the holder’s data automatically.

This was a kind of magic tool.

I got worried, so I appraised it—and the contents written on the card were harmless, bland details.

It seemed that was thanks to my concealment skill activating automatically.

Since we still had time before meeting the lord, the magistrate suggested we eat at a nearby diner.

“Still, I’m astonished. Your execution was superb. If you hadn’t been there, the village might have been wiped out. But the damage to the village is severe. As the magistrate, it gives me a real headache.”

He sipped a thin soup from a wooden spoon and complained lightly.

Maybe this frontier region had little salt or seasoning.

The rest of the menu was also underwhelming—this should’ve been the town center, but nothing really popped.

If I sold salt, I might make a profit!

It seemed far from the sea, so transport would be hard.

Or maybe, in this world, rock salt was more common than sea salt—who knew.

After quickly finishing the meal, we all returned to the lord’s manor.

For reward calculation, we handed over the bandits’ bodies.

Then the corpses were pulled out from my item box and lined up in a row, and the intense stench of blood made me choke.

Being forced to face a pile of bodies again under bright daylight, my face went a little—no, quite—blue.

They were undeniably the miserable remains of men I had killed with my own hands.

If this were Earth, and I’d just eaten, I would’ve vomited without hesitation.

The most frightening part was that nobody seemed bothered by the bandits’ corpses at all.

What a dangerous world this was.

Everything was different from Japan.

Could I really live properly in a world like this?

But even if I said that, it wasn’t like I could go back to Japan right now—so I had no choice but to live in a town here.

Besides, I’d already slaughtered forty people myself.

I’d surely exceeded the average lifetime kill count for ordinary civilians in this world.

Even on Earth, it’d be an impossible number unless you were a soldier or a professional killer.

No—these days, soldiers in most countries finish their service without killing anyone, doing training and rescue operations instead.

They probably do more life-saving than killing.

A number like mine would be more like a mercenary who fought in a small war.

Even coups don’t usually go that far.

And outside town, you never knew when monsters might show up.

That part was honestly a bit traumatizing for me.

And no matter how tolerant I was of solitude, I didn’t want a life of surviving alone in the middle of the wilderness.

Humans are highly social creatures, and the reason I’d ended up a near-hermit in Japan wasn’t because I wanted that life.

For someone introverted, I talked a lot, and if anything, I was the type who wanted to stay close to people.

Soon we were guided into the manor and shown to a reception room.

It had a simple, sturdy feel that I liked.

It made me feel safer, as if I could glimpse the lord’s character.

The town I’d lived in Japan had a similar atmosphere around me, too.

Before long, the lord appeared, and everyone stood to show respect.

Here, you placed the fingers of your right hand together, pressed your palm to your chest, and bowed.

I awkwardly copied them.

“Alright, everyone. At ease. I’ve heard the situation from the advance report. You’ve had a hard time.”

The lord was a well-built man with a stern face and a magnificent jaw-beard—exactly the type of hardened warrior—speaking heavily.

“Thanks to this gentleman, the damage was kept to a minimum. A blessing in disguise. With that in mind, we’d like to grant a reward—”

“Very well.”

With the magistrate leading, things proceeded briskly, and the reward came out to about two gold coins.

In Japanese yen, that was roughly two million.

A cash reward times forty? No—more than that, really.

In Japan, you wouldn’t get even 50,000 yen as a “cash gift.”

“This also includes your earlier report about the bandits’ presence. Without that, the damage would have been far greater.”

“Th-thank you very much. But… is it really alright to give me so much? The village suffered tremendous damage, and many people lost homes and workers.”

Even if I wasn’t wholly responsible, I had made mistakes too, so my conscience pricked.

“That is separate. Failing to reward a man of merit is worse.”

“I understand. To be honest, I’m a small-time merchant, so this helps a lot.”

I thanked the lord for his consideration.

“What will you do from here?”

The magistrate asked.

“Let’s see… if possible, I’d like to stay in town for now, build up funds, and then head to the royal capital. That direction sounds glamorous.”

“I see. Understood. If you need anything, rely on the village again. You’ll be welcome.”

“Thank you for your help. I feel terrible that I can’t assist with the rebuilding.”

“No, it’s fine. Frontier folk are all tough. Take care, then.”

I politely greeted the magistrate and the lord, and took my leave.

Whew.

That overly polite way of speaking really was exhausting.

I hadn’t worked in jobs like that in Japan.

But still—damn!

I finally made it into town.

I was seriously moved.

Last time, I’d been brutally rejected at the gate.

I’d thought I might never be allowed into any town in this world for the rest of my life.

Since I’d come back with the magistrate, even the gate guards looked surprised.

Now then—could I exchange my gold plates for coins somewhere?

Town life would cost money in all kinds of ways.

An inn probably wouldn’t be five copper coins a night.

This was the frontier, so it was likely a country town compared to the royal capital or major cities—but it was still a town.

For now, the fact that I had gold coins on me gave me mental breathing room.

Like having two “golden peanuts,” so to speak.

Back then, we used to count a one-million-yen bribe as “one black peanut.”

It was only around two in the afternoon.

From watching the flow of time so far, the daily cycle seemed almost identical to Earth.

When I searched the map for exchange shops, I found a handful.

For exchange, I’d deliberately lowered the gold’s purity by mixing it.

For now, I brought five 50-gram gold plates to a nearby shop.

If I dumped too much of this at once, I might get targeted!

But the shopkeeper said:

“Hoh. This is high-quality gold.”

Ah—so even dropping it to 98% purity didn’t fool them.

I’d thought alchemy might be common here.

I see.

Unlike Earth, appraisal could reveal things like that.

Well, if they’d evaluate it fairly, that was probably better for me.

“So you think so. I obtained it through trade.”

“Ten gold coins.”

The transaction ended just like that.

Man, what a relief.

Based on the weight, it seemed gold was worth about ten times more here than on Earth.

That was a happy miscalculation.

Alright—time to find an inn.

—Oh?

A child ran up and deliberately bumped into me.

Was that a pickpocket?

Maybe they’d seen me come out of a shop dealing in expensive items.

That kind of thing was common on Earth, too.

The kid was already gone.

Nothing seemed to be stolen.

My wallet and adventurer card and other important items were all inside my item box.

I checked, and everything was fine.

Alright, OK.

If I trained enough, I might be able to use spatial-magic-like applications of the item box to steal things while shoulder-checking someone!

While sightseeing, I wandered around shops at a leisurely pace.

For caution, I deployed the radar map and kept Body Enhancement stacked.

I avoided sketchy areas.

Gathering information came first.

My money on hand was: 12 gold coins, 1 silver coin, 30 large copper coins, and 500 copper coins.

For now, it was fortunate that I’d acquired a large amount of local currency.

Compared to day one, it was night and day.

Back then, I couldn’t even pay a single silver coin as the town entry fee.

I bought skewers at a stall in the plaza and asked the shop guy to recommend an inn.

“In that case, how about ‘Elmia Spring’ down that main street? It’s relatively cheap and the food isn’t bad.”

“Huh. What about a bath?”

“Only high-end inns where great merchants and royalty stay come with that. The kind of inn you’ll stay in won’t have something like that. And besides, this frontier town doesn’t even have high-end inns. Important guests from the capital stay at the lord’s manor. Just go to the town bathhouse like a normal guy.”

So this world had bathhouses.

That was a lifesaver.

I got a room at the recommended inn, and my nerves settled a bit.

With breakfast and dinner included, it was five large copper coins per night.

For a frontier town, it was apparently a decent inn.

In the royal capital, if I wanted a comfortable life, I’d need far more money.

Well, I could sell gold plates for now, but…

Overdoing it would be risky.

I didn’t want strange information circulating behind the scenes.

That was why I’d kept the trade volume modest earlier.

This should be enough for the time being.

First: information gathering.

It would be evening soon.

I decided to hit the nearby bathhouse first.

Compared to modern Japanese sentō, it felt run-down, but that had its own charm.

The tub was wooden.

Yeah—there’d be plenty of materials around here.

It wasn’t fine wood like hinoki—just cheap lumber—but I enjoyed it.

Since it had been a while, I wanted to soak slowly, but information gathering came first.

Firewood seemed plentiful, so the bath fee wasn’t very high.

Even though they used firewood, the area didn’t seem stripped into barren hills like medieval Europe on Earth.

Maybe the lord’s management was good.

Or maybe it was thanks to magic.

After that, I scouted some nearby taverns—and once again found a pair of old men who looked like they loved to talk.

You find them everywhere, don’t you?

I bought them drinks and asked questions.

Even without me prompting much, they launched into story after story.

The lord, how the red-light district systems worked, and the royal capital.

Kings and nobles, and even the existence of a slave system.

Slaves didn’t seem to be treated terribly here, but who knew about other countries.

That western neighbor I’d heard about earlier sounded dangerous.

Becoming a slave was the one thing I absolutely wanted to avoid.

Monsters and adventurers, and the existence of demi-human races like beastfolk—fascinating.

Tales of incredible weapons, creation myths, and the legend of the rarefolk first king.

I heard fresh stories and different angles.

Putting it all together, going to the royal capital was a mixed bag.

There was also a higher chance of getting dragged into trouble.

But still… I wanted to see it.

Even if I was an Aichi-country-bumpkin at heart, it was hard for a Japanese person to live at “frontier level” in this world.

But monsters…

If so, I really did want to raise my combat power.

Physical weapons were too powerful, which ironically made them hard to use.

Especially when there were witnesses.

I wanted magic.

I should be able to use magic, theoretically.

So I asked the old men about that.

“Well, the Adventurers’ Guild might have magic users. And the church would use healing magic. But if you want to learn magic, it’ll cost a fortune. And if you don’t have mana or aptitude, it’s pointless no matter how much money you throw at it.”

That was good information.

After buying the old men plenty of drinks again, I returned to the inn—just barely in time for dinner.

The next morning, after breakfast, I headed to the Adventurers’ Guild.

It was already my sixth day in this other world.

Compared to life in Japan, these days that made you hold your breath had surged past like a storm, but… a lot had happened.

The fights with monsters and bandits had the biggest impact.

And I… had finally become a killer.

A mass murderer, at that.

In Japan, I’d constantly burned with the desire to slaughter every last scumbag, but I’d restrained myself and lived clean and upright.

And yet here, not only was I not arrested—I’d been thanked and even rewarded.

I found the person at the guild who’d helped me yesterday and asked lightly.

“Hello—actually, I’d like to learn magic.”

“Magic, huh. Well… this is too much of a frontier region, so there aren’t many magic users. The monsters around here can be handled with swords and spears, and magic is originally something nobles use. Even our lord, a knight baron, is a strong man who fights with sheer physical might. Elmia is the frontier town at the end of this highway—this might be the place least connected to such things. If you go to the royal capital guild, they can probably do something for you, though.”

Well, that wasn’t a promising answer.

That was disappointing.

My expectation had missed badly.

So I had to go to the royal capital after all?

“If healing or recovery magic is fine, why not ask at the church? Though… it’ll cost quite a bit.”

Saying that, the guild staff member told me where the church was.