“That’s just about all I can help…”
“Yes, you really helped me out!”
While acting as that we don’t have anything else to our relationship, I turn towards and look at Arleaf’s father.
“I heard that you buy marphina, so I gathered and brought some here…”
“Ah, ahhh. Marphina, huh?”
“Eh? You were out harvesting marphina? Are… are you okay?”
Arleaf asked in a worried tone after hearing us discussing buying and selling marphina.
“If I weren’t, I wouldn’t be so energetic up ‘til now.”
“Wow… you really are amazing. You must have a really high tolerance to poison if you were in that toxic swamp where marphina grows.”
“Alrighty then, show me what you’ve got. We’ll be measuring it in grams.”
By the way, while I hear them say “gram,” it’s actually translated by Veno, so it’s probably some other word.
It’s nice that it’s changed into an easy-to-remember word.
Concluding that I know how storage magic, Arleaf’s dad brought out a set of scales. I pop out the marphina from thin air and load up the scales.
“You’ve picked a whole heck of a lot, hey? Even if you could cure poison with magic, it would be awfully tough work too.”
‘Just so you know, dried marphina is very much a luxury good. If consumed by humans, it will send them to the grave. It can also relief pain and stop bleeding, amongst other uses, but it is quite the difficult ingredient to use.’
Veno’s explanation is considerably worrying.
Is this safe at all? This kind of stuff feels really outdated by modern j.a.panese standards.
I see. As expected, I’ll be selling this for a lot of money.
Well, for now, at least, I’ll just gloss over it. I wonder if it’s okay to be touching it so much.
“I can somehow deal with it with my magic, but it still makes me uneasy to hold it in my hand.”
I’ll try pretending to be experienced with this.
“Hmm… well, I don’t know your circ.u.mstances. Aye… you’ve wrung it out well. Some people like to water it down to make it heavier, but you’ve done your best to process it, huh?”
Process? I was just sc.r.a.ping it off however I could though.
… ah, Veno must’ve done it for me.
‘I had the time to spare. I could also bring out the water wrung out from it too, if you wish. Though it is toxic.’
I don’t need that right now.
The apothecary measured out the marphina I’ve brought and then places a bag of coins on the counter.
“The marphina this time comes out to 36,200 lag. Go on and count it carefully.”
It seems like lag is the denomination for the currency in this world.
He then lines up each coin for me, but I don’t know the value of any of them right now.
“Wow… how incredible, Yukihisa. Even with you helping me out, I only managed to earn 3,000 lag today…”
What?! With a mountain of herbs in that basket, she only earned that little?
I made nearly 12 times of what she did.
“That’s because you’re comparing yourself—an inexperienced girl—with a skilled adventurer who can cure poison well enough to harvest marphina. That’s the difference. Arleaf, we’re also apothecaries; to harvest raw materials isn’t exactly our job either.”
Would it… be a good idea to give Arleaf a cut of my profits?
I’m getting that kind of feeling, but… I’ll be stuck as a novice for a while.
Which choice would turn this into easy mode?
It seems like Arleaf is helping her dad out for the time being.
‘Well, it is toxic moss that grows in a poisonous swamp. You will need to invest in specialized tools in the future to harvest it.’
Ugh… Poison Absorption (Weak) is pretty great, huh.
Simply having affinity with poison might not be so bad after all.
‘While it is my intention for us to fulfill high-paying requests, the weapon I supplied is also worth a lot. I would not be so opposed to you doing so.’
You’re right.
But, well… it isn’t like we brought back really valuable herbs either.
‘Not only are weapons expensive, but you also cannot underestimate the costs of lodging.’
That’s true. In RPGs, staying at an inn is fairly cheap, but in reality, inns are quite pricey.
Then again, I don’t know how much adventurers can earn.
“Umm…”
I store away the money I received and turned to Arleaf.
“Shall we split this?”
“No, no! You’ve earned that money all by yourself, Yukihisa! Rather, I should be the one thanking you for bringing all the herbs here and paying you instead.”
Arleaf’s head shakes from side to side, refusing the money.
“Nah, I was just on the way here anyway. Plus, you’re the one who saved me, so please don’t worry about it.”
After showing off how much more I made, I can’t possibly take any money from her.
I’m not that shameless, and since I was a corporate slave doing software engineering, I like things to be fair.
Above all, it’s important to help people in need.
When I had time to spare, I would always help my coworkers out.
“I would feel awful taking money from you, so while I really appreciate it, no thank you.”
“Arleaf. Perhaps it’s better for you to. You don’t get many requests, so if you earn some now—”
Her father stepped in and was about to say something, but he dropped it after sensing Arleaf wanting to murder him.
“… Father?”
“Eek…”
Her father said no more, feeling the pressure coming from her.
What is it? Is there something more?
‘A—Aye? She is considerably adept at displaying her urge to kill. I am sure that this girl would make for a fine warrior.’
I ignore Veno’s uncalled-for a.n.a.lysis.
Maybe Arleaf has secrets she doesn’t want others knowing.
“Umm… aha ha ha.”
Arleaf forced a smile to hush up any more talk of this topic.
I haven’t known her for long, but I get that she’s a good person.
And being able to venture alone to a place like the swamp, that in itself makes her pretty powerful.
It wouldn’t be good to make her feel indebted to me.
“Oh, right. Arleaf, I’m wondering if you have any acquaintances who run inns. It would really help me out if you could introduce me to them to get a good price.”
“You’re cunning.”
Arleaf’s father spoke with vigilance.
d.i.c.k. I’m the one who was unreasonably summoned to this alternate universe.
Even if I were to admire your beauty of a daughter, you don’t think you’re being unreasonable to punish me for that?
“I—If that’s the case, then let me show you to one in the village.”
“Mm, thanks a lot.”
“Then, thank you very much for fulfilling the request. I hope you will help us out once again.”
What a canned line, saying it all monotonous like that. He’s basically chasing me out of the store with that.
It seems like he would even throw salt over his shoulder after I leave.
“Hmm… I wonder how long you can ogle her for.”
“Father!”
How unnecessary. What was that for?
I guess she’s having some kind of problem?
She looks so innocent, but does she have some sort of tendency to play around?
‘She is toxic, just like you.’
Shut up. Don’t defile her.
‘I thought you were the one to suggest it first?’
Since I have some money in my wallet, I can get Arleaf to show me an inn in the village.
On the way, I verify the village a second time.
It really is kinda… yeah, as I thought, deserted and giving off a bad vibe.
Everybody’s also coughing like they’ve all got a cold.
At least I can find solace in Arleaf.
And so, Arleaf brought me to the village’s largest inn… or rather, one that’s two buildings down and kinda outdated.
“Welcome. Oh, it’s you, Arleaf.”
A slender middle-aged lady, looking like the proprietress, greets Arleaf from the counter.
She seems like she’s got a cold too. She’s coughing once in a while.
“My medicine hasn’t run out yet, though?”
“No, it’s not that. I’ve brought you a customer.”
“Oh? Is that right?”
Arleaf gestures her hand towards here to introduce me.
“This is Mr. Yukihisa Cohgray. Would you please give him a good room?”
“I—It’s a pleasure. I’m Yukihisa Kogure.”
d.a.m.n, I got lured into introducing myself.”
“Mr. Cohgray, is it?”
Arleaf does it too, but why do they turn Kogure into Cohgray?
Is it p.r.o.nunciation? It’s like they’re foreigners, p.r.o.nouncing j.a.panese names all weird.
Do they hear Kogure as Cohgray?
‘Kogure, like Kogure, aye?’
Veno only calls me by my name when it counts.
But you say it right though.
‘They are both the same though. I am but using the translation skill I know.’
So, you mean you can speak both j.a.panese and this world’s language? How convenient. Man, I’m jealous.
“Umm, my first name’s Yukihisa, last name is Kogure.”
“That’s quite the strange name. Do you come from foreign lands?”
“Well, umm… yeah.”
“Is that right… well, how about that far room down the hall on the second floor? Since Arleaf referred you here… with breakfast included, I can do 1,600—no, 1,500 lag per day.”
That’s half of what Arleaf earned today.
Is that cheap?
Should I show how generous I am and pay for Arleaf’s stay as well?
‘Did you see the prices at all? It says it is 2,000 lag per day with breakfast included. I briefly glanced at the big inn two buildings down when we pa.s.sed by. A good room there will run you 6,000 lag. This is an extraordinary deal you are getting.’
I see. She’s giving it to me that much cheaper.
It really shows how well-connected Arleaf is.
It’s hard to get my head wrapped around how these prices are, but no choice but to take it.
“Thank you very much.”
After having Veno checking it over, I put 1,500 lag down on the counter.
I received the key from the proprietress-like woman.
“If you would like hot water or a cloth for bathing, just let me know. I can prepare you bathwater for 30 lag.”
“Alright.”
“Are you planning to set up base in this village for a while? We do long-term stays here as well.”
Seems like she’s gonna sweeten the deal for me.
However… will I make this village my base?
Veno did say people are after me.
If I have to avoid those guys, I think it would be dangerous to stay at the same place.
Might be better to move on quickly…
‘At this stage, we are still gathering information. We should go by our circ.u.mstances in two, three days’ time.’
Understood.
“Alright, thank you then.”
“You can pay me day-to-day. Adventurers like you often go away for days. It’d be great if you could tell me when you won’t be staying here.”
“I understand.”
After greetings and introductions, I look towards Arleaf.
“Then, now is where I’ll take my leave.”
“Yeah. We’ll see each other if we do.”
It would be great if everyone would be nice to me.
‘You, too, are being nice to that girl. For now, let us get to our room.’
Yeah, yeah.
With that, Arleaf waves her hand, and I walk up the stairs in front of me. I head to the room at the end of the hall, like the proprietress told me to.
It’s a relatively simple room, but it’s pretty big.
The bed is… stiff.
With that said though, the room seems to have been taken care of.
Well then… my clothes still feel pretty damp, but if I take them off and hang them by the window, they should dry up.
I’m alright with jumping in a poisonous swamp but being all wet like this feels gross.
I hurried to flop down on the bed.
Ahh… I feel so at ease.
Up until yesterday, I had been a corporate slave working on a h.e.l.lish schedule. In comparison, this is comfortable.
‘You have been fighting on a difficult fight.’
Heh, don’t underestimate a corporate warrior.
Whatever I was thinking about before, I snap back to the present.
I have about enough money to stay for a month.
The problem is whether my wanted poster is circulating yet.
Until then, though, something’s gonna happen.
Previously: // // // // /ch008/
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