Chapter 19: There’s No Wagon
Now that the nuisances were gone, Melissa was trying her very best to collect Nankou Gra.s.s. While indulging in the occasionally exposed cleavage, and catching glances of thighs showing through the gaps in the Mirage Dress, I vigorously and enthusiastically collected medical herbs.
The result―― We finished the job faster than I had antic.i.p.ated. Around the time when the sun had just pa.s.sed it’s midpoint, we had completely harvested everything within the plot of land that those three guys had sectioned off and boasted about.
Exactly how much did we harvest, I took out to Magic Bag to have a look. At a point inside the tiny Nankou Gra.s.s had formed a mountain of greens.
Rather than grams, the weight had already reached the realm of kilos.
Was it approximately 30 kg? Since 10 grams goes for 50 Gold, this much Nankou Gra.s.s could turn into 150,000 Gold.
「Quite a harvest wasn’t it」(Hitto)
「Yes, And this was all thanks to Goshujin-sama’s abilities!」(Melissa)
Well, I honestly don’t think that I did much. But since her eyes were sparkling as she said it, I couldn’t really deny it.
「For now, since it looks like there’s nothing left to pick, I guess we should go back to town for a bit. After all, I’d like to get some lunch too」
「Yes, Goshujin-sama」
And thus, Melissa and I headed back to the place where we tied up and left the wagon. But――
「The wagon’s…… not here, huh」(Hitto)
「Ah, Auuuu~」
Melissa let out a cry as if she was about to burst into tears.
By the way, it wasn’t because we were stupid enough to forget where we left the wagon.
The truth is that the wagon actually was here. That much I’m certain about.
And it was not because the horses managed to escape by some chance.
As for why I was certain about this――
「This rope…… It has traces showing that something cut it――」(Hitto)
That’s right, at the cross-sections of the rope there are traces that some sharp object cut it.
In other words, it means that the horses didn’t go wild and somehow managed to break the rope.
Someone had cut the rope and rode away with both the horses and the wagon.
「I am terribly sorry, Goshujin-sama! If only I had looked after it properly!」(Melissa)
Melissa lowered her head many times over. But she is placing too much of the blame on herself.
「There’s no need to apologize. This was a mistake on my part. Besides, I am relieved from the bottom of my heart that I didn’t leave you here, Melissa. I have no idea what kind of danger you would’ve faced if I left you here after all. If something happened to my precious Melissa then I would regret it and never stop feeling sorry about it」(Hitto)
Melissa’s cheeks were slightly flushed. It’s cute that she’s embarra.s.sed from being called precious.
「But still, looks like there are people who would steal a wagon with no belongings whatsoever in it huh」(Hitto)
Melissa was carrying the Magic Bag after all. That’s why the wagon didn’t have a single piece of cargo still loaded in it.
「Even though it would be as a single item, it would have been possible to sell it so…… Tornelo’s wagon seemed like it had been through a considerable amount of use, but even still. The established selling price of the wagon itself was 50,000 Gold, and I believe the price of a single horse would have been close to 15,000 Gold」(Melissa)
There’s that too huh. Since you weren’t able to buy wagons back in the game I never learned their value.
But if that’s the case then the wagon itself would go for 50,000 and the horses would go for 15,000 x 4 a piece so that’s 60,000 Gold. Totaling 110,000 Gold huh.
It really seems like good money huh. Using the Recall Stones from earlier as an example, it seems like the purchasing price would be 3 times as much as the selling price. Going by that, this wagon’s value would become 330,000 Gold in total. Well, if you compare it to a used car then the price isn’t much different.
Well, whatever the case――
「I am registered as the owner of the wagon, right? If it’s like that then wouldn’t we be able to track it down if someone sells it?」(Hitto)
「Yes, that is why the wagon thief will most likely not use the legal route」(Melissa)
Not legally…… I see, so it’s that way.
「The Thieves Guild huh……」(Hitto)
「yes……」(Melissa)
With downcast eyes, Melissa answered as if she was seriously referring to something disgusting.
She must have a considerable amount of hostility towards it.
Well, I guess that’s to be expected. By the way, the Thieves Guild is… well it’s a bit self-explanatory but it’s kind of like an underground guild where the guys gathered there are people who make a living off doing theft jobs.
This was also a part of the System in the game but, even though it was called the “Thieves” Guild, it doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to enter the Guild unless you are a Thief-Cla.s.s.
To begin with, the Adventurer’s Guild provided jobs for Thief-cla.s.s people as well. Those people looked like Treasure Hunters because of their large profiles.
Basically the Thieves Guild was a business where anyone could register with regardless of your cla.s.s.
And the inner workings of the Thieves Guild were appropriate for it’s name. Requests ranging from stealing to kidnapping, From wagon robberies to even partic.i.p.ating in large-scale acts of terrorism, Things like that.
And other than those requests this Guild was solely responsible for the trafficking of stolen goods.
Within the game, many people smitten with curiously registered with the Thieves Guild because of these unconventional and peculiar missions.
Especially the Synchronized requests that received considerable praise.
Synchronized requests were linked to regular formal requests; You could say that when an legitimate request was made then the underground Thieves Guild would create a related request for it. If adventurer’s had an escorting request then the opposing thieves would have a kidnapping one. It was similar to that kind of experience.
That was pretty much the Thieves Guild. However, there were of course risks involved with doing jobs for the Thieves Guild.
The biggest risk was that once you registered with the Thieves Guild you could no longer conduct business as an adventurer.
Aside from that there apparently existed a hidden parameter in the game called criminal points. If these acc.u.mulated then while you were in the city it would be blatantly displayed so that you couldn’t walk around. And in the worst possible scenarios people with serious crimes would be given the Death Penalty (‘Character Lost’) after being arrested.
But in this world that had become reality I’m not sure if entering the Thieves Guild gets you excommunicated from being an adventurer.
To sum it up, I bet it’s fine as long as you don’t get caught.
Well, if people did find out about your connections with the Thieves Guild then the repercussions might be handled in a cruel and “realistic” way.
Speaking of underground guilds there was also the a.s.sa.s.sination Guild huh. Well, same as before this was a guild that took a.s.sa.s.sination requests.
Well, the strange thing is that the requesting clients were Players though.
With the exclusion of starting players, other Players who acc.u.mulated large sums of money could make an a.s.sa.s.sination request. The people who accepted the request would then conduct actions in order to PK the a.s.sa.s.sination target.
Naturally there were a.s.sociated risks with being found out though.
Well, nevertheless this was simply knowledge I had of the game. There is the possibility that both the Thieves Guild and the a.s.sa.s.sination Guild underwent various changes when this world became real.
After all, the a.s.sa.s.sination Guild is most likely no longer restricted to only killing their targets.
But the basics should still be the same. It shouldn’t be wrong to a.s.sume that the stolen wagon should be headed immediately to the Thieves Guild in order to be put on the market. If that’s the case then――
「That means that the stolen wagon is most likely headed to the city’s Slums huh……」(Hitto)
「Yes, that is correct. But to reach that conclusion in an instant, as expected of Goshujin-sama!」(Melissa)
Well, I’ve got the game knowledge after all.
The “Slums”…… Even in the game, they would always exist in cities that were of large size.
Well, it was pretty much both the “poor people district[1]” as well as the city’s dark side. That’s because the underground guilds like the Thieves Guild and the a.s.sa.s.sination Guild were establish inside the Slums.
So within the Slums was pretty unique. In a way, it was place with a different set of laws that was often overlooked.
After all, the public rules did not apply to the Slum quarters. PvP was also allowed in the Slum quarters so there wasn’t any consequences for it. There’s no one to complain to about theft either (By the way, there were also skills a.s.sociated with thievery).
A domain with trickery and the worst forms of deceit, the very definition of “underground”. That was the Slums.
This was stories from the game, but the real-life version should be similar. Incidentally it was possible to enter the Slums through the front entrance, but there would always exist some hidden backdoor or other underhanded trick to get in.
If your criminal points went up then you wouldn’t be able to blatantly waltz through the front door after all.
As such it was standard to use something like a hidden pa.s.sageway, or otherwise they would bribe the same gatekeeper with money.
And if I remember correctly Central Arts was the latter―― Using money to bribe guards should be the preferred method.
Well then, if that’s the case―― It should be possible to track them using the information we’ve gathered.
「Goshujin-sama…… Hiya!」(Melissa)
Since she was pretty despondent, Once I stroked Melissa’s head her eyes widened with surprise.
And her face looked like it was about to melt.
I’ve petted her many times before but it really seems like she’s weak to it huh. It’s fine since I’m do it but, if she makes this face for some other guy then I probably won’t be able to stand it.
Well even still, I can’t exactly order her to do something like “Don’t let other guys pet you!” I would seem like a jealous man if I did that so I’d rather not.
「Melissa, be at ease. I will take back the wagon. There’s no need for you to worry about it」(Hitto)
「Eh, but Goshujin-sama, in that case you will have to go to the Slum district……」(Melissa)
Watching her make a concerned face like that pains me a bit.
But of course her worries are unnecessary.
「It will be all right, just believe in me. Besides that, it would be best if we hurried up huh. We’ll be returning to the city using a slightly special method so I’m going to grab your hand okay?」(Hitto)
「Eh? Ah!?」
I tightly held onto Melissa’s hand. When I looked at Melissa’s face she was looking down while seeming awfully embarra.s.sed.
But right now isn’t the time to be indulging in that.
First of all I led Melissa out of the forest.
Once we got out I headed towards a nice secluded plain.
If it’s this place then it’s possible to use That. It was clearly displayed among the skills in my head so it should work.
「Ano, Goshujin-sama. What exactly are you…?」(Melissa)
While her hand was being firmly clasped, Melissa offered up what seemed to be a question.
Well, you’ll understand once you see it.
I focused my consciousness on a single point, and once again stepped forward with Melissa―― In that instant, Cancel!
「……Eh? EHHHHHHHHHHHHH!」(Melissa)
Melissa seems quite surprised huh. Well it’s to be expected. But still, the skill was a splendid success.
By the way, the surrounding forest scenery from before was now several hundred meters away from us.
In other words, from Melissa’s point of view, I bet she is a bit taken aback by the sensation similar to being suddenly teleported. But still, that isn’t exactly incorrect.
What I used just now was a skill called [Step Cancel].
In the game it was a movement technique where you could transfer your character to a travel point that you would determine by clicking your mouse.
This was the type that was typically used in net games―― But this skill, the so-called ‘method of transfer’ is moving to a point and then Cancelling it leaving only the result.
Basically the moment when this skill is activated, you get sent flying towards your determined landmark in a similar way to what Melissa would call ‘teleportation’.
Furthermore, since it was a skill there was no magic incantation involved. Even among a Canceller’s skills this particular one was remarkably excellent.
But for this skill whose transfer mechanism was simply sending you to a place and leaving you at the result, it isn’t a skill that would let you move through something like a wall. It can only send you towards the original resulting destination after all.
And in the case where you were to use Skip Cancel[2] along with other people, it was not possible to move past the people in front of you.
The effect radius was also limited to a certain degree. This was probably due to the limitations of the game itself, but when I used it just now it seems to have around a 500 meter radius huh.
And again, the target you use the Cancel on is yourself.
But if you are holding hands with someone at that time, then the person you are connected with will also gain the benefits.
This was a small trick from the game, this possibility was discovered with people used the Communication systems to join hands with someone to test out if it worked.
And since it was among the original restrictions of things I couldn’t use it on, it was impossible to use Step Cancel on things like the wagon.
And if I used it while carrying something like heavy equipment then the effective radius would be reduced as a result.
Afterwards it was necessary to pay attention to the stamina consumption as well. Since you are left at the resulting destination, on top of the amount of stamina used up if you were to go there normally, there was additional consumption added on when you use this skill.
「T-To think that Goshujin-sama would be able to use Transportation Magic like this――」(Melissa)
Even so, Melissa is pretty surprised huh. But still, I had expect her to think of it as magic though.
When I asked her about transfer magics before she did tell me that transportation magic existed after all.
That’s why I decided to nod as if saying ‘Yup, that’s exactly what it was’.
Well then, with this our travel time could be greatly reduced. Just you wait, ye thieves! I’ll make you regret stealing the wagon from me!
TL note: Oh, he finally used step cancel… that means I can translate the spin-off! Yay! (?) Not sure when I’ll do it though.
1.
TL Note: The word “Slums” is actually said in English. This phrase afterwards referring to the “Poor People’s District” can actually be translated into the j.a.panese equivalent of slums.
2.
TL note: The original raws said Skip Cancel at this point. I a.s.sume the author wrote skip instead of Step and that this sentence should actually be referring to Step Cancel (Since Hitto doesn’t know any skill named Step Cancel).