Kujonin
Author: Hanakuroko
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Story 1It was already past dusk when the cleaning at the elf"s drugstore was done; it was completely nightfall.
Camilla, as the drugstore"s manager is called, is an old person with a sharp glint in her eyes and a hunched back, seeming to be a bit around 800 years of age. The elven golden hair and long ears are the standard distinctive traits.
I received the reward, and when I left the store, I let out a sigh when I saw the sky full of stars.
It"s been 3 weeks since I"ve arrived at this other world.
One way or another, it"s about the time when I begin to get used to this way of life.
When I was on Earth, I was working as a cleaner and exterminator when I was crushed to death by collapsing garbage in a trashed house, and it seems this world"s G.o.d picked me up.
At first I didn"t know how things would turn out, but when I realized that here was a world that was like an RPG game, I began to get used to this world.
I entered the Adventurers Guild and received the standard battle training, but I, who had no talent in swords nor talent in magic, was largely unchanged from when I was on Earth, and so I decided that my living would consist mainly of cleaning and exterminating.
Today I also went to the Adventurers Guild and found a cleaning job.
Work that"s not monster or magical beast subjugation isn"t popular work, so no matter how many there are, I"m able to get one every day.
The town I"m in is also a ways from the Royal Capital and the monsters and magic beasts around here are weak, so there aren"t a lot of Adventurers, it seems.
Even so, they say that around 200 people are registered.
For the drugstore cleaning job, I got five 10 Nott silver coins.
Nott is the currency"s denomination.
I don"t know about other countries, but in this country, 1 Nott is a copper coin, 10 Notts is a silver coin, 100 Notts is a gold coin.
By the way, I still don"t know this country"s name.
Maa, I think I"ll probably come to know it if I don"t panic and take my time a.s.sembling the information about this place.
I inform the completion of the request at the Adventurers Guild reception desk.
The Guild also has in inn built into it.
The inn"s fee is 20 Notts, so 30 Notts will be left over.
I want to rent my own place soon, so I turn it into savings.
When I go to return to my inn room, the fox beast-girl receptionist called out for me to stop.
"Naoki-san! Wait a minute!"
"Something up?"
"I have a request for you, see."
"A request? Is there a request that a beginner like me can do?"
"Yes; you"ve pretty much been only taking cleaning and extermination requests, right?"
"Yes; I"ve pretty much not left this town."
Ever since I came to this world, I pretty much entered the nearest town and never left even once.
I"m different from the Adventurers who fight goblins and field bears and the like.
They might be laughing at me from the shadows, but I don"t know most of the words so I don"t care.
The conversation with receptionist just now is also a conversation conveyed with gestures.
The request that came to me was that the rat magic beasts in the sewers have multiplied, so they want them exterminated.
It seems that the requester is from the government officials of this town, so they say that the income is good.
Because I don"t know where the way to the sewers are, I asked the female receptionist to draw me a map.
The next day I went to the town hall, and when I brokenly told them that I was someone from the Guild who came to exterminate the rats, I was given a once over and asked, "Are you going to be okay in that outfit?"
My outfit right now is an up and down blue jumper, exactly that of a cleaner on Earth.
"Maa, it"s fine."
When I brokenly told him that, the government official sniffed, then handed me a map of the sewers.
The deadline is 9 days, so it"s a matter of subduing as many of the large number of rat monsters called "Masmascal" as I can.
The renumeration seems to be 5 Notts per each one.
If I hunt 100 rats, that"s 500 Notts.
It seems like my dream of renting my own place is within reach.
I immediately go to the elf"s drugstore from yesterday"s cleaning request and ask if there was any rat poison.
With body language, hand gestures, and even a drawing, Camilla Obaa-san understood; there wasn"t any drugs that killed only rats, but there were drugs that caused damage to most monsters.
For just the amount I wanted, it was a 100 Nott charge.
When I asked her to make it lower, it seems that if I come once in a while to clean it will be 10 Notts.
All of a sudden it went down 10:1.
After cheating an old woman who didn"t have any business, I got my hands on a large can of poison.
By the way, when I tried asking if there were any open rooms in the area, it seems that the drugstore"s second floor is open.
If I do the cleaning, I can live there.
She said the rent is 150 Notts for 30 days.
I make a temporary booking and leave the store.
Somehow, it seems that Camilla is interested in me.
Before I return to the inn, I procure rough floor, water, and honey, and from the butcher I was given, for free, the blood and fat of monsters they were going to throw away.
Either my sales smile that I boldly attacked with did its duty, or maybe it just creeped them out; I"m not sure which, but the butcher manager filled a bucket with a ton of blood and fat.
When I went to the Guild, naturally the Adventurers all pulled away and I was instructed to go around to the back where the well was.
I spread out a cloth next to the well; there I will produce my special rat poison.
It"s something like hosan-dumpling c.o.c.kroach bait.
I make the flour and poisonous herbs into dumplings, then adjust the scent with the blood and fat.
The plan is to try and make around 100, then tomorrow, I"ll try it in full force.
There"s still some materials left.
I put the finished rat-killer dango in a sack, ate the meat-set that didn"t have its usual taste at the Guild"s cafeteria, and went to bed for today.
Paired with Cursed, I guess…>