Chapter 19: “No Funds, The Art of Money Making”
「The martial tournament is going to be held here right?」(Viare)
「There are quite a few people that look like contestants around so I’m sure that’s the case」(Kousuke)
Kousuke and Viare were chatting as they walked around in the town, in search of a suitable inn. Just as Kousuke stated, there were numerous individuals around them that looked like contestants.
He looked around to see if he might catch Borudosu, but there were too many people around so he gave up. In fact, Borudosu hasn’t even arrived yet so there’s no way Kousuke would see him.
「Kousuke-san, are you going to partic.i.p.ate?」(Viare)
「Do you think I will?」(Kousuke)
Viare thought back about everything that happened so far.
「You won’t then」(Viare)
「Exactly!」(Kousuke)
The two declared. 【TL: Ba-couple ^.^】
「I just reached the point to be able to fight monsters without feeling too bad. Fighting a human.. That’s something I doubt I can do at the moment. I don’t want to accidently kill the other person」(Kousuke) 【TL: Your slap almost killed Borudosu, just flick your finger for VICTORY!】
He’s recalling how he caused Borudosu’s critical condition. Borudosu’s st.u.r.dy nature prevented his death, but against the adventurers and martial artists around Kousuke, he would most likely end up killing them with the same strike. Even with the changes in his perspective about killing, he still viewed murder as taboo.
This could be solved with him holding back, but he’s not sure how to hold back so not partic.i.p.ating was the best way to avoid killing people.
「I doubt you would end up killing them though…」(Viare)
「Not sure about that, I’m still unaccustomed to this power so its possible」(Kousuke)
「I know you’re powerful, but just how powerful you are.. I haven’t the faintest idea」(Viare)
Viare was never around when Kousuke did requests that required combat so it’s expected that she doesn’t know.
Since she’ll just be a nuisance in trying to get the unenthusiastic Kousuke to partic.i.p.ate, Viare dropped the topic.
The two leisurely walked around, buying souvenirs and snacks from stalls, much like a tourist.
Other than the souvenirs and snacks, many of the stalls were influenced by the tournament and had many combat-oriented items for sale as well. Arms, repairs, ointments and salves, services and items like these were everywhere causing numerous adventurers to stop and peruse.
Kousuke was slightly interested too and would stop a few times here and there. He’s looking around at the various swords in the stalls, thinking about buying one to replace his current sword.
「Ah, this might be good」(Kousuke)
After looking around at so many stalls, his eyes glued onto one item and greed reflected in his eyes.
And it wasn’t a sword.
「Did you find something good?」(Viare)
「Yup. I think it’s a throwing knife」(Kousuke)
Kousuke proceeded towards a nearby stall.
His interest in the throwing knives sprouted due to his fight with the Trooper Eagles. Magic was too slow so he wanted an alternative on hand. Still, even if he had throwing knives then, it wasn’t a guarantee that he would have intercepted them successfully. Even Kousuke understood this. He just wanted to have as many means to attack as possible for all situations.
「Welcome!」(Stall owner)
「Those are throwing knives right?」(Kousuke)
「That’s correct! Would you like to hold them?」(Stall owner)
The stall owner handed a single throwing knife to Kousuke.
Length of 15cm, double-edged, thin and about 2cm wide. It was crafted with combat in mind so it looked difficult to use for anything else.
It was lighter than a carrot too. To make effective use of these, it would be necessary to aim at vital points.【TL: Fun fact~ Avg. weight of a carrot is 50-72 grams】
「Could you tell me the quality of this knife? Also, how much can I rough these up?」(Kousuke)
「Aren’t these kind of things meant to be roughed up?」(Stall owner)
「Oh, yea that’s right」(Kousuke)
「Well, let’s see.. I guess you can use them around five times with small maintenance after every use before they become very dull. These kind of things deteriorate after every use. It’ll break faster if you hit hard objects too. As for the quality of the craft, I guess it’s about normal」(Stall owner)
「Hmmm… Can I get six of these?」(Kousuke)
「You bet! Do you have a holster for those? If you don’t I’ll sell you one at a discount」(Stall owner)
「I’ll take that too」(Kousuke)
「There’s one that attaches to the belt, another which attaches to a jacket pocket, and the last one is attached to your arm. Which one would you like?」(Stall owner)
「I’ll take the one for the belt」(Kousuke)
Since he’s going to get used to them eventually, it didn’t matter which one he chose. The belt attachment was chosen because it seemed the easiest to get used to.
「You bet! The total is four silver coins」(Stall owner)
「That’s unexpectedly cheap」(Kousuke)
「That’s around the market price ya’kno?」(Stall owner)
「I feel that it’s a bit expensive though」(Viare)
The current Kousuke was still unfamiliar with the value of money in this world. It was because he’s holding quite a bit of gold coins. In terms of silver coins alone, he had 200 of them. Since he was taking out only four from that wealth, it felt cheap to him.
Kousuke accepted the throwing knives and the holster that could carry ten knives and attached it to his belt. 『I’ll practice in the inn’s backyard later』Thought Kousuke as he left the stall.【TL: Kou-chan, buy four more knives!】
They became a bit hungry so they bought a popsicle before resuming their inn search. The two were crunching down on the popsicle as they walked. By the way, Kousuke got the apple flavor and Viare got orange. Of course Kousuke paid since the two would be moving around together, he decided he’ll manage all the funds.
In fact, the real reason was because Viare’s clumsy and she might lose the wallet if she was in charge. Even if the person in question was aware, she couldn’t instantly change so leaving it to Kousuke was for the best.
As the two continued, Kousuke would, on occasion, move his arms abnormally. Viare asked him if something was wrong, but after being told the reason she calmed down.
And so, his arms continued the weird movements.
「Again?」(Viare)
「Yup, again. We look like tourists with our amazed faces so they’re a.s.suming we’re country b.u.mpkins with too much time」(Kousuke)
「It’s a good thing Kousuke-san’s in charge of the funds」(Viare)
Kousuke was repelling the numerous pickpockets’ hands from entering his pockets. Maybe because Kousuke looked like an easy target, four more pickpockets came towards him. Those four, at the very least were left with bruised arms or with a fractured arm in the end.
Seeing the consequences the four pickpockets received, the rest of the pickpockets targeting Kousuke left.
「Their gazes are gone」(Kousuke)
「They were looking at us for that long?」(Viare)
「Yup. It was a faint feeling though since there are so many people around us. I wonder if this city’s security is just poor….」(Kousuke)
「Hmm…. It should be on the better side I think? This city’s bigger than St. Beria and even over there disturbances occur」(Viare)
Kousuke’s standard for public order is j.a.pan so his evaluation of Rezotik.u.mog’s security was low.
While they talked about that, the two were about to enter an alleyway and a man, in a hurry, ran into Viare.
As Kousuke caught Viare before she fell and he suddenly heard something break.
「Viare, are you alright?」(Kousuke)
「I’m fine but whatever that person was holding seems to have broken」(Viare)
「You don’t have to worry about it Viare. Most people would end up b.u.mping into each other if one of them suddenly pops out」(Kousuke)
The man in the early thirties stared at the box before suddenly trying to grab Viare.
「Dangerous」(Kousuke)
「KIYAAA!?」(Viare)
Being suddenly moved, Viare let out a small scream. Kousuke had carried Viare away to dodge the man’s sudden lunge.
「COMPENSATE!! COMPENSATE ME!」(???)
The man’s face was red as he bellowed at the two.
「Even if you tell us to compensate you, you were also in the wrong. Watch where you’re going next time」(Kousuke)
「THAT DOESN’T MEAN ANYTHING!! COMPENSATE ME NOW!」(???)
「Doesn’t mean anything? You…」(Kousuke)
The man’s screaming attracted a crowd of people. Hearing the uproar, a few nearby soldiers came.
「What happened?」(Soldier)
「Those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds b.u.mped into me and broke my stuff! AND THEY REFUSED TO COMPENSATE ME!!」(???)
Before Kousuke and Viare could say anything, the man threw his one-sided argument towards to guard to make Kousuke and Viare look like the villains. The soldiers were taken aback at the aggression coming out of the man.
「Is.. is that what happened you two?」(Soldier)
「No. It’s true that we b.u.mped into each other, but that was an accident. Just exactly how could someone tell that a person was dashing around the corner of a building and avoid them in time? There should be some witnesses to prove that we’re innocent」(Kousuke)
Hearing Kousuke’s disappointed words, the soldiers nodded and began questioning the crowd. During that entire time the man was still screaming “COMPENSATE ME”. He was being too desperate, both the crowd and Kousuke were a bit confused by him.
Kousuke thought he was a scammer, but seeing his behavior, he began to doubt that possibility. Having considered that, he still didn’t feel like compensating this man.
It hasn’t been long since the incident so the soldiers gathered the testimonies quickly.
They concluded that this entire case was an accident.
「It doesn’t seem like neither side was wrong. Just an accident. There doesn’t seem to be any need to compensate, but…..」(Soldier)
The conclusion felt bad. That man was still screaming.
「Was whatever that broke that expensive?」(Kousuke)
「Maybe it was something very precious to him?」(Viare)
At Viare’s words, the soldier a.s.sumed the same and nodded.
「If that is the case then maybe a little compensation might be needed. For now, let’s call an appraiser to find out. You guys, wait here for me alright?」(Soldier)
The two nodded and the soldier left to get an appraiser.
The man was no longer screaming, but he was mumbling under his breath. He really didn’t seem normal in the head right now.
Fifteen minutes later, the soldier brought back a middle-aged appraiser.
「Please excuse me for a moment」(Appraiser)
The appraiser gave notice and opened to box to begin examining the contents. The contents of the box were three sets of teacups. Nothing in the box was intact and pale red debris was scattered inside.
「How is it? Was it valuable?」(Soldier)
Since the appraiser seemed finish, the soldier questioned him.
「Let me see… It’s definitely not cheap. The maker of the box’s content was Gran Misha, a famous craftsmen from a hundred years ago. It was one of his earlier works, there’s no doubt about it. It was well preserved so it would have sold for quite a bit if it wasn’t broken」(Appraiser)
「Just how much would it have been?」(Soldier)
「If I wanted to buy it then I would pay around twenty silver coins. Others might be willing to pay up to twenty-five silver coins」(Appraiser)
「For teacups, that’s quite the price」(Soldier)
The soldier nodded as he understood why the man was being so noisy.
At the same time, the man started to scream again, rejecting the appraisal results.
「THAT’S A LIE! IT’S WORTH MORE!」(???)
「A lie? I hope you know that I’m a professional who’s been doing this for over twenty years」(Appraiser)
「This was something my father paid three gold coins for! My father told me it was one of Gran Misha’s “Trump Series”!」(???)
「Ahahaha」(Appraiser)
The appraiser began laughing at the man’s claim.
「This? A part of the “Trump Series”? Don’t spout such rubbish. Yes, those looked like they were a part of the “Trump Series”. However, they only look like one, there’s a distinct difference between yours and the real ones. In the “Trump Series”, on the bottom of each teacup will have a faint Club, Heart, Spade, or Diamond emblem」(Appraiser)
「Those had that too!」(???)
「The ones on yours, they can be removed, yes? The real ones have it drawn into the bottom so it doesn’t fade. Those are most likely the predecessors of the “Trump Series”. There are many of those sets around and their value is pretty low. I have ten sets like yours in my store and one real one as well. It’s impossible for someone like me who’s seen the real thing to be wrong, correct?」(Appraiser)
「Th.. That’s…」(???)
The man was in shock at the results and plopped down onto the floor.
「I’ll be taking my leave then」(Appraiser)
「Thank you for your a.s.sistance」(Soldier)
After the soldiers gave a bow, the appraiser returned back to his own store.
「I’ll be returning to my patrol route. The three of you can decide what to do from this point on. If you do plan to compensate, it should be alright as long as you pay half the value」(Soldier)
「Thank you for taking care of us」(Viare)
Viare lowered her head deeply and Kousuke gave a slight bow.
The soldier left and the crowd dispersed since the incident was solved.
「Then, ten silver coins」(Kousuke)
Seeing how depressed the man was, Kousuke, who originally didn’t want to compensate, took out ten silver coins and gripped them into the man’s hand.
Ten silver coins wasn’t too much so Kousuke didn’t mind giving it out.
Seeing the silver coins in his hand, the man look like he was about to cry.
「It’s just not enough with this!」(???)
Kousuke felt irritated hearing that since he didn’t have to compensate him at all.
「Just how greedy are you! I won’t give you a single extra coin more alright! Let’s go, Viare」(Kousuke)
「Wait a moment」(Viare)
Despite Kousuke’s rude tone in trying to get them away from the man, Viare stopped Kousuke.
「Is it possible that you’re in dire need of money due to a certain circ.u.mstance?」(Viare)
Viare thought this might be the case since the man gave off a familiar feeling. It’s a lot better now, but in the past she had a difficult time managing the orphanage’s finance with Wei and their situation would fluctuate constantly due to unplanned expenditures. The times when she and the residents had to go out to borrow money, they had the exact same atmosphere around them like the man in front of her. Therefore, she concluded that there must be a reason for what he’s doing.
Even if she heard his situation, it was unlikely that she would be able to produce the necessary funds for him. In the first place, Viare had no money. However, even if it’s just a bit, she wanted to help this man.
「I understand that it may not be something you would tell a stranger like myself, but I may be able to help you a little, you know?」(Viare)
Maybe he noticed that Viare spoke without ulterior motives, but regardless, he began explaining everything.
「…. My kid went missing five days ago. Two days later, I got a ransom notice that if I ever want to see my kid again I need to pay up 10 flash coins. The deadline is in two more days… I ran all over the place to gather the money, even took loans. I barely managed to get 5 flash coins so far. I was hoping to get more by selling the rest of my possessions off」(???)
「So that’s why you were so desperate」(Kousuke)
His child’s life was in danger, Kousuke erased his indignation towards the man as he understood his feelings.
「You didn’t report this to the soldiers or to the guild yet?」(Kousuke)
「I reported, of course I reported! But they would say they’re too busy and couldn’t bother with me!」(???) 【TL: That sounds suuuper fishy】
「The soldiers aside… the guild not providing a.s.sistance is a bit…」(Viare)
Viare has a deep understanding of a guild’s management from her work. Viare was tilting her head and Kousuke was wondering if she could recall anything that might help. Kousuke didn’t open his mouth because he didn’t want to make the man even more anxious.
「Normally, the guild would accept criminal investigations like murder and abduction…」(Viare)
「The tournament’s about to start so that might be the cause of this?」(Kousuke)
「Even if they’re busy, it doesn’t answer why they would reject the request. Hey, Kousuke-san, would you please lend us your strength?」(Viare)
『It came』Muttered Kousuke in his mind. He knew Viare would propose this to him. And she knew that Kousuke wouldn’t refuse since he’s definitely worried about the child. Still though, he didn’t want to actively run around helping people.
When Viare asked him to save the children from the orphanage, he mobilized immediately. Right now, he responded a bit slowly. It was due to the difference of familiarity. He knew Viare well, but he doesn’t even know this man’s name. Kousuke may not be inhumane, but he’s not a saint either. He’ll ignore people in trouble sometimes since he doesn’t know them.
If Viare didn’t suggest helping the man then it would have been fine as well, but a child’s life was involved so the chances of Viare not wanting to help was close to zero.
「Even if you ask me to help.. My entire funds wouldn’t be able to help him reach the 10 flash coins. And giving out our money, how are we going to travel after that?」(Kousuke)
「Th…Then! Complete requests at the guild! If it’s Kousuke-san then…」(Viare)
「Viare, you should know from the beginning that I won’t be able to take those high reward requests right now」(Kousuke)
With Kousuke’s abilities, most requests would be a cinch for him, but his current contributions to the guild is too low so his ranking wasn’t high enough. Even if he tried to take the request, they would stop him. There’s two day left until the deadline and it was pretty obvious that even if the request was issued, it wouldn’t be finished in time.
「Let’s see, what else can we do…. can you think of anything else uncle?」(Viare)【TL: Not her real uncle】
He stared wide-eyed at the two in front of him who suddenly declared they would help.
「Why are you helping me? We just met and I ever troubled you two…」(???)
「That’s true, but hearing that your child is in trouble… I’m not inhumane so I can’t ignore this」(Kousuke)
Kousuke didn’t want to get entangled in this a bit, but he wouldn’t feel too comfortable if he ignored it.
「Thank you. Those words are more than enough. Sorry for giving you trouble earlier. I’ll try to manage this by myself. Truly, thank you very much」(???)
After the man said that and stood up, Viare showed a disappointed smile.
Seeing that, Kousuke sighed and stopped the man. As a man, he wanted to look reliable and cool in front of a cute girl. 【TL: Kou x Viare? =O】
「Uncle. Two heads are better than one, three heads are better than two. If we work together, we’ll be able to figure something out. So let’s think of a way to either gather the money or directly save the child, alright?」(Kousuke)
Viare’s face brightened hearing Kousuke’s words.
「Bu.. But I don’t want to impose」(???)
「We’re forcefully giving you our strength so don’t worry about it. Besides, even if we help, it’s not guaranteed we’ll be successful」(Kousuke)
The man’s eye began to mist and he deeply lowered his head.
He announced his name, Douglas, and began leading the two to the store he managed. That store was borrowed so he couldn’t sell it. If he could sell the store then he would have been able to gather 10 flash coins.
He placed a “On Break” sign on the front door of the store before leading the two inside. The interior was part store, part residence, so the amount of products placed on the shelves were small. Kousuke glanced at the small household goods placed on the shelves while being led to the back of the store. The two were brought into a living room and sat on the sofa while watching Douglas prepare very expensive tea for them.
「Please」(Douglas)
After that one word, Kousuke immediately cut to the chase.
「I just want to ask again, do you know of any way to gather a lot of money quickly?」(Kousuke)
「No, if I knew I would have already tested it. I don’t like this idea, but gambling could work though」(Douglas)
「Isn’t gambling a bad idea when you’re already desperate?」(Viare)
「Yes, that’s why I will only gamble as a last resort」(Douglas)
The three were unable to think up of anything else besides gambling to quickly get money.
The most reliable way to “gamble” was to have someone enter and win the tournament through the test of strength. By simply betting on that person, one could attain ma.s.sive wealth. The test would normally be impossible for any new adventurers, but Kousuke would be able to pa.s.s with flying colors. Therefore, the three could earn a lot by making Kousuke enter and bet on him to win.
For Kousuke and Viare, neither of them knew that the tournament had a gamble system. Douglas knew about this though. However, he doesn’t believe Kousuke would be able to enter so he excluded that idea from the discussion.
「So excluding gambling, were there some things that you were unable to do alone that might be possible with the three of us?」(Kousuke)
「Even if you ask me…」(Douglas)
He tilted his head and thought back since he couldn’t suddenly remember them.
「For the time being, just say whatever pops up in your head that might allow us to earn money quickly. It’s possible that there are some things among them that we’ll be able to do」(Kousuke)
「Something that can be done quickly…….. Become the martial tournament’s champion? No.. the deadline already pa.s.sed… Gamble? No, no, this is our last resort… Dig for precious ores in the nearby caves? Ah what am I saying, I won’t find them in time. How about if the two of you get loans using your name? Gah.. no, I can’t trouble you further like that. Maybe we can develop a new product and sell the idea…? If I could do that easily then I wouldn’t be suffering….」(Douglas) 【TL: Wow.. WOW THAT FOURTH ONE!】
Douglas was mumbling out all his ideas.
Among those ideas, Kousuke reacted to the “New product” one. He thought he might be able to sell products that exists on Earth over here. He began thinking of plausible products.
The first thing that he thought up of was a car. It’s faster than a carriage, a bus could transport a lot of people and a truck could deliver a lot of items back and forth. REJECTED! He doesn’t know how to build one, much less know what they’re made out of. Much of the car, he thought, was imitable using magic, but they wouldn’t produce immediate profit.
Next up, the bicycle. This one seemed more profitable than the car. He knew the various parts required to build one, but despite it being easier to create, he won’t meet the deadline.
Kousuke stopped with the complex products and began thinking for simpler ones.
Stories like “Ride Hero” had high value in this world so he asked Viare and Douglas about selling stories.
「Selling stories, I see. It’ll depend on the story’s content, but this might work. However.. There’s one problem」(Douglas)
Kousuke and Viare didn’t know about this point so they encouraged Douglas for the answer.
「How to sell it. I don’t have the connections for this either. How about you two?」(Douglas)
「Connections? We recently came to this city so there’s no one. I could sell it directly without connections like that, right? Are there any publishers nearby?」(Kousuke)
Kousuke’s method to sell the story is not aligned with Douglas’s.
Kousuke wanted to sell the ideas directly to the publishers to get an advance payment.
Douglas on the other hand thought to transfer the story’s right over to another and earn royalties.
Douglas’s method was more correct since he’s a resident of this world.
Because.. This world doesn’t have publishers. Books are monitored and issued on a larger scale by an organization, appointed by the country. That organization is like a publisher, but they’re not waiting for writers to appear. Paper is expensive, so writers are on the scarcer side. If it was cheaper than private publishers may appear.
Most would write and make the book themselves, sell it to a bookstore and wait for the book’s reputation to rise or fall by word of mouth. It’s possible to earn royalties from troupes that perform your story as well.
If the story’s reputation becomes famous, the organization may reach out to you to produce copies of your story. By accepting the invitation, one would receive an enormous amount of money for the next few years as a deposit for the idea. Anyone who’s already been invited may visit the organization with a new story at any time.
If Kousuke wanted to sell his story, he needs to find a buyer right away. Finding a buyer immediately was nearly impossible and even if they do find one, the negotiation would take too much time.
Kousuke recognized that this world and Earth was different when he was told that a publisher doesn’t exist so he rejected the idea of selling stories. While thinking of another idea he thought selling recipes might work.
He compared what he’s eaten in this world so far to what he’s eaten in his world.
The two ideas he came up with were ice cream and hamburger.
However, when he recalled the ingredients for ice cream, he could only recall the rough ideas of how it’s made so he also rejected this.
On the other hand, the recipe for hamburgers was simple. You can eat it using your hands and it was popular on Earth so he thought this would work.
「I have a recipe idea called “Hamburger”」(Kousuke)
「Hamburger…. I’ve never heard of it before. It sounds like “Hanbagu” so are they similar?」(Douglas) 【TL: For those confused Hanbagu andHamburger】
「It’s a flattened “Hanbagu” with chopped onion, pickles, lettuce, cheese and ketchup sandwiched between two pieces of breads. You can eat it using your hands」(Kousuke)
「Hohou, so “Hanbagu” sandwich. It’s so simple! To think no one thought up of something like this before. A creative way of thinking I see」(Douglas)
「Do you think this will work?」(Kousuke)
「A friend of mine is a cook so it’s possible to sell the idea. It should sell well for the first few days since it’s a new idea, but it’s too easy to make. Others will start to copy the idea quickly so the profit will gradually fall. Keeping that in mind, we need to consider how much we can actually make from selling this idea too…..」(Douglas)
Douglas began mumbling to himself as he calculated how much he could sell it for.
In about five minutes he finished. The selling price Douglas proposed was less than a flash coin. The selling price was bottlenecked by the simplicity of the recipe. If the recipe was something more complex like ice cream, pudding, or spaghetti then the selling price could have risen easily to about 2-3 flash coins and earn a percentage of the sales.
「I should have learned a bit more about cooking… Still, it’s no good if it’s complicated and also no good when it’s simple… What should I do now? Can they not copyright the method so that others can’t imitate them?」(Kousuke)【TL: Kou-chan.. do you think they can enforce that here?】
「There’s nothing convenient like that around here you know?」(Viare)
Viare answered with an amazed face.
However, Douglas’s face showed that he wanted to say something he recalled, but it immediately became dejected.
「Douglas-san, do you have an idea?」(Viare)
「I do, but I don’t think its plausible」(Douglas)
「Well, no worries, just say it. Hearing your idea might help us come up with a better one」(Kousuke)
「Have you heard that the G.o.d of Entertainment and Pleasure is always searching for new ways to play?」(Douglas)
Kousuke shook his head while Viare nodded.
「The person who delivers it will receive 10 flash coins. Even more, for that person, 5% of the profits earned from that idea will go to him or her. This is something like a rule from a long time ago. Unfortunately, nothing new has been presented to the G.o.d for a while. The last time the G.o.d accepted an idea was 30 years ago. The previous one before that was 70 years ago. I gave up because it just seemed impossible」(Douglas)
「As long as it’s a fun way to play its fine?」(Kousuke)
「Yes, it can even be something like tag the children’s play」(Douglas)
「I’ll begin listing what I know, let me know immediately if any of them are something you’ve never heard of before」(Kousuke)
Kousuke began listing all the games he’s played as a child. He began with tag then continued listing hide-n-seek, soccer, basketball, trump cards, and kept going on and on. To this, Viare and Douglas answered “It exists” or “It doesn’t exist”.
Well, some had different names here though. In the end, all of the games he listed existed in this world.
「Even the ideas that I thought that didn’t exist like trading card games, badminton and even cops-n-robbers all exist」(Kousuke)
「A lot of people were aiming for the reward money so it’s a given」(Douglas)
「I wonder if there was something else…… Oth.e.l.lo, how about that?」(Kousuke)
「I’ve never heard of the name. What are the rules of the game?」(Douglas)
「On a 8×8 board you place on the center two black coins and two white coins. The objective is to have as many of your color on the board as possible by taking turns placing a coin on the board to steal the other player’s coins by connecting…………」(Kousuke)
The difficult to explain portions, he drew on a piece of paper he received.
When he finished the explanation, Douglas’s face brightened.
「The rules are simple, but it’s definitely a deep game. Will this work?」(Kousuke)
「I’ve never heard of this before!」(Douglas)
「Myself as well. This will definitely work! It’s a surprise no one came up with this game before!」(Viare)
It was probably never invented because the rules were too simple. 【TL: People thinking too hard yo】
Douglas’s was in high spirit since he might be able to finally pay off the ransom. In the corner of his mind though, he had some doubts about Kousuke’s ident.i.ty for producing all of these unusual ideas, but he didn’t want to be rude to his benefactor so he kept quiet. He didn’t intend to pursue it in the future either.
「Let’s report this to Kohhawk-sama immediately」(Douglas)
「How do we do that? Where’s the place we report this to?」(Kousuke)
「You can do it here. Please imagine the rules and materials for the game and pray to Kohhawk-sama. Quickly, quickly!」(Douglas)
Douglas hurried Kousuke to pray. Kousuke wondered why he was being rushed and tilted his head. The person that was in dire need of money was Douglas, so why didn’t he pray instead since everything was already explained to him, so Kousuke asked.
「Besides you, who else?! You’re the one most familiar with Oth.e.l.lo right? It has to be a detailed image when you send it!」(Douglas)
「If that’s the case then I’ll pray. Are there any specific etiquettes to praying to Kohhawk-sama?」(Kousuke)
「No, nothing in particular」(Douglas)
Kousuke closed his eyes and recalled Kohhawk’s appearance as he imagined the game of Oth.e.l.lo.
Inside Kousuke’s mind, just like when he attained a t.i.tle, a voice was heard. He even felt someone patting his head.
『I’ve never imagined that we’ll meet again in this kind of fashion. We guessed that you would duel an adventurer for a tournament spot and win the reward money to pay off the ransom money. To gather the money using the field I govern… It makes me quite happy. Ah, the one who patted your head was Mitalamu. Your unexpected conduct was very entertaining to her. She wants you to continue moving forward as you please. A new game, Oth.e.l.lo… I have indeed received it. Farewell』(Kohhawk)
When Kohhawk’s voice faded, something hard landed on the table and made Kousuke open his eyes.
Kousuke missed it, but a soft light appeared and 10 flash coins along with a certificate flew out of it onto the table.
「OOOOO! I can bring my child back home with this and pay back all the loans I took!
Thank you! Thank you!!!」(Douglas)
With the flash coins in his hand, Douglas lowered his head multiple time.
「Let’s bring the certificate to the merchant’s guild later. You’ll receive a regular income that way」(Douglas)
Douglas picked up the certificate and handed it to Kousuke.
「Why are you giving it to me? Why not keep it for yourself?」(Kousuke)【TL: Kou-chan!!! WHY?! Give it to me instead actually…】
「The only thing necessary to me were the flash coins. I have no need for the certificate. Plus, it doesn’t belong to me. The only person who’s worthy of holding that is the person who created it, you」(Douglas)
『I didn’t really create it though…』Thought Kousuke as he reluctantly accepted the certificate.
He figured it would alright to have a bit more money just in case living expenses spiked. This certificate would help him ease that burden, of course, only if that happens.
When Kousuke finally receives his cut from the merchant’s guild, he would become shocked at the amount of money he would receive. It will be beyond anything he could imagine. The amount would allow him to live without ever working again.
The three discussed a bit more and decided that Kousuke will escort Douglas secretly while he transported the ransom money. Kousuke had to do it secretly since the notice stated that the ransom must be brought by one person. Kousuke wanted to see everything through to the end even though he’s only just met Douglas. He also felt that the culprits of the kidnapping might attempt to murder Douglas.
Two days until the deadline, Kousuke and Viare accepted Douglas’s offer to stay at his place as thanks.
Kousuke was able to spend those two days without boredom. He met Douglas’s wife, brought an Oth.e.l.lo prototype to the merchant’s guild, practiced with his throwing knives and toured around the town. You could say, it was very peaceful.