The Different World with the Red Star

Whenever I asked Fiina about things I didn’t know, my common sense was doubted. Well, I suppose it can’t be helped.

So, for now I’ll just put together everything that I’ve learned up until now.

Currency here was called Chip, which doesn’t change throughout the world. Since they don’t have paper money, everything is in coins, but each of them have their value written on them, so they’re easy to understand.

It also seems that there’s something called an Adventurer’s Guild. That place was, so to say, an employment office with a registration system. I’ll omit the details, but from personal requests to a country’s public works and monster subjugation, it seems that there are a lot of different jobs there. Well, on the other hand it appears that the death rate compared to other lines of work is quite high……

And in this world, there are monsters, and magic! Not only that, but it seems that above the monsters, there’s something like an Evil G.o.d. When I said that I’d like to exchange blows with that G.o.d sometime, I was made fun of. It’s supposedly quite the monster. Apparently, it’s treated in the same way as a natural disaster.

So, magic.

Amazingly, magic in this world is something that can be used upon bestowal of divine protection by a star.

It seems that regular people are capable of seeing a star that appears red, like me. And that red star is the one bestowing divine protection upon them.

Stars have various powers, and the strength of their powers also vary. I was told that the brighter and stronger a star glows, the stronger the power that it holds.

Those powers are cla.s.sified from Rank 1 stars to Rank 5 stars, with Rank 4 and 5 stars being at the level where one can use simple magics.

It’s said that only those with Rank 3 stars and above are capable of using magic endowed with attribute.

And what’s surprising is that Fiina has received the protection of a Rank 1 star.

I had her show me that star at night, but all I saw was a normal, sparkling star. So the other people in my world felt like this, huh. Somehow, it feels a bit irritating.

No, in my world, people would definitely think that I was telling lies, and things would just end there.

Leaving that aside, about magic.

Fiina’s Rank 1 star apparently allows her to use Ice-type magic, and using that magic, she was transporting marine products from Deigo(1) to Yuzuriha(1), where we currently were. But the problem was me.

The star protecting me is, in short, the moon. It’s absurdly bright.

Just what kind of dangerous magic can I use? It’s probably better to keep this as a secret. It seems like it’ll be better to secretly read some magic-related books and study up on it.

Like that, the one day was spent gathering common knowledge, and around midday we saw the town.

“So it’s that!”

“Yes, that is one of the country of Yuzuriha’s biggest towns, Kikuri.”

“I’m looking forward to seeing the Guild and stuff later.”

“I was surprised that Toka-san(2) had yet to register with the Guild up until now.”

For me, who not only crushed the bandits single-handedly, but did it without possessing a single weapon, it seems that I would be greatly treasured by the Guild. Well, I don’t really have any interest in it, but I’ll have to watch out and do my best to avoid being used.

Incidentally, it seems that it was difficult to call me “Touka”. That’s why I’ve decided to go by “Toka” as well.

“There were various reasons for that. For now, I’ll go register at the Guild.”

“Registering takes money, you know?”

“Seriously!?”

I’m completely broke. Though it’s only naturally considering that I came from another world.

“The initial registration and issuing of the card is 1000 Chip.”

“That much, huh. I’ll have to earn it somewhere, or…”

“If you would like, I could lend it to you?”

“Seriously!?”

“As thanks for saving me. Although it would be better if I could simply give it to you.”

While we were travelling, she said that she wished to express her grat.i.tude many times, but I turned everything down. Because saving children is common sense, right? I wasn’t looking for any kind of reward for it.

Because she understood that, Fiina said that she would lend it to me. That being the case, I have no reason to refuse.

“I’ll thankfully borrow it. Though I’ll pay you back quickly.”

“Then I shall lend you an amount that you can’t pay back that quickly. From what I can see, you’re completely broke, and inns require that you pay upfront.”

Saying that, Fiina handed over 3 additional pieces of 10,000 Chip coins to me.

“This should cover the expenses for one week’s worth of lodging fees.”

“I see. I’ll thankfully be borrowing it.”

I placed the received coins into my pocket to avoid losing them.

“Now then, here is the Kikuri’s entrance.”

When I realized it, we had come all the way to Kikuri’s entry point.

“It’s the start of my adventurer’s life dream!”

“Are you really older than me?”

Watching me with a smile spreading across her entire face, Fiina’s small murmur failed to escape my ears. I’ll have to punish her later!

Entering the town was a lot easier than I thought. The reason for that was the Superior Merchant Card that Fiina possessed. This card was registered with the Merchant’s Guild, yet was something only given to trusted merchants who did work connecting countries and towns. If one shows this card, then both the cardholder and any escorts following them can smoothly enter a town.

The card that Fiina had belonged to her father, but blood relatives are considered to be of the same status, so Fiina was also capable of using it.

“Fiina’s family is pretty amazing, huh.”

“Of course. Thanks to my magic, I can transport items with a degree of freshness that no other merchant could possibly mimic, so I’ve been able to make various connections.”

Giggling, Fiina puffed out her chest proudly while making the carriage go forward.

“Your dad died, right? What are you gonna do from now on?”

“For now, I will deliver the goods that I am currently transporting to the designated location. That is a merchant’s pride, and was father’s request too……I have not decided what to do after that. I can continue my work, but as long as the chances of father being dead are high, I will have to return the Superior Merchant Card to the Guild. In addition, if I don’t hire escorts, it will be difficult for me to travel long distances between towns as well.”

“But with Fiina’s magic, it shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

It’s a Rank 1 Star’s magic. Shouldn’t it at least be able to drive away bandits?

“It’s true that my magic is powerful, but as long as it is cast on the merchandise, the power of the magic that I use will be weakened accordingly. The ice magic needed to preserve freshness is quite difficult after all……”

“Indeed.”

“You don’t have any relatives? When we talked, we never spoke about your mother though.”

“Apparently my mother died when she gave birth to me. But my grandfather lives in the capital. I also plan on contacting him, but I’m not sure whether or not I will go to see him. Since the capital is quite far from here.”

“I see.”

For now, she at least has one person she can contact, so that’s a relief. With this, she won’t be left without any relatives. Though it’ll be a problem if her grandfather turns out to be a horrible person, it doesn’t seem like that’d be the case, so there probably won’t be any need for her to cling onto me indefinitely. I’m a rootless wanderer(3) too here after all.

“We can see it now. That’s the Adventurer’s Guild.”

“So it’s that!”

In the corner of the town, a large estate with a mark seemingly belonging to the Guild hung in front of it came into sight. On the mark were a sword and shield, as well as one of the necessities of an adventure – a satchel – inscribed onto it.

“Then I guess that’s it. I’ll definitely return the debt.”

“I will probably be staying in the town for a while, so I will wait without any expectations.”

“Ou, wait expectantly for me!”

“Our conversation doesn’t seem to be in gear with the other……”

She’s the very first acquaintance that I got acquainted with in this different world, so I’d like to get along with her forever. Well, since she’s the first one I met, if we’ve got some kind of fate together, we’ll likely become friends eventually.

As I saw off the back of the slowly advancing carriage, I stepped towards the Adventurer’s Guild.

“Haha, amazing! It seriously gives off the feeling of being a Guild.”

Upon opening the estate’s door, a large receptionist’s desk appeared in front of me. And just on the right was an enormous display board. On the left was a place that resembled a rest area. In it were numerous men who were fueling themselves with alcohol in broad daylight.

“Now then, gotta register~”

For now, I decided to ignore the things on both sides and headed straight for the reception. It didn’t seem like there was anything written in particular, so I guessed that there wasn’t any desk specializing in new registrants.

“Excuse me.”

“h.e.l.lo, how may I help you?”

I think I drew a winner when I reached the receptionist. She was a super cute girl with cat ears. Though it didn’t seem like she had a habit of adding ‘nya’ at the end of her sentences. Well, I suppose that’s only natural.

“I wanted to register as a new adventurer.”

“Understood. The registration fee and cost of issuing a Guild card is 1000 Chip – will that be fine with you?”

“Yup.”

After paying the requested 1000 Chip, the cat eared girl promptly took out several doc.u.ments and pa.s.sed them over.

“These are the forms for new registrants. Please fill out the necessary details in the blank s.p.a.ces here.”

Now then, immediately a problem has surfaced. I can read and write, but it’s uncertain whether or not the other party can read my words……for now, shall I try writing?

Filling out the places for my name and age, I glanced at the receptionist to see her reaction.

She may have noticed my glance, as the cat-eared girl smiled sweetly towards me. This is bad, a young cat-eared girl’s smile is seriously dangerous.

“What seems to be the matter?”

“Ah, no, I was just thinking about what I should write in the occupation field.”

“Ahh, it’s okay if you leave that blank. You don’t have to write anything regarding your own fighting style either.”

“Thanks~”

She didn’t seemed to have any particular reaction when she saw my name, so it looks like she can read the characters. I don’t really get how that works, but whatever.

In any case, the occupation field. Student……I just quit as one the day before yesterday, so I guess I’ll just fill it with something boring like ‘freeter’. Like I thought, it seems like it’d be better if I wrote something for my fighting style. My fighting style is……using my fists to punch? That should work.

“’Punch’. And now for the next one.”

Address……I don’t have something like that. ‘Undecided’. Currently homeless and jobless. Somehow it seems like a phrase I’ve heard from the news a lot.

Thinking that, I steadily continued to write and soon managed to fill in all of the blank s.p.a.ces.

Unexpectedly, there were fewer things than I thought there’d be.

“Here, is this alright?”

When I returned the form to the receptionist, the cat-ear girl checked it.

Once she finished skimming over it and making sure that there weren’t any problems, she pulled something out from her desk and placed it in front of me.

“There were no issues with the forms. Now then, To…oka-san, please put your finger into this device.”

“Ah, it’s hard to say, so just Toka is fine. It seems to be hard for everyone to p.r.o.nounce after all.”

“Thank you very much. Then Toka-san, please put your finger in here. That is how it will register your personal information. After this registered data is transferred to your Guild card, the registration process will be complete.”

“Alright.”

Following her instructions, I put my finger into the device.

The device had a hole that just about fit the tip of my finger. It seems that if I put my finger in it, it would register my personal information.

It’s probably one of those magic devices.

After thrusting my finger in it for a bit, it clicked.

“Huh? That’s strange.”

A few seconds had pa.s.sed since I put my finger in. The cat-eared girl made a curious face and stared at the device.

“It should be able to register in about one second after insertion…I wonder if it’s broken?”

“Who knows. Do you have any other ones?”

“Please wait for a moment.”

After saying that, the cat-eared girl went to talk to the receptionist lady sitting next to her and borrowed her device.

“Thank you for waiting. Well then, here you go.”

I thrust my finger in the same way as before. It also made a small click, but other than that, there weren’t any changes. And the device, in the exact same manner, didn’t give the slightest response.

“Say, how exactly does this read your personal information?”

As a certain possibility came to mind, I inquired about it. It’s possible that it might be my fault after all.

“After putting your finger into the hole, a needle will come out and make a small hole on your fingertip. The blood that comes out is then collected and read for your personal information.”

“If that’s the case, then this device probably ain’t broken.”

It matched my guess exactly. In other words, the device couldn’t function unless the needle injured me. Even after getting hit by a truck, I didn’t get any injuries, so there’s no way something like a needle could hurt me. Meaning that that was the cause.

“Look, no blood is coming out of my fingertip, right?”

“Ah! It’s true!”

“If blood doesn’t come out, the device won’t work.”

“That’s true.”

The two of us went ‘Hahaha’ as we laughed drily.

“Do you have a knife?”

At this rate, even if we’re laughing, the conversation won’t advance. I’ve got no choice but to cut myself personally to get some blood out. I don’t really know if something like a knife can cut me, but if I use my power in cutting myself, it should work out somehow.

“Ah, yes. Please use this one.”

Saying that, the cat-eared girl took a survival knife out from her bosom. Wait a moment, why the heck are you hiding a knife in that kind of place!

“Ah, this? There’re quite a few rowdy people in the Adventurer’s Guild, so it’s for self-protection. It’s quite useful, you know? I can use it to fix up any broken nails, and cut paper in a straight line.”

The uses for it were unexpectedly normal.

“Seriously, receptionists also have it pretty hard, huh.”

“Indeed. Some customers come making weird claims(4), and it’s also troublesome when they invite me out to eat. Toka-san won’t do things like that, right!”

“Ou, since I’m nice to girls after all!”

“……even if I look like this, I’m 22 though. I’m not really at an age where I can be called a ‘girl’ anymore……”

“Seriously!?”

She looks extremely young. Normally I’d think she’d be the same age as me or younger!

“It’s alright. Everyone says that. In the end, someone like me will always be a child……”

This is bad, somehow it seems like I’ve stepped on some kind of landmine. Well, to get the conversation moving, I guess I’ll spill some blood.

I placed the knife against a fingertip on my left hand. And then I timidly began to put strength into it.

Like I thought, using my own hands to injure myself is scary. Compared to when I hurt other people, the feeling of fear is greater.

In the beginning, the skin properly held back the blade, but as I began to add more power, the blade started to eat into the flesh.

And then, a slight pain ran through my hand. It was a pain much greater than when I put my finger into the device earlier. Though even then, it wasn’t really that big of a deal.

At the same time, a drop of blood welled up on my fingertip.

“——not only that, but even the people who invite out for meals are all dangerous people interested in little girls! The look in their eyes when they look at me, well, it’s already criminal……”

“Here, I cut it.”

“Eh? Ah, yes. Then please put it in here.”

After showing the blood to the receptionist girl, who had fallen into a half-depressed state, I was able to bring her back to her senses.

And as I told, I thrust it into the device.

Beep beep beep beep

Somehow I could hear a noise as though it were reading something.

Beeep

Upon making a slightly longer noise, the device stopped. It seems like this time it went well.

“Alright, the registration has finished. The Guild card will be ready tomorrow. Would you like to receive an explanation regarding the Guild?”

Well, it’s probably better to hear it. Although I did hear a general outline from Fiina, since she’s attached to the Merchant’s Guild, her knowledge might be different after all.

“Yeah, if you would.”

“Very well, then please take these doc.u.ments.”

At my response, the receptionist took out a sheet of paper as though she had been expecting it.

On it, details regarding the Guild were crammed into the page. Surely they didn’t have to stick everything into an A3 paper. The words were so small, they were unbelievably hard to read.

“I will read out the important parts, so it’s fine if you only remember those bits.”

As I was narrowing my eyes while glaring at the paper, the cat-eared girl came to my rescue.

“First, allow me to start with the fundamental explanation of the Guild. At the Adventurer’s Guild, one may freely choose to complete job commissions given by requesters. Requests that have come into the Guild are put up on the display board found on the right, but there are also requests other than the ones that have been posted, so it’s no problem if you come directly to the reception to ask. Do you understand everything up until here?”

“Yeah, no problems here.”

I generally heard the basics from Fiina too, after all.

“The contents of a request and adventurers themselves have established ranks. The ranks go from A+, which is the highest, to F-, the lowest – within which there are a total of 18 levels. These act as a reading of a request’s difficulty and an adventurer’s skill. You may only accept requests that are either higher or one rank below your personal rank. This is a measure put in place in order to avoid having the jobs of lower rankers stolen away, so please be understanding of it.”

Well it’s only natural. If you just want to make money, then even if you increase your rank, you just have to take on the lower ranking requests. But doing that’ll just get in the way of succeeding adventurers.

That there wasn’t any limit on taking requests above your rank showed that all adventurers are responsible for themselves. Guys who can’t understand their own power won’t be able to stay as adventurers.

“However, the only exception is when a.s.sembling a team, one may accept quests up to 3 ranks below your team rank. When making a team, it is possible to team up with those either 3 ranks above or below your own rank. Do you have any questions about what I have talked about?”

“Hmm. Then, suppose I’m rank B, and I make a team with a rank C person, ‘kay? At that time, if the rank C person makes a team with a rank D guy, the difference between me and that D guy will be 5 ranks, but would that still be okay?”

“Yes, there’s no problem. The team leader is the standard for the team’s rank, so in that case, if the Rank C person becomes the team leader, then it’d be possible to team up.”

“Got it. I don’t have any questions other than that.”

I see, it’s inevitable for the standard to be set by one of the people to restrict the levels of the other members. Since the strong guys will group up with adventurers of the same level, this’ll prevent guys from completely relying on their teammates to carry them.

“Now then, next shall I explain about monster subjugation?”

“Yeah, please.”

“Alright, so regarding monsters, requests for monster subjugation will be made either by individuals or the country. The Guild will rarely put out one, so it is alright to think that won’t happen much.”

Individuals or the country, huh. Well, if they’re appearing on national highways or state-owned lands, it’d probably be the country, while in villages or privately-owned lands it’d be individuals making the requests, likely. The remaining would probably be those who want the monster’s raw materials.

“There is also a rank attached to a monster’s strength. This utilizes the same words a.s.signed to the cla.s.ses of divine protection from our stars, so please be careful so as to not confuse them.”

Meaning that it runs from Rank 1 stars to Rank 5 stars, huh.

“It is possible for individuals to subjugate monsters of Rank 5 and 4 Star Cla.s.ses, but anything stronger than that normally requires a team to subjugate it. On rare occasions, those from Rank A and above may subjugate them solo, but please think of them as an exception. Unless you do so, you’ll die.”

“I’ll keep it in mind.”

Well, I’ll only be ‘keeping it in mind’ though.

“After that, monsters that are Rank 1 Star Cla.s.s and above do exist. They are referred to as Evil G.o.d cla.s.s monsters, but please pray that you never encounter them. Evil G.o.d cla.s.s monsters are natural disasters in and of themselves. Trying to win or even thinking of fighting them is pointless. It is similar to thinking about how to extinguish a storm.”

“Evil G.o.ds are that bad?”

Fiina also said that they were dangerous though?

“Yes, on the occasion that something like that does appear, one can only think of running.”

“Even for those A+ guys?”

“If there were 10 A+ adventurers, then they might be able to do something.”

“Might be able to, huh.”

If they might be able to do something, then it isn’t a disaster or anything at all.

“Currently there are only 3 A+ adventurers, but……”

“Ah, so it’s impossible.”

If there’s only 3 of the people when you need 10, then naturally it’d be impossible.

“That is all for the explanation. Do you have any questions?”

“Is it possible to take on requests without going through the Guild?”

“Yes, it is possible. Well, those kinds of requests aren’t often very good, so I wouldn’t recommend it. The information regarding quests that have pa.s.sed through the Guild can be trusted to a certain extent after all.”

“I see, got it. That’s all.”

“Then I will be ending the explanation there. I look forward to seeing your activities as an adventurer starting tomorrow.”

“Iya iya, rather, I’ll be in your care, so best regards.”

Having been bowed to politely, I reflexively lowered my head.

“Oh right, are there any inns you’d recommend around here? It’s my first time here.”

“If that’s the case, then there is a place called ‘The Perch’ on the left when you exit the Guild that I would recommend. As it has multiple branch stores throughout the country, the safety, service, and price can be guaranteed.”

“That helps. Thanks.”

I decided to leave the Perch place that I heard about from the Guild for later. As I was leaving, I felt a sticky glance from behind, but I ignored it. It was probably just those ruined adventurers who were drinking alcohol thinking of picking on the newbie after all.

Though if they raise a hand against me, I’ll turn the tables on them.

At any rate—

“I’m hungry.”

Since I made a beeline for the Guild when I entered the town, I haven’t eaten lunch yet. Guess I’ll go eat at some street stall.

It was convenient that, since lunchtime had already long past, all the street stalls didn’t have too many people.

I randomly chose a stand that had a beckoning scent and stopped at it.

“Welcome.”

Working at the stall was an energetic older sister kind of lady. With the sleeves of her shirt rolled up, she was grilling something that resembled shish kebab skewers.

“What’s this?”

I didn’t see any chicken meat. If I had to say, it looked like pork or beef? It was a bulky meat that you’d stab with a skewer when having a barbeque.

It might unexpectedly be the meat from a monster.

“It’s unusual for you not to know about this. This is meat from a Biirizu.”

“Biirizu?”

It’s not a word I’m familiar with. It seems that, for food, when it gets converted into j.a.panese, the p.r.o.nunciation is left as is.

“It’s a Rank 5 Star Cla.s.s monster. When you bite it, it’s pretty juicy. These skewers are a popular dish in any town. How about it, why don’t you buy a stick?”

A popular dish, you say! I guess I’ll just have to buy it then. I’m pretty hungry right now, so one won’t be enough.

“Give me 5!”

“Thanks for your business.”

After wrapping the five skewers in what appeared to be a large tree leaf, the lady pa.s.sed the bundle over to me.

I paid the money, and immediately took a bite out of one of the skewers right on the spot.

Meat juices went gushing into my mouth, and the taste of a special sauce filled my taste buds. It was a deliciousness that seemed like it’d become a habit.

“Delicious! This sauce in particular is great!”

“Thanks, it’s my prided sauce.”

The older sister smiled sweetly.

“I’ll come by tomorrow to eat some again.”

“Sure, I’ll be waiting. Oh, right. Now that I think of it, what was your name?”

“Me? I’m Urushi Touka. Just call me Toka.”

“It’s quite an unusual name. I’m Kana.”

“I see, then see you tomorrow, Kana.”

I continued to bite into the meat as I left the stall. Eating as I walked, I searched for the bookstore and clothing stores.

I’d like some sort of introductory book to magic if there is one, and it’ll be ‘risky’ to only have one set of clothing even though I’m gonna be working as an adventurer.

As I searched for the stores, before I knew it, the skewers had become completely bare of meat.

Hm, it was delicious. I wouldn’t mind eating it every day. She did say that it’s in all the towns, so it seems like I’ll be able to continue eating it in other towns too.

I randomly threw the leaves in a place where a mountain of garbage appeared to have acc.u.mulated, and continued my search. The skewers were made of metal, so I’ll go return them later.

But, before that, I arrived at the store called ‘the Perch’.

“It might be better to get a room first, huh.”

Saying that, I changed my plans. I decided to get a room first.