It takes 3 days to reach Renauph by carriage and I will be passing through 4 villages along the way. I hear it’s not as big as Gimuru, but it’s still a big town in it’s own right. Normally, 3 days would be considered fast, but since I’m moving by using dimension magic and ki reinforcement, I should get there a lot faster.
I’m practicing my Warp while travelling, but it’s good practice to leave some mana just in case, so after consuming a certain amount, I stop using Warp and run the rest of the way while reinforcing my body with ki. During that time I’m able to recover my mana, so the resulting pace is really fast. Normal people can’t copy this method , though.
I thought I’d take my time and fight with some monsters along the way, but unfortunately, only weak monsters appear around these parts. I don’t even need to reinforce my body with ki or use my magic to defeat them.
Well, actually, I already knew about that when I tried exploring the area outside of town during my two months of going to and fro work, but lately it seems that some strong monsters might appear near Renauph, so I was thinking I could get there sooner and try my hand at the monsters, but then again just very recently, Grisiera-san handed me a package to give to Piero-san, which I accepted since I would be meeting him anyway, so I probably should just do that first.
And so, I teleported and ran the through the forest, past the plains, through three of the four villages, and by the time I got to the fourth village, the sun was just about to set.
I think I’ll call it a day here…
I opened my Dimension Home beside the road, went inside, and started preparing supper.
Today’s menu is made up of several kinds of packed meals which I bought before leaving Gimuru. I bought them from a store in Gimuru out of curiosity.
I wonder how the packed meals of this world taste like.
First, let’s try the thin square-shaped biscuit-like food.
“…It’s crunchy, but it tastes like flour…” [Ryouma]
It’s neither particularly tasty nor disgusting. I poured myself a glass of water and drank it, then I tried the brown-colored dice-shaped lump next.
“Let’s see… Ah, it’s hard… I can bite it, but… Yeah, this is a hard biscuit, alright. It’s probably because it’s so thick that it’s so hard.” [Ryouma]
Next was the dried meat.
“Salty… It’s really salty… The more I bite into it, the saltier it gets… I can’t even taste the savoriness of the meat. It’s just… salt. Let’s stop. This seems really unhealthy.” [Ryouma]
Last was the green bread.
“This looks pretty hard too… I’m just holding it in my hands, and I can tell already.” [Ryouma]
It’s like a piece of rock. The store grandma said not to let it absorb any fluids or it will taste really sour. As in so sour that I absolutely won’t be able to eat it.
But, hey! There’s nothing else to it! Let’s do our best and take a bite!
“Owww!! It’s hard… What’s wrong with this bread? It’s way too hard.” [Ryouma]
I literally couldn’t make a dent on the bread, so I had to use ki to reinforce my jaws. When I tried biting it again, I succeeded, but I didn’t taste anything, so I tried again, but then…
“KAH… GEHO! …This is terrible!!!” [Ryouma]
I quickly reached out for my glass of water and emptied it, but it wasn’t enough to wash the taste away, so I added more water to the glass and drank again.
“…What the hell was that!!” [Ryouma]
What was that taste? Herb? Medical herb? It seemed like there were all sorts of taste mixed together, I can’t really tell. But the more I tried to bite into it, the more my saliva mixed with the bread, and as a result, some grassy-smelling and herb-like liquid came out with a bitter, astringent, acrid taste!! Yuck!!
The dried meat I got from Hyuzu-san was still edible, but this is just…
That’s it. I’m never buying packed meals out of curiosity again. Ever. Or, okay… I might give the others a try again, but I’m definitely not buying this green thing again.
As I decided that in my mind, I sank my teeth into a fruit to wash away the terrible taste. Thank goodness I’d stored this in my Item Box.
I’d completely lost my appetite after that shocking taste, so I ended my supper after eating just one fruit, then I went to sleep in my Dimension Home. I need to pay attention when leaving, but Dimension Home is a really handy magic that makes tents unnecessary.
The next day.
After safely spending the night in the Dimension Home, I continued along my journey again. When it was past afternoon, the walls of Renauph finally came to view. Anyway, I’ll be entering the town and be going to Pioro-san’s store, so I should wash myself first inside the Dimension Home.
“Fuu.” [Ryouma]
After washing my body with the cleaner slime, I left the Dimension Home and went to the town gate. Just like in Gimuru, I was able to easily get pass the guards by showing them my adventurer guild card. Moreover, when I asked the man about the Saionji Firm, he told me I could reach it by walking straight from the east gate and taking a right at the end.
I thanked the male guard and followed the directions he gave me. When I got to the end of the street, a building surrounded by tall, sturdy walls came to view. People could be seen endlessly going in and out of it, carrying what appeared to be various packages.
I don’t know what building this is, but I should take a right turn here, and… Voila! I saw a board that says ‘Saioji Firm’. A couple of boards, anyway.
“This place is huge…” [Ryouma]
The stores lined up included a butcher’s shop, a grocer, a fish store, a dried food store, a preserved food store, and a spice store. Every one of them had ‘Saionji’s Firm’ written on their signboard. There was even a small delicatessen in the corner.
“Which store am I supposed to enter?” [Ryouma]
For the meantime, I decided to go into the spice store to ask someone about Pioro-san. As for why I chose the spice store, it’s because I didn’t have an appointment, so I figured it would be best to go to the place with the least customers. That way I won’t get in anyone’s way. It’s probably because spices are generally expensive that there aren’t a lot of people. In fact, it’s not just that there’s not a lot of people, there isn’t even a single customer.
“Exc…” [Ryouma]
“Welcome.” [Store Clerk]
When I entered the spice store, a voice called out to me. I couldn’t see the person talking, but when I turned to the voice, I saw a girl come out from the back of the counter. She’s probably the same as Elia and I. Blonde hair like Robelia, white skin, and… fox ears?
Was she doing some kind of work just now? Her hair’s somewhat of in a mess, though she fixed it as she came out of the counter.
“How may I help you today?” [Miyabi]
“I’m sorry, I’m not actually a customer. I came from Gimuru’s merchant guild to deliver a package to Pioro Saionji-sama.” [Ryouma]
“You came to deliver a package for dad? Thanks much.” [Miyabi]
Dad? This girl… She’s Pioro-san’s daughter!?
“I’m sorry, you were Pioro-san’s daughter?” [Ryouma]
“You know my dad?” [Miyabi]
“Yes, we met by chance some few days ago.” [Ryouma]
“Right. Ah, sorry for the belated introduction. I’m Miyabi Saionji, Pioro Saionji’s daughter. It’s nice to meet you.” [Miyabi]
“Ryouma Takebayashi. It’s nice to meet you too.” [Ryouma]
“Ryouma… I feel like I’ve heard that name before… Anyway, please come inside. [Miyabi]
Miyabi-san led me inside the spice store, then we passed through the hallway and entered into the reception office. Around 1 minute later Miyabi-san came back with Pioro-san.
That’s quick! She said it wouldn’t take long. She wasn’t kidding, was she? I barely had to wait at all.
“Ryouma, it’s been about 2 months hasn’t it! I can’t believe you came to Renauph!” [Pioro]
“Long time no see, Pioro-san. I arrived just now, actually. I’m here to open my branch store.” [Ryouma]
“In this town? In that case, please allow me to bring you to this town’s merchants guild.” [Pioro]
“Before that, here’s your package.” [Ryouma]
I opened my Item Box and took out Pioro-san’s package.
“Oh, right… What is this?” [Pioro]
“I wasn’t told the contents.” [Ryouma]
“Really?” [Pioro]
As he said that, he opened the package. A letter was inside. When he read it, Pioro-san nodded and closed the letter, then he came to me.
“Times have been hard for you, haven’t they?” [Pioro]
“Was the letter about me?” [Ryouma]
“The last part, a little. Old Gri told me to help you out. Not that she needed to. Would’ve done so either way.” [Pioro]
“Thank you.” [Ryouma]
“It’s fine, it’s fine. Oh, right. Let me introduce you. This here is my daughter. She’s a year older than you, but do get along.” [Pioro]
When the topic turned to her, Miyabi-san, who hasn’t said anything until now, finally spoke.
“Dad, what’s with the ‘this’. I have a name, you know? It’s Miyabi. If you’re going to be introducing me you, you should at least call me by name. Although of course, I’ve already informed him of something as simple as that.” [Miyabi]
“That so? Then what about this?
The name Miyabi actually comes from the founder of the Saionji Firm. I gave her that name, hoping that she would take after her.” [Pioro]
“What are you talking about all of the sudden!? No one was asking about that!” [Miyabi]
Huh? What? Are they starting a two-person comedy act? Ah, it would be bad if I don’t say anything.
“Did that ancestor of yours achieve something amazing?” [Ryouma]
“Not particularly. She was a pretty girl who attracted customers to her store and then eventually married and settled down. Hers was a normal family and she lived a happy life.” [Pioro]
“I see. So you want your daughter to live a happy life too…” [Ryouma
“Oh, no, no. I mean that’s not it. The founder was actually Miyabi’s dad, right? Well, I so happen to be Miyabi’s dad, so that means I will be able to share his good luck!” [Pioro]
“As if!” [Ryouma] [1]
Oops! I accidentally threw a tsukkomi.
“Excuse me.” [Ryouma]
“It’s fine. It’s fine. That was a pretty good tsukkomi, no? You’re still a bit green, but my daughter hasn’t been throwing them lately, so it’s nice
Oh, thank goodness he’s not offended… Still, I’m surprised tsukkomis are a thing here too. It’s probably the fault of some otherworlder again, as usual.
Still, it’s probably because I had a kansei-person type boss who liked to play the boke (funny man) and be corrected with a tsukkomi (straight man’s response) that it’s basically become a reflex for me now. It was annoying being pestered with the whole comedy duo act when I was busy, but I’d end up wasting even more time were I to ignore him, so in the end, I had no choice but to play the straight man for him. There were more times when I ignored the guy, though. He got mad at me a lot because of that.
While I was remembering that, Pioro-san and I headed to the merchants guild. The place he led me to was that building with high walls that I saw before going to Saionji’s Firm.
It’s my second time seeing it, but this building sure is big. These walls may as well belong to a castle.
“Well? Impressive, isn’t it? Our merchants guild.” [Pioro]
Pioro asked me what my impressions were after reaching the reception office.
“It is. The outer walls are just like castle walls.” [Ryouma]
“Well, yeah. I mean this building is by nature a fortress.” [Pioro]
“A fortress…” [Ryouma]
“That’s right. A long time ago, when there was a war, this area here was the front line. And it was in this town that they built the fortress back then. That’s why the guild built its building to look like a fortress.” [Pioro]
“I see.” [Ryouma]
“Besides, there’s another reason behind why this place looks like this. Look out the window.” [Pioro]
The window Pioro-san pointed at could be seen through. Maybe it’s because this room is the reception office that they made the windows here out of glass to make them look good. As a result, I could see the outside.
“Amazing… It’s my first time seeing so many large monsters.” [Ryouma]
Outside the window were many monsters. They were either medium- or large-sized bird-type monsters. There were even dragon-types that were probably wyverns. A saddle could be seen on the nape of their neck extending to their back, atop of which people could be seen people riding. It was the very image of a fantasy world.
“All of these monsters are here just to carry goods and luggages.” [Pioro]
“All of these!?” [Ryouma]
“If you can use flying monsters, then you can transport things quickly and in large amounts. But in order to accommodate the monsters, several things need to be provided. A place to wait, a place to store the luggage, a landing place… and so on. A lot of facilities needed to be provided, so they decided to build the guild after a fortress.” [Pioro]
“I see…” [Ryouma]
It’s true that monsters need a place to wait at. Especially, if they’re large-sized.
“The one who thought of this method of transport, planned out this town, coined the term ‘airport’, and made all of this a reality was none other than the founder of the Saionji Firm himself. How about it? Don’t you agree he has good taste?” a[Pioro]
Actually, that name wasn’t his idea, but I can’t say it!
Most likely, in the future, I too will be on the receiving end of the same fate from other otherworlders, as they see my store chains and think to themselves, ‘that’s a repost!’ [2]
Just like how Pioro-san and Miyabi-san talks and behaves, it seems there are all sorts of traces of the influence of otherworlders, even ones spread unknowingly.
“An airport, huh. Well, a port city is a place to gather all sorts of stuff. Makes sense.” [Ryouma]
“Right? You get it!” [Pioro]
Pioro-san happily hit my back, then an employee of the guild entered the reception office and we finally got to business.
At first, she was shocked to hear that it wasn’t Pioro-san, but I, who would be purchasing the land. After that momentary shock, however, everything else proceeded smoothly.
Apparently, because Pioro-san had already inquired about the store before, the guild was able to prepare, allowing them to quickly process everything. Although the buyer was different from the one they were expecting, everything still went smoothly.
After that, we went to the store I just purchased from the guild to take a look inside.
The store was two-stories high. The first floor had a storehouse and a space for business operations. The second floor had the reception office and the other offices. And then behind the store could be found the house of the previous owner. The house came with the lot.
If you exclude the living room and the shared areas, there were 5 empty rooms all in all, so we could use the house for lodging. I can’t give the employees their own room, but 2 or 3 per could certainly share each room. That’s normal practice, I hear, so it should be fine.
“Any problems?” [Pioro]
“No. So long as I make the furniture and the shelves, it seems we can put this store to use immediately. It’ll take about 3 days for my employees to come from Gimuru, and that would be the best case scenario, 5 days being the worst.” [Ryouma]
As I said that, I took out my rimel bird from my Dimension Home.
“Ready? Drei?” [Ryouma]
The rimel bird I brought with me was Drei. It means ‘3’ in German. Some few days ago Elia told me that she named her rimel birds, so I followed suit. It’s been a while since I last named a familiar.
At first, I did name the slimes individually, but as their numbers exploded, it became too difficult to manage them with names. The monster contract makes it a breeze to distinguish my familiars from each other, so a name wasn’t really necessary. Still, it sure feels nostalgic.
By the way, I named my nightmare rimel bird, Eins, for one, then the rest as Zwei, Vier, Funf, Veer, and Sechs, respectively. Elia apparently named hers with the musical language as a reference.
“Haa~ It’s true. You really did tame a rimel bird.” [Pioro]
I took out a writing instrument from my Item Box and started writing, while Pioro-san gazed fixedly at my rimel bird.
Once, when I linked my senses with a rimel bird and had it fly, the flow of the world felt much like when I rode the bullet train. Assuming they’re traveling at the same speed, that would mean that the rimel bird could basically fly from 200kph (124.27mph) to 300kph (186.41mph). They fly so fast already without magic, but they could fly even faster by invoking wind magic and riding upon it.
To the rimel birds, a distance of three days by carriage is nothing. Even if they had to take a detour along the way, they could still reach Gimuru within the day. The numbers are just something I inferred on my own, but the point is that they’re really really fast.
“Alright.” [Ryouma]
I stored the letter inside a special pipe, then I attached it to the rimel bird with a metal attachment and a red cloth. With this even Drei can get into town by himself.
“I’m counting on you!” [Ryouma]
“PIRORO!” [Drei]
As I let Drei out, he cried back at me in affirmation, and then flew high up above the sky. Just when I thought he’d flown around in the sky near the clouds, he kept going faster and faster, and just like that, he was gone.
“Good.” [Ryouma]
“Now, we wait, yes?” [Pioro]
“Yes.” [Ryouma]
“Have you booked an inn already?” [Pioro]
I forgot!
“Actually, I forgot.” [Ryouma]
“Great! In that case, why don’t you stay over at our place?” [Pioro]
“Is that okay?” [Ryouma]
“Of course! No need to be shy! Make yourself at home!” [Pioro]
“Thank you. I’ll take you up on that offer then.” [Ryouma]
Like that, I ended up staying at Pioro-san’s house.
[1] – Ryouma deviates from his usual speech pattern here and says “Anta ga ayakarunkai!” By the way, the dad and daughter pair use the kansai dialect so they follow the usual archetype.
[2] – Okay. I exercised some creative license here, but the intended meaning holds.
