Chapter 11 : In the City, Follow the City’s Laws

To get from the Wind Fairy Village to the road where wagons traveled would easily take half a day.

The coachman’s worried words lingered in my head.

“Even by wagon, it’s still another day to the city.”

On top of that, I had no idea when a wagon would come, or whether one would come at all.

The system was to sit by the roadside, wait, and when a wagon appeared, flag it down and climb aboard.

For someone used to subways and buses that departed and arrived on schedule, it was bound to drive them insane.

There’s definitely a fairy with the power to distort space.

I recalled the curtains installed in the forest near the village.

Anyone who touched those curtains would be moved to another space.

Through the magical paths created by connecting one curtain to another.

If the fairy who had cast that trick on the forest sent me to the place I wanted, then perhaps I could shorten the time it took to reach the city, even if only a little.

“Yes. There is a path connected to a human city.”

The forest surrounding the village, and the transparent curtains that had blocked the road.

The barriers protecting the village so that outsiders could not step in were the power of the Elder Fairy.

A path connected to the city still exists!

Since she hated humans, I had thought she would not even want to go near them.

Had she at least left a connection behind?

Thanks to that, I had obtained a teleportation ticket.

“I shall guide you. This way.”

The Elder Fairy bowed once again, then took the lead.

“Please wait a moment!”

“Neras? Blocking the path so suddenly. What is this discourtesy?”

“There is something he requested from me. I thought it would be better to deliver it before he leaves for the city…!”

“Even so, how can you behave so improperly?”

When the Elder Fairy frowned, Neras rolled her eyes in panic, not knowing what to do.

I lightly placed my palm between the two of them.

One deep line appeared on the Elder Fairy’s brow.

…Surely she won’t scold me too, right?

Still, just in case, I decided to get this over with quickly.

I turned to Neras.

“You brought the Fourtail Grass powder I asked for, right?”

“Y-yes…! I gathered as much as I could, even the powder from the neighbor’s house, but…”

Neras held out a pouch she had been carrying in both arms.

It was large enough that a fairy had to spread her arms wide to carry it, but to me, it was light.

“Thanks. I’ll use it well.”

The pouch was about the size of a joint of my thumb.

If it had been packed tightly with powder, there might be around 20 grams inside.

Enough to make one or two Elixirs of Luck.

Neras looked back and forth between the powder pouch and my palm, then let her shoulders droop.

“A-as expected, the amount is far too little.”

“Hm? No, it’s not.”

If anything, it was more than I had expected.

How large could a fairy’s teacup be, anyway?

My expectation that there would not be any powder I could use right away had been pleasantly wrong.

“Well, if I run short, I can just use raw Fourtail Grass.”

Even if it became a Low-Grade Elixir of Luck, anything was better than nothing.

Even so, Neras seemed to keep worrying about it.

“Um, Ritark. How long will you be staying in the city?”

“Not sure… I think I’ll have to stay at least a week.”

It had only been three days since I defeated the first disaster.

There was still plenty of time before the next disaster germinated.

And the time to leave the city would probably be after I dealt with the second disaster.

Neras clenched both fists tightly.

“In that case, I will come to the city ten days from now!”

“You’ll come find me?”

“Yes. A week is enough time to dry Fourtail Grass and make it into powder.”

She’s full of motivation.

I had no reason to refuse.

If anything, it was something I should spread my arms and cheer about.

However…

“There will be a lot of humans in the city.”

“I am aware.”

I glanced at the Elder Fairy.

She had her arms folded in front of her chest and let out a small sigh.

“…Do as you wish.”

Even the leader of the village had permitted it.

In that case, there was no need for me to step in and stop her.

“All right, I’ll see you later.”

“Yes!”

Neras nodded deeply once again.

The Elder Fairy gave a small cough.

“If your conversation is over, let us go now.”

“Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“Not at all.”

When the Elder Fairy turned sharply, the long hem of her clothes fluttered.

I followed behind her and crossed through the village.

The fairy village had been quiet last night, with every door locked shut.

Now it was fairly bustling.

I saw fairies carrying young fairies on their backs, hurrying out.

“It seems they are going to heal the sick.”

Wer’s voice was gentle.

He was usually half grumbling and half indifferent.

It seemed he had been quite worried about the sick fairies after all.

“If we follow what Neras told us, our child can recover quickly too!”

“Let’s hurry to the Fourtail Grass habitat.”

“I heard that person taught us the treatment method?”

Groups of fairies passing us bowed their heads one after another.

At that, Wer opened his mouth and smiled.

Was he that happy?

I don’t dislike it either, though.

I gave the fairies a small wave.

“We have arrived.”

The scenery spread before me was half-open ground.

Trees stood in neat intervals.

The Elder Fairy pointed between the trees.

“If you walk this way, you will arrive near the City of Traders.”

Wer’s eyes narrowed.

“Oh, each one is connected to a different path. If we pass through the tree beside it, can we go to Root Village?”

Like the guide he was, he instantly saw through the curtains.

The Elder Fairy gave a reluctant nod.

“Conversely, can I also return to this village from the city?”

“That is possible, but…”

If I could use this curtain from now on, it would become a great help to me.

It would be best to open the route while I had the chance.

She doesn’t exactly look thrilled, but…

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

“Then, may I come to the village along this path next time?”

“Pardon?”

“I want to check whether the children in the village have recovered.”

It was not an empty line.

Only after quite some time did the Elder Fairy nod with an ambiguous expression.

“Good. Then I’ll see you again.”

After grinning at the fairy, I walked between the trees she had pointed out.

Rustle, rustle.

The sound of fresh grass being pressed beneath my feet.

Just as I wondered whether my footsteps had changed, the scenery around me distorted.

Crunch, crunch.

Before I knew it, the surroundings had changed into a sandy field.

A wasteland no one would ever bother coming to.

A hot desert region.

Not far away, I could see rows of gray-white buildings.

“Let us go this way!”

Wer chose the direction without hesitation.

He flew while weaving here and there between invisible obstacles.

Without a guide, I would have had to crash into the curtain myself.

The path worked both ways, and the area around the city entrance was also guarded by curtains.

Without a guide, one would have no choice but to wander around in circles nearby.

Thanks to this, I’ll be able to come and go easily.

With Wer’s guidance, I passed through the curtain and arrived at the City of Traders.

It was noisy from the entrance.

Because it was packed with people raising their voices, each trying to speak louder than the others.

“Cold fruit juice for sale! Very sweet!”

“How much is this necklace?”

“Do you have a place to stay tonight? We can hold your luggage for free!”

There were plenty of people wearing hoods or robes.

Each and every one of them had a booming voice.

Wer, not wanting to lose, shouted even louder.

“Ritark! There is so much delicious food over there!”

They said market day always comes when you travel, didn’t they?

It seemed a market had just happened to open in the city.

Temporary stalls lined the street in a long row.

Sweet, salty, and spicy smells swayed over the road and stabbed into my nose.

Bang, bang!

Someone was pounding on a temporary wall with their fist.

“You’re really asking that much? Give me a discount.”

“What am I supposed to live on, then? With your credit rating, this price is the lowest. The lowest!”

Everywhere I looked, people were packed together.

The more popular stalls had lines so long they did not seem to shorten at all.

Wer’s eyes widened.

“Ritark, Ritark! We must eat that meat.”

Point!

What Wer pointed at with his claw was glossy whole-roasted meat.

Its golden-brown color looked appetizing.

My stomach immediately growled loudly as well.

“It’s about lunchtime.”

Wer had worked hard too, so I should feed him at least one meal.

Rubbing my stomach, I stood in front of the stall.

There were many foods besides the whole roast.

However, there was no menu.

…Which means there are no fixed prices.

It also meant the price was whatever they called.

The merchant guarding the stall rubbed his palms together.

“Welcome! What can I get you?”

“I’d like to buy the whole roast.”

“Let’s see. A face I haven’t seen before! Credit token?”

“…I don’t have one yet.”

“Huh. So that’s how it is.”

His narrowed eyes swept over my face.

The merchant tapped his palm like an abacus, then nodded.

“Sixty banus.”

Are you insane!

I covered my mouth with my palm to stop the words that almost burst out.

Wer urged me on without reading the room.

“Ritark? He says sixty banus.”

Sorry, but I can’t just throw down dozens of banus.

Because 100 coppers equaled 1 banus.

One silver coin held the value of a hundred dull, dark coins.

You want me to burn 60 banus on a snack?

In Root Village, 50 coppers were enough to enjoy a meal.

But the city was different.

If 60 banus were converted to coppers, it was 6,000.

Prices were nearly a hundred times higher.

That’s an absurd market price.

Of course, I knew that fact.

I had experienced it to death in the game.

But facing it directly made my breath catch.

“You’d better go get a credit token issued at the administrative office.”

The City of Traders was, as its name suggested, a place overflowing with trade.

Once you registered your identity at the administrative office, they began assigning a credit rating.

The rating of a first-time registrant was F.

The way to raise your rating was simple.

The more you traded and built up a record, the more the system rose.

“If they take everything from me, I have nothing left either, you know.”

Expensive items were most efficiently purchased only after raising your credit rating sufficiently.

If you tried to buy things before that, you would get ripped off like this.

But the merchant was not arbitrarily overcharging me.

The problem was the tax collected by the administrative office in the name of transaction protection.

The difference in fees paid according to credit rating.

Transactions with no credit rating, in particular, came with an insane amount of tax.

“Don’t look at me with that blank face. There’s nothing I can do. If you’re not buying, move along.”

The merchant waved his hand dismissively.

Whoever made this system… Really knows how to twist someone’s insides.

The same item had different prices depending on the person?

And the money went to the administrative office and the city’s powerful figures.

Since the idea had come from my own head, it was embarrassing to curse at it for too long.

When in Rome, follow Rome’s laws.

In the City of Traders, I had no choice but to follow the city’s laws.

I could slowly raise my rating while selling junk items, but…

In the game, the items you bought at this point were recovery potions at most.

Thanks to that, while farming near the city, you could also raise your credit rating bit by bit.

But now was different.

There was a limit to how many meals I could skip to save money.

I’m not a game character, you know.

Once again, my stomach growled, announcing mealtime.

Wer gently tugged at the hem of my clothes.

“Ritark, now that this body thinks about it, I am not very hungry.”

He squeezed his eyes shut and turned his head away.

The sight of him swallowing his saliva over and over was terribly pitiful.

We can’t keep starving.

If I tried to get an inn room, they were bound to demand an enormous amount.

If I went hungry for days and even slept rough?

Before any disaster or whatever got me, I would die first.

“…Let’s go.”

“Wh-where are we going? To the administrative office that merchant mentioned?”

I shook my head.

Getting a credit token issued was not the priority.

Because raising my rating would ultimately take time.

Right now was the moment I needed a sharp solution immediately.

“We’re going to the guild building.”

Fortunately, there was a simple way to solve the problem of food and lodging.

[End of Chapter]