Episode 117: A Stroke from the Past
Music from my previous life was praised by professional musicians in this world.
Feeling good about this, I thought, “Let’s do this!” and picked up a pen…
While drawing illustrations with my painting skill, which I’d been practicing and had shown some progress in, I wrote a plausible story based on the original…
I put effort into the binding, with a leather cover and gold thread work.
Finally, I wrote the title on the cover.
“Dragon Quest I”
…and wrote it in…
Yes, I’ll use magic to duplicate, duplicate.
“לְשַׁכְפֵּל(Duplicate)” “מאה פעמים(Do it a hundred times)”
And with the books I made…!!!
“Count Missgancia, I’ll give you a book, a book.”
“…Is that so?”
“Rosalinde, it’s a book.”
“Yay!”
“Margot, a book.”
“Mm.”
I distributed them to acquaintances.
And incidentally, I sold them to traveling merchants too.
Phew~! Satisfied, satisfied!
…Actually, I have a hobby of selling handmade things like this.
Recently, I’d been hooked on making Demon Swords, but the quality turned out to be too good, and I thought it would be bad to sell them, so I couldn’t sell the Demon Swords…
Also, things I made in the “Garden” would destroy the local people’s industries, so I can’t sell those either. That’s called dumping, and it’s a very bad thing!
But books, novels, sell well!
Writing might not be so bad either.
Or selling paintings might be good too. Drawing and selling cool-looking pictures might not be bad. I guess erotic stuff would probably sell better, but I don’t intend to become an erotica seller, not really…
Winter is coming, and it snows quite a bit around here.
The Strider’s operations will be closed, and farmers and townspeople alike will be stuck at home, warming themselves by the fireplace and waiting for the snow to melt all day long… Such a time is coming.
If that’s the case.
Books.
Let’s write more books.
There are plenty of “original stories” to draw from.
Like “Dragon Quest,” “Final Fantasy,” and “Dark Souls”…
“The Witcher,” “The Elder Scrolls,” “Elden Ring,” “Romance of the Three Kingdoms”… I can do anything. In the later half of my previous life, I hated interacting with people and just played games all the time…
However, since SF doesn’t seem to exist in this world yet, “Chrono Trigger” and “Shin Megami Tensei” seem impossible…
But even if I can’t remember the details, I can use magic to pull up past memories… If I do various things, I can write them…!
…Well, that’s a story for the future.
For now, I was so engrossed in writing books that I got a little tired.
I’ll take a rest…
…Hmm?
Wasn’t I writing books to rest?
I feel like every day is summer vacation, and I don’t understand anything anymore… Well, I’m not particularly chasing the Rokakaka fruit, so I guess it’s okay.
With that said, I decided to go hunting this time as a form of rest.
I haven’t been moving my body lately, so I’m getting dull.
I heard this from a friend who does kendo, that if you skip one day of practice, it takes two days to regain your sense… Something like that.
But this is true, the sense of combat isn’t something you use daily, so if you’re not fighting, it dulls at an alarming rate.
I’m not particularly thinking about being cheat and strong in Narnian Europe… But I need the power to protect myself.
I put on my armor, took my usual long staff and Short Sword, strapped my tool bag around my waist, and jumped out of the house…
And outside.
As usual, I greeted the gatekeeper.
“Oh, it’s you, Sensei. Going hunting?”
“Yeah, that’s the plan.”
“It’s Autumn, so there must be a lot of game, right?”
“Yeah, at this time of year, the Beasts get fat.”
“The ‘Guiding Hawk’ guys passed by earlier. Apparently, they were asked by the Lord-sama to clean up the Forest.”
“Clean up… what do you mean?”
“I don’t know, but there are a lot of bears, apparently? A big bear from another region is ravaging the territory in the Forest around here.”
Ah…?
Is this, that?
One of the “Empire’s” strategies, done with the spirit of “if you try enough times, you’ll hit,” a mysterious strategy using the Magic of Precognition…
“Ah, but that Magic Beast has already been defeated. Now, it seems like they’re cleaning up the aftermath…”
…Hmm, yeah, I thought so.
To reconfirm, I don’t seem to be the protagonist.
Even if I don’t come, a capable Lord takes care of things, elite Striders defeat Monsters, and strange strategies are crushed.
That’s what it was.
Even if I have a special background, I don’t have to do anything special.
I feel relieved and reassured that the people around me are so capable.
“Hee, that sounds tough.”
“No, it was amazing, you know? It was a huge monster about three times the size of a normal bear! It had red fur on its head, an outrageous Magic Beast!”
“That’s amazing. I guess it’s like a red helmet… ‘Red Helm’?”
“Oh, that’s a good name! The subjugation of the Greater Magic Beast Red Helm! Kuu~! That’s so cool!”
After talking such nonsense, I waved goodbye to the gatekeeper… and went to look for prey in the Forest…