Chapter 37: Taking a Break During Winter
After finishing my morning walk, I ponder while ruffling Rishu’s hair.
Back in Japan, my sister often interfered, and during my childhood, I only had friends from school. I wasn’t ignored, but it felt like I had no one to hang out with during breaks or after school.
High school was somewhat better, but my sister meddled through our parents, so I still ended up with few friends. Friends influenced by my sister drifted away from me, and some distanced themselves because they found her presence troublesome.
Actually, I might not even have reached the level of friendship. I can count on one hand the number of people I could truly call friends. They would help me if I asked, but otherwise, they were the type to not chase after those who left, showing no concern if I disappeared.
Now that my life here has settled down, I find myself wanting friends. Currently, the closest person I have is the old man from the Dinoss Family, who has a wife and kids. Since he has a family and it’s impractical to invite him to my rented house, I’m the one who visits him with gifts. Thanks to those gifts, his wife and children adore me too.
So far, my acquaintances in Kanum are Dean, Ash, and Retze. Then there’s Diana, the receptionist at the Merchant Guild. — With Diana, it doesn’t feel quite like friendship. I’m afraid she might try to marry me off if I let my guard down. Retze is quite a bit older.
Dean has a younger sister.
Ash has family troubles and a butler.
My world is pretty narrow, and there’s not much normalcy, is there? I can’t really criticize, though. It’s not like you can just decide to become something. For now, I’ll try to maintain light interactions. Both of them seem like good models for swordsmanship.
If I make an effort to shop and socialize, maybe I can expand my circle? I think the reason my world feels so small is that I haven’t been shopping in town since I can manage everything at home.
While my relationships are limited, my shopping options are vast.
And that brings me to the sea. A port town. Seafood.
The coastline of this country continues to the neighboring one where my sisters are, so I’m also gathering information. According to the gods, it seems they’re recklessly casting magic, so I’m curious if any rumors have crossed borders. If there are no rumors, it means there’s no impact elsewhere, which is reassuring.
It seems that heroes of other spirits can’t make contact with other spirits, and I’ve heard that the Ball of Light got lectured about it, but it feels like pushing against a curtain.
If they’re still casting magic without a care, I think it’s only a matter of time before it affects the Demon Forest.
This town is on an island, with the main part of the town on the island and a bridge leading to the mainland, where the town extends outwards. The island has a port large enough for big sailing ships, engaging in trade with other countries.
On the mainland side, local fishing boats are moored at the pier, but there’s no place for large ships to dock. The shallow waters extend all the way to the protruding island, making it physically impossible for them to enter.
Security is tight on the island, but on the mainland side, as long as you pay, you can come and go freely. There’s a lot of traffic from merchants and sailors.
The morning market is bustling, filled with lively voices. Buyers eager to get good deals and sellers wanting to sell their fresh goods at high prices. Cats and seabirds lurking for scraps. Cod being salted in barrels.
Wow, that was quick! Already salted?
Fresh sardines, mackerel, oysters. Prawns, lobsters. Here, everything gets salted or boiled in no time. They process and preserve the fresh catch quickly, selling it at the market and shipping it to various places.
Most of the sellers are fishermen’s wives, and sometimes their children help out. Now, how should I go about gathering rumors? Would asking, “How’s the situation in the neighboring country lately?” work?
No, most people here are only interested in their own country, let alone their town. There are very few merchants who trade across borders, and those that do often deal in goods that serve as bragging rights among nobles.
In this town outside the island, what flows across borders? Just salted cod and salt, maybe?
“Did you hear that those Shurm bastards raided our fishing grounds again?”
Oh, while I was lost in thought, a topic came up from the other side. A plump woman at a stall and a sunburned man who seems to be an acquaintance are chatting. Shurm—Shurmtus Kingdom is where my sister is.
“Yeah, one of ours came back injured from a skirmish. Apparently, there’s a hero or a saint over there, so they’re feeling bold.”
“Even if they have a hero or a saint, it doesn’t benefit us. If anything, it’s just a source of trouble.”
“They’re probably kind to their own people. Well, if the Demon King shows up, we might end up relying on them too.”
“Ouch, ouch, ouch!”
Pretending to examine the fish, I overheard them… and then a pickpocket struck. Unlike Dean or Retze, I can’t observe and sense my surroundings, so I’m practicing my constant activation of Exploration. When I activate the skill, I tend to neglect other things, which makes it quite challenging.
I don’t know the right way to twist an arm, so I’m gripping the thief’s wrist with all my might, and I feel like I can hear their bones creaking.
There are too many pickpockets for the guards to take them seriously, and it doesn’t even cause a commotion. For the locals, it’s just part of everyday life, and they even say it’s the victim’s fault for being careless.
While robbers and thieves might get beaten up by the locals, pickpockets are praised for their skill in stealing without being noticed, and even if caught, they often just get punched and released.
So, I decided to go along with the flow, and as I could no longer bear the pain, I kicked the thief away as soon as their fingers left my wallet. The kicked thief quickly hid their face and cursed under their breath before fleeing. If they get recognized in this market, it’ll be hard for them to find their next job.
Since the gossip I was eavesdropping on ended, I decided to leave as well. It seems my sister’s reckless use of magic hasn’t stopped, and I can sense the spirits being drained.
In this world, the Demon King isn’t just one person, similar to human kings. The criteria for calling a being a Demon King is that they have horns with the color of the spirit visible. As they grow stronger, the dark markings around their eyes spread across their body, and then the color of the spirit they’re possessed by appears, changing their form. It’s unclear whether they become more like the spirit or more like the possessed being.
They have an intense disdain for humans.
Well, if the spirits that my sister has been draining escape and possess animals, they would likely turn into demon beasts, and since powerful magic requires powerful spirits or many spirits, it seems like both the Demon King and demon beasts would be produced in large quantities.
The existence known as Sacred Beasts is far outnumbered by demon beasts, not just because they possess whimsically, but also because weakened spirits, due to humans, enter animals (hosts) to prevent their power from waning.
This is information from the gods, so it should be reliable.
It’s been a few months since I started living in this world. With enough time passed for spirits to move to the borders where demon beasts roam, east, west, south, and north.
But it’s still too cold to venture into the forest!