Episode 11
In the end, it took a total of six days to arrive at the Royal Capital.
After witnessing my stress relief, Shino’s attitude softened slightly, and the carriage’s pace settled into what could be called normal speed.
I suspect this is the result of her changing her perception of me from an annoying guy to a clueless one.
“I think you can stay at any inn in the Royal Capital, as they’re all strangely cheap at around ten En per night.”
“Hmm, hmm.”
“However, meals will cost around a hundred En each. It might seem expensive, but please make sure to eat properly.”
“A hundred… eh, I could stay for ten days with the money it takes to eat one meal?”
We arrived at an awkward time and had some time to kill, so I was being shown around and taught various things by Shino… but something about the prices seems inconsistent overall.
The cheapness of the inns, in particular, might be a common RPG trope. It’s like how the inns in the early towns are abnormally cheap compared to those later on.
The cityscape of the Royal Capital was just like something out of a fantasy RPG, like the Middle Ages, yet with some areas that were somehow refined, making it a confusing mix.
The city, surrounded by a tall city wall in a huge circle, was vast, and it would probably be impossible to see it all in a day or two.
Thick main roads ran vertically and horizontally, forming a grid pattern… what was it called, a grid plan? Anyway, it was a very orderly layout.
Right now, we’ve finished sightseeing along the main street and returned to the inn, where I’m getting my final lecture while eating dinner… I feel like Shino is being a bit overprotective.
I guess I’m partly to blame for saying things like, “Oh, so the currency is called En,” but… no, thinking about it again, that’s bad. At fifteen, that kind of statement is beyond just being naive.
“You mustn’t go with strangers, okay? And don’t hang your money around your waist; make sure to divide it up and hide it properly. No, you shouldn’t even let other people know you have money in the first place—”
“O-okay, okay. I get it. I’ll be fine. Right?”
“Hmm…”
She’s giving me a look that says, “If we let this naive young master wander around alone, he’ll have all his money stolen and die in the streets in less than three days.” Do I really look that hopeless?
In the end, I couldn’t reassure Shino at all that day, and even the next morning, she looked worried and hesitated to leave. I forcibly sent her off, and finally, my grand adventure as a lone man began.
“Alright, let’s go.”
I slapped my cheeks with both hands to psych myself up. What awaits me is a life-or-death struggle. Not even the slightest carelessness is allowed.
My equipment consists of a plain cotton shirt and trousers, and leather shoes. It might be a bit too casual, but oh well. It’s just the starting town, after all.
Besides, I have the sword I swiped from the training grounds. This sword, unlike the ones I’ve used before, is equipped with the function of cutting things. The only drawback is that I’m a little hesitant to swing it because it’s so dangerous, but its killing power more than makes up for it.
…That being said, I still vividly remember being sliced in half by a giant crayfish. I’ll prioritize safety here and adopt the traditional method of endlessly circling the town.
It’s a fairly common practice in RPGs to simply walk along the city walls, waiting for encounters, but considering this is the capital of the great nation of Ukyak, I have no idea how long it will take to go around once.
And because I was strolling along and taking breaks, I couldn’t even complete one lap all day… and to top it off, I still haven’t encountered anything.
I realized that this method was a mistake.
“…………Hmm.”
I trudged back to the inn and ate dinner in what seemed to be the dining area on the first floor.
But even though it’s an expensive meal, it’s somehow tasteless.
If I had achieved something, it might be different, but having spent the whole day in vain, even the food tastes bad.
I can understand some aspects of today’s results, though.
The Royal Capital of Ukyak is built in the middle of a vast plain, so its outer perimeter is inevitably a plain with a good view.
In RPG terms, this location has a low encounter rate.
Whether the original game had random encounters or symbol encounters, or if there was a world map or not, is completely unknown, but if I want to encounter monsters, it’s more efficient to head to rugged fields like forests or mountains.
If I had a fellow gamer with me, I could buy them a drink and ask them about various things, but unfortunately, there’s only one couple who seem to be tourists besides me at this inn. This is a high-class inn at twenty En per night, so the total income is sixty En. I wonder if they’re doing okay financially.
The next morning, I was already succumbing to loneliness. I wanted to laze around and spend the day like that, but I slapped my cheeks and injected some spirit, somehow dragging myself out of bed.
I ate breakfast, prepared my equipment, and left the town, where a dangerous plain awaited, where monsters might be roaming.
“Alright, I’m going to do it today.”
I slapped my cheeks twice with both hands to inject plenty of spirit. What awaits me is probably futility. If I let my guard down even slightly, my heart might break.
Today, I’m heading to the Great Forest that spreads to the south of the Royal Capital. It seems to take about two hours to walk there.
Since I can’t go back to town for a meal in the middle of the day like yesterday, going to the forest requires considerable resolve and preparation. It would be too reckless to go with just a sword.
Therefore, I bought a sturdy bag woven from hemp-like fibers and put lunch and a water bottle inside. I’m fully prepared.
Looking south from the top of a small hill, I can see the lush forest at the foot of the mountains far in the distance. With that kind of scenery, I doubt I’ll walk around all day without encountering anything.
“…………It’s far.”
Walking for two hours would be about eight to ten kilometers, right? It’s an endless journey.
I slapped my cheeks with both hands to rebuild my faltering spirit. At this rate, my cheeks might be swollen by the end of the day.
As I was walking across the plains to get to the forest to defeat the monsters to level up, I discovered a strange red object about halfway there.
It’s a bit far away, so all I can tell is that it’s red and round.
“…Alright.”
I steeled myself and approached it, and I found out that it was red and round. What is this?
A red, round object about the size of a basketball is floating in the air. It’s hovering at about waist height, so I can reach it, but… I have no idea if I should touch it. I hope it doesn’t suddenly explode.
I think this is probably a monster, but if it’s not… well, whatever. I’ll do it.
“After all, ‘Slashing Airwave’ is the way to go here. Long-range attacks are great. …Hah!”
When the white slash hit it directly, the red sphere split in two and fell to the ground, immediately disappearing like smoke. And in that place, something that looked like coins fell to the ground. These are… One En Coins. There are six of them, so that’s six En.
“…………En, huh.”
This is it, the thing where you get money for defeating monsters. So the red sphere was indeed a monster.
“Hmm… I guess I’ll just slash anything weird I see from now on.”
It would have been easier if they had ripped off famous monsters like slimes or goblins, but this game seems to have gone out of its way to be original.
If I hesitate when facing strange monsters that will appear in the future, I risk being caught off guard. I’ll just slash away with the lighthearted attitude that I can apologize if I’m wrong.