Chapter 193: Side Story 24: Firwood.

“Hey, why are you looking so doom and gloom? We finally made it to Firwood, the town closest to the Belzac forest. You know, the place where your coffee substitute is. Come on, smile more, Tatsuya,” a young man equipped in full armor with a sword and shield combo tried to comfort me, but I couldn’t help but look at it pessimistically.

A town named after the numerous fir trees in its surroundings, Firwood was almost large enough to be classified as a city by the Kingdom of Artorias’s standards. Considering that Firwood was able to protect itself with walls and had enough space to separate itself into several neighborhoods, including a commoner’s and noble’s district, it was more or less a city to me.

A whole year and four months. We have been in this world for more than a whole year now.

My name was Tatsuya Nagata, a Japanese guy who was summoned to the medieval-like world named Peolynca about a year ago. In this time, I have been taken in by a church who called themselves worshippers of the Goddess of Light, Aurena, and was tasked by them, the very ones who were responsible for summoning me to this world—in other words, my kidnappers—to defeat some king or lord from a race called the demonkin as a “Hero of Aurena.” In other words, I was to fight and kill the demon lord.

Now, most edgy, cringey high schoolers would probably believe this was an amazing idea straight out of a fantasy book, but when a religious faction was constantly breathing down your neck, the stress would just give you headaches. Aside from the fact that they were forcing me into life-threatening situations where I had to fight against monsters or people, they also thought it was smart to use me as part of a religious propaganda campaign to convert more ruling nobles and royals to the church, increasing the church’s wealth, power and influence.

How fun did it sound when you knew you were just a pawn and all the “influence” you had as a “Hero” was merely some propaganda spread by the church? I was even made aware that they could denounce me at any time, robbing me of the one reason why I was helping them in the first place. To get a fucking ticket back home to Earth.

Yeah, brilliant, right? A dream come true … Firwood, sadly, was just another place like all the others I had to visit.

“I guess that’s true,” I absent-mindedly replied to Kyouya’s comforting words. “We need to grind some levels and get some monster materials. Belzac forest is considered a rank C monster area in its depths, right? We can use the perimeter to grind.”

Well, at least planning grinding sessions is similar to that fantasy MMO I loved to play.

As I was sighing at our current situation, a woman in white armor waved at us to come closer. Her overall appearance was similar to that of a Scandinavian woman I saw on the internet with her silver-white hair and sky-blue eyes. Wielding a long white ivory spear, she exuded an aura of confidence hidden behind a veil of laxness.

“Oh my, oh my. Tatsuya and Kyouya. Always the two last to arrive. Okay, enough teasing, hahahaha!” she chortled, pointing out my habit of admiring the buildings of any new city or town our group would arrive at, and how Kyouya would always bring me back to reality. “Anyways, welcome to Firwood, everybody. Home of the Kingdom of Artorias’s exotic spices and product farms, usually exclusive to the Belzac and Saelariel forest. Enjoy the food and don’t worry, the street vendors cover up the gamey taste of the goblin meat well with spices.”

Urrgh … not more goblin meat.

That was one of our guardians assigned to us by the church, a captain of the Knights of Aurena. Her name was Yorshka, an incredibly strong dragoon who acted as my master. Unlike most of the knights I’d met, who were more stoic and hard to approach, she oozed friendliness with a habit of teasing most people for a good laugh.

“As I mentioned before, I have some business at the local hunter’s guild, so please go to the temple without me. Tamae-chan, please follow the instructions on the map I gave you and bring Asaka-chan to meet the High Bishop, all right? Sir Elrick, make sure they stay safe and out of trouble. After presenting Asaka as a legitimate candidate, you may all do whatever you want. Accept Quests, do some shopping, enjoy the local cuisine. Just make sure to meet up at this inn tonight,” Yorshka gave her orders to everybody.

We had just arrived at Firwood today after a five-day carriage ride from the Lecartiglio duchy. The reason why we came to this town was once again related to our duties as the “Heroes of Aurena,” and that was to present one of the two Saintess candidates to the local temples and churches.

Amongst my classmates, one of the Saintess was our blue-haired delinquent party leader, Asaka Hanazawa. A girl with severe motivational issues.

Speaking of colored hair, it was one of the characteristics I noticed the people of this world had. Thanks to the existence of mana in the air, people could be born with various hair colors ranging from purple, green, and so on; this little fact that made our little group rather conspicuous.

We Japanese all had black or brown hair, so in order to not stand out even more than we already were, Yorshka suggested having our hair color changed with some hair product she bought for us. I used to have black hair, but I was walking around with dark green hair now. I could always change it back if I wanted to.

After Yorshka left for her own business, a young man named Elrick came forward. His blond hair combined with brilliant white his armor gave off the model example of a knight in shining armor. With his forthright attitude, Elrick made a good guardian for our party.

“Everybody, the temple is close by, located at the gate leading into the noble district. Miss Tamae, would you please lead us there?”

Wearing a magician’s robe, the purple-haired girl that Elrick addressed was not only our ex-class representative, but also our parties’ chef. Due to an accident our party caused at the holy capital, our party was forced to team up with another group, increasing our number up to twelve people. This purple-haired girl, Tamae, was their party leader.

With a nod, she replied swiftly, “Yes! Everybody, let us go.”

This phase always feels like a school trip …

Leaving our inn, one that felt like a mid-ranged hotel on Earth, we noticed a beastman conversing with two humans—a girl and a young man. The beastman was a green-haired bovline, an ox beastman, and he was laughing merrily with a pink-haired girl and a young man in shining armor, presumably a knight.

“Thank you very much, Antonio! I really hope everything works out with your parents, Severa!” the bovline cheered.

“Yes, thank you, brother! Cernust will do his best, and I will make sure to learn much from him!”

“Don’t be so overjoyed just yet, you two. The hardest challenge still lies before us.”

Wow, so casual. In the Lecartiglio duchy, racism against beastman was pretty rampant, but here in Firwood? People are interacting with beastmen so normally. At least that’s what it looked like so far in this town.

Walking east, we eventually stopped at a large gate. Elrick announced our arrival with a scroll stamped with the seal of the church of Aurena in the Holy State Aureolis, causing the two guards to scramble as they quickly bowed and let us in. We were reverently greeted by a group of bowing white-robed priests inside the temple, all of them already alerted to our arrival over a week ago.

Entering the ceremonial room, a lilac-haired man in a set of decorated white robes stood at the altar, greeting us with his name, Theodore Sirius. After praying with the priests, which was the standard greeting for church members, Asaka moved forward without commenting too much about it.

Ahh, she isn’t complaining. Good work, Asaka! I silently cheered for our usually badly tempered party leader. How much she’d grown!

“Saintess candidate Asaka Hanazawa, first we would like to welcome you to our world Peolynca. As the High Bishop of Firwood, I acknowledge your status and would ask you to visit two villages in the vicinity of the Sirius March,” Theodore began. The duty of a Saint was to bring the word of their god to the people, which meant a Saint candidate had to do the same thing. “Last year, a tragedy happened in Carine Village where a group of bandits burned down the village and kidnapped a few of the villagers.”

“That is terrible to hear! Are the remaining villagers all right?” Kazumi, one of the girls from Tamae’s party, spoke up, showing genuine worry.

Theodore nodded. “Yes, two brave adventurer parties successfully handled the issue, managing to bring back all the kidnapped villagers safely and subjugating the bandits. However, due to the fire, the village’s church was burned down. The temple is planning to rebuild it, so we humbly ask the Heroes and the Saint candidate to bless the area in the Goddess’s name and to soothe the villager’s worries.”

“I understand. We will make that one of our goals. What is the issue with the second village?” Asaka asked.

“Rashan Village, to the northwest of Firwood. Just a month ago, the village and the local lord’s castle were besieged by a large horde of what was reported as undead, nearly wiping out all the villagers and soldiers. Two adventurer parties attempted to save the villagers from their plight but, unfortunately, further tragedy struck when they met their end in the ruins near the village. The local hunter’s guild had to increase the rank of the Quest to rank C,” Theodore explained, causing me to frown a bit as I was worried he was sending us to fight something even two parties of adventures couldn’t handle. However, this worry quickly disappeared with his next words. “Please, be at ease, a brave party of adventurers managed to fight the menace back and purify the area. The young lady leading this party was also a priestess of Aurena.”

“Huh? Wow!” There was a bunch of commotion amongst our numbers.

My classmates were baffled that a single adventurer party was able to appear that quickly to solve the issue where multiple other parties could not. Some were relieved everything was well again, some like me were happy we didn’t have to enter a dangerous battle, while a single person scoffed that the Quest couldn’t have been that hard.

“I see, that is wonderful to hear,” Elrick praised. “Pray, High Bishop Theodore, is there a chance we could meet this priestess? Lady Asaka is still mastering the teachings of our Goddess, and I believed it would be a great boon for her to learn from a traveling priestess. Capable and world-wise. So rare are they, no?”

By “teachings,” Elrick meant Asaka’s [Holy Magic], which was two levels away from evolving into [Sacred Magic], an advanced element.

Honestly, I was quite curious about the party in general, as it was rare for us to speak with another capable adventurer party. Even if we were to hide our identities as Heroes, hunters and mercenaries weren’t very fond of nobles or church members in general. We might not be actual nobles, but we looked like ones with how we dress.

In our travels, most of our support and aid came from the church, and while that was helpful, it meant we had a severe lack of freedom and different perspectives. I wanted to learn how an adventurer priestess, someone who was spending most of her time on the field and away from her fellow clergy, thought of the church. After they kidnapped us to this world, I couldn’t help but feel distrustful of the church, and I honestly wanted to know if I could trust them or not. Some concrete information would stop this annoying conflict inside me.

However, it wasn’t meant to be.

“Sadly, the priestess has already left for Griffonpeak about a week ago, I heard.”

Griffonpeak … We were there during winter. Outside of training, we were always forced to attend those stupid balls with all those fake-smiling nobles and plotting clergymen. I didn’t want to go there again if I could help it. Shame.

“If you wish to learn more about the party, you may ask the local adventurer guild for the party name ‘Aurora,’” Theodore seemingly read my mind, causing me to gulp. “Back to the topic at hand. Rashan Village requires a lot of moral and religious support in their dire time. Please help them, Lady Asaka.”

After Asaka accepted their second request, we were about to leave the church when Bishop Theodore suddenly intercepted us at the entrance. A carriage was waiting for him there. Was he leaving for somewhere?

“Ahh, excuse me if they may sound rude, but I have a question I would like to ask of you, Heroes,” he began. “I heard from an acquaintance of mine at the capital that you all are students? From an academy?”

“A school, but I believe an academy like the royal academy is an apt comparison,” our second ex-class representative, a four-eyed dude called Nishio, answered in our stead.

“Ahh, thank you. I am quite interested in how education is handled in your world. If I may ask, did your educator also join you in your summoning?”

Why is he suddenly asking about Segawa-sensei? I thought suspiciously, a sentiment that Nishio seemed to share.

“No, they did not,” Nishio answered, giving no further information than was necessary to answer the question.

“I see, well, then I must bid you farewell. Due to the Spring Blessings, I must depart.” And with that, the High Bishop left on his carriage. I guess we would be talking with the assistant bishop from here on out.

Now, with our primary goal done, our party was finally allowed some freedom. Tamae’s group went off to visit the local marketplace and buy our supplies, while Daichi—our fifth party member and the only person who was rude enough to scoff at what Theodore had to say—returned to the inn for his fire magic training. With Kyouya, Asaka, Elrick, and the youngest member of our party, Haruka, we decided to wander around to find something interesting.

“Every single time. Visit this village, do our job here, do our job there. They can’t be more annoying, right?” Asaka let out her frustration, finally away from the temple. This was her real personality. “Great, I’m a candidate. But that doesn’t mean you can ‘request’ me to do all your jobs, especially when I can’t even say no to them.”

“Asa-chan, you are being very loud …” Haruka, being the shyest amongst all of us, felt the most uncomfortable of all the curious eyes. Asaka, being a Saint candidate, was wearing the white robe all white-robed priestesses needed to wear.

“Oh, sorry about that,” Asaka waved her hand as an apology, but shrugged anyway. “But, even if I weren’t shouting, I’m carrying a large mace on my waist. A white-robed with such a weapon would attract attention either way. Hmph.”

Well, she wasn’t wrong. We were attracting eyes.

Moving away from the merchant district, where the temple and our inn were located, we entered the middle district and visited the marketplace. That was when my nose suddenly picked something up. My sense of smell might not be as strong as a beastman’s, but thanks to the system, my senses were becoming more superhuman the more I leveled them up. Lured in by the interesting smell, our little group ended up in a small shop manned by a foxian.

“Welcome, honored guest, how may this Zeather …Wait, is a fellow foxian amongst the honored guests?” the foxian suddenly asked, swerving his head around until he ended at Haruka. “O-oh, please, forgive me. Zeather was mistaken. Zeather thought he found a brethren.”

“O-oh, there is no issue. I’ve heard foxians say that about me a few times already, ehehe.” Haruka smiled awkwardly.

After arriving in this world, we all received a personal unique skill fitting to us. Haruka received the [Foxian Slyness] skill, giving her not only the abilities and senses of a foxian, but also their smell. Because of this skill, she made a fantastic tracker and scout, but she couldn't be a combatant due to her personality.

Ignoring that, I began perusing the store and ended up with a small batch of tea leaves. The delectable smell they exuded invigorated my nose and body, stimulating my brain with energy. It was different, yes, but it was close enough for me to believe it was what I came to Firwood for: Coffee.

“Excuse me, do you regularly restock these fulinoe leaves?” I snapped my head to the shop owner, looking at him like an addict who found his next fix. I probably wouldn’t have admitted it when I first arrived on Peolynca, but going nearly a whole year without coffee made me realize how much I missed and loved that stuff. It didn’t help that my mother could make a pretty good brew.

As I was looking at the foxian with anticipation, he frowned and shook his head, causing me to click my tongue. “Zeather’s supplier for the fulinoe leaves has recently left Firwood. Zeather does not know when they will return or if they will continue supplying our humble shop in the future, that is a question for Zeather’s master to discuss with them. Would honored customer wish to buy some leaves?”

Well, at least I can finally drink some. Damn! I really have to get into the Belzac forest for some seeds or something to grow on my own, since the shop only sold the leaves.

I nodded immediately. The foxian smiled greedily as if he just hooked in a fish and told us his price, “Five small silvites, please. 5000 Davi.”

“Deal!” I answered without thinking about it.

“Wha—HOLD UP!” But before I could shake hands with him to seal the deal, Haruko jumped in front of me and pushed me back with her tiny frame. “Are you an idiot or deaf? 5000 Davi! That’s enough to buy a moderate mana potion, or two moderate health potions, or five class changes. We can’t spend that much money on a batch of those tea leaves!”

“Oh, there is a misunderstanding, honored customers. The price is per fulinoe leaf, not for the whole batch,” like a devil, the foxian swooped in causing Haruka’s face to pale even more.

“A-a single leaf? For 5000 Davi! This is insane!” she exclaimed.

“Sir Shopkeeper, these are the chu—” As Elrick was about to intervene by telling the foxian our identities, pushing our influence in that sense, Asaka grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

Looking at him with a chilly gaze, she ordered him to stand down, “Stop trying to bring the church into everything, Elrick. Dammit. People have trouble staying comfortable around us because of that exact reason.”

“Thank you, Lady Priestess,” Zeather thanked Asaka. “Mercurias wouldn’t have wanted Zeather to reduce a price simply for religious reasons in either case. Due to a lack of a supplier, the scarcity of these fulinoe leaves means I must increase the price.”

“But 5000 Davi is ludicrous, far above what you may reasonably pay!” Haruka continued to argue.

She might not be a capable combatant, but she was like a human calculator with how fast she was able to do calculations without a calculator. Due to this fact, she became the one responsible for our finances and would usually go with the shopping team to barter at the marketplace.

“That might be true, but this is a luxury product, no? You do not require it to survive and it is difficult to acquire in the first place, meaning the price must be adjusted to compensate for these facts. Indeed, Zeather even made sure these were high-quality leaves when Zeather bought them from Zeather’s supplier, as Zeather acknowledges their importance for mages,” the foxian argued, smiling once again as mages were usually nobles. They could spend the money, in other words.

“Yes, I do understand, but you are demanding five small silvites for a single leaf. Making tea with a single leaf will simply make it tasteless and watered down. Surely, you must understand this as a merchant, correct?”

“Zeather does, but that is why you must buy more leaves, honored customers. Zeather has sold these leaves to wealthier merchants and even a few nobles, which means Zeather does not lack potential customers. The small batch is evidence.” The foxian was actually quite brazen now that my head had cleared up from the fogginess of addiction. He was hiding behind a mask of courtesy, but his sense of money was ruthless.

However, Haruka was equally competitive. She might be a shy person but when passion hit, she would explode in action, speaking faster and faster to fend off any arguments the opposing merchant would give to defend their prices. She aimed to get us the best price to reduce our need to ask the church for money.

However, even she couldn’t muster a good enough counter-argument to break the foxian’s sly smile. Eventually, Haruka managed to reduce the price down to 4000 Davi, but it was more or less a pity offer, since she was sure the merchant was still overcharging us by a mile. He complied with his customers and made them “happy” while still making a large profit, meaning he won by quite a bit.

“It’s been over a year … why are you still addicted?” she complained to me.

“Sorry …” was all I could muster.

You are reading story A Dragon Idol’s Reincarnation Tale at novel35.com

For 12000 Davi, we got three fulinoe leaves, enough for a pot to share amongst everybody. I honestly wanted it for myself, but after looking at Haruka, I just couldn’t.

I thanked Haruka but couldn’t help but pout as we walked around the central marketplace. Since the snow was gone, the market was quite lively. Numerous people filled the area, bartering with merchants or eating from street vendors. Agitated customers, people savoring their meals, merchants advertising their goods, and so many others were trapped in a chaotic maelstrom of sounds, ringing inside my ear.

“Na-ni-na-ni-na, na-ni-na-ni-nu ♫

I want you to go out there ♫

And scream so loud ♫

That the whole town can hear ♫”

That was when my ears suddenly picked something up. I turned my head towards the location, noticing it led into an alleyway. Whether it was ‘cause of my curiosity or my foggy head, I left my group for a moment and chased after the sounds. It was a dead end, with a few young kids playing around. A few of them were singing.

“Nu-ni-nu-ni-nu, nu-ni-nu-ni-na ♫

I want you to embrace yourself ♫

‘Cause you’re the star now ♫

Of this huge story of yours! ♫”

The singing was in Common, but something about the music piqued my interest. Kyouya was actually a bit of a Korean idol fan—he loved K-pop—so I would usually listen to his music whenever I went to his home. Sure, the kids weren’t doing it perfectly, but they were replicating the sounds through drumming on bowls.

“Life’s too short to hold yourself back ♫

Those feelings tell you what you really lack ♫

This here is your moment to shine ♫

Let me tell you, you’ll be fine! ♫”

Hold on, the flow sounds too different!

Bards and musicians in the places we’ve visited usually sang ballads or storytelling stories. However, this was an entire genre difference! The kids were singing such a happy-go-lucky song more used to motivate others, something I had never, ever heard from random street urchins before. Not even the jesters from a court or the bards inside a tavern would sing this!

“Hey, hey, kids, can I ask you where you learned that song?” I suddenly approached the kids, causing a few to look at me suspiciously. “Oh, sorry, probably shouldn’t have come here with my spear. I don’t mean to do anything to you. See?”

I raised my arms up to make them feel safer.

“I just wanted to know where you learned this song.”

“Who wants to know, eh? Ya weren’t there when it happened?” the tallest of them spat out, showing no signs of trusting me.

“That’s why I’m asking! What’s with the attitude?” I replied.

“Oi! That’s a blue-blood! Not all of them are as nice, so shut it!” a small girl shouted back.

Blue—Oh shit, they think I’m a noble!

“Yeah! Yeah! None’s the same like Miss Hestia! You can’t tell what is—OUCH!” It seemed my offhand remark caused the kids to feel offended, but before the kid could finish speaking, the tallest bonked him on the head.

Miss Hestia?

“Shut up, you idiot! Master told us to never reveal information unless we get paid! Don’t say her name to some blue-blood! They gotta pay extra!” the kid scolded the younger one. “Go away, Mister-Oh lord-or whatever! Stop trying to bully orphans int—HEY, BEHIND YOU!”

The kid seemed to want to warn me of something; however, my skills [Danger Perception] and [Prediction] had already sounded the alarms a couple of seconds ago. I already knew somebody had followed me into the alley.

As my skills’ warnings were at their peak, I slipped past the wooden cudgel aiming at my head and dodged backward. As I assessed who just tried to attack me, three filthy men came into view, all bearing crude weapons like some second-class thugs.

“Fukin’ hell, how’d you miss dat, ya idiot?” a guy from the back complained to the one who tried to hit me with a cudgel

“Shut up, those damn kids warned the brat. Fuckin’ hell, we gotta do this da hard’ay.” The one with the cudgel then turned towards me, pointing his crude wooden weapon at me. “Hand over ya stuff, rich boy, otherwise we’ll see you bleeding on the ground. Strip yourself naked, keheheheh.”

The other two unsheathed their weapons. One had a broken sword while the other had the only functional-looking weapon, even if it was just a kitchen knife. What was this cliche? Going into an alley to get mugged by some countryside muggers? It wasn’t even dark yet, this was a daylight robbery!

“Go away,” I gave the idiots a warning as I wasn’t in the mood for this.

“Huh? Look at this idiot, mate, he thinks—”

However, idiots were idiots.

Gale Steps.

Without letting him say another word, I activated the unarmed ability [Gale Steps] in order to close the distance to my still-laughing, would-be muggers. Of course, while I wasn’t intending to murder them, knocking them down or breaking some bones was a different matter.

Using my spear’s handle like a staff, I struck the cudgel goon’s shin with a clean hit, knocking him screaming to the ground as he grabbed his leg. From the sound of the impact, I probably shattered it. As they saw their friend falling down, the other two cursed at me and began moving. I did the same.

Knowing the knife-wielder was more of a “threat” I stepped to the side and aimed my spear handle. As he was about to swing his knife, I thrust the butt of my spear against his throat, causing him to drop his weapon and cough uncontrollably. I then brought my spear up and swung it down onto his back. A loud thud could be heard as he crashed on the ground, coughing and groaning at the same time.

When I turned my head to the last goon, his shivering hands dropped his broken sword before he ran away screaming hysterically. I could have chased him down with [Gale Steps], but I really wasn’t in the mood for it. Sighing, I turned back to the kids before noticing the kitchen knife-wielding guy had dropped his ID.

Mercenary guild … damn, what happened to these guys?

To earn money and build our confidence in battle, Elrick and Yorshka have been pushing us to grind up our hunter and mercenary ranks. Currently, my party and Tamae’s party had everybody at rank D for the mercenary and hunters guilds, meaning we had our fair share of both monster and human battles. Taking down robbers or bandits was just normal for me now … something a Japanese teen shouldn’t really experience honestly. Fighting has become natural … killing, on the other hand …

Everything to go back. By all means.

Regardless, just as we needed to earn money, I guess these muggers needed money, too. So did the robbers and bandits I fought. All of them were just farmers or former serfs who were forced into banditry ‘cause of their situation. It was a shame, but even on Earth that issue hasn’t been resolved yet.

I kicked the guy whose shin I broke unconscious and turned around, only to see the kids having already run away. I guess that was obvious.

As I was walking out of the alley, a tall man with dark brown hair had his feet on top of the one mugger who ran away from me. Was this their boss?

“Yo, kid, hope you didn’t get hurt,” the man said, causing me to grip my spear harder. “Woah, no need to be so agitated. I’m not with these guys.”

“What do you want.” I skipped the pleasantries.

“Blunt, nice. Reminds me of someone, you know.” The man smiled. “Anyway, do you know somebody by the name ‘Saori?’”

“Huh …What? Hey, where did you hear that name!” I demanded from him. However, he suddenly dashed out of the alley. “Fuck! Stop!”

When I turned the corner, the man was melting into the ground, no, it was a shadow. “See you later, Tatsuya! Stay healthy, you hear?” he shouted before disappearing completely.

What the fuck just happened?!

Questions were flying around in my head as I was digesting the situation. Did he really say “Saori?” Wasn’t that Segawa-sensei’s first name? How did he know Segawa-sensei’s name?!

Wait, how did he know my name?! Didn’t he say “Tatsuya?” Who was he? How did he know all of this? Was he just mocking me? What the hell was going on?

All of these questions made my head spin, feeling slightly nauseous at the implications of the situation. I began massaging my head, as it felt like a headache was forming, and noticed that my head was covered in cold sweat.

“Tatsuya!”

I darted my head towards the sound, unsheathing my spear before pointing it forward.

“Oi, oi, stop, it’s me!”

As the red in my eyes subsided, the sight of Kyouya came into view. My eyes widened as I lowered my weapon, questioning myself what I was doing.

“K-Kyouya? You said my name?” I asked, feeling lightheaded.

“Yeah, dude. Oi, why are you sweating?”

As he asked me that, the rest of my party arrived. Asaka saw how I was holding my spear and asked, “Are you that addicted to caffeine that you need your fix now? Wow, Haruka, I think you should’ve tried a bit more about the price. Tatsuya needs his coffee.”

“I-I think so, too. I’m sorry Tatsuya-kun,” Haruka bowed in an apology.

W-wait, why am I causing everybody so much trouble, again? Dammit. Calm down, Tatsuya. You must have misheard. You must have. Segawa-sensei? She couldn’t have possibly been summoned to Peolynca—the church hadn’t summoned any other heroes besides my class.

Still, how did he know my name? Does he know the names of everybody else?

I decided to keep this information to myself for now. I didn’t want to cause everybody even more problems. I was the reason why Tamae’s party had to stick with us, I was the reason why we even went to Firwood and why we had to pay a large amount for some simple tea leaves. I couldn’t afford to cause them even more problems. It would be better to talk about this stuff with Elrick and Yorshka later on.

After I made sure that I was alright in my friends’ eyes, we walked back to our inn where we waited for everybody else. Sometime during the afternoon, Tamae’s party came back with bags of ingredients and supplies, all bought so she could cook them. Even a noble’s chef wouldn’t be able to compete with Tamae’s cooking.

“You couldn’t get any potions?” Asaka asked Tamae.

“No, no, no, I did,” Tamae replied. When she unpacked the grocery, she complained how Firwood had a potion draught. “I tried getting some for cheap, but everything was priced up like crazy! You can’t even find a minor health potion for the usual 500 Davi. Apparently, the local alchemist guild was blown up—all that remains is a crater! Even the guild master is dead! Without a proper regulator body, people have been upping everything to get a massive profit before things get settled. All the buffing potions were so expensive, I wouldn’t have been able to buy our cooking materials!”

No buffing potions meant no strength or agility boosters. Our mages had buffing spells, but potions were easier to use.

It was unfortunate, but stuff like this happened sometimes. Well, maybe a guild building turning into a giant crater wasn’t common. Actually, how did that happen? Did some giant laser shoot down from the heavens and scorch it? Haha, as if, that would be crazy.

After having dinner, Yorshka finally returned, looking far more relaxed than usual. She had a wide smile and, looking at her hair, she seemed to have taken a bath. What did she do? Enter the local bathhouse?

“Okay, everybody! I hope all of you had a good day in Firwood. Now, let me ask you, does anybody want to go to Cedaraille?” she suddenly posed that question to us after we just arrived in Firwood today.

“Captain Yorshka, why are you asking this now?” Elrick had a brow raised.

“Oh, because there is a dungeon in Cedaraille. I thought all of you liked the one in Griffonpeak, so I wanted to ask. Also, I noticed the local alchemy guild was destroyed somehow, so I wondered if Tamae-chan was lacking in potions. Do you?” she asked innocently.

“Well, yes, we barely have enough health, mana, and stamina potions for everybody.”

Yorshka nodded. “I see, then it might be better if we delayed our trip into the Belzac forest. The whole forest is infested with monsters that can inflict abnormal status ailments, meaning we need to be prepared. After all, you all are to train yourselves, and me helping out would go against that idea.”

She continued after sitting down, “So, I suggest we visit Cedaraille. It is about four or five days by carriage and has a bountiful assortment of alchemical ingredients since it is the capital of the Greenveil duchy. We can stock up on potions there. What does everyone say?”

And so it was decided. Tamae’s party would travel to Cedaraille to refill our stock while my party would fulfill the temple’s requests with Asaka. It meant we had to split up, but it was temporary as always. I was sure nothing eventful would happen to either party, so there was nothing to worry about.

Well, except for the fact that my name was somehow known by a stranger. Honestly, this “simple” day was already giving me a large headache. The fact I had to mention all of this later on to Yorshka and Elrick was even worse.

I need my coffee …