Chapter 9

"How'd it go?" "I told the chef to make it last longer." "I see. So what should we do with this money?" "I told you, right? We will keep it." "Okay, okay." "The problem had been resolved. But there's still a war going on, right?" "Yeah. If the soldiers fail. This will become a battlefield too. Also. We couldn't evacuate since nobody rescued us. And we can't afford to go to a city either. But despite there is a war going on. The situation of citizens is still fine. They are still happy and living peacefully. That's what the merchant said a few months ago. But now. I don't know what is happening. How about we find out ourselves?" "Let's spend a week in a city." "What do you mean? It's far." "Doesn't matter. We could just fly, though." "Yeah. You're right." "So... When?" "Now." "Now? Isn't it too early to–" "I'll leave you behind if you don't want." "Wait! I'll go too. But... How about your clothes? By the way, where did you come from? I don't know what kind of clothes it is. I guess everybody notices that by now, but I think they just couldn't say it to You." "I don't know. Maybe I lost my memories. Let's just get going." "Yeah. Sorry." "Let's go." They head outside. And began walking towards the village gate. 'Hey. Takao." "What is it?" He pulled Takao, and he pointed at somebody. "Look. That's the woman I liked. She's Jane. And there's her elder sister. Jade. Though she's currently sleeping, since she's recovering. We mysteriously found her unconscious in the forest. She has tattered clothes, but there's no wound." "Oh. I saved that woman you are talking about." "Even her?" "Who do you think could heal wounds other than me?" The healer crossed her arms, a hint of annoyance in her voice. “I’ve seen things you wouldn’t believe. She was barely clinging to life, but I managed to pull her back from the brink.” The skeptical look on his face softened slightly, curiosity replacing doubt. “And you’re sure she’ll be alright now?” “Trust me,” she replied, her gaze steady. “I don’t take risks with lives. She’s in good hands.” "Yeah. There's none." Takao spoke to the village chief for a while. "Very well. We will go. We will come back after a week. Please take care." "Yes. Thank you. Mr Takao" "There's no need to thank me." And they both left. "So. To go to the nearest city. We had to find the road, right?" "Yes. And we will follow it." "I see." "The merchant told me that the road is located in the north." "North? Then maybe it's this way." "How can you be sure? The merchant said it's a bit away from the village." "We're flying after all. We could just check the other directions if we are wrong." After a while of searching, while soaring through the sky. They managed to find the road that leads to the city. Since they know that it is in just one direction. They just move away from the road to avoid anyone seeing them. And they traversed the distance that would take a few days in just less than an hour. "I think we need to walk from here on." "Yes." They strode forward and finally reached the city gates. They brought plenty of money with them. Though they are not going shopping. Takao takes that amount so they won't have problems. There is a long queue before people can enter through the city gates. City walls are gigantic. It looks like 30 meters high. After waiting for half an hour. It is their turn. "Pass, please? "Pass?" "If you don't have a pass, please pay a tax of 1 silver coin. If you want to issue one. Please head over there and pay 1 gold coin for a Pass. A pass lets you go in and out of the city. It could also be used to go in and out of other cities as well." "No. There's no need. Maybe later." He brings a gold coin to the guard's palm. "Be quick and give me my change. I'm an impatient person." "Y, yes..." The guard is scared. "You can't always be scary, you know?" "I'm scary? How could you say that?" "The guard is scared." "I see. Then I won't be scared from now on." "Yeah. Good" After a while, the guard came back. "Here are the nine silvers, sir." They took the chance and headed inside immediately. "Whoa. I didn't know that the city is this big." Takao is unfazed at all. Since he lives in Nagasaki. He's used to large places. "So. Where are we going now?" "I don't know. Let's look for a while." He's looking at the signboards. The language is different. But for some reason. He knows how to read and write it. How the hell am I able to read those things? "Hey, Martin." He looked behind him. And he saw Martin looking at a certain sign. "Hmmm... Ad... Ven... Turer's... Guild? "You can't read?" "Huh? Oh, of course, I can. It's just that. It's slow." "I see. Well. Adventurers? What is that?" "I don't know either. I did tell you, right? We, villagers, are ignorant about the world." "How about we come inside?" They decided to head inside. They opened the door and walked inside. They head to what seems to be a male receptionist. "Welcome. What can I do for you, sir?" "Hey. Tell me about adventurers. We came from a pretty isolated village. So we're a bit ignorant." "Oh. Maybe there are no monsters in that area, so an adventurer has never come. I guess a poor village?" "Yeah. So go ahead and tell me." "Yes. Adventurers' jobs are mainly killing monsters for a fee. Accepting requests and uncovering hidden things, like ruins and lost artifacts." "I see. Do you know magic?" "I don't know what that subject is. I'm truly sorry." "Yeah. No adventurer is going into that village. But there's a wild beast. But that's pretty much dealt with." "I'm sorry about that, sir. The adventurers don't know what your predicament is. And they only kill if you issue a quest for them with an appropriate reward." "I see. Then. Are there rankings?" "Oh, yes. There's a rank system. The highest-ranked ten stars. The one to three-star characters could not go on dangerous quests. Quests for them are likely for hunting beasts and helping people around." "Then how the hell are they going to get stronger by that?" "Yeah. But after they reached five to eight stars. They could participate in killing monsters. And for nine to ten stars. They are always requested by the nobles themselves. Killing and doing things that normal adventurers can't do. Like killing an immensely powerful monster. And other things that suit their abilities. There are currently ten of them, star teams out of over two thousand adventurer teams." "I see. Thank you, then." On their way outside. "Ouch. Hey. You stepped on my foot. How about I?. Pay for it. I'm a six-star adventurer. I don't recommend messing with me." "Then you should have removed your foot. I don't recommend messing with me, too."