CH 179

Chapter 179 – Merinesburg Again

“Noja… noja…”

Yeah, it was no good. The drugs that Poizo makes work on dragons. Grande, who has been through a lot of awful things, is back in the corner of the room, saying noja noja.. poor Grande. I’m afraid that if I bring Poizo together with Isla, there will be a hell of a chemical reaction.

Eh? You are asking me why I didn’t become like Grande, dead-eyed and mumbling in the corner of the room? I’m used to it! Hahaha! Hahaha… maybe I have dead eyes, too, though.

“Poizo, you need to hold yourself to that, seriously. You’re making Grande’s mental state break down completely.”

“She’s more fragile than she looks-nodesu.”

“Poizo? You want to have a real fight with me?”

“I’m sorry-nanodesu.”

I was irritated, and she apologized when I let my anger seep into my eyes rather seriously. I wish she would apologize honestly from the beginning in a situation like this.

“You made him mad, Poizo!”

“You must forgive her. She’s a little carried away at times. I’m sure she regrets it.”

“…I owe the three of you a debt of gratitude that I can never repay, so I’m willing to accept a little recklessness, but not for Grande.”

“I’m sorry-nanodesu.”

Poizo apologized as if she was seriously sorry. I looked at Grande, and Poizo approached Grande and started apologizing. Yes, it’s good that she seems to be sincerely reflecting on what she did.

I’ll keep what actually happened a secret. For Grande’s honor.

“What time is it? It’s hard to tell the time when you’re underground.”

“It’s still early morning. It’s just after sunrise.”

“I see. Speaking of which, wasn’t Ellen supposed to call me?”

“She said she wanted you at the castle before noon today. With a letter of invitation.”

“Oh, a letter of invitation.”

That’s the letter Ellen let me have when I left her before. In exchange, I gave Ellen a rifle bullet pendant with the powder removed.

“Then I guess I’ll head out as soon after breakfast… If I walk slowly, it should be just in time.”

“Morning breakfast.”

“I’d like to try something other than Gizma meat today.”

“Then I’ll serve some Wyvern meat.”

Thus a new day began.

By the way, the Wyvern meat was quite popular with Lime and the others. Poizo seemed to like the tail with the poisonous needle. I wonder if she will make some kind of strange drug out of that tail poison?

“I reflected-nodesu. You don’t need to worry-nanodesu.”

She said that clearly, but I don’t know… I should keep a close eye on Poizo’s behavior in the future.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay on your own?”

“I’ll be fine. I mean, no matter how problematic it is, it’s a little too much for Grande to follow me… it will cause an immediate uproar.”

“Mm… nobody cares about that in Erichburg, though.”

“Merinesburg has a strong Adol influence, or rather the influence of the Holy Kingdoms, so it’s unavoidable.”

Grande also managed to recover after eating breakfast. She is still keeping her distance from Poizo, though.

“Anyway, be careful. If anything happens to you, I’ll go berserk.”

“I’m sure that’s no pun intended, so I’ll be very careful.”

That would be a big problem if Grande were to go on a rampage in Merinesburg. It would be terrible politically, so I shall be cautious about myself. After all, Grande is a dragon… with a hidden ferocity that will trample human lives like garbage if she forgets herself in her rage.

After breakfast, I finish getting ready to go out. Incidentally, my breakfast today consisted of milk and block cookies. I leave it to your imagination what kind of milk this milk is.

By the way, this has nothing to do with anything, but about 30% of the raw milk circulating in areas where there are many subhumans is mother’s milk of cattle type Beastman and the like. It is said that there are many whose constitutions allow them to produce milk even if they are not pregnant. Not only cows but also goats, sheep, horses, and in rare cases, camels and alpacas. Well, that’s nothing to do with anything.

Also, about 40% of the edible eggs distributed in areas where there are many subhumans are unfertilized eggs of animals that have an egg-bearing element, such as harpies, reptiles, winged people, and so on. That’s a small percentage because there’s not a lot of them in circulation, to begin with. It seems to be high.

In my case, when I put them in my inventory, I get xxx’s milk’ or something like that, so I can tell at once… No, no, no, it’s nothing to do with anything. Hahaha… I’m getting dyed in this world too.

“I’m off then.”

“Be careful.”

“Careful, okay?”

“Don’t let your guard down.”

“Take care-nanodesu.”

Lime and the others see me off as I exit the forest via the sewage system. The sun is shining brightly.

“All right, let’s go.”

My outfit today is mercenary style: repaired Wyvern leather armor, steel helmet, round shield on my back, short sword and knife on my waist, and short spear in my hand. Normally, I would never go out with such heavy armament, but after all, this area is hostile territory, and at the same time, it is a disguise to avoid any suspicion of a man traveling alone. If I dress like a mercenary or an adventurer, I will not be suspected.

The rest of the disguise is completed with appropriate underwear, a sack full of dried meat and baked bread, a purse, a water bottle, and so on.

And as for my spear and sword skills… well, I can fight reasonably well. When I stayed here before, I was trained by Lime and the others in a spartan way. I accidentally mentioned it in front of Ms. Zamir after returning, and she trained me about three or four times a week. Although the training is not so severe, I am now strong enough to win against the new recruits of the Liberation Army. Is it nothing to be proud of, even if you can beat the new recruits? Yes, that’s right. It is only a hair above the level of an amateur.

But a new recruit in the Liberation Army is, in other words, a subhuman. Basically, subhumans are more physically capable than humans. In close combat using weapons, even subhuman recruits can defeat ordinary human soldiers. In other words, I who can beat a subhuman recruit can be said to be somewhat better than a human general. At least, I became skilled enough to defeat a goblin with a spear with a bit of time to spare through actual battle training.

But I don’t want more than three to come at me. If more than three come, my shotgun or the submachine gun will literally burst into flames. No matter how much training I’ve had, I’m still a weakling. If I told the new recruits of the Liberation Army who train with me that I’m weak, they would look at me like, “What are you talking about?”

I walked through the forest for a while, thinking about such a useless thing. I met a goblin on the way, so I used strafe jumping to escape at high speed and succeeded in getting out of the forest.

Eh? Why don’t I fight, you ask? Sure, they could be an experience, but it’s not worth the risk of going out of my way to fight them, in my opinion. Frankly speaking, from the aspect of gaining experience, I think it would be better to shoot and kill Wyverns in the Sorel Mountains. It would be perfect to have Grande or Ms. Zamir or someone like them escort me.

I don’t even feel the need to level up much right now, so I don’t think I’ll do it… If the level would release recipes for various things, I’d be eager to level up, but most of the things I can improve with the skill points I gain from leveling up. All they do is improve my physical abilities or shorten my crafting time… It also improves my mining abilities, but I’m not in trouble at the moment, or at least I’m getting too much of it at the moment.

I have so much to do in Erichburg that I don’t have time to level up.

I left the forest and joined the street as I had done in the past and walked leisurely to Merinesburg. The roads are as busy as ever, but I have a feeling that there are fewer people on the streets than before, though not mindlessly. The number of people coming from the surrounding farming villages to house their crops doesn’t seem to have changed much, but the number of merchants and travelers seems to be decreasing. Maybe it’s just my imagination, though. Yeah, the number of well-dressed people trying to get out of Merinesburg is definitely down. I mean, I don’t see them. It must mean that they got out of this place as soon as possible.

I was checked at the same gate where I had entered before and went inside. It seemed that it was a different soldier from the one who had checked me in before, and there was no particular reaction when I told him my name was Ko. Since my eye color and hair color were recorded, my black hair was still considered unusual.

When I entered Merinesburg, there was still a place near the gate where a group of boys who looked a little dirty were huddled together. One of the boys walked up to me.

“Brother? Oh, I knew you were the dark-haired brother from back then! You’re back?” 

It was the boy who had guided me through the city on my previous visit to Merinesburg. By the looks of it, he was not seriously injured or ill. I am glad to see that he is in good health.

“It’s been a long time.”

“Can I show you around again?”

“Yes…”

I’m just going to the castle, so I don’t really need directions. But since I am in Merinesburg, I might as well pick up some souvenirs, right? But it’s not something to do now. I should go to the castle as soon as possible.

“I’ve got some business to attend to, so I don’t need a guide right now. But after I’m done with my business, I’m thinking of doing some shopping. Where is a good place to buy souvenirs or something?”

“Souvenirs? Then there’s the market, or the artisans’ district, or maybe the general store along this main street.”

“I know where the artisan street is, but I don’t know where the market is. Where is it?”

Then I showed him a copper coin, and he held up two fingers. Two coins? Well, okay, but that’s pretty bold, isn’t it? When I handed him the two coppers, he smiled at me.

“Turn right down this road, and after a while, you will see the market on your left. This time of year, dried apricots and prunes are good.”

“I understand. See you later.”

“Use me again if you need anything!”

I wave to the boy calling out to me from behind and walk straight to the castle. The castle is visible from anywhere in town, so there is no chance of getting lost. I walked on, feeling a little sluggish under the weight of the armor I was not usually wearing.