CH 25

As I walked out of the Adventurer's Guild onto the busy main street, I looked around for any presence of people.

(Hmm, it looks like they're not following me. …Did I manage to fool them?)

When I confirmed that the person I had been keeping an eye on was not following me, I relaxed my shoulders and let out a sigh.

The reason why I was deliberately beaten by Lovelace was that one of the adventurers who had been watching me was a very skilled adventurer mixed in.

He was wearing a hooded cloak, so I couldn't tell if he was a man or a woman, but from his appearance and the atmosphere he wore, I judged that he was quite capable.

The reason why I was wary of this person was because I was basically going to be a solo adventurer, which meant I was going to be working alone.

Adventurers of a certain level of skill often form a party with other adventurers of the same rank or of equal strength to complete a task.

However, in my case, there were some things I didn't want other people to know about, so it was more convenient for me to work alone.

When you became a skilled adventurer, other adventurers would take notice of you and tend to rely on you in any way they could.

Whether it was directly or indirectly, you were likely to be forced to do troublesome things, and in the worst case, you might even die by cleaning up someone else's mess.

Therefore, there was no harm in hiding my abilities, and in fact, the fewer people knew about me, the easier it would be for me to move.

In all likelihood, Marian might have been slightly aware of this, but at worst it shouldn't be a problem if I fled from this city. ......Maybe.

So now, as I was walking around the city, I had a little over 3 medium silver coins or about 30,000 yen.

This money was saved up little by little from the monthly allowance my father Randall gave me, and although it wasn't money that I worked hard for, it was still money that I worked hard to save every month.

The city of Laresta was built in the style of old medieval Europe, with light brown cobblestone boulevards and rows of wooden and brick buildings.

The ratio of wooden buildings to brick buildings was about 3:1, with older buildings tending to mostly made of brick and newer buildings tending to be made of wood.

As I continued my stroll, taking in the sights of Laresta, I came to a section lined with stalls.

It seemed to be a market, with boxes instead of shelves displaying foodstuffs and products made by artisans, and people who looked like shopkeepers touting their wares.

“Hi, kid. Take a look at our products.”

“Let's see.”

One of the stalls was lined with intriguing products.

It seemed to be a store that mainly dealt with daily necessities such as miscellaneous goods, and all the items were lined up with no apparent use.

I found an unusual bag among them, so I asked the female shopkeeper who approached me, about it.

“What's this bag?”

“It's a [Magic Bag]. Depending on the person or place, it may be called an "Item Bag" or a "Magic Bag," but the bottom line is that it's a bag that holds more things than it looks.”

“Hmm. So, how much does this cost?”

I asked her about the price of the magic bag, pretending to be uninterested but ready to buy it depending on the price.

However, the answer that I received caught me by surprise.

“That’s right. The magic bag that you are currently holding is not very large, and it doesn't have any protection against deterioration over time, so three medium silver coins might be enough if you are going to lose a lot.”

“What, that's so expensive.”

“That's right. It's not as big as the others, but it can still hold up to fifty kilos.”

“I see.”

It was certainly a reasonable price for such a large amount of space. But at 30,000 Japanese yen…the price was quite high.

But with this bag, it would be easier to collect medicinal herbs, and it would also be much easier to bring back materials when defeating monsters.

In addition to that, the fact that I could afford it with the money I had right now was really troubling.

(But wait. If I buy this bag, I'll lose all my money. I have to think carefully here…)

In the end, after 30 minutes of agonizing, I realized that I had paid her three medium silver coins.

It wasn't an excuse, but with this bag, I didn't have to carry herbs in my hands like I did today, and I could also carry a lot of them with me.

“Well, I guess it's just an upfront investment. I'll think of it that way!”

But the bottom line was, wasteful spending is strictly prohibited.

I left the store, mentioning that whether the magic bag was actually a waste of money or not depended on what I did next.

I looked around at various other stalls, but there was nothing special except the magic bag, and before I knew it, my stomach was crying out for something, so I bought some snacks at a stall and had lunch.

I ended up paying what little money I had left, but this was my own fault, so I accepted it with open arms.

In addition to the marketplace, there were stores selling equipment and tools used by adventurers, as well as workshops where craftsmen made weapons and armor, etc. Before I knew it, the sky was beginning to turn red with the setting sun, so I decided to return to the inn and went to bed right after dinner and my daily routine.

The next day, I came to the adventurer's guild again and went to the purchase counter to receive the reward for the herbs I delivered yesterday.

Before entering the guild, I used my magic to search for any presence and found that neither Lovelace nor the person I was looking out for was there. Perhaps they were fulfilling a request.

Nicole was at the counter, just like yesterday, and she smiled at me when she noticed me.

“Good morning.”

“Good morning. I'm here to collect the money for the goods I delivered yesterday.”

“It's ready. This is the reward for the delivery of the Serenity Grass, plus the purchase price of the Serenity Grass itself. Please check it.”

What Nicole handed me was a small leather bag. When I inspected it, I found five large copper coins in it.

Incidentally, the reward was broken down as follows: one large copper coin for a request to deliver Serenite Grass, and five small copper coins for each of the eight Serenite grasses I had collected, for a total of four large copper coins. The total was five large copper coins, worth 500 yen.

After confirming that there was no problem with the amount of reward, I decided to accept the Serenite Grass delivery request again.

When I told Nicole about this, she told me that I could pick up the items to be delivered first and take the request later, so I followed her advice and left the Adventurer's Guild to go pick up the Serenite Grass.

As I was leaving the guild, I caught sight of Marian, who was working in another reception area, but she seemed busy, so I just looked at her and bowed.

Once again, I came to the forest where medicinal herbs were growing wild, and as before, I used my appraisal skills to collect as much selenite herb as possible, as well as other medicinal herbs.

In addition to the herbs, I was able to collect a small amount of Dexi grass, which had detoxifying properties, and edible mushrooms.

It was around noon, so I had lunch with some food I had purchased at a stall in my magic bag, and continued to collect more.

I decided to leave some herbs behind so I wouldn't collect them all and headed back to town when the time was right.

As soon as I returned to the city, I asked the adventurer's guild to pay for the medicinal herbs I had picked up, but they said it was too much, so I would get my reward tomorrow…

“How much did you collect!?”

“Nicole, don't waste your time talking, just get your hands to work.”

The scene of Nicole complaining about the large amount of medicinal herbs and mushrooms and Marian helping her was quite a contrast and left a strong impression on me.

I left the assessment of the medicinal herbs to them and went straight back to the inn to eat dinner, cleanse myself in hot water, and go to sleep after completing my daily routine of strengthening my body and training my magical powers.