CH 164

“Yosh”

After a moment of mild intoxication, We landed, as usual, in a new world. Looking around, I discovered that once again we were in a forest.

“Don’t we land in the woods quite often?”

“Well, if we’re talking about a place that doesn’t attract attention, then it would be the forest along the main road, wouldn’t it? Or perhaps our young miss prefers to be in front of a crowd or inside a wooden box?”

“Ugh, I sure wouldn’t like that. ……”

Watching Tia’s salty expression as she recalled the past, I laughed and walked in the direction of the light. Then the forest abruptly ended, and in front of me was a neatly paved road… Wait, could it be!?

“This road is …….”

“Wow, it’s so beautifully designed and maintained. It’s like the path of a king!”

Tia was naturally surprised. The road in front of us was completely flat and paved with what looked like seamless stone, and it extended endlessly within sight

Following the road with my eyes, I found an incredibly huge city with countless structures stretching out to the heavens.

“It’s here, it’s here, it’s here! We did it, Tia! We hit the jackpot!”

“Ed!? What jackpot?”

“Right here, right here! I’ve always wanted to come to this world!”

There was no mistaking that view. This was the 092nd world… a world of ultra-advanced magical civilization that seemed to be a thousand years ahead of other worlds.

“Here, we can get our hands on things that we can’t find in other worlds! Medicine that can cure even the loss of limbs with just one pill, communication devices that let us easily talk to someone far away, magical furnaces that can adjust temperature with just a twist for blacksmithing, and even magical airships that can fly through the sky if we have enough money! Wow, what should we do? What should we buy first? No, before that, we need to get our hands on the currency here…”

“Geez, Calm down, Ed! We haven’t even entered the town yet!”

“O-oh, y-yeah. Sorry.”

Tia looked at me with eyes like she was watching a small child as I got carried away with excitement. Guh, well, I’ll just have to accept being treated like that for now!

“Anyway, let’s go! Come on, Tia!”

“Yeah yeah, I am coming”

Holding Tia’s hand as she gave a wry smile, I continued towards the town. However, as we got closer to the town, I immediately remembered something and diverted our path to a less populated area.

“? What’s wrong, Ed? Are we not entering the town?”

“…… I just remembered. You need an ID to get into this town.”

“Ah, it certainly is a big town. So what are we going to do? Should we try pretending that we lost it and ask for help?”

“That doesn’t work here”

Every inhabitant of this world, without exception, was assigned a citizen ID, which was registered in a crystal-like object embedded in the wrist of the left hand.

Since it was implanted in their bodies, it was not something they could lose, and without it, they would not be recognized as citizens. In other words, one is not treated as a human being, and naturally, one cannot enter the town.

Of course, loopholes exist, and it is said that there are people in the underground business who make their living by extracting and transplanting information from others or rewriting the contents, but even those people live normally, so their base of operations is naturally inside the town, and if we can’t even enter the town, we can’t even negotiate.

“Hmmm ……”

With Tia beside me, looking up at the wall with a furrowed brow, I folded my arms and pondered.

If all I had to do was enter the town alone, it would actually be easy. I was strong enough at that time, the final phase of the first round, that I was able to sneak through the walls and sneak into town with [Mirage Shift] and the activities that followed were just manageable.

However, bringing Tia into the town was a different story. I myself had no contacts in this town, so I had no idea of any organization that would allow me to smuggle her in, and they were not the kind of people an amateur could meet just by walking around the town. The only people who would approach such a person would be con artists trying to deceive them.

Or Maybe I can use [Akashic Compass] to find such a guy? If I play my cards right and get my request through….

“Hey, you guys!”

Then, unexpectedly, I was called from behind. I turned around and my eyes widened in surprise at the sight of the person standing there.

“!!?”

“Hmm? You mean us?”

“You’re the only ones here! What are you doing here, dressed so strangely?”

“Huh? Dressed strangely?”

Standing in front of me was a red-haired woman with sharp, determined-looking eyes and a height of about 165 centimeters. However, her attire was quite different from ours, as she was wearing a tight, deep-red outfit similar to those worn by male nobles when they dance.

“Hey Ed, do we look weird?”

“Ah, that’s…”

“Of course it’s weird! Armor and a sword, did you attend a cosplay party somewhere? But it’s strange for someone like that to be outside of town dressed like that, isn’t it? Suspicious, suspicious!　I can smell a case!”

The woman, who appeared to be a little older than us, looked at us suspiciously. Ah, how I have missed this. I’ve gotten into trouble many times with her face.

“…Canal”

“Huh!? How do you know my name!?”

I smiled wryly as Canal suddenly turned her body in alarm at the mention of that name. Despite her obvious wariness, I couldn’t help but grin at her.

“Of course we know. We’re here to see you.”

I rolled up the sleeve of my left hand and showed her my wrist. At first, Canal raised her eyebrows, but when she saw the reality of what was there, she firmly grabbed my left hand and stared at my wrist.

“What?! No Fragment!? Did you dig it out and then restore it with the Lestal Restoration Medicine? No, without a Fragment, the Lestal Restoration Medicine shouldn’t work… Could it be… a nonexistent Lost Child?! Just who are you?!”

“Whoa there, Information doesn’t come for free, you know? You know that, don’t you?”

“Ugh!? That’s…how much?”

“We don’t need money. We just need a little help getting into town. We’re having trouble getting in because of this.”

Canal blatantly frowned at me as I slapped my own wrist.

“Don’t be ridiculous. I don’t have any contacts to smuggle people into town. Even if I did, I wouldn’t do it!”

“Hahaha. That part is already taken care of. You don’t have to break the law, or owe anyone any favors. All you have to do is bring a certain package into town.”

“:…. Is that package illegal?”

“It ain’t. Don’t worry, I’ll put what you will be carrying in a bag right in front of you. How about that?

“Then if that’s the case… You’ll really show it to me right in front of me? There aren’t any traps in the bag or anything like that… right?”

“If you’re worried, you can check the bag too. I believe we can do this the proper way if you cooperate, so I have no reason to lie or deceive you. So, what do you say? You just have to carry a slightly heavy package, and you’ll have the answer to the mystery in front of you.”

“Gugugugu …….”

Asking with a provocative smile, I made her think deeply. However, it was clear as day what kind of answer she would choose.

“O-okay, I’ll cooperate! So please, tell me properly!”

“Of course. I’ll be in your care, Canal.”

I felt a little sorry for her, considering what was to come, but this was a formal transaction. I shook hands with Canal, apologizing in my heart.