CH 23

I created a legend. What am I talking about?

It’s been five days, and I’ve been collecting medicinal herbs every day. At first the receptionist lady was happy, but at this point her face twitches when she sees me.

The most I was able to earn in a day was one gold coin. Even the other adventurers in the guild were surprised. I was invited to join a few parties, but I respectfully declined. They were pretty smothering… Instead, we went to the guild’s tavern, where I bought them drinks and they told me all sorts of adventuring stories. Ten silver coins just flew away with how much we drank. It would’ve been even more, if the guild master didn’t show up to send us home.

“We’re gonna miss you around here, Sora.”

I say goodbye to some adventurers I’ve become friendly with, as I enter a horsebus.

I’m guessing the investigation about the tigerwolf isn’t over yet, because the horsebus going through an alternate route is packed.

As the wagon shakes, I think about what I’m going to do next.

First, I’m going to a city south of the capital called South Gate City Epica. From Epica, there is a road to the capital, but also to the Magic State of Efa and the Holy Kingdom of Frieren.

“The road to the holy kingdom is well-maintained, but the one to the Magic State of Efa goes over a mountain, so it’s tougher. But I guess there must be a lot of rare things there, because a lot of merchants go over there.”

I hear all sorts of things in the wagon. Especially rumors of places I shouldn’t go near. I get the feeling I’ve been hearing a lot about monsters becoming more active.

“Does that mean there are a lot of hunting quests?”

“Yes. That’s fine for big towns with a lot of adventurers, but not so much for smaller villages. The feudal lord can’t just abandon villages either, so I hear he’s busy dispatching soldiers.”

If villages are destroyed, that means less income for the territory. But even if soldiers are being dispatched, not every place is equal in terms of priority, and some places are going to be damaged.

“And soldiers are professionals at fighting other people anyway, not monsters. I heard they suffered a lot of damage when monsters first invaded from the dark forest.”

“That’s the forest that stretches north from the capital, right?”

“Yes. In the past there were only simple forts dotted near it, but now there is the fortress city. Apparently S ranked adventurers are being dispatched too.”

I go through towns and villages, and reach the south gate city ten days later. I’m expected to take another five days to reach the capital itself.

South Gate City Epica is surrounded by a double layered wall. There is farmland between the inner and outer walls, and the city is behind the inner wall. If we’re only counting the area inside the walls, it’s larger than the capital.

From the window of the wagon, I see what looks like a wheat field, and dairy farming further in the back.

Once I’m done with the procedure to go in, I walk to the guild.

I check the quests, and see there are more quests to help with farming than delivery quests.

There are hunting quests too, a lot of them to hunt goblins. Some come directly from the villages, and some are regularly posted by the feudal lord. If those are left alone, they’re going to keep increasing.

And as for medicinal herb picking quests… They exist, but are far from here. If I accept them, I’ll have to make the nearest village my base.

I ask about inns, and pay to stay in one for five days.

I go around collecting information while completing delivery quests, but I’ll probably accept other quests if I feel I can do them. I have some leeway when it comes to money, but there are things I want to buy.

“Status open.”

Name – (Sora Fujimiya ) / Job – (Alchemist) / Race – Otherworlder / No Level

HP – 320/320 / MP – 320/320 (+100) / SP – 320/320

Strength…310 (+0) / Stamina…310 (+0) / Agility…310 (+0)

Magic power…310 (+100) / Dexterity…310 (+0) / Luck…310 (+0)

Skill – (Walking Lv31) – Effect – (User won’t get tired no matter how much they walk) – (Get one experience point with each step)

Experience points – 27001/31000

Skill points – 5

Skills learned

(Appraisal Lv8) / (Appraisal Obstruction Lv5) / (Parallel Thinking Lv4)

(Sword Master Lv4) / (Physical Strengthening Lv5) / (Presence Detection Lv8) / (Natural Recovery Boost Lv5) / (Presence Concealment Lv5)

(Magic Energy Control Lv6) / (Basic Daily Life Magic Lv5) / (Spatial Magic Lv6) / (Alchemy Lv7)

(Cooking Lv3)

New

(Throw – Shooting Lv2) / (Fire Magic Lv2) / (Water Magic Lv1)

Throw – Shooting adjusts my aim when I perform a long-range attack.

Fire Magic lets me use fire spells. It’s especially useful to burn monster corpses like goblins.

Water Magic lets me use water spells. I have Basic Daily Life Magic, so I don’t really have a use for it now. Am I going to need to use a large amount of water?

I learned this because I need to know magic of at least three elements to change jobs to Sorcerer.

As for Throw – Shooting, it’s because I’ve leveled up Alchemy enough that I can make guns.

I tried shooting a few times, but I still can’t use them in an actual battle. I’ve never seen a gun or anything like it in this world, so I probably can’t use one in front of other people. But I’m not going to hesitate to use it when I’m in danger. Protecting my life comes first.

But I’m worried about the durability of the guns I can make. Maybe it’s because of the ore I used, but after firing a few times in succession, they don’t accidentally discharge, but they break. I can reinforce them with magic, but I want to make one with different ore. The gun I have now is the third one.