SIAW Vol. 2 Chapter 11

 

Chapter 11  –   Strolling Through Ronda

 

After leaving the inn, we visited the armor shop two stores down the road.

There wasn’t anything I wanted in particular, but I wanted to gather information about the armor and gear they sold in this world.

If there was something that could prove useful when I made my own items, I could consider buying it too.

Next to the armor shop there was a weapon trader too, so I planned to visit it later…but the two shops turned out to be connected inside. I noticed later that a door in the back led all the way to the item shop too. All three stores had different owners, though, so they each had their own register.

As planned, I checked the armor shop’s items first.

Most gear was made in leather, and the quality was mediocre. Ronda was a backwoods kind of town, with little threat from monsters, so this level of gear was probably enough.

There wasn’t anything to draw inspiration from, so I went to check the weapons next, when the store owner called to Misha.

“Young Lady, where did you get that gear from?”

“It’s a secret.”

“Oh, come on, please? I can see it’s made with cheap leather, but the design is really good, I want to sell goods like those in my store too!”

“No can do.”

The owner wasn’t going to give up, though.

“I can trade you that breastplate with something made of better leather! Please!”

Ahem! Good sir, I’ll have you know that Misha’s gear is made to look like cheap leather on purpose, but it’s actually higher quality than anything you have on sale here! It even has multiple enchantments, you know…?

Misha was clearly annoyed by the man’s persistence, as she shook her head and looked away.

“Tch…!”

This man clicked his tongue!

I was pissed, but I didn’t want to make a fuss, so I ignored him and went to the weapon store area.

There wasn’t anything of noteworthy quality there either. The shapes and types of weapons on sale could give me some good ideas, though. There was nothing interesting enough to buy, so I headed to the door in the back.

In the item shop they sold various necessities for adventurers. Camping tents, portable dishware, all sorts of tools…the lineup was pretty varied. The quality, however, wasn’t acceptable for me. The best thing I could do was just look around and draw inspiration from the merchandise, after all.

Potions too were only available in basic levels.

I suppose that was enough for the adventurers around here…

I was going to buy magic power recovery potions if they had some, but unfortunately there were none in stock. I hoped to at least find the ingredients…but nothing.

I can definitely make better stuff by myself!

In the end, I left the store without buying anything.

 

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I headed to the main road, where the Adventurers’ Guild was too. I wanted to take a look around the city, though, so I walked in the opposite direction.

There were a number of stalls along the street, but no food piqued my interest. There didn’t seem to be much of a reason to stay in this town for long.

I eventually arrived at Ronda’s central square, and found a four-storied building on the right. There was a steady flow of people going in and out, much more than any other building.

I went closer and checked the storeboard, which said “Merchants’ Guild” in large letters. Under it, the names of various other guilds were listed too. Apparently, because of the moderate size of the city, the Magicians’ Guild and Alchemists’ Guild were in the same building as the Merchants’ Guild.

Hmm, it doesn’t feel right to go there for sightseeing, though…

I was going to the Magicians’ Guild the next day, so I might as well look around inside then.

I then checked the other stores in the square.

One of them was managed by Caron’s trading company. It wasn’t particularly big, but it was still located in a very favorable position in the center of town.

Since we returned Soran’s belongings to the Caron trading company, which he belonged to, we had some sort of connection with it.

I made a mental note to visit them properly another day, and went to the next shop.

I had arrived at the point opposite to where I had entered the square from. Since it was round, I had probably seen all the stores in it…but down a street adjacent to the square, there was a building with a pretty different atmosphere. What could it be…?

I was looking at it, my head cocked to the side, and Misha provided the answer.

“That’s a church.”

Oh! So that’s a church! Wait, wasn’t I supposed to go there…? I can’t remember well…

Thinking that going inside might stir up my memories, I proceeded in its direction.

I was about halfway there, when I arrived at a crossing. I looked left, and found a street lined up with street stalls.

It’s the market!!!

Before I noticed it, I was swaying in that direction.

Most stalls sold fruit and vegetables, but you could also find clothes and decorations.

I could have trouble in the future if I didn’t know the value, seasons and areas of production of the goods I stocked in my Room. My stock wasn’t unlimited either, so I had to fill it up again too.

I checked the goods on sale in the stalls. I recognized fruits and vegetables from my past life, but there were some I had never seen before. The quality was generally low, though.

Because of the time of day, though, they might be leftovers…more importantly, I needed to buy them and learn more about this world!

I picked up the fruits and vegetables that I found more interesting — and were of at least decent quality.

This one…that one…that one too…!!

“Tenma, you’re buying too much stuff.”

I turned around, and found Misha giving me a slightly cold look.

My shopping and Item Box-stocking spree had caught the attention of the people around us too.

Suddenly feeling embarrassed, I quickly thanked the shop owner and scurried away.

“Hehe…you’re just like a little kid.”

We finally arrived at a back alley, when Misha whispered to me.

I am NOT a kid!!!

For a man (mentally) over 35 to be treated like a child is especially painful. I could tell that my face was bright red.

Unable to produce any kind of retort, I was speeding down the street, when a certain item stopped me in my tracks.

E…Eggs…!!!

I had found eggs, three times bigger than the chicken eggs I was used to, sold in boxes of six, for a total of 32 boxes lined on the table.

According to Appraisal, they were the same eggs found in the “Resources” menu during my training period.

The “Resources” menu was the only source of eggs I knew: I could not find anywhere on the training island or inside the dungeon. The only thing I knew was that they were the eggs of a monster called Wild Coq, and that one of them amounted in volume to twenty of the average chicken eggs I knew from my past life.

Eggs could be used in various dishes, sweets and desserts.

I wanted to procure some, but never saw any in the Pioneers’ Village, so I thought they might not be available in this world.

I thus hesitated to use the stock of eggs I had in my Room…but now that I knew that it was possible to find them in this world too, I had no need for restraint anymore, and could make myself some sweets again!

I approached the stall and the Bird Beastkin lady looked up at me.

“How much are the eggs?”

So I asked, and the old lady raised two fingers, speaking in a slow-paced tone.

“Oh my, you’ll buy these, young man? A box is two silver coins, you know.”

Two silver coins…amounted to about 2,000 yen. It wasn’t cheap, but I expected them to cost more, so I immediately decided to buy.

“Can I have them all?”

“All…thirty-two of them? Are you really sure?”

The lady, surprised, asked me to confirm my intentions. In response, I took out seven golden coins.

“Can you give me the change, please?”

“P-Please, just a moment, if you really will buy them all, then six golden coins is fine. If you need the boxes too, I’ll sell them for one silver coin each.”

“I’ll put them in Storage, so I don’t need the boxes.”

I then gave the six gold coins to the lady and stored the eggs.

“Storage is really useful, isn’t it…but do be careful, if you keep eggs in a place that’s warm and has high magic power…it’s rare, but they can hatch. Usually, people end up cooking and eating them before it happens, but if you buy so many…so be careful, young man.”

If the eggs are kept warm and subject to magic power, they can hatch…?

Intrigued, I asked the lady for more details.

“Do they hatch in Wild Coqs? Are they dangerous?”

“That’s right, Wild Coqs will come out of the eggs. They’re not much of a threat when they’re just born, but if they run away and have time to grow, they can become just as dangerous as the name says. My family has been taming them for generations, so we’re fine, but…”

Hmm, so they can be tamed…could it be that it’s not that difficult to tame monsters?

“Have you ever heard of Blue Cows being tamed?”

“Blue Cows? No, never. I know they tame Lesser Cows in the neighboring province, but…”

So there are people taming and raising cows!? You can have a steady supply of milk and cheese too, then!!

I had plenty of cow milk, cheese and naturally beef too in my Room stock. If I learned how much they were worth, I could start using them without worrying.

“Thank you so much, lady!”

I found not only eggs, but unexpected good news too.

“Thanks to you, young man. I can close up shop early today.”

I waved to the old lady, then walked away.

I had already spent more than half of the money earned today. I had to save a bit, or I might be in trouble in the future.

What was Misha doing with her money, I wonder?

“Misha, do you have any money?”

Misha puffed up her chest, proud.

“Before I left the village, mom gave me two golden coins and thirty silver coins!”

That’s it!?

One golden coin was about ten thousand yen, so that was fifty thousand yen in total. There wasn’t much of a chance to use money in the Pioneers’ Village, though, so that had to be a small fortune for them.

I then realized that I needed to think about Misha’s share of the reward.

I planned to have her focus on training, and not take any adventuring work for the time being. I wanted to see how her natural talents would affect her growth, so I wanted her to train without raising her level. If she took adventuring work and defeated monsters, her level would go up, after all.

The reward obtained from the guild was due to monsters I had defeated by myself, so I took it all and was using it as I wanted, but how could Misha pay for her daily expenses, then?

I took one golden coin from the Item Box and gave it to Misha.

“During the training period, I will give one golden coin every 10 days. All the money you get from missions and errands is free for you to use, of course.”

I was going to provide for her lodging, meals and other expenses when we visited the town, but Misha probably wanted to buy things for herself too. Hence my offer…but Misha did not take the coin from my hands.

“I can’t take this! The reward came from monsters you hunted, Tenma,”

“But we are partners, that’s why I’m giving you this. I’m sure there are things necessary for you, and I don’t know what girls need anyway. We aren’t in the Pioneers’ Village anymore, you need to buy things with money here.”

“Still no good! You already provide everything I need!”

She sure is stubborn in weird ways sometimes.

Hmm, I wonder if this is how an uncle feels when their niece keeps refusing to accept his pocket money, out of politeness…

I smiled wryly and continued.

“I’m earning money now, but when you start doing it too, I’m going to take it easier and let you do more of the hard work. So now please train hard and get stronger quickly, okay?”

Finally, Misha nodded.

“…okay. I’ll definitely get strong quickly, so you can take it easy!!”

Now I feel like a grandpa living with his niece…

 

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The market stalls eventually trailed off, and we arrived at another crossroads.

I thought it was time to go back to the inn, so I turned left.

Going down that road was supposed to lead to the main avenue, where the Adventurers’ Guild was.

We were almost at the avenue, when I spotted Gust’s party heading towards the guild.

Gh…he was going to see Luka, wasn’t he!?

I was gnashing my teeth in frustration, when one of the party members saw us and tapped Gust’s shoulder.

Gust raised a hand and approached us, then scratched his cheek and spoke, in an apologetic tone.

“Hey…you aren’t still angry, are you?”

It was only then that I realized I had been glaring at him.

I took a deep breath, then replied.

“What happened the other day is all in the past. But then I learned about your relationship with Ms. Luka, so I was just regretting not stabbing my wooden sword through your head during the exam.”

Gust looked at me and grinned.

“Aw man, you heard? I’ll tell you, my boy, you’re not the only one feeling like that! When I married Luka, I had a bunch of adventurers hating me around here, haha!”

Gh…! What kind of man did you end up with, Luka…!

“More importantly, I see you two made it here safe and sound. Say, how about dinner?”

Gust invited us, but I shook my head.

“We already asked the inn to make our meals, so next time, all right? You have stuff to deliver to the guild, I see.”

I know I would lose my appetite if I went to eat with you, anyway!

“Nah, we’ll be done in a flash. You’re at the Napping Cat, right? I’m coming as soon as we’re done at the guild, so tell Marissa for me, all right?”

Before we could say anything, Gust went inside the guild.

Looking at his back and feeling an overwhelming sense of defeat, I trudged back to the inn.

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