Chapter 15

It had been a few days since Mika first talked to Ninetiana.

During that time, he spent much of his abundant free time talking to Ninetiana.

He went to listen to her every day, but Ninetiana never showed any displeasure and always entertained him.

It seemed that Ninetiana was taking time off from work to take care of a newborn, and she had a lot of free time.

(… I heard that childcare is really tough in the world I came from. Ninetiana-san seems so relaxed. What's different?)

When Mika went to listen to her, she was often doing laundry by the well or doing other housework, but she basically said, "Feel free to come anytime."

Sometimes she would ask Mika to "watch the baby for a moment" and leave, but she would always come back quickly, and it was never absolutely necessary for Mika to help.

So, Mika asked if childcare was really that difficult.

"It's not at all. Rather, I'm bored because there's nothing to do. I appreciate it when Mika-kun comes to talk to me."

That's what she said.

When he asked for more details, it seemed that her experience as an adventurer was a significant factor.

First, her basic physical strength was different.

As an adventurer, she had traveled to various places, and the basic mode of travel was on foot.

During explorations, it was not uncommon to be on the move for an entire day and night.

Even with some breaks.

Ninetiana was a "scout" and always walked at the front of the party, constantly on guard for traps and ambushes.

Sometimes, battles would occur.

If a battle broke out, she would step back to make it easier for the front-line fighters, but she would move around to intimidate the enemy and create confusion as a mid-guard.

She had continued this lifestyle for over ten years.

Compared to a night raid, a baby crying at night was easier, she said with a laugh, which made her seem incredibly tough and not very helpful as a reference.

Moreover, her approach to housework and childcare was different.

In the world he came from, the cultural level was high, and the standards for housework and childcare were too high.

The house was always kept clean, and perfect childcare was the norm.

If anything was even slightly compromised, he would blame himself, "I need to do better," and feel stressed.

Even if no one said anything, he would push himself to "do better" and "be blamed."

Everyone else seemed to be doing well, but not him.

Well, there were probably people who understood the difficulty of housework and childcare and blamed him for it.

However, to put it bluntly, childcare in this world was more "lax."

It was normal for newborns to die, and apparently, the survival rate of infants was only about 50%.

This was due to the lack of hygiene concepts and low medical standards.

There was a "miracle of the gods" in this world, but it cost money.

While wealthy families could afford it, it was not something that ordinary families could easily use.

The 50% survival rate included wealthy families.

The survival rate for ordinary families was undoubtedly lower.

So, what was childcare like in such a world?

Of course, children were raised with care, but there was always a sense of resignation in their hearts.

The possibility that they might die before growing up.

What was required in childcare in this world was to try to keep them from dying.

In a world where it was unimaginable for a child to die and growth was taken for granted, and in a world where even survival was up to the gods, it was enough to be grateful if the child grew up healthy, and "What more is needed?" she said.

Today, she said she would take the baby for a walk, so Mika went with her to the river.

Ninetiana's child was a boy named Dyl.

His eyebrows and mouth resembled Diego, and his eyes, nose, and ears resembled Ninetiana, but Mika couldn't really tell.

Since he was about six months old, it was probably too early for clear features to develop.

When Mika peered at Dyl's face, Dyl said "ahh" and touched Mika's face.

(Is he already recognizing faces? I have no experience with childcare, so I have no idea.)

When they reached the riverbank, Dyl seemed to be reaching out to the water, perhaps attracted by the light reflecting on the surface.

(What's up with a baby's eyes at this age? Is it okay to look at bright light?)

The light reflecting on the water was so bright that even Mika found it dazzling.

Staring at it for a long time would not be good for anyone, regardless of age.

"It's a bit hot. Shall we go under the bridge?"

When Mika pointed to the bridge, Ninetiana agreed, saying, "Sure."

While he didn't know about UV rays, he thought that being exposed to strong sunlight in the summer would be tough for a baby.

When they went under the bridge, the wind from upstream blew through.

They sat facing each other on large stones, and the usual question-and-answer session began.

Ninetiana really taught him a lot.

About the kingdom of Ectreme where Mika lived, the village of Rich in the Linper barony, adventurers, the Adventurer's Guild, and other towns and villages outside of Rich.

Not just about monsters and beasts, but about other creatures as well.

There seemed to be an Adventurer's Guild in slightly larger towns, though not in small villages like Rich.

In large cities, the Adventurer's Guild buildings were large, and some even had a bar or a standing izakaya (Japanese pub) attached.

It seemed that there was a need for a quick drink when one's throat was dry, not necessarily for a full drinking session.

While one could drink water when thirsty, it seemed that there were many adventurers who drank nothing but alcohol.

Some even filled their water bags with alcohol before going on a monster hunt, which was quite astonishing.

(… I can understand why Kifurodo called them thugs. They're just alcoholics, and they carry weapons.)

With their heads numbed by alcohol, adventurers with weapons were not much different from thugs in the eyes of ordinary people.

Moreover, adventurers were supposed to be somewhat battle-hardened.

If one got into a fight with a drunk adventurer, one might well exclaim, "What a day!"

"Are adventurers just a bunch of drunks? There must be a lot of trouble, right?"

When Mika asked, Ninetiana smiled wryly.

"There are some adventurers like that, but most are decent. The bars in the guild are mostly for celebrating successful adventures."

That's what she said.

After a successful mission, they would toast to their success, report back to the guild, and then celebrate at a restaurant or bar outside.

This was the standard pattern.

Moreover, there were penalties for adventurers who caused too much trouble.

There were temporary suspensions of mission requests, fines, demotions, and even expulsions, but in reality, they were not very effective.

"If an adventurer who causes a lot of trouble is expelled, what do you think happens to that adventurer?"

"… They might act even more recklessly than before?"

Ninetiana nodded.

If someone had a heart to "give up adventuring and work normally" because they were expelled, they wouldn't have become an adventurer in the first place.

A thug-like adventurer would just become a real thug.

Such people, battle-hardened and aggressive, could become respectable bounty hunters as bandits or pirates.

If the punishment was too severe, it might push such people to say, "Then I'll quit," and if it was too lenient, they would become even more brazen.

Adventurers were truly troublesome.

"… If that's the case, the credibility of the Adventurer's Guild would be ruined. I'm surprised it still exists."

"Why do you think so?"

According to Ninetiana, the responsibility of the Adventurer's Guild was to handle mission requests and payments.

While there were many other details, what individual adventurers did had no bearing on the guild's credibility.

Rather, if such adventurers handled missions carelessly, they would be punished, and the guild would reassign the mission to other adventurers to complete it properly.

In such cases, the guild would cover the additional reward and compensate the client for any losses.

"I still think it's surprising that it can survive."

Where did the funds come from to cover the additional rewards and compensation?

Did they have some main business or side business that provided ample funds?

When Mika said, "Hmm…" and pondered, Ninetiana looked exasperated, saying, "You always get hung up on strange things."

Then, she taught him about currency.

Mika, who did not receive pocket money, never saw money in his daily life.

He had gone to the store on errands, but the payment was always handled by Amalia later.

Mika would just go to the store, tell the shopkeeper what was needed, and receive it.

In such a small village, everyone knew each other.

It was possible that everyone was related in some way.

"The unit of currency is the laht. There are six types: copper, large copper, silver, large silver, gold, and large gold, with values increasing by tenfold in sequence."

"That's right. You can get something to eat for about five copper coins at a food stand. You can have a meal at a restaurant for two or three large copper coins. It depends on the restaurant, but you can find places where you can eat for that much at cheaper places."

One copper coin was worth ten laht, and there was no currency equivalent to one laht.

While it was hard to grasp the value, a copper coin being worth ten laht was roughly equivalent to ten to fifteen yen in Japanese currency.

If that was the case, the value of a large gold coin would be one to one and a half million yen, but was such currency really in circulation?

It was hard to imagine getting change for a large gold coin at a food stand.

It was probably used for high-value transactions, moving only between banks and large stores.

Or there might be money changers.

When he made such guesses and asked, it seemed that large gold coins were not common.

However, there were no money changers, but there were banks that handled deposits and currency exchanges.

"Gold and large gold coins have a tenfold difference in value, but is there a tenfold difference in size? Wouldn't the value not match if there wasn't a tenfold difference in size?"

"Large copper and large silver coins are also like that, but the size is at most twice or three times as big."

"Then, if you melted three gold coins and made a large gold coin, wouldn't you make a huge profit? Is that okay?"

When Mika said that, Ninetiana had a very awkward expression.

"… Mika-kun, you can't