Chapter 15

Upon arriving at the meeting place, although time doesn’t pass during a meeting with Val, I thought I had kept him waiting.

"Sorry for keeping you waiting."

"No, it's fine. Leo hasn't arrived yet."

"Leo seems to be lost."

"Let's buy some equipment first."

I asked Kikihime and bought 7000 silver worth of equipment. I wanted to get some gauntlets as they looked cool, but I held back for now. During the wait, I acquired the skill [Swordsmanship] for 1 SP. I thought I would try it out in actual combat later.

I checked the new [Mysteries of the World] in the menu. It listed brief explanations of the mysteries I had solved, and among them was "Blessing of the Gods - Val."

I almost blurted out about the blessing! No, I can mention the benefits I received and the location of the mystery, right? But I don’t think I can use the same method to meet him again. Are there various scenarios for meeting him? It seems so.

I read the notes and found detailed instructions on how to solve mysteries in a party and the finer points of the world announcements.

It's okay to say, "I received the benefit [XX] from solving the mystery at [XX]."

Is searching for gods a mystery? Are mysterious and mystery the same thing?

So, what is the effect of [Val's Blessing]? It was "Improved compatibility with wind attributes" and "Agility bonus." [Wind Magic] has become [Wind Sorcery], which means it was strengthened by the blessing, right?

After a while, Leo returned.

He explained that when he arrived, it was too early, and few shops were open, so he had to wait before shopping. Leo finished his shopping early and got bored, so he went fishing in the irrigation ditch, explored upstream to find a good spot, and got lost at a fork.

I taught Leo about the map function, which he hadn’t checked the "Always Update" option for, even though I had explained it in an email yesterday. I laughed without mentioning that I had also gotten lost.

"Since we're close to the East Gate, shall we go from the East?"

"Sure."

I agreed with Ochazuke's suggestion. I don't want to ride in a carriage.

"Okay."

We exchanged weapons and started moving.

Me → Swordsman (sword and shield borrowed from Kikihime)

Ochazuke → Brawler (gloves borrowed from Shin)

Kikihime → Thief (short sword borrowed from Leo)

Shin → Sorcerer (short staff borrowed from Petros)

Petros → Sorcerer (my long staff)

Leo → Healer (short staff borrowed from Ochazuke)

That's how it turned out.

Shin found the long staff difficult to handle, so he ended up borrowing the short staff Petros bought.

"By the way, I received [Val's Blessing] at the temple."

"Blessing?"

"Yes, it improved compatibility with wind attributes and added agility."

"How did you get it?"

"I can't say because it's a mystery, but it seems possible to receive blessings from other gods as well."

"World announcement again, huh!"

"Yep."

"Wow."

"I want agility!"

"How did you find the event?"

Oh, the announcement wasn't for me.

"Also, I received both light and dark blessings from another mystery at the temple."

"Really?"

"Really."

"You're taking too many actions in a short time."

"Damn, I need to solve a mystery to get a star."

"Also"

"More?"

I was interrupted with a half-smile before I could speak.

"This isn't a mystery, so I can talk about it. If you talk to the giant tree in the temple courtyard while having [Wind Sorcery], you can receive [Spirit Magic]."

"Wait, what's [Wind Sorcery]?"

"It appeared after learning the five basic attributes. I used it on bats. I got various magic as a sorcerer, but there might be different options for other classes. Shin, your brawler has elemental techniques, right? Like tiger and dragon. It might be good to learn all of them."

I don't think this is a hint for the mystery, so it should be okay, right? I'm unnecessarily nervous.

"Ah, I have six elemental techniques, and the sky is wind."

Shin seems to have taken more techniques initially, but his skill level is limited to a three-hit combo due to the backlash.

"Let's go to the courtyard, then?"

"Sure!"

Ochazuke is looking at the bulletin board. The bulletin board is convenient, but if it hadn't mentioned that praying in the temple doesn't change the mystery, it might have been solved earlier.

"By the way, I saw a thread for sorcerers. Some have [Wind Sorcery] and some don't. There must be another condition besides learning the basic attributes. Any ideas?"

"Hmm?"

Is there another condition?

I didn't realize it at the time, but the condition was to gaze at the sky and feel the wind for a certain period. The stone tablet mentioned, "The sky moves with the flow of the wind."

The same method increased the number of brawler techniques. Shin was unaware of how he got them, but it seems the pattern is similar to brawlers rather than healers.

"Ah!"

After fighting Fast Bunnies and Rampaging Chickens, we are now in the swamp.

The enemies are insects! They are huge! They are mosquitoes!

"I understand how Kikihime feels; I hate leveling up."

My EP hasn't decreased much, but I'm breathing heavily.

"Thanks to you, there are fewer people, so we can earn more."

"You guys knew about this, didn't you!?"

"No, I thought about becoming a swordsman because my healer HP was low, but I'll aim to be a monk. I don't want to be a shield here."

"Yesterday, I also went through this path! I'll do my best!"

"I became a healer to avoid touching the spiders ahead!"

Mosquitoes call for help, and I'm surrounded by five of them, each bigger than my face.

I want to cry!!

Further in, there were spiders and slimes as Leo mentioned. The slimes weren't as tough as the ones in the river at night, but they were still resistant to physical attacks, and the targets often went to Petros and Shin. When I started using magic, I ended up dealing more damage, but I'm still not losing!

Feeling confident, my fire magic reached level 5. I learned [Enchant], a spell to attach [Fire Attribute] to weapons or equipment. It seems to be a necessary spell for aspiring magic swordsmen.

"Let's take a lunch break soon."

"Sure! Let's move to a wider area."

In the swamp, there are muddy and submerged areas, and solid ground where we can move more easily. We led the enemies to these areas to fight. It's just creepy to go into the swamp.

We found a dry spot big enough for everyone to sit and had lunch.

I served flying rabbit steaks, which are rated 5, and added some tea.

Everyone was happy with the food, especially Shin, who loves meat.

"Can you sell me the steaks?"

"Sorry, it costs money to make them, and I don't have enough to sell. If you bring me meat, I'll make them for 30 silver in materials."

"Sure! I'll go hunting later."

As we were talking, a trade window appeared, and Leo gave me some fish.

"Use it to level up!"

"Thanks, I'll cook it and return it. By the way, the Yormas I got from Leo didn't increase my rating, but do you want to try eating it? Also, I think this fish is rare."

Even though it didn't increase the rating, it was slightly higher than normal, rated 5.

"Ha ha ha, I failed. But I'll eat it. By the way, I got a title when I was fishing."

"What is it?"

"Well, [Fisher of Illusory Fish], which makes it easier to catch fish, and [Fish of the Night], which gives a bonus to night fishing."

"You got two titles?"

"Is one of them a world announcement title?"

Leo's ending, huh?

"Huh?"

"Did you catch it when fighting the slimes? The announcement didn't come up."

"Bug!"

"Morning correction announcement!"

"Didn't come up for the person who caught it?"

"Is the first catch the boss?"

"Your real luck is still amazing."

"Half of the world announcements are from people I know."

After lunch, there were ores in the water, so the miners took off their shoes and went into the swamp.

At first, they felt uncomfortable, but they got used to it. It's like a rice field, I guess...

I was roasting fish while watching them, using only salt, so it was skewers. The fish seemed to be a higher level of ingredients than the flying rabbits, rated 5 to 7, with 6 being the most common.

"Ah,"

"What is it?"

The others are still working, but the beer is ready.

"The beer is ready. Does anyone want to drink it? I haven't checked the rating yet."

"Sure."

"Give me some!"

"Sure, but the rating means it can be made, right?"

Only Kikihime, Shin, and Petros can drink alcohol. The others can only taste it.

"It was in my list of favorite dishes."

"Why, if you can't drink?"

"Don't ask, there are reasons."

"I want you to make sake!"

"What do you need? Rice and koji? I haven't seen them."

"Let's look for them."

Kikihime and Petros' eyes lit up; they are serious.

I made beer and learned [Time Acceleration]. The rating was 5, and it was well-received as being better than the market stalls, which are usually rated 4.

I had grapes, so I hoped to make wine and used [Time Acceleration]. Cooking generally consumes EP, but skills use MP. [Time Acceleration] also consumes MP, and I was worried it wouldn't recover during the break, but I remembered I was a swordsman now.

After the break, I wanted to keep fighting slimes, but Kikihime requested to fight spiders for sewing materials. I don't like it, but I can't refuse Kikihime, who has been shielding us. It's better than mosquitoes, and I won't improve my sword skills against slimes.

With our equipment and skills, we reached level 16 by evening. I have enough HP, so I can brute-force through the numbers.

"Hmm, I thought we'd go a bit further."

"If it's just for leveling up, gray wolves are better. They call for help."

We took another break. Leo has been catching crayfish in the swamp since then.

"What comes out at night here?"

"Who knows?"

"I returned before nightfall yesterday."

"Ah, no bait!"

The night enemies were alligators and a different type of frog.

Compared to insects, they are no problem! The frogs are fine, but the alligators target me with their heads and hit two people at once with their tails.