Chapter 52

Waking up early, I'm still sleepy.

Trying to eat breakfast, my head isn't working, so I drink tea and nibble on pickled red turnip. In the game, there's a lot of black tea, but here it's green tea.

By the time I finish the cup, I finally wake up, prepare a simple breakfast, finish eating, wash my face, and get ready.

Well, it looks like it's going to be a long day today.

I'll stop by the commercial guild to collect the proceeds from consigned sales and list new items.

By the way, the alcohol I supply to the commercial guild is sold at three times the consignment price if it's a new type of alcohol with a rating of 10, and the price stabilizes at a level where no consignment fee is charged for alcohol that has been supplied before.

I was trying to avoid meat dishes that are easy to duplicate, but I got some cuts of meat! I'll list dishes made from cuts of meat that don't usually come out, like loin, and also list some raw meat before cooking. I'll list more sweets and not set any purchase limits.

For items with ratings of 7 and 8, I can set the highest price and still sell them, so I don't need to produce items with ratings of 9 and 10 until someone starts making similar items.

Thinking about this, I list the items with a slight profit, but I might get complaints from people who handle the same items if I list items with a rating of 10 at this price.

I know it's profitable to pack 99 of items like 'Activation Potion', 'Antidote', 'Return Stone', and alcohol, but I also want to sell the various dishes I made. If I set up a stall instead of consignment, I could probably charge even more.

I look at the accessories to check what kind of effects they have. I need to increase the number of items I can synthesize by raising my alchemy level, but I want to produce items that will sell if I'm going to produce them.

I'll go to Fagato to poke the Sea Serpent and buy good equipment from a stall if there isn't any good equipment available. If there are any good items on consignment, I'll buy those.

While thinking about the cost of travel, I arrive in Fagato.

It seems that this place, with its arrangement of statues, worships the unfortunate goddess Fal as the main deity. Although it is a bright temple with sunlight, candles are still sold, so I buy one and place it at the foot of the statue. There aren't many candles near the statues of other gods, but I place a candle in front of Fal and freeze.

There are many names written on the candles.

A curse? Is it a curse?

After offering candles to each statue and buying more, I return to where I received the candles as a substitute for offerings and notice a notice.

"If you write the name of the person you love on a candle and offer it to the goddess of love, Fal, you will be in mutual love."

The temple is collecting offerings by any means necessary.

If I'm going to offer something, I'd rather offer a boomerang pant.

By the way, the goddess of water, Fal, was also the goddess of love and hunting, I remember. After leaving the slightly horror-like temple,

I recall that before coming to Fagato, the knight training partner I received, the dual-sword user Misugi, was a shrine maiden who dedicated sword dances to the temple until she was ten years old.

She swings dual swords to disrupt and confuses the opponent's rhythm.

And she is acrobatic.

The basic movement is circular.

It looks like dancing, but it's quite passionate if you consider it as a dance.

Thinking about this, after the training session and during the tea time, I ask Misugi, who came over,

"I used to be a shrine maiden who dedicated sword dances to the temple."

She used to dedicate sword dances to the war god and fire god Asha at the temple. Her current concern is that her swords lack weight and a decisive strike.

Indeed, she is fast and skilled, but I don't feel the weight that can sever bones with one strike, and it seems she can rely on brute force to cut through flesh and bones if necessary.

There is only one day left for training.

Thinking about the training in Fast, I head to the adventurer's guild while eating on the go. I need a map of the location where the Sea Serpents appear. Yeah, the skewered Navai clams are delicious.

Fagato is a maritime country that trades with Jears and the neighboring Isle. From Jears, you can get dwarven weapons and crafts, and from Isle, magic stones and occasionally elegant elven instruments. Geographically, it borders the north-northwest of Isle and is a long, east-west country that extends from the continent. It is located north of Jears, and on a clear day, you can see the capital Faina across the sea.

When I arrive at the guild, I ask about the location where the Sea Serpents appear.

I'm told that there are materials in the reference room that I can freely copy. The receptionist is the most welcoming but also the most laid-back and seems the least interested in work.

Her attire is also very casual, with half of her chest exposed, so I head to the reference room. From the neighboring reception, I hear conversations about dating requests rather than adventure requests. Ah, it's a man's chest, so no worries. The female staff also wear outfits that look like swimsuits with jackets.

I'm not particularly interested in things that are already visible from the start.

The reference room attendant is also overly welcoming, saying I can freely look at the materials that should be there and gives me paper and writing tools before starting a nap. Is the paper free?

I suddenly want to see Al from Fast.

I casually search the place I was told and copy the map from the book "About This Country." After copying the map, I read through the text to write in the information.

The main cities of this country are the capital Navai Grande, Dromil, Canal, and the island of Lacunos. In addition to the mainland, there are many large and small islands, including the island of Lacunos.

The climate is warm all year round with little rain, which seems to have created a laid-back national character.

The shellfish dishes of the capital Navai Grande are famous.

The walls are painted with lime made from burned shells, so the houses have white walls.

It seems that shellfish is the staple food of this country.

It's quite biased, isn't it?

There is one dungeon on the island of Lacunos. Be careful as pirates appear in the nearby sea.

Canal is the city of oranges and olives.

The Sea Serpents form groups in a bay near a village slightly north of Dromil. The village, called Dals, located at the northern end of the Nalun Mountains, is known for its Dals pigs, which are hard to come by but delicious.

I also pick up necessary information from other books and write it down. I need to go to Dals to get the meat.

There is also information about elves and dwarves, though not about the country.

Elves are skilled in woodworking and leather processing and are reluctant to leave their homeland forest. Dwarves are skilled in the processing of metals and gems and have a strong attachment to their fellow dwarves, but they travel and settle down in various places under the guise of training. The relationship between elves and dwarves is not very close.

Thanks to adventurers, you can see many elves and dwarves in Jears, but there are fewer dwarves.

Here in Navai Grande, a small number of dwarves have settled and mainly work as gemstone craftsmen.

It seems that more gemstones are available here than in Jears. However, the climate of Fagato is uncomfortable for dwarves, so their numbers are small.

That's why I'm currently learning gemstone crafting.

Because it's hot, I've been hiding in the underground workshop and not coming out, and Garganos, who has poor social skills but is a master craftsman, is my teacher.

Social skills?

I caught him with fire liquor, though.

The craftsmanship shown by Garganos is magnificent.

His stout, sturdy body and hands produce delicate work. The chain is finer than the hair on Garganos' fingers, and the natural harmony of gems and metal is impressive.

Dwarves are deep.

I asked him to make ear cuffs and rings for me.

For the ear cuffs, I requested something that men, including craftsmen, can wear continuously and that doesn't overlap with other adventurers' accessories. For the rings, I thought ten would be enough to have some empty slots for equipment.

Later, I learned that the rings only work when worn on the ring finger and thumb. The ring finger is special and is used for rings that symbolize marriage, engagement, or the head of the family.

I'm not sure if there's a reason to produce accessories, but I wanted small and easy-to-wear items for anti-possession amulets.

"Sorry, can you make them with magic stones, even if the effect is minimal?"

Since I'm making them, I want the [Proficient] bonus.

"What? If the effect is weak, it doesn't seem like you want to use expensive materials."

"It's like a good luck charm."

"Ah, if it's a good luck charm, I understand."

The happy dwarf with fire liquor prepared silver and two small light blue magic stones.

"A man I do business with left these stones when he failed to enchant them, but he left them because they were beautiful. They're free, so use them as you like."

"Thank you."

When I [Identify] them, they are rated 2 and "make you feel a little better... or so it seems."

If they were made by a resident, they would be rated 2, and the person probably has a bad skill. I haven't met them yet, but the skill is one that fails more as it improves, like the one Kikuhime said about Leao's cooking.

I'm already embarrassed by the difference in skill between Garganos and me as I work.

Even if the design is set, making accessories requires a sense of design, not just dexterity. Garganos gives detailed instructions while drinking, and I'm working on a simple sample.

"Hmm, not bad."

"Thank you."

Garganos praised me, but the result was terrible. However, I feel one step closer to my goal. No, it's bad to compare my work with the skilled Garganos. Probably.

Since I haven't been in combat, I haven't gained the accessory crafting skill yet, but I receive the minimum necessary tools for crafting from Garganos. He picked out tools that were easy to use from the ones he tried and discarded.

It seems he has enough money, so I presented a barrel of fire liquor and made him happy. I achieved my goal and was able to see his wonderful works, which was a treat for the eyes.

The "underground workshop" of Garganos was a bit dark, so the outside is blinding.

The artisan district isn't that bad, but the walls of this city are painted with white lime from shells, and the reflection is piercing.

I head out of the city to Dromil.

I also bought the local specialties, such as shellfish and olives.

The olive oil here is probably imported from this country, and it seems to be better quality and less oxidized than the one from Jears.

I think it won't deteriorate if I put it in my item pouch, but when I asked the old man from the wholesale shop in Isle, he said that for ordinary residents, time still passes even if they put items in the item pouch, and it's rare for time not to pass.

This is a [Foreigner] ability.

- The ability for time not to pass in item pouches and warehouses

- The ability to be pulled back to the temple just before death

- The ability to easily gain skills

- In exchange, the soul is occasionally pulled back to the original world, causing several days of inactivity

It seems that the residents of this world recognize players as the above.

Moreover, because more foreigners appear to defeat monsters when they increase, they are recognized as a known existence, and foreigners who eliminate many monsters are good neighbors.

However, because adventurers, including resident adventurers, do not stay in one place and do not root in the local economy, do not listen to others, and are violent, they have a negative image, and whether they are welcomed depends on the personal qualities of both sides.

The Sea Serpent hunt is used as a means to build trust with non-adventurer residents. One of the conditions to raise the adventurer rank to B is to "defeat 50 Sea Serpents," and you must complete either this request or 500 requests in the city (including villages).

Incidentally, when you reach rank B, the card will display "Hunter," "Producer," and "Explorer." The conditions are probably "Sea Serpent Hunt" or "City Requests."

For now, it seems profitable to become an adventurer or a transporter.

I run towards Dromil.

The enemies on the mainland of this country are not very strong, but the enemies on the islands and in the sea are troublesome. I thought it would be impossible if the Sea Serpents were dragons, but since they are sea snake monsters, I decided to challenge them.

The skill I gained from combat is [Jewelry Crafting].

It's not called "accessory crafting," and I want to get it immediately, but I don't have enough skill points. If I gather the materials, I can make a 'Nether Boundary Stone' with alchemy and get the [Jewelry Crafting] skill to turn it into an accessory.

What should I do with the 'Nether Boundary Stone' (artifact) I received from Tasha? I don't have the courage to process it into an accessory.

First, I need skill points.

The climate is dry, and olive and wheat fields stretch out.

It's hot, but it's a pleasant heat for now. I wonder what I'll do if I have to defeat a boss again to enter the city. I think I'll go straight to the village.

No, I'll go straight to the village, avoiding the main road. With the map, I start running the shortest route. I want a mount.

The good thing about my running style is that I can ignore the height difference because I have 'Levitation' (I'm also raising the level of the magic 'Levitation' while running). I might be able to run on the roofs in the city if I want to.

Ignoring a significant height difference, I see a flat area with something red in the green. I deviate from the straight path I've been running and get closer. From a distance, I thought it was potatoes, but it's tomatoes.

I thought tomatoes grew on stakes like trees, but here they crawl on the ground.

My image of a tomato field is in conflict with the reality in front of me.

The tomatoes are long and lie on the ground like a bunch of grapes. Is this how tomato fields are in other countries, unlike in Japan?

"Are you not going to take them?"

I was standing there for a while when someone spoke to me.