Chapter 38

"Greetings, I'm Gartia, a D-rank adventurer and the leader of this escort mission. I'm good at scouting, but I'm quite weak in combat, even for a D-rank. So if we encounter any monsters, I'll be counting on you, Kaede."

"Got it, leave it to me. I can scout almost perfectly within a 20-meter radius, but it gets tough beyond that. I also have an item box. And this is Catharine, who is technically a slave... or something like that? She's a future magic tool craftsman, but basically, she won't be much help with the escort. I'll take on more than my share to make up for it. I can also do aerial reconnaissance."

By the way, Catharine had already completed a magic tool that created a barrier by today. She might already be able to call herself a magic tool craftsman.

"Catharine, please take care of me."

"Wow, you can fly, that's a great help. I don't think we'll encounter much danger on the way, but if something happens, I'll count on you."

"The escort is up to you, Wongpe. I heard your item box is quite large. If you can take some of the load, it would shorten our journey and be a big help. Is there any space left?"

"Yes, there's plenty of space."

I wonder where he heard that from. Wongpe brought a covered wagon pulled by three horses at the front, and a heavy-looking cart with a platform attached to the back. Both the platform and the covered wagon were loaded with weapons. They must use a lot, considering the fortress city.

"Alright, take as much as you can."

So, I started putting swords and spears from the platform into the item box. I noticed the last time I defeated a spider that if I imagine items being continuously stored while moving my hand, I can put multiple items into the item box at once. This way, I could store a full platform of swords in about 10 seconds. If I tried harder, I could do it faster, but I was afraid of cutting myself. Even if it heals, pain is still pain. My level had risen to 26 from the previous slaughter, but I had no intention of testing if a sword could pierce me.

"Wait, how much are you planning to put in? I heard it was big, but I didn't hear it was bottomless."

"Probably the whole cart can fit. I already have a few whole giant spider crabs in the item box."

"O-oh. Then, let's try it."

I put it in. It went in.

"It went in."

"What...?"

So, instead of escorting the cart, we ended up escorting the horses. There were only three horses, so the other three rode, and I flew in the air.

"Is it okay to fly so high? If you run out of magic power and can't escort us, that would be a problem."

"It's fine, no problem."

After this exchange, our party, which was unlike any merchant escort with one flying man and three horse riders, encountered no enemies and proceeded smoothly, or rather, at about twice the planned speed, down the mountain on the opposite side of Tsuubai, and a day passed. By the way, we moved in a night camp style. Gartia and I took turns on watch. Since the enemies would basically be taken care of by me, there was no need to reverse our day and night schedules. We only moved at night when our allies could fight.

The food was made by kneading flour with hot water. It was also dried meat. We got off the horses and kneaded the flour with hot water in a pot-like thing. We used a small magic stone to burn the wood we found around to make a fire. We brought water from a river. I wonder what they plan to do on the grassland. It tasted familiar but something was missing. What is it?

Anyway, we ate. It was probably some kind of preserved food. It might be something like sobagaki.

The second day was similar, with a peaceful scene of three horses and a flying man. The problem arose before dinner on the third day. I was tired of sobagaki. At least give me some soy sauce. If there's nothing else, that's fine, but it's not good to eat something that's not very tasty when you have something better.

So, I made a small suggestion.

"Hey, I have some giant spider crabs. Do you want to eat them?"

"Of course, I always think about eating something else during escorts. The dried meat is okay, but it gets boring, and it's quite expensive to buy here."

Apparently, this was always the case during escorts. No wonder they get bored. By the way, the dried meat wasn't seasoned with spices like in Japan; it was mainly salted for preservation. Salt wasn't super expensive but wasn't cheap either. There was a sea, but maybe the technology to make salt from it was underdeveloped. Maybe making large-scale sun-dried salt would be profitable, but I'm not sure if it's good for you. First, I'd need to secure land along the coast, which is impossible. Yeah, impossible.

"Um, I don't know how to cook them, but does anyone know?"

"Just cut the legs and boil them. Simple is best."

"Then, let's do that."

So, I cut the crab legs with a magic sword and threw them into the pot. They turned red when boiled. It was definitely a crab!

The taste was the issue. I was a bit nervous as I distributed the crabs to everyone and took a bite. Delicious! This was the crab meat I love! I had obtained a large amount of high-end ingredients that I rarely get to eat on Earth. Wonderful. Of course, the others also loved it.

So, we ate the other meat we had and had a peaceful escort that lasted just seven days. We eliminated all the low-level monsters we encountered, making it a heartful (hurtful) and peaceful journey for the monsters. By the way, the red wolves were terrible.

Desibator was feared so much that parents would threaten their children with being sent there if they didn't behave. During the journey, I heard many scary rumors about Desibator. Due to its nature, monsters constantly roamed around the city, and they often entered the city. It was extremely dangerous. There used to be a city called Broken before Desibator, but it fell about 50 years ago. It wasn't destroyed in a single monster attack but rather a strategic retreat to minimize casualties as the pressure from the monsters gradually increased. After that, Desibator, which used to serve a role similar to Fotoren, couldn't withstand the increasing monster attacks and abandoned the outer walls, using the inner walls and barriers to become a frontline base. Its original role was taken over by Fotoren.

Due to this environment, almost everyone, including innkeepers and shop clerks, had C-rank or higher capabilities, with B-rank being the most common. Living in Desibator could make you lose your sense of normalcy. After about 50 years of being a frontline city, many anecdotes remained, which I heard during the journey.

For example, an adventurer who was injured in Desibator and moved to a safer city built a house where an old friend was invited, but there were no stairs in the two-story house (the owner said, "If there are no stairs, just jump!"). Another story was about an adventurer who returned from Desibator and slept while keeping watch. There was also a story about a group of bandits who attacked an old man on his way back to his hometown after feeling the limits of his Desibator life, but the old man single-handedly wiped them out. It was as if the people of Desibator were from another planet.

Of course, not everyone could keep up, and many died. But, to be honest, are they really human?

Well, in terms of physical abilities alone, B-rank adventurers and I might not be that different. If running at over 40 km/h and jumping 10 meters vertically became the norm, it's understandable.

Stress can cause some to change into something different, while others die. It sounds like cells. Maybe the soil is slightly acidic.

On the first day in Fotoren, I decided to take care of Catharine. By "take care," I don't mean selling her; I mean setting up a workshop. I would be the owner, and Catharine would be the workshop manager, procurement officer, salesperson, and other roles. Her magic tool-making skills were already at a level where she could run a business, and when I asked if she wanted to try, she said she would if she could.

Fortunately, Fotoren, a major consumer and producer of magic stones, was an ideal location for a magic tool workshop. We headed to a real estate agent, which turned out to be a commercial guild, to purchase a place.

The funds came from selling the Metal Lizard Metal, totaling about 280 million ter.

"But are you sure? There's a high risk of a deficit."

"It's fine. I have about 300 million, so even if there's a deficit, it will still be a gain if her skills improve. I won't pressure you to pay if there's a deficit, so give it a try."

"That's how rich people think, huh?"

"That's how it is."

I recently became rich, but I still think like a Japanese person. Well, a stereotypical Japanese person wouldn't invest but save the money.

We arrived at the real estate agent, or rather, the commercial guild.

"Excuse me, I want to open a magic tool shop. Do you have any recommended places? Preferably one where I can live as well."

"A magic tool shop, then I recommend this one."

They introduced a small shop divided into two rooms. One was for living, and the other was for the shop. The price was 7 million ter, which I didn't think was expensive for a shop with two rooms.

"Then, I'll take it."

I took out 70 large gold coins and placed them on the table. I had received all the money in large gold coins.

"S-so, you're deciding immediately!?"

"Yes, is that a problem?"

"No, it's welcome from our side, and it saves us work."

So, the shop was decided. Catharine had studied accounting, so I would leave the shop mostly to her.

"The salary will be 30,000 ter per month, and if the monthly profit after taxes exceeds 300,000 ter, I'll give you 10% of that. Is that okay?"

"Really!?"

"However, if the performance is poor and there's no hope of improvement, I'll take appropriate action. Keep the remaining amount in the commercial guild."

My Suzumiya Group doesn't have unlimited funds.

"Understood, I'll do my best!"

"By the way, the shop name will be Kaede-Rine Magic Tool Shop."

I just thought of it.

"Huh..."

"How is it, isn't it a great name?"

"Huh..."

"Huh..."

Is there a problem?

"To be honest, I don't think so."

My perfect naming sense was denied...

—After some twists and turns, the magic tool shop's name was decided as "Magic Tool Shop Maple Catharine." Not much different.

I entrusted 300,000 ter as initial funds and told them to contact me through the commercial guild if anything happened. We then parted ways. The Wisps' cores were no longer needed and were in the item box.