Chapter 5

"Welcome. Staying the night? It's 600 tels for one night."

"Understood. I'll take this one."

He handed over a silver coin. The woman took the silver coin, counted out 40 copper coins from her pocket, and handed them over along with a key. The copper coins were about the size of a 5-yen coin, with no hole in the middle. They had the number "10" and some kind of emblem engraved on them. The emblem depicted a sword pointing downward and a spear pointing upward, crossing diagonally. It was like the emblem of Kai High School, but with a spear instead of a pen, and the sword was a straight sword often seen in RPGs. The silver coin was about the size of a 500-yen coin and had a similar emblem engraved on it, suggesting it might be the national emblem of this country.

"Here's your key. It's the first room on the second floor. Meals are served twice a day at the restaurant next door. Show your key, and you can eat anytime. The first meal is free up to 60 tels, but anything beyond that will cost extra, so be careful."

The woman pointed to the stairs. Partnering with a restaurant was indeed an efficient way to keep costs down. It was also convenient that there were no set meal times. The key looked like a simple wooden stick with some writing on it. Was it some kind of card key?

I was tired today. I felt like I had moved around a lot, but I didn't feel physically exhausted. Maybe I just hadn't noticed. But mentally, I was drained. Too much had happened today. I wanted to sleep, so I went up the stairs and entered the room. The room was about 4.5 tatami mats in size, and the door had a latch that I slid into place. The latch seemed to unlock when a key was inserted from the outside. The key and latch didn't seem to touch, but it must have worked somehow. Maybe there was some kind of convenient magical device. The door didn't look very sturdy, but if there was a loud noise, someone from the inn would probably notice, so it wasn't necessary to rely solely on the lock for security. It was possible that the material was very durable and hard to break, but if that were the case, it would likely be used for weapons, which were silver. The latch was a brass color, and it didn't seem very sturdy. It was unlikely that a cheap inn key would be made of better material than a weapon. I decided to carry my belongings with me just in case. Since I had an item box, it wouldn't be a problem even if I had more items.

Right, the item box. I had been hesitant to use it because it might consume MP, but it should be fine here. I checked my MP and thought about the item box, and an item window appeared. The screen showed a leaf (Pole's leaf), a photo of a green dog, and some silver and copper coins. The green dog, which had been charred, looked lively in the photo, as if it were alive. It was like a "for illustration purposes only" note. I checked my status, but my MP hadn't decreased. Maybe it only consumed MP the first time I used it.

The display in the upper right corner was still 4/1012. The number of slots in the item box didn't increase even when my maximum MP increased. At least I could use the item box freely now.

There was a button on a spherical light. When I pressed the button, the light turned off. I forgot to eat and fell asleep right away.

The bed wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. Given that this was a cheap inn, the beds in this world might not be as bad as I thought.

The next morning, I woke up to the sound of a bell. It was nice to hear the bell, but I didn't know what time it was. From the way the sun set yesterday, it seemed like a day was about 24 hours, but I wasn't sure how much it varied. It might be exactly 24 hours.

I didn't have a watch, and I hadn't seen one since coming to this world. I had no way to tell time. What was a minute, anyway? I had heard something about cesium, but I couldn't use that to measure time.

Wait, I think I saw something about minutes and MP. I decided to check my MP.

MP: 1512.00/1512.00

Description: Magic power. Consumed when using magic or certain skills. The average magic power of humans in this world is set to 10, and this is a relative value. The left number is the current magic power, and the right number is the maximum magic power. Magic power recovers by 0.1% of the maximum every minute after it falls below the maximum. The display is rounded down to the nearest whole number.

I was fully recovered. After using the item box yesterday, my MP was around 500, and even after leveling up, I wasn't fully recovered. It seemed that more than 11 hours had passed since I used the item box.

I put on my shoes and went downstairs. The woman was cleaning. When I tried to lock the door by inserting the key and turning it to the left, I felt a click, and the door wouldn't open when I tried to pull it. It seemed to be locked. I didn't have any belongings, and my money was in the item box, so it wasn't really necessary to lock it, but it was a habit.

"Good morning."

I greeted her. Greetings were important.

"Good morning. If you want food, the restaurant next door is already open."

The woman returned my greeting. I asked about the time because I was curious about the bell.

"I heard the bell. What time is it now?"

"What time? Oh, it's 6, I guess. People around here don't really use 'what time' much. The bell rings four times a day, at the highest point of the sun and four hours before and after. How do you not know this? Where are you from?"

"Ah, ahaha..."

I tried to laugh it off. Since the bell only rang three times a day, people probably weren't very strict about time.

"Don't worry, I won't pry. As long as you're not a thief and you pay, it's fine."

Did I manage to fool her? I decided to assume I did.

I was hungry because I hadn't eaten dinner last night. I decided to get some food. As they say, you can't fight on an empty stomach. The quest I planned to take today wasn't a battle but something like herb gathering.

I left the inn and entered the restaurant next door. There were only about three adventurers inside.

"Welcome!!"

The owner was unusually energetic for this early in the morning. He looked like a typical bar owner, with a white towel wrapped around his head, probably a headband.

The owner of the guild's bar looked similar. Maybe all restaurant owners in this world looked like this.

"Is that a key? You're a guest from the inn! What will you have!?"

I was a bit overwhelmed by his enthusiasm. I was just waking up, and the loud noise was giving me a headache.

"Do you have a menu?"

"Here it is!! Choose well!! It's all good!!"

He seemed very confident. I decided to ignore his energy and focus on the food. I ordered the "Green Wolf Set" because it was exactly 60 tels and I was curious about the taste.

"Coming right up!!!"

The food arrived in about five minutes. It came with grilled meat and a dark bread, along with a sauce. The cooking was impressive, but how did it taste?

"...It's delicious."

It was unexpectedly good. The meat tasted like slightly milder pork, despite the dog-like appearance. The bread was crumbly and not very tasty on its own, but it went well with the meat. I wasn't sure what made it a set meal, but it was a satisfying and wonderful meal. I could see why the guard recommended it. The owner's confidence was well-founded. If he could tone it down a bit, it would be perfect.

I planned to go to the adventurer's guild after this to take a quest, but I realized I hadn't prepared lunch. There were no convenience stores or canned food in this world. After finishing my meal, I asked the owner for advice.

"Excuse me. I'm an adventurer. What should I do for lunch?"

"I'll make you a sandwich for 50 tels!! It's delicious!! For longer trips, buy hard bread and dried meat from the store next to the guild! They're not very tasty and will make you thirsty, so don't forget to bring water if you can't use water magic!"

"I'll take the sandwich, then."

I reached into my pocket and took out five copper coins from the item box. It was less conspicuous than pulling them out of thin air, though it would be more noticeable with larger items. The guild probably already knew about my item box.

"Here you go!"

The owner brought a large bread wrapped in a big leaf. The leaf probably had preservative properties. The bread was about 40 cm long and quite large. It would be hard to carry, and I didn't have a bag, so I put it in the item box. Taking the copper coins out of my pocket was a waste.

"Hey, is that an item box!? That's amazing! If you have magical potential, you could easily get a job in the military or with a noble family! But being an adventurer is definitely romantic!"

It seemed that magical potential was a rare skill. I thanked him and left for the guild. It was my first quest. I was probably going to start with a typical herb-gathering quest. I had defeated the green dog, but I wanted a weapon before fighting. I needed money for that, so I had to earn it. I walked while thinking about this.

...Wait, this place looks different from where I was yesterday. I thought I had been walking straight, but...

I looked around. I was standing at a crossroads of narrow alleys.

"Ah!"

I let out a sound. I had made a mistake. I should have just turned back the way I came, but I couldn't remember which direction I had come from. I had walked quite a distance, and I couldn't see the inn or its surroundings in any direction.

I think I came from that direction. Probably this way. I'm sure I came from here. It must be.

I decided to walk in the direction of my baseless confidence, or rather, my intuition developed over the half-day I had been in this town.

That way, the inn seemed to be in that direction. I was finally going back!

I happily walked in that direction, forgetting that I hadn't turned any corners on my way to the inn except at the intersection where I had gotten lost...

A few minutes later,

"Huh!? This isn't the way!?"

Kaede's voice echoed uselessly in the quiet back alley. No one answered.