Chapter 99

When I bit into the fruit, which was said to be a specialty of this land, what I felt was not the sweetness or sourness I had imagined.

It was salty.

There's a joke about mistaking soy sauce for cola, and this was a similar situation.

Or rather, it was soy sauce.

"Phew, hahaha."

The fruit vendor laughed at me.

"I thought you might try it, but that's the expected reaction! Everyone who comes here for the first time does the same thing. You're not supposed to eat it as is, you know."

"…Squeeze it and use it as a seasoning?"

I threw the Seu-yu into my item box, drank some water, and muttered.

"Wow, to figure that out right away, you're pretty sharp. You've got a good eye."

Soy sauce.

I had thought it might exist if I looked for it, but I never expected it to come in the form of a fruit.

I made a subtle expression and approached the fruit vendor silently.

"Hey, no complaints, no returns, okay?"

"…There seem to be two types of Seu-yu. Why is that?"

Looking closely at the shelves where the products were placed, there were Seu-yu that were slightly white and others that were more red.

I had bought the red one, but the white one was priced at about one-fifth of the red one.

"Yeah, that's because of the difference in origin."

"Origin?"

"Seu-yu is known as a specialty of Dilmia, but the quality of Dilmia's Seu-yu is poor."

What's that? A specialty that's of poor quality?

That means, maybe…

"Imported?"

"That's right. The origin of Seu-yu can be determined by its color. The red one is from Soiel, and the white one, which is really bad, is from Dilmia."

"Pretty bad, huh…"

He must really dislike the white ones.

His speech was too passionate to be just a sales pitch.

It's amazing how he can say such things about what he sells.

"It's been like this since the lord changed. They increased the yield of Dilmia's Seu-yu, making it all like this. On top of that, they raised the taxes, and that damn lord… Oops. Nothing, nothing. Anyway, if you're buying Seu-yu, go for the red one."

…It seems that Dilmia's Seu-yu used to be red.

A lord who deliberately makes soy sauce taste bad. Yeah, I don't think we'll get along.

Well, it's best not to get involved, and I probably won't have to anyway.

"In that case, I'll take ten more of the red ones."

"Sure thing. I'll throw in one of the Dilmia ones too, so you can experience how bad it is. …You have an item box! That explains why the half-eaten one disappeared so unnaturally!"

Now that he mentioned it, I was a bit curious.

I decided to immediately book a random inn and try it out in my room.

The fish I used for the experiment was a Boat Killer, a fish with a tuna-like appearance caught in Fotren. I had made sashimi before, but it didn't turn out well because I ran out of soy sauce.

I used a magic sword, sterilized with fire and water magic, to thinly slice the fish.

Then I squeezed a little Seu-yu onto a plate and dipped the sashimi in it to eat.

"This is it!"

This was truly tuna sashimi.

The quality of the soy sauce was not bad either. It might be a bit better because I hadn't had it in a while, but it was definitely better than cheap Japanese soy sauce.

I had to make sure to protect Soiel and buy a lot of Seu-yu to take back.

"Well…"

Next, it was the Seu-yu from Dilmia, which had been so harshly criticized.

I had been thinking about not getting along with the lord, but it's not right to dislike something without trying it.

If it turned out to be delicious, I would have to apologize to the lord.

I cautiously squeezed the Seu-yu and dipped a little sashimi in it to eat.

"…Huh?"

The faint flavor of soy sauce that I could taste as soon as it entered my mouth.

And the overwhelming saltiness and bitterness that completely overpowered it.

I couldn't taste any umami. It was so bad that it felt like I might get sick just from having it in my mouth.

I was grateful for the luck of buying the Soiel Seu-yu first.

If I had bitten into this, I would have surely fainted.

I hurriedly drank water and refreshed my palate with sashimi dipped in the good soy sauce.

This confirmed it. I didn't need to apologize to the lord, and there was no reason to.

In fact, the lord should apologize. The soy sauce should apologize.

I felt a surge of anger at the sheer awfulness, but thanks to the palate cleanser, I quickly regained my composure.

At the same time, I noticed that something was noisy around me.

The noise was not from outside the window but from the first floor of the inn.

The air in this town is a bit dry, so if there was a fire, it would be a big deal.

I decided to pause my tasting and go check out what was happening downstairs.

"Even if you say that, I cannot disclose the information of our guests."

"But there's a report that a criminal entered this inn, and we can't just leave…"

The reason for the noise seemed to be the arrival of the guards.

Five guards or knights, fully equipped, were talking to the innkeeper.

It seemed that a criminal had entered the inn while I was tasting the soy sauce.

I didn't want to get involved, so I thought about changing inns.

I didn't want to get mixed up in this.

"Is it true that a criminal entered?"

"Yes. We would appreciate your cooperation. According to the lord, the criminal is a young man with black hair and black eyes, and a distinctive feature is that he doesn't carry any luggage."

"Luggage?"

Is not carrying luggage a distinctive feature?

"Apparently, he has an item box and used it to steal money from the lord's mansion…"

A young man with black hair and black eyes, with an item box…

For some reason, it felt very familiar.

It's probably someone who looks similar, but I can't afford to be wrongly suspected.

At the very least, I should confirm that my name is different.

With that, I can prove I'm a different person with my guild card.

"Is the man's name, by any chance, Kaede?"

I took out my guild card from my item box and, while emphasizing that I am Kaede, asked.

"Right, right. An adventurer from Basis, named Kaede… What?"

"What?"

It seems there is a Kaede who looks similar to me, has an item box, and just arrived from Basis at the same time.

What a coincidence.

"Then, I'll be on my way."

I tried to leave the inn casually.

"Wait a moment."

And, as expected, I was stopped.

"What is it?"

"Could you please accompany us to the station, or rather, the jail?"

At the same time, two of the guards moved behind me.

This is a false accusation.

However, I have no way to prove it.

Basis's guild card is not widely recognized in this country, and there's no way to prove the contents of my item box.

Even if I could, if they say I hid the stolen goods somewhere, that would be the end of it.

I didn't realize a guild card could be so inconvenient.

"What if I refuse?"

"We will take you by force. After all, it's a direct order from the lord."

While talking to the guards, I noticed something unnatural about their behavior.

Their treatment of a criminal was too polite. They should not be so courteous if they didn't consider the possibility of a false accusation. They should have apprehended me immediately. In the worst case, as a thief, I could have been executed on the spot.

Yet, the guards showed no signs of such actions.

Their tone was clearly different from the anger one would feel towards a criminal. It wasn't even caution.

If anything, it was more like pity, or even regret.

A direct order from the lord is also unusual.

Catching a thief is the job of the guards or the knight order, not the lord.

I don't know how it works in a country without a king, but in Basis, it should have been like that.

The false accusation in a town I just arrived in is also suspicious.

"Alright, I'll go with you voluntarily."

If this false accusation is set up, the culprit must be the lord or someone close to him.

If not, there should be a normal way to clear my name.

In any case, breaking through by force is not a good idea. It would be like saying, "I'm not a false accusation."

I can break through anytime.

For now, I'll go along quietly and think about how to respond.

"Thank you for your cooperation. Excuse me…"

While saying this, the guard put handcuffs on my hands.

Upon identifying them, they seemed to reduce magical activity. They were probably designed for mages.

I tried them with my magic armor, and indeed, my magical output seemed to drop slightly.

Specifically, by about 0.5 to 1%.

In other words, it was within the margin of error.

Next, I tried to test their physical strength by applying a little force, and I heard a disturbing snap. I quickly released the tension in my arms.

Dangerous, dangerous. I almost broke the handcuffs.

The guards, who didn't notice, surrounded me and started leading me somewhere.

Well, what's going on here?