Chapter 3

Still, this is a bad start. Too bad.

I sat cross-legged and stared blankly at the hole, thinking about it.

After all, the gatekeeper saw me, and if this gets out, I'll surely be suspected.

Then I'll be immediately wanted as a major criminal for helping the prisoners escape.

A major criminal right from the start...

And thinking about it, the first person I met after coming to this different world was a man. Yes, that gatekeeper.

This is even worse than becoming a major criminal. It could be called the worst possible situation.

The first person I should meet should be a beautiful girl, not a man.

...There's no point in thinking about what's already happened, so I'll think about what to do next.

First, I should get out of this cell. I can't really say I've entered the town yet.

No, perhaps I should look for a different town without entering this one.

No, I should.

But I won't. You can't get the tiger without entering the tiger's den.

I stood up and clenched my fist.

Then I slammed my fist into the iron bars... but I stopped just before, thinking it might hurt.

That was a lie; I decided to wait until night and climb over the outer wall to get in.

I can see that this will lead to all sorts of trouble. I need to take a roundabout way; the situation has changed.

I went back into the hole and dug some more. This time, I didn't get a drill, so I had to use my bare hands. I really need to master this quickly.

After digging for a while, I probably wasn't directly under the cell anymore.

Thinking that, I tried digging upwards to get back to the surface.

Then I exposed something like bricks. It seemed that above was a road or something.

There was no sign of people above, so I slowly pushed up a few bricks and peeked out. The atmosphere suggested I was in an alley, so I felt relieved and completely emerged.

I tried to brush off the dirt on my clothes with my hands, but it wouldn't come off at all.

Thinking it was no use, I took off my blazer and left it somewhere.

"Well, what should I do now?"

There's no point in just standing in the alley. I'll just walk around for a bit.

---

"Ah, this is truly a different world."

My exclamation made a few people turn and look at me with strange expressions.

But that's understandable. I'm just now really feeling that I'm in a different world.

First, the colors. The variety of hair colors is very colorful.

Blue, red, green, gold, silver, and yellow. No black hair to be seen.

Of course, they're all natural. It's not like the dull dyed hair of Japanese people.

And the town itself.

It's the Middle Ages. The Middle Ages I've dreamed of. I feel like drinking some alcohol even in the daytime. Well, I can't drink, but still.

After standing there for a while, I realized I was standing out. My clothes might be part of it, but my black hair might also be rare.

Thinking that, I started walking, and my destination was already decided.

Of course, it's the guild. The guild, a symbol of the different world, sounds cool.

When you're reborn in a different world, you cause a stir at the guild, and you won't have to worry about money. I want to do the same.

I knew where the guild was. Luckily, there was a sign in front of me that read "Jet Black Wings." You can tell it's the guild just by looking at it.

---

When I entered the guild, I walked straight to the reception.

The atmosphere of the guild was noisy with people drinking and looking at the bulletin board, just as I had expected.

"How do I take on a quest?"

When I got to the reception, I asked the guild receptionist.

"Are you new? Just peel off the quest you want from the bulletin board and come here to register."

Ah, I thought I'd need some kind of guild registration, but apparently not.

Furthermore, the receptionist explained that anyone, not just guild members, can take on quests.

It's a convenient system, but a bit disappointing.

I wanted to do something like a magic power test or get into a fight with a guild member.

...Well, it's fine.

I decided to take a look at the bulletin board. I want to complete an easy quest first to get some food and new clothes, but which one should I choose?

While thinking about it, I casually peeked at the back of the bulletin board and saw a few red quests posted.

Looking at them, they were all high-risk, like dragon slaying, but the rewards were huge.

Thinking, "Wow, this is definitely not a good idea," I still decided to take one of these.

With that decided, I tried to peel off one of the quests and take it to the reception.

At that moment, I noticed that people were staring at me.

"Hey, he's taking a red quest," "Does he have a nickname?" "No, I've never seen him before, he's probably unknown."

From the voices around me, it seemed that these red quests were indeed quite dangerous.

"This quest has a minimum requirement of 2 million mana."

When I handed the red quest to the receptionist, she said this.

There it is. Mana is probably a unit of magic power. It seems that you need that much magic power to take this quest. But my magic power is unknown, so I need a magic power test!

"Okay."

I raised my hand, meaning I'm willing to take the magic power test.

"Please wait a moment."

The receptionist started rummaging through a box behind her.

I thought she'd probably use a crystal to measure magic power, and sure enough, she brought out a crystal.

"Please place your hand on it."

Well, let's put some magic power into it.

I'm worried the crystal might break or melt.

I rolled up my sleeves and placed my hand on the crystal as instructed.

Before I knew it, a crowd had gathered around me, and my magic power test was the center of attention.

In the middle of this, how much magic power should I show? Should I hold back a little?

No, there's no need to hold back.

A moment of silence. I could hear someone swallowing.

Then I released it all at once.

"Haah!"

...

...?

"Um, are you putting magic power into it?"

Since there was no reaction, the receptionist, who had been holding back, asked me in confusion. I responded with a silent smile.

I guess I don't have any magic power, do I?

"Hehe, of course you can't put in what you don't have."

I said this with a mix of laughter, feeling a bit angry.

"Kick him out."

The receptionist's merciless judgment was handed down.

---

After being kicked out of the guild, I had nowhere to go and wandered around, thinking about what to do. Before I knew it, I had wandered into a slum-like area.

I had noticed that this town was huge when I walked around the outer wall.

Thinking that such districts also exist, I continued walking.

The houses were dilapidated, and the area had a dark atmosphere, which I thought was cool.

But the people living here probably don't think so. Seeing homeless people sitting around, I felt a bit guilty.

After walking for a while, I realized that the closer you get to the outer wall, the poorer the area becomes.

Feeling uncomfortable, I decided to return to the center of the town, where the guild and other places are.

I vaguely imagined some jelly and started moving my feet, which had stopped.

At that moment, a hooded figure, about 140 cm tall, probably a child, ran towards me at full speed.

Not looking where they were going, they lightly bumped into me.

I accidentally dropped the jelly I was holding, and in that moment, I saw inside the hood. It was definitely a girl.

"Sorry..."

The girl said this softly and ran off.

Thinking she was quite cute despite her dirty clothes, I was about to continue when I heard a shout from behind.

"There he is! Catch him!"

Several men appeared, dressed like the gatekeeper, so they were probably soldiers serving the castle.

I looked back and forth between the girl who had run off and the soldiers. Was she being chased for stealing?

Thinking that, I watched her small figure grow smaller.

This feels like an event... The gods are telling me to save that girl. No, the gods wouldn't say that. But it doesn't matter.

I'll save her.

Thinking that, I started running.

As I took a step, I felt a squishy sensation under my shoe. I remembered the jelly I had dropped.

But it was too late. My balance was quickly lost, and I fell on my butt.

Again, the jelly. The jelly I had dropped was in my way.

Feeling a helpless anger, I kicked my feet around and then pulled myself together and stood up.

At that moment, I was suddenly grabbed by the shoulder and pushed against the wall.

Who the hell is doing this? I thought, and moved my head to look.

It was the soldiers from before. Counting, there were eight soldiers surrounding me.

"Why???"

The one being chased wasn't the girl, but me?

"Take him away!"

I was tied up with ropes and dragged away.

But I resisted, like a dog being pulled by its owner.

It reminded me of a scene I often see in front of a vet's office.

After a while, the angry soldiers picked me up and, to my shame, I was eventually taken away.

---

"Let me ask you again, how did you make that hole in the floor?"

"It's called Drill Break."

"What is that?"

"It's a special move. How many times do I have to say it?"

We had repeated this exchange at least ten times.

I was locked in a dark room, being interrogated by someone who seemed important.

Of course, it was about the prisoners.

And I was being questioned more about how I made the hole in the floor than about helping the prisoners escape.

The punishment for helping the prisoners escape is, of course, death. But before that, they wanted to know how I made the hole.

"Is it magic? But we have information that you don't have magic power."

"It's the power of the spiral."

"...Huh."

He sighed. I was being completely serious, but what did he want me to say?

"Did you use a treasure? It's impossible to make a hole in that without magic power."

"It didn't come up in the investigation, did it?"

What's a treasure? I can guess, but...

The interrogation ended without much progress.

They said they would forgive me if I showed them the treasure, but I don't have one. What kind of country is this, offering forgiveness for a treasure?

Finally, they threatened to torture me if I didn't talk, and I almost wet my pants, but I just need to escape before that happens.

But it looks like I'll be spending another night in a cell, the second one today.

A cell on the first day.