Chapter 16

The next morning, Hikaru woke up early.

He hadn't had enough sleep, and the fatigue from walking around yesterday still hadn't worn off.

However, time was limited.

"Still, I'm glad I chose a business hotel. The private room is relaxing, and having a bed makes my body feel so much better."

While he had never stayed at a business hotel in Japan, he of course knew about them.

Hikaru nodded to himself, understanding this.

Of course, there were no unit baths or pay-per-view TV channels, and no vending machines or coin laundries in the hallway, nor any card vending machines for pay channels.

"Goodbye, sir~"

The cat-eared receptionist waved.

...Did this person stay here all the time? Hikaru wondered, but it was pointless to worry, so he went outside.

Thinking about having breakfast, he suddenly noticed—

"......"

"......"

There it was again.

The hot dog stand owner was looking at him again.

"It's 30 gil."

"This time, it's probably a decent hot dog, right?"

It looked like red ketchup and yellow mustard—mustard without seeds.

Hikaru took a bite.

"!?"

His eyes widened.

"H-How is it, the taste?"

"—It's bland."

"Huh?"

"What the hell is this watery ketchup? It's not just a slight tang!"

It was a very bland hot dog.

Despite feeling disappointed, he had bought it, so he ate it to the end and left the hot dog stand. The owner looked troubled, his shoulders slumped.

Hikaru headed not to the Adventurer's Guild, but outside the city.

He had a clear goal in mind.

(Money first)

Money was never a bad thing. He might need to spend some to save Ravia.

The problem was that the king had set up Ravia. It was just her guess, but Hikaru thought it was a reasonable one.

After all, it was the murder of a count.

The murder of one of the top 30 most powerful people in the Ponsonia Kingdom.

The murderer was decided in just a few days. Ravia hadn't confessed, so it must have been "someone's will." Someone within the top 30.

(Well, it doesn't matter who it is. I'll definitely save Ravia)

In fact, Hikaru had a chance of success.

The escort was the day after tomorrow. He needed to prepare over the next two days.

Earning money was part of that preparation.

(There it is)

A quick way to earn money.

Hunting Red-Horned Rabbits.

Fifteen minutes out of the city, Hikaru found the first one.

"Ugh, ugh ugh—!?"

Hikaru's "Strength Dagger" stabbed through the Red-Horned Rabbit, taking its life in one hit.

He felt less guilt than yesterday.

(...I guess I'm getting used to it)

He looked at the blood-soaked blade. The fat had smeared the blade, making it cloudy. He wiped it with a rag.

(I'm sure there's a way to get used to killing humans too. Controlling it is a matter of mental strength)

Last night, after making a mistake, he had considered killing a knight.

He had gotten lucky that time, but there was no guarantee of luck next time. In fact, it was better to assume a worse situation.

Hikaru had been thinking and set several rules for himself.

- If you decide to kill someone, do it without hesitation.

- When infiltrating a building "covertly," prepare thoroughly. There's no such thing as over-preparation.

- When acting according to a plan, simulate everything. Never use the word "flexibility."

For this, he had the "Stealth" skill. "Stealth" was very compatible with "Information Gathering." The risk of gathering information was extremely low. There was no reason not to use it.

(This is my greatest weapon—)

"Huh...!?"

It happened when Hikaru killed the third Red-Horned Rabbit.

"What... is this...!?"

His body felt hot.

He felt a tingling sensation, and an urge to run.

(This is the same feeling I had when I assassinated the count—)

The sensation lasted about ten seconds.

Hikaru opened his Soul Board.

[Soul Board] Hikaru

Age 15, Rank 5

1

"Sure enough. My soul rank has increased."

He didn't know how many "creatures" he needed to kill to increase his rank.

From what Hikaru had confirmed so far, a beginner adventurer in their teens was below rank 10. Those in their twenties were between 10 and 20, and even veteran adventurers over 30 were at most 25.

This made Unken's rank of "51" quite high.

Naturally, the higher the number, the harder it was to increase.

"...Even Red-Horned Rabbits can increase my rank. I wonder how much I can increase it in these two days..."

Besides earning money, Hikaru had two other things to do in these two days: gather information on the adventurers escorting Ravia and level up.

Increasing his soul rank would give him points. Even one point, if allocated correctly, could be very powerful.

"I had already decided to allocate my first point here."

Hikaru operated his Soul Board.

[Strength]

[Strength Amount] 1

[Weapon Proficiency]

"How about this—"

For Hikaru, two Red-Horned Rabbits in a bag were already too heavy. Even one was difficult to carry without removing the organs.

But going back to the Adventurer's Guild every time he caught one would take too much time.

Increasing his strength was a shortcut to efficiency.

"—Huh?"

The Red-Horned Rabbit Hikaru had just caught was about the size of two watermelons stuck together, round and plump.

He lifted it with one hand.

"Light... Seriously?"

Just one point made such a difference.

Thinking about it, Tsernenko's strength amount was "3" when he checked his Soul Board at the Adventurer's Guild. It made sense that Jil had said he had strong arms.

"...Unken's old man was '9'..."

What kind of world is this?

"Alright, no time to think about this. Let's go back."

It was already noon.

Hikaru returned to the city of Ponds, carrying three Red-Horned Rabbits.

He was stopped by the gatekeeper and even had his bag checked, which surprised him. He managed to convince him by saying, "I learned an efficient way to hunt rabbits."

Hikaru remembered that he had planned to give some of the rabbits to the guards who had helped him. He presented one Red-Horned Rabbit, and they were incredibly grateful. They said they would make a stew with it. It was apparently very delicious meat, only eaten on special occasions, the gatekeeper said with a satisfied smile.

One of the three rabbits was gone, but he could always hunt more.

After eating a light meal at a food stand, Hikaru headed to the Adventurer's Guild with a bag containing two Red-Horned Rabbits.

"...Huh?"

He heard the cheerful voices of young people.

Looking over, he saw a group of adventurers in their teens. There were five of them, two boys and three girls, browsing the request board happily.

(A party... This system definitely isn't for me)

Forming a party made "Stealth" harder to use. You couldn't even be seen by your own teammates.

(If I hadn't been reincarnated this way, would I have chosen a different skill?)

While he was thinking about this,

"—What's that—"

"—Seems to be a party of kids from the countryside—"

"—Huh, from the countryside, huh? Well, seniors have to teach them a thing or two—"

"—I bet there are at least five others thinking the same thing. Hehehe—"

Several adventurers walked over to the teenage party.

(...They're up to something again. The adventurers here are really bad, aren't they? ...That's why Jil keeps rejecting them, I guess)

Sighing, Hikaru approached Gloria at the counter. Jil was already gone.

"Oh, it's Hikaru-kun."

"Call for Unken's old man. And those young ones might fall into the hands of the veterans, so you should be careful."

"Thank you for the warning. Yes, I see..."

Gloria glanced at the young adventurers and the veterans, who seemed to be talking in a friendly manner—on the surface, at least.

"I'll make sure to warn them. Now, about Unken—"

Gloria looked at what Hikaru was carrying.

"Unken himself evaluates Red-Horned Rabbits, right?"

Hikaru said casually, and the surrounding adventurers murmured.

It seemed Red-Horned Rabbits were rarer than Hikaru had thought—just as Jil had said.

Hikaru sighed softly.

(...I rushed a bit. I shouldn't let other adventurers hear this. I need to be careful)

There were ways to communicate, like writing notes. It would be bad if other adventurers noticed him.

"Understood. Please wait a moment—"

Her tone was calm as usual, but her eyes sparkled.

This woman was the most unpredictable, Hikaru sighed again. He needed a place to rest.

When he met Unken at the dissection area, the old man's grumpy expression was the same as always.

"I told you to come in the evening, didn't I?"

"You said you wanted to evaluate the Red-Horned Rabbits yourself. Besides, I thought they would be good material for a dissection lesson. Of course, I can leave them here and come back in the evening if you prefer."

"You're a talkative kid. Fine, I'll do it now—wait. Two of them?"

Hikaru placed two Red-Horned Rabbits on the workbench. The "hero" was surprised.

(Come on... If they're that rare, you should have written it more clearly. Like "rare species" or "SSR"...)

Hikaru felt that the lack of "adventurer common sense" in this world would lead to unnecessary conflicts.

If he had brought three, it would have been a disaster. It was a good decision to leave one with the guards.

"By the way, the horns are broken."

"Of course! I'd be in trouble if I got horns every time. —Oh, by the way, the horn from yesterday has a price."

"Hmm. How much?"

"140,000 gil."

"......"

"How about that? Did it shock you?"

"I'm not shocked."

He was very shocked. The scale had suddenly changed. He was bound to be shocked.

"Adding the meat from yesterday, you have 47,500 gil in hand, and 100,000 gil in the guild's custody, right?"

"Wait a minute. What do you mean by 'guild's custody'? Can I only withdraw it here at the guild?"

"...You don't know that?"

The guild's custody system recorded the amount on the guild card as "additional information," allowing withdrawal from any guild branch.

(This guild card is a blessing from the gods, an ID, and a bank card...)

Hikaru thought it was definitely over-technology.

"By the way, I was told that it would fetch a higher price at an auction. What do you want to do?"

"An auction... You have such a thing?"

"In the capital."

"Can the horns of such monsters be auctioned?"

"Various genres are auctioned. Art is the main one, but monster materials are auctioned in a bidding format."

"When is the next one?"

"In ten days... I think."

"In that case, I'll sell it now. I need the cash. But I'll keep 100,000 gil in custody."

"Understood."

100,000 gil would mean a bag full of gold coins. Carrying such weight was out of the question.

(Still, I don't need to worry about earning money now. Thanks to the Red-Horned Rabbits)

After that, Unken gave him a practical lesson in dissection.

He decided to buy a dissection knife from the guild for 100 gil.

"—That's it, then."

"Thank you. I don't think I could have learned this on my own."

He went to the well to wash his hands.

Hikaru realized that dissection required many techniques that couldn't be learned from books. He would have to practice a lot. Also, what he had learned applied only to rabbit-like animals and monsters.

"Thinking about all the reptiles and birds... I don't think I want to do the dissection myself."

"Hehe. But when you delve into dungeons, you can't say that. You might have to eat monster meat, or bring back only the necessary parts."

"—Dungeons? There are dungeons?"

"Yes. Well, there are only two in the Ponsonia Kingdom."

"Two?!"

"Hey, why so excited all of a sudden?"

He was excited.

Fantasy meant adventure, and adventure meant dungeons.

(But I'll have to wait to go there for a while)

First, he had to save Ravia. That was non-negotiable.

"—I have a question. What monsters are good for me to hunt around here?"

"Hmm—"

Unken mentioned several monsters.

"Got it. Then, conversely, what monsters should I avoid?"

This was the real question.

The suitable monsters were written in the "Data Archive."

However, information on dangerous monsters was intentionally omitted to prevent adventurers from tackling them.

To be precise, the names and appearances of the monsters were written, but that was all. Their locations were left blank.

"...What are you going to do with that information?"

Unken's eyes narrowed. His "Intuition 4" was working.

"Of course, to avoid them. I plan to earn money around here for a while. I might venture deep into the forest, so it's important to know where I shouldn't go."

"Well, that's true—"

He seemed convinced.

Hikaru had prepared for the possibility of being suspected by Unken.

"You need to be careful of three things. One is the Green Wolf."

"I heard about that from the receptionist."

"Right. How about the Rugby?"

"I don't know."

Rugby was a bee about the size of a coin.

Its wings had degenerated, and it jumped from tree to tree.

It usually moved alone, but once it recognized an enemy, it would call its companions.

"A bee..."

"You probably thought it wasn't a big deal, right?"

He didn't think that. It just seemed like a hassle to kill for leveling up.

"They're quick and move in a way that's different from other monsters. It's hard to get used to."

"Got it. What's the next one?"

"Forest Barbarian."

It was an unfamiliar word.

"About three meters tall. They move alone or in pairs. Well, couples. They look scary, so you probably won't approach them unknowingly."

"What do they look like?"

"Four arms. One eye. Otherwise, they look like a human body, but they don't wear clothes, and their skin is smooth."

"...That's terrifying."

They were completely monsters.

The "Data Archive" had information, but it was only described as "green giant" or "forest guardian."

"Where are they?"

"...Don't go deep into the forest. Especially not to the foot of the mountain. The ecosystem changes in the mountains. And be careful of the lake to the east. That area is good for monster breeding."

"I see."

"Well, that's about it... or maybe there's one more."

"Maybe?"

"Recently, goblins have been found near the city. There might be a village. If you find one, don't approach it. They say that if you find one goblin, there are 300 more."

They must reproduce faster than G, Hikaru thought.

He thanked Unken and returned to the business hotel—his inn—after eating at a food stand.

Remaining: 48,710 gil (+100,000 gil)

There were two days left until Ravia's transfer.

Hikaru started his activities early the next morning. The hot dog stand wasn't open, so he ate somewhere else and got two boxed meals before leaving the city.

(First, the lake to the east)

It was the place Unken had said was good for monster breeding. He headed there.

It would take three hours to walk, so he rode a fast horse heading east. It was like a "two-seater" on a bicycle or motorcycle. The man who gave him a ride was a gruff older man, and the two-seater seat had a blanket, making it comfortable.

It took 30 minutes one way.

The fare was 100 gil, which was surprisingly expensive.

He declined a ride back since he didn't know when he would return.

"Don't go deep into the lake! If I come this way in the evening, I'll check if you're around, but don't count on it! Whatever you do, don't go deep into the lake!"

It was a fishing spot, so there were quite a few guests like Hikaru who came to the lake.

But as Unken had said, there were monsters deep in the lake, and a lot of them.

"Exactly what I wanted."

Hikaru changed his "occupation" to "Stealth God: Wearer of Darkness" and activated all his stealth-related skills.

"Let's go leveling, shall we?"

Hikaru walked towards the lake.

"My target is the 'Forest Guardian.'"

Of course, he was aiming for the big catch.