Chapter 24

Summary of the previous episode ------------------------------------------------------

Dindle changed the boiling time to create a prototype.

After receiving a seal of approval from Diora, it was pointed out that it was too expensive for the general public.

"Aaa, I overlooked that..."

"Yeah. I only considered the price."

"Even in Japan, the idea that 'good things sell even if they are expensive' doesn't always hold true, so it was bound to be difficult."

Because we were a bit late, we walked a little faster towards the forest and held a reflection meeting.

"We should have considered the demand and customer base first."

"Yeah. Selling convenience store bento at a department store wouldn't work either."

Depending on the location, for example, a convenience store on a school route would definitely have leftovers.

A friend whose family runs a convenience store said, "You have to consider the location, weather, season, and customer base carefully to decide on the inventory to make a profit." At the time, I just listened half-heartedly, but it seems that business is not easy in any world.

"What do you think? Should we continue making dried Dindle?"

"Hmm, what do you two want to do?"

Whether the effort will pay off is a question—

"The biggest burden is on Haruka, so I'll leave the decision to her, but my motivation has dropped a bit."

"I vote for increasing the production of dried meat."

"Dried meat won't sell. Besides, I don't like meat."

To begin with, it's uncertain whether it will even turn out to be good dried meat.

If we prepare a lot and it turns out poorly, it will be a big shock.

"I think it's better to continue. It will definitely be more expensive than selling it normally, and thinking about portable food might boost our motivation."

"...Yeah, a big boost."

"...We can overlook minor issues to some extent."

Portable food—what we carry as emergency rations is food that adventurers eat when camping. It excels in preservation and portability but is terrible in taste, which is hard to describe. If I had to put it, it feels like eating paper clay.

We haven't taken any overnight jobs yet, so we don't need it, but if we do, we'll have to think of some method. If I can complete a high-performance magic bag by then, it will solve the problem, but it's not that easy to make. This world isn't that kind to you, no matter how much your magic ability improves.

"If we can prepare our own lunch, we can save money. How about selling one-third as is, and drying the rest, selling half of that?"

"I'm fine with that, but is Haruka okay? She was quite exhausted yesterday, and we also have the dried meat."

"Yeah. It's tough, but we can keep the Dindle salted until the Dindle season ends."

The Dindle season refers to the period when Dindle can be harvested, which is about a month, depending on the weather. According to Diora, it's likely to end in one to two weeks this year.

If that happens, the magic problem will be solved, but the barrel problem will become bigger. We have a deal to get barrels from my dad, but whether we have enough barrels for a week and whether we can place them in our room is the issue.

"Well, Haruka can rest except when using magic, and we can do the rest of the work. That should help a bit."

"That's about all we can do."

"Unlike in games, we can't spend skill points to learn magic."

If points accumulated with level-ups made things easier, but apparently, the evil god doesn't provide that kind of after-service. I'd like to ask if I could meet him again, but since he spoke like a serial offender, it's probably impossible.

"Toya can't do it at all, right?"

"Yeah. It's common knowledge that beastmen have difficulty learning magic. It's probably a matter of having the aptitude."

"Elves should be fine, right? Naoh, how about learning water magic?"

"Ugh..."

Don't say it so easily.

I haven't even raised the level of the fire magic I already know.

When I look at Haruka for help, she smiles wryly and says,

"In my case, I took aptitudes for light, wind, water, and alchemy. Naoh doesn't have the aptitude for fire magic, and the time-space magic he has is difficult, so it can't be helped, right?"

"Yeah!"

As expected, Haruka is kind.

But when I look relieved, she adds with a mischievous smile,

"But it's not impossible to learn, so it might be good to buy a basic magic book and study it, including me."

"...Okay."

I can't say, "I don't want to study," so I nod honestly.

◇ ◇ ◇

The selling price of dried Dindle was set at 800 rea per piece.

We can harvest about 300 a day. By reserving about 100 for ourselves and selling the rest fresh and dried, we can earn around 100,000 rea a day.

It feels like a lie that we were once so worried with only 1,000 rea per person.

In exchange, all of us work until we're exhausted every day.

Especially, the burden on Haruka is significant. Even if we take on all the tasks we can, we can't even start on the dried meat.

For the first 10 days, we continued harvesting in three different locations, but when the number we could harvest in a day dropped below 200, we decided to stop harvesting Dindle.

We could have continued for a bit longer, but Haruka's fatigue was too obvious, so Toya and I decided to stop almost forcibly.

Although our income will decrease, we were all relieved to finally have a break.

Goblins?

Ah, they appeared on the third day.

It was completely unnecessary to worry.

First, their strength.

They are somewhat clever, but basically, task boars are stronger, so it's not a big problem.

Regarding their humanoid form.

It was also not a problem at all.

To be honest, they didn't feel very human.

They just walk on two legs and carry sticks like weapons. If we're talking about being close to humans, Japanese macaques feel closer.

Maybe it's because their facial structure is completely different?

In a way, it's reassuring, but it's a failure in terms of getting used to humanoids. It's a mixed result.

To gain experience in fighting humans, we might need to seriously consider hiring a trainer.

For a few days after the Dindle season ended, we took a break from work to rest and make dried meat.

We took the meat out of the barrels, washed it with water, arranged it on a sieve, and Haruka cast [Drying].

Haruka then returned to the room to rest, and we packed the dried meat into bags and practiced on our own until Haruka felt better.

This process was repeated.

It's not complete rest, but since we use [Scouting] almost constantly when we're outside, not needing it is a significant mental rest.

Regarding our own practice, we take breaks, and the exercise intensity is not so high that we're tired the next day, so it can be considered rest, right?

To be honest, the anxiety of doing nothing is stronger.

Toya's consistent training probably stems from the same feeling.

In simple terms, "What if two Vibe Bears appear?"

We would probably die. No, we would almost certainly die.

Run away?

No, that's impossible. Bears are sprinters.

If they seriously chase you, even a world record holder in short-distance running wouldn't stand a chance.

If we hadn't encountered that, maybe we could have enjoyed a more relaxed life, sightseeing in this different world?

Or, without a sense of crisis, we might have ended up as easy prey?

We don't know which, but we are alive now and living a decent life.

In other words, we're not that wrong.

That's good enough.

◇ ◇ ◇

"Phew, the room finally feels spacious!"

"Yeah. It's because Toya got carried away..."

For three days, the salted barrels occupied our room, filling it to the point where we struggled to walk. The main reason, of course, was Toya.

For the first few days, we only saved one a day, but once we decided to put the drying on hold until the Dindle season ended, we went hunting whenever we were nearby, sometimes even two a day.

Moreover, since Toya processed the boars he hunted himself, it was hard to complain.

"At least we won't have to worry about the smell anymore."

"Yeah. It was a bit tough, honestly."

Processing a large amount of meat in the room.

Moreover, the processed meat was salted and accumulated in the room.

No matter how much we used [Purification], the smell couldn't be completely eliminated.

"But the results are good, right?"

"Well, yeah, but—"

Toya says this with a smug look, but the dried meat that was made was indeed delicious.

It was good to eat as is, lightly roasted, or added to soup.

It was well-received by my dad, and we got a decent amount of money after giving a slight discount on the barrel price.

Incidentally, the evaluation of the small amount of fatty meat Toya made first was, "It's edible, but it's better without the fat."

It was a good decision to remove the fat properly.

"But the deliciousness is thanks to Haruka. Why is Toya so smug?"

"---I'm great for deciding to make a lot."

"I did a lot of work, but... well, Toya worked hard on processing the meat, so it's fine, right?"

Haruka shrugs and smiles wryly, covering for Toya, who says this while avoiding eye contact.

"Haruka, you understand! Oh, right. I think I have a [Dissection] skill now."

"Really!?"

"Yeah. Level 1."

"Well, you've been working hard. But it's the first new skill among us."

"Yeah."

In the past half month, we've been quite serious about training and work, but none of us have gained new skills or even increased skill levels.

"I've been working hard. I've spent dozens of hours dealing with meat."

"But it's surprising that it took so long for a relatively easy skill like [Dissection] to reach level 1... reality is not so kind, is it?"

"Ah! No, no, wait. Toya, didn't you get a [Staff Technique] skill!?"

As a last resort, I started using iron bars, and the skill appeared relatively quickly.

Recently, I've been using a sword, so I completely forgot about it.

"---Oh! Right, I had a new skill. I forgot because I didn't use it."

Ha ha ha, he laughs carelessly, but Toya, remember your own skills.

"Naoh, your levels haven't increased yet, right? You use [Scouting] quite a lot..."

"Yeah. I've been training hard, but my [Spear Technique] hasn't improved either."

[Scouting] is used almost constantly when we're outside the city, so in terms of usage time, it's the highest.

It feels like it's easier to use than before, but the level value hasn't changed.

"If your movements have improved, it's not a waste, right? Normally, you can't see the numbers, so it's better not to worry too much."

"...I once thought that if my status was visible, it would motivate me to train, but now it feels like nothing is improving even though it's visible."

"Ah, I've thought that too. It would be nice if there was an experience value display for each skill, like in games!"

Oh, that's something I really want.

When practicing on my own, I often wonder if I'm doing it right.

I'm sure I'm getting better, but it's not reflected in the status.

"I think it's better to think that skill levels don't increase much."

Generally, the maximum level is unknown because skills are not recognized, but if we follow the magic book, which says the maximum level for magic is 10, then other skills would also be 10.

In the case of magic, almost no one can use level 10 magic, and it's normal to not reach that level even if you dedicate your life to magic.

"I think it's easy to level up when you're at a low level, but once you reach a certain point, you need to train hard for years to improve."

"Half a month is not enough to expect results."

"We've gotten stronger since the beginning, so the results are there. Even if they're not reflected in the status, it's fine not to worry about it."

"Well, it's good to check the status occasionally. Skills are listed because you can do them, not the other way around."

Of course, Toya's dissection skill was listed because his dissection technique improved, not the other way around.

"In games, you get stronger at level-up stages, but here, you improve gradually and the level value reflects it at a certain stage."

"It's obvious, but... it's not like a game, is it?"

"Since it's what the evil god said, it might be better. Not being like a game means you don't push yourself too hard, right?"

"Aaa, indeed. If experience points were visible, I'd definitely try to earn them."

"Agreed! It's a gamer's nature."

Would you not level up even if you could see experience points?

That's impossible.

"In reality, there's no such thing as a reset. Considering your personalities... should I be grateful to the evil god?"

"No, no, if our lives are on the line, we wouldn't do it."

"Really? You wouldn't say, 'Just a little more to level up, let's hunt a few more goblins!'?"

I look at Toya.

Our eyes meet.

Our hearts connect.

"......By the way! What are we going to do from tomorrow?"

"You're changing the subject so obviously..."

No, but!

I can see myself or Toya saying that!

It's natural for gamers to get greedy.

I think 90% of gamers would agree with this opinion.

It's a rough estimate, but...

"Okay, fine."

Haruka sighs slightly, changes her expression, and opens her mouth seriously, hesitating a bit.

"Tomorrow— or in a few days, I want to leave this city."