Chapter 25

Summary of the previous chapter ------------------------------------------------------

We made a considerable amount of money by selling the Dindel to the guild.

We finished making the dried meat, and when we took a break, Haruka suggested leaving the town.

"Leaving the town... Are you serious?"

"Haruka?"

When Toya suggested, "Let's take on a hunting request," Haruka would always say, "It's too dangerous."

She always avoided dangerous situations, not only for herself but also for us, always urging us to be cautious.

So, for Haruka to suggest leaving the town just as she was finally getting used to this world...

"It's not like I want to go on a journey or anything. I just... want to look for Natsuki and the others..."

She added this hesitantly, glancing at our faces.

"Yuki and Natsuki..."

Shifujou Yuki and Furumiya Natsuki.

These two were Haruka's close friends, and the three of them often hung out together.

We also knew them, and we would sometimes go out as a group of five.

If I were to list my close classmates, these two would come right after my childhood friends.

Natsuki, at first glance, seemed like a typical Japanese beauty, gentle but a bit strict—and in reality, she was incredibly strict.

However, she wasn't rude; she just spoke her mind clearly.

Once we got close enough, she would talk quite casually, but with people she wasn't close to, she would maintain a polite distance, which made her seem hard to approach for those who weren't close to her.

This was partly because she could be extremely sarcastic at times.

Once, when we were all supposed to meet up, Toya and I arrived to find that the three of them had been hit on by two sleazy guys.

When we got there, the two guys were almost in tears.

And then we heard Natsuki's words.

I won't go into the details, but her words were powerful enough to crush a man's spirit.

Actually, it was more like overkill.

She gave us a look of relief when we called out to her, and the sleazy guys fled without even leaving a parting shot.

When Natsuki smiled as if nothing had happened, Toya and I were genuinely terrified.

In contrast, Yuki was a bit petite, very sociable, and easy to get along with.

She could get along with anyone, making her more approachable than Natsuki, but in reality, it was harder to become truly close to her than it was with Natsuki.

Or maybe "harder" isn't the right word.

She was a bit cautious and took time to warm up, like a small animal?

Also, both of them were very attractive, so we often went out with them to act as bodyguards and avoid trouble.

As a result, we often received jealous looks from our classmates and were pestered with questions like, "Who are you dating?" and "Can you introduce us?"

Of course, we didn't let such things change how we interacted with our friends, so we just kept our distance from the annoying ones.

"True, I'm worried about those two, but what about the others? Weren't there some girls you used to have lunch with?"

"Hmm, well, about that..."

As I mentioned earlier, Haruka is also cautious, like Yuki.

While she got along well with most of the class, being friendly and helpful, she didn't let many people get too close.

She was a good listener and genuinely helpful, but she could also be quite lazy.

She would help to a certain extent but wouldn't go out of her way for most people.

She kept her public and private life separate, and outside of school, she probably only kept in touch with Yuki and Natsuki, besides us.

So, it's understandable that she doesn't care much about the others, even if she doesn't say it outright.

"What about Naoto and the others? Don't you want to look for them?"

"Friends... Well, to be honest, I don't think it's worth going out of our way to find them in this situation."

"Yeah, there's not much reason to risk our lives to find them."

"Ugh... I'm sorry."

When Haruka apologized awkwardly, we quickly shook our heads.

"No, no, our situation is different. Our friends are guys. They can take care of themselves, right?"

"Yeah, we don't have any obligation to help them. Everyone is in the same situation, after all."

"Yuki and Natsuki are girls and friends, so I want to help them too, just like Haruka."

Well, to be honest, we don't have any friends we'd want to help in this situation, at least not among our classmates.

"But why now?"

"There are a few reasons, but first, they probably aren't in this town of Raphan."

"Right."

In the past half month, we've gathered information from Diora and searched the town during our free time.

We weren't desperate, but we didn't find any information about Yuki and Natsuki.

We did find a few people who looked like our classmates, but they didn't seem to be close friends, so we avoided them to avoid trouble.

Of course, there's a chance we just mistook them for classmates or that they've changed so much we couldn't recognize them.

But if they were alive and living here, it's unlikely we wouldn't have found any information.

Given our suspicious backgrounds and the need to earn money, it would be hard to avoid using the adventurer's guild, whether for quests, day labor, or other jobs.

"Another reason is that even if they haven't adapted well, they can probably survive for a month."

In the worst case, they could survive on just water for a month.

But...

"They're tougher than that, right?"

"Right. Yuki, of course, and Natsuki too."

If they weren't, Haruka and we would be more worried.

We trusted that they could survive, which is why we focused on establishing our own base first.

"But if it's just the two of them, the problem is what happens in an emergency."

They could probably survive on the wages from day labor, but women would earn less than men, who could do more physically demanding jobs.

Of course, they could turn to less savory jobs, but we don't think they would, and we don't want to imagine them in that situation.

"If they don't have savings, it would be tough if one of them got sick. We could support each other if it were us."

"Right."

"To be honest, I could probably earn enough to cover the inn fees even if you two were sick."

"That's because Toya is a beastman."

Toya, in terms of labor, is worth more than two people.

That's not something most people can do.

"Even Toya would struggle to pay for medicine without savings. That's why I want to find them soon."

"Of course, I don't object, but do you have any leads?"

"The place we first transferred to was the eastern grasslands from this town. Further east is a riverside town called Saarstadt. I think we were probably transferred to that town or the surrounding area."

"---What about the possibility that they were transferred to the surrounding area of this town?"

"Of course, that's possible. But compared to the other directions, east is the safest. If we're counting on the evil god's kindness—"

"If they were transferred to the southern forest, they would have died immediately."

Even we, who are somewhat adapted, haven't ventured into the southern forest as Diora advised.

For someone with no preparation, it would be even more dangerous.

While the evil god's intentions are unclear, it's unlikely they would transfer us to a place where we would die immediately. So, Haruka's guess isn't far off.

"To be more precise, if they're not in this town or Saarstadt, their survival is in question..."

She sighed, her expression darkening.

If they haven't been in Raphan or the surrounding area for over half a month, they are either dead or survival experts.

"The road to Saarstadt isn't dangerous. It should take about half a day to get there."

"Okay. How about we spend today preparing and resting, and leave early tomorrow morning?"

"Agreed. Haruka, you haven't had a proper rest in days, right?"

"It's because of Toya. He made too much dried meat. What are we going to do with it, anyway?"

"Ugh, sorry."

I pointed to the barrels stacked in the corner.

The dried meat had reduced in volume, but there were still several barrels.

There were also two large burlap bags of dried Dindel.

It was more than we could carry.

"That's fine. I've negotiated with the father to lend us a storage space."

"Wow, Haruka, you're amazing!"

After getting the barrels for the salted meat, Haruka had become a bit closer to the father.

He still didn't talk much, but he would give us a little extra at meals and offer some discounts.

It was a subtle change, but it felt like we had become a bit closer.

---Maybe a bit too subtle?

"The only other thing is to let Diora know we're leaving the town for a bit."

"We don't need much preparation. How about we spend the day sightseeing in the town? We're in another world, after all."

"Agreed! We haven't really explored much of the town, have we?"

We had run through the town for training and to look for classmates, but we hadn't had the chance to leisurely explore.

"True. We have some extra money, so a bit of shopping might be nice?"

Haruka's face brightened a bit at our suggestion.

The relaxed atmosphere she exuded wasn't just my imagination.

"Money is life," but with our current financial stability, a little luxury wouldn't hurt.

We could afford a day off.

Yeah, it's fine. No problem.

"Alright! Let's go!"

As Toya stood up enthusiastically, Haruka and I followed suit.