Chapter 4

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

When Shouji arrived in the other world, he found his childhood friends Yū and Tomoya by his side.

They confirmed that everything was in order and checked each other's skills.

"---Huh? Don't I have more skills than you?"

Tomoya tilted his head in confusion.

"Yeah, you do. I have more than you... Yū, how many points did you have?"

It was clearly a lot more.

I don't remember the exact points required for each skill, but I think my points wouldn't be enough.

"Points? I had 200."

Yū said this casually.

---What? 200?

"Huh!? I only had 120!?"

"I had 150... Is there really such a difference in our stats?"

"You're lucky! I had nearly double that!"

Indeed, Yū's grades were better than mine, and his appearance was also excellent.

He was good at sports and had great communication skills...

But seeing the numbers laid out like this... it's a bit discouraging.

"No, no, this is just that evil god's personal bias! It doesn't mean you're worth less as humans than me!"

"Value as humans..."

"Almost half..."

Seeing us dejected, Yū, perhaps in a panic, tried to console us, but it felt more like a final blow.

Tomoya looked particularly gloomy.

"Don't worry, don't worry! You can level up your skills from now on! Here, Shou, it's your turn!"

Realizing she might have overdone it, Yū patted my back and urged me on.

"Ah, yeah... something like this."

Despite feeling a bit uneasy, I displayed my status.

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【Help】 【Spear Talent】 【Magic Aptitude - Time and Space]

【Spear Mastery Lv.2】 【Evasion Lv.1】 【Toughness Lv.2】

【Eagle Eye Lv.1】 【Stealth Lv.1】 【Scouting Lv.1】

【Insight Lv.2】 【Trap Knowledge Lv.1】 【Time and Space Magic Lv.2】

【Fire Magic Lv.1】

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I thought my skill setup was pretty good, but after seeing Yū's, it felt a bit underwhelming.

I want to think Yū's is just too high.

It's not like I'm way below the other classmates, right?

I had more than Tomoya, but considering the presence or absence of the 【Help】 skill, the usable points are almost the same.

"Hmm. Shou, you seem like a middle guard? As expected..."

"Huh, really? You thought about it?"

"Of course. I thought Tomoya would be a front-liner and Shouji would be a middle guard, so I took support skills."

Yeah... you're right, but it would have been nice if you said something like 'front-liner' or 'all-rounder'.

It's hard to complain since I didn't think about it at all.

"Well, we ended up with a good balance of front, middle, and back. So, let's head to the town quickly."

"---By the way, Yū, you took the skill 【Common Sense of Another World]. Is there something urgent?"

"It's not dangerous here, but humans can be killed by boars, even with skills. We should verify things in a safe place first."

"Yeah, I've heard of people getting seriously injured or even killed by boars in the news."

"I've also heard that humans can't match a cat when it gets serious. Is that true?"

Indeed, catching a running cat is quite difficult. Thinking about that, what Tomoya said doesn't seem entirely wrong.

Besides, we're unarmed.

Our clothes are (probably) in the style of this world, but that's it.

"Hey, let's move before we talk! Shou, you have the skill 【Eagle Eye], right? Can you see any town?"

Urged on, I looked around again, but all I saw was a grassland and a forest.

There was no sign of a town, but in the distance, I saw what might be a road.

"I can't see a town, but there's a road in that direction."

"No town, huh. But it's better than nothing... Let's head that way."

"Okay."

We walked in the direction I pointed for about ten minutes.

We came across a road about three meters wide.

It was a simple road, slightly elevated and compacted, but it was clearly a man-made path.

"It seems to be a highway. Now, which way should we go... which one?"

Yū looked around and asked us, but I had no idea either.

"I can't see any town in either direction... If we were higher, we might be able to see, but there are no trees around here..."

The road continued to the horizon.

Speaking of which, the horizon seems far away, but on Earth, it's only about 5 kilometers away...

The distance can vary depending on the planet's size, so it might not be the same here.

"Alright, Shou, how about this? Let's try that thing."

While I was thinking about this, Tomoya grinned and suddenly suggested something.

"What thing?"

"Like, I'll crouch down, and you'll step on my hands and I'll throw you up. We couldn't do it before, but with these bodies, we might be able to."

Ah, I've seen that in manga and anime, where they use it to climb walls.

I think my weight is lighter now, and Tomoya, being a beastman, probably has more strength.

But...

"---No, no, I think that might end up being a weird German suplex. Can you really throw me straight up without practice?"

"That's true... but maybe—"

"Stop it. What if you get hurt?"

Yū, who was twisting her neck and checking her throwing form, was stopped by Yū with a pat on the head.

"Let's try this: Shou, get on Tomoya's shoulders. You should be able to see a few kilometers from there."

"I agree. I don't want to get hurt right away."

"Aw, I wanted to try it once."

Despite his disappointment, Yū glared at him, and he quickly smiled and braced himself, saying, "Okay, come on!"

"Alright."

Using Tomoya's hands as a step, I climbed onto his shoulders.

He was surprisingly sturdy, and with my improved physical abilities, I stood up without wobbling.

"Let's see... can I see anything...?"

In front of me... nothing. Behind me... hmm? A wall, maybe?

"How's it looking?"

"I can see something that looks like a wall in that direction."

I pointed to the direction of the wall as I climbed down from Tomoya.

"Thanks. Did you see anything else?"

"No, no problem. It felt like a shoulder massage. My physical abilities have definitely improved."

Tomoya brushed off the dirt from his shoulder and replied.

"Tomoya, you too. I feel different, so we need to investigate."

"Right. We also have magic. But let's head to the town first. We don't want to camp out, right?"

"Yeah. We don't have any food, and it would be tough."

Following Yū's words, we started walking with Tomoya in the lead.

According to Yū, the road near a town isn't very dangerous, but we were cautious, with the toughest Tomoya in front and Yū, who can supposedly heal, at the back.

"---So, if Shou could see from Tomoya's shoulders, that means the town is probably more than 5 kilometers but less than 7 or 8 kilometers away, right? On Earth, at least."

"Is that so? You're impressive, Yū. A genius isn't just for show! I wouldn't know that at all!"

Tomoya laughed and said this, and Yū sighed.

"Tomoya, don't boast about things you shouldn't. Besides, I didn't do the math in my head. I just remembered that the horizon is about 5 kilometers away, and even if you double your height, you can't see 1.5 times further."

That's a piece of trivia, but remembering it is impressive enough.

No wonder a 200-point girl is different. ...I'm not jealous, really.

"Well, if that's the case, we should arrive in about 2 hours."

"Right. ---By the way, Shou and Tomoya, do you have anything with you?"

"Huh? As you can see, just my body."

"Same here?"

I turned around while walking and spread my hands.

I was wearing a simple, homemade-looking outfit made of thick fabric, and I had no luggage.

"Or do we have an inventory or something?"

Tomoya said this hopefully, but Yū shook her head.

"No, it's not in my 'Common Sense.' There are magic bags that can hold a lot of things, but they're very expensive. I mean, pockets, pockets. Your clothes have pockets, right?"

Checking my clothes as Yū suggested, I found pockets on my pants.

Putting my hand in, I pulled out a few coins. They were about the size and thickness of a 100-yen coin.

"Money, right? 1, 2... 10 coins."

"Hey, I have the same!"

Tomoya showed the same coins on his hand, and Yū nodded in confirmation.

"Right, the same as me. These are large silver coins. In terms of value here, they're probably around... 1,000 yen each? It varies by item, but in local currency, 100 rea."

I see. So these are worth about 10,000 yen in total.

"These clothes and the money, did the evil god give them to us? Typical of the evil god to give us 10,000 yen and send us off. The additional skills were pretty bad, too."

The additional skills were harsh, but I guess it's the fault of those who asked for skills beyond their level. Still, it feels a bit like a trap.

"Really? I think it's quite generous. The clothes fit well, and the money is enough to buy necessities and stay in a town. And it's for the whole class, 32 people. Would you give 320,000 yen and clothes to someone you just met, Tomoya?"

When put that way, it does sound like a very kind person (??).

After all, he brought us back to life.

"Well, I guess so, but he's a god, right? If he were really kind, he wouldn't have set up traps."

"What do you expect from a god? Most gods in myths are selfish. The main god in Greek mythology would be a terrible sex offender if he were human."

That's true.

Those myths are pretty harsh.

In a way, there are fewer normal gods.

Compared to that, these traps seem like light jokes.

Dying from a joke is no laughing matter, but the opponent is a god...

"Besides, there were useful additional skills if you didn't aim too high."

"Really? Besides the 【Help] skill?"

"Yes. My 【Common Sense of Another World] is also an additional skill."

"Oh, right. I was going to ask about that. I didn't notice it."

I thought I checked everything at first.

"It was added when I wished for it during character creation. That's probably why."

"I see. I stopped checking after I got the 【Help] skill and saw the additional skills."

"【Common Sense of Another World] is probably very important. You should ask me before doing anything. You don't want to stand out, right?"

That's true. Without Yū, we wouldn't even know the value of money.

Especially common knowledge is hard to ask about.

If we were in Japan and a passerby asked us about the value of coins, we'd probably take them to the police. That's common sense.

"Got it. Can we enter the town normally?"

"No. If the town has walls, you need to pay a tax. It varies by town, but it's usually around 100 rea. Also, residents and registered adventurers don't need to pay."

"Oh, there's an adventurer's guild! That's a given."

Tomoya turned around and said excitedly.

"Yes, there is. It's a given, but be careful! Fighting is strictly forbidden, even among adventurers. You'll be arrested and sent to jail. It's even stricter than fights among civilians."

So, there's no non-interference in conflicts among adventurers.

"Right, considering we have weapons. I've heard that in Japan, martial arts can lead to harsher penalties."

"Right. So, there won't be the usual guild registration drama."

Hey, why do you sound a bit disappointed, Tomoya?

"Our goal for now is to live a low-profile and stable life."

"Right. Don't forget what I just said!"

"Got it. Well, I'll eventually get a cat-eared wife!"

At Tomoya's unwavering statement, Yū and I chuckled.