Chapter 8

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

We successfully registered at the Adventurer's Guild without any issues.

Yuu gave us a brief explanation of the guild.

After returning from the Adventurer's Guild to our inn, we each took a short rest on our beds.

We had a rough idea of what we would be doing from tomorrow.

While the situation wasn't exactly optimistic, we realized that if we worked diligently every day, we could manage to eat without having to sleep outdoors, which was a step forward.

Of course, there was always the possibility of getting sick and being unable to work, and we would need to gradually increase our earnings.

"Still, was it okay for Haruka to share a room with us?"

"Eh? What? Toya, are you planning to assault me?"

Haruka turned to Toya with an expression of disbelief. However, her relaxed cheeks suggested she was joking.

Toya, of course, understood this and responded with a wry smile.

"No, that's not it. Even with childhood friends, you should be a bit considerate, right?"

"Well, that's understandable, considering we don't have money. We'll just have to be patient and considerate of each other... Ah, but..."

Haruka shrugged and hesitated, trailing off.

"Hmm? What is it? If you have something to say, just say it clearly."

We were already under stress from being in a different world.

It would be better to address any grievances now rather than letting them build up and explode later.

"Um... try to avoid generating your own electricity as much as possible?"

"Generating... electricity...? Wh-What!?"

It was more awkward to say than she had imagined!

"No, but, you know, it builds up, right? I don't want you to explode from holding it in... If you tell me, I can go out for a while..."

She averted her gaze and blushed slightly as she spoke, but it was painful to be understood in such a way!

Even as childhood friends, it was impossible to say, "I'm going to do something, so please leave the room for a bit."

Toya and I exchanged awkward glances and cleared our throats.

"Regarding that, it would be nice if you could pretend not to notice when you do notice, okay?"

Boys can be quite sensitive about these things.

"Right, right! I'll try to be natural!"

Haruka said this a bit flustered, but I doubt she could manage it. That's just Haruka.

"But, one thing! You can't go to those kinds of places! Diseases are extremely dangerous!"

"...Yeah, STDs are dangerous. There have been various historical incidents."

Like syphilis, which was distributed around the world during the Age of Exploration and even brought to Japan.

While the same diseases might not exist here, there is still a risk of some form of STD, even with the [Tough] skill.

"Especially you, Toya! No cute beast girls, okay?"

"I'm not going! I want to admire them! I want a cute wife! Not just a physical thing!!"

"Is that so? That's good. By the way, beast people don't have heat cycles, so you can relax about that."

Toya nodded, looking a bit taken aback.

Yeah, talking about this kind of thing with the opposite sex is always awkward.

Let's change the subject.

"Anyway, what did you think about what we heard at the guild?"

We didn't discuss it on the way back because we were worried about being overheard, but it had been on our minds.

It was a bit of a forced topic change, but it seemed no one wanted to continue the previous conversation, so they quickly got on board.

"You mean the incident where someone died? Hmm, a poisoning case? No, they said there were no traces. Maybe magic, since it's a different world?"

Toya scratched his head and said something off the mark with a serious face.

Did you even listen to our initial explanation?

"No, logically, it's probably one of our classmates. They used [Skill Steal] and their lifespan ran out, right?"

"Ah, right, there was that dangerous skill... I'm glad I didn't take it. If I had 200 points, I probably would have."

He clapped his hands and said this with a carefree attitude.

He really didn't remember clearly.

This was a very important topic, wasn't it? Maybe he didn't read the explanation of that dangerous skill?

"According to the guild lady, it seems that 4 or 5 people have died so far?"

"Right... How many people do you think took it?"

[Skill Steal] is one of the cheat skills, alongside experience point multipliers.

It costs 80 points, and our initial points were 120, 150, and 200.

If the initial points were based on physical ability or academic performance, I'd say we were above average.

Considering this, I think most people probably had at least 80 points.

So, if they wanted to, everyone could have taken it.

"Maybe half of them took it? It's such a cheat skill, and the boys would probably like it."

"Hmm, that's half of Toya's guess. But I think it's a bit less."

"There was also [Skill Copy], right? If they had a bit of extra points, they might have taken that instead. People who don't want to stand out or cause trouble to others."

"True, there were also experience point multipliers, [Charm], [Hero/Heroine Qualities], and other skills that required a lot of points but sounded good. Maybe fewer people took it than we think..."

It also depends on how thoughtful the people were.

From the Evil God's statement, about a quarter of the class probably imagined a "whole class transferred to another world" scenario.

So, they likely read light novels and thought about cheat skills like [Skill Steal] and experience point multipliers.

Whether they found the Evil God's words or the [Help] skill suspicious based on the required points and other factors...

And we don't know how people who didn't have that knowledge made their characters.

They might not have taken [Help] just because they didn't know better.

"Short-term, [Skill Steal] seems advantageous, but long-term, experience point multipliers might be better. But all of them are dangerous. Other additional skills might not cause immediate death like [Skill Steal], but they're still risky."

"[Hero/Heroine Qualities] is basically just a troublemaker. Without the ability to handle problems, it's just bad luck."

"Um, does [Charm] work on us? It sounds troublesome."

Some of the dangerous skills not only affect the user but also those around them.

Honestly, I don't want to get close to them, and it seems Haruka feels the same way.

"It might seem heartless, but let's try to avoid interacting with our classmates as much as possible. I can only imagine trouble if we get involved."

"But is that okay? You might have friends among them."

"I'm worried about Yuki and Nazuki... But we haven't joined up with them yet, and our safety and that of our childhood friends come first. I hope my friends didn't take [Charm]... I really hope not. They were talking about otome games, so they probably didn't."

Haruka sighed and shrugged.

We're also worried about Yuki and Nazuki, who are good friends, but we don't have the luxury to search for them now. We can only hope they survive.

"Guys might take it too, talking about harems. From the description of [Charm], it seems like it would just produce yandere and stalkers."

I have some desire to be popular, but after reading that description, I definitely don't want [Charm].

"It's dangerous enough in a safe country like Japan, but stalkers in a different world are terrifying. Kidnapping and imprisonment could be common."

"Even if it's a crime, it's hard to be discovered if we have suspicious backgrounds and just disappear."

If it's not discovered, it's not a crime.

Without a complainant, there won't be an investigation.

"In a game, you can enjoy even dangerous jobs or skills, but in reality..."

"In a way, our classmates are literally landmines. We don't know their skill compositions, so we don't know if they're dangerous, and we might get caught in their explosions."

"Toya, you have a way with words. It's a bit insensitive, though."

"But you agree, right? [Hero Qualities] is basically a 'Stay away! Danger!!' sign."

"Even if they're from the same hometown, I can't risk my life for just a classmate. I hope they find happiness far away."

It's a harsh way of putting it, but I agree. Toya and I nodded deeply.

We're not saints who can help others selflessly.

"Actually, how many do you think will survive, Haruka?"

"Maybe half after a month? It could be fewer depending on where they were transferred. Not everyone might have ended up near this city. There are also other dangerous skills and races, so people who chose them lightly..."

Hmm. We have friends among our classmates, but a lot of them might die. It's hard to grasp the reality of it.

If someone dies in front of us, we might be shaken, but...

"Well, careful people who took [Help] and serious people who didn't think about cheats will probably survive, so we'll have opportunities to interact with them eventually."

"You're not going to actively search for and protect them, then?"

"We're not in a position to protect others, either."

True.

We don't have the luxury to help others. We barely have a proper weapon, just a wooden sword that's more like a club.

We're not even in a private room at the inn.

We're relaxed because we're with childhood friends, but if we were with other classmates, we'd be more on edge.

"Also... are there slaves?"

"That's a bit complicated. They're basically banned in this region, but..."

The phrasing seems off.

I frowned, and Haruka waved her hands in denial.

"No, there's no slave hunting. Kidnapping is a crime, if you get caught. But there might be situations that are practically the same as slavery, even if not officially."

The term "slave" has many forms in Earth's history.

Some were just hired workers, while others were treated worse than animals.

"Even in Japan, 100 years ago, there were tenant farmers and people sold by pimps from rural areas."

Sadly, in times of poverty, there were even cases of reducing the number of mouths to feed.

"Right, before the World Wars, European colonies were practically slave-like."

"Unless everything is absolutely forbidden, it would be after basic social security and poverty measures are in place."

Of course, kidnapping and enslaving people is absolutely unacceptable, but there is a history of slave systems being used as a form of social security.

Starvation, crime, or slavery. That's what a lack of social security means.

"I see. What about us?"

"As long as we don't accumulate debt or get involved in crime, we'll be fine."

"Then we're safe! We're well-behaved!"

"Only if you're not tricked. You don't have common sense here, so be very careful. You might not even know what's a crime, especially you, Toya!"

"Eh? I'm cautious!"

He sounded resentful, but which mouth was he using to say that?

His offended expression was already untrustworthy.

He was already a bit reckless, and he's been even more so since coming to this world.

I haven't missed how he's been following every beast person with his eyes as we walk through the city.

"You might go wild over beast ears."

"Ugh. I can't deny that..."

It seems Haruka agreed with me.

And Toya himself seemed to be aware of this issue...

"Report, communicate, consult! Remember Hō-Ren-Sō! At the very least, always, always consult!"

Haruka emphasized this with a serious expression, and we nodded sincerely.