I came to the city.
I followed the road in the opposite direction from Princess Helene and ended up in a town of some sort.
The city is surrounded by stone walls in a European style.
It’s as if the city walls are there to protect it from something.
As I came to the entrance of the city, I was stopped by armed soldiers.
There are two soldiers, equipped with simple armour and long spears.
「Stop! Where do you come from?」
「Eeh?」
「Answer me.」
The soldier thrust his spear at me.
「Let’s see, …… if you’re asking me where I’m from.」
I hesitated. They wouldn’t understand if I said Japan.
「Why won’t you answer me, why?」
「You’re wearing strange clothes that I’ve never seen before.」
「Suspicious little bastard.」
「Eeeeeeeeh」
That’s kind of to be expected, I guess. Sure, I’m wearing a full-length boiler suit●I guess you can say what I’m wearing seems weird.
……Aah but, it’s just a curiosity, isn’t it?
It’s a far cry from the outfits of the inhabitants of the city, let alone the soldiers.
The first people I met were a princess, a knight, and bandits.
These soldiers were the next ones I met.
So I didn’t even take notice that the clothes I wore were different from the average person.
Well, what should I do? …….
「If you don’t answer, then I’ll have to apprehend you…」
「Wait. Look at that.」
One of the soldiers tried to grab me, but the other one stopped him.
The person who stopped me pointed at my waist.
I looked to see what was going on, and there was the fan that Princess Helene had given me. I had it in my pocket, so the top half was showing.
「Aaah, you mean this?」
I took out a fan and opened it to show him.
I looked at the crest and it looked sort of significant.
「It’s the royal coat of arms! And a fan, which means it’s ……」
「Belonged to Her Highness, Helene? No, but I’m sure Her Highness doesn’t give gifts very often. It’s been rumoured that the Marquis of Knights asked for it when he was successful in battle, but he never received it.」
「But ……」
「No, but…」
The two soldiers began to whisper to each other.
If what they’re saying is true, this seems like a tremendously amazing thing.
I stared at the fan.
I remember the time it was given to me and the person who gave it to me.
Princess Helene. …….
「Excuse us.」
「──. W, what is it?」
The soldier’s call made me jump and I rushed to answer him.
「Would you allow me to test it to see if it’s real?」
Perhaps it was the fan, but the soldier was much more reserved than before.
「If it were genuine, it would be imbued with the magic of the royal family.」
「Um, ……, what do I do?」
「Excuse us.」
The soldier held his hand up towards the fan and chanted something.
Then, with a faint light emanating from the fan, the crest appeared in three dimensions.
「I, I’m sorry!」
「Please come through!」
Apparently, now he could tell it was real.
The two soldiers looked even more horrified, and holding up their spears, they struck an erect, unmoving pose.
I walked through the entrance.
Some of the residents near the entrance had seen the commotion and had turned into onlookers, watching me from afar.
「That’s Her Highness Helene’s」
「I heard it was real.」
「Which means that …… is someone close to Her Highness.」
「A new nobleman, perhaps.」
My hearing has improved, so I can hear the voices of the onlookers more clearly.
I feel really good.
It’s nice to feel good, but there are things I need to think about.
Clothing, food, and shelter.
It’s the basis of life.
I can make do with what I have for now (though I’ll have to buy new clothes in the near future), but food and shelter are very pressing issues.
To solve this problem ── I need money.
In other words, I have to make money.
I’m trying to figure out what to do about it.
「Move over, move over.」
A group of four people passed me from behind. The four of them were in a wagon, with a huge beast on the back.
The beast was limp and unmoving. I don’t even know if it’s alive or dead.
The group stopped in front of one of the buildings and rode inside with the entire carriage.
After a while, they came out.
「All right, now that we have the money, let’s go get a drink.」
「I haven’t had a drink in a long time, so I’m gonna have one tonight.」
And then he went off somewhere.
「Did he cash that one in?」
I wanted to know, so I walked towards the building and went inside.
Inside was the wagon and the beast from earlier. There were men doing the heavy lifting to get it down, and a man in charge.
I approached the man in charge and asked him.
「Excuse me.」
「Hmm, what is it? Are you another would-be hunter?」
「…… will you buy it from me if I hunt it down?」
It seemed like a quick conversation, so I decided to go along with it.
「Yeah, hunt down this mountain ox and I’ll buy it for a reasonable price.」
「Mountain Ox …… Is this an ox?」
I looked at the beast.
It certainly looks like an ox, but with its long mane and sharp tusks, it looks quite fierce.
To be honest, it doesn’t look like a herbivore, it looks like a carnivore.
「Are you alone? No offence, but if you don’t have anyone to help you, you shouldn’t do it. This guy is dangerous unless you have four or five skilled people or ten inexperienced people.」
「Is that so?」
Ah. The meat is incredibly tasty and delicious, but it is very dangerous to hunt. Well, that’s what I’m paying you for.」
「…… Can you tell me where I can find this guy for now?」
I said and asked where it was located.
The man told me to make sure I went with the right people to help me until the end, but I thought I could handle it.
Relying on the map the man had given me, I left the city and came to a nearby meadow.
There’s a meadow with a mountain nearby, and it looks like there’s a mountain ox around here somewhere. ……
「Whoa, there it is.」
I saw it in the distance.
To be precise, I saw a group of people in the middle of hunting mountain oxen.
The group consisted of six people, three in the vanguard and three in the rear.
「Either there’s already someone here, which means I’ ll have to go and find another one……」
That’s what I thought, so I left and tried to find another target.
「Uwaaaa!」
「Job! Damn you, how dare you Job!」
「Stop being so incompetent and thrusting in randomly!」
The voice I heard sounded very much like it was not going well.
I stop and stare at them.
Then, one by one, I saw them being knocked back by the mountain ox.
Eventually, the vanguard collapsed, and the mountain ox lurched toward the rear guard.
The rearguard that was being pressed was clearly timid.
「tsk」
I clicked my tongue and ran out.
I ran through the distance of about a hundred meters at once and tackled the mountain ox.
The mountain ox flew off but got back up.
It seems to be sturdier than humans.
I charged after him. I then punched the mountain ox in the side of its head.
It’s just a plain punch, but it’s a serious punch.
The mountain ox flailed, flew in the air, spinning like a drill, then fell back down, unable to get up.
I carried the mountain ox back to town (it was surprisingly light, probably because my arm strength had improved) and took it to the store I had just visited.
「Did you by any chance do this alone?」
「Aaah. It was a piece of cake.」
「That’s a big deal. Aaa, it definitely is.」
The man looked at me in admiration, then hurriedly took out a cloth bag and handed it to me.
Inside the bag was a large number of silver coins that I had never seen before. He took out the whole bag in a flash, so this is probably the market price.
「Hey, man, can you hunt this guy down on a regular basis? If you keep bringing them in, I’ll give you an extra ten percent on the purchase price.」
I was offered some pretty good terms.
「How regular is do you want it?」
「One every two days, preferably every day.」
「All right, I’ll try.」
「I’m counting on you.」
I nodded and walked away.
I found a job that was easy to figure out for now. I also got some money for the time being.
「After that, it’s …….」
I look up at the sky. Before I knew it, it was evening.
First, we need to find a place to stay tonight.