13. For the time being, Give me some drink
The next morning in my new house, I was greeted by a pain in my whole body.
Far from alleviating muscle pain throughout the body, the pain is actually increasing.
When I think this will continue for the next few days, I feel depressed.
From now, I have to take action while paying attention to physical labor.
Even so, it’s so painful. I don’t know if I’ve ever had this kind of muscle pain in the past.
But still, I need to wake up. I have to get as much knowledge as possible about this city.
After I turning over while in bed for a few times, I sluggishly wake up.
Enduring the pain, I stretch lightly.
There was a men’s clothes among the equipments that Illias told me to use freely, so I borrowed it.
It is not flashy, low-key in color, it’s not bad.
Hmm, according to the people talk, black hair and black eyes peculiar to Japanese people are rare.
I don’t think there are things like colored contact lens, so I give up doing something my eyes. There was just a nice cloth that can be used on my head, so I wrapped it around my head like a headband.
This will make me less standing out in here, I guess.
Well, it’s time to go exploring the country.
“Hey! Cheap, It’s cheap! Freshly picked vegetables! It’s cheap!”
“How about a freshly grilled skewers!?”
“Look at my muscles!”
The market is vibrant.
Wait, the last one is a bit strange.
Oil the whole body, it seems someone with gleaming muscles doing some performance.
His body is really good, but doing something like that from morning, I bet his chest will burn.
Then I throw copper coins into the basket on the ground, I continue to my stroll through the market.
What I found out is that there are no paper money in this country. Some countries may issue their own paper money, but most countries trade in coins.
If I compare the coin with japanese currency. Copper coins are 100 yen, silver coins are 1,000 yen, and gold coins are 10,000 yen. There seems to be higher value coin, but let’s check it next time.
I have one gold coin, ten silver coins and fifty copper coins, means around 25,000 in yen.
The lowest price in the market is, of course, one copper coin, but some items are too expensive to sold at one copper coin.
It seems that such items are mainly sold in bundles for one copper coin.
There seems to be a concept of a decimal number, for example each of this vegetable is a 0.5 copper coins, and each of that vegetable is 0.2 copper coins. There are also places where you can choose to buy until it count as one copper coin in total.
Food itself is basically cheap if you look for something cheap.
If it is already cooked, it’s around one to five copper coins.
I decided to eat skewers for my breakfast.
As usual, salt is not used, but instead the spicy spice is in good balance with the fat.
If I converted the monetary sense into Japanese yen, everything matches reasonably well. I’m a bit thankful for this.
The next place to look is a restaurant, but nowhere is open in the morning.
The lunch place will be open at noon, but if I’m not looking for it properly, it may take some time.
After finishing the walk, language study is waiting.
Should I buy meals for lunch and dinner at the food stall too? I can’t cook myself for now because I do not know the ingredients of this world.
“Wakyan!“
I heard some weird whine from behind. Looking back, I saw a girl is falling grandly.
Ingredients that I believed to have been purchased are rolling around.
The person lifted the egg with both hands, but the face thrusting into the ground.
Fortunately, there are only few egg. Anyway, Let’s help that person collect the other ingredients.
“Are you ok? I collected the stuff.”
“Ouch! Eh, Ah! Thank you!”
She’s a cute girl with bright reddish-brown wavy hair, her age seems around Illias.
The nose was red due to the impact of falling down, and it seemed very painful, her eyes a bit teary, but thankfully no injury.
Even so, it’s a great amount of shopping.
It seems that it was put in a basket-like object made of woven tree bark, but suddenly it’s brutally broken, it seems the basket just finished its life span.
“Well, it will be hard to carry it all yourself. So, let me help you. Hmm, until where do I need to carry this?”
“Eh! Really? I’m saved!”
Should I split the stuff half-half with her? But, to carry it without any bag is a bit hard.
I look the surrounding, searching whether there’s anyone selling baskets or not…. Hmm… There is.
“Wait a moment.”
Said that, then I bought a large and sturdy basket.
It’s a basket that you can carry in your back, the price is one silver coin.
“Put all inside this.”
“You bought it on purpose!?”
“If you keep staying in the middle of the road, you will get in the other’ way. Hurry up, Let’s go.”
“O, Ok!”
Saying so, we put it all in basket as fast as possible.
I ask the girl to carry the fragile ingredient like eggs.
It’s unexpectedly heavy. Even though I decided not to do physical labor… but, It will be awkward if I say I don’t want to carry the basket now.
I hold my body pain as carrying the basket.
“Really, I’m saved! Thanks! Ah, My name is Saira. And you?”
“I’m just a passing by old man.”
“Pfft, Old man? Don’t make me laugh!”
Then I told her my age.
“L, Liieee!?”
“It’s the truth. Setting a side how you may look, you still have to keep some dignity, right?”
“No, not really… Ah, Don’t mind it, I’m sorry!”
Hey hey, it might not like a knight, but still!
I know Illias are much more dignified. Let’s ask her how to make me look more dignified next time.
“Hmm, mister? I’ve never seen your face around here before.”
“It because I came to Tiez a few days ago. Today, I plan to see around the city to remember it.”
“I see. I’m a waitress at an establishment nearby. Please come by!”
“As long as the food taste delicious”
“Hmm… Then, you can’t.”
“Hey, so the taste is bad?”
I have Saira guide me fro about 10 minutes. And arrived at one establishment.
By the atmosphere, Is it a tavern?
“This is my establishment, ‘The Dog’s Bone’!”
“This place name… can’t you think a bit harder for the name?”
“Shut up! Don’t complain about other people place!”
My conversation was interrupted by A big man who is around 2 meters high. There is a big scar in his face.
Hey, isn’t he a ruffian!? Thankfully I get used seeing a bandit face, or else I might frightened!
“Saira, This is my place, not yours!”
“Um, But Manager, I’m working here, so it’s no problem to count it as my place, right?”
“It’s a problem! Anyway, who’s this guy, huh?”
I told him the whole story. By the way, this big guy, His name is Gozz.
“I see. I’m sorry for the trouble this child gave to you. Let me pay the basket’ money back.”
“No need, just give me some food to eat.”
“I open noon too but right now I’m still preparing the ingredients. So, I can’t serve it right away.”
“It’s okay, I plan to eat when its time for lunch.”
“I see. Well, you can wait here until noon, you can come back here later.”
“Then let me help for a bit. Saira, after you finish this, could you tell me more about this city?”
“Okay-!”
Maybe this is fate, so let’s hear a lot of stuff from her.
Gozz is doing cooking preparation in the kitchen, while Saira clean the place.
There is a faint smell of alcohol in the air.
“Even after the night work is over, I do some rough cleaning. But still, the alcohol smell…”
“It’s better than a vomit smell. Let’s finish it quickly.”
I help her cleaned up promptly. Then while ventilating the place, it’s time to have some talk.
I asked Saira about the types of shops in the city, the population, the proportion of the officials, etc.
As expected, there are no such things as big supermarkets and convenience stores, but it seems that there are various clothing stores such as shoe stores, hat stores, blacksmith stores, armor stores, and there’s also a medicinal plants stores.
It seems that some bookstores sell magic books, so after I learn the letters, let’s check it out.
Basically, anyone can visit any place, but some place can’t be entered without some degree of identification.
That’re libraries, barracks, quarters, or in short, dedicated facilities used by national officers and knights.
Of course, It’s not good for the ordinary people to get close to a prison.
It seems there was a case where a ordinary person was put in jail and that person asked to be put in again. Let’s forget it. [Tn: that person is our MC, lol]
“By the way, I was curious, why did Saira be a waitress at this place?”
“Well, I want to open a clothing store in the future, so I’m saving money for that. But I can’t work everyday, I need to study too. I got 3 day off a week, but when it’s my work day, I usually work for noon and night.”
“Is this place even make a lot of profit?”
“At noon, no customer coming, but at night It’s quite crowded with people who want to drink.”
Hmm, in other words, I can’t expect much for my lunch.
Anyway, anything will do as long as I get hungry, and at least I can count it as a payment for the basket.
“Then, when holiday, you are studying how to make clothes?”
“Yeah, I went to various shops to look at clothes, then I buy cloth and use it for trial. But still, my skill is not yet…”
“Don’t you want to be an apprentice in a clothing store?”
“Of course I want, but It’s not easy to be an apprentice at a shop that proud with their work.”
It seems she asked some shops, but were refused.
Even so, to say that taking an apprentice means that they search someone to succeed the store in the future.
If they help any people grow, they will just increase a rival in the future.
There is something like a learning hall, but it is a place where people with a certain level of high-class can go, even if you can go, the thing you can learn is something high-class. And of course, There’s no school which one can learn specialized knowledge such as clothing design.
It means that to become an owner of clothing store in the future, you will need to be a successor of a store or learn it all by yourself.
However, the latter choice will have financial and technical difficulties.
No, it just that you will struggling a lot to move forward.
“It’s a difficult road.”
“I know, but it’s fine because I have fun.”
“Of course you are. Otherwise you already given up.”
“Ehehe-“
Ugh, Her smile so dazzling.
When I compare it with my life right now, it’s unbearable! I need to do something quickly! The inferiority complex is killing me!
“Speaking of which, you’ve just came to this city, right? How are you doing with lodging?”
“Ah, a kind knight’s let me stay in her house, the house have some available room to use.”
“Wow, you know a knight!? You’re not actually a person with high status, right?”
“Of course not. I just happen to have the opportunity to help her. I know her from that, anyway now, I’m jobless.”
“I see. I hope you find a job soon. By the way, the knight who is taking care of you is from which corps?”
“She is Illias Ratzel from Ragdo Corps.”
“WHAT!?”
Just exactly when Gozz show his face harmonize with Saira.
I see, the relationship in this workplace seems to be good.
“Y,you mean that Lady Illias?”
“I don’t know if there are other with that name, but she is the one who mow down the forest with one swing of a sword, a Gori… I mean a female knight. Is she famous?”
“Is she famous!? To the who don’t know her in this country, What’s wrong with them! Are they living under a rock!?”
What kind of citizen living under a rock.
Hmm, She was the only woman in the oldest corps led by Lord Ragdo, of course she would be famous right? She has a good look, but I think her absurd power is more famous.
“Lady Illias is an amazing person who won the swordsmanship competition held in this Tiez Kingdom!”
“Beating a knights, who confidence with their swordsmanship skill, bare hands. She’s truly a Legend!”
Hey, It’s a swordsmanship competition! If I’m the referee she’ll be disqualified.
As expected, Isn’t she a Gorilla?
“Yeah, Grandpa Kara and the other old knights were strong, but Illias was exceptional.”
“Grandpa Kara? Hm.. Do you mean Lord Karagyugjesta Domitorkofkon!?”
Whey she could remember his full name. Even if I see my note, I still can’t spell his full name.
“Certainly, I think he’s an old man with that kind of name.”
“Lord Karagyugjesta is called ‘Spear God’, He is one of five master of the spear among the Knights of Tiez. The tale of how he shot down a Wyvern in the sky by throwing a helmet down is the bravery that even adventurers still talk about.”
Hey! Throw the spear! or at least use a weapon!
Maybe calling him ‘Helmet God’ is better!
“Well, that person rarely appears on the front line. You can see when he fight, you’re really lucky you know! All the knights of the Ragdo corps are super-class knights!”
I can not say. That I asked the knights from Ragdo corps to help me doing some desk work, Even more I used Grandpa Kara as a surprise sniper. If I say all of that, I might get attacked by their follower here.
“You also saw when Illias fight!? It was amazing, right!?”
“Yeah, That was amazing. She grabbed a mallet that was bigger than herself with bare hands, and crushed it. When I saw that I can’t believe that we are in the same human race.”
“Wooow!”
For the time being, I decided to talk about the first raid base attack.
The knight two fans were listening to the story, clenching their hands with sweat.
“Did you mean that you helped with the bandit subjugation this time?”
“You can count it like that. It’s not like I can fight, so it was like giving some directions or something like that.”
“Hmm, I see. I want to see that too, Lady Illias figure when she fight!”
“The battle was good. But a lot of thing happened, like the one in command that supposedly her was taken by other knight corps.”
Two people suddenly have dark faces. Maybe I shouldn’t have said that.
“I see… As expexted, there was something like that.”
“In the Ragdo corps, she was highly evaluated, but the treatment from the other knights was unpleasant.”
“Right. Lady Illias is strong and amazing, but sadly, there are many people who say badly about her.”
“For those who think the knight is a symbol of a man, the strength that Illias have, has been the subject of hatred.”
“Disliked by men, feared by women. Is it like that?”
“But, but! Not everyone like that! There’s a person who really supports her!”
“When anyone see the two people in front of me, anyone would know it.”
“Right, That’s right.”
Discrimination against Illias is not limited to knights, but to the citizens too.
Even so, there’re person who feel admiration to her.
The sight of the other day’s battle passes through my head.
That’s right. You can’t help being fascinated by when you saw such strength.
“Well, don’t worry. Although Illias was deprived from the right to command, she caught the head of a bandits leader. So, It’s definitely her that put an end to this case.”
“I see, I see!”
“Hehe, that’s good to hear! Now, It’s time for lunch, I’ll be making one, please wait!”
Gozz and Saira is happy hearing that story.
Illias, you should be happy. There’s someone who truly praise and appreciate you.
No one is appreciated by everyone.
Even just by a few people, It is the greatest honor to be truly appreciated.
Maybe you’re mostly accused by people for now, but I’m sure the time when they understand your value will come.
Right, I’ll bring you here next time.
“…”
“Ah, as expected, Is it bad?”
“This place’s food almost never sold. If it’s alcohol, I have confidence in it!”
I should bring her only after the quality of food in this place has improved.
