Player Name: Rudeus Greyrat.
Male, 19 years old.
Character Information & Equipment:
Job: Villager Lv 4, Mage Lv 4, Hero Lv 2.
(Unequipped: Monk Lv 1, Equestrian Lv 1.)
Equipment: Magic Staff Aqua Heartia.
Listlessly, I looked through my stats for the umpteenth time. I had been riding on this cart with Picker for a few hours now, and the constant rockiness is not treating my ass very well. Has anyone ever heard of tire suspension? In any case, while the scenery is pretty, it's doing nothing to entertain my internet-addicted brain. Essentially, I'm being bored to death.
Why am I riding on this cart, you might ask? Well, let me give you a quick rundown of the events that have taken place since that night. Although a week had already passed, I still shudder in spite of myself every time I think about it.
After waking up and feeling like the world's biggest scumbag, I somehow managed get up and do my morning routine. Thanks to the consistent exercise throughout the previous week, the hit of dopamine in my brain certainly helped me feel less horrible. Although, that didn't excuse what I did.
Ms. Tirihi's bleak expression that night will haunt me for as long as I live.
The morning following that night, I visited the Chief to let him know that I was alright, and had breakfast at his place. I think I would have rather somebody shoot me than face Ms. Tirihi again in that moment. There, I so happened to have run into the merchant that I rescued, Picker. After the usual pleasantries, we discussed some potential business.
Apparently, after I had nuked the bandit group from orbit with Meteor Crash, a few of them survived. Fearing death, they had immediately surrendered themselves. According to the laws of this land, it was perfectly legal to take them as slaves and commandeer their equipment.
Bandits have no rights in this world and were treated worse than slaves. As someone from modern Japan, I'm not sure how to feel about slavery, but social norms on an institutional level are out of my control.
Picker, who made frequent supply runs as the town's general merchant, was headed toward Vale, a nearby city, to sell the goods we obtained. During the week leading up to today, I recuperated my strength and trained in the woods, further refining my Stone Cannon. Despite my large pool of mana, I still needed extensive training in order to harness it. Surprisingly, though, I hadn't run into a single monster during this time—my Meteor Crash had apparently scared everything away.
All in all, we were able to salvage 3 healthy slaves and a small stockpile of swords and leather equipment. What's more, we were able to salvage another 10 Intelligence Cards.
Intelligence Cards in this world are a sort of absolute identification—by invoking a certain incantation, a holographic card will emerge from your wrist to display your identity, job, levels, etc. Upon death, these cards would be ejected from the body permanently. Naturally, all of the Intelligence Cards we had on us were from the bandits, so we were eligible to turn them into the Knights of Vale, a policing organization in the city of Vale, according to Picker. If any of the criminals had an outstanding bounty, we were able to claim the rewards.
On a side note, Picker negotiated with the Chief to offer me a very handsome share of the profit we were to make off of selling these goods. In light of the effort I contributed, I was to take half the share of the total payout. Although I felt that I had pretty much done all of the work defeating the bandits, I'll admit that I had caused them avoidable collateral damage. From this point forward, I'll limit myself to less destructive spells.
I don't think I'll ever touch Meteor Crash with a ten-foot-pole ever again. Besides, for the damage it does, the spell is way too mana inefficient. I'll run out of juice in only one or two casts, and I'd like to stay conscious for more than a few hours from now on.
Lastly, I made sure to thank the Chief and his family before I left at the end of the week.
Despite me being an outsider, they asked no questions and were extremely kind to me. When they tried to offer me a reward of 10 gold coins, I had to turn them down. They insisted they at least give me something, so I asked for new clothes instead. My tracksuit and shoes were torn to shreds during that fight earlier, and I'd really like clothes that fit in with the locals.
It just so happened that this town specialized in textiles, and I was given a new robe, pants, boots, and several pairs of underwear, socks, and tunics. Heck, they even threw in a backpack and cover for Aqua Heartia, all especially made for me.
Oh, and I haven't simply thrown my tracksuit and shoes away. Picker was kind enough to appraise them for free, and the nylon material that would be considered cheap in Japan apparently would sell for a lot of money here. I did what I thought was right, and as an apology, I hand-washed my bloodied clothes and left them on Ms. Tirihi's doorstep. I didn't have the guts to hand them over and apologize to her face-to-face.
That's enough recollection, alright.
During the fight with the kidnapper, remember how I beat him with my bare hands? Apparently, that satisfied a condition for the job Monk, which granted me access to the skill Medical Treatment. That was awfully convenient, as I was able to quickly treat my minor stab wounds. The skill didn't instantly heal my wounds, but it sure sped up the recovery time, which was a relief.
Even though I had been stabbed last week, my wounds were sealed, more or less. Honestly, I don't think I'll be able to level this job up much if it requires hand-to-hand combat; despite everything, I can't seem to stomach violence toward another person. I hope I wouldn't ever have to get into a fist fight again.
I'll equip Monk as a secondary job for now and hopefully it will accumulate experience as I do other things.
On the topic of violence, that exchange made me realize just how physically average I was. If I don't find a way to raise my other stats, I'll become too over-reliant on magic. I just might have to pick up sword-fighting as well. Thankfully, though, with each time I level up a job, I gain 1 more Bonus Point; I had a total of 106 now, counting the ones I've gained from leveling up. Ha… everything sure takes work, huh?
"Sir Greyrat, we're due to arrive shortly! I must say, we've had quite the smooth journey. It would not be uncommon to be stopped by a Gumi Slime or Slow Rabbit around these parts—it must be due to your Meteor Crash yesterday. You sure scared those buggers off! Hahaha!"
Just as I was lamenting my change in circumstance, the friendly Picker gave a hearty guffaw. Like he said, we soon entered the gates and arrived at the city of Vale.
While the city itself wasn't particularly impressive, the walls surrounding it certainly were. I was expecting some sort of epic fantasy construction, but the buildings of Vale were similar to that of stereotypical European villages. If someone showed me a picture of Vale back in Japan and told me that this was Holland or Germany, I would have totally believed them.
"We will first be going to the weaponsmiths and Knights of Vale headquarters, if you don't mind," Picker explained.
The slave-selling process seemed to be a bit of a hassle, so we decided to save that for last. We had arrived at Vale at around noon, and not an hour later we finished all of our business with the weaponsmiths. The Knights of Vale headquarters appeared to be closed when we arrived, so we had to take care of the slaves first after all.
As the horse-drawn carriage clomped to a halt on the stone-paved road, a young attendant opened the door to the establishment as if he were expecting us. The slave trading building itself was nothing like I'd imagined; it was well kept and clean, giving off the impression that it was a boarding school or the like more than anything else. There were no prison bars, foul stench, or crass slavers in gaudy outfits carrying whips.
"Welcome, Mr. Picker and his companion. Please come right this way. We have been expecting you."
Another attendant appeared seemingly from nowhere to take our carriage and unload the 'cargo' as Picker and I stepped into the building. We were led through a series of hallways before shown into a room.
I must say, for a slave-trading building, the owner of the place had surprisingly good taste in decoration. The comfort of the furniture was on par with the ones back in Japan, and the place was well lit. The room we were in seemed like a conducive place to have business discussion.
Not a minute later, a stern-looking man sporting a grey goatee walked into the room and took the seat opposite to Picker and I. His expression was firm, but underneath, one can instantly sense his kind demeanor through his soft eyes.
"Hello Mr. Picker, thank you for coming in today."
"Thank you for having me. This here is the hero of my village that brought in these crooks, Sir Rudeus Greyrat."
"It is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance."
"Ah, of course. My name is Alan, the owner of this slave trading establishment."
After a quick identify, I could tell that Alan was experienced in his trade. The man before me had the highest level I've seen so far—he had the job Slave Trader Lv 44. He scanned me over, as if he were judging my character, and continued our discussion.
"Mr. Picker, I received your runner earlier this week. My assistant had just confirmed the condition of the goods. Now, may I have the documents necessary for the sale?"
"Why of course. Here they are…"
For the next half an hour or so, Picker and Alan began to discuss the intricacies of the trade. I, as a civilized Japanese person who had never dealt in the slave trade before today, got lost in their conversation. Nonetheless, I attempted to keep up with the topics.
This particular sale was apparently important because we were selling three slaves of good condition simultaneously. Usually, slaves would only be sold one at a time when individuals were convicted of a crime or couldn't pay their taxes. Buying three slaves at once was going to be a huge investment for Alan. Judging by the size of this building, I would reckon that he could hold no more than 20 slaves.
I stayed silent for the most part. However, that wasn't to say that I was doing nothing. You see, back on the cart while I was messing with my Bonus Skills, I had discovered a Haggle & Barter Skill in which I leveled up to give me a 30% increase in whatever I was selling. In theory, Picker and I should receive a 30% bonus as long as I was one of the people making the sale.
Another half hour of haggling back and forth had passed. While Picker was happy to sell them at a discount, considering that Alan was willing to buy in bulk, the slave trader was apprehensive about taking three ex-bandits in. It was only natural that despite being healthy men, ex-bandits would not sell very well.
"—Mr. Alan, the I'm afraid that the lowest I'll be willing to go is 85,000 Nars."
"Mr. Picker, please reconsider. The going price for a healthy male is 30,000 Nars, and knowing the history of the products, won't you lower the price just a bit further? It is uncertain for me whether they will sell."
"I understand, truly. But you see—"
Before Picker could finish, the door to the room flung open. A young, piggish man wearing ostentatious clothes swaggered in with a maid wrapped uncomfortably close in his arm. Behind him, there were a number of similarly punkish boys dressed in suits.
