After walking two hours along the road since joining the adventurers, Hiroshi and Haruna could see a large gate up ahead. Apparently, that was the East gate to the city. Two hours for adventurers meant that any civilian would have taken an extra hour.
It didn’t seem too far of a distance, but the road winded around a hill on the way. If the road was straight the entire way, they could have almost seen the gate from where they were first standing.
「It’s hard to tell if we were close or not, ain’t it?」
Consider the pace at they were going and the distance to the gate, it would take them an additional half an hour or so until they were in Wulls.
「Two and a half hours, one way…」
Haruna, who had been timing their journey with a simple spell, answered with an indecisive expression. Both of them knew that, considering their physical endurance, that they could shorten the trip by at least half an hour, even if they were carrying a pack full of items. Although, they wouldn’t enjoy walking a long distance that fast.
「Speakin’ of, how far are we from other towns?」
「Let’s see… From Wulls to closest village would take an adventurer about eight hours. Kalsus and Marije are the closest cities. Five days’ journey by foot. Much faster on horse or carriage, of course.」
They nodded to Randy’s estimation. In the game, it was a two days’ walk from Wulls to Kalsus or Marije. It seemed that these locations and the distance between them were slightly different from the game. Also, pocket watches are available at a reasonable price in Farlance, and they are necessities for adventurers Intermediate and above. The reason was simple. Often, there would be deliveries and other events at a certain time.
「So, I gotta ask the big question here…」
「Generally, if you’re registered as a resident, it won’t cost anything to get in and out. The exception are some of the protected classes and adventurers. The caravans have to have their cargo inspected anyway, so they usually pay there.」
「So we’re going to have to pay, this time.」
「Right. Well, it’s not much anyway. We’ll pay for you two, today.」
「Of course. You saved my life. And you even sang us a song.」
Randy and Kurt chimed in, nonchalantly. Hiroshi and Haruna continued to ask more questions to figure out the difference between this world and the game. The most noteworthy point for Hiroshi were the different names for potions. Apparently, people in this world ranked potions by class rather than level. For example, a level 2 potion was a class 7 potion.
The weakest potions were class 8, but those that have healing properties but are very weak are all grouped in as unclassified. Unclassified potions are created by practicing potion makers, sold dirt-cheap to adventurers just starting out. In addition, one could find a couple of them in any house’s first-aid kit.
The classification of potions were decided with the best potion to ever exist, created by a wizard, who is the friend of the current King of Farlane (the nation with the oldest history), to be class 1. Based on those potions, taking into consideration their ease for production and their effect, all other potions were classified.
To anyone who may question the existence of any potion stronger than class 1, the class 1 potion can bring back the current king (the most powerful warrior in history) from the brink of death, and then some. Any potion stronger than that was considered wasteful and unnecessary. Considering the difficulty of production on top of that, they thought it was safe to say that any strong potion will not be in the market enough to warrant a classification.
Another difference between the game and real-life was the existence of Tirol, the currency below the in-game currency of Chrone. In the game, some foods were weirdly expensive at hundreds of Chrones, or a night’s stay at an inn was weirdly cheap, or most drop items sold at 5 Chrones or so. Hiroshi and Haruna didn’t question the new currency too much.
1 Chrone was the equivalent of 100 Tirols, and the 1 Chrone silver coin seemed to be like a ten dollar bill for most players. It may seem extravagant that the lowest form of currency was worth ten dollars, but it was a video game, after all.
「Speaking of, what’s the best potion a normal guy could get his hands on?」
「Hmm… If price isn’t an issue, the Adventurers’ Association sells anything up to class 7. But those are too expensive for a civilian, so a potion shop would only carry up to class 8. No one but the potion makers that work for the government can even make class 6 and above to begin with, so those are never out in the market.」
「Hmm. It sounds like a class 1 potion could sell for an astronomical price. 」
「As far as I know, there’s no one alive who can make class 1 potions right now. Money isn’t even a question. The mere existence of a class 1 potion could cause international turmoil.」
「For just a potion? Jeez…」
Hiroshi chuckled at the absurdity. But, come to think of it, level 5 potions and above always required a drop item, and for level 7 and 8 potions, he always needed to take down a pretty tough foe for the materials. In addition, in order to use any drop item as an ingredient, it the corpse had to be dissected by someone who knows that said material can be used (barring significant luck).
If anyone with Intermediate and Advanced Compounding skills are in the custody of the government, it was very likely that almost no potions of level 5 (or class 4) and above existed in this world.
What Hiroshi didn’t know is that potions above level 6 (class 3) have the ability to regenerate lost limbs. Hiroshi was unaware of this, because despite Fairy Tale Chronicles’ endless pursuit of realism, there was no system for a Player to be dismembered (monsters, on the other hand, were regularly dismembered).
So, even if an attack strong enough to drain a player’s HP hits them in the arm, they were only incapacitated while their arm remained intact. Class 1 potions were distinguished by the ability to heal three or more dismembered limbs, even years after they were cut off or crushed.
While that example was for a Healing potion, a Mana potion would return magical powers and MP (that may have diminished from age or recoil) to what they were to the user’s prime. A Stamina potion can heal diseases (without limb loss) and any sequela. Of course, the higher the class, the more they could heal. A class 1 potion is seen as a dangerous artifact that could even trigger a war.
「That’s how important potions are.」
「Like, I get it, but…」
Hearing the astonishingly low standards for crafting, Hiroshi internally curled up into a ball. Haruna still had hope, but Hiroshi could barely use any of his skills. If potions were such a big deal, he shuddered to think of the repercussions of crafting weapons and armor.
While anything a player can make at a forge was nothing out of the ordinary (or so the Hiroshi and the other craftsman players thought), an Advanced craftsman could create, without drop items nor enchantments and only using lower-level materials from relatively safe locations, weapons and armor twice as powerful as anything an ordinary NPC was selling.
Judging by the armor on Randy and Kurt, Hiroshi determined that the equipment on the market was comparable to what the NPC sold in-game. While Haruna wouldn’t have the same revelation, Hiroshi was the artisan for the gods. As easy as breathing, he could determine the quality of these items.
If what he saw on them were the standard equipment, if the lot of his crafted equipment tossed aside in his in-game store like garbage were given to a single nation, it could destroy the power balance between nations.
「All right. We have to go do some paperwork. Hang tight for a sec.」
「Okay!」
「Yessir.」
Before they knew it, they were close enough to have a loud conversation with the gatekeeper. While Randy and Kurt paid and filled out paperwork for two, Hiroshi whispered to Haruna what was on his mind. Now that they were closer, he could feel his goose bumps prickle and his legs shake, but he knew he had to stick it out.
「Hey, Toudou-san. It might be somewhat precarious to sell those potions.」
「It feels that way. But to be honest, we could maybe use the level 3 special potions, but all the level 2 potions are just bag weights, aren’t they?」
「Yep. That’s our problem, here.」
If these were ordinary level 2 potions, they could easily sell them off. The problem was that Hiroshi was the one who made them. They knew that any item created with a Crafting skill has a modified effect according to the skill level of the Crafting skill used. The different would be less noticeable if the skill was Intermediate or so, but Hiroshi was a top-notch craftsmen with skills like Brewing for the Gods and Medicine for the Gods.
While it wouldn’t quite reach the effect of the potion a level higher, they were undoubtedly more powerful than the potions on the market. It would come down to how much of the modifiers the thrown-together equipment would cancel out, but Hiroshi didn’t have much trouble using them, so fat chance.
「…You just want to risk it and sell them?」
「…I guess we gotta…」
Considering the other options for them to earn money, they realized that any of them wouldn’t be much less dangerous after all. They decided to roll with it, and think optimistically that they wouldn’t be wanted that soon, and could probably get away with feigning ignorance if it came down to it. More accurately, they considered their meals and lodging for the foreseeable future worth the risk of getting into international emergencies.
「Hey guys, come over here.」
Kurt called, and they jogged over to the gatekeeper. They seemed to interview any first time visitors, as the gatekeepers asked them some question. They didn’t know how to answer many of them, but they decided to heed the warning of Randy and Kurt, and answered honestly to all of them.
「Visitors from the unknown continent, I see.」
「The unknown continent?」
「That’s what they call it in court when, while very rare, people like you pop in from gods-know-where.」
「Does everyone know that?」
「It’s not that well-known, I don’t think. Kind of like an urban legend among the adventurers.」
As Hiroshi and Haruna nodded, the two gatekeepers smiled and watched. They were very friendly.
「Um. Doesn’t anyone fake it?」
「Never seen anyone like that, so far.」
「If someone did, how could ya tell?」
「Those questions earlier. People from the unknown continent don’t know most things about our land. You couldn’t answer some of the questions, could you?」
They nodded again in understanding, as the soldiers watched with brimming smiles. Still smiling, they gave Hiroshi and Haruna an advice:
「Anyone from the unknown continent can receive a lot of help from the court. We’re getting you a letter right now. You should go tomorrow, if you can. And this voucher will let you stay at an inn for free. Anywhere adventurers use.」
「Wow, thank you so much.」
「Just doing my job.」
They took the travel permit and letter from the surprisingly friendly soldiers, and walked off as they waved.
「Well those gatekeepers were mighty friendly.」
「In some sense, they do represent the country.」
「Farlane is bustling with trades, so there’s no sense in intimidating anyone with no reason just to earn a bad reputation.」
Once that was explained, Hiroshi and Haruna were rushing to have them refer an inn to stay.