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Vol 1: Chapter 11
Next morning, Mimino-san and Non-san came into the “boy’s room”. It’s only natural that I wouldn’t be able to face them after last night, right?
「Hey, hey, Reiji-kun! Give this a try!」Mimino-san said, grabbing my face and turning it around towards her, disregarding my embarrassment.
(Ahh… I wonder how long it took to re-braid her hair that had been unraveled when we took a bath yesterday. Ahh, her skin was really beautiful, too…)
「Reiji-kun?」
「N-Nothing! What is this?」
(This is not the time to be immersed in memory! But man, I can remember every detail so clearly. Was it really that stimulating?! …The answer is YES!)
Mimino-san held a small pot in her hand. When she unplugged the cork, it smelled something like boiled grass.
「Urgh. The hell is that? Don’t bring strange things into the room so early in the morning.」
「Shut up. This will take some time, so just leave the room if you don’t like it.」
「Tsk.」
Raikira-san left the room as he grumbled under his breath, but I knew what was in the pot. To be more precise, 【World Ruler】 told it to me.
「Is that a… dye?」
「Yes! If you apply it to your hair, it will no longer be black. So, umm, would you like to try it?」 she asked, hesitantly.
She might’ve been thinking that the black hair might be an identity for myself. You’ll only be particular about your hair if it’s an intricately braided long hair.
However, it was normal to dye your hair in Japan. And I wanted to dye it too, but I thought it wouldn’t suit my character then. So, if I can dye my hair right now,
「I’ll do it!」
「Wow. Somehow, Reiji-kun feels kind of energetic today.」
「Mimino-san made it for me, right? Then, I’ll definitely do it. I am not really particular about my black hair, either.」
「Isn’t that right. Well, I am glad.」
Mimino-san hugged me tightly and started stroking my head. It was a little embarrassing to be doing it in public, but I couldn’t say that out loud. There is also the question of, “Is it okay if it’s not in public?” But let’s think about that another time.
30 minutes later.
「–Ohhh, your hair looks beautiful~」
「I-Isn’t it weird?」
「That’s not true. Your hair colour matches mine!」
I became a blonde. The core was gold with orange remaining, so it was a brighter color than Mimino-san, who has amber-colored hair. But when she says, “It matches mine,” I, too, am naturally pushed to say, “Yeah, it matches.” Mimino-san’s charm is terrifying.
By the way, it seems that acidic water is required for the production of this dye. Therefore, it cannot be made with 【Convenience】 that produces fresh water. It seems to have been made from an acidic hot spring.
「Hmm. It’s not bad. It’s not so noticeable if only your eyes are black.」
「Such a lively morning.」
The father-daughter pair, Dante-san and Non-san commented.
When we left the inn, Raikira-san, who was chewing on a grass stalk while sitting on a bench, looked at me as I came out, and for a moment, he gave a startled look. But then, his nose started sniffing, and he said, ”Urgh, the dye smells… Well, it doesn’t look bad,” adding something nice at the end. I wonder if this man can’t say nice things without masking them.
After that, we walked through the capital city of Achenbach Dukedom.
A lot of people were already in the streets early in the morning.
The dukedom was located at the north of the continent, so it snows a lot during winter. Speaking of which, snow came down through the hole in the ceiling when I was still in the mine. I usually go deeper into the mine, where the temperature is usually moderate, so the cold never bothered me.
「…Because the roof accumulates a lot of snow.」Dante-san said.
The roofs of the houses had a high slope on one side. A structure that doesn’t allow snow to accumulate, it seems.
Many of the stone-built houses were square, but some of them were round-shaped.
A signboard was hanging at the front of buildings where shops were located. If it’s an animal sign, it’s meat related. If it’s scissors, it’s clothing. If it’s a jar… a jar?
「What is that jar sign?」
「Oh, that’s a herb store.」
「Only a regular member of the Herbalist Guild can hang that sign. I am a regular member, so I can open up a shop if I want to.」Mimino-san said, puffing up her thin chest.
「…I want to stop by for a little.」
「Eh? Umm… well, okay.」
A refreshing mint-like smell welcomed me as I walked into the store. A number of jars were lined up on the shelf, with price tags and names written; Potion, Deworming Medicine, Chest Pain Medicine, Constipation Medicine, etc. Most of them cost about 1 silver coin, about 1000yen(10usd) in conversion.
「You can’t really see what’s inside.」
Porcelain jars are naturally opaque. Speaking of which, I hardly see glassware in this world. Very rarely there were houses with window panes on the building, but it’s usually wooden windows, either opened or closed.
「If you want to see the inside, please feel free.」a gentle old woman over at the counter said.
I took up on her words and opened the lid of the jars to check inside. Some had sweet scent, and some had scent which stung the nose.
(Raw materials, raw materials…)
I checked with 【World Ruler】. Some of the medicines were bogus. They didn’t have the effect described in the name.
“Energy drug” …I felt pity thinking of the men who buy this medicine as their last hope. It was a weak toxic drug that makes you feel hungry, and doesn’t even give an energy boost like it says.
In the end, I left the herb store without finding what I was looking for.
「You sure took your time. What were you doing?」
Raikira-san, who hates strong odor, was waiting outside. We joined together and aimed for the Adventurer’s Guild again.
「What were you looking for, Reiji-kun?」Mimino-san asked.
「Um… I wonder if there is anything that can erase this tattoo.」
「Ahh~」
Mimino-san nodded, but what I told her was a lie. Well, no, it wasn’t a complete lie because I was thinking of erasing the tattoo. Thanks to my continued use of mugwort, the tattoo on my arm has faded… I think.
What I was looking for was the raw materials that work against petrification.
According to 【World Ruler】, I can manage it if I collect 3 kinds of materials. No need for healing magic or mysterious magic.
「Mimino-san. Do you know a herb store which has the full array of products?」
「The product lineup is all the same.」
「What?」
「Because they have registered with the Herbalist Guild, they can only sell products that the guild has approved.」
「Ah… I see.」
It’s kind of like a license system, so maybe it can’t be helped.
Even buyers would probably want to buy something that has a clear effect… The energy drug is bogus, though.
「Reiji-kun, there are other places which sell ingredients for making medicine. Are you interested?」
「Yes, interested!」
Mimino-san suggested it to me as I was pondering over what to do, and I jumped on it without a second’s hesitation. She suggested we head there after selling the materials in the Adventurer’s Guild
Adventurer’s Guild; A staple of classic fantasy games and different world reincarnation novels.
「The streets sure are busy…」
We bought sandwiches at a stall instead of breakfast, and asked about the location of the Adventurer’s Guild. Since the inn we booked was a lodging without meals, there was no breakfast.
As I was chewing through the delicious ham sandwich – although, the jam-like sweet paste was unacceptable – and walking in a daze, Dante-san signaled us to stop, with his hand.
The main road we were trying to cross was wide – about 4 cars could drive through simultaneous. And that’s where there was a commotion.
「Aren’t those soldiers…? Are they dispatching troops?」
「Hmm. Something happened.」
Raikira-san and Dante-san, who were slightly taller than other passersby, talked about the state of the main street.
「There’s a lot of people. More than a 100. It doesn’t seem like we can cross the road, so let’s take the back alley.」
「What happened?」Mimino-san asked.
「Who knows… Perhaps they found a big bandit hideout, or there is a skirmish at the border… or else… a huge monster appeared.」
「!」
I was taken aback by Dante-san’s last words.
The silhouette of a huge bird I saw on night when I got out of the mine. What if there was something at the mine?
There are eight places in the world where you can find skill orbs.
To put it in another way, most of the skill orbs distributed in the world can only be obtained at those eight places. Losing even one of them would be devastating.
(If it was just the escape of the mining slaves, they can replenish with new slaves or increase the acceptance of adventurers. But mobilizing this number of troops is, after all, because of that “bird”…)