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【Chapter 1: The First Village, Part 9】
「I
 I don’t know, really. I am not well versed in how the market works, so I don’t know what the best decision would be here. Heck, I don’t even know this sword’s usual market price.」
「So you have no intention of selling it then?」
「As I told you, I don’t know the exact market price so I can’t make such a decision carelessly. I think the best thing we could do right now is to go to the Weapon Shop in the city and ask someone there to tell us the actual price of this thing, otherwise we might just end up throwing a valuable item away at a dirt-cheap price.」
Not to mention that I don’t even know what kind of currency they are using here.
「X X X X X? X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X?」
「X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X.」
Teirihi-san and the merchant have a short conversation again after which she bows her head to me. Wouldn’t it be nice if that was the sign of her readiness to service me tonight? Man, that would be totally awesome! Unfortunately that kind of thing is probably not going to happen. But it’s nice to keep dreaming, right?
I handed the rapier over to Teirihi-san and took another sword from her, which turned out to be a one-handed Scimitar with two empty skill slots. All in all, it looked like another solid weapon.
「This one doesn’t have any skills but seems like a fine piece of work overall.」
「Supposedly it was very cherished by its previous owner, an Adventurer who sadly perished in the heat of battle.」
This time he didn’t ask me how I knew it had two skill slots free, meaning he must’ve bought my story about it being an Adventurer’s intuition.
「It think it will also be good to show this to someone who’s in the know before we decide what to do with it.」
I handed the Scimitar over to Teirihi-san and she bows her head down to me again. The last item was a simple dagger without any decorations whatsoever. It doesn’t look like something that would sell for much money.
「This is just a plain dagger. Not bad as a weapon but there’s no way it can be sold for any significant amount.」
Well buddy, back to Teirihi-san you go.
「X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X.」
When the merchant relayed what I just said to her, her eyes instantly turned red and wet with tears. Uh-oh, I might have made a huge oopsie. Nevertheless, she endured the urge to cry and went back home with the weapon in tow. Perhaps she remembered her late husband and wanted to be alone for a while. That was a shattered flag if I ever saw one. Nevertheless, I will be waiting for you tonight, Teirihi-san. My doors will always be open for you.
Now that Teirihi-san went away, the Village Chief approached us together with several other men.
「My humblest apologies, Michio-sama, but this man right here was the one responsible for replacing the Bandana.」
The man who was being dragged along behind him had his hands cuffed in a set of wooden handcuffs. *Sarcastically* So he’s the one who tried to take that which did not belong to him without permission. Deplorable, truly deplorable. I renounce that man the most scornfully!
「This is the correct item he was trying to hide.」
The Village Chief urged another man to come forward and hand me the Bandana. I used Identify on it to confirm its authenticity.
Bandit’s Bandana. No skill slots or skills.
「This is the item in question indeed. There is no doubt.」
「Now, as for the punishment this man is going to be subjected to
」
The Chief says after we finished the Bandit’s Bandana inspection. I wanted to ask about that, but he beat me to the punch. How thoughtful of him. This was something that I was very eager to hear. I have to know if the criminals are handed over to some higher authorities or will the villagers take care of him themselves.
「For the crime he has committed against you, he’s going to be tried and judged in accordance with the village’s rules. Do you have any objections to that decision?」
This is going to be perfect. As a man who’s skilled at reading the mood, there is only one thing for me to say in this situation.
「Of course. Do what you think is best.」
「Of course. We will do just that.」
Huh? What’s that? Was that a glimpse of disappointment I saw in the Chief’s eyes? Did I say something wrong?
「X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X.」
「X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X.」
The Chief spoke to the criminal.
The criminal nods and holds his bound hands in front of me.
「Flow of the Water Spirit, breath of the Wind Spirit, unite and reveal the hidden truth. Intelligence Card, open.」
When the Chief finished the chant, a card popped out of the criminal’s left hand.
Oooooh! What was that! That was so cool! It’s just like the Intelligence Cards that were left by the Bandits that were given to me. The Village Chief took it and murmured something I wasn’t quite able to hear, and the additional information appeared on the Card.
「What did you do?」
「I added new information to this man’s Intelligence Card. The information that from this day forward he will be your slave and he shall remain a slave unless he is released from his slave duty or bought back.」
「Ah, okay, cool I get it.」
I don’t get it at all. What exactly did you do and how does that even work?!
For the time being, what I do get is that Intelligence Cards are items that contain every important information about a person, that’s why it can serve to identify the Bandits who were slain by me so that I could claim the reward for them.
「Allow me to explain further. The rules of our village state that if the villagers commit a crime such as stealing they are to be sold as a slave where half of the money obtained that way goes to the family who sold the criminal and the other half is given to the victim as compensation.. Of course, it will be the same in your case.」
So they have a slave system established here. Not good.
The situation was now clear to me. If they ever find out about my crime, I will end up just like that guy in the wooden handcuffs. Mu freedom would be taken from me and that’s something I absolutely cannot allow!
「I’ll gladly take you up on that offer, but I’ll have you know that I don’t hold it against him for what he did. No hard feelings.」
「That might be true, but it doesn’t change the fact that one of our own has wronged you.」
「What matters most is that the person responsible was caught. You don’t have to apologize for anything, Chief.」
「You’re too kind to me, Michio-sama. It’s good to know that there are still people like you in the world.」
「Thank you very much. I think we can now conclude the weapon inspection.」
「Then let us go back to my house. The breakfast should be ready now.」
「Thank you for having me.」
I was grateful that we could change the subject to something more pleasant.
I have made up my mind.
I’m getting the fuck out of this place as soon as possible.