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Chapter 005: We’re finally in the other world! (Three)
It happened about 10 minutes after we started walking in the direction I’d pointed.
A 3-meter wide road slowly came into view.
It was a simple path, but with small mounds of dirt raised on either side, it was clearly manmade.
“That’s definitely a road leading to a city. Question is... Which way do we go?” Haruka asked, looking from left to right.
“I don’t see a city either way... If I can just get an elevated view, but there aren’t any trees around...”
The road stretched towards the horizon both ways, passing over numerous dips and swells.
Anyway, the horizon may seem far off, but surprisingly, due to the earth’s curvature, the distance from a person to the horizon they can see is less than 5 km.
But that depends on the size of the planet, and I don’t know how big this world is.
“Well, won’t that come in handy now, Nao?” Tomoya suddenly piped up with a grin.
“Huh?”
“See? I’ll put my hands together, and you step on them, and I’ll throw you upwards. We never could do it before, but with our current forms, I’m sure it’ll be easy-peasy, right?”
Oh, he’s right. I remember that’s how characters in manga would jump over walls.
I’m sure my current form is lighter than before, and Tomoya the kemono certainly has more physical strength.
But...
“...No, actually, if we don’t execute it well, you might just do a Suplex on me? You’ve never tried this before, are you sure you can throw me properly?” I argued.
“Well, that makes sense, but I’m sure it’ll all work out somehow...”
“Stop it. What if someone gets hurt?”
Haruka gave Tomoya, who was testing out different postures on how best to toss me, a sound smack on the head.
“Nao, just get onto Tomoya’s shoulders. I’m sure you’ll be able to see a few kilometers more just with that.”
“I agree. I don’t wanna get hurt for no reason.”
“Aww, I wanted to try it out...”
Tomoya whined, but was quickly silenced by a glaring Haruka. Shrugging in defeat, he spread his legs to steady himself, and formed a platform with his hands.
“Come on!”
Using his clasped hands as a foothold, I swung myself onto Tomoya’s shoulders.
It was easier than I thought it would be. Maybe I had gotten nimbler, because it took little effort to take the next step up onto his shoulders and balance myself.
“So, what can you see...?”
In front of us... Nothing. Behind... Hmm? A wall?
“So?”
“I think I see a wall over there,” I pointed, jumping off Tomoya’s shoulders. “And, thanks, you alright?”
“Of course. It felt like a shoulder massage? I can tell I’m much stronger in this form,” Tomoya declared proudly as he dusted dirt from his shoulders.
“Me too. I feel a little different in this form. Guess we just gotta try things out to see what we can do,” I continued.
“Yeah. Plus, we can use magic too. But before that, let’s head towards the city. We can chat while we walk. I’m sure you guys don’t wanna spend the night outdoors, right?” Haruka added.
“Nope. There’s no food out here.”
With that, Tomoya started walking again.
According to Haruka, we’ll be safe if we stay on the road, but as a precaution, we walked on in a line. Tomoya, being the toughest, took the lead, while Haruka, who probably had healing powers, took up the rear.
“Erm, Nao, when you stood on Tomoya’s shoulders, could you see further than 5 km, but less than 8 km? That would be about the distance you would see on Earth, I think,” Haruka mused.
“Really? Wow, Haruka, you’re truly a genius! I totally didn’t know that!”
Tomoya laughed, causing Haruka to sigh.
“Tomoya, I’m not trying to be a smartass, and I didn’t come to that conclusion on my own. I just remember reading about how the horizon is about 5 km away, and doubling height will increase that distance by about 1.5 times.”
It sounded like random useless knowledge to me, so I was impressed that she managed to remember it.
That’s why she’s worth 200 points... Nope, I’m not jealous at all.
“Oh well. Anyway, we should get there in about 2 hours.”
“Yeah... By the way, do you guys have anything on your persons?” Haruka asked.
“Huh? I don’t have anything?”
“Me too.”
I turned around to face Haruka, walking backwards as I spread my hands to my sides.
I was dressed in extremely plain clothes, made of a thick material that seemed to be handsewn together. Aside from that, I wasn’t carrying anything.
“Oh, maybe we have an Inventory?”
Haruka shook her head to Tomoya’s excited question.
“Nope, my ‘Sense’ tells me we don’t, but apparently we can get a magical bag or pouch for that. It’ll be super expensive, though. Anyway, that’s not what I meant. Check your pockets.”
Examining my clothes, I found that Haruka was right. My pants came with pockets.
I thrust my hands inside, grabbing a handful of coins. They felt about the same size as a 100yen coin?
“Is this money? One, two... I have ten.”
“Oh! Me too!”
We held out our coins for each other to see, and Haruka nodded.
“Yes, me too. Those are known as big silvers. Their value is... Probably about 1000 yen? That’s just a rough estimate. Anyway, in this world’s currency, one big silver’s value is 100 Reas.”
Ooh. That means I have about 10,000yen at my disposal.
“So, the money and these clothes were gifted to us by the evil god? That’s just like him, letting us loose in this world with nothing but 10,000yen and a bunch of horrible skills,” Tomoya huffed.
The horrible skills were probably meant to trip up people who desired god-like powers, though I still felt that it was set up too much like a trap.
“Oh? I think he’s actually very kind. He gave us clothes that fit our bodies, and enough money to buy some things and stay for a night when we reach a city. Besides, there are 32 of us in our class, which means he gave out 32 sets of clothes and 320,000yen to all of us in total,” Haruka replied.
Well, I guess he does seem like a great guy(?) when you put it that way.
It made me feel a little better about the whole situation.
“Well, you’re not wrong. But he’s a god, right? If he’s really kind, he won’t have created all those land mine skills,” Tomoya still sounded unconvinced.
“That’s if you think gods are good. Think about all the mythology stories you’ve heard, and how selfish all the gods are. I mean, the supreme god in Greek mythology is just a horrid pervert,” Haruka reasoned.
She’s right.
That god is just too flawed.
And I guess most of the rest out there aren't much better.
With that thought in mind, those land mine skills were probably added as some sort of joke. And it doesn’t even matter to the evil god if it cost some of us our lives. I mean, he’s a god, after all, and we're just mortals...
“Anyway, some of the supplementary skills are turning out to be quite convenient,” Haruka continued.
“Really? You mean, aside from ‘Help’?”
“Yes, my ‘Otherworldly Sense’ is a supplementary skill.”
“Oh, I’ve been meaning to ask. I didn’t see that skill on my skill select list.”
I know I looked through the entire list before starting my skill selection, and I don’t recall seeing it.
“Maybe it’s because I only made a request for it halfway through the time allotted for skill selection?”
“I see. I guess after I got ‘Help’ and saw the explanations, I stopped paying any attention to the supplementary skills.”
“I think ‘Otherworldly Sense’ is quite important. Anyway, please consult me before you guys try anything new. We don’t wanna get into unnecessary trouble.”
She was right. For example, we’d have no idea about this world’s currency without Haruka.
Besides, it’s hard to ask anyone such common-sensical questions without appearing crazy.
I mean, if someone had walked up to me in Japan and asked me random questions about money and its value, I would have guided them right to a police station.
“Got it. Anyway, do you think we can just walk into a city like this?”
“Nope. Any city with walls will require a fee to enter. The fee differs for each city, but it's about 100 Reas on average. Also, people who live in the city and members of the Adventurers Guild are granted free entry.”
“Oh, there’s an Adventurers Guild!?” Tomoya spun around as he asked excitedly.
“Yes, you can join if you agree to their rules. But we gotta be careful! Fights are illegal, and even adventurers who break the law will get hauled off to jail. In fact, they are punished more severely than the average citizen,” Haruka warned.
I guess that’s probably because adventurers form alliances, and when two rivals get into a fight, their allies can’t remain neutral.
“Well, I’m sure adventurers carry weapons, and even back in Japan, those who practice martial arts are punished severely if they use their skills to hurt people,” she explained.
“I see. I guess joining the Guild doesn’t give us the right to battle.”
Oi, Tomoya, why do you look so disappointed?
“Well, our goal for now is to lie low and get ourselves sorted out?” I asked.
“That’s right. Don’t forget what I made you guys repeat just now!”
“Noted. Well, as long as I can still get my kemono bride!”
“...Yeah. Do your best.”
Haruka and I could only force a smile at Tomoya’s unwavering resolve.