Translator: Silver

「Strategic Retreat」

The next morning starts at the usual inn, and I wake up with my usual appearance.

While sitting on the bed, I took out the bread from yesterday. I took a drink from my gourd after biting into the bread. The bread was very different from what I used to eat in the other world. There is a salty taste to it, and it is heavier and harder. It like it just sits in the pit of your stomach……

While there was a bakery in the city, it seems that that villages only made it for festivals and other celebrations. I learned from Marca yesterday, that villagers mainly eat wheat rice porridge.

It was unexpected that they would have j.a.panese porridge in this world. Its impossible to have takeout, but I could make it for myself in a deserted location. This body was a mixed blessing. I don’t have to fear overeating but it was hard to find places to eat.

When I finished eating the not so good bread, I carried my luggage down to the first floor. I pa.s.sed by the empty counter and exit the building.

I headed to the adventurers guild on the main street. Today there were a few adventures standing in front of the request board. This is the first time I’ve seen so many people in the guild building. When I approach the request board, without even speaking, the other adventures looked my way in surprise.

After all the request board only had personal request that gave out pocket money. There wasn’t a single plaque that offered more then 5 silver coins on it.  Since there were no quest that interested me today, I decide to go hunt game on the outskirts of town and sell it to the merchant a.s.sociation.

The destination is south of Rubierute, I enter the forest on the opposite side on the river bank. I was excited because its like I’m going to explore a new map in the game.

I ended up searching the forest on the other side of the river all day. I first came across a small group of orc, but after I beat one the others ran away at full speed. It appears that orcs were cowardly monsters.

I carried the orc I killed over my shoulder.

The forest had a variety of monsters and animals in it. A majority of which I didn’t know. But unlike the game, they were hesitant in trying to kill me. Drops didn’t fall and my experience point didn’t increase when I killed a monster either.

Yet, the living area of humans was predominantly small. Perhaps the territories can’t expand without a constant monster killing force.

Deep inside the forest I found a minotaur inside a cave. The minotaur was about 3 meters tall, with the head and lower body of a cow, and the upper body of pure human muscle.
If it was the game, then this fellow would have been equipped with an iron axe, as the race had acquired metal crafting long ago for the purpose of destroying humanity. But just like the orcs, this guy was still carrying around a club.

Speaking of which, I have yet to see a human use magic. Magic should be one of the weapons supporting the human territories. Maybe the nature of the power and the power structure of this world keep magic out the reach of commoners.

While thinking about such things, I crossed through the west gate, and made my way to the merchant a.s.sociation’s warehouse. Like last time, the thin young man came out to the inspection table. I sat the orc down from my shoulder and asked the price.

“One orc is 7 sek and 5 sok.”

It was the same as the one meter long burba? These bodies were cheap. Was it because the orcs were easier to chase down than the burba?

Well since my goal is to steadily earn an income I don’t mind. When I said I’d except the offer, then man left his seat to prepare the money.

While I calmly waited for my payment, I started to hear two merchants talking. It’s common sense not to ignore information that can be useful to you.

“Recently, there’s a rumor going around about a strong monster appearing near the border. Near the east border village and Reburan, a caravan that was pa.s.sing through suffered heavy damages.”

“The forest is close to the wind dragon mountain range, it’s not unusual for there to be more monster around there, is it?”

“Idiot, monsters don’t usually come all the way down to the road.”

“Hmm, could a dragon be on a rampage in the mountain range?”

The staff member appeared with my payment while I was in the middle of thinking about the dragon the merchants mentioned. After verifying the amount, I place the money in my pouch.

Taking a leisurely walk though the city, I contemplate returning to the usual inn today. I need to establish my own base someday and determine where I should wander from there. A base of my own will allow me to remove this armor and relax without worrying about anyone seeing.

With 【Transfer Gate】, even if my base is at the bottom of the sea I can instantly move back to town.

First, I should investigate the geography while earning a steady income.

Third person point of view

The city or Rubierute has strategic importance, as its highway runs through both the city of Diento and the royal capital, that is in the center of the Rhoden kingdom.

Going from the northern boarder of the capital there are two major bypa.s.ses around the calcutta mountain range. One path leads to the east while the other to the west.

Although a short distance from the capital, the western path leads to the ribot wastelands. The wastelands were dotted with small towns where the water supply was scarce. The barren terrain also made large-scale transportation difficult.

In comparison, the eastern path traveled down the rydell river, that brings water into the capital, and is composed of a low hilly terrain. In addition, the the eastern side of the calcutta mountains is dotted with comparatively large cities. You had to cross the rydell river, which flowed from the wind dragon mountain range, twice on this path, but other than that its relatively easy to advance.

Diento is the city upstream the rydell river, and it was stationed right in front of a major bridge. The 300 meter long stone bridge starts off at the city’s south gate and crosses the entire river. This fact also means that the city can also be viewed with strategic importance. Therefor, the city was built with double layered walls that allowed the city to act as a fort when needed.

The city was governed by marquis Triton. The castle in the center of town could be compared to a fortress in its own right. The castle walls were twice the size as normal, and the moat twice as wide.

In the office of the fortress, marquis Triton was going over the open doc.u.ments on his desk.

Diento’s marquis was a large man well past middle aged, had gray hair that reach his legs, and had grown a white mustache. His was dressed up in overly flamboyant clothes, that appeared to tightly wrap around his large frame.

Hearing a knock on the office door, he raised his eyes from the doc.u.ments and gave permission for the person to enter.

“Excuse me”

The one that entered the office was Cyrus Dorman. The nervous Cyrus’s face was pale, as he slicked back the thinning hair on top of his head, to cover up his bald spot.

Cyrus came before the desk and offered a deep bow to his master. Although, he did slick his hair back again when it fall out of place.

“The matter in Rubierute…… seems to have ended in failure.”

At Cyrus ‘s words Triton twitches. He lifts his head from the paperwork, seats back in his chair, and lets out a large sigh.

“When I asked for talent, I heard that they were skilled correct?”

“I’m sorry. They were indeed talented, all of the escorts were defeated, but unluckily an adventurer was near by, and he defeated the bandits……”

“After all, a bandit is a bandit…… The bottom line is sweet! Having only kept the women alive, they lost due to their own carelessness.”

With a bitter expression, lord Triton spit out his criticism. A look of agreement is seen on the pale-faced Cyrus.

“Why does prince Dougla.s.s want to sow discord in Rubierute anyway?”

“Well. In order for prince Dougla.s.s to gain the support of the east he has sent out this demand. If the northern border joins his highness’s faction then the east will completely belong to him, and he would be able to pursue Reburan in the west without worry. This would be beneficial to us because trading in the east will be centralized here.”

“Rubierute has the support of the west, so it likely to join her highness’s sect. Since it has  yet to aligned with a faction, this shouldn’t be publicly know, but ……”

“If this isn’t discovered then it should be fine. We must hurry and secure the products. You must ship them soon. We need them delivered to the proper n.o.bles before anyone catches wild of the plan! You must insure that princess Juliana doesn’t find out about this.”

Triton’s large body wiggles as he reaches into his desk’s drawer, pulls out a cigar, and lights it. Puffs of smoke are slowly exhaled, while a coughing Cyrus reports the products’ status.

There are 4 products and they are being held in the “storehouse” underground. I will go secure the new addition right now……”

“Securing the products is getting harder as well. Have the men been acting with unnecessary vigilance?…… Hurry it up as much as possible. I haven’t seen Audrain in a while, how is that fool doing?”

“When I checked in Audrain-sama’s room, he said the the swords used for the product procurement were not satiable for the task.”

“That imbecile! This is not a game! The swords are enough to enter the elves’ forest with, anything else would just drag them down!! I’ve heard enough, leave.”

Upon hearing those words Cyrus gave a gracious bow before quietly leaving the room. Triton took one last puff of the cigar before violently rubbing it out, he then scowled at the doc.u.ments open on the desk.

Arc point of view

A few days later, although I have been investigating the area around Rubierute to find an ideal base location, nothing has changed in my day to day life.

The figure of my flashy armor attracted a lot of attention at first, but things seemed to have calmed down now. Yet, the only places I can eat are inside my inn room or far outside of town, simply because I never know when people might be looking at me.

However today was different because of what happened this morning. It happened after I left the inn, looked at the request in the guild building, and left for the west gate to investigate and earn my daily income.

However, downtown had an unusual atmosphere today. Moving towards the west gate, the amount of people was larger then normal.  I decided to walk behind a pair of men heading towards the gate so I could listen in on their conversation.

“I heard that the party that brought down the giant basilisk only has five people in it! They should be bringing it to the square now!”

“That’s true!? That thing killed so many people, the party must be really strong…… Giant basilisks are large game, after all. In the neighboring territories has there ever been any stories about them?”

“Recently there have been a lot of stories like this one. Is it a bad omen or something?”

It seems that a group was able to kill a giant basilisk. In this world it seems that doing so was a major achievement. However, it appears that it was a monster that is rarely seen. Thought I saw two of them in the wind dragon forest……

The small square was already crowded with people, in the center of the square was a wagon surrounded by five people, one of the five was reciting their heroic battle while making hand gestures.

It was like being at a play, as the townspeople devoured the story that they were listening to.

A giant basilisk was cut into portable pieces and pilled on the wagon. Certainly it would be impossible to carry the gigantic body on the wagon in one piece. The head was enshrined at the top of the pile for everyone to see.

While watching, I tried to ask a nearby large man a question.

“Is slaying the monster giant basilisk such a big deal?”

The man I asked immediately turned around in surprise, and with a baffled expression answered my question.

“Kinght-sama, when a giant basilisk appears ether a famous adventurer party needs to be employed or the fedual lords army has to be sent out. Simply put, it take a lot of money to take even one of them down. It seem that the poisonous meat can be dried and powdered to make poison darts used for monster subjugation though.”

How much could you make if you bring back one…… But it would surely cause an uproar if I kill one alone and bring it back.

I was contemplating this when a group separate from the normal crowd catches my eye.

The group of metal armored soldiers are led to the center of the square by a civil officer-like man in good attire. The people around noticed it, and the noise in the square gradually died down, until only a few whispers could be heard.

A pathway opened directly to the center of the square, and the group of soldiers and adventures faced each other.

The man in the fine clothes was tall but skinny, looked to be in his mid 30s, and stood in the middle of the solders. After arranging his hair a bit the man stepped forward.

“I am Buckle De Robert viscount and feudal lord of Rubierute, and this is Bosco Futran and Zetorasu Futran. Which one of you acts as your representative?”

“Oh, r-right! We are the adventure team 『Iron Fang』I’m the leader Masco!!”

The man that was recounting the heroic tale before strutted out the reply with a clearly strained tone. The other members of the party were rigidly standing at attention.

“Are you the people that killed this giant basilisk?”

“……, Y-Yes!!”

Zetorasu question seemed to horrify the man, Masco remained silent for a moment before letting out that small affirmation.

“I heard that it was in the shallow part of the wind dragon forest. Is that correct?”

“Yes!! It was located in the forest near Rata village!”

Huh? Didn’t I leave the one I defeated in the forest near Rata village.

Is it possible, that the one I left unattended is the same one on the cart? However there was no evidence, and it’s not like I want to claim ownership of it anyway. In fact there were two giant basilisk. It could very well be the one that escaped.

“A little while ago, I saw two of them in the wind dragon forest……”

“What!? Is that true knight-sama?!”

The large man next to me let out a loud voice when he heard me muttering to myself.
Naturally the loud voice caused everyone to immediately turn in this direction, and the surrounding people to move out of the way.

When Zetorasu noticed that the crowd parted by the loud voice, he eyebrow twitched a little as he challenge the statement.

“And you are?”

“No not me, Knight-sama’s unexpected commit caused me to speak……, it’s the truth!”

At the man’s words, Zetorasu looked at me directly. On my whole body I started to feel various gazes.

“No, I only said that I remember seeing two giant basilisks in the same place a few days ago.”

I couldn’t tell of the one here was the same one I killed or the one that got away, but…….

The information I spoke throw the square into a whirlpool of noise at once. The townspeople have been a.s.sured of both the reliability of the story and the impending danger.

“Huh?! Idiot, there were two of them! Was it by chance!? Why didn’t you report this to anyone!? Why did you remain quiet until now!?”

Zetorasu criticized me in a rough tone, and stared at me with angry eyes.

Even with such things said, I that was not familiar with their circ.u.mstances couldn’t judge the situation’s significance. I didn’t worry because an the time the other one ran deeper into the forest, so there was nothing to worry about.

“I saw the giant basilisks the first time. However from the distance I was at I couldn’t tell if they was a threat or not.”

In reality, it was the first time I had seen a real one. I encountered several of them in the game , and when I started hunting them I lost track of how many I saw.

At my answer Zetorasu closed his eyes, and his face gained a thoughtful expression. Are you thinking about what to do in the future?

Is he thinking that the two giant basilisk were trying to conceive children? In the game, it was arranged that basilisk evolved into giant basilisk. They were level 40-50 when they gained the use of poison spit, without that basilisk were featureless small fry.

“We have to return to the mansion to prepare a subjugation force!『Iron Fang』I request that you come with us. I want a few scouts to tag along with『Iron Fang』to carry out reconnaissance! By all means, please tell us how you were bravely able to slay the giant basilisk!!”

The people calm down at the declaration they heard. It was probably a performance used to clear away the unease of the people.

The victims of this whole event would have to be the members of『Iron Fang』. They couldn’t seem to form the words they wanted to say. It must be a time consuming task for adventures to gain fame, so this opportunity might seem like a G.o.dsend.

However, each member of 『Iron Fang』had a grim expression on their faces. It seems like the opportunity was a blessing they wanted to pa.s.s on somehow or other.  I wasn’t invited to join these particular event. First of all, it’s better for me not to be involved with such troublesome things anyway.

With Zetorasu in the lead, the members of『Iron Fang』are lead to the feudal lord’s mansion.

If the feudal lords army appears the problem should be solved soon.

Since I don’t want to have contact with men in power, it’s better that I move to my own base before anymore problems come up. Thinking so, I turn away from the scene and head towards the west gate.

Based on a preliminary survey, there is a smaller town east of here, and apparently the largest neighboring city is called Diento. It was 3-4 days away by carriage.
Since my only luggage is on my back, lets head there.

But first a little peek at things over at Rata villageー.