Arrived in the City

While I was barbecuing in the forest, I was attacked by a huge, black creature resembling a wolf. Driven by fear, I pedaled my mountain bike as fast as I could to get out of the forest, and finally reached its edge.

Perhaps the tension finally left me and I felt relieved, because I fell asleep.

――I woke up.

I regretted falling asleep a little, but fortunately, the sun was still high in the sky. Had I been asleep for about three hours?

I had to hurry, head to the right from here, and make for the road... But I wondered how this world treated people from other worlds.

Could they suddenly arrest me and turn me into a slave? It was possible... But I couldn't do anything if I stayed here.

For now, while gnawing on some bread, I brought up the Shangri-La screen and checked my remaining balance.

"A little over 76,000 yen... I've already spent half of it?"

This was bad. The money I'd loaded was already down by about half. I really had to find a way to earn money――and yet here I was spending it.

I was tired, so I wanted something sweet. I searched for chocolate on Shangri-La――and there was a kilogram of broken chocolate being sold for 2,000 yen. I'd go with that.

Selling this chocolate and other snacks might be a good idea, but selling something that didn't exist in this world could be dangerous...

I racked my brain while eating chocolate. The sweet taste cheered me up――sugar was the best thing when you were tired.

Hmm. Maybe I should go with the classic choice, pepper. More than anything, it seemed like the safest option. Knives and other blades might work, too, but pepper seemed likely to have the highest rate of return.

On Shangri-La, refill packs sold for 400 yen per 100 grams, so if I could turn those into gold or silver coins, I could make a huge profit.

But the nylon packaging and glass bottles seemed risky, too. If this was a world without glass, they might cause trouble.

They could ask, "Where did you get something like this?" I definitely didn't want to be arrested and tortured.

I searched Shangri-La for a container.

"I wonder if they have leather drawstring pouches? Oh! They do."

They cost 3,000 yen each. That was far more expensive than the pepper. I bought a pouch and put the refill-pack pepper inside.

When I tied it to my belt――whoa! It looked like RPG equipment! I'd seen things like this in games.

If this didn't work, I'd go into the city, look around the markets, and decide what to sell. Before doing business, I needed to find out how people in this world viewed me.

Since I'd left the stepladder standing out, I stored it in the Item Box. Then I mounted the mountain bike and began pedaling to the right of the direction I'd come from――in the three-o'clock direction.

"I'd like an electric-assist mountain bike, but they're expensive, huh?"

Even searching on Shangri-La, they cost around 100,000 yen. Of course, I couldn't use one in front of other people...

I was hungry, so I ate a little more chocolate.

After pedaling for about an hour, I began to see something resembling a road at the edge of the forest.

"From here on, riding the mountain bike would probably be a bad idea. Should I walk...?"

I put the mountain bike in the Item Box and started walking. I soon reached the road. Naturally, it wasn't paved, and there wasn't even any gravel. It was just a dirt road.

This thing would probably turn into mud if it rained... Still, it was easier to walk on than the forest floor. Thanks to the Item Box, I didn't have any luggage, either.

After walking for a while, I noticed that there was quite a bit of traffic. Wagons loaded with cargo passed by one after another.

There were all kinds of wagons, some with covers and some without. Since they were all different shapes, I supposed they were all handmade and custom-built.

As I walked along the edge of the road so I wouldn't get in the wagons' way, someone suddenly called out to me.

"Are you traveling on foot?"

"Huh?"

I turned around at the sudden voice and saw a one-horse wagon stopped beside me. The horse was black, large, and powerfully built.

"Are you headed to Dalia?"

A young man in khaki-colored clothes was looking at me. No, never mind that――the important thing was that we could understand each other.

"Are you talking to me?"

"Who else would I be talking to? You're headed to Dalia up ahead, right?"

"Yeah, I am."

The city I'd seen from the forest was apparently called Dalia. We really could understand each other. I was lucky.

"Want a ride?"

"I'd appreciate it, but I don't have any money."

"Dalia's just ahead. You can ride for free."

Seriously? Talk about a stroke of luck. If I could use the mountain bike, I'd arrive in no time. But when I studied the man's face, he didn't seem to have any ulterior motive, so I decided to accept his offer.

"My name's Fuyo. Nice to meet you. I'm a merchant."

"I'm Kenichi."

"Ha ha, that's an unusual name."

He seemed like a good-natured man, so I took the opportunity to ask him all kinds of questions. Apparently, my black hair wasn't particularly unusual, either.

The wagon rattled along as my conversation with the man continued. A rod-shaped metal accessory hanging from his neck glinted against his chest.

There was a stone attached to its tip.

"So where you're from, everyone had black hair?"

This man Fuyo's hair was reddish brown. He hadn't dyed it; apparently, it had naturally been that color.

"Yeah, that's right. It's embarrassing to admit, but I hadn't really left my village before reaching this age."

"Well, unless they're merchants, a lot of people are like that. Did you leave your village intending to go into business, too?"

"Yeah, something like that."

I'd go with that story for now. I had worked in the fields back home, and it had been an extremely rural place, so I had a reasonable amount of agricultural knowledge.

"But you don't have any luggage... Could you be an Item Box user?"

"You know about Item Boxes?"

This was surprising. The term Item Box already existed here... Then again, my status screen did say Item Box.

And the screen was written in Japanese, too...

"I hear hardly anyone has one, but this is the first time I've ever met someone with an Item Box."

"Is that so?"

"You have an Item Box, but you've never done business before?"

"No, I used it to store vegetables from my fields. If I put them inside, they wouldn't sprout or rot."

Of course, that was a lie.

"I've heard about that. It's pretty convenient, isn't it? You could make money transporting perishable goods or valuables."

"Yeah. I'm thinking of trying a few things."

Since he was a merchant, I asked him various questions about how business worked. Apparently, to go into business, I had to register with the Commercial Guild.

He said the registration fee was one silver coin, but I had no idea how much one silver coin was worth.

Along the way, we crossed a stone bridge over a small river. From the bridge, it looked as though children were catching fish along the riverbank. I thought a city with energetic children had to be a good city.

――While I was talking with him, we arrived at the city. We passed through the thick city walls, and a city spread out before us.

There were no particularly tall buildings――even the tallest were only about three stories high and made of stone. The streets were busy with people, giving me the impression of a lively city.

There were sentries standing at the entrance, but they didn't seem to inspect anyone, and I passed through without a problem.

The other people seemed to come and go freely, too. We continued through the city in the wagon.

"They don't inspect you or collect a tax when you enter the city?"

"There aren't any taxes here. I've heard of cities that have them, but there aren't any around here. If bandits show up, the city gates sometimes close, but that hardly ever happens."

After traveling for about five minutes, we seemed to have reached our destination. He began unloading his cargo, so I decided to help.

"Sorry about this."

"Don't worry about it. It's thanks for giving me a ride."

Once the work was done, he told me where to find the Commercial Guild and an inn. It was best to get that kind of information from a local. That way, I wouldn't have to worry about being overcharged.

"You're a good guy, and you've taught me a lot, so I'll give you this."

I held out the leather pouch of pepper that had been hanging from my belt.

"What's this?"

The man opened the pouch, then smelled its contents and looked surprised.

"This is pepper!"

"That's right."

"Come on, you're joking, right? I can't accept something this expensive. I'll pay you for it."

"No..."

"Hold on――we merchants love cheap goods, but we never take things for free. Do you know why?"

After thinking for a moment, I raised my index finger.

"Nothing is more expensive than something free."

"Exactly. You'd make a good merchant. The basis of business is the exchange of goods. You don't take something without offering compensation. That's the basics."

As he spoke, the man pulled a money pouch from inside his clothes and handed me two silver coins.

"This should be about right. And this leather pouch is a fine one, too. I'd say it's worth about six copper coins."

He gave me the copper coins as well.

"You're awfully cautious."

"You can't do business unless you're cautious. You tap a stone bridge before crossing it――and then don't cross it. Ha ha ha."

Still, I had some actual money now. I wasn't sure how much it was worth, but since he'd called the pepper expensive and given me something in exchange, it had to be a reasonable amount.

"This might be a strange question, but how many silver coins make one gold coin?"

"Here, it's four silver coins to one gold coin. Some countries have different exchange rates depending on the place, so I don't think it's strange to ask."

"I see. Thanks."

"Ha ha ha, you're an unusual one."

Of course I was unusual. I was from another world, after all. That was only natural.

"But you're not planning to do business with pepper, are you?"

"Would that be a problem?"

"The Bacopa people have a lock on the spices here. If you attract their attention, you'll have trouble."

"Do they raise prices through price-fixing and restrictions on distribution?"

It was the same everywhere. Profitable goods attracted vested interests, and people swarmed around them.

"That's right. You're pretty sharp."

"I'll be careful."

"See you around."

After saying goodbye to the young merchant, I decided to look for the inn. I needed a base of operations for the time being.

But my plan to make easy money with pepper and other spices had been derailed before it even began. What a disappointment... I'd have to search the markets for something else.

------◇◇◇------

I observed the city as I walked along the street for a while. It was fairly lively.

The windows of some rather nice-looking buildings contained transparent panes. Glass existed in this world, but it must have been expensive.

Then again, they might not have been glass. They could have been tektite or some other fantastical material...

After about five minutes, I saw what appeared to be the inn I'd been told about. It was a two-story stone building with something resembling white plaster on the walls, though much of it had peeled away.

Above the wooden door was a sign depicting meat and a plate――.

"This certainly looks the part..."

When I pushed the door open and entered, it closed by itself behind me――apparently, a device using a weight and pulley made it close automatically.

The outside was made of stone, but the interior was dim and paneled with wood. Eight wooden tables stood inside, with chairs arranged around them. It looked more like a dining hall than an inn.

I could see a counter in the back.

There were no customers――but it was already past noon, probably around two o'clock. The lunchtime customers had likely left, so it was empty now.

"Welcome~ Are you here to eat? Or are you staying the night?"

"I'm staying."

The girl who appeared had black hair tied back and wore an apron-like smock. She looked about eighteen and was quite cute, with slightly upturned eyes.

"With meals, it's one small square silver coin per night. Without meals, it's three copper coins."

I could buy various things from Shangri-La for food, so I needed to conserve the local currency.

"I'll take the room without meals."

"Payment's up front~"

I handed over the three copper coins I'd received from the young merchant.

"One guest staying overnight~"

"Yep~"

A man's voice, presumably the innkeeper's, could be heard from the back.

"Are you the owner's daughter?"

"Nope. I live nearby and work here. What about you, mister? Are you looking for a fixer to find work on construction projects around here?"

"No, I'm planning to go into business."

"Then you can read, write, and do arithmetic?"

"Oh no!"

Right, literacy. I'd completely forgotten about that. While I was reeling from the shock, the girl brought me what appeared to be a guest ledger.

"How are you going to become a merchant if you can't read or write? Reading, writing, and arithmetic are required to register with the Commercial Guild, you know?"

"Is that so...? I can read and write in a foreign language, though. And I can do arithmetic, too."

"Then, say you have four bags containing twelve linkers each. How many linkers are there in total?"

I had no idea what a linker was, but I knew the answer.

"Forty-eight, right?"

"Amazing! You really can do arithmetic! What's your name, mister?"

"Kenichi."

"Hmm, what a strange name. I'm Azalea. Nice to meet you."

Azalea fluently wrote what appeared to be my name in the guest ledger. She could read and write, apparently.

――But the characters she wrote looked a lot like Roman letters...

"Azalea, could I ask you a favor...?"

"What is it?"

"Could you teach me to read and write? Just the basics would be fine."

"Huh?"

She looked a little confused by my sudden request――which was only natural. But if I wanted to learn to read and write quickly, asking her seemed like the fastest way.

"Just the basics would be fine. In exchange, I'll give you some sweets from a foreign country."

"Really? Are they sweet?"

At the mention of sweets, Azalea's eyes sparkled like a child's.

"Yeah, some of them are sweet."

"Then okay, as long as I'm not working."

"All right, then. I'll be counting on you. Just the basics will be fine."

Azalea showed me to a room on the second floor. It had wooden plank walls and nothing but a bed. There were no ceiling boards, either, leaving the structure above exposed.

But――fortunately, it was clean and seemed well kept, so I was relieved. At last, I could sleep in a bed.

"Put your sheets in this basket every day and leave them there. If you have other laundry, that'll cost extra."

"All right, I understand. When you have time, could you teach me some letters? I plan to stay here for several days."

"Got it. Don't forget my sweets."

"Don't worry."

After Azalea left the room, I collapsed onto the bed. Judging by the texture, the sheets were made of linen.

In any case, far too much had happened. Somehow, I had to find a way to make a living in this seemingly otherworldly place.

But the relief of finally reaching a bed washed over me.

I'd only meant to lie down for a moment, but I fell asleep.