Letters Are Easy

Finally, I've escaped the forest. A young merchant helped me, and I made it to a walled city called Dalia.

I stayed at an inn, and when I stretched out on a soft bed for the first time in ages, I fell asleep.

"Huh!"

I woke up on the bed and panicked. It was already dark outside—but what time was it?

"This is bad, this is bad..."

Damn, it was too dark to see anything. Should I get some light...? I ran a search on Shangri-La.

I had the LED headlamp I'd worn while riding the mountain bike through the forest, but I couldn't exactly use that in a room.

A candle would be the safe choice, but it would probably be a little dim—I searched for lamps instead.

"An LED, huh..."

LED lanterns were cheap, but using such over-the-top LED technology felt a little risky. Well, it would be fine as long as no one saw it.

Could I pass it off as a magic lantern? No, I still didn't know whether magic existed here.

There was a kerosene lamp on the same page. I see, a kerosene lamp was another option. But—

"Do they sell kerosene?"

Kerosene wasn't available when I searched for it, but white gas was. On the same page were lamps that used white gas.

It cost 12,000 yen, which was pretty pricey. But it should last me a while. I could pass it off as an oil lamp.

Of course, I didn't think something so high-performance existed in this world... But since replacement parts and other consumables were also sold, I should be able to keep using it as long as the status screen remained available.

I bought a gasoline lamp and white gas—four liters for 2,500 yen—together. I'd spent money again, but initial investment was necessary for everything.

When I pressed the Purchase button, the boxed lamp and tank of white gas fell with a loud crash.

"It's going to break!"

If it broke, would I even be able to return it? I had serious doubts.

My delivery had arrived, but it was pitch-black and I couldn't make out anything. In the end, I took the LED headlamp from the Item Box and put it on.

I'd used old-fashioned kerosene lamps before, but never a pressurized gasoline lamp like this.

I read the instructions that came in the box.

"Let's see..."

First, apparently I had to add fuel, then pump it to pressurize it. And then—

"Attach the mantle, then burn it in."

A mantle was something like a mesh. Apparently it glowed when a flame hit it—ah, I see.

When I lit the mantle attached at the center with a cassette-gas burner, the flame spread rapidly.

"The burned-in mantle is fragile and will crumble easily. Please be careful—huh."

I closed the lamp's lid and lit it with the burner—and it immediately began shining brightly. It was much brighter than an ordinary kerosene lamp.

Apparently, the brightness was adjusted by turning the valve that fed the fuel. Closing it completely put the flame out.

"I did it! This thing's really bright."

Squinting at the lamp's brightness, I shoved the headlamp into the Item Box.

Instead, I took out some milk, but even milk I'd already started drinking wouldn't spoil in the Item Box. This thing was incredibly convenient.

The Item Box display had changed to 【Milk (Partially Consumed)】×1.

Then I bought a fairly deep plate for 800 yen, along with one kilogram of granola for 900 yen.

I poured milk over the granola in the plate and was about to eat when I realized—there was no spoon. Good grief...

I bought a set of three spoons for 900 yen. It felt just like when I'd moved out of my parents' house: coming to Tokyo with only one bag, then finding the cheap apartment completely empty—something like that.

Lost in a strange bout of nostalgia, I ate my fill, then sprayed alcohol over the empty plate and wiped it with a tissue. This would do for now.

Once I found somewhere with plenty of water, I could wash it with detergent. Shangri-La sold both detergent and sponges.

I was sure it was cheaper to buy daily necessities like plates and spoons from Shangri-La than to buy them at the markets in this city.

In a world like this, everything was probably handmade and one of a kind. There was no way they'd have mass-produced factory goods.

Now, what should I give Azalea for sweets...? Chocolate felt ill-advised. Something simpler—konpeito? No, this called for—

"Sa○ma Drops, obviously."

The drop-drop, Sa○ma-style kind. A tin of drops cost 200 yen. I also bought another leather drawstring pouch like the one I'd bought before and put about ten drops inside.

The pouch was considerably more expensive, but I had no choice. It was about the only container I had. I searched for jars, too, but apparently the only small ones available were funeral urns.

It wasn't as if I could hand them over in a plastic or stainless-steel case just because I couldn't find a suitable container.

"Wait a minute..."

I searched for 'wooden box'—and found something good. It was apparently an unpainted jewelry box that cost around 300 yen.

This would be perfect for holding sweets. I added the wooden jewelry box to my cart and pressed the Purchase button.

I would need paper to study reading and writing, too. Copy paper or neutral paper would be ill-advised, so I searched for washi.

"Oh, they have washi printer paper."

Fifty sheets cost 500 yen. Hmm, maybe selling paper would work, too. Paper was probably a valuable commodity, right?

"Clickety-click—purchase."

While I was calculating potential profits and putting drops into the jewelry box, I heard a knock at the door.

In a panic, I took the printer paper out of the bag and shoved the packaging into the trash can.

"Come in. It's open."

When the door opened, Azalea peeked inside, carrying a candlestick and some kind of tool, her eyes wide with astonishment.

"What's this bright thing?"

"It's an oil lamp."

"Wow! But kerosene lamps aren't this bright, are they?"

"There are kerosene lamps?"

"Want me to bring one? It costs extra, though..."

"No, this one is fine."

"Right?"

Huh, kerosene lamps existed here. I wondered how much kerosene cost in this world.

"How much does kerosene cost around here?"

"Let's see... Two small square silver coins for a jar about this size."

The jar she indicated was about the size of a human head. Two small square silver coins didn't mean much to me, but since she'd said a room with meals cost one small square silver coin, that meant two days' lodging.

That was pretty expensive. The white gas I'd bought from Shangri-La was cheaper.

Azalea trotted over and peered into the lamp.

"It's not magic?"

"Are there magic lamps?"

"I've seen one before. Its light wasn't this color—it was bluish."

So magic really did exist after all. As expected of another world! Still, the Status Open I used could technically be called magic too.

"Are you off work today?"

"Nope, I'm bored."

When she sat on the bed, she swung her legs back and forth.

"Here, these are your reward sweets. They're sweet."

"Huh? Really?"

Without even checking, Azalea picked up one drop and popped it into her mouth.

"It's so sweet!"

"Hey, are you sure it's okay to put it in your mouth without checking? What if I were a bad guy?"

"I've seen all kinds of people through this line of work, so I can usually tell what someone's like. I don't think you're a bad person, Kenichi."

"Thanks, I guess. Anyway, don't tell anyone about this."

I pointed at the brightly glowing lamp, but when she heard that, she silently held out her hand.

I wondered what that meant, but she was probably demanding hush money.

"Here, I'll give you more sweets."

I took out the tin of drops and filled the jewelry box to the brim. Drops in a jewelry box looked surprisingly fitting.

"Heehee..."

"You're pretty shrewd."

"My mother always tells me I need to be able to wrap men around my finger."

While talking about her mother, she picked up another drop and put it into her mouth.

"Mmm! Being able to eat sweets like these makes me feel like a noblewoman."

With the drop in her mouth, Azalea pressed both hands to her cheeks and writhed in delight.

"Are there nobles?"

"Of course. You're better off not getting involved with them. If they find out you have sweets like these, they might take them away."

"That would be a problem... More importantly, teach me to read and write."

"Sure thing."

What she brought were paper and a pen. Apparently, she'd gone out of her way to bring them.

"Paper must be expensive. I have my own, so use this."

"Aw, I was thinking I could charge you extra for the paper."

"Hahaha."

She really was shrewd.

The two of us used paper and pen to write out the letters and compare them. It was nothing special; they were a little different, but almost identical to Roman letters.

Numbers were base ten, too, and place values were handled the same way as with Arabic numerals. If I made a comparison chart, I could memorize them right away.

I'd make myself a cheat sheet.

"Huh? Kenichi, you can already read and write."

"The writing in this country doesn't seem all that different from the writing in mine."

"At this rate, registering with the Commercial Guild should be easy."

I'd been worried about reading and writing, but it looked like that concern had been misplaced.

"If you can read and write, Azalea, why don't you go into business?"

"Do you know what's important when you're doing business?"

I thought about it for a moment.

"Maybe finding suppliers?"

"Exactly! I have no idea where to source sweets or lamps like these. And I'm too old to become an apprentice somewhere just to learn the trade."

"I see."

"But I think you'll succeed in business, Kenichi. Maybe I should get in line as a mistress candidate now?"

"Forget about this old man. I'm about the same age as your father."

"I don't have a father."

"Oh, I see... Sorry."

Damn, I'd stepped on a land mine.

"It's okay. You're a good person, Kenichi."

Since I'd brought up an awkward subject, I decided to smooth things over by drawing a portrait of her. I might be an amateur businessman, but I was a professional artist.

I began sketching her with paper and pen.

"Azalea, hold still for a moment."

"What is it?"

I finished the drawing in about ten minutes and showed it to her. A portrait of Azalea emerged in the lamplight.

"Wow! Amazing! Having a portrait drawn makes me feel like a noblewoman."

Clutching the drawing to her chest, she was incredibly excited. I hadn't expected her to be so happy.

It was nice that she was happy, but for some reason Azalea began taking off her clothes. Her bare white body emerged in the lamplight.

The stark contrast of white and black shadows emphasized the shape of her body even more.

When she took off her top and skirt, she was completely naked; apparently, this world had nothing like underwear. Maybe that's why—every woman in the city wore long skirts.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

"You gave me sweets and drew my portrait, so I'm getting far more than I've given you, aren't I?"

Was that so? Was it? I'd only just arrived in another world—was this really okay...?

------◇◇◇------

――The next morning.

In the end, I went through with it... Naked, Azalea was breathing softly in bed.

"Sigh... What am I doing with a girl this young?"

Feeling depressed wouldn't help. I had things to do. I woke Azalea and fed her granola soaked in milk.

"What's this?! It's crispy and sweet and delicious!"

"It's travel rations. It's dried, so it keeps for a long time."

Azalea, still naked, was stuffing her face with granola. I wanted her to put clothes on before we talked, but...

"I think this could sell, too."

"It uses sugar and fruit, so ordinary people in town wouldn't buy it if it were expensive, right? I don't want to deal with nobles."

Since Azalea had said eating something sweet made her feel like a noblewoman, sugar was probably a valuable commodity too.

Therefore, I probably couldn't sell it cheaply.

"I see... Even though it's so delicious. I bet you could sell it to the rich."

"If it became popular among the rich, it would definitely reach the nobles' ears, right?"

"True."

When she was simply eating, she looked like an eighteen-year-old girl.

While I was at it, I asked her about coins. Compared with the currency in the world I came from, copper coins were apparently worth about 1,000 yen each.

Five copper coins made one small square silver coin (5,000 yen), ten small square silver coins made one silver coin (50,000 yen), and four silver coins made one gold coin (200,000 yen)—something like that.

Of course, currency systems apparently varied from country to country, too.

――So that meant the inn here cost 3,000 yen a day. Well, 3,000 yen for a room without meals seemed about right.

But I'd spent money again yesterday, so I needed to earn cash quickly. Once I'd eaten, I had to visit the Commercial Guild.

Besides, while talking with her last night, I'd noticed something interesting. Apparently, Azalea couldn't see my status screen.

Apparently, it was visible only to me. Also, if I put the paper with writing on it into the Item Box and selected it, the writing appeared on the screen.

So even if there was a test when I registered with the guild, I could cheat to my heart's content. As long as I put the cheat sheet in the Item Box, I'd be set.

After Azalea had eaten and changed clothes, I paid her today's lodging fee in silver coins and received change. I still had copper coins, but I wanted to exchange them.

I put all the money into the Item Box—but it counted and displayed the number of coins, which was convenient.

When taking out a large quantity of the same item, a prompt reading 【How many would you like to take out?】 also appeared.

The guild registration fee was one silver coin, so about 50,000 yen... Pretty expensive, but I had no choice.

First, I needed to register with the guild and research the market.