Fell for a scam

I once again left Hati at the inn and found my way to a random bar in the town, in order to get information out of the adventurers here.

This town was large, so thinking that there would be adventurers at any bar I went into, I just arbitrarily picked one. Apparently I hit the jackpot, though. It seemed this place was a favorite of adventurers, and there were a lot of them gathered here. I had my eyes on four adventurers that were probably in a party together, and approached them.

"Excuse me, I'd like to ask you something, do you have time?" I promptly flagged down an employee and ordered all four of them ale.

"Hahahh, I see you know what you're doing." The brawny skinhead that looked like the leader of the group slapped my shoulder and led me to an empty seat. "So — what do you want to ask?"

"I'm acting as something of a peddler while I travel around, but it hasn't been that long since I've started. That's why I was hoping to hear stories about different countries and their situations from adventurers who are chock-full of experience."

"Oh, is that all? If that's the case, you asked the right people."

When the leader said that, a demi-human (is he a tiger?), who was just as brawny as the leader, nodded and said, "It's true, we've traveled to a lot of places... Oi, what do you think you're lookin' at?" When I was caught gawking at the tiger demi-human, he turned on me threateningly.

"Are ya stupid or somethin'? There aren't exactly a lot of demi-humans who aren't slaves walking around in this place." When he was told that by the other members, the demi-human relented, nodding in understanding.

"I see. It's true that if you think of a demi-human in this place, you'd think of a slave. Even so, this country is one of the better ones." At the demi-human's words, everyone else nodded in agreement, starting with the leader.

Melromarc is a matriarchal country under a monarchy system, where the current queen holds the true authority of the country. It is a human supremacist country where the slavery of demi-humans is legal.

With the capital located in the centre of the country and referred to only as Castle Town, the country of Melromarc is a matriarchy ruled by the queen. While the queen is away on diplomatic missions, the power and authority falls to the king to rule as he sees fit. It was during one such diplomatic trip that the waves of disaster suddenly began to ravage the kingdom and other regions of the world. In defiance of an international treaty, Melromarc's king summoned all four heroes and one victim to fight the waves. Upon hearing that Melromarc has summoned all four heroes, the leaders of the international conference almost go to war against Melromarc. Fortunately, Queen Mirellia is able to negotiate a temporary peace at the cost of many weeks of peace talks.

The Faubley government is a mixture of an absolute patriarchal monarchy and an oligarchic power structure with powerful nobles vying with the monarchy for power and influence. For years, Faubley has been undergoing a long period of political upheaval. Unlike many other lands, there is no difference in treatment between demi-humans and humans. It is ruled by Aultcray Melromarc XXXII's brother, who is 13 years his senior. The king of Faubley is a man who drowns in carnal pleasures. Even though he's rotten, it isn't by luck that he's managed to hold the throne for so long in a country plagued by power struggles. He is ugly and stupid, but he has the wisdom needed to keep his own power. He is smart enough to sustain his position.

Siltvelt is a country of Demi-Humans located northeast of Melromarc. The Siltvelt government system is called parliamentary democracy, but in fact it's oligarchy with powerful nobles bidding for public favor and influence.

The Siltvelt Kingdom currently has four major political parties: Hakuko, Genmum, Shasku, and the Aotatsu. They are the most influential demi-human races, and they maintain a power balance, competing for influence within the government.

Hakuko is a race of demi-humans with white tiger features.

Genmum is a race of turtle-like demi-human that tend to generally side with the moderate faction within Siltvelt.

Shasku is a demi-human race that is supposed to be neutral, but some seemed to be a part of a radical pro-Shield Hero faction within Siltvelt. The race can be loosely associated with the Suzaku, the Vermillion Bird of the South. The shusasku are an incredibly fast species. They are also sensitive to movements in the air and can thus sense wind and fire.

Aotatsu is a race of Dragonnewts or Dragon demi-human. They can use water and wind magic together.

Shieldfreeden is a demi-human country located to the south-east of Melromarc. Shieldfreeden is a Constitutional Republic with a National Senate. ate power structure, with representatives competing for public favour and national influence. These representatives are mostly nobles. They are a politically and religiously liberal nation.

Zeltoble is the land of adventurers and mercenaries. As the name suggests, this land is largely populated by adventurers and mercenary organisations. Dungeons can be found here.

Q'ten Lo is an isolationist nation in the east. This nation has a strong feudal Japanese aesthetic, which contrasts strongly with the medieval European motifs of the other nations.

'Now that I think about it, I'd already heard that Melromarc and Siltvelt were close to war at Kiels. Apparently, these four adventurers saw that their country was close to war and decided to cut and run.'

"If we had family in the country, we wouldn't have done that, but all four of us are orphans, you see." I was told that all of them were raised in the same orphanage and just became an adventurer party like that.

It seemed that the Adventurer's guild had told countries not to stop C-rank adventurers and above from moving between countries, and because said countries couldn't afford to upset a gigantic organization like the Adventurer's guild, they had to grudgingly accept.

"We are currently on our way to Leonhardt (another city in the same country)..." Apparently there are a lot of dungeons in this country, so being an adventurer is preferable.

'There it is: dungeons. As I thought, they existed. I'm a little interested, but I'll probably never enter one. After all, it's gotta be safety first. Life is important. But, hearing about all this from the adventurers, I've figured out my destination. The problem is whether Hati would understand the route if I tried to explain it to him. This is the exact situation where a map would be great.'

"If only I had a map..."

"Hm? What, you want a map?" The leader seemed to have heard me muttering to myself.

"Eh, ahh, yeah. It doesn't have to be too detailed, but I was thinking it would really help if I had one." When I said that, the four adventurers looked at each other, and then started whispering.

"Hey, to tell you the truth, we have a map." 'What, really?'

"There was a senior adventurer that treated us kindly, and he gave it to us when he retired." 'Ohhhh, that's great. I'm jealous. I want a map, too.'

"Of course, it isn't detailed like a higher-up in the military would have, and only just shows which country is where..." 'Yeah yeah, it's not like I really need anything that detailed. It's fine with me, as long as I know where countries are in relation to each other.'

"So here's the thing... if you want it, we can give it to you."

'W-Wait, really?!'

"We've already memorized this map, you see. We'll get by even without it. So what do you say to 1 gold for it?" '1 gold? Hmmmm... I want a map, but 1 gold is a lot... I do understand that paper is expensive, though. 1 gold... that really makes it hard to make a decision.'

"Is it alright if I see it?" I asked. 'It should be easier to decide after I see it.'

"Sure." The leader took a folded-up map from his pocket. "Here it is."

I unfurled the map and took a look. 'Yeah, this really is rough. But I'll be able to understand the positions of countries with this.' I wanted it, but the price made me hesitate.

"I'm telling you this now, but this is pretty valuable." I knew that; the bookstore didn't have it, and there weren't any in the library, either.

"But since you've treated us like this, I'll make it a little cheaper. How about 8 silver?"

'8 silver? I do want a map, and paper is expensive. Hrmmm... Okay, let's buy it. It's better to have one, and at 8 silver it's cheap enough that I can internalize it as an expense.' "I'll take it for 8 silver."

"Great, it's a deal." I handed 8 silver over to the leader and pocketed the map.

"Now then, we have to be up early tomorrow, so we'll be going back now."

"Sure. Thanks for telling me all that stuff. For the map, too."

"No problem. Later." Saying that, the four of them left the bar.

'Whoo! I got a map. The bookstore didn't have one, and I went to the library thinking that if I had an old map, I could just renew it by asking adventurers, but in the end the library didn't have one either. I was already thinking of giving up on a map, but to think I would get one here — I lucked out!'

*Pff...*

*Snicker...*

'What? There's a bunch of people that look like adventurers glancing at me and laughing.'

"Pft... Hey, you guys shouldn't laugh." One of the adventurers said to the others. 'You're saying that while you're laughing...'

"Uhhh, did I do something?" 'Is it okay if I get mad?' I said that to the man while still sulking a little from being laughed at.

The man replied, "Sorry, sorry," while not looking sorry at all. "Earlier, you know, we were listening in on your conversation. You were tricked."

'Huh? What's he saying? 'Tricked?' What does he mean?'

"You bought a map from them, didn't you?" 'I did, but what of it?'

"The Adventurer's guild sells those."

'What? Nonono, w-wait a minute. The Adventurer's guild... sells... maps?

Whaaaaaaaaaaa?'

"I've got one too. See?"

The map he showed me after saying that was exactly the same as the one I just bought from the adventurers for 8 silver. While I was at a loss for words, staring numbly at the map, the man dropped another bomb.

"By the way, that map, it's 1 silver at the Adventurer's guild."

'1... silver... 1 silver into 8 silverーー?!?! GAAHHHHHH I WAS TRICKEDーーー!!!'

"They sure fleeced you, turning 1 silver into 8! Gahahahaha!" The rest of the adventurers in the bar joined in on his laughter.

'Dammit, this isn't funny. It's actually making me want to cry.'

"This map is something the Adventurer's guild makes themselves by talking to adventurers. So it's set at a price where we can easily buy it even though it's made of paper."

"He's right. Well, there's also adventurers that don't buy one and get around with their own memory, but most people buy the map. And they fill in the topographical details of places and villages they've been in themselves, like, 'here's a lake,' or even what monsters appear in an area. At any rate, they write down extra details on the map and make it their own."

"There're also adventurers that stay in one country, so they make a copy of just the one country and write more detailed maps of that place, too. Naturally, such maps are an adventurer's treasure, so they wouldn't go around showing it to other people so easily."

"Now that I think about it, I think the Merchant's guild also sells a similar map."

"Well, both adventurers and merchants travel around a lot." The adventurers that were laughing each chimed in with their own piece.

'So not only the Adventurer's guild, but even the Merchant's guild sells these maps... The owner of the bookstore didn't say a word about that, though. The bookstore is also a part of the Merchant's guild, but since it's a bookstore it doesn't seem like the owner would have to travel across countries or even different towns, so he might have just not known about it. At any rate, to all of these adventurers who're laughing, please tell me this sort of thing beforehand.'

""""""That's because you're in the wrong for being tricked!""""""

They were all quite correct.

'Grrrnnnnn, I hate it but they're right. Something of this level definitely wouldn't count as a crime in this world. I guess I have no choice but to give up and chalk this up as a learning experience.'

I want to cry...

//Ever since I was a little boy, I have had the bad habit of always trying to get along with others, even if it means hurting myself. Unfortunately, I still haven't grown out of it, so I want to defend myself.

Some people complained and argued in the chat that I used lines from other people's works. That's 100% true, but so what? English is not my first language, but by fanfic I understand a work created by the author and adapted according to the ideas, dreams and wishes of the fan. I am not doing this for a living or for money. I'm not trying to make money from Patreon. I'm not trying to become a writer anyway.

In the summary I said that I own nothing. This is fanfiction. I make changes that I don't like in the original work. Not everyone reads your manga or manhwa. (It's another source by the way). When I saw that 100ppl had this in their library, I was so happy. What is wrong with the fact that they behave the same. I like it that way. So please leave me alone. If you think I did something illegal sue me or report me to webnovel.