Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Game World 2

I left my home and walked from the noble district of the capital city to the citizen's district.

The home of the Rajnia family was located in the lord's estate and townhouse of the capital city. I was staying at a house in the corner of the townhouse's garden.

If it were the estate, it would have been difficult for me, but I felt relieved being in the capital city.

"Excuse me, I've come to register as an adventurer. Can I do it here?"

"Yes, we can register you here."

It was a large building located in one corner of the citizen's district.

I went to the adventurer guild, the gathering place for adventurers.

In the story, this facility is often used and is one of the important facilities for earning money, meeting other characters, and so on.

Since I knew how to register, I quickly filled out the registration form and obtained a guild card.

"Do you want to take on a request?" 

"No, I'll just register for today. I don't have all my equipment yet." 

"I see. Would you like me to introduce you to a blacksmith?"

"I have plans to go to an acquaintance's shop, so it's okay," the receptionist's suggestion was politely declined.

The blacksmith being introduced here is certainly skilled, but as someone who knows the story, he is also a blacksmith that I have no intention of using.

"First, let's go to the inn..."

In the game, there were several inns that appeared, and I headed towards one that was both cheap and well-equipped.

And I arrived at a place called the "Karyutei," which was a restaurant and inn combined.

This inn was one of the few with a shower.

The only bad thing was that the innkeeper had a scary face.

Because of this, despite the facilities and the taste of the food being the best, this inn had slightly fewer people than the others.

"Will there be any available rooms for an extended stay?"

"There is. Choose whichever you like."

Despite the unfriendly demeanor of the scary-looking owner, I chose the room at the end and paid for 10 days worth of stay.

It was half of the money I had, but I considered it a necessary expense.

Compared to other lodgings, it was relatively cheap since it included unlimited showers and two meals a day.

"Now that I've secured a place to stay, the next thing to do is to gather equipment, but honestly, I don't have enough money..."

I declined the request because I didn't have the necessary equipment, but I'm currently in a situation where I don't have enough money to prepare it.

I could use magic to force myself to earn money, but that would attract attention.

If I stand out in a bad way, it would be meaningless even if I became free. If I get involved with weird people, it would be pointless.

"I wonder what the right thing to do is..."

With a sigh, I lay down on the bed and decided to sleep until dinner time for now.

"What's wrong? Are you short on money? I thought you had money since you paid for 10 days in advance," the shopkeeper said with a curious look as we sat down to dinner and I shared my troubles.

"The dwelling is important, you know. There's no place better than this one for the price, so I wanted to prioritize securing it."

"We're always available, but I'm happy to hear you say that."

The shopkeeper blushed at my words, and I shuddered when I saw his face.

"Don't blush, tough guy. It's scarier that way..."

"…Don't talk about what people are self-conscious about," the embarrassed shopkeeper retorted, giving me a fierce glare.

"If you're well-equipped, don't want to stand out, but have real skills, I have a job for you."

"What is it?"

"Recently, there has been a shortage of meat in the market, and we are running low on backup meat. I was thinking of requesting the Guild's help," said the shopkeeper.

"I see. Is the meat from orcs?" I asked.

In response to my question, the shopkeeper said that any meat from edible monsters would do.

Meat that is available for consumption is mainly from orcs or boars. Although there are also meats from higher-ranked monsters as a luxury item, the shopkeeper is likely looking for orc or boar meat.

Having received a personal request from the shopkeeper, I left the inn and headed out of the capital city.

By the way, the shopkeeper's name is also the same as in the game, "Ricardo."

"Well then, let's use this guy's ability right away."

One of Jin's skills, [Magic Detection], is an ability to search for magic, as the name suggests.

With this, it's possible to search for target creatures or edible monsters.

"...I found a herd right away."

I headed to the place where I was immediately detected and found five boars sunbathing there.

The first move wins.

I cast a spell towards the boars who had not yet noticed my presence.

The attribute magic I cast was wind.

Unlike other abilities, I thought it could kill them instantly without damaging the meat.

"Did I manage to kill them in one shot?"

The boars whose heads were cut off had fallen down, bleeding to death.

I put those boars into my "interdimensional box" and decided to look for the next prey.

"With this progress, I should be able to accomplish the request soon."

After that, I continued to hunt down orcs and boars, testing my own strength without getting carried away.

Before I knew it, the sun had already set, and the surroundings had become slightly dim.

"Oh no! It's dinner time!"

Having not realized that time had passed due to various experiments, I hurriedly returned to the capital and headed towards my lodging.

"You're late. If you were any later, there would have been no dinner."

"Oh, that was close. It would've been a waste of money if I missed it..."

Saying that, I sat at a table in the dining room and waited for the food to arrive.

A few minutes later, the owner prepared a dish that smelled delicious in front of me.

"Why isn't anyone else here to try this delicious food...Oh, is it because the owner's face is scary?"

"Shut up and eat!"

Because it looked so delicious, I teased the owner and ended up being scolded.

"Phew, that was delicious. I've never had such good food, even when I was at home." 

"Sure, thank you. So, Jin, how about the request? There's a three-day grace period, but if you've caught anything, I'd like to have it."

"Oh, I barely made it back in time, so I didn't have time to hand it over. But I've already caught the requested amount."

"What?!"

The shopkeeper was taken aback by my words.

"Are you, by any chance, skilled in 'storage-type' skills?"

"Correct. By the way, anything stored using my ability remains in a state of suspended animation, so it's kept fresh."

"What?! You're such a rare skill holder, so why are you poor...?"

"Well, there are a lot of reasons." 

With a sullen expression, I handed over the meat for the request while staring at the words from the shopkeeper.

"Although I have more meat than the requested amount, what do you want to do with it?"

"There's room in the warehouse, and I'll buy as much as I can sell to my regulars, so I'll buy what I can."

"There's a considerable amount, but is it okay? Even if you say you'll use it at the shop, can you use it with so few people?"

"Well, I do have regular customers, you know? They're away from the capital right now, so it's a deserted inn more than usual."

"I see, without customers, the shop won't survive."

I understood the shopkeeper's words, so I handed over the meat for the warehouse and exchanged it for money.

Now I had some spare money to equip myself.

"However, if you look closely, all the pieces of meat are cleanly defeated...?"

"That's because I used wind magic to take them down. Some of the boars were taken down so quickly that they didn't even know what hit them. As a result, there are also a few who have been turned into mere lumps of meat without realizing that they are already dead."

"They were killed by your magic in one shot? ... I understand if it's the higher-ranked magic users, but for a rookie adventurer to do it, what kind of life have you been living?" 

"Asking for personal information about adventurers is prohibited." 

With a smirk on my face, I said that and entered the room I borrowed, where I could use the shower available for guests at the inn to wash off the sweat and dirt. 

As soon as I lay down on the bed in the room, I fell asleep quickly, probably due to the accumulation of fatigue.