6 Miscalculation

"Ungh, my eardrum is broken as hell," Sasha complained. Her revealing clothes had now been replaced with a pristine white priest's uniform striped in azure blue. A staff was clutched in her right hand.

Using 8 silver out of 10, and yes, you heard that right, 8 silver, we underwent seven days of basic training in our respective guilds. Shelter and food were fortunately provided by the guild during that time. From then on, though, we have to use our own money.

Speaking of which, the common currency usage is threefold here, copper being the smallest to silver and then gold being the highest. One gold equals one hundred silver, and one silver equals one hundred copper. Daily necessities use Cooper.

Roughly speaking, the money given to us will last for about one to two weeks. After that? We work to obtain it.

Moguzo laughed awkwardly. "I can relate to that."

He was clad in thin chainmail that had obvious worn marks all over his body. His head itself bore only a leather bandana of some sort that protected his temples, leaving the top of his head and the front of his face wide open. A sword about the same size as his lay at his side.

"Yeah," I pretended to agree with Moguzo.

My upbringing undoubtedly had something to do with me not having much trouble when undergoing the training in question. As far as I could see from them, while they had the virtue of being surprisingly helpful to each other, they were just 'normal' people who were not used to the rigorous training the guild instructors provided. I couldn't really blame them.

I myself wore a sturdier armor than Moguzo's, equipped with a set of shield and sword, naturally, all second-hand. The breastplate of my armor had a hexagram engraved on it, signifying that I'm a paladin.

"S-Still, this is good..." Moguzo tried to change the subject to the food we were eating, soruzo. A food that somehow didn't feel familiar to me but did to these two beside me.

We are at the place we were before we decided to go to our respective guilds, the Village of Stalls. According to Sasha, this part of southern Alterna town adjoins an area called Craftsman Town, making it a popular place among craftsmen and even volunteer soldiers.

"Yeah," Sasha took a sip of the soup. "It's like ramen, you know?"

"I agree," Moguzo nodded eagerly.

I asked in confusion. "What's ramen?"

Sasha raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Huh? Isn't ramen a--- Uh, wait, what are we talking about again?"

"It's... ramen, right?" Moguzo repeated. "Yes, ramen."

'That's...' I fell into my thoughts. 'They didn't entirely forget their memories. They were familiar with it. In other words, they recognize it.'

"If you could excuse me, sir." I glanced up at the soruzo shopkeeper. "I'd like to ask you a simple question. Is that okay?"

"As long as I can answer it, of course," he was very casual about it.

"It really is a simple question," I began. "Have you ever been a volunteer soldier, perhaps?"

"Oh?" He looked intrigued. "Yes, what's wrong with it?"

"No, nothing's wrong." I refocused on my food.

'Nothing's wrong?' I repeated. 'Of course, that was a complete lie.'

If that was the case, then I was right about our bodies at least being able to remember the experiences before we were transferred to the tower.

'And here I was thinking, what if I continue to offer something that 'pokes' at the memories of those who are 'locked' as much as I can?'

That's something worth trying.

***

"So northwest of Alterna is the former city of the Arabakia kingdom, huh...?" I mumbled.

After filling our stomachs, we went straight to our destination through the north gate.

Alterna is a fortress on this so-called frontier. It belongs to the Kingdom of Arabakia located behind the high mountain range called Tenryu in the south. To sum up, a major incident about a century or so ago caused the humans who used to be the dominant race in Grimgar to be pushed to the south of the Tenryu mountains. Damuro, the former city affected by the incident, was apparently the largest city in the south of the Arabakia Kingdom in its time. Now, though, it was just ruins inhabited by creatures called 'goblins'.

"We have to go through the forest first, yeah?" Moguzo said softly.

"Sadly," Sasha doesn't seem enthusiastic about that aspect.

Fortunately, I knew the basic knowledge of navigating through the forest. Since the area wasn't too big, with a fairly short distance to the destination, I wouldn't worry about finding ourselves lost there.

"Follow my lead," So with that, I went ahead of them.

I chose a path that wouldn't be too difficult for even them to follow. On the way, I stretched all my senses to the max, trying to catch whatever it was that passed by.

"If only we had some bow..."

Some wild animals, such as deer, can be seen running away once they see us. I can't just throw my weapon in the forest, do I?

"Eh, why should you?" Sasha incredulously asked.

"Um, maybe to hunt them down?" Moguzo answered instead. "That would be pretty good for saving money, considering our starting state."

"Ahh,"

He is completely right, and I can't see how she didn't see that. I thought she was the type who always thought before she spoke. That might not be entirely true now.

"Yeah, though the cooking presumably won't be as fancy."

I don't know much about cooking, after all.

"No, I can do it."

"Eh?"

"You could?"

Me and Sasha were looking at Moguzo nearly at once. It's rare, or well, it's the first time we've seen Moguzo convinced of something this quickly.

"I don't know the details myself," he sounded a little distressed when he said it. "but I think I have a lot of things in my head that relate to cooking. I think I have a particularly sensitive tongue when it comes to food, as well."

"Well, you look like you love eating, yeah?" Sasha mentioned, smiling dryly.

"It could be," he didn't object, replying with a dry smile of his own.

As they chatted, I stopped walking. Naturally, the two people behind me stopped as well.

"What's wrong, Kiyotaka?" Sasha started.

I looked in one direction. "Let's go there."

This forest doesn't just contain wild animals. The 'goblins' we're aiming for can sometimes be found in it, near the water source. They got the name mud goblins because of that.

'Let's check if we could get some,'

Just when I had that thought, "Aw!" Sasha yelled out in a gasp.

I hurriedly turned around to see her. She pulled one leg behind, as if avoiding something in the place where she had stepped on earlier.

'That's...' I narrowed my eyes. 'Pit rat?'

The shaggy cat-sized animal was probably the one that had just injured Sasha's leg.

Moguzo at her side had brought up his sword then, bringing it down with what I thought was unnecessary force. The pit rat turned itself into a ball and dodged it with incredible speed. As a result, Moguzo's greatsword hit nothing but the ground.

"Whuh...?" His body was slightly carried forward. His force had been too strong. He still couldn't control it well.

"T-They're usually coming in a swarm, aren't they?" Sasha looked around frantically.

'She's right,'

"Come here, Sasha."

The swarm came right from behind her, after all.

"Eek!"

She immediately ran towards me.

"Moguzo."

"Y-Yes,"

"Go behind Sasha."

About ten pit rats stormed from in fro--- no---

"T-There're everywhere," Sasha said grimly.

'What a rotten luck.'

They are omnivorous animals, but they rarely attack humans. One or two of them is no problem. When in a group, though? We could very well die.

"Try to hit them with your staff. One or two hits is enough."

They rolled their bodies to me as I finished my sentence.

'They're way too fast.'

I wouldn't be able to kill them in a straightforward way.

After a bit of thought, I decided to plunge my shield right behind my feet. With both hands on the sword hilt, I swung it at the group of pit rats attacking from the front.

'Yeah, dodge, all of you.'

They went right and left, trying to bite my legs. I'm just about to flick my sword to change its direction to them, that is, when Sasha shouts something, prompting me to stop my efforts immediately.

"Watch out!"

That shout didn't just affect me, the pit rats that were intending to bite me also retreated in the same direction when they heard it. Why is that, you ask?

'It's Moguzo.'

Moguzo's sword was now stuck on the head of the shield where I stuck it a moment ago.

'Hey, I just brought it, you know?'

Of course, that's not what's important here.

"Are you trying to kill him?!" Sasha cried out.

"S-Sorry,"

Moguzo didn't look like someone who was trying to kill someone, and I can see why.

'He's probably panicking again, not putting the appropriate force into his swing. Naturally, it was his accuracy, as well.'

However, I would appreciate them saving their complaints for another time. The pit rats quickly took the opportunity to charge at them, further aggravating their unstable emotions with an enveloping sense of panic. While I could dodge their attacks, I couldn't focus on landing decisive strikes on them due to the duo's careless actions.

'It's a miscalculation on my part...'

I really thought about sacrificing them for a moment. Somehow, such thoughts weren't out of place in my head. But I won't do that. Not yet.

"Focus!" I raised my voice slightly. "You'll be able to overcome this situation if you calmly focus on the task ahead!"

If Moguzo won't be able to do it, I can understand that. Sasha, on the other hand? She should be able to try with that staff of hers. These animals are cowards by nature, after all. A few hits would be enough to drive them away.

"Hah!"

Sasha swung her staff at last. It didn't hit anything, but she at least managed to keep them from approaching her further.

"Put some distance before you swing your sword, Moguzo!"

He complied with my order quickly.

'Now...'

Still swinging my own sword, I rushed towards Sasha and kicked one of the pit rats off the line. When that happened, all the pit rats, literally, ran away without hesitation.

'Well, that's fast.'

They disappeared before long.

"You okay?" I turned to Sasha. "No, of course you're not, huh?"

She groaned in pain upon trying to stand up.

"You should heal it first," Moguzo says.

"Yeah, right."

Sasha wasted no time in drawing a hexagram on her forehead with her fingers as she chanted "O Lumiaris, May the Light be Upon You," and to the wound on her leg. "Heal."

A rather blinding light came out the moment she did that. When it disappeared, I saw that the wound behind the tear in her pants had disappeared without a trace. What a mysterious power.

I sighed. "Let's continue our hunting."

Their faces were clearly not excited about it.

'It seemed that I have to do something about them, huh?'

If this continues, they will only become burdens. I still didn't want to throw them away this early.