Hey, Shun here!
The Role Playing Games and their entire shtick was mostly about playing as a character, obviously, and some things like gaining experience and becoming stronger and stronger as the game progress.
I'm one of those people who've always wondered what would happen if this were to occur in the real world. Like, seriously, how would getting stronger through stats work? Doesn't it tamper with your body and all that?
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(Third Person's POV)
The sun just started to rise from the horizon but there are already many people who are busying themselves. Take for example, the knights of the city.
"Oy, Grant, change places with me for a bit!" A bearded man who looks like a westerner said, gesturing at someone who seems to be his junior to come closer.
"Yes! What do you need me for, sir!"
Seeing the very formal way of speaking of the guy, the middle aged man just waved his hand while saying that he needn't be so formal.
"I already told you, you don't need to be so formal around me. That's just for the nobles. We ain't nobles so just drop the pleasantries, aight?"
"H-Haa… U-Under… No, I got it!"
"Good! Now, my sweetheart just arrived with my lunch so I gotta take a few minutes of break. You go man the entrance for now. There's rarely anyone who would go inside right now since the stars fell last night so just calm down and take it as practice, aight?"
"H-Ha—, I mean gotcha, captain!"
After patting the guy's back a few times, the man left with some parting words.
"Just ask Kendricks for assistance if you need any help, got it? They should be going back later. Anyway, I gotta go."
The young man watched as the back of his leader gradually disappeared from his sight. Once he was far away, the guy named Grant steeled his nerves and stood in front of the gate like a real knight, with his back ramrod straight and his eyes firmly looking at his front and nowhere else.
As time went on, Grant became more and more comfortable with his surroundings. His previous nervousness was gone as he became a lot more calmer than previously.
It was then that a pretty surprising sight entered his sight. Coming straight towards the gates was a group of carriages with two huge carcasses of what seems to be wyverns.
Riding the carriages was a group of knights, which, according to Grant's knowledge, consists of the knights with the highest levels, as well as those who knows magic. The leader of this whole platoon is knight Kendricks, the person that Grant's captain told him to consult with if he have any questions.
As the carriage gradually approached the gates of the city, Grant felt very nervous. This group have many nobles in it so he have to be very careful of how he acts around them.
The moment the carriages arrived in front of the gates of the city, a tall middle aged man with some battle scars present in his body got down from the carriage on the very front and began walking towards the Grant who was waiting in front of the gate like a statue.
"Good work. Report to Earl Seiryuu that we have killed the two Wyverns that attacked his manor the other day. Inform him about an important visitor who just arrived from afar as well. Here, hand him this letter."
"Ha! Then, I shall take my leave, sir!"
"Uh-huh…"
Tasked with a new assignment, Grant ran back towards the entrance of the gate. While he was doing so, he caught a glimpse of a young man wearing a silvery white set of armor with some black and gold highlights.
The armor looks like what a person from a high class family would wear, but does not look extremely gaudy like the armor that other nobles wear.
'Is he an explorer?' Grant thought before removing his gaze from the young man and refocusing on his new task.
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(Shun's POV)
We just arrived at the Seiryuu City, accompanied by a large group of carriages. This group are the same knights that I saw not long after we arrived in this dimension.
Right after waking up and packing our belongings, we continued our journey to the city. It was then that we bumped into them.
When we were asked why we were where we are, I just said that we are currently on a journey and that we are just stopping by Seiryuu City because of last night incident, which was apparently called 'the night when the stars fell'. It was really funny since, the moment the knight captain named Kendricks said that, Ritsu was also just about ready to cheekily correct him.
Thank God I was able to stop her in time. While I don't think that this knight captain is not a petty piece of sh*t like those knights captains in those fantasy novels, I can't say that it's also the case for his subordinates.
Anyway, after telling them that, I told them about encountering two wyverns and how we lost our carriage because of that. When asked where we saw them, I just told him that we already killed them all.
Since my identity in this world is someone who's the son of a wealthy merchant, I didn't really need to hide the fact that I have access to [Bags of Holding], this dimension's version of a [Storage] enchanted magic bag. It was a handy excuse, really.
"Welcome to Seiryuu City, Mr. Shirakami. While we are still informing our Earl, do you want us to guide you to a place where you can stay for the night?"
"Ah, there's no need for that, Mr. Kendricks. Just recommending us a place to stay would be more than enough." While we don't really have any intentions of staying to any place that they would recommend — since we already have a place in mind — it wouldn't hurt us to ask for recommendations.
"A suggestion? My suggestion would be to stay at the [Gate Inn]. That inn provides the best services in this city."
Whoah, he recommended the same place where Pochi and Tama is currently staying at. I guess that inn really is the way to go, huh.
"I understand. Thank you for your suggestions Mr. Kendricks. Well, we shall be taking our leave now. Thank you for giving us a ride to this place."
The moment I said that, Kaede-san, who was standing ramrod straight behind me, peaked from behind and also said her thanks to Mr. Kendricks and the other knights. Same goes for Touka-san, Rinka-san, Ritsu, and Yukiko-san, who seems to have gotten along with the girls of this knight platoon.
"A-Ah, you all are absolutely welcome. This is not even enough to thank you all for exterminating the two threats that we have been hunting for a while now. Regarding that, please wait for your group's reward…"
He stuttered a bit there. Was Kaede-san too cute for them? I feel kinda proud for some reason.
My weird sense of fulfilment aside, I really wanted to decline the reward, since I have to meet this Earl person and all, but since I have a feeling that I needed to meet a high ranking person regardless, I'll just accept it. We didn't really need the funds but, eh, it's the thought that counts I guess.
"I understand. Then, we will waiting for your news."
While I was saying goodbye to Mr. Kendricks, the girls also said their goodbyes to their newly acquired friends. Their names seems to be Zena, Iona, and Lilio.
Since I didn't really get the chance to talk to them as much, due to me being busy having a conversation with Mr. Kendricks, I just didn't say anything and waited for the girls.
"Let's go?"
"Un, let's go, [Admin] Shun-san!"
Along with the girls, I entered inside the city of Seiryuu, where Pochi and Tama is currently living in.
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There's a semicircular space with a radius of about 20m between the gate and the town. Whether it is there for the sole purpose of decoration or for war, I don't really know. It's more likely that it's for war.
Kaede-san seems to be feeling quite uncomfortable since we hadn't taken a bath yesterday. I did use [Cleaning] on them but it seems like the feeling of taking a bath is supremely better.
'Habits die hard, eh…' I could honestly feel them.
Since I highly doubt that there would be baths in a setting like this, I told the girls to bear with it for a while.
As I was walking down the streets, with the girls trailing behind me as they marveled at the unique sight before them, I was suddenly grabbed by someone on the arms.
"You! If you haven't decided on an inn yet, then come to ours! I'll give you some service~!" Extra service? Wait, before that, why is she suddenly hugging me by the arm?
When I looked at the girl, I felt like I somehow knew who this girl is.
"What the…"
"It's fine, it's fine, it's cheaper than all the others— Not, but it is filled with a devotion to delicious food and clean bedding!" Atleast she's being honest.
Oh, wait, now I remember who she was.
"Aren't you Martha-chan, friend of Pochi and Tama?"
When I blurted that out, the girls behind me finally seems to have noticed what was happening. Their first reaction was, as expected, as who Martha was.
"[Admin] Shun-san, who's that girl?" Kaede-san asked curiously. When I looked back at her, I saw that she was pouting slightly as she looked at Martha.
"Oh, well, Martha-chan, could you please let go of me for a second?"
"Ah, oh, yes. Wait! How did you know my name, mister? Also, how did you know about Pochi and Tama?" Martha-chan unconsciously let go of me when I asked her to do so. It looks like she was still processing the question that I asked her.
""""Martha-chan?""" Touka-san, Rinka-san, and Yukiko-san seems to be as confused as Kaede-san when I called the girl by name.
She's a girl who exudes the overflowing energy of a girl-next-door. It seems like she's a barker for an inn, or maybe even the poster girl.
She's has a slightly round face, which still have a few baby fats in it, while her dark brown eyes seems to be filled with energy. It seems like she's only a few years younger than us, but her developed body that wouldn't really lose to Kaede-san says otherwise.
Looks like, being from a western descent made her look more mature than she really is, or is it just unique to her? Anyway, I gotta clear things up first.
"We knew about you from Pochi and Tama. Aren't you a friend of theirs? We're also friends with them for a long time now. We were just planning to stay at the [Gate Inn] but it seems like we were beaten to the punch by you."
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※~To be continued~※
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Author's Remarks:
※ Re-reading this chapter was fun! xD