Little Green Boxes

The next day, I changed into a new set of clothes (bought from the Mall through 37) feeling refreshed after sleeping with a roof over my head and being clean. Whatever the AI did to keep me from being rank while living it up in the woods was effective but still made me uncomfortable with the lack of bathing involving water. Sure, I cleaned up this morning with what amounted to a basin of water and clean linen "towel" but it was still leagues better than just splashing my face and hands with river water.

Before I headed out to the town to observe locals so I could better blend in, I pulled out my smartphone-turned-Terminal and enabled the HUD.

"GAH!"

[Nori?]

My palm covered my eyes. A glowing light had burned my sight blind like a laser had been taken to my retinas. But the pain barely lasted half a second since it was more shocked nerves than anything else.

Hesitantly, I removed my hand and squinted through slightly watery eyes.

Health and MP count on the upper-left corner of my vision. Inventory on my upper-right. Changelog in a discreet location on the lower corner. All text in an LED green.

'No mini-map?' I wondered.

[Access Permission from the World is required. I have sent a request for a connection.]

Blinking, I really had nothing to say to this new information.

"Right."

Moving on!

Dressed in my usual black, I used the smoky quartz wand as a hair stick to keep my hair back—one less space taken up in the Inventory without throwing away something I couldn't buy from the Market until I was Level 50. (Though that just made me wonder what level Ing's strength would be translated as since artifacts were level-restricted.)

I was testing the waters with the idea that Lettie had given me, hiding the tips of my ears with my hair and seeing how often I'd be mistaken as non-human by my acquired accent. Sure, I'd stand out because of the musical lilt to my words but I have the impression that my appearance would make me stand out no matter what.

[Nori, try focusing on someone.]

I looked at Lettie, smiling at her and not letting anything show on my face as I did as directed by 37 and a small window with text appeared.

'Good job, Thirty-Seven.'

Dismissing the translucent window with a thought successfully as soon as I took in the information written within, I walked out and started testing out the AI's kept promise of a Scan function.

"Reinhardt will do it I tell you!" a young woman exclaimed.

My eyes moved onto another target while I strolled through the apparent garrison camp-turned-town, following 37's occasional direction to an apothecary where they can sell some of the materials that the AI disassembled from the carcasses. I would need to get rid of the pelts another day since it required interaction with a town official as it was apparently a regulated industry.

Using Scan on humans was actually not that interesting, only bringing up a name, age, affiliation, and "job class." I was only scanning them for practice and to get an idea of the names common in the area.

Checking out items with this new ability was a lot more interesting in contrast. So many foreign materials were added to my memory since Scan broke down an item's composition (basics, not chemical elements) in addition to giving a brief history of said item.

The apothecary had been especially interesting—intriguing enough I barely even noticed the smell of the place—and it gave me a better idea of some of the items available in the Market and why they were worth so much. (In that sense, the Market was very much like what you would find in an RPG system with healing potions; buying the base material was expensive if not impossible while selling it would only give you coppers at best.)

I tossed the coin bag I received from the apothecary for the infected viscera and bones in the air before catching it and putting it away the same way I placed items in the Inventory (that I gained access to at the same time I was able to use external magic).

The previously empty section below Inventory on the HUD was suddenly filled:

3G-2g-15s-34c

Time for some lunch!

I remembered the general direction the main thoroughfare was and had overheard in one of the many conversations that I passed by about the local market. The place sounded like a good location to continue reading the scanned information out of a lack of books to fill in the gap of knowledge.

It was probably time to start interacting with the locals of the town in order to get more information. All I've been hearing, other than the usual gossip in a small town, was about how the garrison sent out most of their troops for an extermination and this Captain Reinhardt, a local idol, was heading the expedition. That latest, biggest news was all people could talk about, probably since it was the most interesting thing that happened around here.

(I was suddenly a spectator to what life would be without modern entertainment. At least I had the quaintness of being in a fantasy world with magic to keep me occupied.)

"Want an apple, Missie? 'Tis only a copper a-piece."

I glanced at the purple apples, focusing a little for the infobox to pop up.

<Apple, Royale cultivar>

<A hardy fruit iconic to Westria, known for its mellow sweetness and light, crisp texture. Has a long shelf-life and best eaten as-is or roasted.>

I skimmed through the accompanying nutritional facts that popped up when I used Scan on edibles, before giving the woman a polite smile. "How much for the bushel, ma'am?" I purposely pitched my voice higher.

"Three silvers, d'you want a bushel?" the matronly woman hiked a brow in curiosity.

"Oh, no, I couldn't possibly finish all that by myself. But, maybe the berries?"

"A basket of white currants is 3 coppers while the strawberries are 5 coppers. A flat of white currants is a single silver while strawberries are 2 silver."

I read through the information of the misleading names of the fruits, having a feeling produce was out of season compared to Earth but not knowing enough to actually be sure. The white currants were actually 'Pink Pearlberries' that were in-season and abundant as a local species, with a flavor of sweet and tart. What looked like weirdly-shaped strawberries were actually 'Butterfly Rose Fruits' and was the first batch of the year.

Comparing the nutritional value, I looked away from the fruits, the infoboxes disappearing a second after being mentally dismissed. "Can I try a Pearlberry?"

"You're not from around here, are you? Go ahead, see if you like it. It's a favorite in the area!"

Popping one into my mouth, my eyes squinted as the berry burst and the flavor hit my tongue. I smiled at the taste that really could not be described with conventional adjectives for food.

"I'll take 5 apples, a basket of strawberries, and a flat of pearlberries, Ma'am!"

"Thanks for the business, Missie!"

Paying for the fresh produce, I bit into the purple apple as I stealthily put away the flat of berries and other apples into my Inventory.

"Martha, that was a male alf!" was heard in a loud whisper.

"What?" came the started sound from the fruit stall lady, "But he didn't correct me—"

At least the purple apple tasted like an apple—the texture of a Honeycrisp with the taste of a Fuji apple (the best of both worlds).

I was beginning to get an idea as to what the local currency was worth by now, after grabbing some bread cheese topped with cloudberry jam and clotted cream for lunch (3 coppers).

And now that I was no longer hungry, it was time to get some information about Crown City.

"Thanks for the business lad!"

Giving a polite smile, I turned away with my newly bought jar of cloudberry jam. My eyes scanned the area for a convenient place to stuff the jar into my Inventory and spotted a stall where the one minding it was a young man reading a book.

[Nori?]

I grinned widely as I did a bit of sleight of hand and "put" away the jar in one of my joggers' pockets when I was, in actuality, sending it into the Inventory.

'Time to be charming, Thirty-Seven.'

[…? What do you mean? I thought you were trying to find out more about Crown City?]

'Exactly.'