Chapter 13

Blumund. A smaller kingdom, population under a million. It consisted mainly of little villages, collected into regions ruled by noble lords. The only big settlement to speak of was the capital. It was seriously a super-tiny country.

Guided by my stolen map, I continued on to the rural village. Its serene landscape, surrounded by fenced fields, greeted us through the forest.

because it was still early, around 10 o'clock, I decided to eat and relax my body, I suddenly heard someone bragging in a loud voice.

"So y'know what I did? I took my Great Axe and— Fwam! I smashed that sucker to the ground! And here's what I got t'show for it!"

"Wow! That's incredible, Bydd!"

"This's a pretty strong monster, ain't it, Bydd? You beat it all by yourself?"

"Yeahhh, you could say that. After all, the likes of a Horned Bear ain't no threat to me!"

It sounded like he had whipped some powerful monster pretty well. Curious, I took a glance in their direction—only to find the massive corpse of...something sprawled out on a table, almost wholly covering it.

I thought I was going to spit out a mouthful of food right there. I was expecting the Horned Bear of the story—this wasn't it. A total fake; a regular bear with the horn from a Horned Hare lodged in its skull.

It could admittedly be tricky to tell the difference between regular animals and monsters. Throw in creatures that're mystic or magical in nature, and they get even trickier to categorize.

There was, however, one pointed difference between animals and monsters: strength. Technically speaking, magical beasts become magical in the first place once an animal is infused with magicules; it was a given that this led to certain physical boosts.

although maybe not quite as much for the average village bumpkin. Not unless the corpse coughs up a magic crystal for them.

I approached the old man next to me and asked him, "Hey, he's trying to pass off a fake Horned Bear on those guys. Is that, like, okay?"

"I think he has a motive. He would be branded a swindler the moment he dragged that thing to the capital, but in a village like this? He is today's hero! So in a few seconds, I'm sure he'll be like 'I'll take care of this village for you, so what about the rooms and the lodge?"

I just nodded at the old man's answer, I was prepared to leave the guy alone, chalking it up as a learning moment for me, "Whoa, whoa, hang on a minute. You think I can't hear you bastards mumblin' about how you think this's a fake? You wanna mess with me, you better be prepared to pay for it!"

Bydd, the swindling braggart, stood up and walked my way. Why is it always the guys like these who have excellent hearing? It's like they're just itching to cause trouble. Plus, there was another side effect to this—it drew the attention of the entire tavern to our table.

because I didn't want to waste time and also I already told Rigurd that I'm going home tomorrow, so I built my Ki bigger and caused the surrounding area to vibrate like an earthquake, tables, chairs, glass, mirrors, glasses, they all shook and almost broke as I built Ki further.

"if you want people to think you're cool or whatever, then why don't you actually help them out when they need you? I think you'll find people will treat you a lot differently once you do."

"...Yeah, I'll try."

I let him go with just that warning.

Despite these obstacles, the trip went quite smoothly.

Immediately, I walked down the street in the capital city of Blumund. To me, the buildings looked ancient but solidly built. A flashback to the good old days—I can't put into words how good they really were, but it sure was a romantic feeling in central Europe. It's a bit of a contrast to the medieval town itself, which has many Japanese-style houses.

Everyone I passed seemed bright and cheerful. The atmosphere is certainly not gloomy or downtrodden. According to the previous guard, the government had sent out warnings beforehand to prepare for a large influx of monsters, but now it's been repealed, meaning no one need worry about having their home destroyed 'Turns out Veldora's disappearance really threw the whole world into chaos huh'

After all, this is still a big city in the countryside, and even on these streets, I couldn't help but notice how many people were walking around armed. Many are also a little, I might say, suspicious in appearance. Even with my appearance and the fact that I was reincarnated, I still felt like part of the crowd, which I enjoyed. It's all very, well, fantasy.

However, there is one thing that stands out. When I surveyed and assessed the surroundings, I saw that many of the weapons and armor that I saw were in very bad shape. In that way, it seems suitable for the people around, no one can fight well.

experiencing my first taste of an established city in a few moments was exhilarating. I brought grilled meat skewers from a roadside stall, biting into them as we walked. Even the presence of a shop like that makes me nostalgic for my old daily routine.

'I have to really suppress my appetite here, and also the monster meat that I put in the Inventory is already finished, whereas for normal people maybe the meat stock can be made in more than 5 months, but I spent less than 3 week. , preferably when I return to the village, I should hunt some monsters for food'

On the way, I arrived at the Blumund office of the Free Guild, a serious looking stone building. Five floors high.

The building seems to be temperature controlled somehow, as it's quite pleasant inside. I'm not affected by temperature myself, but with Ki Sense, I know that the ambient temperature is much lower than outside. There must be some sort of magical climate control feature in this building.

'Maybe this world is more high-tech than I know. Perhaps the presence of magic only made him advance and develop in a different direction than the old one. If it wasn't for things like monsters or demon lords, maybe they would have a higher magic based civilization around here. Though, in other words, all the development energy they could use for it was consumed by facing the threat of monsters, I guess. That's how much it takes to stay alive in this world. Monkey place, but also challenging.' The thought of such a fierce fight made his Saiyan blood boil and he quickly wanted a fight.

from what I heard from Veldora, Right now, the demon lord is given enough land to escape their wrath, but who knows? Maybe the humans around here will soon decide to invade a more monster-infested world. And maybe the monsters have a strength advantage for now, but one doesn't know what will happen in the future. Human wants are limitless.

Now, I'm glad I came here, it's important for me to know how people live in this world. Seeing a human city and knowing how its inhabitants live will have a huge impact on the future direction. I want to see and learn as much as I can.

But there's no point just standing here. I allowed the direction of a few people around to guide me further inside into a room that looked like the front lobby of a city hall. I saw a long counter, like a baggage drop at an airport, with SALES written on it. I can now read and write the languages ​​that exist in this world thanks to the bandit boss, I see the memories of him learning how to read and write, beating them up was worth it.

Sales, as the name suggests, is where they pick up and consider anything obtained from missions or intended for guild deliveries. The general counter is mostly for beginners or guild members living in the city, it is where you go to join or leave the guild too. The final "expert" section is only for guild-accredited adventurers, who in turn are divided by specialization - monster capture, exploration, or assassination. This is mainly for members who are doing activities outside the city, who are generally referred to as "adventurers". That is, if you want to be an adventurer, you should at least be able to defend yourself.

How does all this work in practice? For example, there is a guild department that specializes in magic. It's open to anyone who can handle magic spells, but that alone only gives you access to the general affairs service. It takes more than magic to reach the expert level; You'll also need to be part of a monster retrieval, exploration, or slaying department and have real field experience doing any of the three. It makes you an adventurer.

As the guard explained to me, only a select few out there can earn that adventurer title and keep it.

What are the benefits of the degree? Above all, freedom—part of the origin of the title Free Guild. All Free Guild members had to state which country they came from, but adventurers were free to move whenever they wanted. Changing your place of residence to another city, or another country for that matter, is allowed relatively easily if you wish. There are limits, of course, like during wartime, but as long as you get past a third of the nation to move around, it's all good.

Traveling between countries always causes problems identification and the like. However, for an adventurer, it was all covered as long as the country in question had an agreement with the guild, making it easy. Adventurers can act freely without ever being bound by restrictions, a sign of respect given to them as protection against the threat of monsters.

Of course, I'm saying all this, but it's not like adventurers often change their country of origin. If they do, it's more often so that they can choose the country where they are required to pay taxes. Freedom comes with responsibility, so I guess if everyone had the chance, they'd rather set up shop where it's easiest for them.