Chapter 5
Chapter 5
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: This World Is Still Warm and Heartwarming
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Fey's party invitation honestly left me speechless.
'If it's just the two of us, we'll run into all sorts of trouble.'
Putting together everything I'd seen of Fey so far, she clearly wasn't the reliable companion type.
It started with her freaking out and bursting into tears over a single puppy, and it went all the way to her getting totally scammed by every merchant she met.
'She's got a big ego, and she's way too careless.'
She's the type who messes up at crucial moments and causes accidents. The kind who loses her train ticket right before boarding on an overseas trip.
"Uh... Let me think about that for a bit."
So I expressed my refusal as gently as possible.
Without hurting her feelings too much.
"You're... rejecting me...? Me, Fey Leblanc, the Magic Tower's youngest Top Graduate...?"
She was trembling so much it didn't seem like my words helped at all.
"No, it's not that you're lacking or anything..."
"Why, why?! There must be a reason!"
"That's not it. We've only just met, so let's take some more time to get to know each other first."
"That's what you say to a date you don't like!"
Fey clenched her fists and shot up from her seat.
Then she pulled out three fancy gold medals from her backpack and showed them to me.
"Will, do you know what these are?!"
"Hmm... No?"
I'd only possessed this body today, so of course I didn't.
"These are graduation medals! And do you know what the blue gem in the center means?!"
"What does it mean?"
She seemed a bit excited by my empathetic responses.
"It means Top Graduate! Graduating at the top from the Magic Tower, which has an abysmal graduation rate—and from three departments at once: physics, chemistry, and biomagic!"
"Wow—"
"This isn't something to brush off with a half-hearted cheer! In the explorer market, where magic users are scarce, just flashing one of these gets you into most mid-tier guilds without breaking a sweat..."
She launched into a breathless monologue about how rare a mage of her caliber was in the explorer industry.
But,
'People like that always cause some kind of incident on trips.'
Far from convincing me, it only solidified my doubts about teaming up with her.
For someone seeking a quiet, peaceful healing trip, she just seemed too risky.
Maybe she read my lukewarm expression, because Fey paused, then opened her mouth with a look of resolve.
"Fine, seeing is believing. Tomorrow there's a basic quest for apprentice explorers. I'll join too, so judge me there. I'll show you my skills with your own eyes!"
Refusing now would look bad.
"Ah, sure. Let's do that then."
"Great! It's decided!"
I nodded.
Since my goal was deep dungeon exploration anyway, starting as an apprentice made sense.
Anyone I knew at this stage was better than none—before official quests began, at least.
"Then let's gear up right now for tomorrow! We have to be out at dawn for the apprentice quest! Don't worry about the cost—I'll cover everything!"
"No, that's too much..."
"It's fine! Thanks to you helping me rebook my lodging, I have money left over!"
Fey strode energetically out of the tavern.
However,
"Ugh! Th-this! Why won't it open?"
"Fey?"
"Yes?"
"You have to pull that door."
"...Eek."
I still couldn't fully trust her.
*
The lowest neighborhood in the 'Threshold'.
The equipment and exploration tool shopping district in the alley leading to the Nether.
"It kinda feels like an antique alley."
"It pretty much is. Relics from the Nether are all estimated to be thousands of years old."
Bronze swords etched with strange patterns, sleek swords that looked like they belonged in sci-fi.
Weapons and armor straight out of fantasy mixed with unidentified mechanical devices.
Weapons from all eras reflected the light of lanterns and glowing stones, waiting for their owners.
"Oh, that one..."
Amid them all, my eyes caught a smooth black device hanging above one shop.
A round barrel, long body, and grip.
"That's a gun."
More precisely, something like a rocket launcher.
Such a thing out in the open? Wasn't this a fantasy world?
"Oh, you know it too, Will? Hunter Rifle."
Why Hunter Rifle, of all names?
Genres mixing a bit here?
"Not sure if I know it... How does something like that even exist?"
"How? It's a classic OOPArt. From the Nether, right?"
"OOPArt?"
"Below the 3rd layer in the Dim Zone, you get otherworldly relics and flora. The Hunter Rifle is one of the most famous OOPArts found there. It showed up early in the explorations, they found a bunch, and even unskilled users can unleash insane firepower, so it's iconic."
"Something like that popping up would cause chaos."
Guns in an age of swords and magic? Balance breaker.
"It did cause problems. That's why the Relic Association strictly controls their import and export."
In other words, making sure invasive species don't spread outside the area.
"Ah, if it's not too much trouble, could you maybe buy me one Hunter Rifle?"
"You could buy one, but it's useless without ammo. And the Association tightly controls the ammo import. No point."
"Huh?"
She could buy one?
At that price?
Fey suddenly seemed scary, saying she could seriously buy it as a joke.
"Weapons later! Follow me! I'll get you gear that's even more important than weapons!"
And so I followed her, buying stuff from several shops.
Stones that lit up when you chanted, canteens with purification magic. Even dungeon camping gear like sleeping bags.
"Feels just like heading out camping."
Like the night before a school trip.
After stuffing all the essentials into the bag, we headed to the weapon district for the last stop.
"By the way, Will, are you a swordsman? The type who handles everything with one blade?"
"Hmm... Whatever feels handy, I guess?"
I just bullshitted.
I didn't have anything like that.
"...Ah, y-yeah... Of course..."
Fey suddenly switched to a slightly cowed mode.
"...?"
She seemed to be misunderstanding something, but I had no idea what.
'Anyway, it'd be nice to have an easy-to-use weapon for self-defense.'
I had a sword, but swinging it around alone hadn't gone well.
Wouldn't catch a wild boar with this.
So I needed gear that packed power regardless of skill.
Like a self-defense pistol for scaring off wild animals.
Thinking that, I wandered the streets aimlessly—
"Oh?"
Something caught my eye right then.
"Fey, is that an OOPArt too?"
"Huh? Oh... Yeah."
A hunting rifle hung where I pointed. Price including seven bullets.
"But why's the price like that?"
Ridiculously cheap.
"What's the deal...?"
Then a jolly old man with a bushy mustache and kind face waddled out from the shop.
The friendly grandpa type you see everywhere.
"This is really for sale at this price?"
"It is, but..."
"Isn't this an OOPArt? Selling something like this this cheap—there must be a reason."
The grandpa looked confused at my words.
"What'd you say? Opalts? What's that?"
"No, OOPArt."
"Obalt?"
"OOPArt! How can a shopkeeper here not know—"
"My kid ran the shop, so I don't know much... Is it valuable?"
Whoa.
That explained it.
'Like a NinXendo Switch listed super cheap on the secondhand market.'
Family who doesn't know the item's value sells it off instead of the owner. Disaster.
-Gulp.
Jackpot.
Buying insanely expensive gear dirt cheap. My heart raced.
'If I just close my eyes and buy...'
That pricey OOPArt in my hands.
Greed crept up.
But,
"Grandpa, there seems to be a mistake. This shouldn't be priced like this. Put it away and ask your kid first."
In the end, conscience won.
'Can't do that. It's obvious it'll cause trouble.'
Profit mattered, but I didn't want to put the grandpa in a tough spot.
Wasn't a life-or-death need.
"...Just take it at the listed price."
But the grandpa shook his head.
"What? When your kid comes—"
"He won't."
The grandpa continued with a wistful expression.
"My boy went exploring recently and never came back. I lived outside and came when I heard."
"But selling this at this price..."
"Heh heh... Just take it at that price. This old man doesn't need money anymore. Above all, my boy would be happy it goes to a kind-hearted young man like you."
Couldn't believe it.
I felt my nose tingle at this world's kindness.
"...Thank you. I'll treasure it."
"Heh heh heh, good, good."
And so Fey and I returned with way more value than expected.
"What a great place."
Where there are good people, there's good will.
I rediscovered that heartwarming truth again tonight.
With a warm heart, as we left the shop and headed out of the alley—
-Thud.
"Sigh, Will, you're so naive about this stuff."
"Huh?"
Turning around, Fey had a smug look.
"Anyway, that gun and ammo are super dangerous, so hand them over quick."
"Dangerous how...?"
"It's probably cursed."
"Cursed?"
"My sister said suspicious cheap OOPArts aimed at newbie explorers are traps from shady merchants—don't even glance at them."
"Shady merchants?"
That grandpa?
"Don't fall for a kind face. That gear probably has a curse that kills the user and Binding Magic that returns it to the curser."
"Huh? So that means..."
"Yeah, buyer dies, gun goes back to the grandpa. That's how they make money."
"No way...!"
That friendly grandpa was actually a scammer after my life?
My healing game image was cracking.
"Heh heh heh, of course! That was before the Magic Tower's Greatest Elite—me—came along!"
To my downcast self, Fey grinned triumphantly.
"Huh?"
"I'll lift the curse for you. Shady merchant curse rituals are like child's scribbles to me!"
"Ooh...!"
I couldn't help but admire this reliable side of Fey I'd never seen.
Fey, you're amazing!
I'd only seen her gullible side, but maybe I'd misjudged.
"Here we go! Let me see..."
Fey confidently grabbed the rifle and examined it closely—
"...None?"
Then looked at me in panic.
"No... curse... on it..."
"..."
What was this?
"Of course not."
No way that nice grandpa would do something sinister.
"No, I mean! In the 'Threshold', stuff like this is always cursed! To sucker naive newbie explorers!"
That's why prejudices are dangerous.
Like the saying, you only see what you expect.
"Fey, maybe try trusting people a little?"
I suggested it gently to the human-distruster in front of me.
"No... It's weird... This place isn't like that..."
She muttered, tilting her head in disbelief.
I sincerely hoped her distrust of people would heal in this peaceful city.
*