The day of the trip.
　We decided to use a horse-drawn carriage to travel to Luklaera.
　Luklaera is a part of Elishe, and there is no such thing as a checkpoint and no special permission to enter the city.

　The fare for the carriage ride to Luklaela is only 20 ells per person.
　For all of us, it's 120 ells. One silver and two white copper coins. The round trip cost 240 ells.
　This is much better than bringing out our own horses.

　However, one thing I'm worried about is that even though it's close, it will take half a day to get to Luklaera.
　I wonder if there will be any bandits or something?　That's what I'm worried about.

　The suburbs of Elishé are safe and secure, and it is much more profitable to work in the mines than to be a bandit, according to this young man. No one would risk being a thief .......
　Hmm?　But I was attacked by three bandits.

'Individuals being attacked sometimes happens in Elishe, too. But the rideshare is still public, and one of the gendarmerie will be there.

　And your young man.
　It's like attacking a bus with the police.
　Surely no one would be stupid enough to attack such a thing?　Well, that's a relief.
　Of course, even if there were bandits, I'm confident I could defeat most of them. It's not just me, Deanna, Rebecca and Marina are there.
　But that's not the same thing as this.
　I don't want to see the rough stuff as much as possible.
　Roughness is a thing that eats away at the psyche in and of itself.

　And so we went on our way to the "mining town of Luclaera".



　◇◆◆◆◇



　The story goes back a bit.
　After registering for the clan and being able to use the clan inventory, I started investigating this with great fanfare.

　The first thing I looked into was money.
　The currency of this world is coins. Gold coins, silver coins, white copper coins, and bronze coins.
　And this one is also heavy. I am keenly aware of the usefulness of paper money.
　Therefore, I thought it would be convenient to put money in it, and I do not have to worry about losing it or getting slipped.

　First of all, I put the gold coins in.
　It slipped in and said "Pure gold coin (40g)".
　It wasn't the word "gold coin", but other gold coins went in smoothly, and it became "pure gold coin (40g) x 85". A bit of a piggy bank. There was no need to carry heavy gold coins around with me, and my countermeasure against molescence was perfect.

　By the way, I could put silver, white copper and bronze coins in the same way.
　However, it is only gold coins that I actually put in. The frame is also small, and I had been carrying money with me until now. Above all, if I took money out of the vocation board every time I did a little shopping, it wouldn't be anything to be suspicious about.

　Next is the spirit stone.
　I had already put this one in once, so I knew it was going to go in.
　If possible, it would be more helpful to have a lot of them in one slot.
　However, the reality was that it didn't work out that way, and while multiple stones of the same type would go in, the different types of stones would have different frames as well.
　Among the large amount of stones I have right now, I only have 3 peacock stones (malachite), but I was able to put them in together.
　For now, I'll just throw the peacock stone spirit stone into my inventory.

　Next is the Demon Crystal, but this one was also a single-frame occupancy type.
　Well, it's probably because demonic crystals are different in size from spirit stones.
　The spirit stones are usually about the size of a fist.

　I was able to discover some other laws as well.

　Earth-made high-tech equipment won't fit in there.
　Earth-made steel will fit in (it's also called "steel plate"). Trademarks like "ATS34" won't get in).
　Most items from other worlds will fit in.
　Merchandise cloths will also fit properly.
　Earth-grown gems will also go in, but you can't put in more than one of them.

　Apparently, items that can be put in more than one must be the same, or something close to it. Otherwise, it would be a separate frame.
　Well, that's just the way it's used.
　At the very least, it seems that you can carry several antique cloths together for business use.
　The cloth, gold coins and spirit stones are more than enough convenience.

　That's why I packed all sorts of things in my clan inventory for this trip. The steel materials were also heavy and difficult to carry, so that was a big help.

　The other thing I had originally planned to take with me was the Rusty Sword-2, which I had bought sometime ago and neglected to take with me.

　I packed the remaining space with water, souvenirs, and whatever else I could find.
　It's only 10 frames, but it's still only 10 frames.
　It's a bit of a revolution after all.



　◇◆◆◆◆◇.



　The six of us were rocked by a carriage.

　The moving carriage was bigger than what I had imagined.
　A large carriage with four horses. Two gosha. One gendarme as an escort.
　The guests could probably fit 10 people if they were forced to, but this time we were lucky enough to have it all to ourselves. I heard that we could make a profit because there are six of us alone. Well, it's a public enterprise, so it may not be a very quick and easy business.

　The carriage was not as high quality as Hetty's, and it was quite shaky.
　Hetty said that her carriage was equipped with a suspension made from a bear's tendon, called a spring bear, but this public carriage has a mechanism that uses the deflection of wood as an apologetic shock absorber. I'd like to bring a car suspension from a demolition shop.

　There are three rows of bench seats.
　The seats could seat three people if they were crammed in, but since we were the only passengers and there was plenty of room, we sat two at a time.
　I wanted to talk to her for a moment, so next to me was Etowah.
　Marina was paired with Rebecca and Elepippi with Deanna.
　Marina and Deanna looked unhappy about something, but we let it pass.

'I haven't played with Etois much, so this is something new for me.

'The boss is the boss and I'm his apprentice. It's only natural. I rather didn't expect him to take me on a trip as well. Thank you!

　Etoi bows her head with a grin.

　She was dressed in traditional Canaanite dress, as if she was fired up by the trip.
　She was wearing short sleeves and looked a little chilly.　I thought for a moment that it couldn't be cold, but then I thought about it. Maybe it's more like hot.
　The reason why the national costume is a thin sailor's uniform and skirt may be because I tried to wear it to fit into the society, although it is enough to be naked. It might be because that's the extent of this. I'm sure you've heard the rumors that skirts are more steamy than you think, and if you're talking practicality, you'd probably prefer shorts or something like that: ......
　It's a good thing that you have a hairy cat, after all.

It's a good thing that you're able to do that. To be honest, there is no doubt that Etowah does the best job.

　That's right.
　Marina also does a lot of work as an escort, helping out with various things and keeping an eye on things, and Orica does a lot of work as well, cooking, washing clothes, housework and horses.
　But as a practical matter, it's Etowah who is making the most money.
　Maybe it was a good idea to make her salary a percentage of her own, or maybe it's just her natural talent, but she's been able to increase her sales with her affability, cuteness and intelligence.
　I can run the store on my own, and it helps a lot. Etowah was a real pick-me-up. It was true that there's a blessing in leftovers!

'I'm just doing the job I deserve as an apprentice,'

Well, maybe. And, you know, on a not-so-relevant note, you know I started the 'Knights'.

'Yes. I heard that Elepippi-san is also a 'knight'. So the boss is aiming to save the unfortunate female knights by setting up and running a knight squad!　It doesn't sound like a profitable image, but it fits!

Oh ....... So, you want to ask Etowah to run the accounting for the knights as well. She'll keep her salary the same.

　Well, I think there's hardly any work to be done. So there's virtually no revenue. It's just a debt that costs money one way or the other ....... Well, if that's the case, we'll have to figure out how much of a deficit we'll be operating at.

'That's a small price to pay, but ......, can't you get me into the knightly corps?　It's true that I'm a mathematician, which is a vocation with no connection to combat, and I'm a little guy: ......

　Huh?　An unexpected offer.
　But after thinking about it, I guess it's something I'd like to participate in, since we're all playing chambara with no regard for profit.
　In fact, it's not a tragic thing like ...... where your livelihood is on the line and you don't want to die, but you have to fight monsters, and it's more like a sport, if you will (training is hard, but training is hard even for sports).
　It's not just about being an outcast, right?

Of course you are welcome to join us. Of course, fighting is good, but Etowah is very smart, and it would be better to be a military strategist or a general. Ha-ha.

'Strategist and General Staff!　I'm certainly excited. I'll have to go to the bookstore and buy a book on the art of war!

Yeah. You sell those books?

　I wonder if it's like the Book of Military Law that they sell.
　Maybe something like Sun Tzu's book of the Art of War is being passed down?

No, I haven't checked. But the Empire must have been at war for a long time, and I'm sure they have a book or two on military service.

I don't know. Well, if it's not there, I'll find it for you.

'Thank you!　Boss!

　Etowah is in good spirits.


　By the way, Marina and Rebecca-san are enjoying a friendly chat in the front row. Those two are good friends, perhaps because they are both knights. Rather, Marina seems to have a talent for getting along with anyone.
　I'd say she's thick-skinned or thick-skinned, and she's a pretty unafraid character.

　On the other hand, Deanna, on the other hand--

"What are you making Elepippi do, Deanna?" ......
'The master threatened me because 'the mining town is sooty and the hair is so black that the smell seeps in and cannot be removed. I was going to ask him to braid it.

　Elepippi had her long platinum blonde hair woven into a braid.
　Deanna's waist-length hair.
　Perhaps she didn't want it to become a habit, ordering her to "braid it looser" or "use this comb".

　Elepippi is also knitting impatiently, but if you concentrate so much on the hand in this shaking--

"...... Oh, princess. I'm feeling a little sick ......

　Well, look at that. I'll throw up again.

　I told them to get the braids done when they got to the other side, and Elepippi was released.

　In the meantime, we arrived at Luklaera.
　The journey took about half a day.
　If we were on a bicycle, it would take about half a day. If it was a car, it would be about an hour's distance.


　◇◆◆◆◆◇.


　Luclaera was not what I had imagined.

　What I had imagined was the bald mountains as far as the eye could see, with the neighboring forests cut down to obtain charcoal.
　Desolate, damp, desolate land. Rolling tumbleweed. Soaring dust clouds.
　Rivers are polluted, and the air is filled with soot from the charcoal and coal that is constantly being burned.

　It was .......

　In fact, it's very green, for starters.
　I don't know what kind of trees they are, but they are the same kind of trees standing in neat rows, and they seem to be growing something.
　The air was clear and there was no tumbleweed lying around.
　There might not be any water pollution in this area.
　I'm bringing a plastic bottle of water with me. Well, if you don't have to, that's a good thing: .......

　The streets themselves seem to be well maintained and clean.
　It's a city that thrived on steel, so maybe it has money. If you have money, the city will be clean. If not, it becomes dirty. That's why.

　At the entrance, there is a 10-meter high steel tower standing tall on both sides.
　The diameter is about 50 centimeters, but I guess it is a symbol of the steel town.
　I guess the city can afford to use iron for this kind of decoration.

　The town is spread out at the foot of Mount Luklaera, which is not a single mountain, but is collectively called Mount Luklaera.
　I'm sure there's some sort of invisible air pollution, especially from the corner where I think there's a public steel mill.　I wonder if the steam rising from some places is from a private steel mill or from a blacksmith's shop.
　I wonder if the steam rising from some places is from a private steel mill or from a blacksmith's shop.

　With the steel tower at our side, we all stepped into the mining town of Luklaera.
　First, we get a place to stay and get some food and ....... That's about it for today - and as I was thinking about it, the vocation board suddenly stood up.

　Oh yeah, I didn't know it was guided.
　Let's go to the mining town was accomplished, and you've moved on to the next sequence.
　Let's see--.

　"Meet the Nightmare Tribe, 1/3."

　It's a word or a tribe I've never heard of again.
　I don't know what that means... Nightmare tribe. I don't want to meet them.