8 Episode 7 Slaves and Herds




 I wake up to the sound of bells. I feel like I've been living a very healthy life since I came to this world. I wake up at 6 a.m. and go to bed a little after dark, like an old man.
 The blacksmith has told me to come back tomorrow, so I'm going to look for herbs again today. I only have enough money to pay for two days of lodging, and it's not enough to feel safe.
 But first, I need to eat.

 I go to the same restaurant as yesterday and show them the key.

Come on in!

 The tension is as high as ever: ....... I wish I happened to be having a high tension day. .......
 Well, thanks to you, I'm awake. It's even better at waking me up than Messhakis!
 The menu is presented to me forcefully, as if it remembers what I did yesterday.

"Which one is it today?

 "Which one today? But the food is good. But the food is good, so I'll take that as compensation.

"Orc set meal, please.

 I say while holding out two copper coins. The Orc set meal is 80 ter.
 As usual, the naming sense is very simple. Well, it's better than trying to be fancy and not knowing what's written on it.
Even if you say "mireligue alla panna con i broccoli", all I know is that it looks like it has broccoli in it.
 The orcs I know are humanoid, but they don't seem to care about that. Well, demons are demons, I guess.

"Oh!

 A piece of grilled meat with sauce and the same bread as last time are served.
 I said, "Is it ready? That's fast! Here it comes! Here it comes! I'm welcoming it. I wonder how they are cooking it. The level of trust in LS on Earth and in the other world was too different.
 I ate my food in one go without saying a word. I hadn't had the habit of saying "Itadakimasu" since I was on Earth. I've always eaten alone. .......
 It's still good. It is lighter than Gargon meat, but there is a lot of it. This is probably the reason for the 10-tel difference.
 After I finished eating, I was about to buy a lunch box (bread) for today, but I remembered the existence of the item box and decided to buy in bulk.

"I'd like to buy about ten pieces of bread for lunch, is that okay?

"Item box! I don't have that many, so can I buy them tomorrow? I don't have that many, so can we do it tomorrow? If it's okay if it's a little late, I can make them now, but what do you say?

Then I'll take 10 tomorrow, just one today. I'll pay you the money now.

 Then give me the silver.

Oh! I'll do it!

 I receive a loaf of bread and 45 copper coins, put them in the item box, and leave the store.
 Today, I'm not going to the guild, I'm going to go straight to the forest and collect all the herbs I can.
 The city in the morning has a different vibrancy than in the evening. A variety of stores are preparing to open their doors.
 There is nothing special about the kinds of stores. There are restaurants, grocery stores, butcher shops, clothing stores, and so on.
 I didn't find anything unusual in the grocery store, but the butcher shop has a lot of monster meat. I wonder if they buy it from the guild or something. On the other hand, ordinary meat was nowhere to be found. Green wolves, orcs, gargons, and goblins.
 What, they eat goblins? Well, Orcs are humanoid, but goblins look filthy to me. .......
 Perhaps the image of goblins on Earth is different.
 Goblin meat is the cheapest, but it's not particularly cheap, about 20% cheaper than Green Wolf meat.
 Orcs and Gargons are almost double the price of Green Wolf. It may be that they are in short supply, as they are highly requested.
 There's a burnt corpse of a green wolf in the item box, but is it edible? ....... I don't feel like eating it, and I don't think I can sell it, so I'll leave it alone. I'd be grateful if the day when I eat it never comes.
 Clothing stores are not so different from those in Japan. The only difference in the clothes themselves is that they are now sewn by hand instead of by machine.
 The only difference is that the clothes themselves are now sewn by hand instead of by machine. However, most of the clothes sold are second-hand, and the only new clothes seem to be custom-made. The strange thing about this world is that no matter how much you use your clothes, they do not get dirty as long as you use them normally, and even if they get muddy, you can easily clean them just by soaking them in water. For this reason, many people wear one piece of clothing for a long time, and reuse of old clothes is also popular.
 However, as is to be expected, when clothes are torn or the fibers are damaged, they do not seem to be repaired automatically, and if they are used for a long time, they will wear out and become loose to some extent. It seems that clothes shops buy and repair such clothes, and then sell them as cheaper second-hand clothes or use them to make bags for packing.
 If the initial MP is related to the capacity of the item box, then the capacity of my item box is extremely large. If that's the case, then I won't be in need of a baggage bag.

 As I walked along, I casually appraised the store keeper of a rather large butcher shop, and discovered a new fact.

 Name : Minie
 Age / Race / s*x : 15 / Human (slave) / Female
 Level: 5
 HP:27/27
 MP:8/8
 STR:7
 INT:4


 AGI:7
 DEX:8
 Skills: Life Magic

 Slave . When I appraised the people on the street in the evening, I thought I appraised a lot of people, but I didn't see any of them. They don't look like slaves at first glance, as their nutritional status doesn't look that bad and they don't wear collars.
 But were there slaves in this world? Well, I don't want to buy a slave at the moment, and I don't think I have the money to buy one. I don't know how much a slave costs, but the store keeper in the small store was an ordinary person, so I guess it's not that cheap. They are human beings, and they need to be maintained. If you feed them like dog food and make them work all the time, the maintenance cost might be cheaper, but I don't intend to do that if I use slaves, and even if I do that, it might cost more in the medium or long term if the slaves get sick.
 I walked along thinking about this, but when I reached the gate, I stopped thinking, pulled myself together, and went outside. Today I arrived earlier than the time I started picking herbs yesterday, so I can expect some results.

 Yesterday, I walked around collecting medicinal herbs (zunana grass), but today I'm going to collect them at a run. Aim for 400 plants!
 You run up to the spot marked with ▼, bend down quickly, snap the herb from the root, stand up, put the herb in the item box, and start running again. All this in just three seconds!
 I show my unnecessary agility and retrieve the weed. I didn't take any rest except for eating lunch, but I didn't show any sign of fatigue and kept on collecting herbs. With tremendous concentration, he collected the herbs single-mindedly.
 When the sun went down and it became dark, I finally realized that I was far into the forest. You've come too far into the forest. Let's hurry home.
 The forest at dusk is much more eerie than at noon. The trees make it even darker and the visibility is not good. I get the impression that demons might pop out from strange places. I don't want to stay long. Or rather, I want to go home as soon as possible.
 I equip my shield just in case and start running up the gentle slope. Perhaps it's my martial prowess or something, but I don't feel tired at all.
 But then I was attacked by a pack of green dogs!

"Gurururu......" "Gurururu......" "Gurururu......

 There were five of them. Whether it's because there are so many of them or because it's nighttime, one of them immediately jumps at me, unlike the last time I encountered a green dog, but I dodge it in the nick of time as my AGI (quickness) has increased with my level.
 I imagine a fireball flying toward the center of the four remaining creatures. The fireball isn't very powerful when it hits, but against the green dog, it is highly effective due to the burning of its fur.
 Two of them seem to have succeeded in dodging the fireball, but the other two are burned on their front and back legs respectively. The one with burns on its hind legs had flames spread all over its body.
 The remaining four animals.

"Gaw!

 Two of them jumped at me at the same time, but I dodged one of them and caught the other one with my shield. Thanks to my talent in martial arts, I think I'm moving pretty well.
 After the attack is over, I fire another fireball near the wounded one. Luckily, the wounded green dog and the green dog that just jumped at me become red dogs. A wolf...
 There's only two left. We need meat. Let's kill them with spears. It looks like their level has risen again.

 I send a rock spear at the green dog in front of me. It took about 0.5 seconds, but it seemed to hit it well. The other green dog is to the left of me... what? Where is it? Where is it?
 Just as I thought that, I felt a large impact on my left arm. Luckily, the green dog seems to have crashed into my shield.
 I lose my balance, but quickly regain my footing and slam another spear into the green dog. It hit him in the neck and he stopped moving.

 That was close. I was lucky that I hit the shield, otherwise I would have been injured. The green dog moves monotonously, but its STR is quite high, and depending on where it bites you, your life may be in danger. And the town is far away. If I'm going to be a solo adventurer from now on, I'm going to have to find a way to deal with them all at once.
 I throw all the green dogs into the item box and run towards the city again. After about half an hour of running, I can see the outer walls of the town. Just when I thought I was finally home, it happened.

"Gah!

"Aieeee! Wolves? Wolf?

 Suddenly, a green dog jumped at me. Because I was running, the green dog passed behind me and landed on the ground, but I was so startled that I screamed.
 Fortunately, it was only one, so I quickly dealt with it with a rock spear. Green Wolf must be killed. No mercy.
 I put the corpse in the item box and head back to the city, keeping my eyes open this time.
 It looks like you need to think about spying on the enemy.

 You show your ID, pass through the gate, and finally relax. You've made it back safely.
 You decide to sell the zunana grass and the green dog at the guild. I'd be happy if I could sell the blackened green dog, but I doubt it.

Hello Sally. I'd like to buy some zunana grass.

"Hello Kaede, did you bring a lot of zunana grass today?



 When I entered the guild, I was greeted as usual by Sally with a smile. I wonder when these people are resting.

"Yes. We were up late picking zunana weed, and it got dark on the way home. We were attacked by a pack of green wolves.

"What? Are you okay? Are you hurt?

 You're very concerned about a single adventurer. He's a good man.

Yeah. There were five of them, but I managed with fire magic and earth magic. The shield did the rest.

 I show him the shield I bought from Mr. Dverag's store. I'm sure the shield was attacked by green dogs several times, but the iron shield is unscathed.

I'm not sure if that shield is the Dove ......, but it's nothing. It's a nice shield.

 It's a good shield, after all. He probably reacted this way because he was from the guild and knew about Dverag's blacksmith shop.

"Yeah. But it still needs a little more firepower to take on multiple targets at once, and it takes time to shoot.

This is a great achievement for a single wizard! At least it's not a G-rank or F-rank result. In the first place, wizards are supposed to be in the rearguard with a long staff, providing firepower and using recovery magic, not alone with a shield against a group of demons. How in the world do you fight?

 Apparently, it's not right for a wizard to go solo. Should I expand my party? But I don't know if I can trust any of the new party members I'm looking for, and with the talent I have, there's a good chance I'd be left behind if I formed a party with other adventurers.
 I'm only level 3, but I already have higher stats than most of the adventurers I've seen so far. There are probably not many high rank adventurers in this town, since there were no requests for B rank or higher, but still, if you're going to form a party in this town, you're going to have to form it with those people. I think I'll put the party on hold for now.

I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to do that.

That's not normal. In the first place, when you use magic, you have to concentrate your mind for at least three seconds. It's not something you can just invoke while flicking off a demon with your shield.

 Oh, by the way, I remember Dverag saying something like that.