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Thank you for answering my question.
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The woman thanked him.
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'Then I apologize for the resultant questioning. I also didn't feel that you lied in your story of how you struck down those four men. I can also see that you have been honest in your answers to my questions.
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Does he have a lie detector?
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He seems quite confident in his ability to tell the truth.
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"So...
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A woman looking at me with a sincere expression.
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If my neck down would have moved, I would have put my hands on my chest.
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It's as if she were taking an oath.
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'I, too, will answer your questions as honestly as I can. I don't feel any harm from you, and if you've beaten those four people away - I can say that you saved my life.
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Save my life.
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That seems like an overestimate.
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No - if you're indebted to me, should I use it?
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'What exactly do you want to hear? You said you weren't from around here.
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Instead of not moving his body, he has an imposing manner.
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It could be a sign that he's not as vigilant as he used to be.
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"I'm a drifter from quite a distance. I found myself in this forest.
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What do you want to do in these woods?
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It's like being abandoned.
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“--Well, I see. I apologize for the question.
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It's like being abandoned.
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A word that evokes some dark imaginations.
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For example, I was abandoned by my traveling companions.
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Kicked out of the land I was living in.
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Abandoned by a slave trader (if there are any slavers in this world, that is).
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And so on.
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The story of being abandoned in the first place isn't even a lie.
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He was abandoned by his parents and discarded by a f*cking goddess.
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Smelling a dark past can loosen up the pursuit for some people.
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It can be an effective way to smoke out the pursuit.
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This has another advantage.
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If you get it right, you can also gauge a person's humanity by their reaction.
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I looked into the woman's eyes.
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The woman's expression? I float a mark.
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'What is it?'
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You don't sound like a bad person-- for now.
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...... Have you gained a bit of trust?
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Yeah, I got a few things going for me. But I've got my own issues with that guy. Right now, we have to avoid getting too deep into each other's business.
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I could tell that the woman has some reason to want to hide something.
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But what I need now is information.
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If I get what I get, it would be good for us to part ways here.
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''Yes, I'm with you.''
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The woman's expression was shadowed.
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'As for me, I'd appreciate it more.
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There's also the issue of gauge remaining.
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We don't avoid a lot of time for chit-chat.
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All right. I'll get right to the questions. Is there a village or town nearby?
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The nearest one is a small city called Mills. I'd like to--
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The woman interjects, almost saying.
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"Me too."
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He has a reason for not wanting to tell you where he's going.
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Is he trying to destroy the buds that give information to his pursuers?
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However, I've told them with a single word.
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Well, I just need to know where the city is.
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I'm not going to get too deep.
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The woman also told me the distance and direction.
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Can't be too far from here.
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I'm sure I'll have a decent bed to sleep in one of these days.
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"What country are we in?
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Move on to the next question.
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Don't you know what country you're in?
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'It's a complicated situation. I've been living in a world disconnected from the outside world. You can imagine what it's like.
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The words "escape the chase" leapt out.
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...... I understand. This is a forest area called the "Dark Forest" located in the southern part of the Urza Kingdom.
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I'm surprised.
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Isn't this the Kingdom of Allion?
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I had thought that the ruins of the waste were in Arion.
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This was a valuable piece of information.
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"Where is Arion located?
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'Allion, sir? It's in the northeastern part of the Kingdom of Urza. And to the southeast of the Kingdom of Urza--
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The woman falters.
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'The Bacchus Empire is located.
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He has something to say about the Bakuos Empire.
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But again, I won't go into it in depth.
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Nevertheless, .......
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Apparently this isn't Arion.
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That means there's no f*cking goddess nearby.
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I guess I can consider that good news for now.
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Currently, I'm thinking of moving away from Allion.
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We'll have to deal with the forbidden curse first.
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Hmm.
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In another country, there's no need to leave in a hurry. ......
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"Okay. Next time, this might be a bit of an odd question.
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A woman with a thoughtful face huffs.
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''--Ah, yes. Come in.
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For example, ...... how much would it cost to buy one piece of quality bread that folks eat on a daily basis around here?
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Don't you know the market?
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I've lived in a place where it's not expensive to live in this part of the world.
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I see. I'm sure you can buy a loaf of bread in any city with a single copper coin.
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Bread exists, he said.
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How many coppers is a silver coin worth?
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It's about 30 coppers.
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Let's say a piece of bread is about 100 yen in Japanese yen.
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If we use the former world standard, a silver coin would be about 3,000 yen?
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I have a very rough idea of the situation.
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Of course, prices should be different from those in Japan.
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We can't use the Japanese yen for everything, either.
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But it's good to know the "standard" of bread prices.
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The rest will have to wait until we get to the city of Mills.
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I was able to pull some other information out of my system.
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The yellow gauge is dwindling.
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There is one last important thing left to be heard.
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I took out the forbidden spellbook from my leather bag.
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I unfold the spellbook in front of the woman's face.
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'Do you know anything about these letters?
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A woman's gaze runs over the letters.
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Her glassy-eyed eyes move busily.
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Does she already know that she can move anything but her mouth?
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I don't know if I'm aware of it or not.
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Hmm?
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I notice one thing.
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I can see a faint shadow around the woman's eyes.
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You have to look closely from this distance to see them, though.
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Does she lack sleep because of her days on the run?
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This is...
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A few thin wrinkles are etched between the woman's eyebrows.
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'Ancient script, I believe. It's also quite specific.
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Can you read it?
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No, I'm sorry, sir.
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Yeah. I see.
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I'm going to roll it back up to put away the spell book.
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It doesn't work that way, does it?
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Although I had faint hopes of at least a clue.
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Well, let's investigate steadily.
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"But--
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Hmm?
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Anyone who might be familiar with these letters might know them.
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