"Hello Sora and Rina, it's great to see you both again," greeted Kyoma as he released Sora and Rina from their restraints.
"Kyoma, is that really you?" exclaimed Sora, surprised at how much Kyoma had grown in just one day since they had saved him from the fieldrabbits. "And your familiars, they're monsters... are you a beast tamer?" Sora asked two questions in a row. Upon first glance, one might mistake Kyoma's four undeads as living monsters instead of undead ones, as three of them were evolved creatures that had gained new bodies, erasing the typical signs of an undead monster such as a decomposing body, wounds all over the body, and zombie-like behavior. Instead, Kyoma's familiars behaved intelligently, unlike any typical undead creature.
"Excuse me for a moment, Kyoma," said Sora, who was a healer and had to attend to the injured before continuing her conversation with Kyoma. Kyoma then turned his attention to Rina, who was looking down at the floor, seemingly embarrassed about the incident with the bandits. Previously, Rina had been unkind to Kyoma because he was weaker than the rabbits in the field, but now the tables had turned. The boy she had thought was powerless had suddenly transformed into a knight in shining armor, rescuing her and her friends from the bandits they had been unable to defeat.
"Are you okay, Rina?" Kyoma asked, noticing that she looked a bit weak and had a red face. Rina had long, straight black hair and ruby red eyes. She was wearing a complete set of basic magician robes, which included a pointy wizard hat embroidered with moon symbols, a black robe made of enchanted silk that reached to the middle of her calves, a purple belt with a skull crest, a pair of black fingerless gloves made of reinforced cotton, and a pair of magician leather shoes. Using her 1.5-meter-long staff with a mana crystal embedded on the crown as support, Rina slowly stood up and looked at Kyoma with an embarrassed expression. Unlike her usual majestic demeanor, she was covered in dirt and her hair was messy.
"I-I'm fine," Rina replied, trying to sound proud, but her current state betrayed her as she limped on one leg. It was apparent that Rina had sprained her left ankle during the fight with the bandits. As she put pressure on her injured leg, she winced in pain, and a small tear rolled down her cheek. Trying to pretend to be strong, Rina maintained a straight face while biting her lip. However, on her second step, the pain became too much, and she fell to the ground. Kyoma watched her fall in slow motion and quickly caught her in his arms. "You don't look fine to me," Kyoma said as he examined Rina, who avoided eye contact by looking away. Up close, Rina looked quite cute, with soft and supple skin that glistened in the sun, pink lips, and ruby-red eyes. She was breathing quickly and shallowly through her mouth, like a newborn baby. Her physique was excellent, without too much fat but not too skinny either, and clearly, her adventures had kept her body in shape as every quest was essentially a workout.
Upon being caught by Kyoma, Rina's fists clenched as she detested her weakness and incompetency that forced her to rely on someone else. Her previous aloof and haughty attitude had turned into self-pity, revealing her vulnerable side to Kyoma who was a complete stranger. "T-Thank you..." she mumbled to Kyoma who could barely hear her. Kyoma then looked at Rina, who was blushing in his arms. Looking at how beautiful Rina actually was up close, Kyoma also blushed and immediately let go of her once she regained her footing. In his previous life, Kyoma did not have much experience with girls, and this was only the second time he had made close physical contact with a beautiful girl - the first was his mother, obviously.
"A-Archer!!! Please assist Ms. Rina back to the caravan!" Kyoma commanded as he noticed Rina's limp. He thought it would be appropriate for the female dark goblin archer to support her. Without hesitation, the archer, who had been hiding in a tree, jumped down and made her way towards Kyoma and Rina. With the manners of a professional butler, she made a curtsy towards Rina and extended her hand for her to take. Rina, trying to maintain her grace, took the archer's hand and they slowly made their way towards the caravan. The merchants were busy tending to the injured, including Rina, who was now in the capable hands of the goblin archer.
Amidst the bustling activity around him, Kyoma's mind was focused on the information that flowed into his head after casting appraisal on Rina, a habit he had picked up from his adventures.
According to the data displayed in his mind, Rina was a Fire Mage at level 8, with 4235 out of 12800 experience points. Her HP was at 280 out of 340, while her MP was at 102 out of 182. Her Strength was 4, Agility was 8, and Intelligence was an impressive 40.
Kyoma also noticed that Rina had two passive skills - Mana Guard at Level 1 and Mana Regeneration at Level 1 - as well as two active skills: Fireball at Level 2, Fire Javelin at Level 2, Fire Chain at Level 1, Fire Arrows at level 1 and Flame Burst at Level 1.
To his surprise, he also saw that Rina had the title "Princess of Eupholia Kingdom". This piece of information left Kyoma stunned, as he had not expected to encounter royalty on this adventure.
Kyoma was surprised to learn that Rina was a princess of a kingdom. He couldn't help but wonder why a person of such high rank was present on the outskirts of a rural town. As Kyoma considered the power dynamics at play, he realised that a kingdom's might far surpassed that of a town. If a town was akin to a city by Earth's standards, then a kingdom would be equivalent to an entire country composed of multiple cities. Similarly, an empire would comprise multiple kingdoms. Given this context, it was unusual for Rina to be in Greenridge, as it was just one of the many towns that made up a kingdom. Kyoma couldn't fathom why a member of royalty would travel all the way to a small, backward village to perform menial work when they could easily enjoy the privileges of being royalty in their own kingdom.
As Kyoma glanced at Rina, it was obvious that she didn't want her royal identity to be revealed. He acknowledged that he had overstepped by appraising her stats without her permission and vowed to respect her privacy. "As a proud human being, I should not discuss someone's relationship with their kingdom openly," he thought to himself. Rina noticed Kyoma's gaze and asked, "What's up? You've been staring at me for a long period of time." Despite her royal status, Rina lacked the expected elegance of a princess. "N-Nothing... Are the four of you heading back to Greenridge town?" Kyoma asked. "Yeah, we were assigned a quest to act as bodyguards for this group of merchants to Greenridge," Rina replied bluntly. Kyoma then asked if he could join them, which made Rina initially apprehensive. However, she quickly dismissed her concerns, realising that Kyoma could have easily killed them all but chose to save them instead. Plus, having a skilled adventurer like Kyoma with them would provide extra protection. "I'm not in charge here, but you may if you insist. Our group leader would agree," Rina replied, looking towards the cheerful, blonde-haired priest who was healing the wounded.
After most of the injured had sufficiently recovered to perform basic activities, such as walking, the group proceeded on their journey towards Greenridge town with the bandits in tow. Hikaru was the first to compliment Kyoma, saying "Wow, you're pretty amazing Kyoma! Truly admirable!" Takumi also chimed in with agreement. Though flattered, Kyoma laughed and blushed, responding "It's nothing much! If you guys hadn't been ambushed by the bandits, you probably could have done the same." Hikaru laughed and dismissed Kyoma's modesty. Having saved each other's lives, the group of adventurers and Kyoma had become friends after just two encounters. Taking advantage of the moment, Kyoma approached the head merchant with a few questions.
Kyoma was approaching the head of the merchant when the latter asked, "Kyoma, is there anything that I can help you with?" Being a businessman, the head of the merchant had a sharp eye for individuals who were interested in doing business. It was important for him to maintain a strong and confident demeanor, as it had a ripple effect on potential customers, increasing their trust in the merchant's knowledge and quality of goods. Since he had heard the group of adventurers refer to this mysterious hero as 'Kyoma', he had easily remembered his name and called out to him without any hesitation. "My name is Heega, and I am the 2nd in line for the successor of the Meji Merchant Association," Heega proudly introduced himself and extended his hand to Kyoma. Although Heega had already given Kyoma a token that represented his merchant association, they had been preoccupied with logistical matters and attending to the injured, which had prevented them from formally introducing themselves.
"I have a few questions I would like to ask. First, I have a few goblin horns here that I would like to sell. May I know if you would like to purchase them from me?" Kyoma asked Heega as he took out a handful of regular goblin horns that he had acquired from the instance dungeon.
"Judging by the quality of the goblin horns, I can see that they are from goblins that were in a dungeon. Usually, normal goblin horns are worth around 5 copper coins, however loots from dungeons are typically of higher value, I can buy these horns from you at 7 copper coins." Heega examined the goblin horns which seemed perfectly intact, without any signs that these horns were manually extracted from the heads of deceased goblins. Loots from dungeons are typically more intact as the bodies of the monsters automatically disintegrate upon death, eliminating the need to butcher the monsters which might damage the goods.
"However, I must say that it is unwise to sell goblin horns to us merchants, as most adventurers would rather part with their monsters' harvest to the adventurer's guild. The adventurer guild typically hands out guild requests to cull the goblin's number and recognises the goblin's horn as evidence. Usually, the value of a goblin horn if sold to the adventurer's guild can go from 10 copper to 20 copper coins, depending on the likelihood of a potential goblin stampede."
Despite wanting to make a quick profit from Kyoma by purchasing the bag of goblin horns for 7 copper coins a piece, a merchant must also uphold integrity to build trust and rapport with their customers.
Following the merchant's advice, Kyoma put the goblin horns back in his bag. Then, he leaned in and whispered to the merchant, "What do you think about necromancers?" The merchant was puzzled by Kyoma's need for discretion when talking about necromancers but, given Kyoma's strength as an adventurer, he responded in kind, "In my humble opinion, necromancers are one of the weakest classes. No known necromancer has ever reached third-class advancement, and compared to other classes at the same level, they are the weakest." Heega's view was typical of most people in this world regarding necromancers. They were only able to summon undead creatures they had defeated, which meant that those monsters were usually weaker than the necromancers themselves. Furthermore, necromancers were a subclass of magician, who were physically weak and lacked close combat skills. It was a miracle if they could defeat a monster that a warrior of the same level had failed to defeat. In other words, the monsters that necromancers commanded were way weaker than the other classes at the same level. Consequently, necromancers were generally considered to be the weakest class.
Heega also chimed in, "In addition, necromancers are often seen as strange and off-putting due to their dark and malevolent aura. It's best to avoid them whenever possible." This is hardly surprising since necromancers are practitioners of the dark arts of the undead, their mana often carrying an unsettling sense of being tainted with demonic energy. It's like describing a deranged old witch stirring a bubbling cauldron filled with grotesque ingredients like frog eyes and infant livers to concoct a suspicious potion. Those who fail to recognise the true potential of necromancy often hold negative opinions of necromancers. Although Kyoma was an exception, possessing the unique skill "Assimilation," which greatly enhanced his undead minions and himself, most necromancers are quite weak, unlike Kyoma.
Kyoma inquired, "What do you know about the Eupholia Kingdom?" He didn't dwell on Heega's thoughts about necromancy and swiftly asked his question. "It's a kingdom that is quite far away," replied Heega, "It would take an estimated 10 years to reach there, assuming we can avoid high-ranking monsters on the way." He explained that the Leafspring Kingdom governed the region they were currently in, including Greenridge Town, and that there were three neighboring kingdoms: the Greyhound Kingdom to the west and north, the Radiant Kingdom to the east, and the Neptune Kingdom to the south. To reach the Eupholia Kingdom, they would need to cross the entire Neptune Kingdom, reach the harbour, and sail across the Great Neptune Ocean and the Blue Belt Ocean. However, there were rumours that the Blue Belt Ocean was home to several Rank B and A threat sea creatures, making it a challenging journey.
"Do you happen to know anyone who has made the journey to the Eupholia Kingdom before?" Kyoma asked, hoping to gather more information. Heega thought for a moment before shaking his head. "I'm afraid not. As far as I know, no one from Leafspring Kingdom has ever made the journey to the Eupholia Kingdom. It's considered too dangerous and not worth the risk," he replied. Kyoma nodded, understanding the risk involved.
"As a low-level merchant, my knowledge of the Eupholia Kingdom is limited, but I know they are considered one of the top kingdoms in the world. Rumour has it that they use gold coins and even precious gems and crystals as currency. They are truly a wealthy nation," Heega expressed his admiration. Kyoma, upon hearing of the kingdom's power, couldn't help but wonder why a princess from such a kingdom would be here. "Thank you for the information, Heega," Kyoma replied, to which Heega responded, "Hahaha, this information is common knowledge. But if you want to show your appreciation, feel free to stop by my store in Greenridge Town. The Meji Merchant Association also offers special discounts to guests."
Kyoma was deeply moved by Heega's generosity, and he made a mental note to visit Heega's store when he had the opportunity. They arrived at the gates of Greenridge town without incident, and the sounds and smells of bustling activity and delicious food filled the air.