Waking up I didn't have to question where I am as the sore back was a clear indicator of it. After relieving myself in the toilet I do some stretches to wake my body up.
"Excuse me"
I hear the Village chief knock.
"Village chief?"
"Are you up already, it's nearly time to depart"
"Ok"
I wear my Iron armour, my leather shoes ,keep my Iron sword at my side and take the small drawstring bag with the thief Intelligence cards, 1 platinum, 1 silver and 35 copper coins with me. Giving the room a last look I went out.
"Good morning"
"Yes. good morning"
I greet the village chief.
"I have prepared this bag for you, your cloths from yesterday are also inside"
The village chief gives me a big bag with a shoulder string, a rucksack.
"Thank you"
The first light of dawn is still on the horizon so it's still dark outside.
"Your clothes are made of some unusual material, they must be quite valuable"
I don't think polyester existed in medieval times.
"No, they are not very valuable"
"I have also kept breakfast inside the bag, please eat it on the way"
"Thank you again for all the trouble"
I look inside and see the wrapped up breakfast. I think it's a loaf of bread, but it will work.
"Also here is the reward for saving our village"
The village chief gives me another drawstring bag. I take it and see that there are coins inside. Even in such a dim light I can see that there are 15 yellow coins inside. That is 15 gold coins, 150,000 nars.
"Sorry it isn't much"
"No, I am very grateful for this"
"This is the greatest reward we can manage"
Without any hypocrisy I take the bag.
The village head accompanies me outside to the edge of town, where the merchant is preparing a wagon.
"Good morning"
"Good morning"
I greet the merchant.
"We will leave as soon as it gets bright, could you sit next to the coachmen's seat?"
"Sure"
I got in the wagon. Inside there are thieves' accessories, a cage similar to a kennel, the bag which I told to keep separate containing 1 leather armour, 1 leather boots, the empty skill copper sword, sandals and the thief's bandana.
The cage is fully closed on three sides and the fourth side has lattice covering. While I was inspecting the cage, a man was brought out and placed into it.
It was the criminal from yesterday.
"The man will be taken to Vale and sold to a slave trader"
The village chief explains.
"Half of the sales price will go to you Michio-sama"
"Alright"
They can't give the full money to the family as then they can just buy back the slave with that money and it wouldn't be a punishment.
While we were talking, the criminal's family came and said their farewells. I tried not to listen to what they were saying and kept talking with the village chief.
"Let's depart"
The merchant climbs up beside me. He flicks the reign and the horse starts moving. The sun is still not up but it's bright enough to see the dirt road ahead.
"Thanks for all your help"
"No thank you, for saving our village"
I say my farewells to the village chief. The wagon is slowly moves forward. I look back and take a last look at the village, etching it in my memories as I don't think I will come here again.
But still it will always be my first village.
I look at the man who is inside the cage, he is behaving well. The merchant starts to tell me things about his job.
"The roads to Vale are maintained regularly by Demon subjugation"
Must be the name of the city's patrol team.
"So there is no real danger"
The wagon starts accelerating making it shake with a rattling sound. I don't suppose there were any shock absorbers in medieval times.
I take out my loaf of bread and have breakfast while shaking. The trees on the side are not very tall, the forest is also very thin. There is no scenery to enjoy at all.
With nothing to do I stare ahead and change my position from time to time so my butt doesn't get painful.
Suddenly I see a shadow ahead.
[Slow Rabbit Level 1]
Finally something interesting.
"There is a slow rabbit ahead"
It is still very far ahead though but I can still see it because of appraisal.
"I see, the slow rabbit won't attack us, but I will still slow down the wagon"
"Just stop near it, It won't take long"
"Are you sure, Michio-sama?"
"Yes, they are easy pickings for me"
"As you wish sir"
As the wagon stops, I go down and walk towards the rabbit and make noise like I am mumbling something while really I am just resetting my points.
[Character Settings
BP:0
Status: Agility +3
Bonus Equipment: Holy Sword Durandal
Bonus Spells:
Bonus Skills: Required Experience x1/5, Experience Gain x5, Third Class, Appraisal, Character Reset]
Bonus point used:
Weapon (6): 63
Necessary exp reduction (x1/5): 15
Exp gain up (x5): 15
Third job: 3
Char reset: 1
Appraisal: 1
Agility: 3
I bring my hands in front of my body and Durandal appears in my hand. The merchant must have thought that I took it out of my space and that mumbling was me pretending that I chanted the incantation for the space spell. Lastly I don't use Fragarach because the merchant must have seen me using Durandal in the village already.
I dash towards the rabbit and kill it in one strike. It vanishes in smoke living behind rabbit fur. I pick it up and go back towards the wagon.
"You defeated it"
"Yes"
"... and that too in one strike … amazing"
"I told you already they are easy pickings"
We resume our journey. Looks like I broke the merchant, he still seems to be in shock.
As we move I see something in the distance again.
[Gumi Slime Level 1]
I think the Demon subjugation squad is on a holiday today.
"There is a Gumi slime ahead"
The merchant slows down the wagon.
"We can't go ahead as Gumi slimes attack when they see people, and they are hard to damage because of their soft bodies"
"Don't worry, I will take care of it"
"But it's the most formidable demon around here, it can even melt your body with its slime. Villagers need to run away if they see it."
Seeing how I still looked ahead unperturbed, he sighs.
"Please be careful, Michio-sama"
I just nod. The merchant stops the wagon at a distance from the slime. I jump down from my seat, cross the horse and dash towards the slime. From the moment it saw the wagon it had started moving towards us.
I swing Durandal sideways to the left and it tears right through the Gumi slime, before it can react I swing Durandal again to the right, tearing through it once more.
This is the first time I couldn't finish a demon with Durandal in one blow. It is very resistant to physical attacks, that's why I was already readying my third strike.
But the Gumi slime slops on to the ground. It becomes green smoke and starts to vanish.
I think I will write a story about this,'That time I killed a slime'. I chuckle at my own joke and see that the green Rimuru left a white powdery substance behind.
[Slime Starch]
While I pick it up, the merchant already brings the wagon near me.
"Even a Gumi Slime is no match for you"
"It was harder than the slow rabbit"
Okay now I am just sounding smug.
"Are you by any chance a Wizard?"
I really wanted to reply that no my name isn't Harry.
"I used my sword, Bikka-san"
"That's right"
The restriction to becoming a wizard is pretty hard to overcome.
"Is that Slime Starch?"
"Yes"
"I can buy it with the other rabbit fur from you as a reward for defending the wagon"
"Thank you, that would be good"
I turn my back to him and make some noise like I am mumbling something. When in reality I remove Durandal from bonus equipment and add those points to Purchase Negotiation (35% increase).
I pass the slime starch and the rabbit fur to the merchant.
"Slime starch can become alcohol. It ferments when dissolved into water. It's called slime sake, and it is very popular"
One more thing to try in the city.
"The normal price for the slime starch is 80 nars and the fur is 20 nars. But I will increase it tenfold as you defended the wagon. So I will give you 1350 nars"
35% bonus doing its magic.
The merchant gives me 13 silver coins and 50 copper coins. It's so troublesome to count them. I keep them with my remaining money in my drawstring bag.
The wagon kept advancing and after a while the woods parted and a castle wall could be seen.
"That is Vale city"