After getting dressed and leaving the inn, Marl and I first visited the Centaurs as promised.
They welcomed us, since there weren't any new problems arising. We got to confirm that their preparations to move were proceeding smoothly, and that all those injured had mostly recovered after the treatment yesterday.
[Welcome. What can I do for you today?]
The pig—–the commerce guild chief greeted me with a laugh.
Since I didn't have any more things to do at the centaur camp, Marl and I headed back to Gandil to meet the commerce guild chief, that pig, to continue from where we left off. When I asked the people in the city, they said that there's no tourist attractions here anyway.
No, I mean, there's no tourist attraction here that Marl and I could enjoy together.
This was a trading city after all. They didn't promote tourism because that's not what people would be spending their money on when they visit here. There's also no good hunting ground around here, so if you're an adventurer, chances are you'll never visit this city unless you're escorting caravans.
And speaking of caravans, the path leading here was pretty harsh, so the gender proportions were obviously leaning to one side. Simply put, there were more men in this city than women. Meanwhile, speaking of a relaxation place for men, there's no other thing but liquor and women.
That's why there was a reasonably large red light district in this city. It's a spot where you can drink alcohol with a beautiful older sister, just to hang out of course, only hanging out.
Of course, I never really visited the place personally. Though I couldn't deny that I felt the attraction.
…yeah, I would definitely take a look if I were alone. I'm just a regular man after all. However, my wives happen to have sharp intuition, so they'll find out one way or another. So no way.
[Nothing, it's just that, what's with the market? Barely anything to see. Anyway, I'm here for a quick chat.]
[Umu, quick chat, is it…?]
The pig—–commerce guild chief looked at us suspiciously.
Well, it's about right. This could be a story of taking a person at the top of a merchant in the city into captivity without an appointment in the midst of small talk.
[Nah, it can't exactly be carried to Gobbels or Mischronia even if there's space to spare. Even if you try to dispose of it in Karendil, you can hardly make a profit even if I handled it domestically—–you'd be in the red if you're not good at it. If you put the load to sleep, some foods will lose their commercial value, and if you keep it as it is, there will be a series of merchants who dry up while holding the product… I guess that's the kind of situation.]
[That's some wild imagination you have there.]
The nostrils of the commercial guild chief were widening and tingling. Smelling the money, aren't you, Pig-chan? No, it doesn't look cute when you're the one doing it.
[Materials, building materials, tools, food, salt, clothing, etc… Let's take them at a price that is mutually beneficial so that we can continue to have good relationships. For the time being, the budget is—–]
A box full of gold coins appeared on the seemingly high class table. The number of gold coins packed inside was 5,000, and the weight was about 80 kg including the box. The weight of a box full of gold coins caused the heavy wooden table to make a creaking noise.
[—–5000 Karendil gold coins.]
[Taichi-san, I am sorry for butting in, but could you please back off for a bit? The smell is annoying.]
[Ahh, sorry.]
Marl-san calmly pointed out and withdrew the box full of gold coins. Somehow, I feel that my heart was dented by the current blow. But I won't cry, because I'm a boy. Kuu!
[As you can see, the money is no issue. Any good info you can tell us?]
[Ah, now that you mention it… I've heard rumors that a village is being built somewhere and they're currently gathering subordinates for it. There is also the fact that both countries have allowed the cursed great forest to be recognized as a territory. The rumour said that the city is located in the Great Sea of Trees, but… who would've guessed that it's real.]
While trying to fix my slightly messy smell, I listened to the conversation between Marl and the head of the commerce guild. Hmmm, I haven't officially named him, but he seems to know exactly who we are. Was it because he's the man who dominated the merchants of this city? He's still a pig though.
[It is a similar situation. That's why it's a situation where we couldn't be bothered about the amount of supplies and materials. It's even better if you can get it at a good price.]
[It's certainly true that building something on undeveloped land will suck out material and supplies almost endlessly.]
[Yes. If we can buy it and store it in stocks, it would be more assuring. By the way, how much do you know about Taichi-san?]
[When it comes to the Hero, it's too vague, but… it is said that he magically erased tens of thousands of monsters by himself. He shot down the dragon with a single blow. Other than that… Yes, there was also a story about how he moved the army to a distant place by magic. I see now.]
[Now you get it! So let us make it worthwhile for both sides.]
The current exchange was decided by that for sure. It's easy for me to go to other places to buy stuff, so he couldn't afford to pass this out. Maybe.
Actually, there was no need to purchase a large amount of supplies from Gandil. If they can provide it, I will buy it. But can they make it cheaper? That's the real goal. We're not in need of supplies for the time being anyway.
Marl discussed with the head of the commerce guild for a while before concluding the talk. Finally out of the mosquito net.
It's- it's not like I'm frustrated or bored! Isn't there a wonderful saying about the right person in the right place? It's best to leave all these negotiations to Marl. When I do it, I tend to use physical or financial prowess to power through the negotiation.
Eh? I'm not allowed to do that as a decent member of society in my original world?
The problem is, bowing down or speaking in a humble attitude won't work well in this world—– I'm not saying that negotiations were not needed though. It's just that for someone of my stature, being both a Hero and proper aristocrat of Miscronia kingdom, bowing down to someone of lower rank, not to mention a merchant didn't sit well with me personally.
Nn? I'm employing power diplomacy?
It couldn't be helped. Before this, I have to employ what I have when negotiating. Since I didn't have position or authority to speak of, my only remaining bargaining cards were my strength and wealth.
It's more efficient to leave the more delicate and detailed negotiation to either Marl or Tina, and leave the rougher ones for myself.
By the way, since it's basically free time, let's check my status.
=====
[Skill Point] ２０４pts（Reset Available）
[Name] Taichi Mitsuba [Level] ７３
[HP] 932 [MP] 4967
[STR] 1880 [VIT] 1915 [AGI] 1778
[DEX] 519 [POW] 1034
[Skill]
Sword mastery５ Martial Arts５ Polearms Mastery５ Throwing５ Shooting１ Magecraft３
Fire magic５ Water Magic５ Wind Magic５ Earth magic５ Light magic５ Pure Magic５ Recovery Magic５
Ancient Magic２ Barrier magic５ Space Magic５ Life Magic Body Strengthening５ Magic Strengthening５ Magic power recovery５
Negotiation２ Cooking１ Equestrian５ Blacksmithing５ Magic Tool Creation５ Detection５ Danger Detection５ Appraisal Eye
Magic Eye Poison Resistance３
=====
Look at this crazy stat and the extra skill points. No, it's actually a little overkill.
As I get stronger, take various magic and evil eyes, take weapon skills, and producing skills, then I will eventually become the almighty god of the new world! I think it can be done like this, but at the moment I don't feel the need for it. In case of emergency, I could always escape with transfer magic.
If I'm being forced into a situation where I couldn't use transfer magic or operate skill points, then I wouldn't be able to do anything unless I encountered an opponent who I could beat with just my arms and legs. I feel like the flag will be set if I say this, but there's that.
After all, even if I learn maxed out magic, it is meaningless unless I can master it by familiarizing myself with it. In that case, it might be better to invest in skills that strengthen my basic abilities. But those kinds of skills aren't that many to begin with.
About proficiency in various weapons, it's only effective when wielding a weapon we're proficient with. Since that was the case, should we still make powerful weapons?
Now that the magic tool creation and blacksmithing level have been maximized, if I combine the two, I might be able to make a terrifying weapon. One that was able to break the mountain with a single stroke, or maybe create a magic sword that can tear the heavens apart.
However, what's the point of making such a weapon? It's like carrying a portable nuclear bomb. Will I feel comfortable and calm with that? After all, there are always moments where we couldn't help but feel the need to show off.
Even now, I am aware that I am intoxicated with power. Against the background of my tremendous power, I am trying to scoop up everything that I can reach. This time, Marl helped the Centaur. But there is no doubt that there was some kind of belief that 『it will somehow work out in the end.』
What if when I said [You can try hitting me with anything], everyone pulled out powerful weapons?
What if they actually had enough power to defeat me?
I would make a fatal mistake. After overconfidence and pride, I think I'll end up fighting against something ridiculous. It's scary and yet irresistible.
That's the reason why I kept some extra skill points ready.
Cause I'm scared. I don't have the confidence to control my excess power. Because I know I'm a sloppy man.
[Taichi-san?]
[Nn? Ah, sorry. I was just thinking about something.]
It seems that Marl's discussion was over while I was deep in thought. I didn't listen to the results well, but I believe that the negotiation went well because it was Marl.
We decided to leave and walk around the city. Delivery and payment of goods would be done tomorrow morning. It seemed that they would order each company in Gandil to manage the inventory in the commerce guild warehouse tonight. The payment would be in gold coins..
Me and Marl left the commercial guild and returned to the market we visited yesterday. The idea was to pick up various food stalls while looking for bargains and looking for souvenirs for everyone who is on answering machine duty back at home.
Today's street food was lightly baked bread, tomato-flavored bean soup, and meat grilled like doner kebab. The bread was freshly baked and warm, the surface was crisp and the inside was moist. It can be eaten in tandem with doner kebab or soaked in soup.
Marl had something like a lightly baked pizza with tomato sauce and plenty of cheese, and also a tomato-flavored bean soup like what I had. We took the dishes and placed them on top of a wooden table near the food stall.
[I like this kind of meal better.]
[The inn we're staying in is gorgeous and the meals are excellent though.]
We enjoyed our meal while also sampling each other's picks.The lightly baked pizza that Marl ordered was delicious. The rich taste of cheese perfectly matched the refreshing yet intense taste of tomatoes. After all, the combination of tomato and cheese is an automatic thumbs up. Let's have Deborah cook a similar menu next time. Do they sell recipe books by the way?
After drinking a date-like fruit juice, we start walking around the market. Was that sexy-looking older sister who occasionally walks a whore from the red light district? When I was wondering why they would be in business during this hour, Marl misunderstood me and struck me in the flank. No, I wasn't fascinated by her! Please forgive me!
Still tending to the pain on my flank, I walked around the street stalls in the market and the shops near the main street. So it's possible to buy various books at the bookstore I saw along the way? Although some were a little old, I saw picture books for children, books used for practicing reading and writing letters, and recipe books for cooking as well.
Marl bought an alchemy book with recipes for medicines that she didn't know yet.
Other than that, nothing particularly interesting happened. And before I knew it, morning came.
No, not really. Marl's night service was good. It's been a while since we did it while she's wearing the dancer costume, and the service was topnotch. Apparently she worked extra hard because she's worried about me gawking at the older sister previously that day.
Anyways, something happened when I was checking the items in the commerce guild warehouse.
Something noisy was happening near the only entrance and exit to the warehouse. Wondering what was going on, I stepped in front of Marl to shield her. Soon enough the source of the noise appeared before us.
[My King, it's an emergency! The army of Gobbel kingdom is heading toward this city! They will arrive in about an hour!]
A female centaur rushed in to speak to me. It was that Han girl who I praised for her refined steel-like physique. She has a fairly pretty face too actually.
Behind her was the Charataur, busily smiling and bowing to the commerce guild staff and escorts.
[I will be there as soon as I collect the supplies here. Get ready to move immediately with only the minimum required luggage. I will collect the luggage later, so keep it together. I will also move the livestock, so it will be quicker.]
[Understood. Let's go!]
[Eeh!? Whoopsie—–ahaha, no need to be hasty]
The two centaurs left in a hurry. Wait, should I refer to them as a person or something else? How should I count them?
[Taichi-san, I shall take care of the rest. Just leave the money to me.]
[Alright. I'll collect the supply now. Will that be okay?]
[Yes, no problem.]
I took out a box full of gold coins and left the rest to Marl to start collecting the supplies. Marl will collect the surplus gold coins in her storage bag. I collected all the packed supplies and materials with haste, and went to the Gobbel-side gate at once with transfer magic.
Leaving through the gate and heading straight to the centaurs' camp, I was expecting them to be in a chaotic disorder—–they're actually much calmer than I thought.
[You guys are so calm.]
[Ah… it's because we're nomadic people. We are already used to moving out suddenly.]
Penelope seemed calm as he gave instructions to the other Centaurs. Looking into the distance, you can see fully armed warriors on alert.
[I will carry all your excess luggage, so collect it in one place. And finish the preparations for the movement of personnel and livestock in half an hour. All the warriors will be called in by that time to gather up.]
[Yes. Messenger!]
Penelope conveyed my instructions to the Centaur warrior who was acting as the messenger.
[Which direction are the Gobbel's soldiers coming from? And how did you notice the approach?
[It's from the northeast. We had several sets of overwatchs, but one of them reported after my King left at noon. At that point, we were preparing to withdraw. While starting, we subsequently sent a scouting squad to confirm the information. The number of troops, including the heavyweight, is about 1,800.]
I studied the information while watching the Centaur warriors running around under the direction of Penelope. Somehow, the Centaurs and Penelope were more capable than I expected, it surprised me. I was surprised that he had been properly preparing for moving out in advance, and even confirming the information while withdrawing.
So what should I do as a countermeasure?
My territory was still in development, so I'd prefer to avoid a head-on conflict with Gobbel. Though it can be said that the conflict was inevitable the moment I decided to protect the Centaurs.
The information that I protected had become a rumour known even here in Gandil, and the spread of information is inevitable. Not many people know about me, but I can't really shut their mouth.
Gobbel's army was expected to arrive around one to two hours, but they would certainly send an advance party to confirm the information over here. By that time, they might catch us unprepared.
So, what should I do?
It would be easy to annihilate all of them if I came out, but… If all of them disappeared, it would probably just be treated as mass disappearance, so it's still an option. Even if someone went to investigate, it happened in the midst of a flood, and all kinds of monsters came out, right? I can cut the trace there.
I can borrow javelins from the Centaur and snipe the logistic corps and the commander from a long distance. The unit will be in turmoil and will not be able to function properly.
Other than that… It's also a good idea to get rid of the advance party as well. If the advance party doesn't return, the commander will be clueless about the situation and cannot proceed. It'll be like covering their eyes and ears.
Let's summarize things.
Firstly, our main goal is to evacuate the Centaurs safely. But that's easy to achieve with the usage of the transfer gate.
Second, is to prevent the information about me and Marl from leaking to Gobbel. It's a rather moot point, as I can't exactly stop the rumour spreading from here at Gandil. But at the very least, I don't want them to see me using transfer magic while evacuating the Centaurs. I mean… even if I put up a huge earthen wall to cover up the site, the news will still come out.
Once they find out that the centaurs have disappeared without a trace, they'll realize that a space magic is used.
In that case, there's no other choice. I just have to do it.
I quickly opened the menu screen and started operating the skill acquisition screen.
[I'm going to crush the advance party. Please prepare everything here.]
[Yes. Godspeed.]
Turning around as Penelope bid me farewell, I activated my newly acquired 『Stealth』, which caused me to become invisible and nearly untraceable. Good, I didn't even kick dust when I ran at full speed.
This stealth skill seemed to be the type that gets its effect strengthened with each level up. At level 1 it'll be hard to hear any sound the user makes. At level 2 it renders everything the user does to not produce any sound. Level 3 hides the user's odor. Level 4 hides the user's magical and body heat signature. At level 5 it renders the user invisible.
After level 3 the skill continuously consumes magic power as long as it's active, so normally it's rather inconvenient to leave it activated for a long period of time. But in my case, this drawback is barely a drawback with my magic power recovery restoring more than it consumed over time.
By the way, it seems that it also had the ability to invalidate the same level of detection. Physical traps will work as normal if I accidentally trigger it, while danger detection cannot be overridden by becoming invisible. Magical barriers and barriers cannot be nullified. Magical power and heat signature detection type traps will no longer be activated.
It's super convenient, but I shouldn't be overconfident.
While reading the explanation of the skill, I turned my attention to the direction in which the Gobbel army will be in order to find the advance party. In terms of describing it, it felt like pointing the parabolic antenna in a certain direction, strengthening the detection.
Then, I sensed a large amount of solidification in the far back. This is probably the main corps. In front of that, there were two reactions in which the four signs were solidified. Perhaps this is a cavalry advance party. The four are probably a pair of horses and jockeys.
The distance between the two advance parties was not far nor close. Perhaps the front side is the unit for investigating the enemy, and the back side is the unit for monitoring the rear of the advance unit. If the rear is attacked, the rearguard will let the rest of the advance party to escape with haste to tell the main unit that they have been attacked.
For the time being, I decided to dispose of the rearguard first.
Running through the grassland, jumping over rocks, I finally arrived right behind the rearguard.
[There seems to be no problem so far.]
[Yeah, but those guys are fast and good at archery. There might be ambushes waiting for us. So keep your eyes open.]
Two cavalrymen were discussing on horseback, pointing what appeared to be a telescope toward the advance unit in the front. I think it'll be wise to kill them as is, but… there is a mysterious punishment system in this world. If there is a punishment from this, then good. But if possible, I don't want that. Somehow, for emotional purposes, okay?
Well, I'm not scared. It's just that this is the first time I'll be killing humans with a murderous intent in a state where I'm wide awake. No, I'm really scared. Yes.
『Hi hi—,cowardly pitcher—』
The evil God made a reappearance after a long time. I'm busy right now, so scram.
『No no. What you're about to do is so repulsive, I like it. Ukusukusukusu. 』
You're one to talk. Saying you like murder is one of the biggest contraindications for you as a person.
『Is it alright to kill livestock, wild animals, and monster, but it's not right to kill human? By your logic, wouldn't it be a crime to kill beastkin, other demihumans, or humanoid monsters?』
That's…
『There's no sin in killing something. At least, in this world, I can assure you that. Afterall, living organisms have to kill other organisms in order to live. It's always been the survival of the fittest.』
Then what is this punishment system all about?
『That? If you're worried about it, just go ask the deity who created it. Or perhaps their believer, right? By the way, do you have time to think slowly like this?』
When I looked at the rearguards, it seemed that they were about to leave. Shit, I don't have time to think about extra stuff now. Let them die for me, the lord, and for the centaurs.
I went around in front of the cavalry who was about to leave, undid my stealth and reappeared. Perhaps surprised when I suddenly appeared in front of them, the cavalry stiffened for a moment.
[Sorry, but please die.]
The cavalry seemed to be taken aback for a moment by the I words while I was pulling out the godsilver sword. But their subsequent actions were swift. One tried to pull out the sword on his waist, and the other turned his horse around and attempted to escape.
However, everything they did was too late. The distance between me and the two cavalrymen was less than 5 meters. It's completely within my reach. They wouldn't escape.
As the first rider raised his arm to swing his sword, I had already sliced his upper body off from his waist, and the fleeing rider was beheaded by me. All in a single flash of blade.
A damp sound echoed as the blood sprayed from the severed neck drenched the right half of my body. The surviving war horse, whose rider was killed, was surprised and stood up, shaking off the lower body of the first cavalryman on his back. A damp sound echoes again.
If I leave these corpses as is, it'll be easy to tell that the culprit was not the Centaurs. Therefore I immediately stored the bodies into my inventory.
Then I had to decide what to do with the warhorses.
Warhorses are expensive. However, since it's the army property, they might be branded somewhere on their body. Wouldn't it be bad if outsiders recognized these horses inside my territory?
After weighing both the merits and risks, I ended up killing the warhorses.
It's true that they're expensive. But conversely, I could buy horses of similar quality with my wealth. I shouldn't risk it just for a couple hundred gold coins.
I collected the dead horses into my inventory after purifying them.
『How does it feel going head first?』
Shut the hell up.
『Just seek comfort from your bride tonight, okay?』
I will definitely punch this guy one day.
However, maybe because I got used to killing monsters, it didn't bother me more than I expected. Have I also adapted to this world? The rest of the advance party was similarly disposed of easily, so I made my way back to the Centaurs.
This should earn us some time. Let's bring em back to my territory.