They were now sitting in a corner of the lobby. Yogiri and Tomochika were across from the concierge, with a map spread out on the desk between them.
"My name is Celestina, and I am working as a concierge for this hotel."
"Ah, nice to meet you." Now that Tomochika had arrived, the concierge was explaining everything to her as well.
"From the city of Quenza, where we are now, the capital city of Valeria is about one hundred and forty kilometers as the crow flies. In more familiar terms, I'd say it's roughly the same distance as Osaka to Nagoya."
"In a way, this is so easy to understand that I'm getting more confused!" Celestina's Japanese was flawless. Maybe it was to be expected that she would also have a thorough knowledge of Japanese geography.
"Osaka and Nagoya, huh? I wonder which is the capital.""Takatou! Could you please avoid saying things that sound like they'll start a war?!"
"There are numerous routes that could take you to the capital, but it appears your classmates have departed on foot. If they are intending to build up combat experience along the way, it is highly likely they will be passing through the Haqua Forest."
Yogiri looked at the map. If one walked in a straight line to the capital, they would pass through the Haqua Forest, Garula Canyon, and Meld Plains, in that order. But they had no way of knowing where their classmates were within those areas.
Celestina placed a number of sheets of paper on the desk before them.
"This is a distribution of the monsters that are currently within the Haqua Forest, and this is a calculation of the probability of encountering each one, taking into account their individual properties and behaviors. Even at a low level, Sage candidates are stronger than ordinary soldiers. Factoring that in, plus combat and rest time, we can surmise they will be around this area," she said, pointing to a spot on the map.A symbol was marked in the middle of the forest. It was a spot about ten kilometers away from their current position in Quenza.
"After a whole day, they only made it that far?"
"That forest is particularly dangerous. All things considered, they are actually moving quite fast."
"So, there are a number of routes we can take to catch up to them, but Celestina recommended going by steam engine."
"Yes. The tracks take a wide detour around the forest. Hanabusa Station is between the Haqua Forest and the Garula Canyon, so it should be possible to get ahead of them. It is also possible that they have taken an entirely different route, but even in that case you should be able to reunite with them at the capital itself. Chasing after them would probably be quite a nuisance."
"That's awfully frank of you..." Tomochika muttered.
"How long would it take them to reach Hanabusa?"
"It's impossible to give a precise calculation, but assuming they continue to train as they travel, I would expect it to take them a week at the bare minimum."
"So we need to get to Hanabusa in less than a week. Sounds like that should be no problem if we're going by train." Once again, Yogiri looked at the map. He didn't know exactly how fast these steam engines traveled, but given the distance, he thought it would only take them a matter of hours.
"Unfortunately, I would advise you to leave as soon as possible. The train schedules are fairly irregular. If everything runs smoothly, it will only take three hours. But there are instances where the journey can take multiple days as well."
"That's quite the range."
"This world is very dangerous beyond the city walls. The existence of monsters does a lot to hamper the running of the trains."
"Well, regardless, we should leave as soon as we can, then. I'm fine with that."And so the plan was set.
Celestina placed two slips of paper on the table. "Here are tickets to the capital, departing at noon."
"Wait, you can just pull something like that out of your pocket at any time?!"
"Our hotel maintains guaranteed seats on all trains."
Perhaps if they asked for companions or equipment, she could pull those out as well.
With their discussion of travel plans concluded, Celestina pulled a pair of necklaces off a shelf right behind her and placed them onto the table. "Mr. Takatou mentioned that money is no issue for you, so although it was a little expensive, I've managed to prepare these necklaces for you. They are magic items that should handle the problem of translation. I cannot recommend relying on them too much, however, so I suggest that you also make use of these."
She placed two books onto the table beside them.
"These are dictionaries for translating between Japanese and the language of this world. The pronunciation guide is written in Japanese as well, so you should have no trouble using them for studying purposes. While it is certainly possible for me to teach you myself, it would take a considerable amount of time, so I believe this will be more effective. My apologies.""You don't have to apologize for something like that!" Tomochika was flabbergasted by the deep bow that Celestina gave them.
"Next, these rings can be used to conceal your Status. I have customized them to display fairly harmless results." As she spoke, she placed a pair of rings on the table. They were unadorned bands of silver. "Ordinarily, their only function is to display a fake Status to those who look, but considering your situation, I've prepared this double fake option for you. Normally, they will display the Status of an ordinary person. Should someone see through the first layer of that disguise, they will then see the Status of a Sage candidate."
"I see. So it looks like we're Sage candidates who are trying to blend in. If someone sees through the first layer, they should be satisfied upon seeing the second.""Of course, penetrating the first layer of the disguise will be no easy task, either."
"When you say it like that, it seems unlikely that anyone will be able to see through the first layer anyway..."
"It is also possible to change the displayed Status at will. If you tap the ring three times, it will flash red for a moment, indicating a switch to Sage candidate mode. Repeating the action will cause it to flash green, returning to the Status of an ordinary person."
If they came up against someone who was deeply suspicious, that person could potentially see through both layers of the disguise, or just make them take off the rings. But if they were under that degree of suspicion, their cover would already have been blown, so they would need to think of a potential response to such a scenario regardless. The main selling point of the rings would be the ability to avoid getting wrapped up with problematic people around town.
"Finally, this." Celestina placed a cube on the table. It was a box about fifteen centimeters on each side, with a small metal lever along one edge. "Unfortunately, design is not my specialty, so it looks rather unseemly. My sincerest apologies."
"Wow, are you saying you made this, Celestina?"
"Indeed. When you turn this lever, the device will produce electricity. Please use this cable to attach it to your game console."
"You can even create charging devices..." Tomochika's amazement continued to grow.
"Magnets are easy enough to come by, so producing electricity in and of itself is not particularly challenging. The primary difficulty is adjusting the output level to match the necessities of the individual device. This size is the best I could do in a single night." Celestina spoke with an air of frustration, as if she could have made it even more compact if she'd only had more time.
"What about this cable?" It was, by all appearances, premade. No matter how amazing she was, expecting her to make a cable with all the appropriate connectors in a single night was too much.
"Although rare, goods from other worlds occasionally make their way into ours. Acquiring a charger itself would have been best, but unfortunately I was unable to do so. Instead, I collected a number of other objects and used their parts to create this. Is it not sufficient?" Despite the device seeming perfect in every way, Celestina suddenly seemed uneasy.
"It's way too perfect. Thank you."
Sensing Yogiri's heartfelt gratitude, she gave a small smile. Last night, Yogiri had decided to speak to the concierge on a whim, just to see if she could offer any help at all. He had never imagined that she would provide them with so much.
"Back home, I heard that concierges can never say no, and I guess it's the same in this world..." Tomochika's shock had turned to admiration.
Yogiri immediately picked up and put on one of the rings and one of the necklaces. He then went to put the charger in his backpack, only to find it full of money and jewels. Without hesitation, he began removing some of the contents, making enough space to put the charger inside.
"Um, Takatou. What are you doing?"
"Well, it didn't fit. Oh...Celestina, could you take these for us?"
"Understood. I shall take responsibility for these." Despite the rather impressive amount of money, she seemed entirely undaunted.
"Are you sure about that? I mean, I know I've got some too, but..."
"I didn't give her all of it, don't worry. Oh, hey. Could you actually invest that for us?" Yogiri asked as the thought suddenly occurred to him. He figured if it was left in her hands, it would work out somehow.
"Are you sure? I can't guarantee that any investments will bear fruit."
"If you end up losing it all, that's fine. I'll leave everything to you.""Takatou, even if she's a concierge, asking that much is kind of —"
"Understood."
"You still can't say no?!"
Even Yogiri was surprised when she agreed to do it.