If Level 3 sword skills make you a Sword Saint, does Level 3 staff skills make me a Staff Saint?
*Main Skill: Acquired Staff Skills. You can now choose your profession. Choosing a profession will increase the effectiveness of related skills by 50%.
0. Do not choose now.
1. Martial Artist (Staff Skills)
Please select a number from 0 to 1.*
A 50% boost in staff skills is tempting, but I don't know if I can change my profession later, so for now, I'll go with 0. Being jobless is trendy anyway.
But more importantly, let's look for some valuable items, valuable items, ...
Scouring the room, I found quite a few outfits stacked in wooden crates. I also came across some expensive-looking dishes and candlesticks. I stuffed everything into my item box. Luckily, I found three silver coins and about five copper coins. Hopefully, these coins are still in circulation; they're probably not some ancient or commemorative coins.
After about ten minutes, I finished rummaging through all the crates.
Phew. This room is pretty much empty now.
From the clothes I found, I picked out an outfit that fit me and changed into it. Wearing a T-shirt and chinos would be out of place in this world. Luckily, there were some leather boots that fit my feet, so I swapped out my sneakers for those.
---
I don't have a mirror, but this should do. I'll stash the clothes I was wearing before in my item box, of course.
If they realize I've escaped, they'll definitely send someone after me. They'll probably try to use the three remaining high school girls, so they won't be too obvious about harming me. Even if we're strangers, killing another Japanese person wouldn't sit well with them.
Even if I run away, they likely won't openly chase me, like putting out a public alert or anything. They'd probably try to keep it low-key, handling things in the shadows. But then again, I doubt they'd go through all that trouble just because I disappeared.
About two hours have passed since I was locked in the storage room. I'm not sleepy because of the adrenaline, but I'm getting pretty hungry. It's probably around 3 PM in Japan, but what time is it here? It would be better to escape while it's still light outside.
I rearranged part of the wall I had stored earlier into steps, about 30 centimeters wide, using my item box. I was worried they might wobble, but they held up fine when I climbed on them.
There was an iron grille over the small window for ventilation, but I easily stored it and squeezed through. Escape successful!
It turns out the room was more of a half-basement than a full basement. After climbing through the window, I found myself in what seemed to be the courtyard of a large building, with no one around.
Here and there, trees were planted and neatly trimmed. Looking around, it seemed the entire grounds were enclosed by a wall about three meters high. The length of the wall was roughly 100 to 150 meters on each side, and it was about one meter thick. It looked quite sturdy. Since I plan to store the wall away for my own passage, it doesn't really matter.
"Store!"
A two-meter square hole appeared in the wall right in front of me. Too easy.
I thought I could easily escape, but outside the wall was a moat about five meters wide. It might be possible to jump it with a running start, but it's a tricky spot, and I'm not confident I can make it. The water is murky, so I can't tell how deep it is, but the surface is about a meter below where I'm standing.
I'll cut out a section of the wall—two meters tall and six meters long—and store it in my item box. Then I'll rotate it ninety degrees and place it over the moat to create a bridge.
To my surprise, it was surprisingly easy, and the bridge formed just as I wanted. This is what having an item box at max level does.
I crossed the bridge and arrived safely on the other side. Some people walking along the road facing the moat stared at me in shock, but no problem. For no particular reason, I stored the bridge away so that pursuers couldn't use it.
I gave a casual nod to the locals who were surprised by my sudden appearance and walked along the road beside the moat. After a short while, I came across a much wider road intersecting at a T-junction. All the roads were paved with cobblestones about ten centimeters in size, but they were uneven and made walking a bit difficult. Looking back, the building where I had been held was a large stone structure.
Ah, I just saw a commoner from this world for the first time, and there wasn't a single person with long horizontal ears or cat ears or tails; they were all regular humans.
The people walking around were dressed in drab colors similar to my own plain outfit, giving off a slightly dull vibe. There were also plenty of horse-drawn carriages, wagons, and carts pulled by people. However, the uneven cobblestones made the wheels rattle noisily.
After putting some distance between myself and the facility I escaped from, I've been looking for a cafeteria, but it's been hard to find. Has it really been over half a day since I last ate anything? My throat is getting dry too, so maybe I should ask someone nearby for help.
"Excuse me, this is my first time in this town. Do you know if there's a cafeteria nearby?"
They pointed right away. I saw a wooden sign hanging next to the entrance with a picture of a plate and a fork on it. A bit embarrassing, but oh well.
"Thank you." It's important to show gratitude even in this world.
I opened the door and walked in—it was indeed a cafeteria.
Duh.
I sat down at an empty seat and looked for a menu, but there was only a basket with knives, forks, and spoons on the table. Instead, the menu was posted on the wall, so I ordered a lunch set from it.
It cost twelve copper coins upfront. When I showed them a silver coin, I got back one small silver coin, three large copper coins, and eight regular copper coins as change. Apparently, one silver coin is worth a hundred copper coins, a small silver coin is worth fifty copper coins, and a large copper coin is worth ten copper coins. Since I don't understand the currency units, let's consider one copper coin as one unit, which means I now have 293 units. For simplicity, let's assume one unit equals about a hundred yen.
The uneven, blackened wooden table held a dish of some meat and warm vegetables on a plate, along with a bowl of soup and two round pieces of bread. I was told I could have as much bread as I wanted.
I grabbed a knife and fork from the small basket on the table and poked at the food on the plate. The meat was tough, and there wasn't enough pepper or salt. The warm vegetables looked like pumpkin and carrots. It was edible, though. The soup seemed to be made from boiled vegetables, but I couldn't tell what kind. I spooned some into my mouth; it was edible, but lacked flavor and umami, so I couldn't call it tasty. The bread was as crumbly as expected. I managed to eat it all despite the struggle, because wasting food isn't an option. If I hadn't been hungry, even I wouldn't have finished it. After finishing, I realized I should have dipped the bread in the soup.
Complaining about the price with money that wasn't mine felt a bit off, but 1,200 yen for this meal is quite steep. Is one copper coin equal to one unit, which is 100 yen? That needs verification. Maybe having a Big Mac would give me a better idea, but even that estimate would be pretty rough.
The meal was bad, but at least it filled my stomach. Then, I started feeling sleepy. I asked the staff if they knew any good inns nearby, and they recommended the inn across the street, saying the prices were reasonable.
After leaving the cafeteria and crossing the street to enter the inn, the receptionist sitting behind the counter greeted me with a smile, "Welcome! Are you staying with us tonight?"
"Yes, I'd like to stay for one night," I replied.
"One night without meals is sixty Cornes, and with breakfast and dinner included, it's seventy Cornes."
So, Cornes must be the currency here. Let's assume one Corne equals one copper coin; otherwise, I won't have enough money.
"I'll take the option with meals, please. Here's your seventy Cornes."
I handed over a small silver coin and two large copper coins, feeling a bit nervous.
"Thank you. Your room is 201. I'll show you to it now."
Phew, at least one copper coin equals one Corne.
Following the receptionist up one flight of stairs, we arrived at room 201 right away.
"The restroom is at the end of the hallway."
There were several rooms down the corridor, and the stairs continued up to the second floor. There was also another hallway across from the stairs. This inn seems quite big, though it doesn't really matter to me.
"Dinner is served from 6 PM to 9 PM, so please come down to the dining area before then."
At the time, I wasn't sure how to keep track of the time, but apparently, there are bells that ring at 6 AM, 9 AM, noon, 3 PM, 6 PM, and 9 PM.
After receiving the key, I quickly checked the room, which was about eight tatami mats in size. It had a single bed and a small round table. There was no bathtub or shower, and the toilet was down the hall as mentioned earlier. The window had wooden shutters but no glass panes.
I've finished checking the room, so I'm lying on the bed, thinking about what's next. I'm pretty mentally exhausted, but I can't afford to sleep just yet.
They must have noticed my escape by now, right? So far, everything looks normal outside the window, so there doesn't seem to be any commotion.
Since they deemed me expendable, they probably wouldn't think I could dig my way out on my own. They might assume some third party broke in. But that's unlikely. There's no way someone would have a comrade in a guy they kidnapped from another world. So, does this mean my value has suddenly gone up? They certainly won't expect me to cooperate after how they treated me. It'd be best if they just left me alone, but I can't stake my safety on mere hope.
What I need to watch out for is kidnapping and assassination. If it's kidnapping, at least they don't plan to kill me, which is a small comfort, but the chances of that are slim. The more likely scenario is assassination. That's scary. I wonder if Staff Combat Level 3 is enough, but I'm not even sure about my own abilities, let alone those of whoever might come after me. It'd be great if there was some kind of benchmark.
*Bling!*
"Would you like to spend 1 Skill Point to learn Character Appraisal? Yes or No?"
Without hesitation, I chose "Yes" at this crucial moment.
I spent 1 skill point to learn Character Appraisal. I now have 137 skill points left. It seems there are no levels for Character Appraisal, given the lack of further information.
When I focused on myself, a blue, semi-transparent board appeared with text on it:
- Name: Zenjiro Iwanaga
- Occupation: None
- Age: 27