Chapter 43

Q & A

[Thank you for answering my question . ]

The woman expressed her gratitude .

[I also apologize for asking that question repeatedly . I mean, I have also sensed that you’re not lying when you told me about how you defeated those four people . I also understand that you’ve honestly answered my previous questions . ]

Did she have a lie detector?

It’s as if she’s confident that she’s able to tell if someone tells the truth or not .

[That’s why—]

The woman looked at me with a sincere expression on her face .

She bowed down her head, and put her hand on her chest with difficulty .

It’s as if she’s making a pledge .

[I will answer you question as honestly as I could in return . You’re the one who fended off those four people— Towards someone who could be called my benefactor, I don’t intend to do any harm to you at all . ]

Her benefactor .

I think that’s too much of an exaggeration .

No– If she’s really that indebted to me, I guess I’ll use that to my advantage .

[What do you specifically want to ask? You had mentioned earlier that you’re not someone who lives around here . ]

She said imposingly even though she can’t even move her body .

This may prove that she had lessened her vigilance towards me .

[I’ve just been following where my feet takes me . I must have walked quite a distance already . Before I knew it, I’m already in this forest . ]

[How did you even arrive in this forest?]

[It’s like I was suddenly thrown away into this place . ]

[—Is that so? I’m sorry that I have asked that . ]

Something like me being thrown away .

Those words would provoke some dark imaginations to surface in your mind after you hear that .

For example, I may have been abandoned by my travelling companions .

I may also have been driven out from the place where I used to live .

Or I may even have been an abandoned slave (supposing that there are slaves in this world) .

Etcetera, etcetera .

The story of me being thrown away is not a lie in the first place .

I was abandoned by my parents and I was disposed of by that f*cking goddess .

If she could sniff out that I have some dark past that I probably don’t want to talk about, she might become lax on her questions .

It would be enough to just let her sniff out some truth covering the smoke of things that I want to hide .

This also have another advantage .

If I could do this well enough, I could also estimate the personality of the other party based on their reaction .

I looked at the woman’s eyes .

The expression of the woman? It’s as if a question mark is floating above her head .

[What is it?]

[You don’t seem that bad of a person— well, for now that is . ]

[…Did I perhaps gain some of your trust?]

[Yeah, Just a bit . It’s just that, I feel that my circumstances are a bit similar to yours . The both of us think that we should avoid intruding too deeply in the others lives—]

It seems that this woman also have her own circumstances that she wanted to hide .

However, that doesn’t matter . All I wanted now is information .

After I get the information I want, it would be good enough to go on our own ways .

[Yeah, I agree . ]

Shadows cast over the woman’s expression .

[I’m also thankful if that we’re the case . ]

There is still the problem with the remaining gauge .

We have already wasted a lot of time with these idle-chatter .

[Okay . Well then, I’ll move on towards the questions I wanted to ask . Is there any village or town nearby?]

[There’s one, there’s a small city called Mills nearby . I was also–]

The woman suddenly paused .

“I was also–“

There seems to be a reason why she doesn’t want others to know her destination .

Though I said that, those words she said just now have already given out where she’s going .

Well, if I just know the location of the city then that would have been enough .

I won’t dig into her circumstances .

The woman has taught me the direction and distance towards that city .

It seems that it really isn’t that far from here .

The time where I could finally sleep on a decent bed is finally near .

[Where is this place located?]

I move on towards the next question .

[Do you not even know where you are right now?]

[My situation’s a bit complicated . I was living in a place that’s disconnected from civilization . I’ve never received any information from the outside . You should be able to guess my circumstances now . ]

I’m trying to imply that I was escaping from the eyes of investigators .

[…I understand . This is a forest located to the south of Urza Kingdom, “Forest of Darkness” . ]

I’m surprised .

Isn’t this place located in Allion Kingdom?

I completely thought that the disposal ruins were located in Allion .

I’ve gained quite a valuable information .

[Where is Allion?]

[Allion, is it? I think it’s northeast of Urza Kingdom? And also, to the southeast of Urza Kingdom is—]

The woman hesitated a bit .

[…where the Bachoss Empire is located . ]

(T/N: I suck at naming . This info may change depending on when I could sync it to the manga . )

There must be something there in the Bachoss Empire that made her think twice just to mention its name .

However, I’ve said this before but I won’t dig to deeply in her circumstances .

Nevertheless…

It seems that this place isn’t located in Allion .

Is it okay to consider this as a good news for now?

The thing for me to consider first is the direction where I should go so that I could stay away from Allion for the meantime .

First of all, the matter that I’ve talked about before regarding the Forbidden Curses should be prioritized on where I would go .

Fumu…

I’m in another country, so there is no need to be in a hurry to leave…

[Okay . The next questions might be a little strange . ]

The woman suddenly have a face full of worry after hearing my words .

[—ah, y-yes . P-please do . ]

[For example… If I want to buy a bread that was usually eaten by commoners, how much would it usually cost?]

[ . . So you want to know the market price, huh?]

[I have lived in a place where I wouldn’t need to know the price of things…]

[I understand . If you’re talking about a bread that you could usually buy in any city, then you can buy them with one piece of copper . ]

So, bread exists huh .

[How many copper coins are equivalent to a silver coin?]

[It’s about 30 copper coins for one silver coin . ]

Let’s say that a bread could be about ¥100 each . (T/N: ¥ = jap yen . )

If it’s according to the standards of my previous world, a silver coin should be equivalent to about ¥3000 .

It may just be an approximate guess from me, but I guess I roughly grasped it .

It’s obvious, but prices in here should be different from Japan .

I must not think of the value of everything depending on their equivalent in Japanese Yen .

However, it’s a step forward now that I have understood the “standard” price of bread .

I should fairly understand the price relationship when I have finally reached the city of Mills .

I quickly speak out the information I wanted to know .

The yellow gauge is about to be depleted .

There’s one last thing left that I need to really need to know from her .

I took out the “The Forbidden Archives of Spells and Curses” from my leather bag .

[Do you know anything regarding the letters used to write in this book?]

The woman’s eyes run through the letters in the book .

Her eyes seems to shine as she hurriedly looked over the book .

Did she find out something because of how her mouth moves like that?

I don’t even know if she’s even conscious at all .

Hmm?

I noticed one thing from her .

There’s a faint wrinkles that I could see beneath her eyes .

Although, it’s actually so faint that I would have never seen it if I weren’t looking closely .

Is it that she lacks some sleep because she’s been escaping for days?

[This is—]

The few wrinkles engraved on her eyebrows caved in a bit as she replied .

[It seems to be written with ancient characters . This is quite a special book . ]

[Can you read it?]

[No, I’m sorry about that . ]

[I see . I understand . ]

I rolled up the Forbidden Archive so that I could put it back to my back .

It seems that this part is not going quite well, huh?

Although I’ve only just a single clue, I have some expectation regarding this .

Well, I’ll be able to know its contents in the future .

[However—]

[Hmm?]

[I think I might know someone who is quite familiar with these characters . ]