Chapter 17: About how much is that in Japanese yen?

"Wa-hahahahaha! Well then, you foolish adventurers! How does it feel to have tightened the noose around your own necks! When my hideout in the forest was attacked by ogres, I fled into these ruins—but then those blasted slimes suddenly multiplied, and even I was driven to my wits’ end. Thanks to you lot, I can finally make my escape! Now I shall summon the great demonic beast Garmglyph and bathe the foolish masses of the royal capital—and you adventurers—in blood, offering you all as sacrifices for the revival of the evil god!"

After we defeated the slimes, an oddly high-spirited old man appeared before us, throwing his head back in manic laughter as he launched into a lengthy explanation of his circumstances and ambitions. Apparently, he had been trapped here by the slimes and unable to leave, so when an unexpected escape route opened up, his excitement skyrocketed.

"Well then! Too terrified to even speak, are you! It’s too late for regrets now!"

Being energetic was one thing, but just how many days had he been stuck in here? Looking at the emaciated old man in his filthy robe, we exchanged uneasy glances.

"So… this old man is the mage we’re looking for… right…?"

"Probably… he says he is, so I guess that’s him, nya…?"

"But somehow… it’s awkward, you know… like… this is kind of a problem…?"

"I do not fully understand… but do adventurers… normally fight elderly people like this…?"

I felt the same way. All three of them were clearly confused.

"Honestly, shooting, slashing, or punching an old man is a bit… I mean… if he’s supposed to be an ‘evil mage,’ does that make him a monster? Or is he an NPC?"

"He wasn’t in the game at all, nya. He was probably just backstory to justify the appearance of the great demonic beast. If he’s like the townsfolk or the refugees from Glassport—someone who appeared because the world filled itself in—then wouldn’t he count as an NPC, nya…?"

"What are you muttering about! I am an evil mage born into this world for the resurrection of the evil god! Are you not afraid!"

Perhaps because we weren’t reacting the way he expected, the old man looked on the verge of losing his temper. With no real alternative, I tried speaking to him as gently as I could.

"Um… Grandpa, do you know your name? Do you have any family, or relatives…?"

"My name…? My name is—ngh! Bah! That doesn’t matter! Are you mocking me!? As if I’d have family! I am an evil mage!"

At least give him a name. Come on. It’s just sad. Maybe he really does have one and simply forgot it—but somehow that would be even worse, so I could only hope that wasn’t the case.

"Impudent little brats! You dare mock me! I’ll make you sacrifices to the evil god! With this sacred treasure, the ‘Eye of Garm,’ I shall summon demonic beasts!"

As he spoke, the old man pulled a dark, crystal-ball-like object from within his robes. There was no doubt about it—this really was the mage we were after.

So be it.

"Everyone, turn around, close your eyes, and cover your ears."

Evangelin hesitated at the sudden order, but Ririka and Natsumi obeyed immediately, prompting her to follow suit. Once I confirmed that all of them had turned their backs and covered their ears, I removed a grenade from my belt, tossed it at the old man’s feet, and covered my own eyes and ears.

"W-What are you—"

Before he could finish, a sharp concussive bang echoed through the hall, and the darkness behind my closed eyelids exploded into white.

A stun grenade—also known as a flashbang. A non-lethal weapon primarily used for riot control. Since this was an underground dungeon expedition, I had brought one along just in case we encountered humanoid monsters like goblins or orcs. Until now, we’d only run into skeletons and slimes, so it had gone unused. At last, it proved its worth.

"Whoa… that was way louder than I expected."

"Yeah… hey, do you think the old man’s okay? He didn’t have a heart attack or die from shock, did he?"

When I opened my eyes to check, the old man was crouched on the ground, eyes rolled back as his body twitched and convulsed. Thankfully, he still appeared to be alive.

"What did you do…? Was that also Lady Ririka’s magic…? No, then why is Lady Ririka knocked over by her own spell…?"

Sure enough, Ririka was sprawled on the ground as well, clutching her head.

"Ah… did she forget she has cat ears and cover the sides of her face instead?"

"An idiot… no, that’s simply her playful side, Your Highness Evangelin. Even as a great mage, she occasionally does things like this to seem more approachable."

"I-I see… that must be difficult…"

In any case, with the old man no longer capable of resisting, we reluctantly bound his hands behind his back, confiscated the crystal ball, and left the ruins.

"Nyaaah… my ears are still ringing, nya… please don’t use things like that near Ririka anymore, nya…"

"I thought it would be effective in a dungeon."

"Huh? There’s someone outside."

"What is it, nya…? I still can’t hear very well, nya."

As Natsumi pointed it out, another adventuring party had set up camp just outside the ruins. It was a six-person group led by Marie, the female warrior from Masato’s guild. Siegfried—the infamous direct-connection addict—was with them as well. After confirming that we were escorting a bound old man, Marie spoke up.

"I see. This was the right one. The catacombs were a miss. We rushed here, but we were a step too late. We’ll take custody of that mage. Hand him over."

"Wait a moment! Capturing that mage was the achievement of Lady Ririka and her party! We cannot allow you to simply steal their credit!"

Evangelin snapped back at Marie’s blunt demand. Perhaps obsessing over credit was a habit unique to knightly princesses.

"The guild will properly record the achievement. There’s no problem. You’ll receive your reward."

"But I am a knight! Entrusting a suspicious element within the kingdom to the Adventurers’ Guild rather than the knight order—!"

"The knight order can’t handle him. We’re better suited."

"What did you say!? Are you mocking the knight order!?"

Thinking her comrades were being insulted, Evangelin grew even more heated, until Natsumi restrained her.

"N-Now, now, Princess, it’s fine, isn’t it? She says our achievement will be properly reported, and honestly, dragging that old man all the way back to town ourselves would be a pain."

"But Lord Natsumi! Is Lady Ririka truly fine with this!? Clarice! What do you think!?"

"Ririka isn’t in any condition to worry about that right now, and she’s not the type to nitpick over details. So it’s fine."

"I agree. Frankly, it’s a hassle… so I don’t mind."

With both Natsumi and me in agreement, Evangelin reluctantly relented and handed the old man over to Marie.

"That too."

Marie added only those words, pointing at the crystal ball in my hand. Since I had no particular attachment to it, I handed it over without complaint.

"Thanks. I’ll make sure Masato hears about this."

With that, Marie turned on her heel and led her party back toward the city. Siegfried glanced back and waved at us, but he was annoying, so we ignored him and watched them leave.

"Umm… I guess we can head back to town too, but following right behind them like that is… kind of awkward, isn’t it?"

Come to think of it, Natsumi was right. We were all headed to the same city anyway, so there was no real reason for them to take custody of the old man here and rush ahead. That blunt female warrior, Marie, didn’t seem particularly considerate.

So we killed some time by eating biscuits on a peaceful little hill a short distance away—one that monsters wouldn’t approach—and waited for Ririka’s ears to recover before finally heading back to town.

By the time we arrived, it was already night.

The next morning, Ririka headed to the guild first thing and returned with the reward money.

"They only gave me twenty thousand gold, nya. That Masato guy’s surprisingly stingy, nya."

"I don’t really understand the value of gold. About how much is that in Japanese yen?"

"Probably around twenty thousand yen, nya."

Ah. I see. That made it easier to grasp, at least.

Still, considering we’d risked our lives delving into a dungeon and captured an evil mage, twenty thousand yen was undeniably cheap. Split four ways, it came out to only about five thousand yen per person. Even a part-time job at a rural convenience store would pay better per hour.

"That’s pocket change at best. I don’t need it."

"Ririka doesn’t really need twenty thousand gold either, nya. And I doubt the princess would want it, nya. Clarice-nyan should keep it. You can’t even open your status screen, so you’re broke, nya—perfect timing, nya."

As she said that, Ririka pulled a pink drawstring pouch from her item box, poured in the clinking gold coins, and handed it to me.

"It’s all coins? That’s bulky."

"We didn’t know either, nya. But monster drops come in big and small gold coins, so if you match the numbers, the big ones are probably worth about a thousand yen and the small ones around a hundred, nya. Item prices are usually in units of a hundred gold anyway, so it works out, nya."

"That’s a pretty rough monetary system."

"Once you hit level fifty, you never have to worry about gold anymore, nya. Nobody really thinks about the details, nya."

Typical RPG logic.

With nothing else pressing to do, we decided to split up and wander around town on our own.

Thinking about it, I’d left the city almost immediately after arriving in this world, then gotten swept up in one thing after another. I hadn’t really had a chance to stroll around by myself. Ririka and Natsumi had only ended up traveling with me due to circumstance—we hadn’t sworn any oaths or formed deep bonds.

It felt strange, but at this point, in a city where I knew no one else, I didn’t feel like pretending to be a clueless beginner and asking strangers to party up with me.

Since I couldn’t use the item box system other players relied on to store money and items, I threaded a long cord through the pink pouch of gold Ririka had given me, hung it around my neck under my poncho, and wandered through town.

I didn’t have any particular goal, but sticking to RPG tradition, I checked the weapon and armor shops first. As expected, there was nothing I could really use. Next was the item shop, but consumables were bulky, and carrying fragile glass potion bottles felt like more trouble than they were worth. It made me wonder how NPCs managed without item boxes.

In the end, the smell drew me in, and I bought a single skewer of some kind of grilled meat from a food stall. While eating it, I wandered toward the residential district—an area that had been inaccessible back when this was just a game. That was when I noticed a group of people gathered around, busy with some kind of work.

They were digging up the roadside and lining it with bricks and concrete. As I watched, thinking this must be the sewer construction Masato had mentioned, a burly, bearded giant—clearly a player—called out to me. He had a bandana or towel wrapped around his head.

"Hey there. You’re a player too, right? Haven’t seen you at the guild. Still level one? Rough luck, with all this going on."

"Ah, yes, hello. Sorry… my data seems to be corrupted, so I can’t even view my status."

"That’s even worse luck. Name’s Shimizu—nah, forget that—Rick. I look like this now, but I’m only level ten. Total small fry as an adventurer. Nice to meet ya."

"Nice to meet you too. So, this is the sewer work you mentioned?"

"Yeah. Me and my junior here—we worked construction together back in the real world. Hey, Dom! Get over here a sec!"

Rick shouted into the dug-out trench, and another bearded, muscular giant popped his head out. This one looked even hairier than Rick, but also more timid.

"What is it, boss? You don’t have to shout that loud."

"This young lady was watching the construction—she’s a player. Say hello."

"Hey there. Name’s Dom. Me and the boss are both useless in a fight, so nice to meet a fellow deadweight."

"I’m Clarice. Nice to meet you."

"We started the game at the same time, so we went with a brothers setup. Neither of us are sewer specialists, but we’re better than total amateurs, so we got put in charge of this. We may not be much use in combat, but there’s still work we can do. If you ask at the guild, they’ll find you a job in no time."

"Thank you. I’ve been getting by thanks to people who happened to travel with me."

"That’s good to hear. But if you ever run into trouble, come to the guild anytime. Low-level players gotta stick together."

"Yes. Thank you, Rick, Dom."

The two sweaty, bearded giants threw their arms around each other’s shoulders and waved cheerfully. Their appearance raised some questions about their tastes, but they seemed like genuinely good people.

In my case, I wasn’t useless in combat thanks to my unfair cheat, so pretending otherwise made me feel a bit guilty—but I really was a level-one player. There was no need to confess more than that.

After thanking them again, I took my leave.

I wandered through the residential district a bit longer. While I was curious about the daily lives of townspeople in a fantasy world, it felt rude to stare, so eventually I made my way back toward the main avenue leading to the castle.

Once again, I had nothing to do. Going back to the inn or drinking alone in a tavern in the middle of the day didn’t feel right.

As I considered my options, I remembered the priests at the temple I’d once visited to change my name. Their outfits had been… memorable. My sense of normal had already been warped by the princess knight, but considering the temple was used for warping between countries and reviving wiped-out players, it seemed worth checking again.

Last time, the female priests had been wearing apron-like garments that were completely open at the sides. I hadn’t even been able to tell whether they were wearing underwear. If it were another woman, would they get angry if she lifted the fabric a little?

It wasn’t a lewd thought—purely academic curiosity.

Lost in those musings, I arrived at the temple, only to find it sealed off by what appeared to be royal guards. Several adventurer players were gathered nearby, shouting in protest.

"This is by order of Prince Ernest! It is a measure taken out of consideration for you adventurers—who are also citizens of this kingdom—so that you do not throw your lives away recklessly! It is for your own good! Understand this and stay away from the temple!"