บท 17: Barl City
We left the city gate behind us as the cart moved along the street. There were businesses that offered us their products while the shopkeeper shouted out calling for the attention of whoever was passing by. While watching the interactions of all of them, Milene speaks to me.
"What was that about at the gate?"
"Nothing, I just thought you were going to say that we were the ones who ended up killing the bandits"
"That was precisely what I intended to do, why did you stop me?"
"I don't want to be called to have to give account to the lord of this city. I prefer to pass as a normal citizen without attracting attention. Changing the subject, it seems that all of you are governed by a feudal system, is that correct? Also, precisely where are we?"
She looks at me as if she found some strange animal and was trying to identify it.
"You really don't know anything right? What were you two doing before you reached the town?"
"Just imagine that we lived in isolation and that we left our house together for a better future"
"... Didn't you say before that you weren't siblings?"
"Tch, how picky, then we are a couple in love who weren't accepted by our surroundings, so we escaped to be together."
"... Didn't you say you were a man?"
"Damn, I am a man!! When I said they didn't accept us, it was because of our age difference!"
While laughing at Kurisu's reaction to what I said, Milane pressed right in the place that caused me pain. Seeing me upset, the two try to calm me down because we were getting everyone's attention.
"Sorry, I forget about your age because of how mature you are when talking"
"Okay, whatever. But are you going to answer me or not?"
"Of course, this is the city of Barl, it is governed by Count Renma Barl and he is vassal of the kingdom of Delna. In addition, it is located on the Nureld continent."
Then I was right, it is a monarchy and each city must have its lord appointed by the king. I don't want to deal with them for now, it is better to wait until I have enough strength in case they do anything that displeases me. Also, I don't want to have to deal with some stereotype of a fat ruler who falls in love with Kurisu, or in the worst case me and wants to force us to be his concubine or mistress.
"When you give your report to the lord of this city, do not mention me or Kurisu, say that someone who passed by saved the town. You understand Milene?"
"That's fine, but you can earn a reward for saving the people. Don't you want it?"
"That's not necessary, you can keep it, we don't need it."
Because of the pressure and seriousness with which I told her not to talk about us, Milene became a little restless, but she quickly recovered and continued to steer the cart off of the main road.
The city seemed quite large in comparison to the town we came from, also the houses were not made of adobe and thatched roof. Most were brick constructions and citizens appeared to have a prosperous life at first sight.
I don't want to say that everyone looked rich, I could still see children and adults begging for money, but it wasn't like there were many. Wherever I passed I saw people doing their job, not that they emanated happiness, it was just normal people doing what they needed to survive in society.
There were also a good number of armed people who walked on the streets, alone or in groups. I assumed they were adventurers who resided in this city or were passing through.
But what caught the attention of both Kurisu and myself (mainly me) were 2 things. The first thing was the great diversity of races. There were elves, dwarves, leprechauns, people with ears of various animal races on their heads, others had tails and lizard scales, or a different skin color and I do not mean normal colors like on Earth. Here you could see someone with red or blue skin walking the streets.
The second thing I noticed was that they were not as primitive as I expected, apart from the carts pulled by animals, I saw many different vehicles being driven that operated on some kind of energy (most likely crystals) that stood out in the crowded streets.
"How many types of race are there in this world?"
"Undoubtedly many, it's impressive right? Barl is also just considered a small city. At first I was surprised since I was raised in a town of humans like Rek, but you get used to it over time"
Although it was a rhetorical question, Milene answered me. And all this is only a small part of Gaia, there will be more impressive things that await us along our path.
"Why don't you buy one of those vehicles?"
"Do you know how much those cost? The cheapest is about 30,000C. I had to invest 2,000C for what I'm driving. In addition, those vehicles need crystals to move, I prefer to just need to feed the lizards twice a day"
I guess it was like telling someone that uses public transportation on Earth, why they don't just buy a Ferrari or Lamborghini.
After making several turns around the city, Milene's car stopped in front of a small house. The ground floor had a small business where it put several items for sale. A young woman who looked 15 but according to Milene was over 18. She was waiting for customers at the counter, but when she saw us, ran to the cart.
"Teacher, you arrived earlier than expected"
"Ah Celi, a lot of things happened and I had to come back early. How's the business going?"
"Teacher? What do you teach her? How to stay single for the rest of her life?"
"Alex!!"
"Of course not! She is a merchant trainee, so I teach her the tricks of the trade!"
"Oh I'm sorry, since you're so mature and are alone, I forgot that you were a merchant." I said sarcastically while smiling.
"Damn spiteful brat!!"
She tries to grab me, but I dodge and run behind Kurisu who tries to calm her down. Then we get interrupted by the girl named Celi.
"Who are these two Teacher?"
"A friend, her name is Kurisu and a damn insolent brat, you can ignore IT. Hump"
"So you don't want to make the deal?"
"Oh yeah, the deal! His name is Alexander, treat him well Celi he is an important client"
"Fuuu ... maybe it's because you care more about coins than people that you can't get a man"
"That's not your problem, coins are what give me sustenance, not some man. Enter quickly and let's do business"
"Well, I have nothing against independent women
Saying that, we follow her and enter the store, we pass the counter and continue until we reach what looks like a warehouse due all the things stored inside. I look for some free space and take out all the goblin materials that I obtained by breaking them down with the system. A small mountain of green skins, bones and goblin meat is created, after making sure that it was everything I give a sign for them to check it.
Milene with the help of Celi, who was called back from her surprise when everything appeared out of nowhere, began their work and review each object while making notes in a notebook. After waiting about an hour, Milene gives me an estimate of the value.
"You really ended up with a settlement of goblins right? There are also elite goblins and what should have been their boss in the materials ... for the 123 pieces of goblin skin I will give you 25G for each one being a total of 3,075G I will buy the meat for 30G per head, for a total of 3,690, for the bones and the rest 1000G.
Now the elite, 100G for the skin of each one for a total of 1,300G, their meat for 50G, this is not because for meat there is not much difference with that of the normal goblins, which is 650G in total. The bones and other material will also be 100 per head, 1300G for all of them.
Finally, the Goblin Chief I will give you 5,000G for his entire body. With a total of 16,015G for everything, it is the best price you will get throughout the city. Take it or leave it"
"Okay, for our long friendships just give me 16,000G and keep the rest"
"Tch, damn stingy brat ... it's only 15G, you could've rounded it down to 15,000G. Give me the G card that I gave you before to put them there"
Using a different card than the one she had on her trip, probably due to lack of funds from not wishing to travel with too much Gold on hand, I then hand over mine with 13000G on it and in seconds she returns it to me, but now it's marked with 29000G. Very practical, I wish I had one of these in my world to avoid long lines in the bank.
"It was a pleasure making deals with you. Come back whenever you want"
"Likewise, can you tell me where the guild is? I want to register both of us"
"Celi show them the way"
I ask Milene for directions to the guild, I don't want to waste time looking for it and also need to complete the mission as soon as possible, solving my problem she asks Celi to guide our path.
I have the system map, but since the city counts as a closed off area, I have to map the surroundings on my own. I will do that later when I have nothing to do, we say goodbye to Milene, promising to meet with her again and then leave.
Spending several minutes walking in the streets, we return to the Main Avenue at the entrance of the city and continue straight. A little bit of time later, a large building appeared, in the center over its entrance was an image of three stone arches surrounding the silhouette of a person with a sword and a shield. Under this image was read "World Guild".
"That's the guild, so if there's nothing else I'll be leaving. See you later, visit the store sometime."
Celi says goodbye and returns to where we just came from. It's just the two of us alone again, looking at the building for a few moments we then enter.
Inside there were a large number of people, the majority were formed in lines at various counters and were tended to by the guild staff. They were dressed formally, wearing a white shirt and a black vest with the gold logo of the guild on their chest. In addition, they wore a black beret over their heads, with the exception of those with horns or large ears like rabbit people.
When analyzing the content of what is written on each reception cubicle, I find the one that says "New Entries" and I tell Kurisu.
"We have to line up there to register"
"How do you know?"
"Because it's written above?"
"Eh, you can read those letters?"
I look at her for a moment thinking about what she was saying and then I see the text again. Looking at them in detail, although I have the ability to read them I can say that it is the first time that I have seen these types of letters or symbols...
"It seems that I can read them without problems ... as we've been speaking normally with the people we had meeting so far, I assumed that it was the same language"
"That's because of this ring, right?"
With her words Kurisu shows me the hand and on her index finger was a ring that I had not noticed. When did she get it? And from who? ... Seeing my doubts she answers me.
"Milane gave it to me the first time we met, when you left us to look for the thieves she wanted to talk to me, but we couldn't understand each other. Then she took out this ring and gave it to me, I thought you had one for yourself"
[Universal Language Ring - J
Description: It allows the wearer to understand what another individual tries to express with words in a different language.]
While evaluating the ring I show her my hands so she can see that I don't have a ring. Well, then why can I understand their language and also the letters that I've never seen?
"Eh ... so how do you understand what they say?"
[That's obviously because Cross intended you to go to many worlds, he made it possible for you to understand every language and every type of writing]
It must be that way, but why doesn't it show up as a skill in my status? If he gave me that ability, shouldn't it be there?
[Because it is more a capacity of understanding than a skill recognized by the world. In this world almost everyone can speak multiple different languages, should everyone then be recognized and get a skill called like [Multi-Language] or something?]
"It seems that I have the ability to speak any language or read any type of writing"
"Heee ... that's very unfair"
No doubt, but compared to other skills I have this is something simple. Receiving the look of envy from Kurisu the receptionist where we lined up calls us. She takes things that have to do with knowledge very seriously.
"Next please"
A pretty girl on the other side of the counter attend us, it seems we were lucky. From what I see the guild does not discriminate against races in order to work in it or it may be only in this branch, but being such a large organization probably it's the former.
"Good afternoon, we wish to register for the guild, what do we need to do?"
"Be 12 or older and pay a registration fee of 100G or 10C"
Well, I was worried about the age of enrollment in the guild, but I barely made the cut ... doesn't the age seem a bit lax though? Many children can die. Kurisu puts my thoughts into words and asks the receptionist.
"They are not too young to enroll at that age? Won't they die?"
"We have had to reduce the age limit for many reasons. As the guild's credentials is often used as identification, requests have been made from important people to reduce the age limit to be able to better control the affairs of the population using the guild's credentials. In the end the minimum age is 12 years, but it is recommended not to go on outside missions until 15. While they are in that three years period it is better to focus on completing low-level missions within the city"
"Then please register us"
"It will be a pleasure"
She gives us some forms that we have to fill out, I complete it while helping Kurisu read hers. When finished we deliver them to the lady, she then writes them down on some kind of machine similar to a computer. At the end of the procedure she asks us to place our hand on a sphere and while I put my hand there informs us.
"This will verify that you meet the age, in addition to verifying your level. You don't have to worry, the guild has a high degree of confidentiality and will not provide your data to third parties. Well, with that it would be enough, now your friend"
Kurisu performs the same procedure and in a few seconds also finishes. Then the receptionist checks over everything and a small machine prints our guild identifications. The girl checks the credentials and with an apologetic expression tells me.
"Ah, it seems that I made a mistake in your data wait a moment"
"…where?"
"In your gender, I seem to have written you down as a man, although I'm sure I followed what was written on your sheets. Well, no matter I will just have to redo everything for you.
I expected that, this is becoming so common that I have to say I'm getting used to hearing it. Now I'm depressed again. After sighing I inform the receptionist.
"It's not a mistake, I am a man"
"... you are very kind, but it is my responsibility to fix my mistake and they will only tell me to be more careful in the future, so do not worry, I will correct it"
"No, it is not because I am being kind, I'm telling you that I AM a man"
"It's true, he's a man. You didn't put it in wrong."
My voice climbs a scale in tone to emphasize it more and Kurisu continues with words of support. As a result, the girl gives me a beautiful smile and speaks again.
"You really don't have to worry, they don't discount it from my salary or anything like that"
"I tell you that I am a man!! Give me the damn card now!!"
Everyone stops what they are doing and they turn their vision to us, the silence lasts for a few seconds until a muscular man with a hoarse voice that echoes throughout the place is heard.
"Hahaha, then I am the queen of Delna"
"Hahaha"
The laughs are heard throughout the guild and at that point my reason went flying. I turn to the man that spoke and pull out my Beretta. Suddenly I feel something soft on my back, Kurisu's hands prevent me from pointing my weapon and her voice tickles my ear.
"Stop Alex, it's too much to kill him just for that. Please give us the cards!!"
The receptionist hands over our ID to Kurisu and she pulls my hand to take me out of the guild returning to the main street.
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Written by:
Jwunder99
Ideas by:
Drack21
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