Chương 4: JagamaruKarens

'You made the right decision. Freya isn't someone you want to be selling your soul to.'

Bete silently agreed.

"You know her?"

'She's like a devil. She draws in people she finds amusing and sucks them dry of their free will. You don't want to get too close to her. Unfortunately, you seem to have caught her attention. My advice would be to lay low for a while. Freya will move on after a few years.'

"A few years?! I can't wait that long. I need to join a Familia as fast as possible."

After the feeling of powerlessness in front of Freya, his urge for strength had only increased.

Bete fell into a deep contemplation while continuing to aimlessly walk amongst the crowd of various races.

'I need information, fast. I'm not even aware of what each level means or how to progress. Should I go to a pub? I still have some money left from looting the idiots. Most of them didn't even have anything but that potion shitter had a lot of valis. Around 16,000 left.'

grumble

He immediately leaped back, ready for a fight. Whipping his head left and right, he found... no one. Only the look of perplexity or confusion on passerby's at his strange antics.

"WA HA HA HA!"

A tubby dwarf pointed at him and broke out in a chortle.

"This little Beast-Human is afraid of his own belly! Look at him so surprised! Have you never heard of hunger, my boy?"

The neighboring walkers also joined in on the laughter.

"What a silly boy!"

"Did you lose your stomach, kid? I think I saw it wandering about the 69th floor!"

insert boisterous noises of multiple grown adults spurting out a cacophony of dyssynchronous guffaws.

"F-fuck off..."

Bete's cheeks blushed bright pink as he doubled his pace, stuffing his hands in his pockets. Still, they were unfortunately right. It was, in fact, the noise coming from his own stomach.

'When was the last time I ate something?'

'Too long. You need to take better care of your body if you want to grow stronger. It's your foundation.'

As much as he hated to do it, Bete agreed.

Thankfully, an hour into aimlessly meandering the streets of Orario with his eyes glued to the grounded bricks, he smelled something.

Sniff. Sniff Sniff.

'Ah...'

Bete looked up to spot, a few meters away, a stand selling a strange, brown blob with a smile. A Jaga... maru kun? He honestly didn't care if the name was strange and had way too many syllables. The scent that drifted in the air, warm and savory, was enough to drag him in like a virgin to a Tenga or an Epstein to a child.

Once he got closer, he closely read the menu.

[Welcome To Jagamarukun's!]

(Each order is 12 Jagamarukuns. No refunds or returns, Enjoy!)

Jagamarukun - V 300

Spicy Jagamarukun - V 320

Cheese Jagamarukun - V 320

Sweet Custard Jagamarukun - V 320

Deluxe Jagamarukun - V 350

All You Can Eat Jagamarukun - V 1,000

"Gimme one," Bete gruffly demanded, slipping over three Asimis from his bag. {look at notes below}

"Of course, of course! Welcome!"

The kind worker dressed in a large potato costume stuffed a dozen piping hot golden brown nuggets into a colorful box and slid it over the counter.

"And here's an extra for being such a cute kid!"

She grabbed one more and stuffed it into his mouth.

"U-urggk!"

"Thank you for your patronage, dear customer. We appreciate your time and valis. If you enjoyed our excellent customer service, remember to give us 5 stars on [Orario Travel Guide] !

Bete quickly walked away from the madwoman, the steaming hot potato snack burning its way down his gullet.

"W-what the hwell..."

He finally managed to choke down the food. Looking back at the stand worker who was treating the next customer with the same enthusiasm and wide smile, the usually gruff Demi-Human felt an eerie shiver down his spine.

'For once, I want to meet someone normal here.'

Setting off in the opposite direction of the stand, Bete munched down on the next Jagamarukun without much thought.

'Huh... it's actually pretty good when I'm not deep throating it.'

Nyam

'It's better than I thought. I'll have to come back more often.'

Chew

'Damn. It's all gone...'

'You could have left one for me, you know.'

"You can eat food?"

'Well... maybe?'

"If you can't eat, just admit it. Don't waste my time."

*Sad whimpering noises*

It was getting dark now. Not really knowing where to go, Bete entered one of the few large buildings that still had their lights on. There was a large sign at the top, but it was too dark to read the letters. He didn't care too much about it anyways.

When he opened the doors, his nose was filled the smell of medicinal herbs and ointments. A soothing scent, if he was honest. He was familiar with them due to his tribe's use of such self-made products for medicine.

'A pharmacy? I could use some healing. I might have some lasting injuries from fighting that guy. Plus I could find some useful information.'

Seeing the long line to get situated, Bete sighed and took his spot at the end. It wasn't like he had much else he could do.

'This place looks pretty decent. Large, bright, expensive. Probably makes lots of money too.'

'Bleh. Looks too nice for my tastes.'

'Oh yeah? What is your taste?'

'Dark. Gloomy. Sharp. Mysterious.'

Bete snorted.

'What?'

'Nothing.'

He remained silent for a while, studying the room he was in.

There were many shelves behind and around the counters, holding all kinds of various materials, potions, and liquids. He could see a purple jar of sticky liquid, a tall bottle of brownish salve, a green circular canister of what he assumed were dried herbs, as well as multiple other options.

Aside from the lines for a direct appointment, there were also segments of the counter separated for people purchasing items off shelves and Adventurers who were turning in requested items.

Further in, there was also a line of rooms that seemed to be reserved for a private session between the healers and clients. He could see a male, wounded Chienthrope being escorted into one of the rooms.

All in all, it was a neat, effective operation.

Suddenly, his observations were interrupted by a loud outburst in the front of another line.

"WHAT! This is outrageous! How can you charge this much?!"

"Sir, please. This is Orario, and we uphold a reputation as the best pharmacy around. We have a standard we proudly stick to, and that also means we have a minimum price that guarantees such quality."

The opposing voice of the store employee had a slightly nervous tone, but was trying to placate the situation.

The entire line stirred with movement and whispers. Bete was also curious about what was occurring. Thankfully, the man was very vocal with his complaints.

"Shut up! What kind of land would charge this ridiculous price for healthcare and the well-being of their citizens? This is ridiculous! All you're doing is putting me on a bed for a few hours, slapping a bandage on me, then telling me to buy a few more drugs! Just that for 100,000 valis?"

Bete furrowed his brows.

'He's not wrong. That does seem a little stupid.'

"I'm just a Low Class Adventurer! I mean, if I knew you fuckers got paid this much, maybe I should have been a doctor or a pharmacist!"

Somewhere in the Far East, a black haired man raised a thumbs up with a proud grin.

"Sir, please calm down. We'll have to escort you out if you don't stop bothering the other customers."

The man stuck up two middle fingers.

"Fuck you Dian Cecht Familia scammers! I'll go to the Miach Familia! At least they know how much their customers are willing to pay!"

He made quite the big deal out of leaving, tossing his blonde hair back in an obnoxious fashion.

"We'll escort you out, just in case."

A pair of guards came up to the man, offering assistance.

"Let. Go. Of. My. Arm. I'll fucking report you!"

"S-sir, no one's touching your arm."

"Hey! Hey!!! I'm warning you, don't touch me in my no-no square or you'll get a fist jammed up your asshole!"

'Yuck.'

The other customers also cringed in disgust at his crude shouts.

"No! No! You're being aggressive! You're aggressing me!"

"Sir, no one's even within touching distance."

The guard seemed more confused than angry.

"You're surrounding me now?! I-I can't breathe!"

"Sir, please keep your voice down-"

"How dare you try to silence me!!! My voice is just as equal to yours as it is to the Demi-Humans, the Pallums, and the Gods themselves!"

"I-I might have to disagree with-"

"Get your manager. Now!"

"W-we don't really have one-"

"Yeah, keep laughing! Keep laughing and smirking like a bunch of fucking buffoons! We'll see who's laughing in the end!"

"No one is laughing! Are you alright, sir?"

"I'm leaving! Do you understand?! You just lost my business!"

Leaving a handful of confused viewers, the man stomped out of the pharmacy, swinging his hips and raising his sharp nose high.

Meanwhile, Bete was more focused on one part of the entire debacle.

'Dian Cecht Familia? Now where did I... oh...'

"I am the Leader Idiot, Level 1 from Dian Cecht Familia: Runaway Shit On Me! And some day I'll be the King of the Idiots!"

"The One Potion? Yeah it exists. You want my treasure? You can have it! I left everything I gathered there! Now you just have to find it!"

These dying words drove countless souls to the dungeon in pursuit of dreams greater than they ever dared to imagine. This is the time known as... the 'Great Imbecile Era!'

'I seem to recall events occurring slightly differently.'

'I don't care.'

If this truly was the headquarters of that idiot, Bete didn't want waste any more time than he already had. He quickly left the line and headed for the entrance.

At least, that was his plan until a short child around his age stepped in front of him, holding a box of potions.

She wore a short, blue, gold, and white dress that stretched down to her fingers. Her color theme matched her long white and gold boots, as well as a strange hat that sat neatly on her silky silver hair. She was quite petite and cute. The only thing that concerned him was her violet eyes that reminded him of a certain Goddess.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Her voice was quiet and demure, but irked him in a way. He narrowed his eyes. The Werewolf already didn't like her.

"Leaving."

"Why?"

"I came to the wrong place."

"You've been standing in line for the last 30 minutes and you just realized you're in the wrong place?"

"Just let me leave," Bete snarled.

The girl curled a lock of silver hair with her index finger.

"If it's because of that guy who just left, don't take it to heart. We get some of those kind of people from time to time who come just to try to ruin our reputation and get a free treatment."

Bete sighed. "Look, I really just came to the wrong place."

The girl didn't look convinced.

"You have a slight limp on your right leg, a dislocated shoulder, your eyes show signs of sleep deprivation, and who knows what else."

Her bright eyes scanned him from head to toe, listing out his injuries like a shopping list. It wasn't unlike his smelling abilities.

"I'm fine."

"Come in," she said, gesturing towards the inside rooms.

Bete, who was rapidly getting tired of stubborn fools, raised his voice in response.

"Did you hear me, girl! I said it was a mistake! I don't need healing!"

"I said, COME IN!" she shouted back, somehow blowing his shout out of the water in comparison.

"Yes ma'am."

Wolves were very respondent to authority.

*snicker*

With a satisfied nod, the silver-haired, petite girl dragged him by the cuff of his jacket in to one of the private healing rooms.

Meanwhile, no one looked particularly surprised by the girl's antics as if they were used to her stubborn ways.

________________________________________________________

(Ignore first part if you aren't interested in the currency system. Coins are further down)

Valis:

According to the wiki, one Jagamarukun = 30-40 valis, average meal = 50 valis, expensive meal = 300 valis, lowest rank potion = 500 valis, several magic stones from goblin and other creatures = 1,200, party of five Level 1 Adventurers = 25,000 valis/day, magic stone of Floor 9 Minotaur = 50,000 valis, and a good house in Orario = 800,000.

Bell's first dagger was 3,600 valis and his first armor was 5,000 valis so I'm going to say Bete's total spending in Chapter 2 total was around 1,000 valis (Jacket + pants + boots + belt + gloves + sick tattoo) since they weren't very high quality and were mainly for clothing, not protection in the dungeon.

For AVERAGE Adventurers (NOT BELL), I'm assuming they make 5,000 valis a day (25,000/5). Subtracting expenses such as meals, repairs, preparation items, that leaves a small amount. Also, many Adventurers use most of their earnings on the pub and entertainment.

Based on all this information, I'm approximating most of the values from now on so they're reasonable. For example, a crystal from Floor 1 is around 50-200 valis and increase further each floor.

Also, since it's kind of stupid to think Orario only has one type of coin and everyone carries around hundreds of thousands of those, I'm going to create a coin system. The short scene of Bell carrying golden coins of various sizes in the anime and the Danmachi Memoria Freese game also supports this theory.

Name of Coins:

1 Valis: Valis

10 Valis: Branz

100 Valis: Asimi

1,000 Valis: Platina

10,000 Valis: Chrimata

100,000 Valis: Chrysos

1,000,000 Valis: Ekatos

I'm also assuming people also write checks for large amount of money. For any amount exceeding 1,000,000, people will write checks or bring many Ekatos.