"Hm?"
I'd been working on things inside the cart for roughly an hour on the way to the next village when I noticed a strange sound.
Panting heavily—gasping for air—I could hear a man's labored breathing coming from beside the cart. I poked my head out and saw a man running with a bag in one hand, his expression panicked.
"What's the rush?"
In times like these, letting your curiosity get the better of you is the key to striking a good deal.
"Hey, you there! What's going on?"
"I need to get back to the village over the mountain, quickly..."
"You need to get to the village over the mountain in a hurry?"
It sounded like the man's parent had collapsed from illness, and he'd run here to buy medicine.
"Yes. It's a matter of life and death."
I listened to the man's story as he sprinted alongside our rattling cart at full speed.
Hmm... If it's over the mountain, distance-wise that'd average out to around fifty Copper Coins...
"Filo, if you run at top speed, could we get there right away?"
"Well, if I ran without pulling the cart, we'd get there even faster!"
"Got it."
I glanced over at
"Wanna transport you there for one Silver Coin?"
"Huh!?"
The man's face went wide with surprise.
"But I only have enough money for the medicine..."
"One Silver Coin's worth is fine. Herbs or whatever—just hand them over next time I come through. Try to dodge the bill and you'll regret it."
"Th-then..."
"All right, it's settled! Filo!"
"Okaaay!"
Filo slammed on the brakes, pulling the cart to a stop on the roadside, then circled around to the back.
I climbed onto Filo's back without a word and had her take off, chasing the man down and scooping him up.
"Whoaah!"
The startled man was lifted by Filo in both hands, and she took off at full speed.
Raphtalia waved from the cart behind us.
"Let's go!"
"Ooh!"
Clatter clatter clatter!
Filo's serious running was as ridiculous-looking as ever, but lightning fast all the same.
She could easily double the speed of an average Filolial.
In the blink of an eye, we arrived at the man's house in the village over the mountain.
"Wh-what kind of speed is that..."
"Rather than marveling, shouldn't you go give your parent the medicine? Don't drop it!"
"R-right!"
The man went inside the house, and I followed him in. We hadn't finished discussing payment yet, after all.
It was a perfectly ordinary farmhouse.
Once inside, I could hear the sound of someone coughing violently.
"Mom, here's the medicine. Please, bear with it and drink it."
Walking toward the voice, I saw a pale-faced old woman on the verge of death, and the man was trying to get her to take the medicine.
Whatever it was, it seemed to have a stronger effect than any medicine I currently knew of.
Hmm...
"Hey. Let me give it to her. Why don't you go boil some water and whip up something restorative?"
"Is that all right?"
"Sure. I'm heading that way anyway."
I took the medicine from the man, supported the old woman's back, and helped her drink it.
...I just hoped the medicine-effect-boosting skill I'd learned earlier would work properly.
"Guh... guh..."
The old woman managed to get the medicine into her mouth and swallowed.
A faint light flickered in my field of vision and dispersed.
It seemed to have worked.
The old woman's condition was visibly improving. The bluish tint in her face was giving way to red, and her coughing subsided noticeably.
"Take it easy and rest. Your family will bring you some food soon."
The old woman gazed up at me with a trembling expression, then lay down on her side.
"All right."
I left the room where the old woman rested and headed to the kitchen where the man was.
"Ah, did she take it?"
"Yeah, and her condition seems to have stabilized."
At my answer, the man's shoulders dropped in visible relief.
"I'll come back for the payment later. Don't forget."
"Of course."
I left the man's house, climbed back onto Filo, who'd been waiting, and returned to where we'd left the cart.
When we arrived back in the village, the man came out to greet us with a somewhat tense look on his face.
"Um..."
"What's it?"
I began unloading goods for trade and the cargo he'd requested while answering him.
"My mother's condition has improved dramatically right before my eyes. Just who exactly are you..."
"If you don't know who I am, then there's no need to find out."
If he did know, my notoriety would be the first thing to come to mind. And then he'd be shooting me suspicious glances, no question.
"At least a name..."
"I'm not obligated to give you one. The medicine probably just worked exceptionally well. More importantly, bring me one Silver Coin or something of equivalent value."
"Y-yes!"
The man rummaged through the house and produced some food.
"Well, something like this'll do. See you around."
"Yes! Thank you so much!"
The man's face seemed noticeably more cheerful.
Incidentally, the next time I visited this village, the old woman—who was the man's parent—had become quite healthy... almost too energetic, really. But I suppose that's neither here nor there.
And so, hidden in my cart, I continued working on blending potions and deciphering Intermediate Recipes.
The Intermediate Recipes seemed easier to work on than the magic books, since they were more straightforward to decipher.
When I finally managed to decipher the Healing Potion, it was a real facepalm moment.
Come to think of it, I'd been neglecting my studies all this time.
A lot had happened over the past month and I'd let it slip, but if I ever made it back alive to see my little brother, it might be worth having a few words to say.
"Sir Naofumi, we're done with sales in this village."
We'd arrived around midday, but by now it was already evening.
"What about cargo and letters to bring to the next village?"
"All taken care of."
I got off the cart and began loading things up.
The cargo entrusted to a traveling merchant they'd never met before was probably worth very little.
Most of it was cheap stuff—wouldn't matter much if it got stolen.
Still, it added up to a bit of profit, so no complaints.
This was how I peddled from village to village, town to town.
For those who wanted a Healing Potion, I had a plan: drink it myself to demonstrate, activating the effect-boosting skill to make it that much more impressive.
After about two weeks, word had begun to spread in the area that there was a versatile handyman traveling with a strange monster.
Becoming well-known meant earning trust, and more passengers began climbing aboard the cart.
As a result, our finances were on a slow but steady upward trend.
The peddling journey had several advantages.
First, potions I made on the road could be sold along the way.
Second, monsters encountered during travel could be defeated and absorbed into the shield, expanding its variety. Most of them ended up being status-boost types, though...
Since starting this journey, I'd discovered that monster types varied wildly from region to region. Even weak monsters could make the shield stronger when absorbed, so peddling had turned out to be the right call overall.
And there was the constant stream of information flowing in.
I'd had no idea before, but I could now piece together roughly where the other Heroes—Motoyasu, Ren, and Itsuki—were operating from as their base.
Motoyasu seemed to be focusing on the southwestern region from the capital. Word had it that he'd liberated a legendary crop's seal to save a village suffering from famine. He was probably using knowledge from games, just as I'd suspected.
Ren was based in the southeastern region from the capital, but he had a tendency to go wherever vicious monsters dwelled. Rumors were flying about how he'd subjugated a ferocious dragon rampaging in the eastern lands, and all sorts of other tales.
Itsuki... I wasn't really sure what he was after, but rumors spread about how a traveler who'd come from
However, there wasn't definitive evidence to confirm it was Itsuki. All I heard were vague stories like "the strongest adventurer was one who carried a bow"... nothing concrete enough to be sure.
It could also be interpreted as events closely mirroring The Four Holy Weapons Book that I'd read before coming to this other world...
Well, the cart journey continued on like that.
As for our levels after these two weeks: Me — Lv 34 Raphtalia — Lv 37 Filo — Lv 32 We'd all grown.
...Filo's gains were outrageous. Probably because she was a monster.
Around this time, Filo's physical abilities had improved noticeably. The Filo who used to pull the cart with both hands—or wings?—was now pulling it with just one, yawning as she went.
Of course, I called her out on it, but according to her: "The cart's so light now I'm losing motivation~"
Apparently. Well, whatever.
The shield had mostly stat-up and resistance types as usual.
As for other notable changes: Pickaxe Shield Ability Released... Equipment Bonus: Mining Skill 1 Crystal Ore Shield Ability Released... Equipment Bonus: Crafting Skill 1 I'd absorbed a broken pickaxe I'd found on the roadside and some low-quality crystal ore that had been discarded, both at the time we'd arrived in a town that thrived on mining.
These two... the skills seemed useful for making money, but I didn't have enough information yet to dig deeper.
When I'd casually polished the crystal ore I'd found, it shattered into junk, so I figured some kind of recipe was probably required.
Actually, I needed to read and understand the Intermediate Recipes I'd received from the Potion Shop.
After two weeks, I'd finally finished deciphering them. I'd spent nearly three weeks staring at them intently before, so there was no way I wouldn't crack them eventually.
Antidote Herbicide Heal Ointment Healing Potion (already craftable) Nutrient Potion (already craftable) Gunpowder Strong Acid Water Magic Water Soul Healing Potion Insecticide The book ended there. These were the basics of intermediate-level crafting, and apparently the potency of potions could be adjusted based on the ingredients used.
It was all rather vague, but with the supplementary material the Potion Shop had given me as a bonus, I had a general grasp of the standard recipes.
Once I'd reached that point, I slowly let the book get absorbed into the shield.
The shield that came out was this: Book Shield Ability Released... Equipment Bonus: Magic Power Increase (Small) Hmm. I'd almost absorbed the Intermediate Recipe book thinking the recipes would naturally come out on their own. I'd nearly thrown away the shopkeeper's goodwill.
And to top it off, the defense stat was terrible.
Anyway. This all happened the day after I finished deciphering the Intermediate Recipes.
A Trent appeared, and we quickly defeated it and absorbed it into the shield.
Trent Shield conditions unlocked.
Blue Trent Shield conditions unlocked.
Black Trent Shield conditions unlocked.
Trent Shield Ability Not Released... Equipment Bonus: Plant Identification 2 Blue Trent Shield Ability Not Released... Equipment Bonus: Intermediate Alchemy Recipe 1 Black Trent Shield Ability Not Released... Equipment Bonus: Half-Baked Alchemy What kind of cruel joke was this?
Dropping these AFTER I'd finished deciphering? That's just brutal!
The only silver lining was the Heal Ointment recipe—that had appeared back when I'd absorbed a Mash plant. The plant-type monsters were probably the source for recipe-releasing shields.
If recipes two and three showed up too quickly, I'd cry.
I could make Antidote, Herbicide, and Heal Ointment from herbs I knew, but from Gunpowder downward, I had no idea where to even find the raw materials.
According to the Potion Shop's supplementary notes, Gunpowder could be substituted with other materials. So I'd tried making it using some highly flammable grass called Crackle Grass or something like that as a substitute.
Sure enough, it was like a powder... or rather, some kind of flammable ash. As a test, I packed some into a small bag and tried making it into a bomb.
When I tried lighting it and throwing it at an enemy— It exploded with a crack and a burst of pain right at my feet. That got my heart racing. Well, it was a pitiful little pile of burning ash to be called a bomb.
The fact that even bombs and similar tools were forbidden as offensive weapons left me more impressed than exasperated.
Strong Acid Water was a slightly less acidic liquid than sulfuric acid, stored in glass vials.
It was made by combining ores unique to this world with water—it wasn't from herbs, apparently. I hadn't crafted it yet, so I couldn't say for sure, but anyone who actually wanted this had to be out of their mind—so I was considering making it only for shield purposes.
Magic Water was an item that rapidly restored magic power when consumed. The problem was that its ingredients were rare and difficult to obtain.
The herbs sold in shops were expensive. It might actually be more profitable to sell them rather than craft with them.
Soul Healing Water was similar—it restored SP. Again, the materials were rare and hard to come by.
Insecticide was easy. Just mix insect-repellent herbs together and either solidify them or dissolve them in water.
Of the newly craftable items, the ones with actual demand were Antidote, Heal Ointment, and Insecticide.
However... Herbicide could be made in large quantities from small amounts of raw material, so if I could find the right market for it, it might actually be worth it.
I let the shield absorb some of the leftovers, too.
Antipoison Shield conditions unlocked.
Glyphosate Shield conditions unlocked.
Medicine Shield conditions unlocked.
Plant Fire Shield conditions unlocked.
Killer Insect Shield α conditions unlocked.
Antipoison Shield Ability Not Released... Equipment Bonus: Defense 5 Glyphosate Shield Ability Not Released... Equipment Bonus: 5% Damage Cut from Plant-Type Attacks Medicine Shield Ability Not Released... Equipment Bonus: Medicine Effect Range Expansion (Small) Plant Fire Shield Ability Not Released... Equipment Bonus: Fire Resistance (Small) Killer Insect Shield α Ability Not Released... Equipment Bonus: 3% Damage Cut from Insect-Type Attacks The Antipoison Shield's original skill was probably Poison Resistance (Medium), but I'd already acquired that through the Chimera Viper Shield, so the skill must have been rerouted into something else.
It seemed that when a skill overlapped with one already acquired, it got replaced.
The Medicine Shield showed "Range Expansion," but I had no idea what range it referred to.
Did it expand the range of a single medicine's effect? Or could it let people nearby also receive the benefits of medicine?
The latter seemed almost too convenient.
As for the Plant Fire Shield, I questioned whether it had any meaning for someone who was already immune to most magic without a scratch.
What even was "Glyphosate"? It sounded like the name of a chemical used in herbicides. As for Killer Insect Shield α—I predicted that depending on the herbs mixed in, there would be variants like β, and the types would keep expanding.
The effect was damage reduction based on the enemy type. Definitely a useful ability.
The problem was deciphering the magic book.
This was considerably more difficult.
Recently, Raphtalia had figured out the knack of it and could now do it even though she hadn't learned magic yet.
A ball of light would appear in front of Raphtalia for just a few seconds.
This was a blow to a Hero's pride, to say the least.
So, because Filo could use transformation magic, I asked her after Raphtalia had gone to sleep.
Whether it could truly be called "magic" was debatable, but I was grasping at straws.
"Umm, well, you squeeze power from deep inside your body, and then—bam—think about it real hard, and you become what you want to be!"
Yeah. No clue.
I now understood she wasn't actually thinking her way through it.
And it wasn't the kind of thing where you could just read the characters written down and make it work.
I came from an otherworld without magic, so there was a strong temptation to just give up and say I couldn't do it.
And yet... I needed to learn magic.
Not just because the Magic Shop lady was counting on me, but because it was essential for survival.
I'd be fine sitting out the battles against the Waves for the most part—going AWOL in the middle of battle would bring who-knows-what consequences—so guarding nearby villages and towns was the perfect job for me. And in that case, whether I could use magic or not would eventually make a big difference.
Buying a magic crystal ball was another option, but if I could learn from a book more cheaply, that was the way to go.
So recently, I'd been sitting in the cart, book in one hand, groaning over the pages.
According to Raphtalia, the trick was to make your magic power react to the characters on the page and resonate with your soul—another vague, sensation-based explanation along the same lines as Filo's.
I felt like I could understand more than I could from Filo's explanation, but what even was magic power? Did people really have that kind of sensation?
Questions kept spinning around in my head without any resolution.
Well, that was roughly what two weeks of progress looked like.