Chapter 4: The Bell and The Restaurant

「Welcome. Would you like to book a room? It is 600 Tael per night.」

「Yes. I understand. Here, please. 」

I gave a silver coin. The Lady received the silver coin, and then she gave me 40 bronze coins from her pocket, and landed me a key.

The bronze coins were about the size of a 5-yen coin and had no holes. The number “10” had an engraved coat of arms. The coat of arms had a diagonal crossing of a downward-facing sword and an upward-facing spear. The spear emblem was not a regular spear, but the sword was the usual sword I often saw in RPGs. By the way, the silver coin was about the size of a 500-yen coin and had a similar coat of arms engraved on it. Perhaps, this emblem represented the coat of arms of this country.

「This is the key for your room. It is the front room on the second floor. You can eat at the restaurant next door. If you show the key of your room they will give you some dinner. Please note that it is free up to 60 Tael on your first meal. However, there is an additional charge if your meal ends up costing more than that, or if you decide to dine more than once a day.」

The Lady pointed toward the stairs. Collaborating with a restaurant could be efficient. No wonder that this inn was famous among adventurers since it offered cheaper deals. I also felt grateful there was no fixed time.

The key looked like a wooden stick with letters written on it. I wondered if it worked like a key card.

I felt tired today. Well, I felt like I’ve moved a lot, but I wasn’t physically tired. Perhaps, I wasn’t aware of it. But mental fatigue was a different matter. Many things happened today.

I wanted to sleep early, so I went up the stairs and entered the room. The room was about four and a half tatami mats in size. The door had something like an iron bar on it. Apparently, the iron bar removed itself once I inserted the key from the outside. The location of the key and the position of the bar were not in contact, and yet it worked somehow. There was a response when unlocking. Perhaps, this inn used a convenient magic tool. If someone tried to break in, it would make a loud noise. The staff of this inn would notice it immediately. This was a way to prevent crime.

It was also possible that the iron bar was very durable and didn’t break easily. However, it was unlikely that a cheap inn key used better materials than a life-saving weapon. Well, just in case, it was better to always carry your luggage with you. I had an item box anyway, so I had no worries about getting more luggage.

That’s right, the item box. I refrained from using it because it could consume my MP, but I guess it was okay here.

I checked my MP in the status. Then, I thought of the item box and the item window appeared before my eyes. The screen showed leaves (the Pole leaves), a picture of a green dog, and silver and bronze coins. The green dog I stored was dark brown, but in the screen, it looked fine as if I never scorched it. Perhaps, the item window showed the real “photos” of the original things. After seeing the item box, I checked the status again, but the MP did not decrease. Was the MP consumption of the item box only at the first use?

The display on the upper right corner remained 4/1012. Unfortunately, the number of the item box frames did not seem to increase even if the maximum MP increased. Well anyway. I could now use the item box freely.

Next to me was a spherical light with a button. The light went off when I pressed the button. I didn’t eat anything and went to sleep.

The bed wasn’t bad, but I felt that it wasn’t good either. This was a cheap inn after all, so I had to endure the bed situation for now.

—

Next morning. I woke up when I heard the sound of a bell.

It was rather nice to hear the bell. However, I did not know which time this bell was ringing.

Based on yesterday’s sunset, I felt that it took about 24 hours a day just like in Planet Earth. But, it could be different, who knows. Perhaps, I was right. It could be just 24 hours a day. Or I could be wrong. Well, I didn’t have a clock and I had never seen one since I came to this world. There was no way to measure time. I didn’t even know 1 minute passed unless I counted which was out of the equation. I’ve heard that Cesium* could measure time, but of course, I wasn’t an expert in that particular field.

Hmm? Speaking of which, wasn’t 1 minute written on the MP? I tried to appraise the MP again.

—

MP: 1512.00 / 1512.00

Description: Magical Power. Consumed when using magic and similar skills. 10 is the relative number set as the average MP of the human race in this world. On the left side is the current amount of MP, and the right side is the maximum amount of MP. 0.1% of the maximum amount of the MP is restored every single minute from the time when the MP falls below the maximum value.

—

That’s right, it even displayed the decimal points.

I fully recovered. After using the item box yesterday, my MP was about 500 points. Even with the level up, it did not fully recover. It seemed that it has been more than 11 hours since I used the item box yesterday.

I put on my shoes and went down to the first floor. I saw the Lady of this inn cleaning the bottom floor.

Just moments before, when I put the key in the room and turned it to the left, I felt something was wrong. Therefore, I tried pulling the door, and it didn’t open. My one night stay seemed to have ended. Well, I didn’t have any luggage, and the money was in the item box. I had no need to check if the door was fully closed or not. Oh well, I guess this was a habit from my life in Planet Earth.

「Good morning. 」

I decided to say hello for the time being. Greetings were always important.

「Good morning. If you desire to eat, the restaurant next door is already open.」

The Lady also greeted me. I was curious about the bell time, so I asked her the following question.

「I heard the bell. But what time is it now?」

「What time? Ah…I wonder if it’s already 6 o’clock. I only use the reference of the government office when it comes to time. In order words, the bell rings once, three times a day, from when the sun rises until midnight. Where did you come from since you don’t know about this?」

「Ah well, ahahah… 」

I laughed awkwardly. The fact that the bell only rang three times a day probably meant these ordinary people were not too focused about the rules of time.

「Well, don’t worry. I know you are not a thief because you payed for your room. So there’s no problem.」

Was I able to trick her? Well, let’s just cheat for the time being.

I was hungry because I slept without eating anything yesterday. I wanted to eat breakfast. I wouldn’t be able to fight if I were hungry. Anyway, the request I was going to receive today wasn’t about war per se, but about collecting herbs.

I left the inn and entered the restaurant next door. There were about three other adventurers as customers on this restaurant. Few people, indeed. Well, it was quite early in the morning after all.

「Welcome!! 」

Even though it was very early in the morning, the restaurant owner looked quite energetic. He looked like a barman from a tavern. He even covered his head with a white cloth that looked like a towel. Was it a twisted headband?

The tavern owner inside the Guild I saw yesterday also looked similar in appearance. I wondered if restaurants and taverns in this world had a certain dressing code.

「You have a key!! So you are a guest of the inn!! Which one do you choose!?」

I didn’t want him to talk to me with such a high energy…I just woke up and this loud volume was a bit excruciating. My head began to hurt.

「Ah, do you have a menu? 」

「Of course!! Please choose whatever you like!! Everything is good!!」

He seemed quite confident. I didn’t care about his extreme energy anymore. Perhaps, this was his real character. So I gave up protesting in my mind.

I decided to order the “Green Wolf set meal” for the time being. It was 60 Tael, and I was curious about the taste. The Green Wolf attacked me before as if I were an omnivorous animal, but I wondered whether it was a delicious meat in this world. I guess it wouldn’t be a problem trying food that other people ate here.

「Your food is here!! 」

The dish came out in about 5 minutes. The dish was grilled meat with black bread and sauce. The cooking skills looked quite impressive, but what about the taste?

「…It’s delicious. 」

It was so delicious that I had no choice but to say it aloud. Even though it was wolf meat, it tasted like pork. Bread looked a bit sloppy and was not very good on its own, but it went well with the meat. I wondered if this restaurant only served set meals, but it was a wonderful meal. It satisfied me with both taste and quantity. I finally understood why the guard recommended this place. No wonder the staff had a lot of confidence. But, I wouldn’t mind if the restaurant owner subsided his high energy a little bit.

Today, I planned to go to the Adventurer’s Guild after eating a meal in order to receive a request. However, I realized that I would have to eat lunch as well. There was no convenience stores in this world, and there was no canned foods. After I finished eating, I asked the owner what I could do about my meals.

「Excuse me. I’m an adventurer. Where should I buy lunch in this town?」

「Today’s lunch is 50 Tael!! It is a sandwich with meat, but it is very tasty!! If you stay out of this area for a long period of time, then I recommend you to buy the hard-baked bread and dried meat at the store next to the Adventurer’s Guild! If you get thirsty but can’t perform water magic, then I advise you to prepare water in advance for your quests!」

「Okay. I will take the sandwich with meat please. 」

The owner went to the kitchen to give the order. I took this chance to take 5 bronze coins from the item box, and I placed them in my pocket. This would be less noticeable than taking it out from the item box directly. I wanted less attention as possible. Then I heard the owner’s loud voice from afar.

「Yes! Here you have! 」

The owner brought bread wrapped in big leaves, most probably because it was made in advance. I wondered if those leaves had an antiseptic effect. The bread was about 40 cm long. It was quite large. It seemed difficult to carry it in my hand, and I didn’t have my luggage with me, so I stored it in the item box. Oh well, my effort to hide the item box went to waste.

「Dear customer, is that an item box!? That’s awesome! If you have Magic Qualities, you can easily get a job in the army or with the aristocrats, even if you are not an adventurer! Oh my, adventurers are certainly romantics!」

I knew it. Magical nature seemed to be a rare skill. I thanked the owner and left the restaurant. I headed to the Guild. Today would mark my first request in this world. I decided to accept the request of the herb collection for my first quest.

I defeated the green dog, but if possible, I wanted to get a weapon before fighting. It required money and I had to make money first. I walked while thinking about that.

…What? This road had a different vibe from the road I walked in yesterday. I thought I was walking straight ahead…

I looked around to the left and right. It seemed that I was now standing at an intersection between narrow alleys.

「Ah. 」

I leaked my voice involuntarily. I should have returned to the original place if I went straight from the direction I came from, but to be honest, I didn’t know which direction I came from. I may have walked a considerable distance, and no matter which direction I looked at, I couldn’t see any familiar scenery. I lost sight of the inn and its surroundings.

Ah, I felt like I came from that area. Or maybe from that one. Or maybe from the one over there. Yes, certainly. It must be that way.

I was full of doubts…I decided to walk in the direction that seemed to be built a long time ago and went straight in that path. It had been a day and half since I came to this town.

「Ah, I think the inn is over there. I can finally go back to my original path! 」

“Kaede was happy as he walked in that direction, forgetting that he had never turned sideways except at the intersection where he lost his way from the inn…”

A few minutes later…

「What!? This isn’t the right way!? 」

“Kaede’s voice echoed in the empty and quiet back alley. No one replied to his voice.”

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*The cesium clock is the most accurate type of clock yet developed. This device makes use of transitions between the spin states of the cesium nucleus and produces a frequency, which is so regular that it has been adopted for establishing the time.

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