Chapter 19: The Tsubai Town and The Preparation

It took about 10 days by horse from here to Herrera. I wondered if my running speed was twice the speed of a horse.

People told me that it took 3 days to reach the Tsubai town, and from there, it would take another 7 days to reach Herrera.

The road connecting Herrera and Tsubai was well maintained in order to transport metal products from Herrera. Some people informed me there were inns along the way, but when it came to towns, there would be only a few villages near Herrera and Tsubai. The rest of the way would be almost uninhabited. The inns by the road were forcibly set up to aid people in a journey. However, it was not easy to run a place in the middle of the wilderness. These inns were expensive and the meals were focused on preservation. Well, it didn’t pose a problem for me, but the salty taste could be quite strong. No problem, since I got used to eat junk food on Planet Earth. But, I must confess, it would be a problem if I ate a spicy dish that resembled Sichuan* cuisine because I was weak at eating spicy foods.

On the other hand, the road connecting Ain and Tsubai was not that well maintained and there were no inns along the way. Perhaps, I had to camp outside. Camping alone was tough, or rather impossible because I could not be vigilant of my surroundings. However, using the advanced radar could do the trick.

Tsubai was one of the biggest towns from around here, and if I hadn’t been able to subdue the Metal Lizard, I would probably be sent there instead. It seemed that there were many people on that town. People in Ain told me that the size of Tsubai’s outer wall was quite reasonable. Since it was a town next to Herrera, it acted as a trading base with other towns in the vicinity.

This info was the summary of the knowledge I needed for my journey. I decided to prepare myself during the daytime today. It felt as if it has been a while, but it was still noon.

However, there was not much to prepare. I’ve finished greeting the people who took care of me, and the only thing I actually wanted to prepare was food.

When I went to say goodbye to Dveragh-san, he told me not to bargain when buying weapons from dwarves or asking for material processing. Dwarves were proud of their blacksmithing, so bargaining with them would be seen as rude. Therefore, I had to be careful when dealing with dwarves. So it seemed.

I headed to the general store. I wanted to buy tableware.

It was okay to buy food at the restaurant. However, it would be awful if I just ate bread during the journey. So I decided to buy tableware first in order to take other types of food. In other words, I had to place the food inside the tableware and store it in the item box. I could eat good food anytime. Even if the capacity of one frame in the item box could be taken by just one dish, my capacity was enough for me to store all the meals for my journey.

I saw beautiful ceramic plates in the general store. But this was not what I wanted.

I picked up a wooden plate that was placed near the ceramic plate. It was something that adventurers used in a daily basis. It did not matter if it broke easily.

I also bought some chopsticks (there were chopsticks in this world. If one thought about it, chopsticks were easy to process and easy to use, so they were popular).

I decided to buy 50 wooden plates and 10 chopsticks. It cost me 3000 Tael.

Next, I decided to buy the food. The place I chose was the inn’s restaurant.

「Welcome! 」

The restaurant’s owner welcomed me.

「Hello. Since I decided to go on a trip, I would like you to fill my wooden plates with your set meals. Is that okay? Of course, I will pay for it.」

「No problem! Since it has nothing to do with the inn, the fee will be charged as specified, but if that is okay with you, then leave it to us! The wooden plate will save you the trouble of washing dishes!」

It looked like it was okay. I had money, so it was no problem.

「Okay then, please give me 20 Green Wolf set meals, 20 Gargon set meals, and 10 Orc set meals.」

「Oh! With that number it should take us more than 10 minutes to cook, is that fine!?」

I knew it, the owner responded with such a shocked expression on his face…

「Yes. I don’t mind. I want to eat the meals while they are hot, so I will store them in the item box as soon as you serve them.」

After saying that, I handed over 3 silver coins and 80 bronze coins.

「Roger!」

When the owner of the restaurant received the coins, he threw it into a box without counting and started cooking. The owner put the food on the wooden plates and I threw them into the item box. Finally, I received 50 servings of set meals and left the restaurant.

It was past noon now, but what I decided to do was sleep. There was a certain degree of danger to travel long distances. There was a possibility that I could not find an inn along the way.

Because of danger during long journeys, people usually slept at daytime and travelled at night. It was relatively dangerous at night, so it was safer to be awake than sleeping. That meant that it was safer to sleep during daytime because bandits only attacked at night (monsters also moved at night with more frequency).

Even so, camping was still a dangerous option. Who wanted to sleep in the middle of an unknown wilderness?

In my case, I could use the advanced radar during both daytime and nighttime. However, the advanced radar functioned better if I was awake. It had a delay when I was unconscious. I decided to go to bed at noon while thinking about that.

I fell asleep.

—

I woke up with the sound of the bell in the evening. I returned the key of my room, left the inn, and left the town through the gate of the grassland side. Farewell Ain.

I moved at a speed far greater than sprinting in Earth. In this world, depending on the AGI, sprinting consumed the physical strength equivalent to walking fast. It was not as fast as a horse that ran a short distance in a horseracing, but I believed that it was not inferior in speed to a horse or carriage that ran a long distance.

I kept running until it was bright. I ate when I was hungry, and slept at noon. It was an unhealthy lifestyle, which overturned day and night, but I felt that it somehow produced more vitamins because of the exposure to sunlight. I did not need to eat dried shiitake mushrooms**.

When I went to sleep, I used the surrounding grass as a pillow. I thought I should have bought a cloak or something, or even a blanket, but fortunately, my clothes didn’t get dirty, so it didn’t pose a problem.

I repeated such an unhealthy lifestyle for two full days and arrived at Tsubai town around noon on the third day. Certainly, it was much larger than Ain. Still, the procedure for entering the town seemed to be the same as in Ain.

I was not in a hurry, so maybe I should stay overnight. I asked the guard for recommendations.

「Excuse me, can you recommend me an inn? 」

「…What is your budget for one night? 」

I was afraid that I could not find an inn along the way, and since I wanted to heal the fatigue from the journey, I decided to stay one night on this town.

「I can pay 1000 Tael for one night. 」

「…Then go straight from here and turn on the left. You will find the Kusamakura Inn.」

「Thank you very much.」

I followed the route as I was told. I didn’t enjoy the grass pillows and decided to sleep comfy at the inn. The Kusamakura Inn was a three-story inn. It looked quite sturdy. Well, I shall enter for the time being.

「Welcome, are you staying? 」

The place inside resembled the front desk of a hotel. The staff greeted me. However, the design was more like a Guild than a hotel. And of course there was no elevator.

「Yes, I want to stay. I will stay until tomorrow noon.」

「If so, it will be a single night, so it will be 900 Tael. That includes accommodation, dinner, and tomorrow’s breakfast and lunch.」

「I understand. But I don’t need lunch. 」

「If so, I shall cut 50 Tael from 900 Tael. It will be 850 Tael. Is it okay to pay in advance?」

It was a little cheaper. Still, it seemed that payments in advance were the norm in this world.

「Yes, here please. By the way, do you know where to buy a cloak?」

I asked while giving 86 bronze coins.

「Thank you. The key is here, and the room is number 203. If you are looking for an adventurer’s cloak, go straight from here and you’ll find the place on the left side of the intersection of the second road.」

「Thank you very much. I’ll go now.」

I didn’t have to unload my luggage, so I just took the key and went outside. The key looked like a straight stick. Actually, it didn’t look like a key at all. Was it like a card key perhaps?

I followed the directions and found a store that sold fur items. I saw no armors, but there were many cloaks at sale. The shopkeeper was a tall man.

「Excuse me. I would like to buy a cloak that can be used when camping. I have this money with me.」

I took 4 silver coins while saying those words.

「Yeah, I can recommend some cloaks. I usually sell them for 4200 Tael, but I will make a discount and sell it for 4000 Tael.」

It seemed fine with me. But I wondered if this man wanted to recommend something strange. Perhaps, I should use the power of appraisal.

「What do you recommend? 」

「First, the Gargon skin is the softest material. It is also used for armors because it is hard to damage and is resistant to fire. It feels a little stiff, but it’s sturdy and defensive. It is better if you use it when sleeping directly on the ground. The lining is soft, and it’s mainly made for sleeping outdoors on the ground, so if you want to replace a bed, this is the number one choice for camping.」

I didn’t find anything wrong when I appraised it. I decided to buy it.

「I will take that one please.」

I handed over the coins. I wore the cloak on the spot. Certainly, it felt a little stiff and heavy. Well, it was not a burden, but it really felt heavy.

I did not need anything else, so I went back to the inn and decided to store the cloak in the item box. I went to bed to get some sleep. It seemed that the magic tools used for illumination did not change even in this town.

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*Sichuan food, originated from the Southwestern region of China, is the most widely served cuisine in China itself. The dishes of Sichuan cuisine are known for their deep and rich flavors, especially the taste of Sichuan pepper which is rare in other regional cuisines. In other words, Sichuan food is most well-known for its hot and spicy flavor, though it may sport sweet and sour flavors too.

**Shiitake mushrooms have long been recognized as a very good, non-animal source of iron. Sun-dried and UV radiation-exposed mushrooms are a potentially important source of dietary vitamin D (as vitamin D₂).

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