Disturbing People

『Who exactly is that Silver Face guy? He doesn't even remove his mask in the presence of His Majesty. It seems people from Primeval are truly a bunch of apes. They don't know any manners.』

『But we cannot take them lightly. It is a fact that their power healed King Doriachi. His Majesty didn't even criticize his rudeness, and instead invited him to a private meeting after the banquet.』

『His Majesty has changed. He is no longer fit to be…』

『Ssh. That's disrespectful.』

『No need for concern. There's only us here. His Majesty's illness had made him weak, and the apes from Primeval took advantage of that. Yes, that must be it.』

『It's all because of his illness.』

『Indeed.』

A man sat in the corner, his eyes closed.

『Don't you agree, Lord Grucel?』

Hikaru met Luke again in the building where they were staying. At first, he thought citizens would swarm them, wis.h.i.+ng to see Healing magic, but that didn't happen at all. In fact, it was fairly quiet.

「Looks like the flow of information is being regulated well.」the knight said.「People might still find out about it later, but King Doriachi a.s.sured us that if that happened, they would do their best to not cause us trouble.」

「I see. So what are you gonna do now? You already accomplished the one thing you came here to do.」

「You were the ones who did it, but yes… The plan is to just keep guarding the Healer in the meantime.」

「So you've got nothing better to do.」

「As much as I hate to admit it, yes.」

The two were now able to talk to each other in a casual manner. Hikaru didn't really care about someone's social status when talking to them, so Luke did the same. Luke's party didn't have anything better to do until the survey team arrived.

「How are you getting in touch with Vireocean?」Hikaru asked.

「We have no means of communication with them.」

「Really?」

「We were in a hurry. I think the survey team will bring some magic item with them, but it'll take some time to install and requires rather technical knowledge.」

「Linga's Quill Pen.」

「I don't know. With more money, they could get a miniature-sized communications device.」

「Does it work across continents?」

「No idea. Dream Maker's navy can't even get in contact with their troops in Dew Roke. It's not like we're inferior in terms of that.」

So communications is a hit-or-miss, Hikaru thought. Searching for Linga's Quill Pen in the ruins might be pointless.

「What about you? What's your plan?」Luke asked.「There's nothing really better to do.」

「Good question. I think I'll do some money-raising.」

「You'll make some money?」Luke looked at him blankly.

Oh, right. This dude's from a n.o.ble family.

「Why are you looking at me like that?」the knight asked.

「Nothing. I'm not thinking about how you probably never had financial troubles, coming from a n.o.ble family.」

「You definitely are! There's no need to even earn money. King Doriachi said they'll shoulder our expenses.」

「Well, if you're fine with that, be my guest. I have my own way of doing things.」

First, Hikaru didn't like owing people. Second, he didn't want the flow of money to be monitored. The great thing about making money was Hikaru himself got involved in selling goods, which meant making contact with people of the city. In other words, making connections himself, not being introduced by Doriachi, Duinkler, or Grucel.

Apparently, many old people here—not just Man Gnomes—could speak Hikaru's language, although broken.

If this country's not a monolith, then I should set up some antennas in different places.

「If you don't mind me asking, how are you going to make money?」

「Kill monsters and sell materials.」

「Sounds like an adventurer's job.」

「It is. What about it?」

「Nothing, really… You seem to be the type who'll attack from behind. I just thought you had some unique method to make money.」

Where on earth did that come from? What does he think I am?

「So you get your hands dirty too, huh?」Luke said.

Money making might involve some luck, but there's no shortcut to it. Forcing to take a shortcut won't do you any good. Those were words Hikaru lived by.

Lavia was busy learning the language, so Hikaru asked Paula to check for places where he could sell monster materials. Drake stayed behind with Lavia.

It's been a while since I've strolled in a forest alone.

When Hikaru said he was going out of the city, Duinkler suggested someone escort him, which he politely declined. It felt as thought the man was trying to probe into his affairs.

There were few gates that led out of town. Since an expedition squad had to venture out in the morning and return in the evening, they had to be opened. Hikaru, however, specifically asked to leave through a side gate.

He had a map of the immediate vicinity and a list of dangerous monsters, but since he couldn't really read, he asked someone to recite them for him, then he drilled them into his brain.

Nothing but forest. Though there's clearly a trodden path.

Under the trees, sunlight filtering through the branches, Hikaru walked on an actual path wide enough for a pa.s.senger car. It was apparently for the expedition squad's wagon.

In Dream Maker, soldiers ventured out to hunt monsters as part of their training. Since they didn't have a huge enough land for livestock farming, they had to kill monsters for meat. The same applied for fruits. Other important materials like timber and stones, they also had to gather outside of the city.

So their Soul Ranks are high because they go hunting daily.

In general, almost all the soldiers in Dream Maker had high ranks. The ordinary citizens did not. Soldiers were members of the army, hunters, and also manufacturers.

Unfortunately, Dream Maker didn't have guild cards or soul cards, so people couldn't receive buffs from job cla.s.ses. They had heard about these cla.s.ses, but they couldn't seem to wrap their minds around the concept. For now, no one really wanted a guild card.

All right. Let's do this.

Hikaru already had his Stealth on. He found a deer-like creature up ahead, eating gra.s.s. Monsters like the Yamamaneki might show up farther ahead. Raising soul rank now would be good. Right now, he was at rank 44. Considering how soldiers here had three-digit ranks, it might be easy to gain points.

Hikaru started hunting, testing his theories along the way.

Later that evening, the expedition squad was dumbfounded by the pile of animals strewn by the side of the road.