LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 3: - In another world, inconvenience is common sense
We arrived in Kerniffi in the late afternoon and were dropped off at the inn.
“Thank you very much. You really saved me,” I said.
“Oh no, we’re the ones who should be thankful,” replied Gortéo-san.
I never really know when to end these kinds of greetings…
“When you’re interested in purchasing a slave, please visit my shop. We have a great selection of high-quality slaves,” Gortéo-san mentioned. His shop apparently dealt in a wide range of products, including dungeon-related items, daily necessities, and even slaves. It seemed like a one-stop shop, like a department store in Japan.
I wasn’t interested in slaves, and I didn’t have that much money to spare right now. Speaking of money, I remembered that Gortéo-san had given me some, along with the money from the god. I hadn’t checked the value of either yet. I decided to confirm that later.
“I’m not really interested in buying a slave,” I replied politely.
“Of course, there are many uses for slaves, so it’s worth considering,” Gortéo-san said with a smile. However, I couldn’t bring myself to mention that we were standing right in front of an inn, and this conversation was slightly inappropriate for the occasion.
The cheapest type of slave seemed to be elderly individuals who couldn’t be used for labor, priced at around 10,000 Gril, which was equivalent to 10,000 yen. It was unimaginable that you could buy a person for such a low price.
Next in line were young children, also not suitable for labor. However, their value could increase if they were particularly attractive, as there was a demand for them in various ways. I remembered that Lolicons and Shotacons weren’t supposed to touch them!
By the way, I’m not a Lolicon. I think they’re cute, but I prefer people around my own age or slightly older.
For young, attractive slaves who could be used for sexual purposes, the price could go significantly higher, starting at around 500,000 Gril. In some cases, it could even exceed 10,000,000 Gril. There was a wide range in prices, but it felt like an unattainable goal for me.
Nevertheless, someday, I wanted to do something exciting with a beautiful older woman. After all, I’m a man. Of course, I don’t mean with a slave. I support free love.
“Oops, sorry for talking so much. Please forgive me,” Gortéo-san apologized.
“No, I learned a lot from our conversation,” I replied.
Just as I thought it was time to say goodbye, Gortéo-san handed me something.
It looked like cards, and there were five of them.
“What’s this?” I asked.
“These are record cards. Don’t you know them?” Gortéo-san replied.
No, I don’t. What are these?
“These are the record cards of the thieves. They come out when someone dies,” he explained.
Huh… so these cards come out when someone dies?
Apparently, when a person dies, these cards emerge from their chest. The cards contained personal information, and they couldn’t be forged. It included their criminal history, so if you defeated a thief and brought this record card to the authorities, you could receive a reward.
“The record card of the thief you defeated belongs to you. Please keep it,” Gortéo-san said.
…Thank you, I thought to myself. It really made me feel like I was in another world.
I waved goodbye to Gortéo-san and the others and entered the inn. It was clean and had a welcoming atmosphere.
“Welcome,” the innkeeper greeted me.
“I’ll be staying for a while,” I replied.
“Yes, I understand,” they said.
“I understand”? What does that mean?
“How much is it for one night?” I asked.
“We’ve already received payment for a month,” the innkeeper replied.
“Huh?” I was taken aback.
“We received payment from the Gorteo Company,” they explained.
While Gortéo-san was discussing the matter of slaves in front of the inn, Luinesa-san had gone inside and discussed something with the innkeeper. Perhaps she brought up the topic of slaves to delay our departure. She was quite considerate.
Being able to show such consideration might be why Gortéo-san can lead such a large caravan and succeed in business.
Consideration… It’s something I’m not good at. I can’t read the atmosphere, which is why I ended up in that awkward situation earlier.
“I see… Well then, I gratefully accept your offer to stay,” I said.
“Yes, please come this way,” the innkeeper replied.
I followed them to the room on the third floor. It was a corner room with one window facing east and another facing south. A corner room had its advantages.
The windows had wooden shutters, and there was no glass. In fact, there didn’t seem to be any glass in any of the windows in this town. I wondered if glass was a luxury item here or if it simply didn’t exist.
“Phew, at least I’m not sleeping outdoors. That’s something to be thankful for,” I thought.
I wanted to open the window and take a look outside, but it was already dark. There were no streetlights in sight, and a bonfire was burning in front of the inn.
The room was about 10 tatami mats in size and had only a bed, a desk, and a chair. The lighting was dim, with only one small lamp.
I wondered how much this room would cost. According to Gortéo-san, a cheap inn would cost 300 Gril, but I couldn’t imagine they’d provide this kind of room for that price.
Even though I was staying here for free, if I stayed at a cheap inn, it would negatively affect Gortéo-san’s reputation. It didn’t have to be the highest class, but I thought this place was above average.
“By the way, do you have a bath here? I’d like to at least take a shower since I got covered in blood,” I asked.
There were two doors in the room besides the entrance. I decided to check one of them.
“What’s this…?” I found that the floor was elevated by about 50 centimeters, and there was a hole with a wooden bucket underneath. It was probably a toilet.
“It’s not exactly a shower or a toilet, but at least it’s something,” I muttered to myself.
However, I noticed that there was no toilet paper.
“Seriously…” There were some leaves placed at the edge of the hole. Were you supposed to use those to wipe?
“This is a whole new level of another world,” I thought.
I opened the other door, hoping to find a shower or bath, but it turned out to be a washroom.
There wasn’t even a shower in this room, let alone a bath. I had a feeling this would be the case when I saw the toilet earlier. It was disappointing, but I had mentally prepared myself for it, so the shock wasn’t too great.
“I see water coming out, but how do you use this?” I tried fiddling with it, but no water came out. I had no choice but to go down to the front desk on the first floor and ask.
“Excuse me, is there a bath or shower here?” I inquired.
“A bath or shower? Well, such facilities seem to be available at noble estates, but they are not common in ordinary households or inns like ours,” the employee explained, looking somewhat puzzled. I wondered if I had asked something inappropriate. In any case, it was another embarrassing moment for me.
“How do I clean myself?” I asked.
“You can use the water in the room’s washbasin,” the innkeeper replied.
“How do I use that washbasin…?” I inquired.
The employee looked somewhat surprised but kindly explained it to me.
Perhaps they thought I was a country bumpkin who had just come from the countryside. Well, if they thought that, it was fine since it meant I could ask them all sorts of questions.
The washbasin was a magical item, and it seemed that it could be activated by inserting a magic stone. There was a stone-like object placed on the washbasin, and that was the magic stone.
I returned to the room, filled a bucket with water, wetted a towel, and wrung it out before using it to wipe my body.
“Ugh… It’s cold…” Wiping myself with water felt chilly, and I shivered.
“I long for human warmth.” I had never experienced the warmth of another person before.
After wiping myself dry, I decided to wash the clothes I had taken off.
“This stubborn stain won’t come out!” I struggled to remove the bloodstains on my clothes, but no matter how hard I scrubbed, they wouldn’t budge.
“It would be a lot easier with some soap,” I thought.
However, I was told that soap didn’t exist here, and I didn’t even know what soap was to begin with. I had truly entered an inconvenient world.
“I couldn’t get all the bloodstains out, but there’s nothing I can do about it,” I sighed.
I used the washing line in the room to hang my clothes to dry.
As I changed my clothes… Wait, did I even have a change of clothes? I rummaged through my backpack… and found nothing.
“Oh no! My item box!”
My clothes were definitely not in there.
“Oh dear, God…”
I had lost my clothes and didn’t have any replacements.
“Ah, I did the laundry too…”
I hurriedly crawled under the blankets on the bed.
“Oh, dinner…”
The inn provided meals for breakfast and dinner. However, there was no way I could go to the dining hall in my current state.
I resigned myself to eating some dry bread and jerky.
I took them out of my backpack and nibbled on the dry bread, washing it down with some water.
“The bread is hard, and the jerky is salty. What a terrible start,” I mumbled.
I should check my money as well.
I returned the bread and jerky to my backpack and took out two leather pouches given to me by God and Gortéo-san.
While draped in the sheets, I emptied the contents onto the bed.
God’s pouch contained ten 1,000 Gril gold coins and nine 10,000 Gril platinum coins, totaling 100,000 Gril.
Gortéo-san’s pouch held ten 1,000 Gril gold coins, nine 10,000 Gril platinum coins, and four 100,000 Gril black gold coins, amounting to 500,000 Gril.
“Is God being stingy, or is Gortéo-san being generous…?” I wondered.
Let’s assume it’s the latter.
“For now, it’s the equivalent of 6 million yen, so it’s a considerable amount of money. I could buy several sets of clothes with this,” I thought.
What else would I need? I already had a sword and breastplate. If I chose a one-handed sword, I could also use a shield. This should suffice for the time being.
Speaking of which, Gortéo-san mentioned that you could buy a slave for 500,000 Gril. Could it be that he intended for me to use this money to buy a slave at his store?
Gortéo-san is quite the entrepreneur.