The Town of Mikhan (1)

And so, after all that had happened, we finally arrived at the next town after Tsuia: Mikhan.

It wasn't as big as Tsuia, but it still had a reasonably large wall surrounding the town.

The surrounding area appeared to be pastureland, with shepherds and their sheep visible here and there.

"That was a long journey… I thought I'd be able to sleep in the carriage… but it was unexpectedly busy."

"We encountered quite a few monsters along the way, after all. I was expecting some bandits too, but I guess none of them were up for a fight this time."

Setting aside the monsters, bandits apparently won't attack unless they're very confident in their skills when they see an aristocratic crest. Well, attacking one would be the same as declaring yourself an enemy of that noble family.

"I thought we might lure some out since we only had one carriage with no visible guards."

"Wait, was that your goal?"

"Bandits are great. Whether you kill them or capture them, they're worth money. They're walking gold mines."

Wataru has been completely corrupted by this world, hasn't he? There's no way he could go back to Japan anymore.

By the way, we ended up camping on the way here, but… wouldn't there normally be some small village for that sort of thing? Like a post town or something.

Gozoh answered my question.

"Post towns? Sure, they exist in some places, but those are in areas where monsters don't show up much. Otherwise they'd get overrun in no time."

"… Wasn't there a village near Tsuia?"

"The area around Tsuia is frontier land. In a sense, it's the front line against nature. Besides, if there were a post town that close, there'd be fewer escort requests, and that'd be bad for business."

… I see, so that's how it is.

I couldn't sleep well camping out, and on top of that we had to take turns keeping watch, so in that respect I regretted going on this trip. Yeah… wait, huh? Come to think of it, I hired Wataru, so couldn't I have just left all the watch duty to him…?

… Whatever. Well, I did get to hear all sorts of stories from the coachman, so let's call it even. Like how horse feed is just whatever grass is lying around, but when there's none, there's a faction dispute between using [Call Fodder] to summon feed or [Grow Weed] to grow grass. Or how any animal that pulls a carriage gets called a horse even if it's not one. Really just a bunch of totally useless stories.

"Hey, hey, let's hurry up and get into town already. I'm hungry～"

"Oi, Ichika, go beg Kehma for food money. Well, if we want to get in quick, we can use the aristocrat entrance… Oh right, Roppu, once we officially make B-Rank, we can use this gate too."

"Ah, but the toll is more expensive at that gate. This time aside, regular quests won't cover that toll, so I normally use the general gate."

"… Being able to choose is the advantage of being a Ventulier. You can even leave in the middle of the night, right?"

Since Ichika was hungry, we decided to hurry through the aristocrat gate.

The inspection was quick and simple, and we were able to enter the town smoothly, just as Maiodoru had said.

Inside Mikhan's walls, it felt much more like a peaceful farming village compared to Tsuia.

The outer walls and buildings themselves weren't that different, but the spacing between everything seemed wider. Wait, isn't this place closer to the capital? The population density made me want to tilt my head. I mean, there are plenty of people, just not as many as I'd expect.

"Raising livestock requires a fair amount of space, so relatively speaking, there are fewer people. Population-wise, Tsuia is larger. Also, when this town was first established, parchment production was thriving and there were more people, but once Hero's Workshop developed paper, demand dropped and the craftsmen moved elsewhere… Nowadays, apparently they can meet parchment demand without even needing to use recovery magic to stretch the supply."

I see. So that's why there's lots of land but few people.

"Let's head to the Adventurer Guild first. Coachman, if you please."

"Ah, a salad wrap stand! That's a Mikhan staple, that is～"

"Salad wrap? What's that?"

"Ya take thinly baked flour and wrap up julienned veggies and grilled lamb in it!"

That sounded pretty good. Like spring rolls, no, maybe more like a vegetable crepe? No wait, I've heard of a type of shish kebab like that… Could this be another trace of Hero Ishidaka?

"I want to eat some too. Go buy some, Kehma. I'll pay!"

"Ah, if that's the case, I'll go. Leave the shopping to me."

"I'd like to try the lamb skewers."

"Right, Senpai's the type who wants to chow down on meat, huh. But ya gotta eat yer vegetables too, yeah?"

"… Yeah, yeah, we can buy some, but later. After we go to the guild. It'd be awkward to stop by in a carriage with this crest on it."

Besides, I wanted to get to an inn as soon as possible. For these four days of camping… with the women in the carriage and men outside in a tent… well, I wanted to sleep in a proper room.

I had to share a tent with Wataru, Gozoh, and the coachman, so there wasn't even enough room to use my futon. Dammit, I'm using my futon tonight! And my hug pillow too.

"Wataru. Let's stay in this town for about two days. I want to catch up on sleep."

"I was planning on staying two nights anyway to resupply."

Good. I've decided not to leave the inn tomorrow.

While we were talking, we arrived at the Adventurer Guild. It was quite crowded.

"There are many monsters that target the livestock here, so there are also many adventurers looking for subjugation requests."

"Ah, so that's why."

"Alright then, we'll go get the carriage sorted, so please report our arrival at the guild, Kehma-san. Oh, and here's the cargo for the delivery quest to this town."

"Sure… wait, where are Rokuko and Ichika?"

By the time I noticed, neither of them were there. There's no way they got lost after coming all this way in the carriage together, right?

"They went to a nearby stall to buy something. They should be back soon."

"… Well, I guess it's fine if Ichika's with her. Alright, Niku, help me with this luggage."

I took the luggage from Wataru and entered the guild with Niku.

Upon entering the guild, I felt appraising gazes fall on us.

"Let's see, where's the counter for quest completion? I have luggage for a delivery quest."

"Ah, over here. Welcome to the Mikhan branch."

Someone who looked like a receptionist guided us to the counter.

"Alright, here's this, and this. Is that everything?"

"Yes…!? Huh, w-wait, Watar… mm, mmm! Yes, confirmed. Shall the reward be distributed evenly among all participants?"

"Yeah, please."

Just as we finished the conversation, Wataru entered the guild. There was a stir, and then a moment of silence.

"Oh? What, you're alright?"

"Alright? Did you think I'd cause some kind of incident from a simple errand like this?"

"Well actually, the first time I came to this guild, someone aggressively said [I'll help ya out for a small fee]. I wonder if it's because Japanese people have baby faces… Right, Borl-san?"

"I-I am truly sorry, Hero-sama! I had no idea! Please forgive my rudeness!"

The well-built adventurer called out by Wataru awkwardly averted his gaze.

So he thought Wataru was easy prey, only to find out he was an S-Rank adventurer hero… For the easygoing Wataru to still bring it up like this, the harassment must have been quite persistent and malicious.

"If something like that happened, you've surely already repented. Were you perhaps telling people to watch out for black-haired adventurers? Thanks to that, I was able to complete the quest without any trouble."

"I see. Well, Borl-san, you're lucky you didn't try anything with him. I've challenged this guy several times, but I haven't won once."

"What!? He's stronger than you, Hero-sama!?"

Now that I think about it, I did win against him in that rigged gamble and the handicapped mock battle, but does that really make me stronger?

"Not only that, but the other day he challenged a Flame Dragon and won without a scratch. Just the two of them."

"Against that walking disaster, an A-Rank designated monster, with a kid in tow!?"

Well, I guess that's what happened. Though it was all a farce since that Flame Dragon (Igni) was Ittetsu's daughter.

"Hey, cut it out, Wataru. You know I hate having a fuss made about me."

"It's fine every once in a while, isn't it? You barely ever leave your base anyway."

Come to think of it, Wataru has been deliberately avoiding my name and calling Golen Village just "my base," protecting my personal information even while messing around. He's definitely doing this on purpose.

Niku looked happy though. Her tail was wagging furiously.

"… By the way, this little one here is even stronger than me～"

"G-Goshujin-sama?"

"A little girl stronger than the man who's stronger than the Hero…!?"

When I pushed Niku forward, she looked puzzled but glanced at Wataru and spoke.

"Um… t-this person is stronger."

"The Hero is stronger than the girl who's stronger than the man who's stronger than the Hero!"

"Ahahahaha, I have no idea what's going on anymore."

Wataru laughed cheerfully. Borl, was it? He's got a good sense of humor. Maybe I'll treat him to a drink later.