The River Town of Donsama (North Side)

The River Town of Donsama. It was the second major town since leaving Tsuia, after Mikhan.

Just like at Mikhan, we quickly entered through the aristocrat-only gate to find rows of stone brick buildings that looked much the same as elsewhere. Apparently, stone brick buildings were common throughout the empire.

Also, unlike Mikhan, the population density here was similar to Tsuia's.

Roads branched out from this town toward Tsuia, the imperial capital, and Pavera. Before the tunnel in Golen Village was built, this was apparently the only safe route from Pavera to Tsuia.

"By the way, why's it called a river town?"

"Donsama is split in two by a river. There's North Donsama and South Donsama, and the two together make up Donsama. Combined, they're a bit smaller than Tsuia."

"It's split in two? That sounds like a hassle."

By the way, the gate we'd just entered was the north gate of North Donsama. We'd be heading to the capital by leaving through the south gate of South Donsama. There was apparently a ferry to cross the river that ran between them.

… They don't have a bridge? Maybe there are monsters preventing them from building one or something.

"Are there any differences between the north and south sides?"

"Not from our perspective. But for the residents, the difference between north and south seems to be a big deal."

"Oh, are the two sides hostile toward each other or something?"

"It's not quite hostility, more like a rivalry. By the way, there are Adventurer Guild branches in both the north and south. Let's go greet the north one today."

We'd be staying two nights again. One night in North Donsama, then crossing the river to stay one night in South Donsama before departing.

So we have to do greetings twice, huh. Let's leave that to Wataru.

"Hey, Ichika, what's the good food here?"

"Grilled fish, of course. There's nothin' special food-wise except the river fish."

"Alright, let's go buy some right now!"

"Nope. We've got to drop off the carriage at the guild first."

Ichika was one thing, but Rokuko seemed quite interested in food too.

I vaguely recalled hearing that Dungeon Cores didn't need to eat, but she'd been in love with melon bread for ages, so it was a bit late for that. Well, I guess it's more about enjoyment for her.

Niku was perking her ears up too, her tail wagging back and forth.

"Oh, this time we're leaving the carriage at the inn. But let's deliver the cargo we picked up for Donsama first."

"Aye, Gasho, take us to the guild."

By the way, Gasho was apparently our coachman's name. Gozoh had already become good friends with him, enough to be on a first-name basis.

As soon as we arrived at the guild, Ichika and Rokuko headed off to buy fish. They also dragged Shikina along, ostensibly as an escort but really more as a pack mule for their shopping.

… Well, that's fine I guess. I'd wanted her help with the luggage since we had so much this time, but… at least buy some fish for us too, okay?

Wataru and Gozoh hoisted the barrels they'd kept in [Storage] onto their shoulders and entered the Adventurer Guild.

Niku, Roppu, and I were carrying wooden boxes… What was even in these things? Well, there was nothing to be done about it. At least they weren't fragile.

There was probably a lot of cargo here because it was such a major transportation hub.

"So here's the delivery. Please confirm everything."

"Yes, confirmed. Thank you for your work, Wataru-sama."

"We'll be heading to the south side tomorrow, then on to the capital. If you have any delivery quests—"

"In that case, here—"

After making the delivery, he received more cargo to deliver. Taking a single small box, Wataru placed it into his [Storage].

"You accepted it right away this time?"

"There isn't much cargo going from north to south. There should be delivery quests for the capital at the south guild, and if I keep this in my [Storage], I don't have to worry about it being stolen. This way, we won't need to stop by here tomorrow and can head straight to the south side."

Wataru spoke with a smile.

I see. Looks like he didn't accept any subjugation quests this time. Well, we were here for two nights and three days, but the middle day was set aside for crossing the river.

"I haven't seen the river yet, but is it really that big?"

"It's about fifteen meters deep and a hundred meters wide. We could probably just run across it."

No way. Pretty sure you're the only one who could do that.

"… Do you think I could make it across?"

"You don't have to push yourself. I think not being able to cross is normal."

"Huh, that's not true, right, Roppu-san?"

"My limit's ten meters. What about you, Gozoh?"

"You think I can run on water? Jumping three meters is my limit."

Even so, they can manage that much…? I guess adventurers really do have crazy physical abilities.

… Niku's tail was wagging. She looked like she wanted to challenge herself to see how far she could go.

"… Wataru, you'd save us if we fell in, right?"

"Oh, Kehma-san, are you thinking of giving it a try too?"

"No, I'm good. I'm asking about Kuro."

"It's important to know your limits for when push comes to shove. Kehma-san, you should give it a shot too!"

He had a point, but I didn't feel like going out of my way to exercise. I was with Gozoh on this. I didn't feel like I could run across water any better than he could.

Just as we left the guild, Rokuko and the others returned from their shopping.

"Good work, Kehma. Here, fish."

Saying that, she distributed them starting with me and then to everyone else. It was grilled sweetfish on a skewer. Probably salted and grilled whole.

"Oh, is that sweetfish? Thanks, missy. This'll go great with my booze."

"I like these too. Lots of merchants from Pavera come through here, so salt's pretty cheap."

They call it ayu here too, huh…? I guess it's like the apple thing. The specifics might differ, but similar names still apply. I don't really get it though.

"It's pretty big."

"Really? Isn't it smaller than the fish at our inn?"

The fish at the inn came from Pavera and its sea, so yeah, compared to sea fish like sea bream or yellowtail, this would be smaller. But for sweetfish, it was pretty big.

"By the way, the cart vendors made bitter faces and gave us discounts when they saw Ichika. Did you do something?"

"Well, a long time ago…"

So she did.

"Alright, let's head to our inn for tonight. It's called the [Northern Hero Pavilion], an inn founded by Ortega-san, the hero of North Donsama. It's a good place. By the way, tomorrow's inn is the [Southern Hero Pavilion], built by Ortega-san's son after he became independent."

"So the parent and child split between north and south, huh… Hey, you said north and south are rivals?"

"Maybe the son left in the heat of an argument? I don't really know, but if you're curious, why not ask Ortega-san?"

"Nah, I'm not that interested."

Why would a traveler want to get involved in some parent-child conflict at their destination? Best to leave that kind of trouble alone. They can work it out themselves.

I'm not some main character. There's no way I'd go around sticking my nose into every problem I come across and solving it.