Strongest Gamer; Let's Play in Another World Volume 1
Page 8
"Oh man, that's a little difficult for me. I may be an apprentice, but I'm still a labyrinth apprentice. I can't stay in the village forever."
I was kinda cheated into it, but it was still more or less my job. I patted her fluffy head while the tears started pooling in her eyes. It looked like she felt more than relaxed around me now. Maybe this was how she felt deep inside. She probably had put on a brave face this whole time after getting separated from her family.
"Then I'll go with you..."
She held onto my pants tightly with both hands.
---Y-Yeah, what a bind...
Both the mayor and Jenny were looking at us, but all they could manage was a forced smile. I was at a loss myself. My communications skills weren't high enough to manage to read the face of a dog or a cow, so it wasn't like I could say for certain, but I still felt the atmosphere had gotten kinda heavy, somehow.
"Hmm... Mayor Hopper, Miss Jenny. It may be somewhat of a wild idea, but would you mind hearing me out? I'm kind of short on hands around the labyrinth, and I'm, as you see, just an apprentice. Perhaps I may not have the most stable of income, but I'm certain I can hire a single kobold easily enough."
I was really happy Ann was able to reunite with her family, but I would honestly feel alone without her back in the bottom of the ravine, should she stay here. It would be a damn shame to lose my body pillow after getting used to her for over one month already.
"Hahaha..."
Mayor Hopper looked somewhat baffled.
"Do you wanna live with me, Ann? Being a labyrinth manager helper isn't easy, you know?"
"Yes!"
"Wait a minute, I'm happy you're happy about it, but you have to confirm this with Miss Jenny."
"Auntie, I can, right? I want to be with Aoi."
"Well, Mister Aoi. If it's not an inconvenience, can I ask you to take her with you? I think she can lead a better life under your care in the labyrinth, rather than barely getting by here in the village, and not even knowing if she'll eat or not. She's still a growing girl, after all. I might be a little lonely, though."
She said while staring straight into my eyes, and holding Ann tight.
"But of course, leave it all to me. Well, I say that, but Ann helps me a whole lot too. Let's keep doing our best, okay?"
"Thank you, Aoi! I'll do my best!"
Ann's childish response was really charming.
"Please give me one hour. I have to get her things ready---her clothes and the like."
Jenny took Ann with her and together they left the mayor's residence. I guess they went back home to pack her things.
"Mayor Hopper, would you care to tell me about this country's situation while we wait? I came out of the bottom of that ravine just today, so I'm not really informed about what's going on in the world right now."
"If you would like to hear what the mayor of a humble countryside village has to say, it'll be my pleasure."
And that's how I came to learn of this country's situation and culture.
◇
The mayor's house stood at the center of the village, and there were several houses made out of hardened earth and straw roofs scattered around the fields. The house in which Jenny and Ann lived was among those. While she finally came back to it after several months away, it took her no more than ten minutes to pack all her things. It wasn't like Ann was wealthy to begin with. Excluding some rags she apparently used for farm work and picking up edible plants, all of Ann's belongings fit in a tiny handbag.
They may fall under the 'Economic Class' according to the Tundra listings, but the dress Ann wore now, without any sign of wear or patchwork repair, would be considered above average for the village she was from.
"Ann, you have enough spare clothes at Aoi's place, right?"
"Yeah, I have five dresses just like the one I'm wearing now, and I have two pairs of clothes to wear while working."
She hadn't brought anything more than some underwear, a few metal trinkets, and a wooden trunk that seemed to be keepsake from her parents, among her luggage.
"Ann, sit there."
Jenny placed a thin cushion on the house's wooden boards and sat down, then motioned for Ann to sit in front of her. Jenny's eyes were still red from crying so much earlier, but she had a very serious-looking expression on her face.
"Okay..."
Upon seeing Jenny's unusually serious expression, Ann also sat on the thin, patched-up cushion that didn't do much to lessen the hardness of the floor.
"Answer me even if it makes you embarrassed or afraid. How does Aoi treat you normally? What do you think of him?"
"What do I think...? Let's see. He always pats my head, and he praises me when I do my best. He also always lets me eat lots of tasty stuff, and is super kind to me. Ah, he also told me before that I was like his little sister!"
Ann's answer made Jenny sigh in relief. She didn't think Aoi was a bad person, judging from the conversations they've had so far, but he was still someone she met just today. He may have seemed good at first glance, but he might have been treating Ann badly in reality. Although they were only aunt and niece, she worried about Ann as a girl on the cusp of adulthood---one of marriageable age.
"It really looks like Aoi's a nice person. Do you like him a lot?"
"Yep, I love him lots!"
Ann's heartfelt smile dispelled Jenny's worries completely.
"Say, Ann. Do you want to stay together with him forever? Would you hate to get separated from him?"
"Yes, I want to stay with him."
"But, you know? You're almost at that age... You have to start thinking about becoming a bride soon, and if you marry someone, you won't be able to see Aoi that easily anymore."
In these fantasy worlds, and especially in rural areas like these, the marriageable age came awfully fast. It was normal for girls to get married off as soon as they started developing their secondary sex characteristics, to a certain extent... Or simply put: As soon as they could give birth. Although the growth rate of kobolds and half-kobolds was different to humans, marrying when they were about 13 years old was normal, and 18 years old was seen as lagging behind.
"Eh? No, I don't want that. I want to be with him!"
"I see, then there's a good method for that. The hurdle to become Aoi's wife might be a little... high, but you can become his mistress. You can stay together forever if you do that."
Half-kobolds had a longer lifespan and matured slower than a purebred like Jenny, but Ann was way too pure compared to others her age. As far as Jenny was concerned... Ann's slight unfamiliarity with the subtleties between man and woman worried her. Even if she managed to wed her with a kobold with a gentle personality, Ann would end up looking more like she was playing house, rather than a housewife. But despite abruptly entering a marital situation, Ann was still a fast learner, so it would be fine. Jenny initially thought she would start acting accordingly in due time, but ever since Ann returned, Jenny's thoughts changed completely.
She felt respite after thinking Ann was dead this whole time, and she was also in debt to Aoi for saving her. But above all, Aoi represented an unbelievable asset that they wouldn't have been able to find in any of the neighboring villages, or even the frontier cities. He may have been an apprentice, but being a manager of a labyrinth under the direct control of the Great Dark Lord meant he was leagues above any of the farmers living in the village. To put it in earthly terms, it would be like a high-ranking government bureaucrat being appointed to some rural village where there was barely phone signal.
"Mistress? Umm... So something like his wife?"
"Yes, it's just a little different. Would you want to be together with him, even if you're not his wife?"
It was completely different, but Jenny dismissed the small details entirely and declared it was basically the same.
"Okay, I'll become his mistress if we can stay together like that!"
As the guardian of a girl that was about to reach marriageable age, Jenny smile
d from deep within her heart. Interspecies marriages usually had to deal with the hurdles of differences in physiques and sensations, but luckily Ann was half-kobold and half-human, so she could get over the race gap easily. The fact Ann was already wearing way better clothes than she had when she lived back in the village, improved her complexion, and also had a newfound gloss in her fur were testament enough of how high Aoi's standard of living was compared to theirs. He also had good enough sense to not lay his hands on a completely healthy and pretty girl like her, even though they were completely alone this whole time. Not to mention his character didn't seem bad from what Ann had claimed.
And more importantly, Ann seemed to have taken a liking to Aoi, and he cherished her as a sister. Generally speaking, the pioneering villages tended to marry off boys and girls almost as easily as a person would spontaneously adopt a kitten, only to release it the next day. They could have tried to marry off Ann at least six times by now, but hadn't done so. Jenny, who considered Ann like her own daughter, would rather not force Ann to meet some stranger and marry them off right away. She'd like for Ann to meet someone she came to love of her own volition. Aoi was a perfect match economically, practically, and emotionally for her. There was no reason to let such a good man get away.
"You're such a good girl, Ann. I'll teach you something very important now, then. Let's see... Try to imagine this: What if Aoi let you go and was only kind to other people in the village? What would you think?"
"Ehhh? I'd hate it! I don't want that. I don't really know why, but I want him to be kind to me, too!"
Ann raised her voice after imagining the sight of what her Aunt said. It evoked an unknown, confusing feeling inside of her. It felt like a cold sensation had spread all over her chest.
"I see, then you'll do what I'm about to tell you, no matter what. You can't doubt it, even if it's a little embarrassing. What you imagined just now might happen for real if you don't."
"O-Okay! Please teach me, Auntie. What should I do!?"
"First of all, this evening you will..."
And so, Jenny taught Ann all the tips and tricks in the arsenal of a blossoming woman to seduce their man, for nearly an hour.
◇
"I see, so the peace between the boundaries of this country and the neighboring human country, represented by the Polaris Fortress, have been maintained for the past hundred years. But bandits sometimes pass through the navy's vigilant watch and plunder around, so it's dangerous, right?"
"Even then, we're somehow able to go on living thanks to the Great Dark Lord and the Demon Lords. We're certainly grateful for that."
---Ah, the existence of Great Dark Lord and Demon Lords has been on my mind for a while.
"Great Dark Lord? I know I'm a labyrinth manager, which makes me one of his subordinates, but what is the difference between the Great Dark Lord and a Demon Lord?"
"Difference, you say...? Both of them are way above us, so we don't really think too much about that kind of thing."
Mayor Hopper folded his arms and sonorously blew air through his nose. A very cow-ish reaction.
"The Demon Lord is more like a king for us. If there is something troubling the village, he or his subordinates will lend us their help. We're really thankful that The Great Dark Lord and the Demon Lord help us in times of need. We're tasked with constructing the labyrinth for the sake of the Demon Lord, although we see ourselves helped as well, indirectly, because of it."
Right, so was just like I thought before. The Demon Lord acted like a governor of sorts, and the Great Dark Lord was more like the president.
"By the way, Aoi, you've been rubbing yourself for a while now, is something the matter?"
"No, I just feel kinda chilly for some reason."
It wasn't the kind of chill you felt when a cold was coming. If I were to put it in game terms, it was kind of the chill you felt when a good player was aiming at you from a distance.
"I relaxed a lot after completing the stairs to the surface back at the labyrinth, so this might just be all the piled up fatigue. I'll try to go sleep early today."
"That's good. You must take time to sleep when you're truly tired."
While waiting for Ann to finish packing up, Mayor Hopper told me about the situation of the other villages, their special products, and about the other labyrinths. I couldn't complain about the idle talk. Intelligence gathering was the most basic foundation in all game genres, you couldn't miss it. And for a total ignorant to the world like me, even the minimal information received from the mayor of a town in the boonies like this was a fountain of wisdom. Ann might be a smart girl, but the amount of information she could give me, compared to the mayor leading a whole village, was overwhelmingly different.
"Sorry for the wait."
Jenny opened the door and Ann was holding a wooden trunk behind of her.
"S-Sorry for the wait..."
I wondered why was Ann hiding behind Jenny. I had the feeling she was more embarrassed than turned off by something, but I couldn't tell why, exactly.
"Thank you very much for talking to me, Mayor Hopper," I said while standing up. "Ann, wanna go back home before it gets dark?"
"Yes!"
I held out my hand and Ann happily jumped to grab it. By the time we descend the stairs at the Great Saredo Rift and found ourselves back at Labyrinth #228, it was already getting dark. We stayed longer than I'd thought back at Milt Village.
On my way back, I passed by the trees I'd planted before and took some firewood and water bags from them, then continued on towards the cabin. I opened Tundra's catalog after firing up the stone kiln I had built in front of the cabin, and set the pumpkin for today's dinner.
"You're gonna buy something?"
She stuck to my back and looked at the catalog from behind. We had been looking at the shopping window together ever since I gave her admin permissions to purchase from the Tundra catalog herself.
"I was thinking of making something, like a special product of sorts."
"A special product?"
"Yeah, we finally managed to connect with Milt Village, right? We've been stuffing nothing but stones in the delivery box so far, but we can buy and sell in the village now. We could use the currency we have, but I still want something I can sell or exchange in the village. Stone would be hard to carry, and I don't think there's anyone that can even buy it up there, don't you think?"
"Ohh, the polished stones are really pretty, so I think there would be people that want them, but I doubt there's anyone that would exchange them for crops," Ann replied.
They didn't seem to be well off enough to allow themselves expensive hobbies, for sure.
"We can just carry whatever goods we buy from Tundra there. Ann, can you choose some daily necessity stuff, and whatever the people back at the village might need?"
"Yup, got it. But... I think that thing would probably be the most popular item."
"Which?"
Ann pointed to the hoe that was set against the cabin, the same one I'd created using the
"The men working on the fields always told me how much they wanted quality tools like the hoes and sickles that are sold in bigger towns. The ones in the village are all old and rusty. Even the edges are made of wood."
"I see. I couldn't sell it with the delivery box, so it kinda was just there this whole time. Good thinking, Ann."
I pet her fluffy head.
"Mmmm..."
Ann made a really cute sound when I had done so. It made me wonder if it was because my technique had gotten better, or maybe she had gotten used to being pet.
The pickaxes and hoes I created with the
"The problem will be whether or not I can take them out of the labyrinth. I guess I'll have to try that tomorrow... Hmm?"
A window opened near my hand.
All items created by the
"Oh, there's actually a warning about that, huh? Looks like they'll disappear in half a year, but I think it'll sit poorly with the villagers if we treated it like a rental system of sorts."
I had to put a disclaimer for this when selling them. It was a bit of a pain, but on the other hand, if I just spammed these and flooded the market, the price would tank, and every blacksmith would be put out of business.
"We have to capitalize on the environment here. The vegetation in the ravine is totally different from that of the surface's. There may even be medicinal plants around there. Ann, is there a doctor in the village?"
"Doctor? No. If you go to the city, there's doctors that can cure you with magic or make medicine, but there's nothing like that in the village."
"So there are doctors that specialize in normal medicine or magic? Interesting."
"Then there must be a demand for medical supplies."
I search through Tundra's book category... and something that looked promising.
Practical Medicinal Herb Studies ~Wetlands / Waterside Edition~ (JPN) == 588000 DL
Seller : Manager, Labyrinth #7
Rating : ★★★★★
Reviewer : Manager, Labyrinth #201
- a really rad book, it explains everything about the medicinal plants that grow in the wetlands and waterside environments, how to pick and storage them as well. it even holds your hand through the processing methods to make medicine too. very very nice book. on the other side the pricing can go **** itself, that said, I don't regret the purchase.
Rating : ★☆☆☆☆
Reviewer : Manager, Labyrinth #16
- Entry-level piece of trash. Can't use it as anything but a reference book. The contents it covers may be vast, but this level of study is still too green. I recommend you to buy "Make Your Own Potions - Aquatic Plants Edition" instead, written by yours truly, of course.
It was pretty expensive, and it seemed like it had haters among some people in the trade, but well, maybe it had good stuff too.