Chapter 3
Seeing Kiro curiously looking at the crystal ball, the elderly person couldn't help to check him out, looking at him from top to bottom.
After checking him out, not finding anything out of place, the elderly person moves forward and faces Kiro.
"Oh, sorry for the wait, Young man, Nice to meet you, I am Geoffrey the Chief of this Village." (Geoffrey)
"Oh, nice to meet you, Chief Geoffrey, I am called Kiro a traveling merchant." (Kiro) respectfully said, as he gives the elderly person a slight bow.
He used to work as a waiter from the family restaurant, so he wasn't embarra.s.sed by the gesture he made. Even so, he finds it a difficult thing to do, when he thinks about the future.
"Kiro?... Hmm, what unusual name, Black hair, black eyes... are you perhaps from the East?" (Geoffrey) Look at Kiro oddly.
"... Yes, I came from the east." (Kiro) founds the question was quite off. But didn't deny the a.s.sumption and while it is true. The country he used to live in, was from the east side of the globe.
"Mm, you have a good moral fitting for a description of a young merchant, but sorry to say this, I still need you to place your hand, from this anti-criminal device. As a chief, It is my duty to maintain the peace of this village, I hope you don't mind." (Geoffrey)
"Not at all Chief Geoffrey, It was I who came here without an Identification Card. " (Kiro) says while he stretches out his right hand and places his palm from the transparent crystal ball.
A white light emits from the transparent crystal ball.
Seeing the light, Village Chief Geoffrey gives a slight nod for approval.
Looking at the chief reaction Kiro couldn't help but blurt out his thoughts.
"Chief Geoffrey, What's the meaning of this color? To be honest, It was my first time seeing the anti-criminal device." (Kiro) looks curiously at the transparent crystal ball.
"Hoho, looking at how you keep observing the anti-criminal device, I already knew it was your first time seeing one. Very well, the meaning of the white color from the device is you never killed a person before." (Geoffrey)
"While there's more than one color from the Anti-Criminal Device. It is a rare sight even for me to see a spotless white from this device. The other color is green, represents that you obey the law, but already slain someone, It was either approved by the law or the one It kills was a criminal." (Geoffrey)
"Next is, color dark grey the person who has this color represents that a person was a criminal from the past and given a pardon, Next one is black color, It is for the person who does wicked things, like killing, abducting a person, selling illegal devices, In short, a really dangerous person." (Geoffrey)
"The last color is to identify if you are really a Human. If a red color appeared from the criminal device, that person wasn't a human but a demon." (Geoffrey) Once he utters those words, a thick of hatred could be felt from his voice.
Feeling the thick hatred from the Village Chief words, the atmosphere around the two became uncomfortable.
Geoffrey was the first one who felt the atmosphere became an unpleasant one, knowing that it was his fault. He tried to hide his embarra.s.sment with a dry laugh.
"Hehehe, sorry about that Kiro, anyway the procedure is done, you can now enter the village, then again." (Geoffrey) quickly changes gears, His years of experience as a chief show it fruition.
"Welcome to the Village of Dorest!" (Geoffrey) says out loud, giving Kiro a praiseworthy smile.
***
Going Inside the Village, Kiro was looking around at the architecture of the houses.
What he saw, a house made of different types of woods, as for the roof, Is made of straw.
The scenery before him was like, he turned back In time to the Middle age of the Medieval period.
Some curious folks were looking at him inside their wooden house, Kiro saw a child playing with a rag doll, giving her a warm smile.
following the village chief leads.
The group of two people stopped at the tallest building in this place, looking at the house made of stone, while the roof wasn't made of cheap straw, instead, It was a small tile made of wood.
It is clear as a day, that the village chief leads the way to his house.
Geoffrey stopped walking and looked back at Kiro who's behind him.
"Sorry, Kiro. It is rare to see visitors here in my village, so there's no proper lounging for a traveler merchant like yourself. If you like, you could stay a night here at my place." (Geoffrey)
"Oh, then I would be grateful If that's the case, even staying in the stable will be quite luxurious for me." (Kiro) wouldn't reject Geoffrey's generosity.
"Then, let's go inside, It's been a while since I have a visitor here at my place." (Geoffrey) Making an inviting gesture.
"Then, sorry for the trouble." (Kiro) replied politely.
***
Inside the Village Chief House.
Kiro was laying down on the crude wooden bed, from his former world, it is called a cheap wooden bed frame, but here It is considered a luxury item.
staring at the ceiling of the house, Kiro was in deep thought.
"Mm... Everything that happened was so sudden. The d.a.m.n voice who didn't even give me a chance to reject the offer, what is more, I am now forced to live here In this world." (Kiro)
"...
Not only he was left behind with nothing but the so-called reward, He didn't even have money to sustain his living. It was not like he could be a forever freeloader here in this village.
Thinking at this point, he suddenly remembered that he was a penniless person.
"Haah~ now what? Living? How in this world I could live here? I don't even know if I could adopt the lifestyle here from now on. Living in the modern world where everything you need is almost available inside the convenience store. How am I supposed to adopt the lifestyle here?" (Kiro) mumbled with dissatisfaction, while knowing nothing will be changed, even if he curses for the whole day.
He would rather think of ways how to survive in this world.
As he was on the deep thought, sounds of knocking could be heard.
'Knock, knock, knock'
"Kiro are you there?" (Geoffrey) asked in a light tone.
"Yes, what is it? Chief Geoffrey?" (Kiro)
"I thought you were hungry from your long journey, well, it is a bit still early, but there was leftover dried meat and soup early in the morning. So I reheated it. If you are hungry the food will be in the kitchen." (Geoffrey)
"Okay, Chief Geoffrey, Thanks for the trouble, I'll definitely repay the favor in the future." (Kiro)
"Hohoho, It is nothing, helping the young ones, what this old bone ought to do." (Geoffrey) smiles slightly then leave Kiro alone.
It was still early to have lunch, but Kiro decided to leave the room and have a meal.
***
After eating a single serving food of dried meat and soup, Kiro roams around the house, looking for the Village Chief. Finally, he found chief Geoffrey, He was sitting on the wooden bench at the back of the house.
Chief Geoffrey saw that Kiro was looking for him. He proactively starts the conversation.
"Mm, you seemed to be done eating, how is the food? It was the local dried meat product here In the village." (Geoffrey)
"It is good, I haven't tasted such strong smoke-dried meat before." (Kiro) was being honest here, Even though the food was simple, nonetheless, It was delicious.
"Hahaha, That is good to hear, It was our Villages Pride Smoke Meat after all." (Geoffrey) heartedly laughs.
Seeing Geoffrey make life easy for him, Kiro didn't hold back and ask a question.
"Chief Geoffrey, I'm here to ask you something, I don't know if you are an expert from this kind field, I would like to know if you ever heard the name Greasy Gra.s.s before." (Kiro)
In a short amount of time pondering how to earn money, He suddenly remembered the Rare Greasy Gra.s.s inside the Diante Forest.
Because of his Innate Appraisal Skill, It wasn't hard for him to find the rare gra.s.s once more, he thought that if he wanted to survive in this world, he needed money to support his traveling expenses until he found a nice place to settle in. After all, he can't stay here forever from this village and take advantage of the generosity of the Old fellow.
"Greasy Gra.s.s? Hmm, If I remember correctly the direction you came from was near the Diante Forest right? Did you perhaps find one?" (Geoffrey) saying that he looks at Kiro with deep thought.
"Yeah, I think I saw one inside the forest, but at that moment, I don't have time or luxury to pick up some herbs." (Kiro)
"If what you saw really is a Greasy Gra.s.s, you'll make some fortune out of it, from time to time adventurers will come by to our village just to seek those rare gra.s.s. But only a few succeeded to find one, If I didn't recall it incorrectly Greasy Gra.s.s, it was a very proficient herb for making a mana potion, If directly eaten It could even boost your mana recovery." (Geoffrey)
"Really? If that's the case, I might go back to the forest and look for it." (Kiro) eyes flash with greed, He is a penniless person who desperately needs some money.
"Hold your horses, Young man, didn't you just get attacked by a group of monsters, Yet here you are proactively seeking trouble? Aren't you tired of living?" (Geoffrey) strictly rebuked him.
"I heard it from Milo that your carriage was attacked by a group of monsters, just forget about it. No matter how much money you earn, If you can't live to enjoy the fruition of your hard labor, then It is pointless." (Geoffrey)
Milo? Kiro finally remembered the watchtower guard, He was speechless from those words coming from the chief Geoffrey, he remembered that for the sake of his temporary merchant Ident.i.ty he made an absurd story, even now he couldn't believe someone buys his story.
"Hehehe, don't worry Chief Geoffrey, from the place where I saw the greasy gra.s.s, It was an open field, there was no monster in the vicinity. It was just my mind at that time, preoccupied with escaping." (Kiro) cracked a laugh, he didn't know that the gra.s.s yields a lot of profit.
"By the way, what's the market price for a single stalk of greasy gra.s.s?" (Kiro) tried to avoid the topic by asking a new question.
"If It was before, 1 stalk of greasy gra.s.s is equivalent to 50 silver coins, so if you can find a bulk, from a normal family with that kind of money, They'll have an easy life for at least half a year." (Geoffrey)
Kiro's eyes flash with greed. He never expected it to be so expensive.
The currency of this world was divided into 4 types of coins.
10 Iron coins = 1 Copper coin.
10 Copper coins = 1 Silver coin.
100 Silver coins = 1 Gold coin.
100 Gold coins = 1 White Gold coin.
Only means, If he got a single stalk, he could live without worrying being broke for at least a month or two.
If he could harvest a lot of herbs, He might possibly have an easy life for a fresh start.
"Is that so? Thank you, Chief Geoffrey, I'll be back at my room." (Kiro) says excitedly.
Geoffrey looks at the back of the Young man who disappeared from the corridor. With his rich experience, he could clearly tell the greed from Kiro's eye. Even though Kiro tried so hard to hide his expression, his simple gesture couldn't escape from Old Geoffrey's eye.
***
Returning from his room, Kiro was walking back and forth at the entrance of his room.
After a long while, he finally decided to go back to the Diante Forest.
Without trying to say goodbye from the Village Chief. He went out of the house quietly.
He didn't want to meet the village chief right now, lest the Old fellow worries for him for no reason.
So he decided to head back to the entrance where he came in earlier.
Seeing the familiar tower guard Milo, He waves his right hand at him.
"Hey Kiro, where are you going? Don't tell me you're going to go back to the forest?" (Milo)
"... Hehehe, Yep, but not in the place where the monsters were lurking around, but it was in the place where I rested. I just need to verify something." (Kiro) makes some random excuses.
"Haah~ Even though you are young, but you're already at the age where we adults don't interfere with your life. Even so, you have to come back before evening, or else chief Geoffrey might start a search party If you didn't come back In time." (Milo) reprimand Kiro.
But he wouldn't stop him from going out, after all, It wasn't his place, plus, the young man is already at the age where they don't need adult interference in whatever business he has to do.
***
Going back to the forest, with his newly developed brain, Kiro already memorized the right pathway to get back in the middle of the forest.
After walking for a half-hour, soon enough a familiar sight appeared before him.
Looking around Kiro finally activated one of his Innate Skill.
"[Appraisal]!" (Kiro) mumbled the keyword, then he finally saw what he was looking for.
[Greasy Gra.s.s] - Rarity: Rare
- Greasy Gra.s.s Is a type of rare gra.s.s that only grows in the part of the Diante Forest.
- Consuming will boost up your MP recovery rate by 5% for an hour.
What's more shocking, there's a bunch of them growing with bulk at the same place.
Sadly he couldn't take all of It. The reason why it was in high demand was because of rarity and the freshness of the stalk and the quality of the herb. Once it is pulled out, Kiro doesn't know how long the liveliness of the stalk will last.
Even though Kiro wasn't an expert from this kind of field, he wasn't a fool for not knowing the gra.s.s might not be preserved for his long journey, without proper equipment to sustain the freshness of the gra.s.s. So he decided to just pluck 10 pieces of stalk. He already made up his mind that he'll give Two pieces of Stalk to the village chief and another one for the tower guard.
When he was about to leave the forest.
A creaking sound could be heard behind the bush.