The following morning, Miyabi came to see me just as I was finishing my preparations.
"Good morning, Ryoma."
"Good morning, Miyabi."
"I was just about to come wake you. You're an early riser, aren't you? Breakfast is ready, so come and get it while it's hot."
"Thank you. I'll be right there."
I followed her to the same dining table as the night before. Everyone ate with impressive speed, though I managed to keep pace with them. Once the meal was finished, Pioro and Kurana prepared to head out for work.
"Well then, I'll leave the rest to you, Miyabi."
"Make sure you're a proper help to him."
"Leave it to me!"
I wondered briefly what that exchange was about.
"So, Ryoma, what's the plan for today? You aren't used to this town yet, right? I can show you around."
"I'd appreciate that, but are you sure you don't have work?"
"It’s fine, it’s fine. I might be the president’s daughter, but I’m only twelve. I don't really have any real responsibilities yet. Me watching the shop before was just for practice."
That made sense when she put it that way.
"Of course, right in front of me is a very strange eleven-year-old who already owns a shop and is opening a branch, but you’re an exception."
She had a point. Since she was offering to be my guide, I decided to set aside my adventurer work for the day and focus on furniture making.
"In that case, I’d like to build the furniture for the new shop today. Could you show me a place where I can buy lumber?"
"Leave it to me. I’ll take you to the best shop in town."
Miyabi puffed out her chest confidently and led the way outside. As we stepped out, Drei—the Rimur Bird I had sent to Gimul yesterday—came soaring down toward us.
"Oh."
"What is—eek!?"
Drei perched on my shoulder. He had swooped right between me and Miyabi, causing her to jump back in surprise. Her tail twitched vigorously. I recalled hearing that foxes on Earth didn't use their tails much to express emotion, but perhaps it was different for fox-kin. Or maybe it was just a reflex. Either way, I felt bad for scaring her.
"I’m sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. This is one of my tamed monsters."
"A tamed monster? Oh, I see... Now that I’m looking closer, it’s a remarkably beautiful creature."
"It’s a Rimur Bird. I had it deliver a message to my shop in Gimul."
While explaining, I removed the letter from the tube attached to the bird’s leg. The reply confirmed that Drei had reached Gimul before closing time the previous day. Everyone was set to depart early this morning and expected to arrive in three days. Everything was proceeding exactly according to plan.
I relayed the news to Miyabi, and we set off. After purchasing a large supply of lumber at a wood processing plant and storing it in my Dimension Home, we headed to my new building.
I chose the warehouse as my workshop. I tasked the acid slimes with fabricating the individual components, while the sticky slimes and I handled the assembly and reinforcement using nails and adhesive hardening fluid. In an efficient assembly-line flow, chairs, desks, and shelves began to pile up.
Miyabi watched the process in silence. I worried she might be bored, but she seemed genuinely fascinated. After a while, she spoke up softly.
"Ryoma... what exactly are these little guys?"
"They're slimes."
"No, no, no. That’s not right. There is definitely something different about them. I’ve never seen slimes like this! Why are they using tools?"
"They learned how after I trained them. It’s not just tools, either. I have slimes that know staff techniques, spearmanship, and even martial arts."
"Are you serious?"
"I am."
I shaved down a scrap piece of wood with a polish wheel and handed it to one of the sticky slimes. It immediately began a demonstration of staff techniques.
"...It really is using that staff."
"See?"
"I didn't think slimes were capable of being so dexterous."
"They were just ordinary slimes when I started, but they can reach this level with enough training."
"I had no idea."
"Most people don't. Everyone is surprised the first time they see it."
"Wouldn't this be a massive discovery if you went public?"
"Perhaps. But most people lose interest the moment they hear the word 'slime.' Besides, I’m not in any hurry to announce it."
Miyabi muttered that it was a waste and went back to observing them. After another few minutes of silence, she changed the subject.
"...Ryoma, what are you going to do next year?"
"What do you mean?"
"You're eleven now, right? Next year you'll be twelve, which means you can enroll in the Academy in the royal capital. Your shop is doing well, so it isn't like you can't afford the tuition. Are you not planning to go?"
The Academy, huh...
"I don't really have any interest in going. I'd rather spend my time training and working as an adventurer. Besides, I’ve heard the Academy is more about annoying social politics than actual learning."
Miyabi let out a long, heavy sigh.
"Haaa... so you knew."
"Did you know as well?"
"Of course. I’m starting there this year. Naturally, I gathered information. My dad told me plenty, too."
"I see... Then why did you ask me about enrolling?"
"You seem like a good person, Ryoma. It’s easier to get through a place like that if you have friends. The social hierarchies there are supposedly suffocating. More than anything, I’m good at magic. If I stand out too much at the Academy, there’s no telling what kind of weird nobles might try to sink their claws into me."
"Why go at all if it's that risky?"
"For the sake of my future as a merchant. I need to make connections. The Academy rules state that nobles and commoners are treated as equals on campus, which makes it easier to approach them than anywhere else. Even if it isn't perfectly equal in practice... I just thought it would be nice to have someone I could talk to without having to be so guarded. You seem like you'd be good at magic too, so it would have been reassuring."
She was a remarkably shrewd girl for her age. I suppose merchants are a formidable breed. Still, she wasn't alone in her thinking; apparently, many students enrolled for exactly those reasons. That was fine, but I wondered just how good she was to worry about standing out.
"How good are you with magic, exactly?"
"I can use one intermediate-tier fire spell. It’s enough to put me a head or two above the other students."
She explained that most freshmen could only use beginner magic, and a fair number only learned their first spells in the foundational classes after enrolling. Being able to use an intermediate spell would certainly make her a standout.
I vaguely recalled hearing that fox-kin were a rare branch of beast-kin who possessed high mana capacity. That likely explained her talent.
In this country, discrimination against other races was virtually nonexistent. Being a half-breed wasn't an issue, so she didn't have to worry about that. Anyone who attempted to discriminate based on race would be the one socially shunned. Apparently, otherworlders who came before me had worked hard to change the culture long ago. Of course, there was still some envy and jealousy directed at those with superior racial traits.
"I see."
"Well, if you aren't going, there’s nothing to be done. I’m not going to force you, and I wasn't expecting much anyway. I was planning on introducing you to the decent nobles so you wouldn't get caught up with the bad ones, though."
So she had been thinking about looking out for me. Shrewd or not, she seemed like a good person. I hoped things went well for her.
I cheered for her in my head while I worked. With her help on the simpler tasks, I managed to finish all the furniture and tools I needed. Once we were done, I told Miyabi that I was going to stop by the Adventurer Guild before returning home.
"Ryoma, there isn't much work for adventurers in this town right now. You'll mostly find odd jobs or medicinal herb gathering and small game hunting in the southern plains."
"Is that so? I heard back in Gimul that a powerful monster had appeared near this town."
Had it already been dealt with?
"Ah, you heard about that? Because of that monster, the northern exit is restricted to E-Rank adventurers and above."
"Is it really that dangerous?"
"No, a D-Rank party could handle it. The problem is that there aren't many E-Rank or higher adventurers living in this town."
Because of the Dragoon Guild, large monsters like wyverns frequently flew over the area. This tended to scare off other monsters, meaning creatures rarely appeared near the town in the first place.
Adventurers who reached higher ranks usually moved to other towns where the prey was more plentiful and the pay was better. It was easy to see why people would leave a place where they couldn't make a living.
Meanwhile, the local Guard Force apparently stuck strictly to patrolling the gates and the town, refusing to handle anything outside their bureaucratic remit. This made things difficult when a monster actually did show up. Regardless, the result was that the northern side of town was off-limits to anyone below E-Rank. I was glad the restriction didn't start at D-Rank.
"So I can go out since I'm E-Rank?"
"Yeah. There’s still a demand for herbs from the northern woods... Oh, that’s right, you are E-Rank. I won't tell you not to go, but please be careful. If you see that monster, run away immediately."
I thanked Miyabi and headed for the guild alone. I figured the Adventurer Guild wasn't the kind of place a girl who wasn't an adventurer would want to hang around in.
At the guild, I went straight to the reception desk to gather information. The male staff member I spoke with was the consummate professional. He looked at my E-Rank card and processed it without making a single comment about my age or appearance. He efficiently brought me the requests available for the northern region and provided information on the monsters there. The "powerful monster" everyone was worried about was a Smash Boar.
A Smash Boar... a large, short-tusked pig with incredible vitality and a thick hide. It was notoriously difficult for an average fighter to deal a fatal blow.
The description matched the creature I was thinking of perfectly. Since the subjugation request itself was restricted to D-Rank and above, I simply accepted a medicinal herb gathering request and headed back toward Pioro’s shop.
As I walked, I thought back to the letter I had received when I first arrived in this world.
The "grandparents" from my cover story were people who had actually existed here. When Gain and the others were creating my new identity, they had summoned the souls of these deceased individuals specifically to ask permission to use their names.
Those grandparents had lived in a place called Kormi Village, located deep within the Shulls Great Forest.
The Shulls Great Forest was a massive jungle known as a treasure trove of rare medicinal herbs and high-quality ores. Several villages existed on the fringes and within the forest specifically to harvest these resources, and Kormi Village was one of them.
However, the Great Forest was also a nest of monsters and one of the most dangerous regions in the country. Even the outer edges were home to packs of creatures that were D-Rank at minimum. Furthermore, the forest was haunted by the undead—zombies, skeletons, and ghosts of adventurers who had perished within.
The danger level was on a completely different scale compared to the roads I had traveled to reach Lenaf. It was a place one should never approach without a very good reason. However, when I was granted permission to use those names, I was also given the rights to their belongings. They had no heirs, and their possessions remained hidden. They had asked that I inherit their wishes along with their legacy.
It was only a request, not a command... but to retrieve those mementos, I would have to go there myself. Gain had cautioned me that if I ever intended to go to the village, I should first fight a monster with similar movement patterns to the ones I would encounter there. One of those "similar" monsters was the Smash Boar.
Apparently, with my martial arts and Qigong, it wasn't impossible for me to reach the village, even as I was when I first arrived. But there was no guarantee I would make it back alive. That was why I had stayed in the Gana Forest... and while I was there, I had gotten carried away with my hobbies and ended up staying for three years. But now that I was out in the world, I should go. A treasure trove of resources and strong monsters would be perfect for training. Besides, even if it was just a story, they were my grandparents, and I was going to be using their names for a long time. I wanted to honor their request. That meant I needed to start preparing for the Great Forest.
With those thoughts in mind, I returned to Pioro's place and enjoyed another dinner with his family.
When I mentioned during the meal that I was heading north tomorrow, Pioro asked if I could hunt the Smash Boar for him. The next instant, Miyabi jabbed him in the side and Kurana gave him a lecture with a terrifyingly sharp smile.
While I saw the boar as a training target, to Pioro, it was a nuisance that hindered trade and a potentially valuable product. Apparently, Smash Boar meat was surprisingly tender and lacked the gamey odor typical of wild boar, making it quite delicious.
If I did happen to kill one, I decided I would bring it to this shop. Even though I couldn't officially accept the subjugation quest, if I encountered it, I would have no choice but to fight. No one is expected to just stand there and be killed, after all. And if I did have to fight it, I wouldn't be able to hold back.
If I happened to run into it and ended up finishing it off, surely no one could complain. ...Wait. Was I always this aggressive? Perhaps dealing with those thugs lately had rubbed off on me. I really should be careful.
After dinner, I returned to my room and spent the evening preparing for the day ahead.