"I'm Michio. There’s no need for all the formality."
"Understood. Here is the equipment recovered from the bandits."
I looked over the items laid out before me. Leather armor, leather boots—the standard gear the bandits had been wearing was lined up in a row.
"××××××××××"
"Oh, is that so? Thank you very much. The villagers who fought the bandits will be pleased to hear that."
"I don't mind."
It seemed the Village Chief had informed the merchant that I wasn't claiming the gear from two of the bandits.
"Michio-sama, do you perhaps have no space remaining?" the merchant asked.
"Space?"
Dammit. Already hitting terms I don't know. What the hell did he mean by "space"?
"Is my Brahim perhaps poor? I am referring to the storage space used to hold equipment and such."
"...I think, probably, there isn't any left."
I didn't really get it. Was he saying there wasn't enough room on the ground here?
"Michio-sama, are you perhaps not an Adventurer?"
"No, well, I’m something along those lines."
Was there a specific definition for being an Adventurer? My cover was already starting to slip.
"If you are an Adventurer, or someone of similar standing, you should be able to use an Item Box. Is there no room left in the space where you were storing that sword you held just a moment ago?"
The Village Chief had thrown me a lifeline.
An Item Box space, huh? Sounds convenient. Durandal had disappeared because of the Character Reset, but from the Village Chief's perspective, it must have looked like I’d stowed it in some kind of magical storage.
"Item Box, Open. ...Item Space, Open. Inventory, Open. Item Bag..."
I tried whispering the commands under my breath, but nothing happened. Nothing changed. Either the incantations were wrong, or I just didn't have the skill. Either way, it wasn't something I could use right now.
I felt like the eyes of the Village Chief and the merchant were turning cold. From an objective standpoint, the sight of me muttering nonsense to myself must have been incredibly cringe-worthy.
It was painful. I felt like a total chuunibyou patient. Be... be still, my left hand.
"How is it?"
"Unfortunately, it seems the space is full."
The truth was that I couldn't use it at all, but if I admitted that, the conversation would inevitably shift to where Durandal had gone. For that matter, where did Durandal go?
"Michio-sama, have you ever been to Vale?"
"No. Never."
"I will be heading to Vale at dawn tomorrow to restock. If you like, I can load the equipment onto my wagon and transport it to the town for you. The Vale market has both weapon and armor shops. It would be best to sell them there."
The merchant made the offer. I’d half-expected him to buy the gear from me directly, but I guess not. Even if he did, he'd probably just take a massive middleman's cut anyway.
"That would be a help. I'll take you up on that."
I supposed I could also just keep some of the gear for myself instead of selling it all.
"These are the bandits' Intelligence Cards."
The merchant produced several cards about the size of a notepad.
"Intelligence Cards?"
I ended up parroting him like an idiot.
"I have had the bandits' corpses cleared away. These cards are all that remains. Some of these men likely had bounties on their heads. If you present these to the Order of Knights in Vale, you should receive a reward."
"I... see."
I understood the gist of it. In a world where bandits were rampant, bounties were a necessity. The Intelligence Cards must serve as proof of the kill. It seemed to be common knowledge in this world.
And, as I expected, they had cleared away the bodies. They weren't going to spontaneously respawn or anything. That made sense.
It would be bad if they thought I was too strange, so I accepted the Intelligence Cards without staring at them too long. Instead, I focused on acting like I was inspecting the equipment.
Several swords left behind by the bandits were piled up. There was even the iron sword the leader had used. That was likely a rank above the rest, but it didn't seem particularly rare, so I decided to sell it. If I carried around gear that was too good, I’d just be painted as a target for thieves.
The rest were all copper swords. As I looked through them using Appraisal, one stood out. It was a copper sword with an "Empty" entry in its skill category. The other copper swords didn't have a skill category at all.
"Did you find something?" the merchant asked sharply.
Durandal had skills attached to it. Most likely, "Empty" didn't mean a skill itself, but rather an open Skill Slot.
"This seems to be a good item."
"You can tell?"
I didn't actually know how to attach skills, though.
"Skill. Skill Slot. Grant Skill. Skill Manipulation."
I caught myself muttering again. Nothing happened. Nothing changed. To be fair, muttering had never actually triggered anything for me before; both Appraisal and Character Reset only required me to think them.
"When a blacksmith fuses a Skill Crystal, a skill may be attached. Does that sword have a skill on it?"
"No. Nothing is attached."
"I see."
So, I needed a Skill Crystal and possibly a blacksmith to attach a skill.
"However, this sword isn't bad. I'll take it as my personal weapon."
"You can actually tell whether it has a skill or not?" the Village Chief asked.
"More or less. Call it an Adventurer's intuition."
Since Appraisal was a Bonus Skill, there probably weren't many people who had it. I wasn't about to go around advertising that I did.
"There is a sword that belonged to the former Adventurer I mentioned earlier. Would you be willing to take a look at it? If it is a valuable item, it would make life much easier for those he left behind."
"If it's something I can identify, sure."
"Thank you very much. I will have it brought here immediately."
The Village Chief left. I continued sorting through the gear, but there didn't seem to be anything else with a skill or a Skill Slot. The same went for the iron armor and the bandana that had belonged to the leader.
Wait. Was the leader's equipment just a regular bandana?
No. The item the leader had been wearing on his head wasn't this. The Level 41 Thief had been wearing a "Thief's Bandana," not a standard one.
A regular bandana and a Thief's Bandana. Did it change when a Thief equipped it? No, that was stupid. It was clearly a different item. Which meant...
"What is this bandana?"
"I believe it was something the bandits were wearing," the merchant replied.
He didn't seem to know. None of the bandits had been wearing just a regular bandana. The Thief's Bandana from the Level 41 man was missing. It was only logical to assume it had been swapped.
If this were modern Japan, I might have just sucked it up and stayed quiet. I didn't want to stand out, and I hated conflict. But this wasn't Japan. I had a feeling that in this world, if you let people walk all over you once, you were finished.
I had come to this world, protected the village, and killed bandits—granted, it wasn't exactly out of the goodness of my heart, but still. To be stolen from in return was just too much.
Was I mistaken? No. The leader had definitely been wearing a Thief's Bandana.
"The man in charge was wearing a Thief's Bandana. This isn't it."
"What? That is..."
The merchant's face twisted in genuine shock. He seemed to be innocent, unless he was an Oscar-caliber actor.
"××××××××××"
"××××××××××"
Just then, the Village Chief returned. Judging by his reaction, he wasn't in on it either.
"Could it be... I will have it investigated immediately. Please, wait just a moment."
The Village Chief hurried away. I wondered what would happen now. Could stolen gear really be found that easily?
To be honest, I was only a Level 2 Villager. I didn't want to make too much of a scene. If the entire village had conspired to rip me off, they might all attack me at once, and I wouldn't be able to win that fight.
Did I act too hastily? Still, the thought of being stolen from and staying silent pissed me off. There was no reason to put up with that crap here.
Maybe I should get Durandal ready?
As I scanned my surroundings, a woman holding three swords appeared. These must be the former Adventurer's weapons.
"Those are the swords?" I asked the merchant.
"Indeed they are."
"May I see them?"
"××××××××××"
"××××××××××"
After the merchant spoke to her, the woman held the swords out to me. Appraisal told me her name was Tirihi. Thirty-one years old. Probably the widow. She was a blonde woman with a rustic, simple beauty—the type you'd imagine in a remote Eastern European village. To a high schooler like me, an "older woman" was still an older woman, but she wasn't bad.
Honestly, she piqued my interest. I wouldn't want to take care of her for the rest of my life, but I’d more than welcome a single night together. I was the hero who saved the village, after all. Maybe she’d offer some "gratitude" tonight? She was a widow; it wasn't outside the realm of possibility.
For now, I’d be kind. I took the first sword. It was a one-handed sword called the Rapier of Flames. It even had a skill called Flame Sword.
"This seems to be quite an impressive sword."
"Is that so?"
I took a stance with the rapier.
"Flame Sword!"
I swung the blade.
...
Nothing happened. Nothing changed. I’d just swung a sword normally. I’d done it again. Tirihi and the merchant were looking at me with total suspicion.
Great. There goes my chance with her.
However, the act of swinging it made an incantation float into my mind. Was I supposed to say this? Given the skill name, it probably added fire damage to strikes.
"O heart that calls, manifest the felt will of the sword—Torrent, Flame Sword!"
I recited the chant and swung. Instantly, a wreath of fire enveloped the blade.
Whoa. That was actually amazing.
"Hau..."
Tirihi gasped, her expression one of pure shock. Wait, wasn't this her husband's sword? I guess if she had known how to use it, she wouldn't have needed me to appraise it.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the Village Chief talking to another villager. That man also looked stunned as he watched the flaming rapier. It was a good demonstration for anyone thinking about pilfering my stuff. Even if I was currently wearing someone else's sandals.
"××××××××××"
"××××××××××"
The merchant and Tirihi were talking about something.
Man, my body felt heavy all of a sudden. It wasn't physical exhaustion, but mental—a sudden, leaden weight that made everything feel like a chore. As soon as I’d used the skill, the fatigue hit.
Was it MP consumption? I probably didn't have enough magical energy. For a Level 2 Villager, using a skill like that repeatedly was probably impossible.
"Do you think it will sell for much?" the merchant asked.
"Hard to say. I'm sorry, but I'm not very familiar with the local market. I have no idea what price it would command."
"Would you consider buying it from us, Michio-sama?"
"I really don't know the going rates. You should take it to a weapon shop in the city first. If they don't recognize its value, I’d be willing to buy it for a fair price then."
Forget the market price; I didn't even know the currency names yet.
"××××××××××"
"××××××××××"
The merchant translated, and Tirihi bowed deeply to me. Good, good. In exchange, maybe tonight we can take things slow... I can't wait.
I handed the Rapier of Flames back and moved to the next sword. It was a scimitar, also one-handed. It had two empty Skill Slots. This was likely a very valuable find.
"There are no active skills, but this is also a fine blade."
"I am told the deceased cherished it dearly."
Did he know about the slots? Was it an Adventurer's intuition, or just luck?
"Since I don't know the market price, you should have a shop look at this one too. If they try to lowball you, I’ll pay a bit extra to take it off your hands."
"××××××××××"
"××××××××××"
I handed the scimitar back to the bowing Tirihi. The last item was a perfectly ordinary dagger. It probably wasn't worth much.
"This is just a standard dagger. It’s not a bad tool, but it won't fetch a high price. A woman could easily use a blade like this. Perhaps you should keep it as a memento of your husband and use it yourself?"
I handed the dagger to Tirihi.
"××××××××××"
As the merchant translated, Tirihi’s eyes turned red. Oh, crap. Did I mess that up? She held back her tears, took the swords, and left. I felt like I’d just reminded her of her dead husband at the worst possible moment. My "flag" with her was officially shattered.
I... I'll still be waiting tonight, Tirihi-san.
As soon as she left, the Village Chief arrived with a few other men.
"Michio-sama, please accept my apologies. This man was the one who swapped the bandana."
The man hanging his head behind the Chief was wearing wooden shackles. Was he a lone wolf, or just a scapegoat?
"××××××××××"
"××××××××××"
"This is the item that was taken."
At the Chief's command, the man next to him held out the bandana. It was the Thief's Bandana. No skills.
"Yes. This is the one."
"Now then, regarding this man's punishment..." The Village Chief looked at me, gauging my reaction.
Yeah, I knew what he was getting at. He wanted me to be lenient. If they handled it quietly within the village, it wouldn't become a scandal.
"The village has its own rules. I have no intention of objecting to whatever punishment you see fit."
That should be the perfect answer. I’m a man who knows how to read the room.
"I... I see."
Wait. Did I just see a flash of disappointment in the Chief's eyes? Did I get it wrong again?
"××××××××××"
"××××××××××"
The Village Chief said something to the thief, then grabbed his shackles and pulled him forward.
"The will of the spirits flowing ceaselessly, the melody of knowledge pulsing eternally—Intelligence Card, Open!"
When the Chief chanted, a card flew out from the back of the thief's left hand.
Whoa. What the hell was that? It was the same kind of card the merchant had given me for the bandits. How did he do that? The Village Chief began muttering something toward the card.
"What did you just do?"
"I have updated this man's Intelligence Card to reflect his Slave Status. From this moment on, unless he is emancipated or bought back, he is a slave."
"I see."
No, I definitely didn't see. What did he actually do? I gathered that the Intelligence Card was a record of a person's vital information. That's why it worked as ID for the bounties.
"Village law dictates that if a breadwinner commits a theft, they are demoted to Slave Status and sold. Half of the proceeds go to the family, and the other half is paid to the victim as reparations."
Harsh. So slaves were actually a thing here.
Now I understood. The Village Chief had probably wanted me to say I didn't want to press charges. If the victim forgave the crime, they could have let it slide. It was too late for that now.
"This might not even be his first offense. Showing unearned mercy wouldn't be good for the village in the long run."
"You are absolutely right. I am deeply sorry for the trouble our villager has caused you."
"The thief has been caught. There’s no need for the Chief to apologize."
"Thank you. Have you finished inspecting the equipment?"
"Yeah."
"Then please, come to my home. Breakfast should be ready by now."
"Thanks."
I was happy to change the subject. I decided to get the hell out of there as fast as possible.