Level Eater

Having decided on their next course of action, the two wanted to depart immediately. However, a thought crept its way into Tatsuro's mind.

"If we're going there anyway, shouldn't we bring his body back with us?" (Tatsuro)

Ai's eyes popped wide open at the sudden question.

"H-H-H-How do we do tha… Are you planning on carrying him on our shoulders?" (Ai)

"Not that! The corpse isn't alive anymore so we'll put it in the item box." (Tatsuro)

"Item box… Will that even work?" (Ai)

Though they had no idea what would happen in the item box, they did put a lot of their personal belongings in there. That was precisely why Ai was strongly opposed to storing a dead body inside. Tatsuro, feeling the same way, then proposed another idea.

"I feel you. That's why I'll make a coffin for him first. We'll put him in there before storing it in the item box." (Tatsuro)

"That's… reasonable. If we're gonna give him back to his family, doing it this way will be better too." (Ai)

Tatsuro immediately grabbed onto Ai's hand for a power boost. Shifting the soil around him, Tatsuro made Elren's corpse face upwards with both of his hands at the sides. He then focused on the ground beneath Elren, compressing it into something more solid, creating a box large enough to contain Elren's body. Lastly, Tatsuro used the soil from another area to create the lid of the coffin.

"I think this should be good enough to place in the item box." (Tatsuro)

"Yeah." (Ai)

Tatsuro raised his hand. The particles of light from his hand made contact with the coffin and took it away with them. Now, he turned his attention to the coin.

"Alright, I think it's safe to say that this is ours now. We never know when we'll need it, even before making it to the adventurer's guild. We should also try to find out how to make money in this world." (Tatsuro)

"Ah, we still don't know exactly how to use that coin, right?" (Ai)

"There's the deposit thing earlier, should we try that?" (Tatsuro)

"Yeah, that seems fair." (Ai)

Touching the coin, the screen he saw before appeared once more.

|119,324 Shis confirmed in the user's possession. Deposit into the system?|

Yes/No

This time, however, Tatsuro pressed the Yes button. Immediately, the coin turned into particles that disappeared without a trace.

"Hey, uh… it's gone!" (Ai)

"No worries. It should be in the system now." (Tatsuro)

Saying so, Tatsuro booted up his own system to confirm it.

——————————–

Status

Currency: 119,324 Shis

Party

Skills

Map

Item Box + 2 (96% Free Space)

Help

——————————–

Selecting the Currency button, Tatsuro wanted to figure out how to transfer Shis. There, he saw another button with the description [Coin Withdrawal]. Pressing it made another screen pop out, asking Tatsuro how much he wanted to withdraw. Thinking of a 50-50 split, he entered 59,662 Shis into the new screen and confirmed the transaction.

As soon as he had done so, a coin, not different from the one before, appeared on his hand. Wanting to know if Ai could deposit the coin the same way he did, Tatsuro called out to her.

"Ai, try placing a finger on this coin." (Tatsuro)

"Heee… Another coin. It feels weird somehow." (Ai)

Ai placed the tip of her finger on the coin. Seeing the look on Ai's face allowed Tatsuro to affirm that the procedure for depositing currency was the same for both of them.

The two continued to learn about where, when, and how they could use the money from Help. Before concluding their study session, they found out that they could easily convert the system-deposited currency into coins just by focusing their mind on it.

This, once again made them wonder at how advanced the level of technology was as compared to Earth.

"I know this system thingy is high tech sci-fi stuff, but I can't say the same for the people's appearances… It feels more like foreigners from centuries ago." (Ai)

Amid their walk, Ai suddenly spoke those words.

Ai stated that despite her sample size of one, Elren. However, it did make sense. The letter's content and handwriting looked as though it was something out of a novel. In addition, Elren's clothing had this archaic feeling in them. If that was the standard clothing in this world, then they could only assume that Ai's conjecture was true.

"Yeah… If we enter the town wearing our jerseys, we might as well look like exotic animals there." (Tatsuro)

"If we're gonna visit Elren-san's family, shouldn't we at least change back into our uniforms?" (Ai)

"That might be better but still… We can't be sure until we ask the otherworlders what they thi… Isn't that the junction we're looking for!?" (Tatsuro)

"Where!?" (Ai)

Tatsuro pointed at a cobblestone path that split from the gravel road they were on. They could only see a small part of it as it stretched out to the right of the road.

"That's our goal, right? Let's go!" (Ai)

"No… That's not the goal, that's just the beginning." (Tatsuro)

Rebuking her for the early celebration, Tatsuro looked at his map to make sure they were at the right place. He gave a quick look at their current position and the position of the cobblestone path.

"That path looks like it. Finally, a decent road." (Tatsuro)

"Yep!" (Ai)

Walking on an uneven road for such a long time, their mood rose when they saw that their feet would now be trotting on better ground.

"Alright. I'm gonna run ahead for a bit!" (Ai)

"Ah, wait… up… Sheesh, are you a primary schooler?" (Tatsuro)

Seeing his efforts to stop her go in vain, Tatsuro feigned a fed-up face but could not conceal the smile on his lips. As he continued to watch her, he started to let go of all the complicated thoughts and wanted to just enjoy the moment.

"Tatsuro— Good job getting here!" (Ai)

"Yeah, yeah…" (Tatsuro)

In the end, Tatsuro managed to catch up to Ai but not without tiring himself out in a short sprint. That got him thinking if there's any transportation magic in the skill shop for him to pick up. With that in mind, he looked at the cobblestone path that they've finally managed to reach. Unlike the previous gravel path that they walked on, the cobblestone one was properly maintained.

"Hmm… I asked Help, but it said that this is just your regular cobblestone road. Maybe science didn't progress too much here." (Tatsuro)

"So… Does that mean no microwaves and fridges?" (Ai)

"There's still magic, you know? Even if there is no electricity, it wouldn't be strange if they had something else in place." (Tatsuro)

"I see," replied Ai as she started to imagine what this world has to offer that could potentially replace the modern world appliances.

The first thing that appeared in her thoughts was a certain robotic cat that always had those strange tools in its pocket that could do virtually anything.

"Yeah… It might be more convenient here than back on Earth for all we know. I'm getting my hopes up for that. But… this road is a lot easier on my feet." (Ai)

"Right? It looks like a lot of people use it too. And looking at how long the path is, it's amazing how much effort they spent on it." (Tatsuro)

Confused at what he just said, Ai moved next to Tatsuro and looked straight ahead of the path.

"Wow… This is incredible! You think they placed every stone here by hand?" (Ai)

"Uhh… Wouldn't they use magic for this kind of stuff?" (Tatsuro)

"Right. Magic here is a lot more all-purpose than what people on Earth made it to be I guess." (Ai)

"Magic here is based on the user's imagination so if the situation allows it, even spells thought on the fly would get activated… —and that's not something we should be surprised about for now. We should try to get to the town before it gets dark." (Tatsuro)

"What are we waiting for!?" (Ai)

On their way, the two met another one of those caterpillars and a new kind of insect, both burned by Tatsuro's magic as soon as they made contact.

Prioritizing speed, the two proceeded down the path without any major obstacles. As time passed, they eventually reached a crossroad marked by an extra path extending to the right at what seemed like a perpendicular angle.

"We just go straight, right?" (Ai)

"Lemme check… Ah, yep. It's just straight ahead" (Tatsuro)

"Roger!" (Ai)

At that moment, the sound of animal footsteps and wheels coming from the other branch of the road entered the ears of the two.

""A carriage!?""

The two Japanese youths, surprised by the sight of something they had never seen before, suddenly raised their voices.

"Wooow… This is the first time I'm actually seeing one. Wait… Does that mean they still use those in this world?" (Tatsuro)

"Uhh… Maybe this is one of those areas where they still try to…." (Ai)

"Ah, it's coming this way!" (Tatsuro)

Hearing the increasing loudness, Tatsuro narrowed his eyes and looked far into the other path to check.

"I guess you're right. It'd be great if they weren't a criminal or something but…" (Tatsuro)

"Yeah. Should we make a plan for it?" (Ai)

"We should try going for the friendly route, but don't let your guard down. We might need to act differently based on the situation here. We share anything we notice with telepathy. Is that alright?" (Tatsuro)

"Roger that!" (Ai)

With their hands trembling, the two started to assess the other party. In response, the carriage also stopped in its tracks.

Not knowing whether it was done with good or bad intentions, the two felt the tension rise as they headed for the carriage.

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