Water Magician

Editor: Tseirp

An hour later.

The two stood at the entrance of the town.

“…I’m really exhausted. It was more like a jungle than a forest.”

“…Wouldn’t it have been better to come on Ryo’s ship?”

“Well, now that we know the other side of the town faces the sea, I admit that would have been the right way… but it’s not like we could see that from the beach we were on!”

The town seemed hidden in the depths of the forest, so the two had resigned themselves to coming by land, only to find that the back of the town faced the sea.

It might indeed have been easier to come by sea from the beach…

The town appeared quite large, but there seemed to be no walls.

“It’s rare in the Central Countries. Unless it’s a pioneering village, towns of this size usually have walls.”

Said the swordsman who had been a king in the Central Countries.

So, this wasn’t the Central Countries?

Well, being near the equator, it was obvious it wasn’t.

“It must mean there are no powerful monsters that would attack the town. At least, not on land.”

“I see. It’s good that it’s peaceful.”

Ryo nodded happily at Abel’s explanation.

Peace is the best.

Even for a battle enthusiast, peace is the best, right?

It’s called ‘Parabellum’.

Si vis pacem, para bellum.

If you want peace, prepare for war.

There seemed to be no walls, and the entrance… well, the place they assumed to be the entrance, was where the stalls started lining up.

From there, the two entered the town.

But before entering, Ryo firmly told Abel.

In a strict tone that allowed no rebuttal:

“Once we find out where this place is on the map, we’re leaving immediately!”

Another hour later.

“Mm~, this is really delicious! They fried the rice with salt and pepper… what is this? It’s moderately spicy. It’s not fried rice because it doesn’t have eggs mixed in… the eggs are sunny-side-up on top, which is nice.”

Ryo praised the food.

“Ryo, you said we’d leave as soon as we found a map.”

Abel said, exasperated.

“Maps that include neighboring countries can sometimes be state secrets, so they’re not that easy to get. More importantly, the food is delicious. There might not be any cake, but tasty food is justice.”

Ryo said happily, eating the fried rice with a spoon.

Across from him, Abel, who had been scolding him, was also eating happily.

Both loved good food.

“The slightly sweet and spicy one was also delicious. Should we order another plate? Owner! Another one of these, please!”

When Ryo called out, the cook, a little distance away, raised his right hand in acknowledgment.

Ryo assumed it meant ‘Got it’.

Abel looked at this out of the corner of his eye.

Noticing Abel’s gaze, Ryo said:

“What’s with that look? I’m not expecting you to treat me. You don’t have any money, right?”

“Ah… sorry about that.”

Ryo said, and Abel apologized honestly.

Yes, Abel was penniless.

Having been transported from the battlefield with the Djinn Garwin, Abel had no money.

It’s only natural that a king wouldn’t carry money on the battlefield…

Ryo had been given money by the delegation during his activities in the Western Countries, so he had some on him.

Moreover, the money from the Western Countries could be used in this town as well.

The same applied to the Central Countries; the value of gold, silver, and copper coins corresponded to their monetary value, so they could be used across different cultural areas.

Thanks to that, the two could eat.

If it had been paper money, it would have been difficult…

“When we safely return to the Kingdom, I’ll charge you with interest, so don’t worry.”

“…I don’t know what interest is, but go easy on me.”

In a world without banks, where even guild deposits didn’t accrue interest, there seemed to be no concept of interest.

Different worlds come with different challenges.

After enjoying their meal for a while, Ryo paid the bill.

“Owner, it was very delicious. Thank you.”

“လာစားပြန်တယ်။”

“Yes, I’ll come back to eat again.”

“ဘာကြောင့်လဲဆိုတော့အခြားအရသာရှိတဲ့အစားအစာတွေရှိတယ်”

“There are other recommended dishes? That sounds exciting.”

And so, the two left the shop.

“How are you able to have a conversation despite not understanding the language…?”

“Conversation is about the heart. Differences in language are trivial. I was taught that body language is fundamental long ago.”

Indeed, they couldn’t understand the language.

Both Ryo and Abel had no understanding of the language spoken in this town.

Despite this… they were lured by the delicious smell of a shop, struggled to place an order, and ended up enjoying a delicious meal.

It must have been Ryo’s cheerful smile that helped.

Even though they couldn’t understand each other, the owner cooked with a smile.

Of course, whether ‘cheerful’ is the right expression here can be debated.

Smiles are indeed a powerful weapon.

“So Abel, what do we do next?”

“Even if you ask that… I can’t think of any good ideas.”

The best option was to obtain a map.

The next best option was to at least see a map, find out where they were, and how to return to the Central Countries.

They knew the information they wanted.

The problem was how to obtain that information.

“Isn’t it problematic that we don’t understand the language in the first place?”

“That’s true. But I had heard that Central Countries’ language is widely understood around the world…”

“Isn’t that the arrogance of people from the Central Countries? Thinking they are the world’s standard is quite presumptuous!”

“I-I kinda feel bad…”

For some reason, Ryo pointed it out arrogantly, and for some reason, Abel apologized.

“The Central Countries’ language is understood worldwide.”

“Right. What I said isn’t wrong, is it?”

“Yeah. Isn’t it just laziness not to learn it?”

“Really… I was almost falsely accused by Ryo again.”

“…Abel, who are you talking to?”

“Huh?”

Ryo asked Abel, who was facing him.

Abel looked at Ryo in surprise.

It definitely wasn’t Ryo’s voice.

Moreover, the voice came not from in front but from behind.

Abel turned around.

No one was there.

“Down here.”

Following the voice, he looked down to see a boy of about ten years old.

“Hello.”

“Oh, hello.”

The boy greeted him, and Abel reflexively returned the greeting.

Then he realized.

“You can speak the Central Countries’ language?”

“Yes, of course. It’s only natural for someone who aims to make a living in trade to learn it.”

The boy nodded firmly in response to Abel’s question.

Moreover, his responses were precise.

His family probably ran a business, and he was trained from a young age.

That was likely the strength of a founding family.

Growing up in an environment where such things were expected from a young age.

“Abel, that’s great. Your luck isn’t so bad after all.”

Ryo said happily.

The boy’s Central Countries’ language was very fluent.

Far more so than the Central Countries’ language spoken by adventurers from the Dark Continent that he had heard before.

“I don’t know if it’s my luck… Boy, my name is Abel. What’s yours?”

“My name is Banhu, Abel-san.”

“Alright, Banhu. We want a map of this town… or rather, a map of the area around this town. Can you guide us to where we can get one? Of course, we won’t ask you to do it for free. This guy in the robe, Ryo, will pay you properly.”

Abel began negotiating.

However, upon hearing this, Banhu tilted his head slightly.

Then he said,

“I’m sorry, Abel-san. I can’t fulfill that request.”

“Why not?”

“Maps of the area around the town are prohibited from being taken outside. So, you can’t obtain one.”

Banhu said this with an apologetic expression.

“Can we at least see one somewhere?”

Abel continued negotiating.

He wanted to at least know where this town was located.

“That is possible. We run an inn, and there is a large map of the surrounding area there. It includes some of the surrounding islands as well, and we show it to guests who stay with us.”

“Banhu seems likely to become a great merchant in the future.”

Ryo murmured at Banhu’s words.

Abel looked at Ryo.

Of course, Ryo understood what Abel was implying and had no reason to oppose it.

It was almost three in the afternoon.

If they left the town now, they would end up spending the night outside.

Wanting to sleep in a bed after a long time is only natural.

That feeling doesn’t change even for adventurers accustomed to camping.

The two headed towards the inn guided by Banhu.

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