Early in the morning we started our journey to the horror city of Seitheargnagh.

Shining through chunky clouds the pale sun was.

Speech disorder possible to cure is.

There were five extremely dangerous places in this world I did not want to visit: White Forest, Deep Basement, Alphons Room, the front line of the war, and Seitheargnagh. And as expected, I was basically forced to visit one of these places I absolutely did not want to visit.

Just Mu-Ur things, I guess.

A large, heavy wooden oblong box was lifted between the seats of our horse carriage. I could only assume the box was full of long firearms. The butler of the inn helped me to carry the box through a side door while Crys and Kimono talked with some hungover merchants in the lobby.

Hey, I'm not your roadie, heavy physical labor wasn't mentioned in the contract!

Well, it's fine.

I don't care to talk to sleazy merchants or bribe gate guards like Crys and I can't ride coach like Kimono. We all have our own roles in the party.

Mingling with sleazy and violent gangsters was stressful on its own, so I really didn't need the extra stress of traveling to areas with inhuman monsters.

Real monsters were rare, but they existed in this world: grotesque mutants like deviant lords, ghost-like apparitions like the Stick Witch, and overtech-infected level bosses like Lucranah. The main characters with strange abilities were rare creatures too, but at least they looked and acted like humans, to a degree.

Crys and Kimono appeared as I was thinking alternate routes to bypass monsters. We were about ready to leave.

“So, Crys, I hope you didn't work too late. Or did you just want to see the fashion show?”

“I checked your background.” (Crys)

“...That was the work you had to do last night?”

“Yes.”

What can I say to that? He probably went out to check Gerany's shop and Warm Revenge Inn because I told him about those. What else did he check?

“Uh, I hope there wasn't too many fake names I left behind...”

“Names are irrelevant. The actions you took after coming to this city do not contradict your story. The information you provided holds water. Your reaction now, me telling this to you, does not contradict your story.” (Crys)

“...Okay then. Good work.”

I guess my actions did not contradict my story.

Crys checked the coach lamps and returned inside the inn to retrieve oil. He left me and Kimono alone outside.

Kimono glanced at me and climbed silently on the driver's seat.

“So, we are just going to Seitheargnagh to drop some weapons, and then return to Crumbling Shores as fast as possible?”

“Ask brother.” (Kimono)

Kimono was... avoiding me. Well, that was normal for her character. She was usually the silent assassin working in the background, keeping both physical and emotional distance to everyone except her brother. She was good at acting, so I had no way to tell what was going inside her head.

At least she wasn't lashing me with the coachwhip.

She hadn't mentioned anything about last night to Crys, as expected. Did something happen last night? Nothing happened.

---

We left the city through the eastern gate. The weather was cloudy and morning mist was quite thick, so I couldn't see much of the farmlands outside the city walls.

There were several horse wagons moving on the muddy road, heading to Crumbling Shores with their wares and produce to sell them, and we didn't want to get into a traffic accident.

Yep, Crys was right in adding oil to coach lamps. We needed them even though it wasn't dark.

Our ride resembled a black park drag drawn by one docile horse. Kimono sat at the driver's seat wearing a box coat, me and Crys relaxed inside the carriage sitting opposite of each other, resting our legs on the weapon box.

In the first episode of the anime, Crys and Kimono already had a small four-seater mining vehicle that looked like Komatsu LAV designed by Henry Ford (as one fan of the series nicely described it in a pinned thread about the Strangers' vehicles). At this point in time, Crys didn't have that vehicle yet.

“So, speaking of transportation, you will use a Strangers mining vehicle to move around after relocating to the north. It's a lot faster and more convenient than horse carriage.”

“Really now? Where do I get one?” (Crys)

“Ah, unfortunately I lack detailed knowledge about that. But it should somewhere in the Wineep Isthmus where Caliph's troops are stationed; before Starfish Mansion, you had a base of operations in a remote mountain village called Waterfall Village.”

“I see. Would you then recommend building a base of operations at the northern mountains?” (Crys)

That's just like Crys, immediately moving the conversation to a different topic and taking control.

“No, that is not necessary. The Starfish Mansion at the northern moors of Loönois will be our base from the start.”

“I see. If I had to choose a safe location in the north, a remote village at the mountains would not be a bad option.” (Crys)

“Your future self would approve. Anyway, I'll draw you a picture of the vehicle so you'll recognize it when you see it.”

I took out the calligraphy set from my messenger bag. Drawing in a moving horse carriage wasn't optimal, but I just had to do a quick sketch.

“You said you ultimately want to travel to the Pier City on the east coast, then to the west coast of Mu Continent, and only then to Wineep Isthmus?” (Crys)

“Yeah, we should do it like that after we get Dancer and maybe Test Subject in the party.”

“You practically wish to travel around the world.” (Crys)

“Well, yeah... that's where it lands, because I think it's the most efficient route timing-wise and goes around several bad choke points. Hitch a ride on a sailing ship on east coast, then wrap around to western Mu from eastern Ur.”

Around the World in Eighty Days like Phileas Fogg, the true OG speedrunner of western literature.

Go east, circumnavigate the globe and come back from the west.

There's no concept of time zones here, so saving a full day by following the rising sun is not a thing, though.

If Crys is Phileas Fogg, am I his valet Passepartout? I'd rather think of us as Captain Nemo's crew trying to overthrow imperialism, though, with Starfish Mansion being our Nautilus.

“I mean, it we could skip east coast, it would be faster to go west and make an U-turn, but we need to take this route because there's dynamite at Pier City.”

“Dynamite?” (Crys)

“Yes, that's the main point of going to Pier City. Dynamite sticks are explosive cylinders, around this size, that Strangers used in dungeon mining back in the day. It's like gunpowder, but it looks like soft clay and is more powerful. A short stick explodes like a big barrel full of gunpowder.”

“Hou? Interesting. Even more explosive weapons.” (Crys)

“Yeah, I thought you would like it. Pier City is the only place you can still find working dynamite.”

“And ultimately you wish to do something to Caliph and Suleiman with this dynamite.” (Crys)

“Yeah, explosives are the fastest way to deal with strong enemies. Dancer is our backup Plan Z, but dynamite is our Plan A. Right now I'm thinking of blowing up the top of Rukhkh Mountain when Caliph Tze is in the temple... well, Plan A is still just a sketch at this point. We shoud decide what to do with the dynamite together, right?”

Strangers Dynamite was Mu-Ur speedrunners best friend. You could skip so many blocks with it: destroy walls, decos, enemies, friendlies, even cutscenes. Just name it and puff, it's gone.

Runners mostly used it just to destroy stuff because dynamite jump boosts were not consistent in Mu-Ur and even if you succeeded explosion-boosting yourself for a short-term timesave, you ruined your long-term timesaves because you lost health and damaged your health maximum as well. In Mu-Ur, this directly translated to permanently lower speed and stamina for your character.

If you played with Reavertooth or Ivorythief, you didn't need dynajumps to reach high platforms anyway. Keeping your healthmax at hundred percent as long as possible was the first rule of Mu-Ur speedrunning.

“A living weapon and sticks more powerful than gunpowder. It truly is the kind of fantastic story that sounds too good to be true.” (Crys)

“Yeah, well – look, I fully understand that I'm sharing breaking news worth thousands of krúricks here. I also fully understand how much I'm asking from you. I can dig up the biggest guns in existence and you'll follow me on my quest around the world. And in the end, we both want to kill Caliph Tze. It balances out, right?”

“I wonder if it does.” (Crys)

“It does, trust me. You want to know my motivations? I just want to get this campaign done as fast as possible, with lowest possible risk and minimal health loss. Money and power are inconsequential to me in comparison. I actually want to leave behind enough useful infor for you to kill Caliph Tze even without me. If I get killed, you can continue with my info. You're my backup plan too, I'm not doing this just to myself, I'm doing this for the good of whole humankind. It's a good trade for both of us, isn't it? We save everyone by killing Caliph Tze, then you get your revenge on Suleiman and become rich and powerful as a side effect of all this.”

“It seems my evaluation was correct. You are the type who sacrifices himself for the sake of others.” (Crys)

“Is that bad?”

“Anything else you wish besides this explosive weapon?” (Crys)

“Well... I do have one personal request.”

“What is it?” (Crys)

“Could you teach me how to shoot?”

Crys tilted his head. I could see a glint of amusement in his eyes.

“Really, what kind of life did you live in the place you came from? Your teeth, skin and hair tell me you've lived a life of luxury, but you distinctly lack the mannerisms of High Nobles. I can see you haven't spend much time outside and you've lived in a peaceful territory where you didn't have to be cautious of people around you, and you could even afford to spend resources to help others. But clearly something happened recently and your life changed.” (Crys)

“Yeah, that's all correct.”

“A life resembling that of mine.” (Crys)

“Something like that, yes. But I mostly just pla– tried to master the time travel device. I didn't read new books or learn new practical skills every day like you. Or mostly I learned about glitches and bugs and Strangers stuff.”

“A lazy son of a lower noble was obsessed with a strange device built by Strangers, then traveled backwards in time to save the world. A heavy responsibility was placed on the shoulders of a weak person with naïve ideals and desperate disposition.” (Crys)

“It's a ridiculous story when you think about it like that, isn't it?”

“Yet you convinced me to write a contract. Yet you have succeeded in making me seriously consider journey around the world.” (Crys)

“I have? Really?!”

“First, I find it refreshing to meet a person with such peculiar ideas and desires. Second, you don't lie most of the time, you simply withhold information you have judged to be too, let's say, dangerously picturesque, which is certainly understandable for a so-called man of the future. To put it simply: I look forward to hearing more unbelievably valuable information for free.” (Crys)

Yeah, this prodigy wasn't easily amused, but he was seriously interested in solving the puzzle of a man called Speedrun.

Let's stay mysteriously desperate so that he doesn't get bored with me.