Reno POV
Day 113
Today we visit the capital of Pheono, the country of the fish people.
Like we always do, we came here with 2 objectives in mind.
The first is to trade with the people of this country.
Since we have been in the care of miss Shaina who hired us as one of her workers.
I together with Emika and Akemi am tasked to sell the weapons and armor she makes.
Our second objective is simple, it is to explore the place and sightsee the places that would only exist in fantasy.
We used the teleport gate exclusive for the workers of the scale atelier to use in business-related matters.
There we found ourselves in a very interesting place.
We found ourselves surrounded by water.
We are literally inside a giant underwater observatory.
No, let me correct that, we are inside an underwater city.
A large dome of an invisible force field enveloped the entire city.
This is the most famous and the only underwater city inhabited by the fish people, the city of Palaeton, the capital of the country of Pheono.
It’s been a while since we got transported from another world and are working as a merchant for miss Shaina.
We’ve been to many places, thanks to our line of work.
The places we visited are nothing less than spectacular.
We managed to visit the capital city of the Beastmen in Triana.
The cute and unique-looking buildings inspired by animal heads are very amusing.
We also visited the capital city of Claren, the country of the Salamanders.
Unlike the unique building of the beastmen in Triana, Claren may look barren at first but their simple houses are made out of dried mud and mana crystals and it glows beautifully during the night.
The Crystal mixed with the dried mud glows wonderfully during the night time making the place bright and lively even at nighttime.
In a way, it would remind you of our former world for all the wonderful and various colored lights all around the streets during the night.
We also visited the Kingdom of Marchial and witness an out-of-place setting in this alternate world.
The city was very developed, out of all the countries we visited, the kingdom of Marchial was the most technologically advanced of all of them.
As one might expect from the Kingdom of the Dwarves.
They already reach the age of the industrial revolution in which their country was a perfect description of what people in our world call “Steam Punk”.
It’s not only the places that are interesting but also the citizen of these countries that is a sight to be seen.
The fish people, who at first glance look like normal people if not for the fin attached to their heads like ears.
These people are very meticulous about what they look like as their race values beauty above everything else.
In the same way, there are beastmen who values strength and power.
The various varieties of their animal features are so cute but don’t be deceived as they are a race that values strength.
The members of this race are mostly battle freaks.
There are also Salamanders.
They live in the country of Claren.
Salamanders are lizardmen, they have a humanoid bodies, their skin is covered with scales, and they look like lizards.
Their race values their territory and culture.
They may look like barbarians because of their shabby houses but on the contrary are very intelligent, kind, and well-civilized individuals.
Lastly, there are the crafty and hardworking dwarfs of the Marchial kingdom.
Dwarves were a sight to behold as they look exactly as I imagined them to be.
I've read about them in the fairy tales I read once when I was young.
I could only imagine them from drawings and depictions written in books.
When I finally saw them in person I was so emotional.
I could not help but feel like a child when visiting a new place in this world.
It’s only been about 4 months and I and my best friends have already visited a lot of interesting places.
Yes, the time we had in this world was very interesting.
At first, I was quite frustrated with the fact that many of our classmates gained powerful abilities after getting transferred into this world.
I mean...
Who doesn't want to use magic right? It's magic for god's sake, why would you not want to use it at least once?
I was envious of the fact that my other classmates could now use magic.
I saw them move their body like they were in some kind of martial art movie.
They can do these impossible stunts after having their physical capabilities boosted.
All thanks to what we call “Stats”.
I too had such a boost but not to the point where I can be confident to fight against a monster.
In the first place, I am not the type who is interested in any kind of violence.
I was just intrigued by the magic and all.
If you ask me to fight a monster, I would proudly say NO.
The best way to keep yourself safe is to stay away from those monsters.
I am thankful that I did not have a battle-related "Job Class" and ended up having the "Scholar” as my Job Class.
With this, I can avoid fighting monsters altogether,
Thank god for that.
More than 3/4 of the people of this world has non-fighting related job class such as mine.
Some may think that not having a battle-related job in this world is bad luck.
But I do believe that having a support-type job class is better.
I don't have to fight monsters, meaning I am safe.
I can look for ways of living in this world other than becoming an adventurer, I can be a receptionist, writer, and such.
Since I am now a merchant by profession, my income is comparable to a C-rank adventurer.
The only bad side I could see is the fact that I can't protect myself when faced with such danger, for example, facing a monster.
Well, if you are careful you can never be in such an encounter.
If so, your luck had just run out and that means it's your time to go.
My Job Class, "Scholar" is a job class that specializes in the pursuit of knowledge.
They are adept at learning skills utility skills such as Memorization, Calculation, Thought Acceleration, and many useful skills.
In a way, these skills are a replacement for the “Computers” in our former world when it comes to my line of work.
With this, I am now able to learn more about the things in this world.
I can just do the thing I enjoy the most, "learning".
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“…” <Reno>
I am now reading about a book I purchased some time ago.
The book's title is, “Job Class: Theories of Individuality and Soul”.
It is a complicated book written by my fellow Scholars of the past.
It was a very interesting read, as I’ve learned about the job classes in this world.
According to the book, job classes are set by the God of this world.
It is already determined before birth as it is imprinted into your soul.
The Scholars concluded that the job classes are somehow related to the nature/personality of the individual’s soul.
This also explains why a female is most likely to get a support-type job class as males tend to get a battle-related job class.
As it is stated in the book, Females tend to obtain such job classes because females, in general, have no interest in “Battle”, they prefer something more subtle such as “Arts”, “Knowledge”, “clothes”, and "Beauty".
All of which is not particularly helpful in battle.
Thus, they gain the job class, “Artist”, “Scholar”, “Merchant” and such.
Males tend to be interested in battle, and thus they would get "jobs Class" related to it.
There are some exemptions to this cycle but most of the time it follows this trend.
The exemption would even prove the validity of this research.
Male who tends to get support jobs are naturally timid and hates fighting, while a female who gets a battle-related job class is usually battle junkies themselves.
“Hmnn… interesting, interesting…” <Reno>
I muttered to myself after reading this book.
“Reno-chan, what are you reading this time?” <Girl>
A cute girl with short brown hair tied into a twin tail looked over and started talking to me.
She was about my age, and she is a person that I’ve known since I was young.
A lovely and cheerful girl full of energy and smiles.
Her name is Ueda Emika
“Oh, it’s about a study explaining why would someone get a certain job class concerning their personalities.” <Reno>
“Hee… how does that work?” <Girl/Emika>
Emika asked nonchalantly.
“Well, basically it says that your job class is determined by the gods after birth depending on your personality.” <Reno>
“Hee…” <Emika>
“For example, people who naturally love money and trading tends to get the job class “Merchant”.” <Reno>
“Wow, that’s so true since I love money and I’m quite good at trading, my parent was working as vendors in our world after all. If I am to say if I like or hate trading, I am leaning towards “like” more.” <Emika>
Emika said while remembering the past.
Doing the same I somehow relate my personality to my job class.
“As for me, I love to study, that might be the reason I gained the job class “Scholar”.” <Reno>
All of a sudden, another girl joined their talk as she entered the room.
“Following that logic, since I am quite meticulous and curious about things, I gained the job class “Appraiser” is it?” <Akemi>
The one who joined our conversation was a girl with short hair.
Originally her hair is color black but for some reason ever since we came into this world her hair started to change color.
It's because of the effect of her mana circulation making her hair change color.
Right now, her hair is transitioning from black into gray, it seems that it would eventually turn to the color white soon.
In a way, I think that her having this hair color suits her very much.
Her pretty red-rimmed glasses only make her look better.
This girl's name is Chino Akemi.
“That is the case.” <Reno>
I said in response to her comments.
Right, this girl is very observant.
She is a very curious girl.
Like me, she also loves to study, and she's very interested in the things all around her.
Whenever we encounter new things in this world, she would have her way to know what it was, what it does, what it is for, and more specifics to satisfy her curious mind.
Now that we're talking about such an interesting topic, there is no wonder that Akemi is also interested in the topic.
“Oh, Akemi you’re back. How is the stocking of the goods?” <Reno>
“It’s all done, we're good to go for business tomorrow.” <Akemi>
“Nice!” <Emika>
Emika gave her a thumbs up.
It seems that she’s done checking the goods that we will sell later on and now she leisurely joined our little talk.
“That book’s topic is very interesting, it’s like a personality test of some sort.” <Akemi>
“Haha, yeah in a way it kinda is.” <Reno>
“Then can that book explain how our boss is a Blacksmith and not a Merchant?” <Akemi>
Said Akemi in a joking manner.
"..." <Akemi>
“Ah…” <Reno>
“Oh… haha that’s true…” <Emika>
I and Emika had a funny reaction after thinking about it for a little bit
Surprisingly, her word which is meant to be a joke made sense.
“Come to think of it… yeah… judging from the personality of miss Shai, she definitely should be a merchant.” <Reno>
I said as I made sense of the reason why our boss, Shaina had the job class “Blacksmith” rather than “Merchant”.
“Right? She loves money so much, how the hell did she become a blacksmith?” <Emika>
Emika said without holding back.
At that moment my eyes went wide as I saw a figure of a familiar girl behind Emika.
“Well… I do love coins.. it is made out of a kind of “Metal”, maybe that is the reason?” <Girl's voice>
We tried to warn Emika but she just kept on talking with a wide smile on her face.
“Hahaha, no way! She should have the job class “Con-artist” or something… oh right there’s no such job. Maybe that’s why?” <Emika>
Emika said with a loud and joyful voice, mocking their boss.
“Hmmn… Merchant, I can understand but… why “Con artist”?” <Girl's voice>
“Hahaha, ain’t the answer obvious? That woman is a two-faced monster. She may look friendly and sweet at first but the truth is that she is a very manipulative fellow.” <Emika>
“Manipulative… you say? Why is that?” <Girl's voice>
“Did you forget? Why else would I not say otherwise? She’s very deceptive! Remember, she forced us to sign a contract after deceiving us, and look... now we have a debt of more than 700,000,000 DAL. She even deceived Kazue unknowingly by getting to her sign a purchase receipt without her realizing it. If you ask me that’s a “SCAM” a BIG FREAKING “SCAM” YOU HEAR? Don’t be deceived by her friendly smiles. She’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing. A sly fox, a cunning and manipulative devil.” <Emika>
I and Akemi have noticed this for a while...
A girl with braided black hair was standing there with a wide smile.
She was wearing her usual attire of a simple white shirt and working shorts.
She also wears a goggle over the top of her head like a hairband while wearing a pair of leather gloves.
She has hands crossed over her modest chest and was looking at Emika with a wide smile.
This personage is our boss, Shaina Stirling, the owner of the most popular smithing shop in Scale Atelier, "Shaina's Armor and Weapon Workshop".
Shaina had been listening to our conversation and joined like it was natural.
Earlier I too was about to make a joke about miss Shaina’s personality but after seeing her, I got scared.
Miss Shaina is a really scary person, and just as Emika had said, miss Shaina is a wolf in a sheep’s clothing.
You can never know what she’s thinking.
She may have a cozy atmosphere around her but she’s sly and uses this impression of others toward her to her advantage.
She would use this advantage to squeeze out every last ounce of money she could out of any situation.
This is why the three of us owe her a total of about 700,000,000 DAL.
Because we are bound by a contract that states that we could not cut our ties with her unless we pay the full amount, we are stuck working for her until we pay off all of our debt.
[Oh my god… she’s pissed! Emika STOP] <Reno>
I prayed as was I trying to give all kinds of signals to Emika who is still ignorant of the fact that our boss was there.
“Hmnnn… sou?1"sou"-> Really?” <Girl's Voice/ Shaina>
She hummed, her sweet voice gave me goosebumps all over my body.
Her voice was solemn yet threatening.
At last, Emika finally realized that the person whom she had been talking to for a while now was non-other than the person she was bad-mouthing.
Emika slowly turned around and saw her.
Shaina smiles at Emika, but her aura was projecting an opposite meaning from her friendly smile.
“I see… I wonder, so that is how you see me, Emika… after all the things I have done for you…” <Shaina>
“AH!!! IT’S THE SLY--- NO! NO! I WAIT! WAIT... I WAS JUST JOKING!” <Emika>
Emika was about to say “Sly Fox” but she managed to stop herself and tried to make an excuse instead.
Although I think it was too late for that.
“Joking… but you sounded serious…” <Shaina>
“NO! YOU MUST HAVE HEARD WRONG! RIGHT? RENO, AKEMI!” <Emika>
Emika was trying to ask for help from me and Akemi; Akemi and I were unable to say a word and only stared at miss Shaina.
Miss Shaina just smiled as if nothing happened and continued to speak.
“Oh, so you were just joking… I was shocked hearing those words from you, to be honest, you girls are the best workers I have so it feels bad hearing that you think of me that way after all this time.” <Shaina>
She placed her left hand over her left cheek acting troubled.
“Oh, no! I was only joking; I knew you were there from the start and I only want to tease you… RIGHT? RENO, AKEMI? HAHA- HAHAHA” <Emika>
Emika winked at us to back her up.
“Well…” <Reno>
“That’s…” <Akemi>
“Is that true Reno, Akemi?” <Shaina>
Miss Shaina asked while looking at the two of us.
I wanted to save myself but as a friend, I tried to back her up and replied hesitantly.
“uh… Yeah… I think so… I guess...” <Reno>
-nods vigorously- <Akemi>
There was a quick pause of silence.
She closed her eyes in contemplation.
“Oh, I see… I must have missed heard some things…” <Shaina>
All of a sudden miss Shaina’s tone became lively once again.
She was in her usual mood.
It was quite obvious that she decided to let it slide.
“Anyway…” <Shaina>
Miss Shaina placed one of her hands over Emika’s shoulder.
The air felt cold all of a sudden.
“I see… I am glad to hear that… I was worried that you are seriously thinking of me as a “SLY FOX” and a “CON-ARTIST” I see so it was just a joke…” <Shaina>
The words of miss Shaina were cold and threatening.
We could not even reply to her cold-sounding voice.
The hairs in our bodies perked up and we could feel our bodies producing cold sweats.
“I guess… I’ll believe you IF YOU managed to sell all of my goods this time around… can I count on you to do that E-MI-KA… SAN?” <Shaina>
“S-s-s-sure… NO PROBLEM! LEAVE IT TO ME!” <Emika>
Miss Shaina clasped her hand together and smiled.
She acted with her usual cozy attitude.
But her smile seems to be telling her otherwise.
“Oh! I knew I could count on you Emika-san…” <Shaina>
“Yes! Miss! Leave it to me.” <Emika>
“Good… then… I’ll be on my way… I have to do some matters here… so if you can excuse me…” <Shaina>
“Thank you, Miss Shaina, be careful.” <Emika>
“Remember… I am COUNTING ON YOU…” <Shaina>
Miss Shaina left the place with a smile.
-Sigh-
Once miss Shaina left the room, we all let out a sigh.
Emika came running at me with tears in her eyes.
“RENO!!! WHAT SHOULD I DO!!! There’s no way I could sell all of those!” <Emika>
“Uhg… It’s your fault for not being careful…” <Akemi>
“… RENO, AKEMI HELP! THAT DEMON WOULD KILL ME IF I DON’T…” <Emika>
“Hahaha, I don’t think she’s going to kill you… Miss Shaina is quite laid back after all…” <Reno>
I said to comfort Emika
“You think so?” <Emika>
“Nope…” <Akemi>
Akemi interjects by saying the truth to make her cry.
"Hahaha~"
I could only laugh awkwardly.
-waaa-
Emika wails in despair.
“But I guess, we have quite a lot this time to try… I doubt we could sell them all but we can just try… right?” <Reno>
“Uhuh….” <Emika>
“Well, I guess, you just have to do your best?” <Reno>
“But… what if we fail to sell…” <Emika>
“Don’t worry we’ll do our best to help.” <Reno>
“Reno-chan… Akemi-chan… Thank you! Gahhh -sneeze- ” <Emika>
Emika hugs the two of us in her arm while in tears.
“Emika-chan your snot” <Akemi>
“Soweeeyyyy~” <Emika>
“But if we don’t end up selling all of them, I guess all we could do is pray for you Emika…” <Akemi>
Akemi said to tease her.
She continued to cry…
I looked at Akemi and Akemi looked at me with the same resigned look on her face.
We giggled at each other and gave Emika a tight hug.
We sigh and shook our heads while smiling in response to Emika’s troubles.
[There’s no helping it… this girl... what a handful.]
-sigh-
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The next day we did our usual thing at the Scale Atelier, Pheono Branch.
Scale Atelier is the most successful merchant group in the whole world.
Excluding Glasies and Ecclesia which are both in the extreme northern and southern parts of the world.
They have branches in each of the capital cities of each kingdom and countries all over the continent.
Scale Atelier influences those countries with the massive amount of money they possess.
It is said that once a merchant is partnered with the Scale Atelier their success would be in just a matter of time.
The Scale Atelier is so influential that even nobles could not simply look down on the merchants involved with the Atelier.
The Atelier has the power to threaten any nation by itself.
Scale Atelier could cut off the trade routes since they are the only group capable of doing trade amongst the nations around the continent.
It is no exaggeration that the Scale Atelier has firm control over the economy of every country.
It was also thanks to the Scale Atelier that we manage to travel all around the world.
There are no planes in this world.
Normally, traveling in this world takes so much time as the people of this world still rely on land transportation.
Traveling between countries often takes months.
But thanks to the fact that we are with the scale atelier, we can take advantage of the "Teleport" magic as means of traveling.
That is how they monopolize efficient trade routes.
Fun fact.
The scale atelier is the only organization that managed to create teleport gates.
They monopolize the use of teleporting via the use of "teleport gates".
Aside from those few who know (Teleport) magic, only the scale atelier uses such exploit for traveling as "teleport gates" are built within every scale atelier building.
Not even the Empire or any country in the world has developed a "teleport gate".
If one wanted to use a "teleport gate" to travel.
They have to pay a large amount of money.
By the way, the travel fee is 100,000,000 DAL per person.
Thankfully, as employees of the scale atelier, we can use it for business purposes.
Thus when traveling, we can just go to the Atelier and use the teleport gate to travel from one country to another VIA the teleport gates.
Shaina’s Workshop is only one of the many Weapon and Armor workshops among the members of the Atelier but Shaina’s handyworks is cut above its competitors.
Leaving her personality aside, Miss Shaina is surely a very talented individual.
Not only does she excel with trades she is also known to be the most talented Blacksmith in the whole world.
She is a generational talent that will leave her mark on history.
Her masterpieces are said to be the stuff of legends.
Most of the S-rank adventurers’ equipment and the most precious sacred treasures most countries have passed through her hands.
I have learned how amazing she was after working for her for some time.
Despite these accomplishments, she has one depairing defect, It was her personality.
Surely if not for her personality, her works would have been easy to sell.
Adventurers know for a fact that miss Shaina is very quirky
She’s known to sell her products at a very high price.
For as mysterious as it was, those who enter her shop end up buying things from her without fail.
At the end of the day, they would find out that they were scammed for they could have bought the same level of equipment from other workshops at a much lesser price.
As a result, no one goes to her shop as they don't want to be scammed.
In the same way, miss Shaina tends to sell an item at a very affordable price just to find out that the item they received was more than what meets the eye.
She might sell you a useless item at a very high price.
She might also sell you an overly powerful item at an extremely bargained price.
Well, most of the time she would give them the overpriced ones.
It all comes down to Shaina’s mood.
Her business tags line is like this…
“EVERYTHING IS FAIR WHEN IT COMES TO BUSINESS.”
And as merchants working under her, we are tasked to sell those works of hers.
Sometimes I feel that I am scamming customers after selling an overpriced piece of equipment.
For these reasons, miss Shaina’s works are quite hard to sell at times.
In a way, her works can be treated as a “Lottery”.
It's either a waste of money or a jackpot.
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.
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We spend our time selling the goods the day.
After which we returned home to the inn reserved for us.
As we were resting in our room, Emika started a conversation.
“Hey…” <Emika>
Emika said to either me or Akemi as she only wanted to start a conversation.
“What is it Emika?” <Akemi>
Akemi replied, but I was listening to what Emika was about to say.
It was the usual flow of conversation between the three of us.
“I’ve heard some rumors coming from our customers earlier today…” <Emika>
“Rumors?” <Akemi>
“Yeah, Apparently, the Empire of Ecclesia is planning to start a war with the Great Nations Alliance.” <Emika>
“Hmnn? Ecclesia… that’s the Empire who hate demi-human right?” <Akemi>
Emika nod.
“Arent that the usual talks? It might end up just a rumor, I hear that Ecclesia creates such rumors all the time to give a scare to the peace of the Great Nation Alliance.” <Akemi>
“I know, but this time the conflict in the borders of Riles is quite serious.” <Emika>
“Hee…” <Akemi>
Then I remembered something upon hearing about the word “Riles”.
“Hey…” <Reno>
I said aimed at either Akemi or Emika as I just wanted a reply.
The two looked at me waiting for what I was about to say.
“Arent Riles the country Kazue-san wanted to visit?” <Reno>
“Hmnn… come to think of it… I think it is…” <Akemi>
“Yes, That! That comes to my next point. I was wondering if Kazue-san will be alright. After all, this conflict between the Great Nation Alliance and Ecclesia Empire very sounds serious.” <Emika>
“Are you worried?” <Akemi>
“Well, of course, she’s our classmate and we did spend some time with her in Altus, of course, I would be worried.” <Emika>
“…” <Reno>
I became silent.
[I wonder what miss Kazue is doing right now?]
********************
Kazue POV
-heavy breathing-
My breath echoes in the empty forest around us.
“I surrender, Haaa…. Haaa…” <Kazue>
Up until a moment ago, I was dueling against this person in front of me.
I looked in her direction and she did not even have a drop of sweat on her.
She flips her hair and looked at me intently.
Then she said.
“Hmnn… I see… I have a good grasp of your ability now.” <Female>
She nods to herself.
“I guess, you were not lying that you are on the level of the elite C-rank adventurer. No, I can even say that you can put up a good fight against a B-rank adventurer depending on the match-up. But against me, you stand no chance. O-ho-ho-ho-ho.” <Female>
Out came a burst of high-pitched villainous laughter that is not suitable for such an innocent-looking lady.
-clap- -clap- -clap-
-Awoooo-
I hear the sound coming from the sideline, three boys applaud while sitting next to the howling wolves.
They are all watching the two of us fight in the middle of nowhere.
The person I was up against was a girl wearing a blue dress covered by several protective layers of metal armor that makes her appear like a popular anime character.
She's wielding a large lance to fight.
“Miss Alicia is very strong…” <Kazue>
“Of course, I am, O-ho-ho-ho-ho.” <Female/Alicia>
Kazue picked up her breath.
Earlier, miss Alicia invited me to have a duel with her to assess my fighting strength.
It seems that she was curious about how strong I was.
I knew from the start that this lady is much stronger than I am but I did not expect to be defeated one-sidedly.
Despite having a large weapon, she moves as if her large lance weighs nothing.
The armor she was wearing seems not to bother her movement as well.
She was moving faster than I was, reacting faster than I was.
I was quite confident with my speed but I was overmatched in all aspects.
It reminds me of the time when I fought against Lavi-Onee sama.
[Her laughter is very annoying but she is indeed strong. She’s on Lavi's onee-chan's level when it comes to fighting ability. I wonder who would win if they fought.] <Kazue>
Last night.
I managed to find some camping adventurers and to my surprise, it was a group of guys familiar to me.
It was the group of Otakus from our class who left the castle the same day I left.
They are traveling with this person, miss Alicia Cliffe Azurearozi.
She’s the daughter of the Grand Duke.
She's a very proud lady with a lovely face.
I discovered that they too are heading toward the place I wanted to go.
They are heading to the country of Riles, the capital city of Vestir.
I am heading there to meet the person they call “The Saint Of Riles” and know more about the people who call themselves Oracles.
