Chapter 4

CHAPTER 3 To the Town of Edona We walk through the gate and find ourselves on a prairie. However, I can also see a peaceful town only a few dozen meters ahead. Our journey begins at the ideal location thanks to Great Goddess Ishtar fine-tuning the gate for us. Seiya, however, continues to stare as it fades into nothingness. So I pat him on the back to get him moving. “Come on! Let’s head to that town over there and buy some new equipment!” Seiya looks like he wants to say something, but I take him by the hand and lead him to the nearby town. The standing wooden signboard says WELCOME TO EDONA! We pass under the sign, then continue down the unpaved path until we stroll by some people wearing farm clothes. The pastoral atmosphere makes Edona seem to be more of a village than a town. “Oh, a couple travelers, eh? Welcome, welcome.” Without hesitation, I bow to the farmer with a smile, but Seiya seems suspicious. After the farmers move on, he whispers to me: “Hey, was that a monster?” “Th-that was just a villager. Could you seriously not tell…?” “I thought he might have been a monster that transformed into a villager.” “You’re overthinking things…” After going a bit farther, we are approached by a young girl wearing her hair in two braids. The moment the five- or six-year-old child sees me, she cheerfully smiles from ear to ear. “Wow! You’re so pretty! Like a goddess!” “Tee-hee. Innocent children sure know perfection when they see it, don’t they?” Elated, I pat the girl on the head. She then looks up at Seiya. “Hey, mister! Your clothes are strange, but you’re cool, too!” The little girl walks away from me and tightly latches onto his jeans. There is something about Seiya’s rare troubled face that pleases me a little. “Well, well. If there’s a little kid around, I guess even you can be nice.” Seiya simply replies with a brief “hmph” as the little girl continues looking up at him. “Hey, mister, what’s your name?” “…” “Heeey, what’s your name?” “…Seiya.” “Oh, neat! I’m Nina! Nice to meet you!” I wish I had more time to watch their exchange, but we don’t have any to waste. “Hey, Nina, could you tell us where the weapon shop is?” “Um… It’s right up ahead!” “I see! Thanks a bunch!” After waving good-bye to Nina, we follow her directions and walk straight ahead. Before long, we find ourselves on a street packed with shops. Seiya and I stop before a sign with a sword painted on it. I hand him a small pouch. “Here, this is my gift to you. With this much money, you should be able to buy the best equipment this town has to offer.” This is actually this world’s currency, which I asked Great Goddess Ishtar to prepare for us. After walking around the shop, Seiya takes all the gold coins out of the pouch and hands them to the chubby middle-aged store owner. “I’ll take three suits of steel armor.” “Coming right up!” As the shop owner goes to get three suits of armor… “Whoooa! Hang on a sec!” I desperately convince the shop owner to stay put before scolding Seiya. “You do not need that much armor!” “Yes I do. One to wear, a spare, and another spare in case I lose the spare.” This isn’t simply being overcautious anymore. It’s definitely weird. I don’t care what world he’s from. Who in their right mind would spend all their gold coins on three suits of the same armor?! “Just stand over there! I’m choosing what we’re buying!” “Well, aren’t you controlling.” I purchase a steel sword and one (I repeat, one) suit of armor. I force Seiya to equip the items on the spot, and he ends up looking rather sharp, partly thanks to his tall, muscular physique. Appearance-wise, he actually looks like a half-decent warrior. After leaving the weapon shop, Seiya goes off on his own to the item shop next door. Then, after listening to the shopkeeper’s explanation of the items… “I’ll take ten smoke bombs and twenty herbs. Twenty antidotes as well, thanks.” Seiya scoops up all the items he can get with the leftover money. I don’t feel the need to stop him, since these are relatively cheap compared to weapons and armor. However, I still can’t help but ask him something after we leave the shop. “Hey, uh… Do you really need to take this many precautions?” “I have no idea what kinds of vicious monsters lurk in the shadows. Of course I’m going to take precautions.” “Don’t worry so much. I may not look it, but I’m an experienced navigator, you know. I arranged our start near a town that would be suitable for you. All the monsters around here are weak.” “I wonder about that.” Just then… “Yeah, it’ll be fine! I wouldn’t even worry about that!” I suddenly hear a familiar voice coming from below. Lowering my gaze, I see Nina from earlier cheerfully smiling at me. “Even I can walk to the nearby town without worrying about monsters! There are only slimes around here!” She must have been listening to our conversation. I pat Nina on the head while sending Seiya a reproachful gaze. “See? Even a little girl isn’t worried about the monsters here. Feel better now?” “Are you scared to leave town, mister? You look really strong, though…” “This mister right here is a big, fat scaredy-cat.” I thought Nina and I could team up and verbally abuse him together, but her innocence exceeds my imagination. She takes a pressed flower pouch made of cloth out of her pocket, then retrieves something from it and hands it to Seiya. “Here, it’s for good luck!” Seiya takes a hard look at the pressed flower in his hand. “You didn’t just give me a cursed item, did you?” “Huh?” I clap a hand over Seiya’s mouth. “D-don’t worry about him! He’s a little sick in the head! Just a bit of mental illness! That’s all!” That’s when a man comes screaming at Nina from behind. “Nina! What are you doing?!” “Ah! Papa! Did you finish shopping already?” The gentle-looking father bows to us. “I-I’m so sorry. I hope my daughter didn’t say or do anything rude.” “She was a perfect little angel. Right?” As I turn my gaze to Seiya, he averts his own and briskly mutters… “Yeah, she’s fine.” Huh, maybe he’s not such a bad guy after all…is something I might say if I were drunk.