Even as I parted ways with her, she was staring fixedly at me. The chill that crept down my spine wouldn’t disappear, even after leaving her.
As I distanced myself from them at a quick pace, I thought to myself that if I were to focus only on the end result of our meeting, I’d have to conclude that they were a group of good-natured people. Since my first encounter with other people here had led to a leg wound and my being used as a decoy, that was where my mind tended to go. But mostly due to that Lastiara girl, an uneasiness I couldn’t put into words remained within me.
I decided to do as the good-natured group had told me and walked boldly down the Pathway Proper. I soon passed by the pair of women, but they didn’t have anything to say to me. I considered asking them if I was indeed walking away from the Dungeon, but I ended up not doing so. I could see for myself the way foot traffic was flowing.
I passed by a variety of groups on the way. Some people sized me up, but nothing of particular note happened. After walking for under an hour, I finally reached the exit.
“Yes! I did it!”
The light of the sun burned my eyes. The gentle breeze felt pleasantly warm, and the clear air’s fragrance blew the Dungeon’s bouquet of smells out of the water. With that, I could truly believe I’d made it above ground. I expressed my jubilation through my whole body.
Then, a man who looked in fine form called out to me. “Whoa there, bud. Dramatic much?” He was smiling. He looked friendly, but I turned stiff when I noticed the deathbringer—the sword sheathed at his waist.
I didn’t sense any hostility from him, though. Seeing as he was standing at attention in front of the exit, it was very likely he was a guard or sentinel. His attire was formal and wouldn’t be out of place on someone in security.
I put a damper on that train of thought and reined in my mirth. Then I spoke gently to him. “Well, I’ve been through a lot today.” I chose my words so as not to ruffle any feathers and waited to see how that landed.
“Heh, well, you do look pretty beat up, kid. You made it right before the hour the water supply’s cut off, so you can still use it.” He pointed with his thumb at a faraway point.
“Thank you very much. I’ll be back.” I bowed, inwardly jumping with joy at the words “water supply.”
“It’s my job. No need to thank me!”
I started walking in the direction he had pointed.
The man had said that conversation was his job. I didn’t know whether it was public work or something, but chances were good people in that profession would come in handy for me.
I walked for a few moments and soon I found the well. I was disappointed—it wasn’t like the modern well I’d been picturing. Yet there was no denying it would help me out. It worked via the same mechanism the wells in my world did, so it didn’t take much time or effort to draw the water. I filled up the leather bag inside my inventory with it, then washed my clothes. By wiping the mud off with a wet cloth, I got decently clean in my eyes. I wasn’t sure whether I ought to wash my blade, but the smell was distracting, so I rinsed it anyway.
As I did my washing, I thought about the man from before. There wasn’t much pedestrian traffic to speak of, so the danger of being overheard was probably low. Judging by both his looks and character, he wasn’t a bad person. If I wanted to quickly come by information, he’d be useful for sure.
After running simulations of our conversation beforehand, I approached him, acting casual. “Phew, I’m feeling a bit better now. You were a huge help!”
“Yep. Here in the north’s the only place with water service at the entrance to the Dungeon. Good ol’ Whoseyards.”
“Wow, really? Other places don’t have it?”
“Yeah, it’s a country of knights and all. Must be ’cause it’s got the most money outta all five of the countries by the Dungeon.”
Man, you can’t be throwing words like that at me like it’s normal.
To be frank, I wanted to talk to him about modern times. Which is to say, about the world that was formerly home. But I now knew this to be a world of swords and sorcery. The likelihood of him understanding me was slim. He’d probably just think me suspicious. This wasn’t yet the stage where I could risk it all.
I decided to pretend to know what he was talking about and extract more information. “Does Whoseyards use all that money in other ways too?”
“Oh yeah. It’s got tons of facilities built expressly for the Dungeon. What, kid, is this your first time in the country?”
“Yes, it’s my first time.”
“Makes sense. Traveling between the five nations is easier these days.”
“If there’s a place I can learn all about this country, could you tell me about it?”
“Well, you probably wanna walk a straight line from here and get to the central plaza. There’s a signboard there. Then, you oughta go to the National Library or the brokerage office and look stuff up. Once you’re used to the place, you should probably hit up guilds and churches and the like too.”
“I see. Thank you very much.” I bowed my head deeply in gratitude.