One of those blows must have finished it off, as the slime changed shape and became a small jewel.
In games, when you kill monsters, you get money. This probably served that purpose.
Self-sufficient though I might have been, I’d need currency to buy daily necessities, so I took it without hesitation.
Before I reached the village, I encountered and killed two more slimes.
Slimes seem to be pretty common.
The village wasn’t that big, but it was trim and tidy. It looked rather Swiss.
Come to think of it, sightseeing in Switzerland had been a dream of mine, but in the end, I worked myself to death and had never gotten to do it.
Well, even if I’d had vacation time, I probably would have spent it at home sleeping as much as I possibly could instead of going on a trip.
I spotted a kind-looking woman and called to her.
“Excuse me. I’ve just moved into a house in the highlands. Could you tell me about this village?”
“This is the village of Flatta. I’d say young Natalie at Guild Reception is quite knowledgeable about the place. She introduces it to adventurers who journey here from other areas, so she’s used to explaining things.”
I see. Makes sense.
“Thank you very much.”
“This is your first time visiting, isn’t it? I’ll take you to the guild. Though, it’s a small village, so I imagine you’d find it on your own before too long.”
“Great, thanks!”
I followed the woman—who actually was as kind as she’d looked—to the guild. It was indeed small. This place was peaceful enough, and there probably wasn’t a need for many adventurers around these parts.
“Oh, Mrs. Imal, good afternoon.”
“Natalie, this girl is our new neighbor. Tell her about the village, would you?”
“Yes, of course. I’ll go over it with you right here at reception.”
Mrs. Imal left us then. She lived nearby, so we’d probably run into each other again soon.
“I’m Azusa. I moved into the house in the highlands.”
“Oh, there? It’s a nice place, but not so convenient for the elderly. It’ll be ideal to have someone young living there.”
Then Natalie gave me the rundown about this little hamlet.
Maybe because she’d explained the same things many, many times before, her spiel was smooth and practiced.
First and foremost, she said, the village was peaceful, tranquil, and serene. Even on a casual stroll you could sense the clearly pastoral atmosphere. Cows and sheep were in no short supply, and if the area had a local specialty, it was their dairy products.
The count who owned this land lived far away, and the village chief he’d appointed was a native with a drama-free regime.
“Slimes are just about the only monsters around here. As a result, it’s so safe that you could even nap outside the village.”
“Excellent.”
“It’s a small community, but you’ll be able to buy the basic everyday staples—bread and salt and things—so don’t worry. However, with our low population, trading may prove difficult.”
What Natalie said reminded me of something.
“Oh yeah, so on the way here, I defeated a few slimes and ended up with these jewels. What are they?”
“Ah, when you kill a monster, you receive a gem known as a magic stone. You can exchange them for money here at the guild. These are worth six hundred gold—meaning six copper coins.”
In Japanese currency, would that be about six hundred yen? That wouldn’t cover more than a single trip to a café, but if rent was a nonissue, I’d be able to make a living killing only as many slimes as I needed.
“Okay, exchange them for me right away, please.”
“To do that, you’ll need to register with the guild as an adventurer. Is that all right?”
“Sure, no problem.”
At that point, Natalie brought out an object that looked like a slate.
“First, place your hand on this slate, please. It’ll display your class and status, and then we’ll register that information at the guild.”
I set my hand on it, mentally commenting that this reminded me of fingerprint authentication.
My status popped up in the upper part of the tablet.
“Whoa! You’re immortal! That’s incredible!”
Natalie was startled. Well, I guess you would be. My class was “witch,” apparently.
“It’s true that some witches can fine-tune the circulation of mana—er, magical power—in their bodies to extend their lives, but immortal at level 1… How can that be? You must have a tremendous aptitude for it.”
“It sure is strange… Maybe I’m just lucky.”
I’ll keep the stuff about the reincarnation bonus to myself.
“Here, let me pay you for those magic stones.”
She gave me six coppers.
“I’ll start saving up by killing slimes, then.”
“Yes, and the guild is looking forward to your patronage, Miss Azusa!”
I’d gotten some gold coins when I reincarnated, so I spent them on groceries and seeds to plant in my field.
Looked like I was all set to live here for a while.
Three more slimes showed up on my way home, so I vanquished them with my knife.
More magic stones and more of the money they would bring me.
✦ ✦ ✦
After that day, my laid-back life began.
I did virtually nothing, day in and day out.
First, I slept as long as I wanted. I tended the field here and there. When I wanted some exercise, I killed slimes. Since they were a valuable source of cash, I made sure to dispatch at least twenty of them daily.
Sometimes I ventured into the nearby woods.
Maybe it was my status as a witch that let me immediately identify which plants were medicinal herbs. From time to time, I blended them into various concoctions and took them down to the village to sell. I wasn’t trying to turn a profit, so I priced them at less than the market value.
When people in the village were suddenly taken ill, I’d examine them and give them my homemade herbal medicines. After all, I couldn’t just stand by and watch the villagers drop like flies.
Thanks to that, people started calling me “the great Witch of the Highlands” out of respect.
Some of them even brought gifts like cheese and other dairy products up to the house. That was much appreciated.
I considered reading grimoires in my spare time, but they were really expensive! Still, after mowing down slimes for a while, I’d saved enough to buy several! Once I set my sights on something I wanted, slime slaying lit a fire in me.
Other than that…nothing unusual happened.
Possibly because I was immortal, I didn’t age (of course), and I almost never got sick.
As a rule, no one came to see me at my house in the highlands which didn’t trouble me much. I’d lived alone when I was an office worker in Japan, too.
It was during my second life that I first came to understand the meaning of “leisure with dignity,” for sure.
✦ ✦ ✦
And three hundred years passed.