The cat-eared man picked up a small cloth bag from the display and lightly tossed it to me.
“Here, that’s a tool bag. You just channel some magic into it, and the storage space opens. That’s all there is to it. You can’t do that? What makes you think you can be an adventurer, then? Are you right in the head?”
I caught the small cloth bag, but the so-called storage space didn’t appear when I opened it. All I saw inside was cloth.
Does it require magic? What is magic, anyway?! Well, I guess magic is...magic.
Magic didn’t exist in my home world or in VMB, so I was unsure what this meant for me. Would I be unable to use it?
“Huh? What’s wrong? Don’t tell me you don’t know how to use magic? No way! What are you, some kind of dud?”
The man’s remarks agitated Ashley. Her eyes grew wide as she pulled on my sleeve. She was trying to lead me away from the scene, but I was focused on trying to understand what the cat-eared man was saying. Sure, I couldn’t use magic, but was that enough to be called clueless?
“Ha ha ha! A real dud in the flesh, huh! I’ve never seen one before! Have you guys? They’re really out there!”
“Yeah! It’s my first time seeing one too, boss!”
“Me too! How does a dud even think of becoming an adventurer? Duds like you can’t do anything useful. They just get their teammates killed!”
What was this about, and what did they mean by “dud”? I felt like I’d heard it before, but what were they implying?
“Dud” this, “dud” that... Was it because I didn’t know about using a tool bag? But does not knowing how to use a tool bag really call for all this?
My head was filling with questions, but the force pulling on my sleeve reminded me that Ashley was behind me. Her hand was no longer just pulling—it was gripping my sleeve, trembling.
“Enough!” she said. “Schwarz has strength enough to fight without magic! He’s not weak enough for you to be calling him useless!”
“Ha! Is that so, miss? Are you part of this dud’s party? Must be tough, taking care of a useless dud while adventuring! How about joining my party? Leave this dud behind! I know that with such a lack of skills, there’s no way he satisfies you at night. Amirite? Ha ha ha!”
“That’s a great idea! When the boss uses his Body Enhancement Skill, he can go toe-to-toe with an orc!”
“Yeah! Our boss is more virile than some dud!”
“No, thank you! I have no reason to leave Schwarz. He’s far more reliable than you!”
She spoke as if we’d known each other for a while. I thought she was trembling in fear, but she shook with anger. Maybe “dud” was some derogatory term for someone without magic?
“Oh, yeah! Hey, dud! Come outside and show us how reliable you are! Let a real senior adventurer teach you how to use magic. Then, after, maybe I’ll show little miss here what real adventurers are like at night.”
“Sigh. I didn’t think things like this would happen at the Comprehensive Guild, but here we are.”
Such is the nature of being transported to another world.
“Stop babbling and follow me!”
Ashley and I followed the cat-eared man out of the shop and onto a side street off of the main road. The mouse-faced and raccoon-faced guys followed close behind us, blocking us from trying to escape. Once we walked away from the crowd, the cat-eared man turned around.
“This spot should do. I won’t use weapons—killing you could cause some undue hassle.”
So, just pulverizing me wouldn’t be a crime?
“What happens if you injure someone in a fight here?” I whispered to Ashley.
“If it’s between an adventurer and a commoner or craftsman, the adventurer is punished,” Ashley whispered back. “But between adventurers, it’s mostly overlooked unless it’s fatal.”
Then, in a weary, fading voice, she added, “I’m sorry for getting you into this.”
“Ha! Body Enhancement!” The cat-eared man declared, taunting us that he was ready. “Come on, ya dud! Don’t just stand there, show us what you’ve got!”
The cat-eared man spread his arms wide, inviting me to come at him. Was it an optical illusion, or did his body seem to swell and turn slightly red? Was that his magical Body Enhancement Skill?
Now, what? I was just an FPS player. I knew nothing about fighting. I’d never been in a scrape in my home world, and I never attended any martial arts gyms. I wasn’t a complete wuss and was okay at ball games and track sports, but...
I wouldn’t win in an exchange of blows with this guy. He declared he wouldn’t use weapons, but I don’t need to adhere to that—do I? I wanted to end this farce quickly.
I drew the FN Five-seveN from my shoulder holster, disengaged the safety, and fired two shots at the cat-eared man’s knees. I didn’t usually do concealed shooting from the shoulder, but both shots hit their target, and the cat-eared man crouched down from sudden and sharp pain. The mouse-faced and raccoon-faced guys rushed to the cat-eared man’s side.
“Owwww!” he cried.
“You are too careless. I may lack magic, but I still shot your knees out.”
“Wh-what did you do...!” said Ashley.
I tried to play it cool and spoke to her in an extremely casual tone. “An adventurer doesn’t easily reveal their hand. Come on, Ashley. Let’s go. That’s enough shopping for one day. Want to grab dinner?”
“Huh?”
Ashley was stunned, as were the three adventurers. They struggled to fully grasp what I had done.
“You think you can get away after doing that to the boss?!”
“No way we’re letting some dud just run away like that!”
They both took a combat stance in front of the cat-eared man, effectively blocking our way to escape. This is getting annoying—should I shoot their knees out, too?
I aimed the Five-seveN and aligned the crosshair with their knees.
“Hey, what are you doing over there!”
A man’s voice suddenly called out, probably out to investigate the sound of gunfire. I looked at the map on my goggles and saw more dots approaching. If this situation continued, more people would see my firearm and freak out. If they had me arrested, I’d have to explain my means of attack in detail.
Should I run? I grabbed Ashley’s hand, and we ran in the opposite direction, away from the approaching man.
“Huh? Wait—what?” I ignored Ashley’s pleas of confusion. She had been unable to keep up with my sudden actions.
The escape route became visible on the map. I navigated us through the winding side streets, and we dashed out onto another main road.