Pathfinder
Chapter Twenty-two
There was no need to stand in line, so Garam approached an empty counter.
The bored-looking bank clerk who had been sitting behind the counter glanced at Garam and then got up from his seat.
Then, he opened a small door next to the counter and gestured for her to come in.
Trigger and Garam entered through the small door that the bank clerk had opened.
The interior of the counter area looked much the same as it did from the outside.
The bank clerk led the two of them past the counter, stacks of boxes, other wizards, and piles of documents until they stopped in front of a large iron door.
The door had intricate patterns that glowed with a purple light.
The bank clerk who had stopped in front of the imposing door handed Garam over to another bank clerk who was standing next to her.
“I’m not allowed to access the vaults, so I can only guide you this far.
My colleague here will assist you further.”
The bank clerk, who also worked as a wizard, gave a curt explanation and then left as if he had done his duty.
Unlike Garam’s world, all the bank clerks there were wizards.
Even the lowest-ranking wizards were still wizards, so they were treated with respect, and they had a high sense of self-worth.
The wizards who worked as bank clerks were typically from commoner backgrounds, and they worked to earn money to fund their expensive research.
Noble-born wizards or those lucky enough to have sponsors didn’t work.
Instead, they devoted their time to gaining even greater magical power.
Therefore, from the perspective of the bank clerks, being indifferent to ordinary customers might be considered as natural.
“Welcome.
I’m Mineral, in charge of the vaults.”
Interestingly, the employee was a woman, which was quite rare.
She had light brown hair that was quite unruly and freckles all over her face.
She appeared to be around thirty years old, and she was much friendlier than the male wizard they had encountered earlier, though it was still incomparable to the level of friendliness Garam was used to in her world.
“Ah, nice to meet you.”
“Good.
Are these the items you would like to store?”
Mineral pointed at the bags that Trigger was holding as she asked the question.
Garam nodded.
“I think this should be stored in a number eleven vault.
A number ten would be a little too small.
The annual rent fee is 200 gold.
Will that be acceptable?”
“Yes, let’s go with that then.
Also, I heard that in other cities, you can find items using magic.
Is that true?”
Mineral was a bit surprised at the swift response.
Garam didn’t seem like a wealthy person, yet she readily agreed to use a high-priced vault.
Mineral’s attitude became somewhat kinder upon realizing that Garam might be wealthy.
If they were lucky, they could receive sponsorship from a wealthy individual, so wizards had no choice but to be polite to the rich.
The look of their patron was the least concern they had, of course.
“Of course.
It starts at a minimum of ten gold, and the price varies depending on the distance and the size of the item.”
Spatial magic was considered one of the highest forms of magic along with healing spells.
Using magic begins with understanding the power one wants to use.
Knowing the principles of fire, wind, and water, and comprehending how they are created as well as extinguished, form the foundation of elemental magic.
However, wizards who could understand the principles of space were exceedingly rare.
Water wizards typically handled only water-based magic, and fire magicians focused solely on fire-based magic.
Occasionally, a genius wizard may delve into handling two or more elements, but grasping the principles of just one was already a challenging endeavor.
Understanding two or more required an enormous amount of time and compared to a wizard dedicated to a specific type of magic, the depth of magic learned that way was also shallow.
As a result, spatial wizards were highly regarded for their ability to cast short-distance warping spells.
Naturally, the price for such spells was quite high.
In contrast, the cost of magic related to water and wind elements was relatively affordable.
“Alright.
Now, please show me the vault.”
At Garam’s request, Mineral opened the door to the vault storage room.
The intricate purple patterns on the walls shimmered with an inexplicable arrangement, creating an almost blinding effect.
The three of them walked through the corridor, and they soon arrived at another sturdy iron door.
“This is where the number eleven vaults are located.
You can open one, perform the recognition spell, store your items, and settle the payment afterward.”
“Recognition spell?”
“Yes.
Typically, you use your voice for recognition.
When retrieving your belongings, you must come and authenticate yourself with your voice.”
“Can I change the recognition method later?”
“You can, but there is a fee.”
Mineral provided concise answers and opened one of the vaults.
Inside, there were so many steel vaults of a size Garam could crouch into, and they seemed to stretch endlessly to the point where the end couldn’t be seen.
The underground of the bank, which didn’t seem particularly large, was so vast.
Moreover, each vault had intricately engraved patterns, so even without special lighting indoors, they were quite bright with the light they emitted.
“The vault you’ll be using is this one over here.
I’ll open it for you.”
As Mineral opened one of the vaults, Trigger quickly packed Garam’s belongings into it.
“Now, please say something.
Typically, people say their names.”
In an instant, the patterns filled the entire vault.
“It’s done.”
With all their banking matters concluded, Garam paid the vault fee of 200 gold and returned to the inn.
She felt relieved even though she could just bring items from her base camp again if they were stolen.
As she had entrusted them to the bank, her worries had diminished.
“Now, it’s time for me to teach you how to ride a horse.”
Trigger said quietly, walking alongside Garam.
This was the beginning of their hardship.
***
“Blargh, Blaargh!”
Garam retched violently.
It was as if a whole sandwich she had eaten had come back up.
Her stomach churned from the rough riding experience, and she felt queasy.
Trigger sighed and patted Garam’s back.
From the side, Poppy couldn’t help but watch Garam vomit helplessly, moving rhythmically in response to the clacking of hooves.
“It might be best to give up on riding.”
Trigger spoke sincerely, filled with sympathy.
He stared at the setting sun and recalled the situation from five hours ago.
“Saddle up like this, distribute the weight across your hips, relax your thighs, and coordinate your entire body with the rhythm.
Also, be cautious not to let the horse eat any poisonous plants.
There’s one called…”
Trigger went on for quite some time, imparting his knowledge about horses.
Most of it was thoughtful and considerate advice, but Garam could barely comprehend his explanations.
While she knew what he meant, the details remained a blur in her mind.
“Got it?”
Of course, there was no way she could understand his explanations.
They had cluttered her mind without much real comprehension, but Garam nodded anyway.
She figured she would get the hang of it once she tried.
“Yes, I got it.”
However, the outcome didn’t match her response.
Trigger let out a sigh, which was seemingly not his first.
Garam was also frustrated, but there was little she could do.
When she focused on her thighs, her back would stiffen.
When she concentrated on her back, tension would creep into her legs.
Relaxing her legs made her feel like she was about to fall off the horse, and when the horse moved, her hips involuntarily tightened.
“If you call that riding a horse, then I guess I should call some bread on a plate “bread riding a plate.” You can’t just stay up there like that.
You have to adjust your body to match the horse’s movements…”
Garam knew what Trigger was talking about, but actually riding was proving to be far more challenging than she thought.
The tension in her stiff body couldn’t effectively absorb the impact of the horse’s movements.
Perhaps, with a lot of effort, she could somehow learn to ride the horse as it galloped or walked, but it seemed that learning to ride while it ran was practically impossible for her.
Trigger had almost given up on teaching her to ride properly within the first three hours.
It was true that learning to ride was difficult, but it shouldn’t have been as hard as it was for Garam.
Garam struggled to even get on the horse by herself because she had only seen animals like dogs and cats from neighboring houses and chicks being sold in front of the elementary school.
Handling such a massive animal required a lot of effort, and her hands were not used to doing that sort of thing.
It was not odd that she was struggling that much.
Even after two more hours of teaching, Garam’s posture was still awkward and inexperienced.
“Even those who are completely untalented and inexperienced should be able to ride and move around easily if they have practiced for about three hours.”
Trigger’s somewhat bitter words left Garam feeling down, still continuing to vomit.
She didn’t have anything more to throw up, so she just dry heaved.
It felt like her internal organs had shifted around entirely.
About ten minutes of riding was okay, but after five hours of swaying up and down, the motion sickness had become so severe that it seemed better for her to just walk.
It felt worse than when she had experienced motion sickness before on the bus.
Being on a horse that swayed even more than the bus just made things worse.
“Ugh, I think it’s better to just, ugh, walk while holding the reins.”
Garam said, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.
After vomiting, her complexion, which had turned a shade of purple, had then improved to a bluish color.
Trigger, standing by her side, sighed and seemed to agree with her.
Poppy, who had been standing to one side, also appeared to approve.
Increasing the riding time little by little each day, until she got used to it, seemed to be the only solution.
“Good call.
So, where is your next destination?”
At his question, Garam cleaned her mouth with water and looked at her hand, counting the remaining needles.
There were only two left.
She knew that when there was only one needle left, it would probably indicate that the charging was complete, and the last remaining needle would point to the path.
Although no one had explained it to her, Garam had naturally grasped that fact.
“I haven’t decided yet.”
“I see.”
Trigger replied as he looked up at the sky.
It was about time for him to leave, but he couldn’t bring himself to say the final farewell.
He wanted to know where Garam was going and say goodbye, but he couldn’t spend more than one day outside the Beast Plain.
Feeling regretful about it, Trigger hesitated for a long while without saying a word.
“Are you going to have dinner?
Oh, do you have a question about something?”
Garam, who seemed to have more or less soothed her stomach, read the hesitation in Trigger’s expression as she asked the question.
The open field that she had borrowed in order to practice riding was conveniently located right behind the inn.
However, the advantage of the location had become useless because Garam, after vomiting so much, couldn’t eat anything at all. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
Still, if Trigger said he would have dinner, she could take advantage of being near the inn.
“No, I have to leave soon.”
Garam was initially taken aback but quickly nodded her head.
“You’ll come back tomorrow, right?”
“No, I probably won’t be able to come back.
I can’t go far from the Beast plain.”
Trigger’s resolute answer left Garam momentarily speechless.
It was a statement that came all of a sudden.
“But we’ll meet again someday, won’t we?”
“Yes, if you ever have a reason to come to the plain.
I’ll always be there.”
Garam nodded her head.
Trigger was surprised by Garam’s unexpectedly composed attitude.
He had prepared himself to endure the pain of rejecting Garam’s plea, even if she were to beg with tears as well as saliva mixed with gastric juice that streamed down her face.
Honestly, in that world, were there any reliable beings for her to rely on and believe in besides himself?
In such a situation, it would be extremely difficult for her to be left alone again.
“Alright.
If I have a chance, I’ll come there to see you later.”
“Okay.
It could be dangerous to travel alone, so be careful.”
“Yes.
In fact, I’m thinking of hiring mercenaries.”
The source of Garam’s strange composure was precisely that—mercenaries.
It wasn’t a bad idea.
It was also a method frequently used by people with little experience and a lot of money.
However, it wasn’t suitable for Garam.
“I think slaves might be better than mercenaries.”
“Slaves?”
Garam was surprised by Trigger’s unexpected words, and her expression revealed her shock.
Trigger felt somewhat puzzled by the slight hostility in her gaze, but he decided to finish what he was saying.
“Yes, with mercenaries, you have to specify the terms of the contract clearly, and there are many other hassles.
Some mercenaries might just do one job and quit.
If you suffer damage from a mercenary and report it to the Mercenary Guild, the next time that mercenary accepts a job, there will be restrictions.
However, if they think of it as their last job and harm the client and then disappear, there’s nothing anyone can do about it.”
“Is that a common occurrence?”
“It’s not common, but people who seem inexperienced like you are easy prey.
And since you don’t know exactly where that needle is pointing, even if you hire mercenaries to escort you, you won’t be able to determine your destination.”
“Do I have to determine a destination?”
“Well, you don’t have to, but the cost would skyrocket.
If you don’t have an exact destination, the escort has to always follow you, even if you go to a highly dangerous area.
That’s classified as an extremely dangerous request.
Huh?
What’s with that face?”
Garam’s expression was bewildered, much like someone chewing on something bitter.
He was telling her to buy someone who had been trafficked.
Garam was not someone who could save them, but using them was out of the question.
She wanted to follow the local laws as much as possible, but facing a situation that directly contradicted the moral standards of where she came from was truly disconcerting.
“Nothing.
I’m fine.
Let’s go to the inn for Poppy.”
Garam did not hide her troubled expression and took Poppy’s reins firmly.
After patting his nose that was rubbing her shoulder, she led the horse toward the stables.
Trigger guessed the reason behind Garam’s sudden low spirits, but since he couldn’t know for sure, he decided to ask directly.
“But your face says you’re not fine.
Tell me, what’s wrong?”
After handing Poppy’s reins to the stable keeper, Garam settled the tip with a single silver coin.
Trigger patiently waited for an answer.
Garam chose her words carefully to avoid a tone that said, “How uncivilized of you to suggest that I buy slaves!”
“It’s just that I’m not really used to holding people captive and trading them like that.
In my world, it’s considered a very bad thing.
Trigger, don’t you dislike the idea of humans capturing and trading other people?”
“If I ever worried about that, I wouldn’t have let horses be caught and traded in the first place.
When you think about it, catching and trading animals that aren’t even of your own kind is even worse.
And there are also cases where people even force them to mate with others and so on.”
Trigger shrugged.
Garam reminded herself that Trigger wasn’t a human being.
Trigger spoke again while observing Garam’s serious expression.
“Just as you think, there are slaves who have been illegally captured, but there are also those who’ve sold themselves into slavery because they couldn’t handle their debts.
The stories of the slaves vary widely.
Also, you seem to think that slaves are always mistreated, but if a slave is killed, it’s still considered murder.
I don’t know if it’s the same in the desert nation in the south, but at least here, that’s how it is.
Even if they’re slaves, they usually figure out a way to live on their own.
But if you still have reservations, hiring mercenaries might be better.”
Deep in thought, Garam nodded.
It’s not always a good thing to have preconceptions.
If Trigger was speaking to that extent, it might not be a bad idea to consider it.
However, there was one thing that concerned Garam.
“What if the slave tries to harm me and escape?”