The next calamity had to be faced after I had prepared as many items as possible.
Above all, I needed money.
Because in that bastard’s domain, you had to pay a price just for breathing.
It was a condition that suited the City of Traders very well.
‘Well, while I’m at it, I should probably get some useful equipment too.’
The greatsword was too much for me to use.
It had worked on Akedia, the first boss, but I could not keep obtaining weapons as stopgaps from now on.
I needed at least one self-defense item that suited my abilities.
It would be even better if it was light.
“Ritak.”
John Doe stared at me quietly.
He seemed to be waiting for something.
‘Oh, right.’
I was Ritak.
It was not a name I was used to, so it was difficult to react right away.
I had also been lost in thought alone.
In the end, I answered one beat late.
“Hm?”
“If we go to the city, there are ways to make money.”
If he completed the request he had accepted in the city, he would be able to receive payment.
Even if it was not a request, the City of Traders was a place where streams of money flowed.
If one aimed well, one could make a fortune.
But why was he suddenly talking about money?
The question was quickly answered.
“I’m saying you don’t need to worry that I’ll skip out on payment.”
“Ah.”
Apparently, I must have looked as though I was worried he would avoid paying the medicine fee.
I had not intended to squeeze it out of him in the first place.
“My thanks are late.”
John Doe lightly lowered his head.
It was courteous, unlike his face, which had been blunt from beginning to end.
“If it weren’t for you, I probably would have died. I’ll repay this debt.”
How many more times in my life would I hear thanks like that?
Unable to find words to answer, I merely blinked.
He did not seem to be particularly waiting for my reply either.
Ding.
John Doe turned away as he was, opened the door, and left.
Only Wer and I remained in the recovery shop.
Wer twisted the corner of his mouth upward.
“That black fellow has good manners!”
When John Doe had been there, he had only rolled his eyes from between my hair.
I simply shrugged for no reason.
“I had to save him anyway, so being thanked for it feels embarrassing.”
“I do like kind humans, but......”
Wer tilted his head to the side.
“Ritak, do you intend to become a saint?”
“No. I’m just not heartless enough to leave someone dying in my house.”
John Doe was the protagonist of the game.
What would happen to this world if the protagonist died?
No matter how I thought about it, it was difficult to hold any hope.
In a way, saving John Doe had been only natural for me.
‘Still, it feels good.’
Even if I saved game characters hundreds or thousands of times, I had never once been thanked for it.
Was it not fresh in many ways?
I looked down at my hand.
The hand that had both saved someone and harmed someone in a single night.
‘Until now, it probably only ever held a pen.’
There was a callus only on the first joint of the middle finger.
Was it because he had handled medicine?
There were also spots here and there where the skin had peeled.
It was not a trained hand.
Clench.
If I wanted to keep living, and if I was going to save someone...
If I had to eliminate the threats that blocked the way ahead, I needed a little more strength.
“I’ll have to prepare to go to the city.”
“Hm? Are you planning to chase after that fellow?”
“No. I have business there.”
I had to diligently sweep up items and money.
Then I would hand them over to John Doe later so he could use them when fighting the calamities.
While I was at it, I would also find a self-defense item for myself.
It was a perfect plan.
‘Though making money won’t be easy either......’
Moving was better than spending time complaining.
It was all work for the sake of saving the world.
“Come on, then. Let’s hurry and go.”
The shop, which had been a complete mess from the bandit gang’s muddy footprints and broken glass shards, was clean.
While I was fighting the calamity, it seemed John Doe, who had regained consciousness, had tidied it up.
‘Isn’t it actually cleaner than before?’
Even the dust that had clouded the corners and the hair on the floor had been wiped away neatly.
‘Is he a household spirit or something......?’
Thanks to that, I finished preparing to leave quickly.
How much time could it take to gather materials needed for Medicine Crafting and a few sets of clothes that had been lying around?
I shoved the materials onto Wer and carried only one simple bag.
“You say you are leaving, and that is all your luggage?”
“Ah. I should bring some money too.”
Wer made a face as though he was about to start nagging at any moment, then shut his mouth tight and clung to my back.
That was when it happened.
Ding!
The shop door opened, and a massive figure strode inside.
A man with a thick red beard.
He was the client who had ordered potions from me when I first opened my eyes in this world.
“I came to collect the goods.”
The goods the client had ordered were ten Health Recovery Potions.
I remembered.
But I did not have them.
‘Damn......’
When I did not immediately bring out the goods, the man placed his fist on the table and pressed me.
“Hey. Why are you just rolling your eyes?”
His face was already fierce, and today it looked even more vicious.
‘Since I’ve been running around in a frenzy, a whole day’s already passed.’
Surviving had come first, so there had been no helping it.
The calamity had also broken out right away.
“......I don’t have the goods to deliver right now.”
The very first potion I had made, as well as the materials the client had given me along with the money, had been used to treat John Doe.
Thanks to that, the level of my Medicine Crafting skill had risen.
“Bandits came in, and someone was badly hurt. It should be a story that’s spread through the whole village.”
“I know, but that doesn’t matter. I clearly said I’d take the goods today.”
What a heartless bastard.
Not that I had intended to beg him to consider my circumstances anyway.
I sighed softly.
“I mean I need a little more time.”
I had gathered plenty of materials for recovery potions since I needed them anyway.
If I used the skill, I could make medicine in no time.
“Time, is it?”
The client looked around the recovery shop and sharply frowned.
“I don’t intend to listen to nonsense about waiting several more days.”
“Several days?”
“Yes! If you start making them now, of course it’ll take that much longer.”
“Ah.”
Ritak Methyl was a genius compounder.
It seemed even a Ritak like that needed several days of grace to make medicine.
That was probably this world’s common sense.
‘But if I use the Medicine Crafting skill, I can make medicine instantly.’
The skill was an ability I had become able to use as a developer’s perk, was it not?
If so, there might be no one in this world who could make medicine faster than me.
“You’re the one talking nonsense, but I’ll do it right away, so stop whining, will you?”
“What? Whining? You bastard......”
When the client rolled up his sleeves, tendons bulged on forearms thicker than most people’s thighs.
But I merely clicked my tongue lightly.
There was no need to clash with him head-on.
“Medicine Crafting.”
When I used the skill, the voice that was now familiar answered.
-Medicine Crafting skill activated. Please select materials.
I quickly selected the materials.
“Ten Vitality Fruits, 2,500 ml of Tasty Water, and ten empty flasks.”
Since I had specified a large quantity of materials, the skill’s light burst even more brightly.
I had closed my eyes in advance, but the client seemed to be late.
“Aaagh!”
The client covered his face with both hands and groaned in pain, but I decided not to care.
He would recover soon, probably.
When I lowered my gaze, I saw Health Recovery Potions lined neatly on the table.
Ten bottles filled with red liquid.
“Appraisal.”
I used the skill on the potions.
The thought that the medicine’s level might rise now that the skill’s level had risen proved exactly right.
-Health Recovery Potion Lv2. Restores 20 health when consumed.
The effect had doubled.
With the same materials and the same quantity, I could obtain twice the effect.
‘Normal recovery potions don’t have levels.’
If one obtained rare medicinal ingredients, one could make higher-grade medicines.
Something like an Intermediate Health Recovery Potion or a High Health Recovery Potion.
However, the performance of the medicine itself could not be raised.
‘This must be something only possible with the Medicine Crafting skill......’
The corners of my mouth rose on their own.
Then the client, who had regained his senses, pointed a finger at me.
“What kind of trick is this! How dare you laugh at me?”
To think he would not even give someone a moment to be happy. What an impatient fellow.
Even answering was a bother, so I simply jerked my chin toward the table.
The client’s head whipped around.
“N-no?”
His eyes widened the moment he saw the Health Recovery Potions.
The client picked up each bottle and examined them obsessively.
His face shifting from suspicion to bewilderment, then back to suspicion, was quite a sight.
He looked as dazed as though he had seen a ghost.
“......Medicine that takes three days to make, in an instant?”
It seemed the usual time to make Health Recovery Potions was three days.
The client had known all that and still tried to force it on me.
‘Should I take a Strength Increase Stick right now and go a round with him?’
There was no need to waste time.
The materials I had invested in the medicine were a waste too.
‘Good grief.’
I sighed once.
Fine, I would let it go.
“Take them and leave.”
“W-wait!”
A thick hand grabbed my gown.
Why was he suddenly acting like this?
“Do you perhaps have any thought of becoming our guild’s exclusive compounder?”
His tone, which had been growling until a moment ago, became courteous.
The man’s sudden change in attitude was honestly a little disgusting.
“No.”
“Hear me out! First, I’ll pay more for this medicine.”
Clink!
A heavy pouch landed beside the potions.
When I glanced at it, quite a few gleaming silver coins were mixed inside.
They were clearly different from the dark copper.
“It’s five times the market price. If you come to the guild, I’ll make sure you earn even more money.”
“......I’ll take the money, but I can’t become an exclusive compounder.”
Because I was leaving the village now.
Most of all, I did not want to work with someone who cut down the request period and then brought up compensation for damages.
I took the money pouch and left the shop.
The man kept following me.
“Judging by your luggage, it doesn’t seem you’re going far, but monsters have been acting unusual lately. I’ll escort you.”
“No matter what you do, I have no intention of joining your guild.”
“What do you take a man’s pure goodwill for?”
Pure, my ass.
I waved my hand as though shooing away a fly.
But instead, one more person attached himself to me.
A small boy who had approached at some point.
With a newsboy cap pulled low, he clumsily imitated a tout.
“All the cargo wagons that were tied up in the village are leaving today! They say the bandits blocking the road over the mountain all died!”
The man passed by the newsboy cap boy with an annoyed expression.
But I had no intention of letting this news pass.
“Where can I board a wagon going to the City of Traders?”
“All the wagons at the village entrance are going to the city! It’s a road that was blocked for months, after all.”
The man quickly came back and butted in.
“Isn’t the City of Traders too far to go with that small bag?”
“......Is it?”
“Even riding a cargo wagon, it is a three- or four-day journey. It would be best to prepare plenty of water and food.”
I had enough water.
I had packed it as a medicine material, but in any case, I had drawn plenty into Wer’s subspace.
But I had nothing that could be called food.
‘In the game, you get there quickly.’
It was not as though I had ever had a reason to feel the distance.
While I hesitated, the man ran off somewhere and returned with a leather pouch.
“It’s fortunate the inn I stayed at was nearby. Here! This should be enough for the road.”
The pouch I received before I even had a chance to refuse was quite heavy.
Inside were a generous amount of jerky, dried fruit, and bread that looked hard.
“There is a Bies Guild building in the city, so feel free to give them my name and rest there. I’ll send word ahead! Hm?”
The man’s voice grew increasingly desperate.
Even so, I had no scraps to toss him.
I headed toward the village entrance, where the cargo wagons waited.
“If there’s no one else riding, we’re leaving!”
The wagon departed after a suitable number of people had gathered.
Before long, it became quiet enough that only the rolling of the wheels could be heard.
Only then did Wer start grumbling.
“It is best to keep your distance from those who seek to use others.”
“That’s probably true.”
I had no intention of becoming a pushover.
I shrugged lightly and leaned back against the wagon.
“In any case, it is fortunate you obtained food! If one intends to leave for anywhere, one must prepare in advance.”
This was a world where people came and went over long distances by cargo wagon.
Even if one had money, it was unlikely one could easily obtain whatever goods one needed anytime, anywhere.
This was a world I had made, but it seemed I could not help lacking common sense compared to the people who had actually lived here.
“Still, if it’s food, can’t we replenish it along the way?”
“Hm?”
“To tell the truth, I’m planning to get off midway.”