Chapter 9: Bear

Translator: Haruchin

Horned Tanuki and Horned Civet appeared, but they didn’t pose any problem, so I continued walking. Well, they’re not aggressive animals that would attack people, in the first place.

I could sense a bear nearby. Dunno if it’s horned or hornless, but it’s presence was way stronger than that of a normal bear, so I decided to use magic in the meantime. If it’s not effective, then I would just run away and【 Teleport 】 out of this place. I arrived at the place where I could feel the presence while thinking about these things.

「 『 Wind Slash 』! 」

In order to use magic, I wrapped the attributes within me with mana, then just imagined what kind of spell I wanted to cast and drew from whatever attribute that was needed.

They taught me how to draw the attributes in a way I could understand easily, and imagination was a piece of cake thanks to all those games I played in Japan.

There’s no concept of ‘Level’ in this world, but the vestiges of spiritual energy that the monster once possessed would flow into the body of the person who annihilated it. That added power would make the person stronger, but on a side note, the nature of its spirit and its attribute could also affect him. People who tried to slay monsters all the time while having a weak mind could possibly monsterfy, too.

I got【 Mental Resistance】 so it didn’t concern me. Oh, there’s the bear, and it has a horn on its forehead. Time to cast a spell.

Complete Attributes were given along with Body Tempering, it seemed. The ordinary protections that had been bestowed to me ー Van’s Fire, Ludere’s Earth and Silence, Pal’s Earth, Khadar’s Verdure (that’s Plants), Ish’s Water and Recovery, Mischt’s Light and Wind, Halfalfa’s Light, Riche’s Ice and Darkness ー had all been strengthened.

As a result ー

It was completely blasted off. Oh, yeah! Great. Let’s do it with the sword next time.

***

I didn’t have any problems defeating them with a sword; everything’s A-okay as I hiked through the forest. Only a handful of people could cast magic, and I might meet some folks, so it should be better to just wield the sword for now. The only problem was what to do with the monsters I slayed. Yup, I got my 【 Storage 】, but I could only take a single bear per visit to the Commerce Guild.

Bear monsters’ innards could be made into stomach tonics and restorative drugs, while hides fetch a high price since they’re great raw materials for armours, and the price for meat was not bad, either. No choice then, I had to sell them one at a time, I guess.

I went in and out of town, checked in at an inn, had to leave some traces ー ugh, doing all these became troublesome for me now.

I could go home easily whenever I wanted, so I took advantage of that fact and wandered aimlessly. It was then that I found a bubbling spring, but most of the water seeped back to the earth, so it’s just the size of a puddle.

The view was quite splendid, with the moss spreading around the limpid water, and the sand was very clean due to being rinsed by the very clear water for a long period of time.

Alright, it was time to sell that bear and go home. Oops, I had to take out one of the Horned Bears first. I wrapped it then tried to put it inside the sack, but it didn’t fit, so what to do now…Whatever, it was fine even if it was jutting out.

I 【 Teleport】 to the edge of the forest, then hiked all the way to the town.

「 Hey, you’re tougher than you look, eh. Quite surprising for that face, huh.」

The gatekeeper stared at me in awe, but that couldn’t be helped since my ‘image’ really didn’t fit with how I appear now. Really, the bear’s bottom-up inside the sack I carried on my back, so its feet were sticking out, that was all, you know.

「 Did you come here looking like that? 」

I went directly to the Commerce Guild’s Purchasing Window, and was asked that, too.

「 Thought it’s better than walking around dragging a carcass’s half body in plain sight though… 」
The head was cleanly chopped from the body.

「 Sorry, trouble you to drop it here? 」
I lowered the bear on the workstation behind the counter just as the teller requested.

「 Whoa, great. The entire hide’s usable. You’re not only strong but skillful, too, huh. Wait for a bit, it’ll take less than a quarter-time 」

The bear was then hanged, and three people worked on disassembling it. Half-time was roughly an hour here, while quarter-time was around 30 minutes.

「 By the way, can you tell me where to take lessons on how to prepare potions? 」

「 Hm? If it’s potions, then the book club next door has recipes. Try Doctor’s Guild ー no, the Alchemy Guild might be better if it’s magical potions, I guess? If it’s just to broaden your knowledge, then we also have plenty consigned here at the Commerce Guild, although most of them are strictly for guild or personal use only. 」

Oh, so they had a convenient system like that.

「 I’ll go next door for a while. Everything’s for sale, so please assess accordingly. 」
I got a claim check then immediately went to the building beside this one.

I relayed my purpose to the guide, and then I headed towards the teller window. There was a counter, and several shelves filled with books were lined up behind it.

「 Excuse me. I want to purchase some recipes for potions. Also, can I please have a catalogue of the recipes for sale, if possible? 」

Got the potion recipes, but not the catalogue. I imagined it would be one to three sheets of paper, but I was given a bundle, instead, and it covered a wide range of topics, from cuisines down to firing bricks. It’s not like they were patented, but they were handled much like cooking recipes.

The recipe for potions was easy. Hmm, medicinal herbs, blessed water, a concoctioner who would pour mana — I already got the medicinal herbs, and maybe the water from home would do…?

The Alchemy Guild seemed to handle recipes of potions that were beyond the basic levels. I could try going there after I got the payment for the bear.

I could use Recovery Magic to treat wounds, and almost all illnesses could be cured using 【Heal】, but it’d turn messy if I got discovered. It’s also troublesome to keep on hiding the fact that I was strong, so I decided to be open about it from the get-go. The potions would be used as cover for my ability to heal wounds, plus, they sell for a hefty price, apparently.

Plenty of guys in this world were physically strong since the spirits governing strength were show-offs. Apparently, they wanted to display their power, so many of them would bestow strength to people. Those who could use magic were few and far between compared to them. There were magic users who had weak mana, or else didn’t possess attributes, so magicians who could join battles were scarce.

Apparently, those who had mana but couldn’t cast magic became alchemists, instead. However, it didn’t necessarily mean that if the magician was great at firing magic, he could also do alchemy, since many of those magicians weren’t deft at mana manipulation.

So, what about me? I’ll be fine, I think.

「 Hey, you got a magic stone. Wanna see it first? 」

「 Please. 」

They called out to me when I returned to the disassembly place. It’s my first magic stone!

I imagined it would be the size of a ping pong ball, but it was way smaller than that. It’s even smaller than the stones in Sis’s ring ー she’s an extreme peacock so I was pretty sure her rings and necklaces had gems larger than what’s considered ordinary. Was it normal to think that way?

I placed the scarlet stone on top of my palm and stared at it. This midget wasn’t even the size of my pinky fingertip.

「 It’s a red spinel. Congrats, spinels are more valuable the redder they are. 」
「 Thanks? 」

I expressed gratitude even though I wasn’t sure about its value yet.

There were a lot of times when spirits of the monsters who generally go on a rampage would crystallize into crimson gems. The stronger they were, the deeper the hue.

Magic stones were also a type of gemstone; the only difference was the former was tinged with mana. They could be used in magic, as well as ingredients in medicines. They were also frequently worn and flaunted, though. Even if the gems in the engagement rings were small, they were also magic stones.

「 Do you want to sell it, too? The color and size are enough to cast strong fire magic, you know? 」
「 Yeah, I don’t mind if you buy it out. 」

I could use spells even without that magic stone.

My breast pocket was considerably bulging with cash, so I should gather the tools right away and return back home. Requests for monster subjugation were probably as many as the innumerable cities, so that must be the reason why I got the apparatus I needed right away, and just from a single bear’s portion, mind you.

Potion-making could be a mighty display of the Japanese’s ingenuity, so I was pretty complacent. They already gave me talents, so it’d be depressing if I couldn’t make them.

Hmmm, a laboratory would be nice. The medicinal herbs’ aroma bothered me a bit.