Dungeon Gourmet

The thought struck my brain and I immediately touched the other side of my temple, but still, I felt the same tactile sensation.

Damn it. And this is how I became convinced not to look in the mirror ever again and that my face was really of a monster.

I argued with myself with my face in water for a long time. 

When I finished cleansing, I dressed, looking frugal enough and left my room two hours earlier.

Of course, when I left the room, I didn’t forget to ask the store clerk who was cleaning the first floor early in the morning.

“Do you have a calendar?”

The clerk replied that the year had just changed and that he hadn’t gotten a new one yet, so I asked again.

“Then, what year is this year?”

The clerk answered.

“Today is January 4th.”

However, he corrected himself, surprised by his own response.

“Ah, you don’t want the date? It’s… Year 532. Ah, no! It’s Year 533. Year 533 is a solar year.”

It was a short and concise exchange. After hearing that answer, I left the inn shortly after, and the clerk greeted me goodbye, no longer continuing the conversation.

Solar year 533.

I stood outside the door for a moment and repeated the clerk’s answer. 533, 533……

“…….”

I looked up at the gloomy sky that had not completely lit up.

It was clear that the year I remember, had it’s first number as 4.

‘It’s really been 100 years…? It can’t be… I can’t believe it. I have to go the orphanage and meet the priest first. There’s no way….’

I doubted that 100 years had passed.

Therefore, I wanted to quickly check the well-being of the only acquaintances who remain clear in my memory with my own two eyes.

If 100 years had really passed, the people at the orphanage would have already….

‘No, no!’

I forcefully shook off the ominous thoughts that sprung into my mind.

Even if that horrible thought was true, their descendants would remain in the village. Did you want me to become an orphan again like this?

‘But, I’m pretty tight on money for the journey….’

The problem was that it was not a city that could be easily reached.

The orphanage is at the top of the east, and the place where I am right now is at the end of the south.

‘Three weeks… No, a month?’

No matter how good the carriage is, it would take at least that much time.

Since this world was a place filled with fantasy, it could also be thought that the option of using magic such as ‘Teleportation’ is still open.

However, there were only a handful of humans who could do this such magic, so that idea had to be discarded. Also….

‘Will this be enough?’

Even if I could find such a wizard, the commission price would pierce the sky.

After spending two days on meals and lodgings, the remaining money I left with was around 2 gold and 30 silver.

My money was being consumed faster than expected because the prices and fees of the lodgings and goods are definitely higher than I remembered.

In this situation, I don’t know how much money it would cost to just ride a wagon.

‘If I had known this would have happened, I wouldn’t have put my wealth in a safe or something. If I take a carriage from the capital, it will be more expensive, so if I go through the surrounding cities instead of the capital….’

Hmm.

Just as I was thinking hard while walking down the road with a map of the continent spread between my hands, I heard a horse cry from afar.

Soon after, the sound of conversation between two people can be heard as they got closer.

“How did you even do this? I can’t call a mercenary here now, and even if I asked for support from an adventurer, it would take days for them to arrive.”

“Ha… You’re driving me crazy. What do I do with these things then? I promised to deliver everything within three days. Even if we die on the way, we have to go this way.”

“Calm down first. Once the guards wake up, I’ll go over there and….”

“Ah, there are a few guards in this booger-sized village, so could you help me even a little?”

 Their voices were too loud for it to be called a conversation.

 When I turned my head and looked at the place where they were, wondering what was the story about, two people who seemed to be merchants were arguing.

Both of them looked troubled. Of course, the one with the mustache looked more intimidated as he listened to the skinny merchant yelling.

 “They said it would be used for an important banquet… If we don’t make it on time, how would that guy act….”

 “But what can I do? Ha… Why does these things only happen around here, Won.”

 “This rotten village. If you make a lot of money, you’ll have to… Hey! What are you looking at?

Ah, I was caught.

 My eyes met with the skinny merchant’s.

Their loud chatter, especially during this early morning, attracted so much attention that I was unconsciously listening in. 

“…….”

 “No, I asked him what he was looking at, but he didn’t answer me….”

“W-wait a minute. This guy….”

Wouldn’t it be strange to reply, ‘I’m watching you guys’ to the question, ‘What are you looking at?’

In the end, I looked for something to say but couldn’t think of anything, so I shut my mouth again inside the helmet and looked away. I even wondered if my communication skills had deteriorated as I’d been in the forest for a long time.

While I was thinking about it, they started walking towards me. What do they want?

 “Hey, do you happen to be….”

“Hey, you look like a mercenary or an adventurer, are you?”

“…….”

 Are you talking about me?

Well, the only ones around here were the two merchants and me, so I guess they were referring to me. I nodded silently at their words. Yes, I’m a mercenary.

 When I nodded, the two merchants glanced at each other and immediately rushed to me, the lights in their eyes immediately turned on as they started talking.

 “Are you strong? Just enough to catch a Red Boar!”

 “What’s your level, adventurer!!”

“Yes…?”

This sudden question once again caused a communication problem.

 What? Red Boar? What is that…? Oh, a monster.

 But I couldn’t remember what level it was. I definitely remember catching something similar in the past. But, what should I say here? I don’t even know what’s the average level now.

In the end, before answering the question, I secretly used the ‘Status’ skill to look up at the ‘mustache merchant’ who seemed to have at least some muscle strength.

???

Race: Human

Occupation: Merchant

Level: 3

Attack: 19

Defense: 14

Strength: 6

Intelligence: 7

‘Even though you are not a corpse I can see your stats. Oh, the level is very low.’

The question mark was because he did not introduce himself yet.

If I had been hinted at by others and already knew their face, their name would have appeared, but in the case of a first-time meeting, his name did not appear. This is because the name can be changed at any time in this world.

Of course, the fact that it was easy to change your name meant your name could be seen in ‘My Information’.

If your name was on the list of villagers or guilds, you had to go through a formal process to change your name.

Still, it’s amazing that you can change names easily on the status quo. Isn’t this proof that the names given by parents are not absolute in this world?

“Level?”

“Yes, level! Seeing that you’ve come all the way here, you are surely here to subjugate the overflowing dungeon… Why, the cave next to the forest…….”

“…….”

Anyway, back to this conversation, merchants don’t usually subjugate monsters directly in dungeons.

Level 3. It seemed safe to say that that was the level and status of an average human adult.

This is a particularly peaceful place, so even if that merchant is a little off the norm, it won’t be dangerous, considering the margin of error.

In the end, I decided to tell him the level I remembered.

“It’s level 95.”

“What?!! That much?!”

“Woah! Look, he’s a great guy after all!”

“No… But, to check if it’s true or not….”

I’m wearing a helmet so my face wouldn’t be seen anyway, but I watched their reaction expressionlessly.

Shortly thereafter, the merchants made an offer that I was expecting at this point.

“Hey, if you have nothing else… If the subjugation is over, can you help us? After all, you have to head upwards after work.”

“…….”

“That’s… Aiish, damn it. A monster came out of an abandoned dungeon, and as a result, our colleague who was ahead of us came back with his cart smashed. It was the Red Boar’s fault! But anyway, I have to send these items to Helm by the due date, but if we go around the Red Boar’s path, we wouldn’t make it on time….”

All merchants are really, really good at talking.

That was what I thought while listening to his explanation. But the suggestion they were making was pretty obvious, too.

It was a request to accompany them and protect their wagon loaded with luggage from the beasts, and in ,return I will get a poor, dispiriting remuneration.

“…I would appreciate it if you could accompany us on the way and that… It’ll be hard to give a big reward because I’m just starting a business, but I’ll still provide enough food while we’re on the road! How about it?”

“…….”

It seems that they were going to pay me with food on the road, not even money.

I would have turned down this offer if it was the old me.

It doesn’t take too much to catch a red boar, but, even after hearing the level I was on, they were trying to make use of me at a low price by citing their difficult situation, I would have hated it.

The world has always been like this. Do you get preferential treatment for being strong? No, you will only be pressed upon by those who try to eat the young talents.

“Okay.”

“T-thank you so much!”

But soon after, I accepted the offer.

Even if I didn’t want to do it, I couldn’t help it.

As they said, I was headed to ‘Helm’ anyway, and it could be difficult to accumulate funds while hiding my identity, so I wanted to save as much money as I had.

“Then, we’re going to leave at around noon. Please wait a little longer! Oh, first of all, come to our carriage and have a glass of milk….”

“Yes.”

So I decided to accompany the merchants, and after a while, I was guided to a carriage that was much bigger and stronger than I expected. A wagon loaded with this much in the countryside.

“It might be better than the carriage I was going to get.”

In addition, because they took five of the men from this village on board, whether I was skeptical or not, I unexpectedly left for the road surrounded by people’s warmth from the beginning.