Act 1: Chapter 39: Aarburg's Baptism
I entered Aarburg from the gate.
The buildings were built so close to each other that it jam-packed the pedestrian traffics.
I guess the reason for this dense population was because of the monsters that were running rampant outside.
Although Lovis told me that this was a frontier city, it felt like a bustling one if you compare it to the city I used to live back in Japan.
There were even people who quarreled with the guards due to opening their stalls in an unauthorized location.
In fact, there were also suspicious-looking black-robed folks carving some sort of magic circle on the wall.
Upon a closer look, the magic circle seemed to be the type that enhanced the effect of a barrier.
It seems this rampart was enchanted with magic to have the monsters keep away from the place, those folks seemed to be enhancing the effect of the barrier.
Anyhow, thanks to them, the streets which were already bustling normally became even narrower right now.
Even I have a hard time walking around while making sure I wouldn’t bump on other people.Were other cities as crowded as this one?
Probably not, the reason might just mainly be that this was the frontier, and that they had no way to enlarge the rampart.
Even though I’ve been walking around for a while now, I still couldn’t find something that looked like the Adventurer Guild.
…I thought that it was around the area since I could find so many armed people here.
Though they looked scary, I guess I was left with no choice but to ask for directions.
「…Oopsie!」
A huge man suddenly appeared in front of me when I was looking away. Because he bumped on my shoulder before I got the chance to step aside, I jumped back to reduce the impact.
「Sorry, I’m currently looking for…」
I bowed to him while explaining about my situation.
I knew that I was in the wrong for moving without minding my surroundings, but it seemed like he didn’t react even after I apologized.
All of a sudden, he grabbed my shoulder just as I was about to leave.
「Some nerve you got there, Lass. How dare you try and leave after you bumped on me.」
I turned around and took a look at the man’s face.
He had a burly build with a height close to 190 centimetres.
The large scar on his face made him look rather intimidating.
By appearance alone, his age should be around the middle forties.
He was carrying a huge axe on his back.
Following after him was a short man who had a sly grin on his face.
「Is something the matter, Octavio-san?」
「This lass bumped on me and tried to run away, that hurt, you know?」
Now I finally understood what was happening.
This man… Octavio, intentionally did this.
The people around us were avoiding us like the plague.
「That’s quite the nice robe you got there, you even have a magic bag. Did you ask your papa to buy those? I really hate rich girls like you who act like you don’t care about us, it makes me want to beat you to death.」
…It seems like I was getting involved with troublesome folks.
He was a scam artist.
…Come to think of it, what should I do now?
Octavio was tall and had a rather muscular build.
I got this feeling that his Level wasn’t all that different from Lovis.
Because of these thoughts, my mind cooled down.
In the first place, I had to avoid direct combat as much as possible.
I was severely lacking knowledge of this world and this city.
As proof of it, I ended up getting lost since I was thinking about strange things.
I guess it’ll cost me some money to avoid getting myself involved in this kind of unnecessary trouble.
「My bad… I don’t really have that much money with me, but you’ll let me go as long as I give you some, right?」
「I like a smart lass like you, but…」
Octavio had a wide grin on his face.
「Leave behind that magic bag. I really want that kind of bag, you kno~w?」
I could feel my expression stiffening up after hearing his words.
This magic bag was filled with gifts from Lunaire.
Although I made sure to keep hazardous items such as the《Distorted World of Cursed Mirror》 in my dimension pocket. I kept all of my drugs and the《Akashic Record》 inside the magic bag so that I could take them out easily.
Like hell was I going to give these items, these mementos of my time in Cocytus to this bastard.
…I guess running away was the only choice.
When I stepped back to check Octavio’s stats with 《Status Check》, I heard a girl suddenly scream.
「P-Patrol-san! Look at them! They’re about to kill someone…!」
A voice resounded in the vicinity.
「Who dares to make a ruckus and kill someone in daylight!?」
A little bit away from our location, two patrols who were supervising the street stalls were now looking in our direction. They ran towards us as soon as they heard the scream.
Although I couldn’t understand what the girl meant for a moment, I noticed after a moment that it was a lie to call the guards to help me from this.
「T-This is bad Octavio-san! We’ll be be kicked out of the guild if we cause trouble!」
The small man, who was apparently Octavio’s sidekick, exclaimed in panic.
「Damn the bastard who called those patrol guards, I’m gonna skin you alive once I find you!」
Octavio gritted his teeth as he glared at the two guards running towards us.
「Consider yourself lucky, brat. Don’t think that this is the end of this!」
Octavia raised his right arm and struck my shoulder before escaping as fast as possible.
「…Don’t worry, Octavia-san. I know the owner of the voice, it’s the white mage, Pomera.」
The sidekick said as he turned around and disappeared into the crowd.
I looked over my shoulder.
Was he… going easy on me? I mean, that hit from before wasn’t enough to be called as “tickling”.
Octavio, who carried such a big axe on his back, should be killing demon beasts on a daily basis. In short, he should be an… adventurer.
In addition, he went as far as picking a fight with me. That means his level should be at least the same or higher than mine. It should be high enough that he willingly picks a fight against other adventurers.
I used 《Status Check》 on him before his figure disappeared from my sight.
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Octavio O’grain
Race : Ningen[Human]
Lv :28
HP :112/129
MP :106/106
‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
I couldn’t help but blink in astonishment.
Did I… make a mistake?
Could it be that I chose the wrong target with my status check?
I mean… Lovis was clearly stronger than him. Or should I say… It’s like comparing a chihuahua versus a 2 meter-tall MMA fighter.
Could he really make a living as an adventurer with such a low level?
「Could it be… That person was just an ordinary lumberjack with a big body?」
No no no, that’s too good to be true.
But… Can he even do a proper adventure with such a low level?
I mean, even Lovis was at least Level 181.
Yes! That meek Lovis.
Even if Lovis was a rare person around Aarburg city, there was no way that Octavio’s level was only 28.
I guess I had to reevaluate my assessment about Lovis.
Well… Let’s check another adventurer’s status once I register myself in the Adventurer Guild.
No one should notice that I’m using 《Status Check》 on them.
Although some people might be suspicious of me since I paused for a while to look at the status in my mind. It shouldn’t be a problem if I just glanced at them.
It wasn’t like people would notice if a stranger just happened to glance at them for a moment or two.
I mean… Those monsters in 《Cocytus》and Lovis didn’t show any reaction when I used 《Status Check》 on them.
Lunaire once told me about this matter before. Apparently, the inhabitants of this world had to pour their mana into a special slate to confirm their status.
While I was pondering over this matter, the patrol guards finally reached me.
「Oi! Were you involved in that fight just now? Why can’t I see any blood on your clothes?」
They asked me with an irritated look on their faces.
「You might have mistaken me for someone else… Thanks for your worries anyways.」
「Tch! Thanks to you, we missed those illegal hawkers!」
One of the patrol guards’ spit flew towards me while he complained with an annoyed voice.
He smacked his lips when I turned around and dodged his spit. After doing so, I left the area at once.
…This city really was filled with petty people.
Suddenly, Lunaire’s figure, which was surrounded with mountains upon mountains of grimoires, passed through my mind.
「Lunaire-san… I miss《Cocytus》 you know?」
Upon heaving a sigh, my eyes caught the sight of a petite girl looking at me with a worried look.
Her short hair peeped out from the blue beret on her head.
She held a big cane in her hands as her troubled expression kept glancing at me.
I was about to ask whether she was the one who helped me just now… However, she shuddered when her gaze met mine. She quickly turned around and left immediately.