Kamisama Shop de Cheat no Kaori

Chapter 128. Three Companion And A One-Meter

I woke up as usual in the early morning. It was in a small village whose name I didn’t know.

It was still early, just before dawn, and the temperature was low, but there was no time to feel cold. Naturally. After all, I had just had a light mock battle with Yaralai.

Originally, I had planned to test the other aerial tools this morning, but since I didn’t know who might see me in the town, I decided to postpone it. In fact, young women from the village were currently gathering and casting annoyed glances my way.

After training, someone brought a bucket of water and a towel. It was probably an order from the village chief. Considering last night, I wished there was a bit more consideration for the younger folks.

As I gratefully dried myself with the towel, the women screamed and fled. I felt down.

Thanks to the kindness of the villagers I had helped, a somewhat luxurious breakfast was prepared for me this morning. However, given their perspective, it felt a bit awkward to be presented with a rolled omelet with such pride.

According to them, half of their chickens had been eaten by goblins, and they had only just managed to catch the remaining chickens by this morning.

I had thought that once they escaped into the wide world, they wouldn’t be caught, but it seems they had returned in search of food. It appears that livestock, once domesticated, cannot survive without humans.

As I was about to set off, a sporty woman in her early twenties stepped forward. It was Uytis.

“Good morning. Is something wrong?”

“Good morning. Well, this might be a bit of an imposition, but could you take me along to Hanchon Town?”

“Eh? Sure, no problem.”

“Eh? No, well, I only have this little bit of gratitude to offer…”

Reluctantly, she presented a surprisingly rough hand with about five silver coins on it. That’s 5,000 yen. I picked up just one coin.

“Yes, a one-meter fare, please.”

“Eh?”

“This is enough.”

It might cover the gas costs.

Remaining balance: 313,439 yen.

She seemed quite apologetic and said various things, but I mostly ignored her and quickly got into the driver’s seat. Uytis, almost as if by inertia, also took the passenger seat. It seemed that the cabin was a bit intimidating.

“How’s your leg?”

“Thanks to you, it’s improving quite a bit.”

“Let me see… I’ll keep it cool a little longer.”

I asked Yaralai to bring a bucket of water.

It seemed that the water was further cooled by elemental magic.

“I’m sorry, it didn’t get very cold.”

“Is that so?”

“The elemental magic, capricious, here, the water spirit, has little power.”

“Well, it can’t be helped, can it?”

“Yes. But the car’s water is colder than usual. Use it.”

“Is it really alright to use such transparent and precious water…”

“It’s the only water we have, so don’t worry… Ah, there’s plenty of it in this carriage.”

“…Thank you very much.”

Uytis began to say something but swallowed it and only expressed her thanks.

I nodded lightly and started the camper. It was moving at about 15 km/h. The area had relatively many straight paths, and the road was fairly well maintained, but the traffic began to increase. We rarely overtook other vehicles; most were passing by in the opposite direction.

Most people still showed surprise or wariness at seeing our carriage, but a merchant in a covered wagon ahead waved and tried to stop us.

“What do we do?”

“I’ll provide the escort.”

“Got it.”

Hagg, and for some reason Faf too, disembarked with me, and we approached the merchant. He looked somewhat like a middle-aged, slightly chubby man, which felt familiar, but his physique might be unusual for this world.

“Hello. Is something wrong?”

“Oh, brother. Are you also merchants?”

“Yes. We are traveling merchants.”

“Good. If you were nobles, there might have been a risk of a beheading.”

The merchant laughed heartily.

“So, what seems to be the problem?”

“Ah, actually, something terrible has happened in a town called Hanchon up ahead.”

“Something terrible?”

I intentionally paused there.

“Ah! Well… uh… you see, it’s on the tip of my tongue, but for some reason, it won’t come out?”

The merchant pretended to press his head and throat.

I smiled at his theatricality and handed him three silver coins.

Remaining balance: 310,439 yen.

“Ah, I remembered now. Getting old is indeed frightening, ha ha ha!”

He wasn’t as old as he sounded. Just a regular middle-aged man. I wonder if I’ll be like him in a few years?

…Although I don’t have any tendency to gain weight at the moment.

“So, what did you remember?”

“Right, it’s that. There’s a rumor that a large group of harmful beasts is attacking Hanchon. It seems that the extermination team was wiped out, so it’s pretty certain. We are also hastily escaping from the town.”

“I see… Do you have any more details about the harmful beasts?”

“They’re goblins. Apparently, there’s a large number of them now, and it’s rumored to be a colony with a vessel. You should also escape…”

“Hmph. We’re going to defeat them.”

“Oh! Upon closer inspection, you seem like a strong dwarf! But I heard that two seasoned lizard warriors fell…”

“Hmph. I know a bit about them. I’m much stronger than them, and I have this one too.”

At that moment, Hagg gave my back a hearty slap.

“Me?!”

“Even if I’m strong, it’s tough to deal with numbers, as you should have learned in that place.”

For a moment, I didn’t understand what he meant, but it was probably about the escape from the royal castle. Indeed, numbers are power.

“Well, are you also strong?”

“Hmph. I’m still in training.”

“A dwarf warrior fighting humans directly! That’s rare!”

“I just can’t leave it alone.”

“Ah, yes, there are indeed people with such a personality.”

“Mm.”

“Hey.”

Why am I being dissed even by strangers?

“For a mercenary dwarf, it might be a good time to earn some money. I wish you success. That town is often used for business.”

“Mm. Leave it to us.”

We bid farewell and parted ways with the merchant.

Although the information was already known, it confirmed the likelihood. It was good to know that there are kind people among merchants.

“Shall we go then?”

“Mm. The situation may be quite critical.”

“Indeed.”

I pressed the accelerator a little harder and carefully moved the car forward.

We arrived in Hanchon Town while it was still bright.

The speed difference was just too great.

The town seemed larger than I had expected. Most buildings were single-story, made of sun-dried bricks, and many structures were haphazardly lined up. It spread out along both sides of the main road, giving no sense of urban planning. However, many people were running around the broad main street, indicating a large population.

No, it was more like chaos.

This was likely going to be a big deal.

And of course, this premonition turned out to be true.