BXBX NOVEL Chapter 43
[Thank you for answering my question . ]
The woman expressed her gratitude .
[I also apologize for asking that question repeatedly . I mean, I have also sensed that you’re not lying when you told me about how you defeated those four people . I also understand that you’ve honestly answered my previous questions . ]
Did she have a lie detector?
It’s as if she’s confident that she’s able to tell if someone tells the truth or not .
[That’s why—]
The woman looked at me with a sincere expression on her face .
She bowed down her head, and put her hand on her chest with difficulty .
It’s as if she’s making a pledge .
[I will answer you question as honestly as I could in return . You’re the one who fended off those four people— Towards someone who could be called my benefactor, I don’t intend to do any harm to you at all . ]
Her benefactor .
I think that’s too much of an exaggeration .
No– If she’s really that indebted to me, I guess I’ll use that to my advantage .
[What do you specifically want to ask? You had mentioned earlier that you’re not someone who lives around here . ]
She said imposingly even though she can’t even move her body .
This may prove that she had lessened her vigilance towards me .
[I’ve just been following where my feet takes me . I must have walked quite a distance already . Before I knew it, I’m already in this forest . ]
[How did you even arrive in this forest?]
[It’s like I was suddenly thrown away into this place . ]
[—Is that so? I’m sorry that I have asked that . ]
Something like me being thrown away .
Those words would provoke some dark imaginations to surface in your mind after you hear that .
For example, I may have been abandoned by my travelling companions .
I may also have been driven out from the place where I used to live .
Or I may even have been an abandoned slave (supposing that there are slaves in this world) .
Etcetera, etcetera .
The story of me being thrown away is not a lie in the first place .
I was abandoned by my parents and I was disposed of by that f*cking goddess .
If she could sniff out that I have some dark past that I probably don’t want to talk about, she might become lax on her questions .
It would be enough to just let her sniff out some truth covering the smoke of things that I want to hide .
This also have another advantage .
If I could do this well enough, I could also estimate the personality of the other party based on their reaction .
I looked at the woman’s eyes .
The expression of the woman? It’s as if a question mark is floating above her head .
[What is it?]
[You don’t seem that bad of a person— well, for now that is . ]
[...Did I perhaps gain some of your trust?]
[Yeah, Just a bit . It’s just that, I feel that my circumstances are a bit similar to yours . The both of us think that we should avoid intruding too deeply in the others lives—]
It seems that this woman also have her own circumstances that she wanted to hide .
However, that doesn’t matter . All I wanted now is information .
After I get the information I want, it would be good enough to go on our own ways .
[Yeah, I agree . ]
Shadows cast over the woman’s expression .
[I’m also thankful if that we’re the case . ]
There is still the problem with the remaining gauge .
We have already wasted a lot of time with these idle-chatter .
[Okay . Well then, I’ll move on towards the questions I wanted to ask . Is there any village or town nearby?]
[There’s one, there’s a small city called Mills nearby . I was also–]
The woman suddenly paused .
“I was also–“
There seems to be a reason why she doesn’t want others to know her destination .
Is she afraid of the budding chance that I might give out the information of her destination towards her pursuers?
Though I said that, those words she said just now have already given out where she’s going .
Well, if I just know the location of the city then that would have been enough .
I won’t dig into her circumstances .
The woman has taught me the direction and distance towards that city .
It seems that it really isn’t that far from here .
The time where I could finally sleep on a decent bed is finally near .
[Where is this place located?]
I move on towards the next question .
[Do you not even know where you are right now?]
[My situation’s a bit complicated . I was living in a place that’s disconnected from civilization . I’ve never received any information from the outside . You should be able to guess my circumstances now . ]
I’m trying to imply that I was escaping from the eyes of investigators .
[...I understand . This is a forest located to the south of Urza Kingdom, “Forest of Darkness” . ]
I’m surprised .
Isn’t this place located in Allion Kingdom?
I completely thought that the disposal ruins were located in Allion .
I’ve gained quite a valuable information .
[Where is Allion?]
[Allion, is it? I think it’s northeast of Urza Kingdom? And also, to the southeast of Urza Kingdom is—]
The woman hesitated a bit .
[...where the Bachoss Empire is located . ]
(T/N: I suck at naming . This info may change depending on when I could sync it to the manga . )
There must be something there in the Bachoss Empire that made her think twice just to mention its name .
However, I’ve said this before but I won’t dig to deeply in her circumstances .
Nevertheless...
It seems that this place isn’t located in Allion .
That means that there is no way that f*cking goddess is nearby .
Is it okay to consider this as a good news for now?
The thing for me to consider first is the direction where I should go so that I could stay away from Allion for the meantime .
First of all, the matter that I’ve talked about before regarding the Forbidden Curses should be prioritized on where I would go .
Fumu...
I’m in another country, so there is no need to be in a hurry to leave...
[Okay . The next questions might be a little strange . ]
The woman suddenly have a face full of worry after hearing my words .
[—ah, y-yes . P-please do . ]
[For example... If I want to buy a bread that was usually eaten by commoners, how much would it usually cost?]
[ . . So you want to know the market price, huh?]
[I have lived in a place where I wouldn’t need to know the price of things...]
[I understand . If you’re talking about a bread that you could usually buy in any city, then you can buy them with one piece of copper . ]
So, bread exists huh .
[How many copper coins are equivalent to a silver coin?]
[It’s about 30 copper coins for one silver coin . ]
Let’s say that a bread could be about ¥100 each . (T/N: ¥ = jap yen . )
If it’s according to the standards of my previous world, a silver coin should be equivalent to about ¥3000 .
It may just be an approximate guess from me, but I guess I roughly grasped it .
It’s obvious, but prices in here should be different from Japan .
I must not think of the value of everything depending on their equivalent in Japanese Yen .
However, it’s a step forward now that I have understood the “standard” price of bread .
I should fairly understand the price relationship when I have finally reached the city of Mills .
I quickly speak out the information I wanted to know .
The yellow gauge is about to be depleted .
There’s one last thing left that I need to really need to know from her .
I took out the “The Forbidden Archives of Spells and Curses” from my leather bag .
I spread open the archive in front of the woman’s face .
[Do you know anything regarding the letters used to write in this book?]
The woman’s eyes run through the letters in the book .
Her eyes seems to shine as she hurriedly looked over the book .
Did she find out something because of how her mouth moves like that?
I don’t even know if she’s even conscious at all .
Hmm?
I noticed one thing from her .
There’s a faint wrinkles that I could see beneath her eyes .
Although, it’s actually so faint that I would have never seen it if I weren’t looking closely .
Is it that she lacks some sleep because she’s been escaping for days?
[This is—]
The few wrinkles engraved on her eyebrows caved in a bit as she replied .
[It seems to be written with ancient characters . This is quite a special book . ]
[Can you read it?]
[No, I’m sorry about that . ]
[I see . I understand . ]
I rolled up the Forbidden Archive so that I could put it back to my back .
It seems that this part is not going quite well, huh?
Although I’ve only just a single clue, I have some expectation regarding this .
Well, I’ll be able to know its contents in the future .
[However—]
[Hmm?]
[I think I might know someone who is quite familiar with these characters . ]