Transition To Another World, Landmines Included Chapter 6

We Reached A Town (1)

Translator: Tsugane

TL Note: Hiya, guys. I'll be in-charge of this one. And right off the bat, lemme make the chapter numbering clear. The previous translator stopped after translating 3 chapters so I am picking it up from chapter 4. However, they had split two chapters into two and so there's a total of 5 chapters listed in the NU page. Chapter 4 here = chapter 6 in the NU page and so on. Hope that makes it easier for you guys. Well then, enjoy!

Summary of the previous chapter:

Discovered that the points given for character creation differs from person to person. 

After confirming everyone's skill and realizing Haruka was superior, the 3 of them headed towards a town. 

We walked for about an hour while Haruka filled us in on this world's general knowledge. 

We had reached the gate of a town covered by walls by then. 

It's about a little shorter than 3 meters, I would say? It was made by piling up blocks and filling in the gaps by plaster or something. 

The walls curved and stretched out for quite some distance so I a.s.sume it's a fairly large town? 

The gate was a two-leaf door and it looked like they were made with st.u.r.dy trees. The doors were wide open at the moment. 

The width was enough such that two carriages could go in or out at once and since there weren't many people going through the gate right now, it seems we won't have to wait long.

And in front of the gate, there were several soldiers standing by, equipped with spears a bit longer than their height and a sword on their waists. 

"Well then, let's go. I will deal with them so you lot just stand behind me and don't speak, alright? You don't have any general knowledge, after all."

""….Understood.""

I mean, sure, we don't have this 'Otherworldly Knowledge' and all but when you say it like that, it sounds like we lack common sense altogether, doesn't it?

I didn't say anything, though, 'cause I do think it would be better to leave it to her.

"h.e.l.lo~"

Haruka went and greeted a young man, who looked a bit older than us, among the soldiers who were dealing with people entering the town.

That perfect business smile of hers completely grabbed the soldier's attention. 

Although her proportions took a small hit, her beauty has increased!

I can say for sure that I would have been fooled myself had I not been her childhood friend. 

"Ahh, h.e.l.lo. Umm, you lot are… adventurers, perhaps?"

The man surveyed us 3 and tilted his head in puzzlement. 

"No, we have not yet registered but we do plan on doing so."

"Is that so? It seems you are not carrying a weapon either…"

"Yes, the thing is, we accidentally lost our wallets in the previous town… We had to sell them to get travel expenses to reach here. It doesn't seem like there's much danger here so we thought we would be fine with just our magic."

"Hmmm. I a.s.sume so, since you've got 2 elves. Well, do you have enough for the tax? It's one large silver coin per person. And according to the rules, you can't really put it on your 'tab' either…"

While the man did nod in consent, he sounded worried — only towards Haruka, of course. It seems we weren't in his line of sight much at all. 

It is a bit irritating but it's also kind of nice in a sense and so I will bear it for now. 

"Yes, if it's that much then we can somehow make it." 

Haruka answered and handed over the tax for all 3 of us after gathering them together. 

Confirming the required amount was in there, the soldier smiled with a nod and moved to the side to let us in. 

"Yep, received. I think you'll be fine if you can use magic but do be careful. After all, adventurers' jobs are dangerous."

"Thank you very much."

Haruka smiled cheerfully and bowed. We also imitated her and went through the gate. 

"Ah–you lot!"

After just a few steps inside, a call came from behind, making us stop in our tracks. 

Haruka's face became stiff but she quickly changed to a smile and turned back. 

"Umm, yes?"

"You haven't decided on a place to stay, right? At the plaza ahead, there's a inn called 'Napping Bear' on the right side — I recommend it! Also, my name is Ca.s.s. Feel free to come to me for advice for anything!"

The soldier finished saying with an amicable smile. 

It might just be pure kindness. Although it might have a little to do with… well, maybe a lot to do with Haruka's good looks. 

I mean, his gaze is completely fixated on her. 

And to be honest, the state I am in now, I don't really have the leeway in my mind to deal with these. 

"Thank you very much. We will consider it!"

Haruka dealt with it flawlessly till the end while Tomoya and I were doing our best to not make a stiff expression. 

This raises my heart rate. 

We started walking once again and kept moving onwards in silence. 

After walking for about 10 mins from the gate, we exchanged glances with each other and let out a big sigh of relief. 

"Haa~~ I, didn't say anything but, that was nerve-wracking."

"Right?! Really~~ We would have definitely been viewed as suspicious beings if not for Haruka!"

I looked at the others going through the gate but couldn't spot anyone else like us, wearing just normal clothes and without luggage. 

Even the lightly armed people had leather clothes on with a small sack on their back and at least a knife on their waists. 

Even if one were to consider our state with just that, we would stand out as we were outside the town completely unarmed. 

"We somehow made it. Although it wasn't really a good excuse and he might doubt us a bit, it will all be probably fine if we just diligently go about being an adventurer without causing any problem."

"By the way, do people also get turned away from the gate?"

"More or less, yeah. If you aren't clearly a criminal and pay the tax, you will be able to enter. There may arise annoying situations such as being questioned for a long time, letting the guards know where you will be staying and stuff. You can compliment me for getting us over this hurdle, you know?"

"As expected of Haruksan!"

"Haruksan, so cool!"

Haruka puffed up with pride and we also got elated and kept praising her. After which, we exchanged glances and had a laugh. 

All the tensed up feelings have become loose now that we have reached a safe place–

*Grrr*~~~~

"Oh. Hahaha, I'm starving!"

Tomoya's stomach growled. 

Seems like it was a bit embarra.s.sing for him, as he gave a wry laugh while scratching his head. 

"Right, it's also about noon so that's perfect. Let's buy food and head towards the recommended inn."

Now Tomoya went and mentioned it, I realized I was feeling quite hungry as well. 

Err, let's see… Before I died, I had breakfast in the morning but I don't have any memory of having lunch… No, I have a different body now so maybe that doesn't even matter. 

"The people here do eat lunch, right?"

"Yep, we're fine in that sector. Although, the normal ma.s.ses usually have it light from carts and the like."

"That's still better than just 2 meals a day. As a former-modern person, reducing my diet suddenly is too intense. Well, well, let's go and see what this world has to offer us~~~"

"…..I do think it would be best for you to not expect anything, though."

Haruka muttered behind Tomoya, who was happily looking around the surrounding. 

"Oh! That place is cheap! 30 reas for bread and soup. Let's try that place out!"

Not noticing Haruka's mutter, Tomoya merrily pointed towards a cart. 

In that storefront, soup was being boiled in a huge pot and there were plenty of bread piled up beside it. 

The bread, which was about a bit larger than one's palm, looked blackish. Is that the famous black bread in fantasy worlds?

I did have normal rye breads before but this will be my first time having complete black ones. 

I might be looking forward to it a bit. 

"Well, I guess we have no choice. We don't really have that much money, either."

Haruka came along reluctantly while we happily paid and took the soup and bread. 

Just when Tomoya and I were about to bite into it, Haruka raised her hand to stop us and took us a bit farther away from the cart. 

"Listen closely now, alright? You dip the bread in the soup to make it soft before eating it. Leave a little bit of the bread at the end to wipe the remaining soup from the bowl. We have to return the bowl. OK?"

"Oh. Now that you mention it, this bread does look hard."

We meekly nodded to Haruka's instructions. 

I heard black bread is quite hard. 

Let's see here, dipping it in the soup…

"Hard! Eh? It's way harder than I thought! Besides… doesn't this taste really bad?"

"The bread's kinda soury and the soup is salty and doesn't taste good at all, does it?"

Being told by Tomoya, I tried just drinking the soup but… not only did it taste very salty, it also had c.r.a.ppy tasting pieces of veggies and meat…

While we were dumbfounded, Haruka's expression didn't change at all as she silently kept eating away. 

"Eh, Haruka, is it not… bad?"

Thinking that maybe the problem lies with our taste buds, we asked Haruka, but she just disappointedly shook her head. 

"Of course it's bad. I knew it would be so I made up my mind before having it."

Ah, right, she did say something about not expecting much, huh? 

Black breads are kind of the staple food so I was looking forward to a little but at the very least, this won't sit well with the normal j.a.panese person, will it? 

"Are you serious~~? I thought it would be delicious like how they describe it in the light novels…."

It seems Tomoya thought the same thing. We both looked at the black bread sadly and let out a big sigh. 

"It has its merits too, you know? It lasts quite a while so it is perfect for preserved food……. Or rather, that's the only choice we have."

"I think rice is the best for preserved food. They last a long and can be cooked really well even with just outdoor cooking utensils, right?"

"If you're going to bring that up then isn't dry boiled rice the strongest?"

"Aah! The one that comes up in the cla.s.sics!"

"Right, right. That is good even as it is and I heard just pouring water can make it even better?"

"Well, they are being sold as processed quick-cooking rice even in modern times after all."

"Is that the so-called dry boiled rice?! That one, which turns into perfectly fine rice with just a little hot water?"

It's normally sold as a preserved food for times of disaster and I had it once. It tasted just fine. 

Of course, it's different from your freshly cooked rice but it's good to the point that you could have it as a daily food. 

"That one is probably made really good with the modern techniques. However, unfortunately, there's no rice in my 'general knowledge'!"

"In other words, if we were to be adventurers, we should get used to this bread?"

As I asked that, Haruka gravely nodded. 

"There are other preserved foods but as one would expect, the taste is very weird."

"Hmmmm, I would like to think of something once we have some leeway."

"Hmm. I don't really like this taste either so I will lend you a hand then…"

Afterwards, being beaten by the harsh reality of things, Tomoya and I also silently finished eating. 

Haruka collected our empty bowls and piled them up before returning them to the old man of the cart. 

"Mister, we are looking for an inn, would you happen to know any good places? One with private rooms would be nice."

"Hmmm, it would depend on your budget…"

The old man stared at our clothes after saying that. 

I guess you could say that it would be an understatement to say that we do not look rich.

"We were suggested a place called 'Napping Bear', how is it?"

"Napping Bear…… ah, that place. Right, they were also an inn. They aren't bad. The old man there is quite brusque, though. The road leading to it is a bit complicated so after getting to the plaza, advance a little into the right alleyway and ask for directions there."

The old man gave us directions while taking the bowls. 

When I looked at the direction he pointed, I could spot a wide s.p.a.ce about a few hundred meters from here. 

"Thank you! We'll come again!"

Haruka waved to the old man with a big smile and urged us to start walking.  

"……Really going there again?"

I hurriedly followed behind her and asked that. To which she gave a wry smile and shook her head. 

"Probably not… As long as we have some money."

"That's a relief~ Leaving the bread aside, the soup too… what is with that?"

"j.a.pan's instant ones are good too, after all. The consommé soup which is ready within 10 seconds of pouring hot water too. Even though it seems quite hard to make from scratch. I am not sure I can make good soup either if I had nothing except salt."

"Really? You are quite good at cooking, aren't you?"

Although not frequent, I did have the opportunity to have Haruka's cooking every now and then. 

I don't know how good other high school girls are at cooking but I can say that Haruka is quite high leveled for sure. 

"Thank you. But that was with the seasoning. It depends on how good the dried food is, I would say."

Dried food… katsuobos.h.i.+ or kombu… or something like seeweed?

Dried s.h.i.+take mushroom and dried sardine are also dried, I guess. 

When I think of it like that, dried food is quite important for das.h.i.+, huh? 

When I am cooking, I just use throw in fine powder das.h.i.+ and slack off but in cooking shows, they put in quite a large amount of katsuobus.h.i.+. 

When you use dried food at that level, maybe das.h.i.+ becomes quite a luxury item. 

All my confidence in being able to live by in this world just disappeared at once. 

I would love it if the cooking pro Haruka could try a little and make us some good food for a low cost… 

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