BXBX NOVEL Volume 3, 1.1
Volume 3, Chapter 1.1
Translator: Kureha
Editor: Weasalopes
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「So, where should we start?」
「Let’s start off with a simple combat based request in the local area. That way we get a good idea of the scale of this city.」
「Sounds good to me.」
Agreeing with Makoto’s plan, Tatsuya started to look through simple jobs that were close to Darl city. To be honest, none of them has tried to get used to using their new weapons on their way to Darl. Since they had no need to get into physical combat. Whenever monsters attacked them, they bounced them off with an inertial control barrier.
The monsters around the capitals are mostly trash mobs. However, it would be dangerous to go against higher-level monsters when they are not used to the functions of their new weapons. Especially since Makoto is going to be using a katana which she has not used in a couple of years. It would be fatal to fight against a field boss monster. Although it is very similar to a Melee battle, the characteristics of the weapon, the opponent, and the skill sets vary significantly between a katana and a two-handed sword. So, suddenly going up against a strong opponent would be too dangerous.
「How about a Giant Hopper culling and handling of Grass snakes?」
「Yeah, those would be good. Their pretty easy mission.」
Looking through the quests which Tatsuya has brought back, Makoto nodded without thinking twice. Giant Hopper is a grasshopper but around the size of a human. On the other hand, Grass Snake is the size of an ordinary snake. However, its venom is as strong as the Venomous Wolf. Not only that, Grass Snakes can attack in a den 1 . So, when its nest is discovered, it must be dealt with swiftly.
When it comes to other animals, Darl was like Savannah on Earth. The monsters in Darl are very different from the ones in Farlane. Many monsters here have the form of species which you would expect to see in a grassland biome. However, since Darl is in a warmer climate, many monsters carry lethal venom. Giant Hoppers exist in Farlane as well;. however, the ones in Darl carry venom and they tend to be more aggressive. So, Darl tends to have requests which are never posted in Farlane. Even in the game, the level and the abilities of the monsters weren’t very different. However, there were more venomous monsters and their attack status tended to be much higher. So, the hazard rank in Darl was higher than the cities surrounding Wulls.
「Excuse me, we would like to take these two jobs.」
「No problem. Are there any information you would like to know beforehand?」
「Um… how many Grass Snakes are there?」
「There is only one nest which has been discovered in the central area.」
The man at the reception swiftly started to sort through necessary documents as he answered Makoto’s question. Then, he frowned as he glanced at Tatsuya and Makoto’s ranks.
「Looking at your ranks, I believe this job will be a little too easy. Are you sure that you would like to take on this job?」
The two mentally gave each other a bitter smile at the receptionist’s words. In reality, these types of quests were more meant for Adventurer’s in class eight or lower. The reward for the job wasn’t very good either.
「Yes, we recently renewed our weapons. So, we were looking for an easy job to get the hang of new weapons.」
「Also, we’re new in Darl. So, we wanted to get a good idea on what kind of monsters show up around here.」
「Oh, I see. Looking at your combat skills, they won’t be very difficult monsters to takedown. However, they do contain venoms so please be careful.」
「Okay, thank you very much.」
After receiving the warning from the receptionist, they headed straight for the location mapped on the request poster. Although they have not upgraded any other equipment, there were no monsters in this area that could claw through a wyvern leather armour. Armour with a higher physical defence status than plate armour. Also, no country would build their capital close to an area where such monsters habituated.
「Let’s just do the job that was listed on the request sheet for today.」
「Yeah, that should be fine. I don’t remember seeing any drops that would sell for a high price on the sales sheet anyway.」
「Well then, what are we waiting for?」
Tatsuya nodded in response, then started on the job without a moment to waste. The monsters were a little too weak for it to be a good warm-up round. However, the two did manage to get an idea of using their new weapons efficiently.
「Base o’ the house doesn’ seem to be damaged. So, just fillin’ the crack in the walls.」
Hiroshi instructed Haruna and Mio as he placed a small amount of cement onto the plastering tool. Hiroshi made the cement from stock remain from when he used to work at the construction job back in Ortem. The cement in this universe was much higher in quality as it contained magic and so on in the material. However, to Hiroshi’s group who has no construction experience back on Earth, they did not notice such a detail.
The property which they have rented had a very typical build for Darl. A pile of stone which has been fixed into place with some cement. There were metal beams placed in some areas to support vulnerable parts. But apart from that, the rest of the buildings were built with stones. The structure was very concerning, especially with the size of this property. However, this area only experienced earthquakes once a century. Even when it occurs, it never goes higher than magnitude 3.
「Are we really going to finish renovating today?」
「Welp, I want t’least the outside n’ the bedrooms fixed」
Haruna questioned worryingly as she saw that the damages on the house was far worse than what she had expected. Then, Hiroshi gave a light-hearted response as usual. With that, the two of them started to fill in any badly damaged area in the walls.
Also, they are only renting the property so functions like auto-repair and other defence-related enchant have to be ones which they could easily take down. However, it would be problematic if anyone could dispel the enchantments. So, the precise adjustment of the enchantments was very difficult. However, Hiroshi wasn’t concerned about that since this wasn’t their first time dealing with such a situation.
「Hey, wasn’t the water bill expensive in this area?」
Haruna suddenly remembered about the water bills as she saw Hiroshi fixing up the water pipes. She has managed to finish her part of the walls unexpectedly fast. Back in Farlane, the water bill was almost free. However, Darl doesn’t have as many water sources. They never reach the point where they are in drought. As they can gather water through magical tools. But because of the very limited water sources, it was difficult to transport water directly or by light labour. The condition was the same in the country of steel, Forre. However, Forre is a different matter as the only reason why they don’t have a direct water source is that their water contains too many minerals to be drinkable.
Farlane would be constantly facing war if it wasn’t for the Spirit Spire Mountain, the Great Southern Forest and the occasional migration of the monsters. The civil division which took place all thanks to Barold also played a role in Farlane not being declared into wars. Otherwise, neighbouring countries would have tried to take the resources which Farlane has. Even if they had to sacrifice their own troops. Farlane would have not done such a straightforward approach if it wasn’t for the state which their country was in.
It is doubtful to say that a country which regularly has monsters migrating is blessed. However, from the aspect of Farlane having sufficient food and water sources and having no fear of going into war with other countries, they really were a fortunate country.
「I only know Japan n’ Farlane but I think tis unusual for a country to be distributin’ water for free.」
「It is unusual but I thought the water bills in Darl is especially expensive.」
「It can’t be helped, there’s a desert in an in-land area.」
It’s safe to say that Mio’s comment answered general questions about Darl. Majority of Darl was in a dry land biome so there were very few water sources as mentioned before. There was plenty of water if it was just for daily uses and for agriculture. However, very few of those sources were directly drinkable. The water demand of the country is just met by desalinating the ocean water and installing wells around the town.
Although facing such an issue, Darl had just as many, no, it had far more adventurers than Farlane. The reason was obvious, it was the Sweltering Tower. The geography of this area was very similar to the game. The reason why Haruna was based in this area during game time was that while she was preparing to head towards the Sweltering Tower, she coincidentally ended up in Darl. However, when she had half the equipment she needed, she gave up and sold the items at the auction.
Reaching the Sweltering Tower is a lot of work as the Adventurer’s need to carry a large amount of water. Adventurers aren’t the only people who need water. The villagers living in a town made to monitor the tower, the merchants who sell items in that village, and the clutter of inns near the desert need drinking water as well. That is why the water bill in Darl is so expensive even in the capital where there are enough water resources.
「So, what are we going to do with this water?」
「Imma usin’ magical item to absorb as much water as we can. This way we’re able to use as much water as we did in Farlane. For dat to work, I need functionin’ water pipes.」
「It feels like we’re very privileged. 」
The water bills in Darl was around the same price as the cheapest booze in Farlane. It’s said that the alcohol in Farlane is ridiculously cheap. However, that does not mean that the price itself was low. Even if they enhanced the ability with magical items, just because they are paying for the water with their magical, it wasn’t something you would use carelessly.
「Welp, we’re gonna need lotta clean water.」
「Okay, I see where you’re coming from. But do we really need to stock up that much water?.」
「We’re not only talkin’ ‘bout drinkin’ water n’ water for daily uses. We need clean water not only for makin’ potions n’ other stuff dat we put in da mouth. But we need clean water for other crafts as well.」
「Do we?」
「Haruna, that’s common sense.」
「Welp I guess tis hard for Haruna-san to understand.」
Haruna still didn’t have enough craftsman experience to understand the impact of materials on its final product. Clean water indeed was a very important factor in the crafting process. This wasn’t just the case in the game, but in real-life construction as well. The increase in a highly technical process usually increases in demand for clean water. So, water pollution is also an issue in the industry aspect as well.
Unlike cooking and agricultural use, the importance of clean water isn’t very obvious. So, it was understandable that people struggled to notice the full influence which clean water has on technical industries.
「Hey, I just had an idea.」
「Ya?」
「If we’re not going to need a blacksmith, do we really need a property this size?」
「Dunno.」
Hiroshi thought about Haruna’s comment which she blurted out while filling in the cracks in the wall. If they were only going to make potions and other small items, an average-sized house would be enough. Back when they were first in Farlane, they did a lot of work in an apartment of 2 bedrooms and space where a kitchen and a dining room was combined. It was true that they didn’t need an industry sized property for a one-time base. However…
「Welp, ya not wrong dat we don’ need a house this big if we were just makin’ small items. But when I thought ‘bout how we should start weavin’ spirit cloth, then other real states weren’ spacious ‘nough.」
「I see~ …」
Things which they needed to make weren’t just small, everyday objects. In Darl, essential items were mostly stone related items. When it comes to making objects like that, you will start to need some amount of space. Also, when it comes to making a spirit cloth which will be a long-term project, the machine alone will take up a significant amount of space. Considering everything above, it was better to rent a property which the rate wasn’t that different to a cheap house and renovate it themselves.
「Are we going to be looking for a property like this every time we need to stay in an area for some time?」
「T’ would depend on the situation. This time, we need to make large scale items n’ use large machines so we contacted a cheap, industry sized property. But in Lorren, we won’ be able to git our hands on materials which we need a large machine or make a large item so we won’ need house this big.」
「I see.」
Getting an agreeable answer, Haruna went back to renovating. They weren’t chatting for a long time, but Mio seems to have finished most of the outside. So, Haruna decided to start working on the inside of the house. As for Hiroshi’s work, he finished it right before Haruna started talking so there was no impact.
「Sensei, I finished fixing the outside.」
「Then can ya help Haruna n’ go ‘’round the inside of the house? I’ll mend up the rest of ceilin’ n’ the floor.」
「Got it,」
Following Hiroshi’s instruction, she started off with an area where the floor wasn’t as damaged. Generally speaking, it wasn’t damaged to the point where it would break through any second. However, considering how easy the floor could break, it was safer to go around the sturdier areas
「For now, let’s set our goal to mend the house ‘nough to cook lunch here.」
「Roger that,」
「I’ll do my best.」
In the end, they were able to eat lunch at their new base. However, that was because their process was slightly delayed and they had their lunch later than usual.