Almost a week had passed since our failed Quest.
Turns out, we were the only group to fail, which earned us a lot of grief from the other groups. As for my group, nothing much had changed.
Things got a bit serious while we'd been discussing our differing views on killing, but in the end I'd say we managed to come to an understanding and respect each others' views, regardless of whether we agreed with them or not.
The group dynamic hadn't changed much from day one. Rai was still an overly talkative annoyance. Key was kinda on the serious side, but was otherwise quite amiable, although she did have a pretty short fuse that Rai kept triggering almost every single day. Azyl was asleep most of the time and even when he wasn't, he'd hardly speak.
As for Persia, she was still pretty reserved around the others, but she had begun talking with Key sometimes as well as throwing around the occasional sarcastic snark at Rai.
And as for me, I'd say I was slowly getting better at my social skills.
Oh yeah, we'd looked into the guy from the cave, Tahn Ragiu. Turns out, he was an Adventurer that also happened to be the eldest son of one of the most influential families in the Rustlands. Key had volunteered to report to the Academy about what happened, but I don't really know how that turned out yet.
Beyond that, it had been a pretty uneventful week. The first week classes had just been one long introduction session, proper lessons start next week. Right now, it was Saturday, so I was just walking around town.
"Hey, are you listening to me? Get your head out of the clouds, Kuro."
Oh right, and Persia was with me. No, this wasn't a date or whatever, we just happened to run into each other at the weapon store. Remember before when I thought that her gear was a bit similar to mine?
Turns out we both went to the same store to get them.
And that's a pretty big coincidence, given that weapon and equipment stores could be found on pretty much every other block. Anyway, we both happened to be free, so we were now just...walking around.
Not a date.
Although, I wouldn't really mind if it was- No, wait, forget I said that!
"Hey, are you ignoring me?"
"Quiet, Cat Girl, you're too loud," I sighed dramatically.
"You're such a jerk," She pouted, lightly punching my shoulder.
"Alright fine I'll listen, so what were you saying?"
"Oh, forget it. I hate repeating myself."
Okay, now I was kinda curious as to what she had been talking about while I was spacing out. But if I let her know that, she would win.
...no, I'm not being childish.
"You know, as much as I hate to admit it, we have a lot in common," She remarked.
"Huh, where'd that come from?"
"I-I, no, wait...don't take that the wrong way! I just meant like, you know...our views on killing and fashion sense, that's all!"
"Huh, I wouldn't call that 'a lot', but yeah, I guess you're right. Our gear are pretty similar, and even now, on a day off, we're both wearing black," I remarked in reply.
I had on a black collarless tee with black shorts that went down to just past my knees. In case you're wondering, yes, my entire wardrobe is black, and all plain black at that, no stripes or patterns for me.
As for her, she was wearing a casual sleeveless black dress, that stopped at around her knees. I'd never admit it out loud in a million years, but she looked really cute...
...alright, stop thinking about how good she looks, if I get myself too flustered, there's no way she wouldn't notice.
"I don't like wearing bright colors, I'm at my most comfortable in bla-," She began.
"Hey, what's up, you guys!? You've gotten pretty close, huh?"
A familiar, loud, ANNOYING voice cut through towards us.
"Th-that voice...," I dreaded, sighing in irritation.
"Of all the people to run into...," Sighed Persia.
A blonde head with a fluffy, perked up tail with ring patterns came bounding towards us, waving like a madman.
"Ever since our first quest, you two seem to be getting closer and closer!"
"No we're not!" We both replied in unison.
"Hehe, you're both in total sync, it's just adorable!" Rai exclaimed, grinning at us.
That really grinded my gears, I had never been called adorable before, and I never wanted to be called it again.
"I can't deal with you this early in the morning," I groaned, face-palming.
"It's noon though," He replied.
"If we had stayed in the maze, we wouldn't have had to deal with this right now," Muttered Persia.
"So, what are you guys upto? On a da-?" He began.
"We just ran into each other!" We replied at the same time, again.
You can imagine how he responded. And before we knew it, he was tagging along.
This...I did not like.
He just kept talking and bouncing around like a pinball, we could barely get a word in edgewise and I began to feel exhausted just by watching him.
"We need to give him the slip somehow, I feel like my energy is getting drained just by being near him," Whispered Persia, with a look of exasperation.
"Agreed. The question is, how do we do that?" I replied quietly.
That's when we saw it. Our...key to escaping this predicament, no pun intended(you'll get what I mean in a bit).
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" I muttered quietly.
"It's cruel, but...I don't care at this point."
"Hey, Rai-," I began.
"That's my name! What's up?"
Dealing with this guy was seriously exhausting. But, we had the opportunity to get rid of him now.
"Look who's over there," Gestured Persia, pointing to other side of the street.
A familiar redhead was walking a little way across from us. We had created an opening, but would he take the bait?
"HEY, KEY! FANCY MEETING YOU HERE!"
Yes, he would...and he did.
She initially jumped in surprise at her name being yelled that loudly, and as she turned around to see where it came from and he entered her field of vision, her expression twisted from one of surprise to one of horror and despair.
As he caught up to her and began bombarding her with his hyperactive chatter, she spotted us as we were making our escape. Persia mouthed the words 'we're sorry' to her sheepishly, while I gave her an apologetic look, which wasn't hard, because I genuinely felt bad for what we'd just done to her.
She looked PISSED. We would probably have to deal with that later, but for now, we were finally free!
I should note that we'd barely been with Rai for ten minutes, though it'd felt more like ten hours.
We quickly snuck away before he noticed and made our way to the other side of town.
"Finally, it's just the two of- uh, I-I mean, w-we finally managed to shake him off!" Began Persia, before quickly correcting herself.
Was she about to say- no, can't be...probably just a slip of tongue.
"R-right. Hey, I'm starting to get a bit hungry, what do you say we get some lunch?"
"Yeah, sounds good. I was getting pretty hungry myself. Do you know any good places around here?"
"Oh...not really, I don't really make much money at my part time jobs, so I always go for something cheap and filling, like bread or fruits something," I shrugged, realizing that I hadn't yet eaten any food that could be considered delicious in this world.
I'd just made do with bread, snacks and fruits so far, which were all pretty cheap.
"My adoptive parents always have home cooked meals ready so I've never actually tried food from any restaurants in the country, I didn't really go out much before enrolling in the Adventurer Academy. Mm, how about we just walk around and go into the first place that looks like it could be good?"
"Sure, I'm cool with that."
I was kinda curious as to what kind of cuisine this world had. Turns out, not too different from my old world. We ended up going into a place that had what would be called fast food in my old world, although that term didn't exist in this world. It was pretty reasonably priced too. I ordered a burger with fries, while she ordered a pizza.
"That was good!" Sighed Persia contently, licking her lips as we left the restaurant after we finished eating.
"Yeah I have to admit, it felt good eating food with actual flavor. So, hey...why'd you want to become an Adventurer? I did because, well...easy money, I can literally get paid to kill monsters, shallow, I know...I've never really had any actual long-term goals, like being the strongest or becoming famous or whatever, I tend to go with the flow and live in the present rather than thinking too far ahead. Crap, sorry...I sort of ended up ranting..."
"No, it's okay. As for me, well...yeah, more or less the same as you, it seemed like the easiest way for me to earn money, so..."
We soon left the restaurant after paying the bill, heading back out to the street.
"So, where should we go nex- Eek!" She began, interrupted by a raindrop splashing onto her nose.
I'd noticed it while we had been down in the Goblin maze too, the sound she made when she was startled was so...cute.
"Huh, looks like it's about to rain pretty heavily, guess we should call it a day."
"Yeah, those clouds look pretty ominous, it'll start storming any minute now. My home is just around the corner, so I should be able to avoid it. What about you?"
"Oh, the inn I'm staying at is just a couple of blocks away, I'll be able to get back within a few minutes."
"That's good to hear. Well...we should get going before it really starts to pour," She said.
Yeah she was right, but...I kinda didn't want to leave yet. But looking at the dark clouds that were rolling in from the horizon, I didn't have much of a choice.
"Alright then, I...guess I'll see you at the Academy in a couple of days. I, uh, had fun today," I replied a bit awkwardly.
Regardless of whether or not this was a date, it wasn't by the way, it was still the first time I had ever hung out with another person. And...I'd enjoyed it more than I'd ever expected.
All the people in my old life were clients, targets, and torturers. Oh, and the guy who raised me, but to say he wasn't exactly a doting parent would be an understatement.
"Y-yeah, me too. Um, thanks for today. Well, we really should leave now, see you later!" She smiled with a small wave, heading for her house as the downpour began to slowly get heavier.
I nodded and waved back, and then started heading back to the inn, hurrying to avoid getting soaked.
Unfortunately, the rain had begun coming down at full force before I could reach the inn, and I was unable to avoid getting drenched. I entered my room and got out of my soaked clothes, before taking a warm bath and changing into a dry outfit.
I flopped down onto the bed and stared at the ceiling.
It had been less than a week since I had started my life as a student at the Adventurer Academy, and in that time I'd learnt a bit more about this world through the Academy's library. I had started with studying the maps of this world.
First, the world map. Platinberg, the most prosperous country, was in the north. Goldway, in second place, was to the west. To the east was the fourth placed country Bronztan. The third ranked Silvland was right in the center. As for the Rustlands, the least prosperous nation, we were down in the south.
In terms of distance, Silvland was the closest to us, with Goldway and Bronztan slightly further away. Platinberg was the farthest away.
How prosperous a nation was depended heavily on what its surroundings were.
For the Rustlands, we had forests, jungles and swamps between us and Bronztan. Then between us and Goldway, there were mountains and caves that were mostly barren, save for slightly valuable gemstones and crystals, which is around where our first quest had taken place. Between us and Silvland was a snow filled stretch of land, also quite scarce with resources.
Goldway, Silvland and Bronztan were on a straight, horizontal line across each other, with Silvland in the middle. On either side of Silvland, the lands stretching from it to both Goldway and Bronztan were vast grasslands rich in livestock. As for Platinberg, it was on the top of a straight, vertical line with Silvland and the Rustlands. The land between Silvland and Platinberg was filled with mines that were chock full of extremely valuable gems and minerals. And on either side of that stretch of land, was this world's oceans.
In other words, the areas between Platinberg and Goldway, and Platinberg and Bronztan, were vast stretches of ocean.
The few remaining spots in the map were mostly deserts and wastelands, with little to no resources and tons of monsters. They were known as Death Zones and were typically avoided, they were marked on the map using red Os. There were also red Xs that were labeled Forbidden Zones, but I couldn't find much information on those.
Oh right, and there was an agreement between the five countries that all these different lands between each country didn't belong to any one country in particular and anyone could freely attempt to gather resources from these areas, it was one of the major reasons that this world had been able to avoid war for so long.
All five nations were run by their own royal family, democracy didn't seem to be a concept in this world. Each country had the Adventurer System, with Adventurer Academies to train potential Adventurers, and Adventurer Guilds to rank the Adventurers after they graduate from the Academy, as well as offer Quests that the adventurers could take on to earn money.
Beyond that though, the way each country was run was quite different.
The Rustlands may not be very prosperous, with weaker Adventurers and poorer resources than the other countries, but it was the most pleasant place to live in terms of treatment, it was one of only two countries where slavery was forbidden, plus it didn't have a class system, which meant that no matter how rich or influential you were, you weren't allowed to discriminate against any fellow citizens even if they were dirt poor or had no name recognition.
The other four countries had class systems, dividing their citizens into nobles, middle-class, and peasants. Bronztan was the only other country that had outlawed slavery, and while they did have a class system, discrimination was frowned upon.
Silvland and Goldway both operated quite similarly. Both had operating slavery systems, and were openly discriminatory against their peasant class citizens, who were also the source for their slavery. The main difference between the two was that Goldway was also quite harsh towards its middle-class citizens, though there were rumors that that was starting to change.
As for Platinberg, their class system simply had nobles and peasants with no in between, and pretty much every peasant was a slave or unpaid laborers, the norm was for each noble to have multiple slaves in that country.
The way trade and business works in each country depends on their immediate surroundings. For instance, Platinberg was the most prominent when it came to salt and seafood thanks to the oceans near it, while Silvland was the frontrunner when it came to livestock thanks to the rich grasslands they had to their east and west. Most of the meat you find in the Rustlands were imported from Silvland, locally this country only had boar and bird meat that it got from the forest area near it.
So, what happens if you run into a group of Adventurers from another country while you're out on a quest?
Well, Platinberg had alliances and non-aggression pacts with Goldway and Silvland, so all their Adventurers were forbidden from fighting one another. Goldway also has such a pact with Silvland. Bronztan had a pact with Silvland as well.
The Rustlands did not have a pact with any of the other nations, mainly because we had the least valuable to offer when it came to trade and resources, so the other countries didn't really have anything to gain by allying with this country. There was some minor import and export transactions between the Rustlands and Silvland as well as Bronztan, but it was just the bare minimum, nothing official.
Because of that, Rustlands' Adventurers rarely attempted quests that involved gathering resources from areas that were too close to the other countries, due to the lack of any non-aggression pacts other Adventurers we may run into could freely attack us if they felt like it.
They wouldn't fear retaliation since the Rustlands were in no position to declare war on or even stand up to any of the other countries.
Another major difference between Rustlands and the other countries is the placement of residencies within the walls. We have the royal castle in the center of the country, and all around it were randomly dispersed buildings.
For example, around the inn I was staying at, was a clothing store, fruit vendor, bakery and a few houses. The other countries, meanwhile, had divisions and districts, such as different residential districts for each class, specified shopping and food districts, and so on.
While that did make the Rustlands harder to navigate and easy to get lost in because most of it looks the same, it was also kinda nice with everything so tight-knit. When I first came to this world, I wasn't too thrilled about ending up in the least flourishing country, but now, I'm kinda glad.
I may enjoy killing, but when it comes to my free time, I've always wanted to just spend it normally. Even in my old life, when I wasn't on an assassination job, I was pretty much just a regular teenage otaku and gamer, and I enjoyed that relaxing side of my life just as much as the exhilarating murderous side, if not even more. I had no friends in my old world, so my only source of pleasure was digital entertainment. Anime, shows, movies, games...porn, etc.
...maybe that was TMI.
If I had been reincarnated in one of the more prosperous countries of this world and ended up at the wrong side of their class system, I doubt I'd be able to kick back and relax on days off like this. It had been a little over two months since I first reincarnated into this world. And for the most part, it hadn't been what I had initially expected.
But you know what?
I was starting to enjoy my new life, and found myself looking forward to whatever challenges come next.
For now though, I was just going to relax and enjoy my weekend.
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Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism! Also, check out my Instagram account @aimdaqs for posts relating to this book.