kscans

Chapter 3 - Surprise and Farewell.

Two years had passed since that day.

I, Kaikawa Shinsuke, was now twenty-five years old.

Training under the hunter Dornet-san had changed me in several ways.

First, my physique. The slight paunch I had was gone; in fact, my abs were starting to show. My biceps were larger than before, and the soft parts of my thighs had firmed up considerably from all the training. His teaching style was very hands-on, so I fought wolves every single day.

Sometimes three times a day, sometimes as many as seven.

Occasionally, a Slime would appear. The first time I saw one, I thought it would be an easy fight and approached it casually. But it turned out to be more troublesome than a wolf. My sword attacks were met with a squishy elasticity that offered no feedback, and the Slime’s body slam felt like being hit with a rock in the stomach. It was dangerous.

My master said, "Against a Slime, you need a piercing attack, and you have to put your weight behind it. Here’s a spear, use this."

With the spear in hand, I fought and thrust with all my might.

Water gushed out of its body, and it shriveled like a deflating balloon, until nothing was left but a puddle of water.

According to my master, "Slimes are a hunter’s least favorite monster because they don’t drop any materials when you defeat them. Well, some of the bigger ones have magic stones, but this one’s a small fry."

He sounded disappointed.

To learn how to fight flying creatures, he had me practice archery, firing arrow after arrow.

I told him I was bad at shooting, but my master retorted, "With that kind of attitude, do you think you can be a hunter or an adventurer? Stop your whining and do it!"

He had a point, so I practiced with a desperation that went beyond mere seriousness.

My home—or rather, my cabin—was something he told me to build myself. I used leftover wood from when he built his own cabin. It was seven meters wide, seven meters long, and seven meters tall—a space good for nothing but sleeping. The roof was flat, just planks laid across, rather than triangular. It ended up looking like a cube.

But I didn’t sleep there. Instead, I drew a magic circle.

If I was going to sleep, I preferred a proper house, so I decided to return to Earth. Fortunately, our time together was limited to training and meals, so he never found out. The magic circle was complete, and I dripped my blood into the depression. All that was left was to stand in the center.

In an instant, the scene before me changed.

When I came to, I was standing in front of the storehouse. It was pitch black outside.

Thinking about it calmly, it was a sudden development. To be able to travel back and forth just by standing there, without even using magic.

Incidentally, when I stepped out of the magic circle and then back into the center, I was instantly transported back to the cabin.

There were no issues with round trips, so I decided to return to Earth again. I entered my family home and checked the clock. It was ten at night. The level of darkness was about the same in the other world, so I figured there was no time lag. To be safe, I decided to take a clock with me when I went back at five in the morning.

And so my days of training in the other world of Milmguard continued.

My master would go to the Adventurer's Guild in town to sell the game he caught and the medicinal herbs he gathered. In town, before selling game or herbs at other shops, you first had to have them appraised at the Adventurer's Guild.

It was a rule set by the country that everything had to be checked for poisonous game or herbs, and a fee based on the type and value had to be paid. If you broke this rule and sold things without permission, the punishment was severe, potentially even death.

The reason for this dated back a hundred years.

In a certain village, an epidemic was spreading, and the villagers were suffering. A merchant appeared, claiming to have herbs that would cure the disease. When the villagers brewed and drank the herbs, their condition worsened. It turned out the herbs were poisonous. As a result, ninety percent of the village's population died.

That person vanished, and their whereabouts remain unknown. It became known in history as the Great Massacre.

Because of that, not just adventurers and hunters, but even traveling merchants from outside had to go through the Guild before selling their goods.

I wanted to go with my master, but he said, "What are you talking about, going to town? The town isn’t a place for a fledgling like you. Let alone the Guild… Just how naive are you? You can go when you’ve gained enough skill that I say you’re ready."

I remember thinking at the time that it was a very strict town.

One thing I noticed when I ate with my master was that the food was too strongly flavored. He would just throw the bones of the game into a pot and boil them. No seasonings were used. That was the soup.

The meat was grilled until it was on the verge of being burnt, and we ate it, char and all. The vegetables were the herbs we had gathered, eaten raw. Some of the herbs were similar in size to lettuce, and when we had those, we would wrap the meat in them. But even then, the taste was too strong. As a Japanese person, I wasn’t used to such intense flavors.

I preferred lighter tastes.

However, if I carelessly brought seasonings from Earth, it would raise suspicion, so I didn’t. Fortunately, we only ate twice a day, in the morning and evening. There was no lunch, and the portions were limited to two plates per person: a plate of soup and a plate with meat and herbs. This was not enough to fill me up, so when I returned to my family home, I would eat light-tasting things like miso soup, rice, and store-bought side dishes, especially pickles.

I didn’t have much money. About seventy percent of my monthly expenses went to maintaining the house, which included electricity, water, and gas. The rest was for food, so I couldn’t buy much.

Money was becoming an issue.

I asked my master about the currency in his world. He took out a pouch and placed ten copper coins, five small silver coins, and five silver coins on the table.

"This is money. There are five types in total: gold, small gold, silver, small silver, and copper. Wolves and Falcons are common prey, so they’re worth about three copper coins each. Depending on the size and type of the prey, you might get a small silver coin. But for you not to even know about money… what kind of backwater place did you come from?"

I thought, Oops, at his words. But I couldn’t take back what I’d said.

As I wondered what to do, my master said, "Oh well. It doesn’t matter where you came from. Since we’re on the topic, if you have any questions, I’ll answer them. But I can’t answer what I don’t know."

I was relieved, but his way of speaking made it sound like he didn’t care about me at all. Still, I wasn’t angry. Compared to power harassment, this was nothing.

Taking him up on his offer, I asked about skills.

My master said, "Skills, huh? Those aren’t something you can learn quickly. You have to meditate and constantly wish for the skill you want. The time it takes varies from person to person, but it could be a month, or it could be ten years. And even after all that time, you can usually only learn one. Very rarely, someone might learn two."

"If you’re going to spend that much time learning something, it’s faster to learn magic. You can learn magic by reading a grimoire and understanding its contents. There are five elements: fire, water, earth, wind, and lightning. The element you learn depends on the grimoire you understand. By the way, I was never interested in that stuff, so I haven’t read any."

"As for how many you can learn, you can learn as many as you can understand. Some people learn three or five, while others try to master just one."

I thought learning magic just by reading a book sounded easy.

But a single grimoire was expensive; the cheapest one cost a small gold coin.

My master chuckled, saying that the reason he was able to continue as an adventurer until his retirement was because he made all his own weapons and armor.

When I found out he had experience as a blacksmith, I thought that meeting this person might have been fate.

I asked my master to train me as a blacksmith as well.

He replied, "I thought you’d say that. I’ll start teaching you tomorrow. The weapon you have now has a handle that’s just a metal rod, which must be hard to hold. I’ll teach you how to make a wooden handle and a scabbard."

My master was a truly amazing person. He seemed to know what I was going to say or do before I did. I wondered if this was the result of his experience as a former adventurer.

The training as a blacksmith required more concentration than I expected. Not only the way to forge the iron, but also making the scabbard and handle from wood demanded a level of delicacy where even the slightest mistake was not allowed. As a result, after my tenth attempt, I managed to create a decent sword with a sixty-centimeter blade.

I remember feeling incredibly moved when I made it myself for the first time. It took more effort than creating one with my skill, but the feeling of accomplishment was beyond words. The handle also fit comfortably in my hand. I made two of them.

One was for the sword, and the other for the katana. The color was white, with a hint of black—a common style. I made the scabbards in a matching color.

These days continued for two years.

If possible, I had wanted to continue living with my master even after I became a full-fledged hunter. But our parting came suddenly.

Right after we finished dinner in his house, he collapsed. I immediately carried him to his bed.

At first, I thought he might have eaten a poisonous herb, but if that were the case, I should have been affected too, as I ate the same thing. But I was fine.

My master spoke, coughing. "Don’t worry. It’s just my time. I was already getting weak before I met you. I was putting on a brave face back then, but in reality, I had a terrible cough and could barely move."

He said that the reason he never coughed during our training was that he would do it after I had left, so I wouldn’t notice.

I asked, "Why did you train me when you were in such a state?!"

With a pained expression, my master said, "At first, it was to repay you for saving me. But as we lived together, I started to think that I had taken on an interesting disciple. I figured if I told someone like you about my condition, you’d just worry unnecessarily. And I hate that kind of consideration."

His words reminded me that my master was still my master.

He must have thought it was better not to say anything than to have people worry about him.

As I was thinking that, my master said, "More importantly, there’s something I need to tell you."

I wondered what it could be and listened in silence.

"Shinsuke, you’re from another world, aren’t you?"

Those words made my mind go completely blank. Why? How? In what way? Such questions swirled in my head.

My master continued, "The first clue was the color of your hair. There’s no one with black hair in this world. That hair color must be unique to another world. I told you about the Great Massacre a hundred years ago, right?"

I nodded.

My master said, "There was a book that detailed that history. It said that the person who brought the poisonous herbs also had black hair. But at the time, no one had hair of that color, so it was dismissed as a mistake, and that part was removed from other books. But fifty years ago, I saw a person with black hair in this very forest."

My master continued, "At the time, I was an active adventurer, and I had built a smithy in this forest. I had no intention of showing off what I made to people, and I hated being told to ‘make something,’ so I worked here in secret. That’s when a person with black hair appeared from the forest. When I asked who they were, they said they were from a place called Japan."

"I had never heard of such a country, so I was skeptical. But they showed me a book they had and said, ‘I came here by following this book.’ I couldn’t read the characters, but when they recited the entire contents of the book, I was half-convinced. But what really made me believe was when they used a skill. After all, I told you how difficult it is to learn skills. And they used four of them."

I was surprised to hear the word "four," but even more so that someone else had come here before me.

But thinking about it, it made sense. After all, everything in the book had been true since I arrived. It wouldn’t be strange if someone had come before.

My master continued, "I asked them all sorts of things about Japan, about other worlds. It was all so surprising. But at the same time, I remembered that the one who caused the Great Massacre also had black hair, so I asked them about it. They frantically denied it, saying they didn’t know anything about such an incident. I knew they weren't lying. It was fifty years ago, so even if the culprit were alive, they’d be a decrepit old man. I laughed and said, ‘It wasn’t you, a young lad like yourself.’"

"They seemed relieved. But I didn’t recommend they go to town. At the time, only half the townspeople believed the stories about black hair, and I told them that if they went, they would likely be killed for having black hair."

"Their face turned pale, and they asked, ‘Why did you tell me that?’ I replied, ‘Because it wasn’t you who did it.’"

I thought to myself that this man was truly a good person. I was grateful that the person I met when I came to this world was such a kind one.

My master said, "They immediately returned with me to the place where they had arrived and went back to their own world. I never asked their name, but they had a similar atmosphere to you, Shinsuke."

I thought about it for a moment. Similar to me. Fifty years ago. It might have been my grandfather. If so, the timeline made sense, and it also explained why he told me not to go to the second floor of the storehouse.

I asked my master, "Why did you take me on as your disciple, knowing all that? Even if I was your savior, to teach me so much…"

At my words, my master let out a small laugh. "I told you, it’s because you’re interesting. And as we lived together, I found it enjoyable. You listened to everything I knew without a hint of doubt and put it all into practice. It made me happy. I learned how enjoyable it is to teach someone. I’m grateful to you. Thank you."

At that moment, I felt something warm stream down my cheek. It was only when I touched it that I realized they were tears. I don’t know why they started flowing so suddenly. But I didn’t question why I was crying. Seeing this, my master said, "What are you crying for? A man shouldn’t cry over something like this. You cry when you learn of the death of someone you trusted."

He said it with a hint of sternness. I wiped my tears with my arm and looked at my master again.

"Listen, Shinsuke. I’ve taught you everything I can. You may not be a master yet, but you’ll do well as an adventurer. As a parting gift, I’m giving you what’s under that shelf. Take a look."

I stood up and looked at what was at the very bottom of the shelf. Inside were iron gauntlets and greaves, and a small vial filled with a silver liquid.

The gauntlets were long enough to cover my forearms, their color a silvery-white with a hint of black. There were no decorations or inscriptions. The greaves extended from my ankles to my shins, the same silvery-white with a touch of black, and likewise unadorned.

It was a simple design.

My master said, "I made them to fit your size. They’re my final work. They may be plain, but I used the best materials I could get my hands on."

To me, these two items looked more beautiful than anything.

As I stared at them in silence, my master said, "And the contents of that vial are a magic potion that changes hair color. Most people in this country have silver hair. When you use it, just pour the entire contents on your hair, and it will all automatically turn silver."

"It was made by a magician who specializes in water magic, something they created to play around with changing their hair to various colors. Once you apply it, it will never return to its original color, so this one is meant to revert it. There’s no black version. Use it with resolve. With silver hair, you won’t be viewed with suspicion in town."

At his words, I said, "So you were stopping me from going to town until you got this. Because my hair was black. You said those harsh words to protect me."

The back of my eyes felt hot, but I held it in. I didn’t want to be scolded again.

My master said, "That’s about the gist of it. Now I’ve told you everything I need to. Put on those gauntlets and greaves and let me see."

I immediately put on the gauntlets and greaves. The length, the width—they were a perfect fit in every way.

Seeing them, my master said, "They suit you well. With those, you won’t be laughed at as a hunter or an adventurer. Phew… I’m a little tired. I’m going to sleep, but let me say one last thing."

I listened intently.

"Go. See the world with your own eyes. And as both a hunter and an adventurer, live a life with no regrets."

Those were the words my master had said when I had previously asked to go to town. It was his permission for me to finally go.

My master closed his eyes.

There was no sound of breathing.

"Master? Master! Can’t you hear me?!"

I cried. I cried my heart out. I cried until it felt like I had no more tears left to shed.

The morning came.

I made a grave for my master. I made it behind his house, near the smithy. I thought this would be a good place for him, since he loved crafting.

I bowed before the grave.

"Master, thank you for everything. I’ll do my best. I’ll become the strong man I said I would. Not just physically, but mentally strong as well."

And then, with my sword and katana, the gauntlets and greaves, I used the vial to change my hair color and set off for the town.