| Author: Ryuusen Hirotsugu | Original Source: Syosetu | Word Count: 2630 characters |
| Translator: Nomad | English Source: Re:Library | Word Count: 1257 words |
| Editor(s): Fire | ||
It was an obvious fact that now that the world was reality, pain from wounds, as well as blood loss, would cloud one’s mind.
(That’s true. It doesn’t matter how effective medicine is if I don’t get to use it.)
「You have a point. I’ll be careful.」
Mira realized there were parts of her that still considered this a game, so she listened seriously to Kagura’s words and internalized them. Next Kagura took out a small bottle with a yellow liquid from her own Item Box and showed it to Mira, who was still reflecting on her thoughts.
「That’s where this magic medicine comes in handy. If you take it before a fight, it numbs your sense of pain and diminishes bleeding, which is incredibly useful for people used to the game like us.」
After she said that, Kagura returned the flask to her Item Box while Mira’s eyes were fixated on it.
「If you use it, your movements won’t be impeded by wounds or poison, so you’ll be able to fight like before. Though it only tricks your body into acting that way, so only think of it as a way to gain an opportunity to use actual medicine.」
That magic medicine Kagura showed her was something produced by former players. Because they were not used to feeling much pain while fighting, having it increased many dozens of times more than during the game made them afraid of battles to an extreme degree. That made a portion of players entirely opt-out of fighting altogether. But since they lived in a world where monsters roamed freely, there were times when fighting was unavoidable. Thus, that medicine was developed and players were able to push their fear back like during the game era, and even though it was still pricey everyone regarded it as an essential item to have at all times.
There were times when that medicine alone could define the outcome of a confrontation between two equally skilled parties.
「How much do those cost?」
Mira immediately understood the value of a medicine like that and asked its price while mentally counting the money in her possession.
「One flask goes for 200’000 Rils. Any moderately sized store should sell them.」
「One for 200’000 huh. Considering its effects that could be considered cheap even…」
「The price has gone down over the years. The first time I got one, they were sold for 500’000. On the other hand, other powerful healing medicines have increased in price many times over, tens of times in some cases even, compared to the game era. Though considering how they’re directly connected to one’s life now, I can’t really complain.」
As Kagura said, medicine, especially those that could bring back someone from the brink of death, had spiked in demand. That was because former players were buying them in bulk. Some people also hoarded them as a form of insurance, and since their ingredients were rare, there was a constant outage of stock in the market.
「Anyway, medicine aside, will you have enough food? Depending on how things go, you might be there for a week or so.」
To answer Kagura’s inquiry, Mira opened her Item Box and checked all the food she had at hand. After glancing at all the items, she exhaled a long breath.
「I only have mixed berry ale left.」
Hearing that reply, Kagura took out another blue card like the one she gave Arlon earlier.
「Then you can have this. This is a coupon we give, you can exchange it for a week’s worth of supplies in the market here. Eating is also needed now, as opposed to how it was back then, so it’s best if you always have some emergency rations on you, grandpa.」
「Mm, that’s true. I’ll gladly make use of it then.」
As Mira took the coupon, she thought back on how randomly she had been living until then. She also thought about Gilbert who she met on her way to the Abandoned City in the Sky, he carried cooking set with him and would forage for ingredients to feed himself. Living to feed oneself like that was a fundamental part of being an adventurer for many, and cooking sets as he had were also sold in large numbers.
「I’m not really good at cooking, but I guess having some cooking utensils would be good either way.」
Mira only felt confident boiling, baking or frying something simple, though she also had a faint idea of how to make curry. She only could make things that did not require too many ingredients.
「Our Item Boxes are different to the ones given by the Spellcasters’ Union so there’s no limit to the things we can put in them. You can just stock up on packed lunch boxes and it’ll be fine.」
Kagura rolled up her left sleeve and pointed to her bracelet as she said that.
「Ohhh… that’s true. And it also sounds way easier.」
Mira sounded surprised as she replied. She knew that food in her Item Box would not rot, or at least was faintly aware of that. On the other hand, the Operator’s Bracelets given out by the Union would not be able to preserve food, or at least that’s what Mira understood from Kagura’s sentence. Thinking about that, Mira also recalled what Emera, who she met in the Ancient Temple Nevrapolis, bought food for. She also owned an Operator’s Bracelet, but would only select ingredients with a long shelf life.
(So this was even more useful than I thought.)
There were also weight limits on other Operator’s Bracelets. Mira turned to look at the bracelet of shining silver on her left arm, wondering if it really was a mere terminal.
「I’ve been wondering this for a while, but what exactly is it? Originally it was an item to interact with the game’s systems directly, but I thought those systems have been inactive for a while now?」
Even if she tried to remove it, the bracelet of cold shining silver would stay there like it was part of her. Mira poked at hers as she asked that, to which Kagura replied with a 「I really wonder that too」 as she returned her sleeve to its former position, 「Though…」 she continued.
「In simple terms, it could be considered an Artifact, the predecessor which laid the base for the current Operator’s Bracelets.」
「I can’t really refute that idea.」
Artifact was the name given to items granted by the gods. She had never expected to hear the same excuse she used to explain the Vanity Case, but there was no other way of putting it so she gingerly accepted it.
「Anyway, things like that are better left to the experts. Focus on preparing instead, there are a lot of situations where brute force won’t help you.」
「That’s true, I’ll keep that in mind.」
Hearing Mira’s response, Kagura nodded satisfied, and then pointed her finger down the street.
「If you keep going straight ahead you’ll arrive at the market. Come back when you’re done shopping. I’ll return to that building where we first met.」
Saying that, she turned around and pointed in another direction, towards the palace. Mira followed that finger with her eyes and replied with an 「Alright.」 Kagura then returned with a gallant gait while greeting the other people in the streets, which Mira watched from behind before heading towards the market.
