In Another World With My Smartphone: Volume 12 Page 11

  “Ooh! So you decided to visit, Tohya! I’m so glad to see you again!”

  “Ah, Mr. Sancho... It’s nice to see you.”

  I turned to greet the booming voice and found him standing there with a huge smile on his face. Everything about him, right down to the appearance and grin, resembled Ebisu, the Japanese God of fishery and luck.

  I grasped his outstretched hand and gave it a firm shake, then began to speak.

  “As it happens, I was looking to earn some money. I was wondering if your store purchased gold and silver, Mr. Sancho.”

  “Just Sancho is fine, and purchasing is no problem! Can I take a look?”

  I took out a gold ingot from my [Storage], and Sancho started staring at me like he’d just seen me, well, produce gold from thin air.

  “Are you alright?”

  “Just fine... I’d assumed you were an irregular person, Tohya, given how you dispatched that beast... but to think you would know magic as well? This is most unusual...”

  It seemed magic wasn’t a common thing in this world.

  “The fact that you could use a storage spell without a card is incredible...”

  “Sorry, what’s a card?”

  “See here. You’ve never heard of this before? This is a Storage Card. You must really have come from afar, Tohya...”

  Sancho took out a small card from his breast pocket and held it above the countertop. A few coins then tumbled out of the flat surface afterward. Whoa, this card must be enchanted with something similar to my spell.

  “This is a necessary item for merchants, you know? The cards have various tiers. There’s common, uncommon, rare, and legendary. Anything legendary tier can store the most, while commons stores the least. This one here is uncommon.”

  “Wow... First time I’ve ever seen one.” I looked down at Sancho’s card. The idea was novel, but definitely useful. If I could make something similar, it could be useful back home. I asked for a few more details and found that unlike my [Storage] spell, things put inside these cards were not suspended in time.

  “Still... to have such curiosity over something so common... Just who are you, Tohya?”

  “Dear, you shouldn’t ask so much of him. He did save us.”

  “I suppose you’re right. Please accept my apologies for prying. Now, let me look over your goods.”

  Sancho looked at me a little curiously, but quickly went on with his work after his wife gave him a glance. He began measuring it out on scales and weighing it against some cylindrical object, and then wrote down a few quick calculations on paper.

  “Hmhm... Well, it’s pure gold. You really want to sell this?”

  “That’s right.”

  “Hmm... In that case... would five plat suffice?”

  “That sounds fine to me. Let’s do that.”

  I had no idea of the value of anything in this world, so I just went along with him. Still, they had platinum coins. That gave me hope that the value of money was at least similar to how it was back in the regular world.

  Then again, I had no way of telling if I could buy a loaf of bread or a house with one platinum coin. Though, the value of a metal coin was usually determined by the scarcity of the material used to represent it.

  There was once a time when aluminum was worth more than gold, and another time when platinum wasn’t considered very valuable at all. Gold typically kept a standard and stable value, but that was only on Earth.

  The shopkeeper from the store I’d entered earlier seemed to consider silver and gold to be precious metals, so the rule was probably the same here.

  Either way, I had a question to ask my new friend.

  “That machine outside... I’ve been seeing similar ones around. What is it, exactly?” I asked as I pointed out to the crab bus through the window.

  “You mean the Gollems? We’re in the capital city, so it’s only natural that there’d be a ton of different types. There are the factory types like mine out there, but there are also legacy types.”

  “Sorry, but... can a normal person like me buy one of these, uh, Gollems?”

  “I don’t see why not. But you won’t be able to buy a very good one for just five plat.”

  Seemed like these things were pretty expensive. They were probably around the same equivalent price as a fancy car back home. It didn’t seem like the standard person would be able to afford one, and it seemed like they were priced based on quality and utility.

  “You don’t seem to know all that much about Gollems, Tohya. Would you like me to explain a little more of their history?”

  “If you could, I’d appreciate it. Thanks.”

  In response to my request, Sancho began explaining all he could about the Gollems.

  A long time ago, there had been a great war. It started as a small dispute between two great nations, but the conflict escalated and consumed the entire world. Mechanical automatons were created. They fought on behalf of people, and war became more of a resource management exercise. Those automated drones were what the modern era referred to as the Gollems. A wide variety of them were created, and the war began to escalate. More complex machines were designed to keep up with the war effort. Eventually, both sides lost control of their drones. Masterless, the automatons did all that they were designed to do. Fight.

  The world, as a result, was completely ravaged. But slowly, mankind rose up once more from the ashes of the annihilated civilization. They excavated the old world and rediscovered the secrets of the Gollems. They managed to reactivate and research some of these ancient machines, referred to as legacy types. From research into the legacy types, they learned how to produce inferior copies of the ancient technology. The mass-produced, downgraded models were referred to as factory types, and they were the most common Gollems seen in the world today.

  “So the stuff I saw outside were factory types?”

  “Correct. Legacy models are rather hard to come by. That’s mostly because they very rarely appear on the market. You’d have better luck going to the ruins of the old world and trying to excavate one yourself.”

  Legacy Gollems seemed pretty rare, overall... Though, they were definitely obtainable if a person was determined enough.

  “So is there a major difference in performance between factories and legacies?”

  “That is one part of it, but the main draw of legacy types over factories is that the legacies have what we call Ability Charges. Each of them can wield different powers. Some could shoot electricity, while others might be able to manipulate ice, and so on. Given that you can use magic, Tohya, I doubt they’d be as useful or as much of a help to you.”

  That made sense. The abilities were what made legacy types more valuable than factory types. That made sense, since they were left behind by a more advanced society. What people on the other side referred to as artifacts, were probably referred to as legacies here. What mattered was that a legacy was an ancient magical device with a wide range of effects.

  Sancho smiled and took out my five coins.

  I briefly asked him to explain basic currency value while he was at it, by asking how much he thought a loaf of bread would cost. It turned out that the cost was mostly the same as what I was used to. Since a platinum coin was worth so much, I asked him to split one of the five into ten gold coins.

  The gold coins were smaller than the ones used in the regular world, but they seemed to be made of the same stuff. I used [Analyze] on the coin and found it wasn’t pure gold, but an alloy with about a tenth of it being mithril. I wondered if mithril was common here.

  Either way, I’d finally acquired my much-desired cash. I decided I wanted to learn a little more about this strange reverse world. If I could get more info, I’d learn more about these Gollems as well.

  “Sancho, do you know where I could find a bookstore?”

  “There’s a bookstore three doors down. It’s not that big, though.”

  That was close enough, so I decided to start my search there. I thanked Sancho an
d Mona, then headed out. Once outside, I looked to the right and saw a bookstore sign about three doors down.

  The atmosphere inside the bookstore was very different, somewhat more antiquated. There were a lot of books on both the first and second floors.

  An old man with a long white beard sat behind the counter. He reminded me of a certain headmaster of a certain school for witchcraft and wizardry.

  “...Welcome, my boy. How may I help you today?”

  “Uh... Do you have any books on history or culture?”

  “History? National history, or global?”

  “Both, ideally.”

  “Second floor, then. On the shelving to the right. Second and third from the top. Feel free to peruse, but try your best not to dirty or damage.” I bowed my head to the old man and went up the old creaky stairs. I made it to the second floor and headed toward the rightmost shelves.

  “Hmm... Let’s see... The Beginner’s Guide to Allent... The Theocracy and You... The Western Frontier... The Legend of Matlack...”

  “There’sss a lot, huh?”

  “Yeah... But it seems like all of these combined aren’t even one silver coin... I guess I’ll get them all.” I kept on looking through the shelves, picking out books that caught my eye. Books sure were cheap in this world...

  “Oh right, gotta find some on those Gollems, too.” There weren’t any formal books about Gollems, so I picked up a couple of books about the ancient civilizations.

  I picked up a few assorted books on magic and technology and piled on a couple of romance novels for Linze as well. Kokuyou helped carry some of them as I piled them up.

  “That’ll do, I think.”

  I used [Levitation] in the end because there were over a hundred books. The old man at the counter looked like he was about to faint when he saw the massive pile of books float down from the second floor. Either way, he began calculating the total cost.

  In total, the cost came to nine gold coins, so I paid with a platinum. I decided that instead of getting the one gold coin in change, I’d look around the first floor and make up the difference by buying books from there, too. I then opened up [Storage] and shoved every last book I’d bought inside.

  “Th-Thank you...” The dumbfounded old man muttered his goodbyes as I headed out the door.

  “Getting kinda hungry... I should probably eat.”

  《Yeah, I’m hungry as well.》

  《Me too, darling. I’d love to eat sssome eggsss...》

  I walked around town looking for something to eat. I could’ve gone back to Sancho and asked what he might suggest, but this time I wanted to walk around and see what stood out. One of the best things about a trip to a new place is finding out things on your own, after all... Or well, that was what Elze told me, anyway.

  Eventually, I found a small cafe. They welcomed me inside and I sat out on their terrace. They didn’t even mind me bringing my summons inside.

  I did know Allentese thanks to my magic, but that wasn’t always helpful.

  For example, I could read the menu just fine... but that didn’t necessarily mean that I had any idea what a “Snicken Sandwich” or a “Grabe Juice” was. I was a little excited when I made the order... But when it arrived, I got what resembled a chicken sandwich and grape juice.

  It tasted good, though. Actually, it was really good. There was no point getting hung up on the ingredients. Good food was just good.

  The trio with me were also enjoying their food. Kokuyou was tucking into some eggs, Sango was eating some fish, and Kougyoku was eating some mixed veggies.

  I looked down across the streets as I slowly relaxed and ate. I liked looking at the different types of Gollems as they passed by on the street.

  Come to think of it, I haven’t seen any demi-humans... No elves or beastmen. I wonder if that’s just because there aren’t any around here... I hope they aren’t persecuted in this world, too.

  I drank what I thought was grape juice, but it actually tasted like tomato juice... Wasn’t bad.

  “Someone help! Stop that thief! He has my bag!”

  I suddenly heard someone yelling from across the street, and I saw a young man sprint past the terrace. He was clutching a bag in his hands.

  “[Slip].”

  “Gwuuugh?!” He suddenly fell backward and smacked his head hard on the pavement. Then, he screamed and immediately passed out.

  A blonde-haired young man suddenly came up from behind him and restrained the fallen man.

  《Fine work, my liege.》

  “Big cities tend to have more crime...”

  I shrugged quietly and sipped at my juice, watching the citizen’s arrest unfold. Soon two silver-armored guardsmen came by, seizing the criminal violently. They walked off with the blonde guy. I was pleased to see this city had guards, at least.

  I decided I’d had enough people-watching, and went on to pay the bill. And after that, I decided to go around the city, checking various stores. I wanted to get souvenirs for my fiancees and God Almighty. I raised my brow in surprise when I came across a gun in a weapon shop. But interestingly enough, it didn’t use gunpowder. Apparently, it was called a “Spellcaster,” and it shot out bullets from channeled magic.

  I wasn’t too surprised to learn that this world didn’t have much in the way of mages. People in this world were aware of magic, but those who could actually make use of it were extremely limited.

  It was probably the Gollems that hindered magic development. After all, if a Gollem could launch lightning from its fingers, what reason would an unaware mage ever have to learn something like [Thunder Arrow], for example?

  You didn’t have to pay an automated machine a salary. You didn’t have to worry about it betraying you for selfish needs. It was probably that magic was only nurtured by a few select nations or people, so the gene pool just wasn’t as populated with magic aptitude.

  It might not have been that way in the olden days... But I’d know better after I had these books thoroughly analyzed. Not by me, though. Doc Babylon could take care of that.

  Still, it seemed like there was danger in the Reverse World as well. From what I gathered, there were gangs of people who thought tourists were easy targets.

  “There’s two... No, three...”

  《Yes. They’ve been stalking us for a while.》

  They’d been following since I stopped the thief with my spell. They weren’t doing too badly, to be honest, but compared to Tsubaki they were rank amateurs.

  “Wonder why they’re aiming for me...”

  《You’ve been going around a lot of shops today. Perhaps they think you’re some rich idiot.》

  That was probably it. I pretended to do a little window shopping as I confirmed that my stalkers were behind me in the window’s reflection. They were wearing hoods and looked like typical thugs.

  Alright, let’s get this over with.

  I picked up the pace a little and entered a back alley. The moment I got around the corner, I cast [Invisible] and waited for my pursuers. And when they began walking down the alley, I slipped in behind them and blocked their escape.

  The three hooded individuals jumped in shock when I revealed myself.

  “You guys need something?”

  Two of the panicked stalkers glanced toward the third. That was their leader, presumably.

  “I’d appreciate it if you spoke up or stopped following me. Or what, do I have to teach you a lesson?” I peppered in a light threat because I had no time for their nonsense. I didn’t know if they’d take me seriously, though.

  “P-Please wait a moment. I’m sorry that we had to follow you, but could you please hear me out?”

  The leader spoke up, revealing the face of a woman as she unfastened her hood. She looked to be in her twenties, with red hair and sharp hazel eyes. She exuded the aura of someone trained in combat. The fact that she had a short haircut only increased that sense of masculinity.

  “The bag-snatcher on the terrace. You used magic to incapacit
ate him, didn’t you?”

  “And if I did?”

  That was interesting. She knew I’d used a spell despite the fact that it was just a brief invocation. Then again, there were people out there who were attuned to magic use even if they couldn’t use it themselves.

  “Can you cast other spells?”

  “Somewhat, yeah.”

  “Curse-breaking spells...?”

  “Depends on the curse. If the curse has come along too far, then removing it could hurt or kill the person with it.”

  The term “curse” covered a great many effects, like confusion, petrification, lethargy, illusion, bewitching, and so on. A lot of those effects changed over time, too.

  My [Recovery] spell was capable of ending these for the most part, but it wasn’t always so simple. For example, if a curse effect strengthened someone’s body, and that curse was then removed, their un-empowered body wouldn’t be able to handle the new strain, and they’d die.

  [Recovery] was also ineffective against more complex curses. For example, the curse I’d put on those slavers a while back.

  Every time a person with that curse knowingly committed a crime, a part of their body would be paralyzed until it eventually stopped their heart.

  The spell only cured abnormal bodily conditions, for the most part. The paralysis effect could be cured with [Recovery], but the curse itself would still remain. Another crime would result in another paralyzed limb, so it wasn’t a perfect solution.

  That was why it was important that I knew exactly what curse someone was suffering from...

  “You have a friend who has a curse, or something?”

  “That’s right. Someone we know touched a cursed artifact and fell comatose. It’s been weeks, and they’re still not awake.”

  Hmm... Probably lethargy. That’s curable, so long as it hasn’t affected their mind.

  “We owe a great deal to that person, so please... if you could remove her curse, we’ll pledge our service to you. We’ll do anything!”

  The two hooded individuals next to their leader removed their hoods as well. One had a ponytail, and the other had wavy hair. The one with the brown ponytail seemed a little younger, and the one with the wavy auburn hair looked to be closer to my age. That was just a guess, though.