Kansutoppu!

The Land of the Rising Sun, Part 1

-Azuma Tsukiba Port-

How many days has it been since I left Avangard? Probably close to a month. I left the port of the kingdom of Avangard by ship to the Ballard continent, and from there I took another ship to finally arrive at this port of Tsukiba. Roel is having a good time speaking with the other passengers, but for me, the boat ride is a hell. I apologize for the others, but it would be less boring if the demons attacked us.

But I’ve actually had that happen only a few times, and they were only weak demons compared to the ones in Doridon. In addition, the people who were escorting us this time were strong, and by the time I woke up from my nap, it was all over. I’m not saying that the boatmen were weak, but those guys seemed to be even more adept.

They had never registered as adventurers and had never measured their levels. It was true what they said, that there are many non-adventurers in the world.

Incidentally, I asked them about the one-winged devil, but as expected, they had no idea.

“Ahhh, we’re here at last!”

Like Roel, I took a big step back. It had been a long time since I had set foot on land.

And there it was, an unusual sight. The wooden boats were just as I had imagined at first, and the roofs of the buildings were made of layers of black planks. And the clothes of those people, they all look alike and cold. Yes, I remember that Zangiri, whom I defeated, was wearing the same kind of clothes.

Oh, but that woman’s clothes look kind of hard to move around in. She has a futon-like covering wrapped around her stomach, and her feet are completely hidden, so I don’t think she could run.

“That roof is called a tiled roof,” she said. It’s very unusual, isn’t it?”

“Those people look kind of cold. Oh, those people over there are walking around with something like a barrel hanging from a pole. I wonder what they are doing.”

The more I looked around, the more interested I became. The port of Avangard was bustling with activity, but what a lot of enthusiasm over here. I could hear cheerful voices coming from all over the place, and it was even noisy. Over there, they were doing something with a lot of fish spread out, and it was spectacular how different things can be just by being in different countries.

“Roel, let’s go to the Mountain of the Great Gods as soon as possible.”

“Umm, yes. I’ll have to ask where it is first. Um, excuse me. Excuse me, do you have a minute?”

Roel called out to the person, but the person walked away without answering. Maybe he didn’t hear her. Now Roel calls out to another person.

“Hey, do I have to speak louder? Excuse me!”

“…tsk.”

This time, the man I spoke to just clicked his tongue and went away at a fast walk. Undeterred, I called out to him one after another, but no one would take me up on it.

“I’m busy, Kocha! I don’t know if you’re sightseeing or what, but get out of my way! Shoo! Shoo! What the hell, it’s not even a festival, and you’re dressed like an idiot…”

I wonder if this is what they mean when they say they are pissed off. I was ticked off.

Roel, there have been nothing but strange people here since a while ago!”

“Well, from their point of view, I guess we are the weird ones. And they’ve been staring at us since a while ago…”

It’s true, everyone is walking away while looking at us with a jittery look on their face. They are whispering to each other if they are saying something bad about us.

Thinking back, it was the same when I first came to Quimir. I wonder if people don’t want to get involved with someone just because they are a little strange. Just like that time, I felt some tears of frustration.

“Let’s walk some more.”

As Roel suggested, we decided to leave the port. There are probably many people working here and everyone is busy. That’s why everyone is on edge. That’s what I decided to assume.