Vulpine Spanner in the Works
Chapter 2: Big Bad World
The level of shock that the guild worker had when I came back after finishing the first job was both hilarious and satisfying. She probably expected me to take hours to just finish one job, not just forty minutes. If I had actually used my spells to arrive at the cemetery, I'd probably have gotten the job done within ten minutes. Either way, the woman paid me with money that the guards had deposited at the guild when they created the job in the first place. The worker had been kind enough to tell me that not all of our clients did that, so I needed to make sure to check in with my client after finishing each job just in case.
I was just happy that the guards left the money at the guild since it would've ruined whatever amazing reputation I had started to gain if I walked back to those assholes and asked for my paycheck. Considering how they were massive dicks in the first place, they'd probably try to get something out of me before being paid, at least the stupid ones would.
My next job to complete was dealing with goblins in the nearby forest. Only problem; I had no idea which nearby forest or where a forest could be nearby this city. I needed to get a map soon, otherwise I might get a reputation for being chronically lost. And judging on the way people acted around me, having the reputation of an airhead would severely hinder me, even if I could cast the highest level spells.
That's another thing that was on my mind. Apparently, people could cast spells here, at least from what I've seen and heard, but I didn't know if they were like the spells of YGGDRASIL or something entirely different. Even moreso was the reaction of the guards when I used two of my spells. [Fly] is just a 3rd Tier spell and [Incineration Bomb] is a 6th Tier spell. The way that all those men were giving me bugeyes, it was almost like they'd never seen a spell like that in their lives. This either meant that magic was slightly rare here and seeing that there was a Magician's Guild in this city that made that idea highly doubtful, or the spells in this world were much weaker in level compared to the ones I could cast. I was thinking option two as the more likely scenario, but I needed more information about this world before I could truly believe it.
Pushing all of these thoughts to the side, I spoke to the guild worker, "Could you please tell me where this forest is? I don't know the area around E-Rantel as well as I'd like, and you probably do." The worker was brought out of her shock and nodded before reaching under her counter and pulling out a roll of parchment. She set it down and unrolled it to reveal a map of E-Rantel and the area surrounding it.
Pointing south of the city at a dark splotch, she answered, "The forest you're looking for is here. You can get there by walking out the front gates of the city and taking the middle path of the three main ones. It'll only take fifteen minutes of walking before you reach the area of your destination. Other than that, I'm not sure where the goblin band is. What I do know is that they waylay travelers on that road and take any valuables that they have before disappearing back into the woods."
Great, monstrous highwaymen. If this job was like those of YGGDRASIL, then it would be one of the dullest tasks that I've ever accomplished. The only reason that I ever killed highwaymen after level 20 in YGGDRASIL was when I needed some quick and easy gold. Other than that, I avoided them like the plague since they gave too little experience and lacked any type of fighting style that could actually engage me. I will admit, it was extremely hard to even get near me due to magic, but they could at least have the decency to put up some sort of fight that didn't leave me feeling bored of swatting flies.
"Thanks for the help." I said just as I was about to leave until I stopped and turned back, "Just wondering, do you have another map that I could take with me? I'm worried that I might still get lost."
"Of course. Would you like a map of the city, the area around the city, or just that of the kingdoms?" She asked me. That certainly surprised me that she had that many options, but it was convenient.
"I'll take them all." I answered.
"It'll cost you two silvers for all three." She answered. Seems expensive for a map, but it would have to do. I needed to learn the exchange rate of the currency here, else I might get screwed over at a later time. Reaching into my coin pouch, I pulled out two of the silver coins and set them on the table. The guild worker handed me three separately rolled up maps in exchange and I took them. I'd drop them into my inventory at a later time since I had no idea if being able to reach into an abyss to get items is normal here. I probably shouldn't have used such a high tier spell in front of those guards earlier, but they just pissed me off so much that I needed to do something.
"I wish you good luck on your job." The woman stated with a smile.
"I don't need luck on my side to finish a job like this. I'll be back soon enough." I answered before walking away. I needed to get this job done and then get to an inn. I think I saw one earlier nearby down the street, so I'll head over in that direction after I take care of some goblins.
As I walked towards the doors of the guild, I could hear more whispering directed at me. Much of the hushed discussions were about the same things as before, but now a few adventurers were wondering how I finished my job so quickly. Some were even wondering if it was a hoax, while others found it to be a hint of my competence.
Either way, I needed to continue finishing these easy jobs as fast as possible so that I could be seen as a serious adventurer, or would it be adventuress considering my gender now? This was going to bother me all day at this rate.
Pushing open the doors of the guild, I stepped out into the street and made my way to the front gate of the city. I could use [Teleport], but I needed to memorize the layout of the city which worked best when I could walk through it. That didn't mean I could just [Teleport] back to the guild after the job was done.
That did bring up another question about the spell in general. Did [Teleport] make sure that I didn't end up in spaces already occupied by another object, or did it just drop me exactly where I want without care that I could end up merged into whatever was at my destination? I was going to need to test this, since unlike the game, I wasn't sure what the true limits of my magic here were.
While walking down the street, I quickly spotted the sign of the inn that I had seen earlier. I'd remember this place after I finished the goblin job since I needed a place to sleep. And, looking down at myself, I would also need a bath since I probably smelled terrible after walking all day.
Investigating my new body while cleaning myself off was going to be an uncomfortable experience in and of itself. That was even if there existed a bathroom in this world. I didn't know if this place was completely in the dark ages and lacked toilets and bath tubs.
My other option was to find a pond and throw a few fire spells into it to heat the water up. It would have to be a small pond so that I could avoid destroying an ecosystem besides that of the pond.
Another moment of clarity hit me at these thoughts. Did this world have the printing press? If it didn't, I would have a license to print money with all the written texts that could be created from it. And, being the inventor of a printing press in this world would earn me an immense amount of prestige. I would put this idea on my to do list.
Enough time passed as I once again made it to the front gates of E-Rantel. I sadly didn't spot Durrin where I had seen him last. I was a little disappointed since Durrin was the first true human interaction I'd had in this world. He may have moved to another post or was off duty. Hopefully I might meet him once again, he seemed like a good guy, even if he had some difficultly talking to me due to my appearance.
Looking at the entrance of the gate, I saw that the amount of people entering the city had shrunk from what it had been earlier. Guess that I had entered the city during the rush hour. Thankfully, it was much easier to leave the city since the guards didn't toll or inspect anyone exiting the city.
I felt my mana as I left the city and found that I still had my ridiculous amount like usual. Keeping my [Kitsune Illusion] on for over an hour had barely siphoned any of the huge ocean that was my mana. I was going to keep up this illusion for the foreseeable future.
It just seemed too risky to stay in my true form since I still had no idea how they treated non-humans here, and the roads near the city were well-used which could risk me being spotted by a random traveler. I mean, sure, I had a spell that could erase memories, but it didn't feel right to invade an innocent person's mind like that and steal experiences that they had.
The only unpleasant thing about this disguise was how uncomfortable it felt. Spending so much time in it had been building up the feeling of being squeezed all over. Maybe while dealing with the goblins in the woods, I could discard my disguise for a bit and stretch my tails and ears out.
As I walked down the middle road of the three that the guild worker had told me about earlier, I remembered that I was still clutching the three maps that I had been given earlier. Later tonight after I acquired a room at that inn I had been eyeing earlier, I'd check the maps and see what the layout of the land was.
I stored the three maps into my blackhole that is my storage space and decided that now was a good time to use my new senses to their full potential. Especially since they weren't being weighed down by the loud sounds and overpowering scents of the city.
When I had first begun using my new sense of smell, I had found it odd that my brain could instantly classify what scents my nose was assaulted with. Putting this into practice, that meant that my mind should be able to classify what goblins smelled like.
And so, I started sniffing at the air like a bloodhound while I walked. The scents of plants and animals filtered through my nose, with previous scents of recent human travelers mixing in every once in a while.
The first time my nose picked up the scent of what my brain classified as goblins, I had been walking this road for fifteen minutes. This must be the area the guild worker had been talking about. As I found myself further down the road, the smell of goblins became stronger and more concentrated.
It was hard to describe their scent, like a mix between old leather and a chicken coop. I found it to be unpleasant and hoped that I could end this job as quickly as possible, just to escape this smell.
That was when the sound of grass being trampled filled my ears. After that, leaves rustled unnaturally around me. The smell of goblins grew immensely with the sounds assaulting my ears. If I was just human, I'd probably never have been able to pick up on the unnatural sounds the forest was making, since I now realized that the goblin band had started setting up an ambush for me.
Three options were available for me to deal with this ambush. One option involved firebombing my general area and leaving while both the goblins and forest burned around me. Boring. The next option would be diplomatic, and I could convince the goblins to stop their thieving ways, or I would intimidate them into doing so. Not enough action. My third option was to mess with the goblins by doing something completely unexpected. They'll never see it coming.
If I was going to mess with the goblins, I'd have fun doing it.
I began yawning as I stretched my arms out. "Man, I'm tired after today. I think I've done enough walking to last a lifetime." I remarked aloud as I walked towards what looked like a comfortable tree and sat down with my back against it.
"Humans this stupid?" I could hear a voice whisper from the brush on the other side of the road. It didn't sound that intelligent to be honest.
"Then robbing has been great idea. Wonder how well she can work?" Another voice, much squeakier than the first, answered with some glee.
"Boho, Pakum, be quiet," A gruffer voice whispered harshly, "the human is going to fall asleep soon. This'll be easy pickings." This one seemed smarter than the two, it even spoke in complete sentences.
"Muap, what we do?" Another asked.
"We wait a few minutes until the human is deep asleep. Then, we'll sneak over and capture her. After we have her valuables, we can do whatever we want with her." The goblin called Muap answered. If that was their entire plan, then I'd love to see what their backup plan was. Either way, I shut my eyes while leaving them open enough to get a small sliver of vision.
I wanted to test a theory I had about my illusion, so I willed one of my tails to swipe at the ground. A smile almost graced my face when I saw some of the dirt get swiped to the side. So, even though objects could pass through the areas where my tails used to be, I could nullify some of the intangibility at will to still move objects with them.
That was very helpful.
After testing this trick out by making some areas of grass get flattened by my invisible tails, I heard Muap whisper, "It's been long enough, boys. Sneak over to her quietly." The goblin ordered. A few affirmations by the goblins, and they all started sneaking out of the brush.
These goblins looked different than the ones from YGGDRASIL. For one thing, these goblins looked smaller and uglier than the goblins I remembered. Another was that a few of the goblins in the group were much taller, almost like that of a short human. I had a reason to believe that these tall goblins were actually hobgoblins, since in YGGDRASIL, hobgoblins were bigger than their cousins.
I spotted two goblins carrying bundles of rope as they trudged over to me. The way they walked as if walking on eggshells almost made me laugh as I decided to test the waters of their reaction.
When I went to lay down on my side with my head resting on my arm, I saw all the goblins freeze as if in panic. A few moments later a hobgoblin, wearing a red bandanna and a chainmail shirt a size too big, put a finger to his lips and then continued sneaking forward.
Right when he was within reach of my tails, I set one in front of his feet and watched in amusement as he tripped over it and fell onto his face. He quickly hissed in pain as he attempted to push himself off the ground. A few of his cohorts snickered at his clumsiness.
As he almost got back onto his feet, I sent another tail to swipe at the back of his feet, and I had to contain myself as the hobgoblin fell onto his ass with a reddened face.
"You clumsy, Muap." A goblin whispered loudly as the others chuckled quietly. Muap picked himself back up before walking over to the goblin and slapping him on the side of the head. The goblin was about to shout in anger, but Muap covered the goblins mouth with his hand and put a finger to his lips. He quickly gave said goblin a death glare before turning his attention back to me with that same glare. This was starting to turn into a slap-stick comedy at this rate.
Once again, he walked forward, but this time he was joined by a hobgoblin. As the two got near me, I snaked my tails across the ground and tripped the two sneaking hobgoblins once again. This time, I followed it up with two of my tails smacking the backs of their heads as they hit the ground.
Both hobgoblins moaned in pain as they laid on the ground. It also didn't help that I set two of my tails onto their backs so that they couldn't even push themselves up if they wanted to.
"What is going on? How are we being so clumsy?" The hobgoblin asked.
"No idea. This ain't natural." Muap replied. He made an attempt to get up once again, but his struggles were in vain as my tails firmly held him down. "I can't get up!" He whispered loudly.
"Neither can I!" Replied the other hobgoblin. "What's going on?" When the hobgoblin said that, the four other goblins crept over to their allies and tried to help them get up. Not even working together could their strength beat the force my tails were exerting.
I took this as a chance to swipe the legs of a few more goblins out from under them, then I'd rest another of my tails onto their fallen bodies and prevent them from getting back up. Hilariously enough, the other goblins seemed too invested in attempting to lift the hobgoblins back up that they didn't notice as their other comrades were tripped and held down.
After capturing the final goblin, I watched with a great amount of mirth as they squirmed on the ground, completely oblivious to my tails holding them down. "How is this happening? Is this human a mage?" Muap wondered in confusion.
I flicked my eyes open at the question and gazed a Muap with a smile on my face. "Well, you were half right on that guess." I answered. Muap and his comrades froze at hearing my voice before looking at me.
"You were awake the entire time!" Muap said in surprise.
"Very. And earlier, what was it that you were going to do to me after you finished robbing me? I'd like to know since it seemed quite important." I asked the goblin. Now that I thought about it, with how strong my tails are, and how weak these goblins have shown themselves to be, I could easily crush them if I wanted to. Their lives are held in the palm of your hand.
Frankly, I should probably kill them since all these goblins are bandits. But, from what they had just shown me, they were quite pathetic. The only reason that these goblins ever got this far must have been because they attacked unprepared travelers or small groups. I highly doubted that if they encountered anyone with decent martial skill, they'd be able to fight them.
"We were gonna let you go after we took your goods." Muap answered.
"But I thought you's wanna bring next woman to camp to work for us?" A hobgoblin asked in confusion. Muap's eyes widened in terror as he looked at the goblin that had just spoken.
"Larha, you moron!" Muap shouted at his comrade. My eyebrow rose as I heard this. They wanted me to work for them, and do what exactly?
"What was it that you were going to have me do?" I probed at Larha. The goblin grinned for some reason when I asked him.
"Muap thought's camp dirty and food tasted bad, so we's bring next woman we find to do what we's want!" Larha answered happily. I cocked my head at the reply as I let this information roll through my mind.
"Let me get this straight, besides robbing travelers on the road, what you want is a woman who will cook, clean, and take care of you?" I summarized quickly. The goblins and hobgoblins looked at one another, then back to me before nodding. Were they after a nanny or something?
"If other goblins know we have human working for us, then they want to join and our group get larger." The goblin who's name I think was either Boho or Pakum stated. That plan seemed a little complicated for these goblins, what with how I barely had to work at defeating them.
"It was my plan." Muap sighed in annoyance. "We aren't that good at fighting, and a lot of us aren't very smart. I figured if word got out that we had a human working for us, then other goblins, hobgoblins, and maybe if we were lucky, some ogres, would want to join our group."
"And what was your plan after you had this large group? Adventurers are in the business of preventing goblins, hobgoblins, and ogres from attacking humans, and a large group of goblin highwaymen would attract a large group of adventurers in return." I asked as I sat back up and rested my back onto the tree once again. I had to brush the bangs in my face out of the way after sitting back up.
"We didn't think that far ahead." Muap admitted, "Our camp is pretty small, and we heard how other tribes can get big if they pay humans money to get tools and supplies." I quickly scanned the group and noticed that most were wearing scraps of stitched together cloth that could be considered as pants. Only two had weapons strapped to their hips, that being Muap, and the other hobgoblin.
Muap was the only one actually wearing armor, and that just consisted of chainmail. I'd guess that all of them were either new to the whole banditry business or had only been waylaying weak-looking targets.
This group was pathetic, and I had absolutely no idea how this mission was labeled as one of the more difficult missions for a copper-plate. I think that guild worker might have been either fucking with me or didn't think I could handle the more difficult missions. I was going to have a long talk with her after all of this was done. Right now, I had to deal with this band of banditry buffoons.
With a sigh, I lifted my tails off the demi-humans and watched as they all got into sitting positions after realizing that the pressure on their backs was gone. "Did you all consider that humans wouldn't want to trade with a group of goblins that have been stealing valuables from travelers? If you kept up your robberies in this area, less people would come near this area, and those that did would probably have hired adventurers to guard them."
"Boss, dis lady is startin' make sense." A goblin said as he looked at Muap. The hobgoblin rubbed the back of his bald head in embarrassment at the remark.
"As I said, didn't think that far ahead. All I do know is that humans trade money for supplies, and the only way to get money is to take it from them." Muap said in frustration. That made me wonder if the humans here had a prejudice against demi-humans.
"And why can't you work for humans to get money? Can't you get a job from them?" I asked. The goblins and hobgoblins looked at one another, and then back to me before they burst out laughing.
"That's a great one! What human would ever hire goblins and hobgoblins for work? You must live under a rock if you would ever believe that humans would want our help!" Muap answered as he tried to rein in his laughter.
"So, humans here do have prejudices against non-humans." I muttered to myself.
"What did you say?" The other hobgoblin asked. I was brought out of my reverie and looked back the hobgoblin.
"Nothing, just talking to myself. Ignore it." I answered, "Now, what is it you want to do with your lives? If you had supplies, would you continue robbing travelers or would you try to become self-sufficient?"
"Robbing you's humans is scary and dangerous." Larha answered.
"I'd rather just be left alone. I'm just here because it's stronger to be in a group than to be alone." The hobgoblin said bluntly.
"Same. Need supplies like hammer and axe to make good camp. Don't have either, haven't robbed humans with either." Boho or was it Pakum answered.
"With brother. No tools, no good camp." The other added.
"We's gots to live somehow. Orcs nearby kill us if we's not strong, and they's hungry. They's very hungry lately." The last goblin said with a shiver. I turned back to look at Muap once again.
All of them had similar reason that was easy enough to understand. They wanted protection from outside threats, and to get protection, they wanted good supplies that could only be acquired from nearby humans, and from what I now know, humans here are prejudiced against demi-humans. That made these goblins desperate to do anything, even if it didn't accomplish much, it was still better than sitting around to die.
I could understand that, and with the way that I beat all six of this group while barely trying, it made me pity them. If they weren't strong enough to even get near me while I wasn't trying, then they were definitely doomed if they went against an adventurer who didn't care about non-humans.
There was only one moral way of solving this quest, and the troubles of the goblins and hobgoblins. And it would be so amusing.
With my mind made up, I quickly stood onto my feet and looked down at the group before me. "I've reached a decision on what to do. All of you, stand up and take me to your camp. Then we'll go from there." I said in a commanding voice. The band all seemed surprised at my declaration, some even looked elated.
"You's gonna work for us?" Larha asked.
"We'll figure out what's going to happen once we reach your camp." I answered. Muap was silent as he contemplated what I said. Without a word, Muap stood up and gestured for us to follow. This made the rest of the group stand up and follow after Muap, with two of them, one being Larha, holding my hands as they led me through the brush across the road and into the forest.
Through a maze of trees and plants, all of which had many areas a small being could hide, which easily explained why the small group hadn't been caught yet, they just scurried into the woods and had a thousand places to immediately hide from pursuers.
It took us less than five minutes before we went down a small hill and entered a small grassy grove that contained a small scattering of trees that had tents made of sticks and ratty, torn cloth which surrounded a firepit. Nearby this grouping of tents was a small pile of bronze and silver pieces, as well as jewelry, and some clothing. Beyond that was a small pond that seemed decent enough to swim in if it didn't look so dirty, and whose surface didn't even ripple.
Looking back at the grouping of tents, I quickly noticed the garbage strewn around the firepit, as well as the overwhelming smell of urine and feces near the pond.
The goblins excitedly led me to the firepit and had me sit down on a soft cloth bundle that had been arranged as a seat. Taking everything that I've seen into account, these goblins needed walls beyond just the natural barrier of trees and foliage that hid their camp, shelter that didn't look like it was about to fall apart from a light breeze, a method of cleaning their trash, and a clean pond, since I could easily guess that this group used it as a toilet from the smell that exuded from it which also meant that they needed toilets or latrines.
That was just the start. They also needed a farm, an area where they could craft tools, a mill for the trees that they'd need to cut down, and much more that I couldn't think off the top of my head.
It would take a lot of work to turn this area into a decent settlement, and this group of idiots needed help to do so. And this made me want to help them. Not because they were weaker or less intelligent, but because no one else wanted to help them. They said it themselves, humans didn't like them, and would more likely kill them than help them.
It was a classic matchup between an all-star team and a group of underdogs. And I liked helping the underdog win since back home, no one helped the underdogs. The cities in the U.S. were poverty-stricken nightmares that had three types of people. The homeless, the poor, and the rich. Not even the rich were willing to donate their immense wealth to those without, and this created a gap where the rich got richer and more concentrated, and the poor got poorer and could lose everything just by accident.
When I started playing YGGDRASIL to try and get away from the horrors of the real world, I found myself having to claw my way through that game because no one wanted to help the foreigner play the game. They only helped if they wanted something, and that colored my perception of the community in that game.
It was also why I began acting like the legend my character's race was based on. Being the trickster was a lot more fun when you did it to people who deserved it. They all did. And when my character became one of the strongest builds in the game due to my perseverance, I felt proud that I climbed that mountain of adversity and beat the odds stacked against me.
Too bad I couldn't do that in the real world. In the real world, life is not based on some programmed rules. The rules constantly shift, and either you live a fair life with all the chances a person should be given, or you end up with an unfair life that is constantly doing what it can to beat you down.
But here, I was strong enough that I could write the rules. For once in my life, I had the power to actually make a difference and help people who truly needed it.
And damn those that say otherwise.
"My first impression is that this place will need a lot of work before it could become a decent settlement." I spoke bluntly. None of the demi-humans were surprised at my statement. "Also, if you were planning on keeping me here captive originally, then what clothes would I have to wear? I can't just stay in these clothes every single day, they need to get washed after all."
"We actually have something from this carriage we robbed. Trabgo, get the clothes." Muap then signaled the other hobgoblin, known as Trabgo, who walked off towards the pile of treasure. "There was this woman, and she had a person working for her who supposedly cleaned and cooked for her. We even heard her say that having a person like that gave her prestige. It's what gave us the idea to get a woman to work for us in the first place."
"And why didn't you capture these two women in the first place? Would've saved you a lot of time and pain then what happened earlier." I asked out of curiosity. Muap looked sheepish before he replied.
"We got the idea a few days after we met them. And we were also beaten horribly by that person who worked for that woman. She even threw a chest at us before both of them ran off." Muap looked dejected when he said this, and I would be too if I had my ass handed to me by what I guessed was a noble woman and whoever worked with her.
"We's got the chest though." Larha added optimistically.
"That we did." Muap nodded in agreement. As he said this, Trabgo came back with a set of clothes that I couldn't help but find humorous, but which also made me exasperated at the clueless nature of the goblins.
In Trabgo's hands was a black and white uniform with a short skirt and a bonnet. To put it into perspective, a bunch of goblins managed to get their asses handed to them by a maid. God damn were these goblins weak.
"How exactly was it that you robbed so many people?" I couldn't help but ask.
"Humans usually get's scared when we appear and give us treasure." A goblin replied.
"Boho, why did you have to say that? Now she'll think we're even weaker!" Muap angrily asked.
"She already beat us. We's already weak to her." Boho replied with a shrug. Muap's eyes rolled as he looked back to me. For an idiot, Boho certainly had a good point.
"He's got a point." I answered. Muap became depressed at my comment which made me feel a little guilty at pointing this out, "Being weak isn't a bad thing," the group looked up at me in confusion, "sure, you might not be able to beat someone in a fight, or be the smartest bunch around, but that doesn't mean that those two weaknesses are all that make up who you are."
"But I'm's the runt of old tribe, how's can I be useful?" Larha seemed sullen as he said this, and I didn't know if it was weird that the sad goblin made me want to pick him up and hug him like a plushy.
I put made hand on his shoulder and gave him a smile, "You're pretty friendly, that a good skill to have. How else would anyone get along if there weren't friendly people like you there?" He looked up at me and gave a smile.
"Really?"
"Really really. That's why I'm going to help you make a working settlement. With my help, and a lot of effort on your part, you'll be an entire village full of goblins, hobgoblins, and even orcs if you want them." I stated. Muap and the others looked at me with excited faces when I declared this, and it made me feel happy that I was at least helping people.
When I said this, Trabgo walked up to me and placed the maid outfit in my lap. "If you are helping us, then wearing Dress of Prestige would give you prestige as well as us. You're the first human we've ever met whose been willing to help out goblins and wearing this would show that to other humans out there." I lifted the uniform off my lap and quickly inspected it. Yeah, I'd need to lose a lot of dignity before I ever put something like this on. Though, it does look nice.
I also quickly noticed one flaw of this uniform, "I'd love to wear this," I lied through my teeth with a smile, "but the woman who wore this previously wasn't as well-formed as I was." I said in an apologetic tone as I pointed to the chest area of the outfit.
The goblins were disappointed with my answer but were understanding. "If we were to ever get you an appropriate size would you be willing." Trabgo asked.
"Sure, of course I'd be willing to accept your generous gift if it was fitted." I highly doubted any of these goblins had sewing skills, so I was in the clear probably forever. Time to steer the conversation away from embarrassing topics. Since I'd be working with them, I should also be honest about what I really am. It was also a convenient excuse to finally be rid of this pressure for a while.
"Because we're working together, I think a matter of introductions is need. My name is Kashia Blanc and that I'm not actually a human." I stated as I finally let the illusion hiding my body disperse. The moment I did that, my body felt like it had had the most amazing stretch ever. Kind of like getting a full body massage. My tails curled around me as my ears swiveled and moved. "I'm a kitsune."
The jaws of the goblins all dropped in unison at my whole reveal. The grove was quiet for a while until Larha broke the silence, "You're just like us!" I nodded.
"Yeah, just like you. I'm new to this kingdom, but from what you've told me about your treatment, it's been a good idea that I've pretended to be human."
Muap quickly found his voice and had a large smile on his face, "Even better, with you being as strong as you are and while you work with us, you'll be able to prove to the humans that even us non-humans can be as good as they are." Muap said with a new confidence.
What he said was a good point. If I could become the strongest adventurer in this world, I'd also have supporters and a good backing to reveal my race to the public without the large amount of backlash I'd have if I did it now.
That was a good goal to set, and if I ever did reveal the goblin group's settlement, it might just help them grow even larger due to popularity. These were a lot of thoughts about my future, and I'd only been in this world for a single day. With all these goals, I wondered if I even would want to go back home after finishing all these goals. Staying here just seemed to keep getting better and better.
"And as an adventurer, the higher the rank I get, the more prestige that I'll earn. And if I become the world's strongest adventurer…" I trailed off and let Muap piece it all together.
"You'll show that even non-human can be better than human." I nodded in reply before I stood up and walked over to the pile of loot the goblins collected. In front of the pile was an opened chest that contained more sets of clothing in it. I didn't need clothes from that chest since I could use the spells [Create Lesser Item] and [Create Greater Item] that could make any piece of clothing imaginable, and with high stats as well.
I'd keep that in mind for later if I ever wanted to get into selling clothing for a business. The store would have to have a good name. That'd come to me later.
"Here's my idea on what to do with this loot. I'll take chunks of this loot back with me to E-Rantel every week and I'll return back here after I use the money to buy supplies for you. That way this money will have a better use than just sitting here collecting dust."
Muap came over and stood by my side as he looked at the loot pile. "Sounds reasonable. We'll get you a bag to carry the money back to E-Rantel. Also, why not bring all the money to E-Rantel to spends it all on supplies at once?"
"It's a risk. People will start wondering where I got such a large pile of money, and then they'll start snooping around and may possibly find this place when they do. And, having such a large amount of money on you at once makes you a target to thieves and people of morally questionable character. It'll be more believable if I show up once a week since then I'll have an excuse that I got a large amount of money from all the jobs that I'll do as an adventurer." I explained it as Trabgo came up to me and handed a small, empty, canvas sack.
"Thanks, Trabgo." I said before I kneeled down to the pile and started scooping bronze and silver coins into the sack. When it seemed full enough, I amazed the goblins by stuffing the sack into my storage space, I just explained it away as magic which in a sense was true enough.
I turned around and looked back at the group of goblins once more. "I'll be coming back tomorrow with a lot of supplies. Do you need anything specific besides axes, hammers, nails, food, and weapons?" I asked the group. The goblins shook their heads while the hobgoblins thought on the question.
"We could use new blankets, the ones we have now are mostly tatters." Muap listed. I nodded and made sure to memorize all the items that I'd just said. I'd have a busy day tomorrow going shopping and doing guild jobs. Before I left, I cast [Kitsune Illusion] and immediately started feeling cramped within my own skin.
"See you tomorrow." I said with a wave before casting [Greater Teleportation] and disappearing before being placed once more in front of the guild hall of the Adventurer's guild. I smirked as I stepped into the building and walked over to the guild worker.
"Miss Blanc, you're back much earlier than expected! I didn't believe that you finished that first job at first, but when one of the guards came in to vouch for the completion of your task, I was stunned." The guild worker stated.
"I also finished the goblin job a while ago. People won't have to worry about that bandit gang prowling the road anymore." I answered.
"That's great! Do you have any proof of the goblin's destruction?" She asked.
"If you're asking about if I chopped off any body parts as a trophy, then no. That's pretty disgusting. Also, doesn't help that the goblins bodies were obliterated without a trace. If you were asking for body part verification, then you should've told me earlier. As it is, the only trace of proof I have of the goblins existing was this." I set the large sack of coins onto the table and watch as the guild worker's eyebrows shot up.
"W-Well, be sure to remember to bring proof of the body next time. If that's all, then I'll get the reward for the job." She said as she walked away in a slightly dazed fashion. I made sure to pick the sack of coins up off the counter and attach it to my belt. I'd store it away later when I didn't have so many eyes on me.
Less than a minute later and the guild worker came back with a small sack of coins that I picked up. "I think I'll take the rest of the day off to do some errands. I'll be back tomorrow for some jobs, so make sure that these next ones are challenging, the ones I just had to do were pretty boring."
"I'll see what I can do, Miss." The guild worker's smile seemed more like it was painted on than natural at this point. Guess there was only enough crazy that she could take in a day.
"See you later." I answered before walking away from the counter. Just as I walked past the stairs, I felt someone topple into me and fall down. What I found funny was how I laid someone on their ass by doing nothing. At least that was another advantage with this body, I was much stronger than when I was still a human.
I looked down onto the ground to see a young man with blond hair a shade darker than mine that was held back by a headband look up at me with brown eyes and a grin on his face. "If I've fallen into an angel, then I must be in heaven. How else could I ever meet one such as you?" That must've been the cheesiest one-liner that I've ever heard, though I was flattered at the sincerity of the attempt.
"Flattery might get you anywhere, but you'll need a bit more to get to me." I answered as I held my hand down to the man. He took it and I surprised him with my strength when I pulled him back onto his feet.
"If there is one thing I regret about meeting with you today, it's that I bumped so callously into such a beautiful woman like you by accident." He said with a wider grin.
"You weren't the only one at fault, I should've been looking where I was going." I apologized, "And if you lay that cheese on any thicker, I might just be able to make a sandwich with it."
He laughed, "Why shouldn't I give such a beautiful creation of the gods the compliments she deserves?" Speaking of gods, I wondered how my race [Daughter of Inari] functioned now that my character was real? Did the race only give me the perks and buffs it had or did the goddess Inari actually exist because my character was now real? I feel like I was going to have an existential crisis at the rate these questions kept popping up in my mind.
"I'll give you one thing, you certainly are a natural born flatterer. You also are quite committed and confident in your attempt to romance me." I remarked. The man's posture seemed to become broader as I said this.
"I've fallen for you, both literally and metaphorically, how could I not attempt to win the heart of someone who has taken my heart at first sight? Could you possibly grace me with your name?" I smiled at this, at least I was making more friends.
"Kashia Blanc." I answered.
"A wonderful name. I'm Lukrut Volve, ranger of the silver-plate adventurer team Swords of Darkness." There were teams of adventurers now? This world kept on mirroring YGGDRASIL in certain ways that made it feel so familiar.
"Lukrut, there you are. You took off so fast-" Another blond-haired man said as he came down the stairs with two other adventurers. "Who's this?" The man asked as he gave me a quick glance. Next to him was a large bearded blond man with eyes squinted shut. If this was to guess which role this man had in the group, then I'd believe that this man was their tank. Next to him was a kid with a childish face and short brown hair.
And if it wasn't for my enhanced senses, I would've assumed that this kid was a male from the way they looked and dressed. Luckily for me, I knew otherwise that this kid was female. She was also the only one who didn't have blonde hair for a change.
"Hello, I'm Kashia. I just had the pleasure of accidentally bumping into your friend." I answered. The man, who I assumed might be the leader of this small group due to the way he held himself, looked at Lukrut with an aside glance.
"I hope that Lukrut hasn't bothered you. He can be a little excitable when he's around an attractive woman." He said with a smile. "You must be new here since I've never seen you at the guild before."
"As a matter of fact, I am new. Just got registered today and I already did two of the jobs that were available. And don't worry about Lukrut, he's not been that much of a bother." I replied, before adding, "Though his pick-up lines need more work."
"Two jobs already? You certainly don't waste time. Most copper-plates I've met usually get one job done in a day." His praise at least let me know that I was an exception to the regular slew of adventurers here.
"Well, the jobs for copper-plates are extremely dull. I finished both of the jobs within two hours, and the only real difficulty I had with them was trying to find the areas that they were located in." I really hoped that this guild would up my rank quickly enough, at least then I could take jobs that didn't feel like they were sucking the soul out of me.
"I'd assume that you are pretty strong if that's the case."
"Right on that observation." The man gave a quick glance to his companions before turning back to me with a grin.
"If that's the case, you could join our adventuring group to get better missions. We always have room for more." He offered with a hand held out. I looked down at his hand and rolled the offer around in my head.
I still didn't know much about this world, and even with the goblins and I working together, I doubted that they knew much about the world from the great naivety that they showed me earlier. With these adventurers, I'd be able to get a better knowledge base and learn more about the country I was in, as well as the other countries that surrounded it.
And I needed some friends right now. Playing the lone wolf while in a new world would be a miserable experience. I'd done it once in YGGDRASIL due to being forced to, and that had slowed my ability to learn how to play the game by an immense degree.
And, while I could read a map to know the territories of the new world, I needed people to tell me what the places here were like. So, joining a group would help me in that department. The other reason that joining this group would be a good thing for me is because of how I'd have witnesses for whatever feats I performed.
With my mind made up, I shook the man's hand with mine. "I accept. It'll be a nice change of pace compared to always adventuring solo." I answered warmly.
"Truly this is fate that we're together on this team. To celebrate, how about I take you on a date?" Lukrut asked with excitement. I rolled my eyes at the blond's declaration. One thing you can say about this guy is that he certainly takes every moment in stride. I wish I had that kind of self-esteem when I tried asking girls out back home.
"Since we'll be working together, we may as well introduce one another. I'm Peter Mauk, leader of our group. He's Ninya, our magic user," Peter said as he pointed to the brown-haired girl. He might not know that Ninya was a girl or he might've been playing along with the ruse. I couldn't tell. "The big guy is Dyne Woodwonder, the druid of our group, and you've already met Lukrut."
Was it weird how Peter had the only normal name in the group? I found it weird. Kashia Blanc wasn't any better, but I made it up on the spot damnit, what excuse did everyone else have?
"Your group seems quite well-balanced." I complimented, "But, Ninya and I are the same in a few regards since we both are magic users." I added. Ninya's eyes lit up when I said this, probably because with both of us being magic users, we could trade information about spells and other magic related skills.
"Great! You hear that Ninya, you'll have someone to talk about magic with now." Lukrut remarked. Ninya blushed when she heard this, and I could help but smirk at her reaction. She'd be fun to tease.
"You shouldn't be embarrassed, Ninya. You're young and still have much to learn, and I'm sure that you could learn much from Miss Blanc if she's willing to teach you." Dyne said in a sagely tone. No wonder this guy's a druid, I feel like you could listen to an audiobook on proverbs by this guy.
I leaned down slightly so that my eyes were level with Ninya's, "If you do want help with your magic or anything else, I can help you. You just have to ask." I said with a wink. Ninya's face grew a brighter shade of red after I said this.
"We'll be heading off to do some extermination by E-Rantel. You can come if you want to, else you can meet us here in the guild hall tomorrow morning." Peter stated. While I wanted to join the group on whatever exterminating mission they were going to perform, I also needed to get a room at the inn and supplies for the goblin camp.
"Maybe next time. I was planning to do some errands after my last job. I'll see all of you tomorrow." I replied before walking away.
"See you later then." Peter happily said with a smile.
"I'll be counting every second until I see you again!" Lukrut added excitedly. That man was going to be such a lovesick puppy. It gave me so many ideas on how to tease him. I could always go on one of those dates with him to get some free food. I was always open for some free food.
When I stepped into the inn, the first thing I noticed was the smell. It was a musty smell mixed with alcohol. The second was how dimly lit the building was. Only the candles scattered around the room gave any light to this building.
Looking around, I saw tables scattered randomly in different areas of the room, and yet there was a path that zigzagged through the tables and towards the bar at the back. Different people sat at the tables, some had the plate necklaces of adventurers while others didn't.
The moment I stepped into the inn, the conversations that were once loud had softened as the patrons of the inn started sizing me up. I tried to ignore the stares as my heels clicked on the wooden floorboards. My ears picked up the conversations growing around me.
"Wonder who that is?" One man asked.
"Saw her in the guild earlier. Heard she finished one of the tougher copper-plate jobs within an hour." Another answered.
"Anyone competent could finish one of those easy copper-plate jobs. She's likely just some noble girl that wanted to experience the peasant life. Probably will give up after she gets a hard job." The other man scoffed. I felt my eyes narrow as I had to mentally force my tails to not lash out in anger.
Reaching the counter, I looked at the bartender who gave off the feeling of a weary veteran. He had shaved down brown hair, neatly trimmed goatee, and a scar that went down the left side of his face by his eye. Back in my world, I had only met a few people who gave off a feeling like this man. Most had been veterans of the small-scale wars that occurred over resources. All of them had been serious and didn't tolerate bullshit.
"I'd like to get a room here." I stated quickly. The man looked up from the glass he was polishing and gave me his attention.
"Rooms cost five copper coins each. Food is served three times a day, it costs a copper coin for a plate. I have three rules here. Don't destroy my rooms, pay the bills, and don't fuck with me." I shrugged at his demands and reached into the pouch at my belt before pulling out five copper coins that I set onto the counter.
The inn owner took the coins and pocketed them in a pocket on his apron. He reached into another pocket of his apron and pulled out a key that he set where my coins once were. "Your room is 9. Rooms can continuously be rented, but rent is due at the end of the day. Welcome to Hero's Respite, enjoy your stay."
After picking up the key I asked, "When do you serve food next?"
"Dinner will be in two hours. We're serving lamb stew. First come, first serve." He answered.
"Thanks. I'll be back later." What he said did make me think. I'd already missed breakfast, lunch had passed sometime earlier today, and dinner was in two hours. Frankly, I've spent almost a full day here and I haven't even noticed. Guess it's true what they say, time flies when you're having fun.
After getting directions to my room, I found myself standing before a dark wooden door. I unlocked it with my key and stepped into a small yet comfortable room. A bed was placed next to a window that had a view of the town square. In the middle of the room was a table with two chairs while hanging above the table was a lit lamp.
I wondered if the lamp was being powered by magic or if it might have been gas. I got closer to the lamp to inspect it, and I noticed a little knob on the side. Twisting it, the lamp went out, while twisting it the other way turned back on.
I really wanted to say that this was magic, from what I'd seen in this city, they didn't seem advanced enough to make gas-powered lamps, or even be able to harness gas. I took a sniff and found nothing to hint of gas. Until I was proved otherwise, this was probably magic.
Now finished with inspecting the room, I walked over to the bed and let myself plop onto it. It wasn't the best bed that I've ever had, but at least it beat sleeping on straw. I'd guess that it was filled with feathers or cotton. Didn't even come close to my fluffy tails. Then again, I doubted anything could match supernaturally soft fur.
Feeling satisfied with my bed inspection, I got back up walked over to the table and took a seat. With a sigh, I released my illusion and let my tails flop to the floor. The way my body felt stretched after dispelling my illusion still felt just as good as the first time. I sat in that chair for a small while just lounging before I remembered what I wanted to do in the first place.
Sitting back up, I reached into my storage space and pulled out my maps and bags of coins. Then, I opened up all the maps and weighed down the edges with the sacks of coins.
Glancing at the first map, it was the city of E-Rantel. It was labeled with the sections of the city which meant nothing since I'd already visited multiple areas on the map. The only place I hadn't been to was the third layer of the city which likely housed the wealthy.
I might head there one day to see what mischief I could cause the rich folk. After all the movies I've seen and books I've read about the rich and the poor in medieval-like societies, I've noticed that the rich always seemed to be pompous assholes to anyone below them. Probably not that different here if I were to guess.
Other than that, the city wasn't of much concern since it was small enough that I could figure my way through it quickly enough, and I had a team of adventurers that could tell me where areas in the city were located. I rolled the map up after giving it one final inspection and placed it back into my storage.
The next map was one that I could really use. On it were multiple cities and kingdoms of this new world. Right now, I was in the Re-Estize Kingdom that was bordered to the east by the Baharuth Empire, the south by the Slane Theocracy, west by the Roble Holy Kingdom, and north by the Argland Council State.
Immediately, I already got bad vibe just from reading the name of the Baharuth Empire. They just sounded like an evil fantasy empire that wanted to conquer the entire world. Slane Theocracy made me think of zealots. Roble Holy Kingdom I wanted to say were maybe crusaders. And if the Argland Council State didn't have a lizardman or some type of being that had scales, I'd eat my own shoes.
At the very least, the Dwarves Kingdom was quite open about what they were. It was in their name after all. And considering that they were bordering this kingdom and the Baharuth, I had reason to believe that they must have incredible defenses to hold off either side from conquering them.
The Great Forest of Tob with its Great Lake seemed like an interesting spot north of E-Rantel. I might want to check that area out within this week or next week to see what it had to offer. If I remember correctly, most fantasy stories would talk about hidden treasures within giant forests, and this Great Forest probably had a lot of treasures if the size of it was any indication. Probably high-level monsters as well. It might even give me a small amount of challenge.
Besides this, the Great Lake within the forest might be a nice vacation spot to go swimming. Could even have some hidden treasure as well. Only way that I'd find out is if I went. I'd pin visiting the Great Lake the same day that I explored some of the Great Forest. Most likely, I'd probably fly above the forest to get to the lake.
Considering how I hadn't even been here for a full day, I was planning multiple events that would span over weeks of time. I've been more proactive on scheduling my life today than I've ever been my entire life. Maybe that was a good thing?
If I continue planning at the rate I'm going, I'll have planned out a trip around the entire world within the year. I'll have to save that planning for later. Until then, I need to buy supplies for the goblins.
That was when my stomach began rumbling. I looked down and groaned in annoyance at my body betraying me. Guess that was another reason for this body being real, I felt a large amount of hunger that I normally shouldn't. All this meant was that I'd need to get food. And unfortunately, dinner at the inn was going to be served in two hours.
Unless I had the strength of will to wait for dinner, I would need to head out and find a restaurant.
Sighing, I leaned back in my chair and let my mind wander. Decisions, decisions, I certainly was in for a lot of hard work. Hopefully it would get easier in time.