Chapter 1-19 : Port Town, Hafen (part 2)
A few hours later, I could smell the sea, meaning that we would soon arrive at the port town.
I think I should wake Ruka up now.
「Hey, Ruka, wake up. We’re getting close to the port town.」(Alice)
I gently poke her cheek with my index finger. She then slowly opened her eyes.
「Mmmhhhh~ Good morning…」(Ruka)
「Morning~」(Alice)
She raised her upper body and rubbed her eyes while yawning.
「Fwaaaahh~…」(Ruka)
「Are you still sleepy?」(Alice)
「A little bit.」(Ruka)
「Umm, if you’re sleepy, I think you should log out for now and have a proper sleep in the real world. We can go to the forest tomorrow.」(Alice)
「No, I’m fine. I still want to play.」(Ruka)
Ruka shook her head and refused my suggestion firmly.
I think it’s dangerous to hunt monsters when you’re sleepy, but… I guess I have to respect her decision.
「Alright then. But we’ll go back to town when it gets dark, okay?」(Alice)
「Okay~」(Ruka)
「Before we go to the forest, let’s go check the portal first.」(Alice)
「Yeah, that’s important.」(Ruka)
Not long after, our carriage entered the port town and stopped by the main street.
We then got off and headed deeper into the town, looking for the portal.
「Whoaa… There are a lot of ships.」(Ruka)
「And fish!」(Alice)
「Yeah, and fish!」(Ruka)
As expected from a port town. They had so many ships and boats, especially the ones for fishing.
We could also see many people carrying and selling various sea products.
I can’t wait to taste them, but I promised Ruka we would go hunt some monsters in the forest first.
I wonder if I have to rent a boat to catch fish, or maybe I can just swim and catch them. Well, I will need to learn a skill to swim first.
「Alice, look. The portal.」(Ruka)
「Great. Let’s go.」(Alice)
When we got to the center of the town, we found a huge magic circle on the ground that seemed to be the portal. There were many players appearing and disappearing while standing on it.
Without delay, we approached the magic circle and stood on it, and then a half-translucent window appeared in front of me.
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
ーSelect Your Destinationー
→ Erst Town
→ Hafen (grey font)
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
The number of destinations I can choose has increased. It seems that the name of this port town is Hafen.
「Oh! I can choose Hafen now.」(Ruka)
「Me too. Well then, shall we go to the forest?」(Alice)
「Un!」(Ruka)
「Let’s go~」(Alice)
「Go~!」(Ruka)
After we confirmed that we had been registered at the portal, we headed toward where we came from and left the port town through the gate.
The east and south sides of Hafen were sea, so we were heading northwest where the nearby forest was.
It was much bigger than the western forest near the Erst Town. I think people should start cutting down some trees to prevent the number of monsters inhabiting this forest from increasing.
「Ruka, are you ready?」(Alice)
「Of course.」(Ruka)
「What weapon are you using?」(Alice)
「I’m using a bow.」(Ruka)
Saying that, Ruka equipped her bow and quiver. So she’s an archer, I see.
「How about you?」(Ruka)
「I’m using a wakizashi (short katana).」(Alice)
「You’re a melee fighter.」(Ruka)
「Yup. So I’ll take the front. You watch my back, okay?」(Alice)
「Got it.」(Ruka)
After we finished equipping our weapons and setting up the necessary Skills, we entered the forest.
The trees here looked different from the ones in the forest surrounding Erst Town. Perhaps in this game, different regions have different environments.
「Hm? What is this fruit?」(Alice)
After walking for a few minutes, I found trees with strange fruits.
「It looks like mulberry.」(Ruka)
「You’re right, but it’s much bigger than normal mulberry.」(Alice)
「Yeah. Hm? Alice, look at the leaves.」(Ruka)
Ruka seemed to notice something. I looked in the direction she was pointing at and saw some leaves that had been half eaten.
「Something ate them.」(Alice)
「I think the culprit was a silkworm monster or something.」(Ruka)
「Ah, silkworms eat leaves after all… Oh, right!」(Alice)
Staring at the leaves, I got an idea.
I equipped my【Gathering】skill on my skill slot and started collecting the mulberry leaves.
「Alice, what are you doing?」(Ruka)
「I just think maybe we can use these leaves.」(Alice)
「For what?」(Ruka)
「I don’t know. Maybe we can lure those silkworms out with these.」(Alice)
「Umm, alright.」(Ruka)
After collecting enough leaves, now it’s time to look for those silkworms.
After walking while watching our surroundings for a few minutes, we finally spotted one.
「Uhh… Are silkworms that big?」(Alice)
「Normal silkworms are about the size of a finger, I think.」(Ruka)
As a matter of course, it was bigger than normal silkworms. It was about half a meter long.
Although it was ten times bigger than normal silkworms, it was still small compared to human size. It didn’t look dangerous at all.
It noticed our presence but it didn’t show any hostile movements.
「It doesn’t attack us…」(Ruka)
「Maybe this monster is not aggressive? Let me try something.」(Alice)
I took out the mulberry leaves I just collected, held them forward, and slowly approached the silkworm.
「Come on~ Don’t be scared~ I have some delicious leaves for you~」(Alice)
The silkworm slowly crawled toward me and started eating the leaves. I then placed them on the ground.
「Look, Ruka. It’s eating the leaves!」(Alice)
Somehow it felt like I was feeding a stray cat on the street.
「It looks somewhat cute, don’t you think?」(Ruka)
「You’re right.」(Alice)
After it finished eating, it started spitting thread from its mouth. Still, it didn’t show any signs of attacking us.
It seemed that it was trying to make something.
「What is our little friend doing?」(Alice)
「Maybe it’s making a cocoon…?」(Ruka)
It seemed that Ruka was right. The thread that continued to come out of the silkworm’s mouth began to form like a cocoon.
The cocoon kept getting bigger and bigger, and when it was as big as the silkworm itself, it stopped spitting thread. The silkworm then turned around and crawled away, leaving the cocoon behind.
「It left…」(Alice)
「Did it just give it to us as thanks for the food?」(Ruka)
「Maybe? Anyway, we now know how to get silk.」(Alice)
Saying that, I took the silk cocoon from the ground. It was unexpectedly light despite its big size.
「We’ll need more of this, but I don’t know exactly how many we need.」(Alice)
「Can I borrow it for a bit?」(Ruka)
「Sure.」(Alice)
I handed the silk cocoon to Ruka. She then activated a skill.
「I’ve leveled up my【Appraisal】skill for a bit, so…」(Ruka)
「I see.」(Alice)
「Hmm… Seems like this silk cocoon can be turned into 20 grams of raw silk. I heard that to make a piece of fiber armor, you need at least one kilogram of raw silk. That means if we collect fifty of this silk cocoon, we’ll have enough to make one piece of fiber armor.」(Ruka)
「So we need to collect at least one hundred of them to make armor for two of us.」(Alice)
「That’s right, but let’s collect enough for your armor first. We can skip mine if we don’t have enough time.」(Ruka)
「Eh? Butー」(Alice)
「Alice, look at you. You’re still wearing beginner’s armor.」(Ruka)
「Ture, but I’ve upgraded some of my equipment. This breastplate, these bracers, and this belt are new.」(Alice)
「But not with your clothes.」(Ruka)
「Ahaha… It’s easy to move in this outfit, so…」(Alice)
「Anyway, making new armor for you is our priority now, you understand? Besides, I’m a rear guard and you’re a frontliner. You need new armor more than me.」(Ruka)
「Ugh… You have a point, but… Look. I’m older than you. It’s common sense for a senior to prioritize their junior.」(Alice)
「Umm… I shouldn’t ask this question, but since you brought it up… Alice, how old are you?」(Ruka)
「I’m twenty this year.」(Alice)
「I see. I’m twenty-one.」(Ruka)
「…Eh…?」(Alice)
Hold on…
She is… older than me!?
…For real!?
You can’t change your gender and body features in this game including your face. You can only change your hair, eyes, and skin color.
Judging from her appearance, she looks completely much younger than me.
「Re… Really?」(Alice)
「Yup. I’m not lying.」(Ruka)
「Ugh… I’m sorry… I thought you were a sixteen-year-old high school student…」(Alice)
「Phu phu! I get that a lot, but I’m old enough to drink alcohol. Well, I rarely go to a bar to drink because someone will stop me when they see me.」(Ruka)
「Ahaha…」(Alice)
I can understand why people stop her… I would do the same if I saw her drink.
But… I still can’t believe a cute girl shorter than me and has a baby face is actually older than me.
「Alice, you’re thinking something rude, aren’t you?」(Ruka)
「Eh? N, no! Not at all! Anyway, let’s look for another hungry silkworm and get more silk cocoons from them!」(Alice)
「Alright… By the way, don’t you think the silkworm just now is weird? I mean, why would a monster give you a silk cocoon as thanks?」(Ruka)
「Hmm… You know what? I don’t think that silkworm was a real monster. I think it’s just a normal silkworm in this world. After all, I’ve never seen monsters that small and that well-behaved before.」(Alice)
「Yeah, you may be riー Alice, watch out!」(Ruka)
Ruka shouted and drew her bow all of a sudden. At the same time, I sensed danger with my【Perception】skill.
There seemed to be a monster behind me.
I quickly dodged to the side, and then Ruka shot her arrow right after.
「【Power Shoot】!」(Ruka)
I swiftly turned around and drew my blade.
It was a spider. A huge one. It couldn’t be compared to the silkworm we just saw. After all, this spider had the same height as us.
「What the!?」(Ruka)
Ruka’s arrow hit through its head, but it was still alive. It seemed that it didn’t do much damage to it.
「Now that’s what you call a monster! Let’s kill it!」(Alice)
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