Chapter 5: Liquor and Slaves (1)

As I said before, I am a bus.

Once I get going, my top speed could rival any sports car… but the problem is that something is missing, making me a bit defective.

A steering wheel, for instance.

With my Strength and Dexterity stats being lower than 4, the minimum considered necessary for an adventurer to survive, I might really have to be carried piggyback.

So the first thing I needed to do now was, of course, to find the drivers who would ‘carry’ me.

In other words, I had to gather companions.

And the place I came to for this purpose was──

Shtaut.

It was what is called the ‘first region’ of this game.

One of the twelve city-states, the ‘12 Cities,’ each named after the twelve gods worshipped on the continent of Zodiac, this is a city that serves the god of water, ‘Shtallion.’

The protagonist I possessed, the Champion of the Malevolent Star, was set up to have woken up with all his memories lost.

But by coming to a certain place or seeing a certain sight, he regains his lost memories, and then this ‘Voice’ responds as it is now, retracing those memories for him.

Sometimes, it even shows them directly through flashbacks.

Perhaps there are clues in that place that could revive your fragmented memories.

Thus, the early part of the game proceeds in this way, with the Champion of the Malevolent Star being led by the ‘mysterious voice’ to regain his memories one by one.

And whether on the route where I successfully escaped, as I have now, or on the route where I failed to escape and became a slave, this place, Shtaut, was the first stage of that story.

You could say it's where the main story truly begins.

Well, right now I’m here to find companions, not memories.

As is common with large cities surrounded by walls, to enter Shtaut, one first had to pass through a security check by the guards.

As expected of a large city that ranks among the top three of the 12 Cities, the waiting line was quite long just from what I could see, but it was shrinking at a very fast pace, so it seemed my turn would come soon.

It was called a security check, but it was really just a simple identity verification.

Shtaut is the first city that level 1, or newly level 2, players visit.

You could call it a part of the so-called ‘level design’.

Geographically, it is located in the southeastern part of the continent, so it can maintain a peaceful atmosphere completely different from the north where the front line against the demon forces── the ‘Wall’ is located.

In fact, the monsters that appear nearby are generally tamer compared to those in the north.

Both in the sense of being less aggressive, and in the sense of not being a threat due to their low level.

So, to put it nicely, it was relaxed, and to put it badly, it was undisciplined, so these checks were easy to pass unless one looked extremely suspicious… but I was scheduled to be stopped here once.

That was the content of this ‘Checkpoint Event’.

If my identity could be clearly confirmed, I could pass without issue, but unfortunately, I was currently of unknown identity.

There was no identity to confirm in the first place, and to top it off, in the lore, I didn't even have any memories.

Of course, that absolutely didn't mean I couldn't pass.

On the contrary, there were so many ways to pass this checkpoint event that players could just pick and choose based on their tendencies or stats.

For example, you could appeal to them with some talk to use [Persuasion], or just lie about your identity with [Deception].

If you made a character that wasn't confident in this kind of conversation, you could even steal someone's ID nearby, or just pass by righteously(?) bribing them.

And if all these methods were impossible, you could first obediently retreat, then wander around to find someone who looks troubled── in short, a person with an ‘exclamation mark’ over their head, get a quest from them, and then enter together by pretending to be their companion as a reward for solving it.

Anyway, it was an event that showed that there were this many ways to solve problems in this game, so there was nothing to worry about…… This time, though, things were a little different.

Honestly, to the point where I was a little worried if I could really pass safely.

“Alright, next…”

As expected,

“……!?”

The guard, who had been conducting the checks with a listless face until just a moment ago, showed a startled reaction the moment he turned his head towards me.

…He couldn't help it.

As I said before, Shtaut is a large city.

With a very large floating population.

Imagine walking around in such a place with my face, which could be called god-tier without any exaggeration.

The whole city would be turned upside down.

No, really.

Setting aside the fact that my own feet would be tied up by the crowd flocking to get a glimpse of this face, they might all get charmed and start fighting each other to monopolize me, which could lead to a major disaster.

The place once called the city of water would instantly become a city of fire, burning here and there.

So this face was like a trump card that should only be used when absolutely necessary, but the problem was that I currently had nothing like a helmet to completely cover my face.

All I had now was the dagger I had picked up after defeating the Goblin, and one sack I had kept just in case.

Yes, the sack that had been on my face.

“……??”

In other words, I was currently wearing a sack with only two eyeholes pierced through it.

So it was actually natural for the guard looking at me to be frozen in place with his mouth agape.

Honestly, anyone would see the spitting image of a robber.

But now I had come to be checked by a guard who was openly guarding the city gate.

Because of that, the guard, who was staring blankly at me as if he was experiencing severe cognitive dissonance, seemed to be seriously contemplating whether to arrest me on the spot or not.

“Wh-what are you……?”

Then he finally spoke in a very cautious tone.

While subtly lowering his hand towards the sword at his waist.

“What is your business… here…?”

As if he would draw it at any moment if I showed any suspicious reaction.

At that, the people around, sensing that the atmosphere was not right, began to pay attention to us.

In that frozen air, with everyone's eyes focused on the situation, I, the suspected robber(?) wearing a sack, first spread my slightly raised hands wide to reassure them.

It was to show that I had absolutely no intention of doing anything suspicious.

“Rest assured.”

Then, looking at the guard who flinched once more at this, I spoke in the softest tone possible.

“Although I am dressed like this due to circumstances, I am by no means a suspicious person.”

“……Yes?”

“My face is, well, not something I can show carelessly to others…….”

It wasn't a lie.

It was a face that couldn't be shown carelessly, which was, in any case, true.

--

[Persuasion]

Difficulty 20

--

Perhaps because of that, it became a [Persuasion] check instead of a [Deception] one.

It didn't matter which one it was, since both were checks based on the Charisma stat.

The required value of 20 was a difficulty designed for failure, considering the typical stat distribution in the early game.

But my Charisma stat.

--

CHA Modifier +25

--

Is 25 even with my face covered like this.

--

Happy.

--

Furthermore, I had two dice to roll, and even if both came up as 1, resulting in a critical failure, in a ‘Noticed’ state like now, the (Attention Seeker) trait gives me a chance to roll the dice once more.

--

⚄ / ⚁

Result 30

--

In short, it meant that I would almost never fail.

--

[Persuasion]

Success

“I-is that so……?”

The other person feels sympathy at your appealing voice.

As a result of the successful [Persuasion], it seemed he had accepted that I was dressed this way due to some unfortunate circumstances.

This wasn't entirely wrong either.

“I see… M-my apologies. You must have been through a lot.”

“Yes, I really have. Haha…”

“Are you perhaps a citizen of Shtaut?”

“No, I am an adventurer from another region.”

“Then do you perhaps have any other means to prove your identity? Something like an adventurer's guild registration card.”

The reason I just rolled the [Persuasion] die was to prove(?) that I wasn't a suspicious person and to avoid the danger of being attacked out of the blue.

“About that, um… I don't.”

“…Yes?”

So this time, it was the turn for the roll to get through.

“I was attacked by bandits during my adventure and barely escaped, but they took all my belongings at that time….”

“…….”

At this explanation, the guard began to look at me with suspicion again.

At the same time, the dice appeared once more.

--

[Deception]

Difficulty 15

--

But the difficulty itself was actually lower than before.

Which means.

--

⚂ / ⚅

Great Success

--

“Oh dear……”

That this time too, I could easily deceive him.

The guard seems to feel pity after hearing your story.

“You must have really been through a lot.”

He immediately dropped his suspicion and sent a sympathetic gaze.

Then he seemed to contemplate for a moment.

“…Strictly speaking, this is not allowed, but since your circumstances are so unfortunate, I will make an exception just this once.”

He finally let me pass.

Thanks to the sack I was wearing, I could flash a victorious smile to my heart's content without worrying about being caught.

***

To describe the atmosphere of Shtaut, which I entered after passing through the city gate, in one word, it was a beautiful city.

First, as a city that serves the god of water, there were many facilities that used water, such as fountains and ponds.

The climate was temperate with a coastline, and the regional characteristic of being well-irrigated led to the development of agriculture and fruit farming, which naturally gave birth to the development of the brewing industry.

Simply put, it meant that whatever was left over from eating was all turned into liquor.

The kind that is considered the most delicious on the continent.

On top of that, due to the peaceful atmosphere befitting an early-game region as mentioned before, the alleys were lined with pubs, and with plenty of things to do and see, the whole city was overflowing with vitality.

So if I had my way, I would have wanted to settle down and tour the city to my heart's content.

But well, there will be a chance for that someday.

Right now, there was something else I had to do first.

“I am looking for liquor.”

“Liquor, you say…?”

At my words, the person in front of me immediately asked back in confusion.

As if curious why I had come all this way to suddenly look for liquor.

It was understandable, as the place I had rushed to first, setting everything else aside, was not a pub but the office of a certain merchant company.

Of course, coming to a merchant company that operates in a city where liquor is the most famous specialty and looking for liquor itself would not be that strange.

If only the person I was having a private meeting with was not some strange being.

“I-I see.”

To be precise, if only the customer wasn't someone who looked like a robber, wearing a sack.

Naturally, to get to this private meeting with him, I had to go through several [Persuasion] processes.

The guards here, who flinched in surprise and tried to stop me as soon as they saw me, just like at the city gate, and this merchant, who was flustered to see me as soon as I sat down, were no exception.

“May I ask what kind of… liquor you are looking for…?”

I had managed to [Persuade] him that I wasn't a robber, but his voice still carried a hint of caution.

“I am looking for a special liquor that cannot be found just anywhere.”

“…All the items our company handles are top-quality liquors brewed right here in Shtaut. So you need not worry about the quality──”

“You know very well what I'm talking about, don't you.”

I said this with a smirk.

Well, it wasn't like he could see it anyway.

“I heard from a source that you recently acquired a special product that has been aged for almost several hundred years.”

“……!”

“Just like an elf.”

Elf.

The moment I uttered this word, the employee's eyes narrowed for an instant.

At the same time.

--

[Persuasion]

Difficulty 23

--

The check began once again.

A difficulty of 23, not even 20, in this very early stage was a difficulty set up for failure, one that would not allow even the slightest possibility of success.

It had to be.

Because although he was [Persuaded] that I had my reasons, a masked robber who, from the outside, clearly looked like he was here to rob the place (which wasn't entirely wrong, to be fair), was suddenly saying that he knew they were secretly buying and selling slaves.

“Hearing that, I have become very interested myself.”

And even knew that they had recently acquired an elf slave.

But as I've said repeatedly, my Charisma stat had already far surpassed the normal standards.

--

⚀ / ⚂

Result 28

Success

--

So who I was, where I got such information, and how I knew and used their code words were no longer important to this man.

“──My apologies.”

Because he had already been [Persuaded].

“It seems we failed to recognize a true connoisseur.”

That I was a real ‘client’ of theirs.

“If that is the case, how about visiting the brewery we operate?”

So he firmly believed I was on his side and extended an ‘invitation’ with this sly smile.

“As it happens, there will be a party for true connoisseurs tonight.”

Not a liquor auction, “You will surely be able to find the ‘special liquor like an elf’ that you are looking for at that event.”

But a slave auction.

“That sounds,” Of course, I have no intention of buying a slave.

There is only one reason I am going there.

“Exciting.”

To raid the place.