The Mysterious Child: An Adventure Tale Beginning with Numerology

"Ahh~ A journey after 4 years~"

We left through the west gate of the Stoania Kingdom's royal capital.

Walking on the neatly leveled ground, I breathe in and out. In, out.

The air outside and inside the city is indeed different.

Especially in Stoania, where steam devices and fuel-powered reasoning devices are everywhere, the air was quite stagnant compared to other cities. It didn't bother me with my memories of modern Japan, but breathing in this natural air after so long felt refreshing.

Roze was indifferent to such differences, but Elen, being a sheep-folk, was also taking deep breaths several times to savor the fresh air.

"So, Master, where are we heading now? We're going towards the Dragon Duchy of Bargia on this side, right?"

Apparently, we're aiming for a new disciple.

To be honest, I'm quite looking forward to it.

"Our destination is the Kingdom of Mataisa. Your home country. Well, the southern part though."

"Then why are we going this way?"

"We're taking a little detour. I plan to go south through Bargia, then enter Mataisa via Restamia."

That's quite a roundabout way when we could just go straight south.

"There's some interesting information circulating in Bargia, and I want to check on that too. I plan to reach the town on the other side of the border by nightfall, so keep that in mind."

"Understood."

We start walking on the road leading to a grassy plain with a good view.

There are a fair number of adventurers on quests, merchants, and patrolling soldiers around the royal capital. We'll use "Relative Transfer" to take shortcuts once we've progressed to a position where we're less likely to be seen.

Stoania's territory is smaller than the entire Muuteru domain, so it's quite small as a country. It takes about 4 days by carriage to reach the border in any direction - we could arrive in a few hours if we keep using teleportation, so there's no need to rush.

However, there doesn't seem to be anything in between, so we didn't plan on making any stops.

After crossing the grasslands, we entered a wasteland area where monsters frequently appear, so from there we used teleportation to move forward quickly.

We reached the border area before the sun started to set. It was much earlier than expected, but thanks to the lack of merchants passing by, we were able to act without worrying about being seen.

Still, it's a bit concerning that there are so few merchants on a road that usually takes five days by carriage. The Stoania Kingdom is a small country with a low food self-sufficiency rate. They rely on imports for quite a lot. Naturally, there should be a lot of merchant traffic.

The reason for this became clear when we reached the border.

There was a large fortress-like checkpoint at the border. We teleported to the forest just before it, then walked towards the fortress.

We noticed something was off as soon as the fortress came into view.

The checkpoint, which should usually be open, was closed.

There were also quite a number of soldiers gathered.

"You there! Stop right there!"

As we got closer, soldiers in front of the fortress pointed their spears at us.

What a tense atmosphere.

I step forward and ask:

"What's the matter?"

"Prove your identity! We'll talk after that!"

Hmm, looks like there's been some trouble. They're carrying out their duties diligently, not letting their guard down even though I clearly look like a minor. Good job.

There's absolutely no need to make a fuss here, so I present my adventurer card. I also hand over the silver coins for the passage tax written on the nearby sign, for each of us.

After confirming these, the soldier straightened his back, clicking his heels together.

"B-rank adventurers! I apologize for the rudeness, please proceed!"

"Um, did something happen? Closing the checkpoint gate... did a large monster appear or something?"

"No, that's not it. It's just..."

The soldier explains the situation with a frown.

According to him, there had been sightings of demons in the forest on the Stoania Kingdom side of this border.

Apparently, it happened just yesterday.

Demons are supposed to exist only in demon territory beyond the Lunera Great Forest far to the north, so it's extremely rare for them to appear in the southern part of this continent. In fact, Meresurosu, the elf who lived in the Lunera Great Forest, said she hadn't seen demons in 120 years, so it must be quite uncommon.

Demons, huh.

I've heard they're a race even more adept at magic than the sheep-folk, but I haven't heard many good rumors about them.

In fact, about 800 years ago, when the previous generation's Demon King was born among the demons, they forcibly crossed the Lunera Great Forest and waged war against other races' countries.

In many stories of this world, demons were usually portrayed as villains.

"Master, did you come this way because of this?"

"No, it's a coincidence."

I guess that's right, it just happened yesterday.

The gatekeeper soldier signals, and the gate opens slightly.

"Currently, we've sent scouts based on the demon sighting reports to confirm the facts. Since there have been no sighting reports from the border guards on the other side, it's expected that there are no demons on the Bargia side... but please be very careful on your journey."

"Thank you. Keep up the good work."

"Yes, sir!"

He was a serious soldier who maintained his demeanor even when dealing with children.

On the other side of the gate, in front of Bargia's gate, several groups of caravans and merchants' wagons with guards had set up camp. They were still leisurely sitting around campfires, apparently intending to wait here for a few days until the scouts return and confirm it's safe.

No wonder we hardly saw anyone on the way here.

The Bargia side also seems to have a straight, flat road flanked by forests and woods, without any particularly complex terrain. Good for easy teleportation.

"Hey, you kids, are you heading to town on foot? It's a day's journey even by carriage, why don't you stay here? There are monsters on the way, it's dangerous."

As we were about to pass through the temporary camp, one of the adventurers hired as a guard called out to us.

He was probably trying to be considerate, but there's no problem.

"Thank you. But we'll be fine. We're adventurers too."

I say this while holding up my guild card in greeting from a distance.

They probably can't see our rank from this distance, but it's an unspoken rule that if an adventurer says they're going despite knowing the dangers, you don't stop them even if they're children. They just said "Be careful" and didn't say anything more.

We walk slowly until we're out of their sight.

Ah, that reminds me.

I suddenly remember and rummage through my bag.

"By the way, Master, can you take a look at the spoils we got from defeating the Shoggoth earlier? I want to consider equipping Elen with them."

"Sure, what did you get?"

"These."

First, I take out the mud ball, the golden liquid bottle, and the mysterious metal ingot.

Roze glances at them with her "Eye of Illusion" and says,

"The base for a panacea, an elixir, and an ingot of Hihiirokane. Each of them would sell for over 1000 gold coins. The Hihiirokane could fetch around 3000 coins."

[

TL notes: Hihiirokane (Hihi'irokane) is a red/orange fantasy metal obtained from Hihiirokane Ore.

It is used for swords. The sword comes essentially comes with fire aspect, igniting any target hit with it.

Hihiirokane is from japanese mythology in which it is generally depicted as harder than diamond, resistant or immune to rust, an excellent conductor of heat (or even a generator of heat), and an even better conductor of souls, emotions or spiritual energy.

Source

]

"What's the base for a panacea?"

I can't believe this mud ball is called a panacea. I'd believe it if you told me a child made it.

"It's one of the Shoggoth's basic drop items. You could make about 100 panaceas with that lump. Though it's called a panacea, it's a medicine that cures disease-based illnesses and status abnormalities, so you two probably don't need it."

That's true.

I have "Self-Regulation" and Elen has "Breath of Healing", high-level healing skills that are also effective against status abnormalities. Elen can even cure others with a kiss (though I didn't say she would), so it really seems unnecessary for us.

We'll sell this one. We'll split the money. Oh ho ho.

"So, is this elixir the legendary recovery potion, sis?"

"Who are you calling sis... Well, yes. It's the highest-grade potion that can restore health, magic power, and even regenerate lost limbs as long as it's not fatal damage. Well, you two probably don't need this either. Elen only needs magic potions after all."

"Then should we sell this too? But an elixir... hmm."

It's a familiar item from games.

Just because of its name, I feel more attached to it than other items, making me reluctant to part with it...

Alright, I'll have Elen store it in her item box for safekeeping in case of emergencies.

"Elen, can you hold onto this? You can use it if necessary."

"Mm. Understood."

"Oh, are you sure, Ruruk? Elixirs can also be used as catalysts in alchemy."

"Eh, really!?"

"Yes. If you mix an elixir with the blood of a true ancestor dragon, it solidifies, and that's called the Philosopher's Stone."

"The Philosopher's Stone is here!"

There it is, the legendary item!

During these 4 years, I had acquired the basic skill of "Alchemy", a physico-secret art—"Synthesis". While "Synthesis" is an advanced skill that affects the composition of substances itself, "Alchemy" is a royal-class mystic art that can change the very elements of substances using "Synthesis" and the "Philosopher's Stone".

As the name suggests, it's a wonderful technique that can even convert base metals into precious metals. As a modern Japanese person, I had longed for "Alchemy", but I had given up because there was no information about the Philosopher's Stone, which serves as a catalyst.

"An elixir and the blood of a true ancestor dragon... two incredibly rare materials, huh."

"'Alchemy' is the only complete substitution formula. Originally, there are many formulas in both secret arts and magic that change substances, but when the composition or elements of an object change due to external interference, the post-change state becomes unstable. The only method outside of reasoning arts that can properly construct changed substances based on reasoning elements without collapsing is real alchemy. That's why it's such an advanced mystic art."

"Oho! That's right! 'Alchemy' is such a difficult technique, isn't it!"

"Why are you happy about it being difficult?"

Roze looked at me exasperatedly.

But it's because alchemy is my aspiration. The more difficult it is, the more satisfying it is when you succeed.

Seeing my eyes sparkle, Elen mutters.

"Mm, not using this?"

"No, use it without hesitation if you need to. Life is more important than aspirations."

"Mm."

"...You're practical about that, huh."

Well, if you die, it's all over.

Besides, if we need another one, we can just knock down another Shoggoth. We might as well make Shoggoth a farming element, like other floor bosses.

After watching Elen store the elixir in her item box, I finally moved on to the next question.

"So, Master, is this Hihiirokane that famous thing? The one above mithril but below orichalcum?"

"What do you mean by 'that famous thing'... Well, your understanding isn't wrong."

Roze obviously wasn't familiar with Japanese game and manga culture.

Still, Hihiirokane, huh. While living in the Stoania Kingdom, I hadn't even seen the word Hihiirokane. Even mithril rarely appears in shops as it's so expensive, so it's natural that something even more valuable would be even rarer.

Well, I often heard about orichalcum, which is rumored to be the highest-grade metal.

Apparently, it's so extremely rare that even major countries can't easily buy it, so it was often used in idle talk. Like, "My dream is to make dentures out of orichalcum," or something. I want orichalcum underwear too. The ultimate lucky underwear.

"By the way, Hihiirokane has the property of repelling magic. Most magic doesn't work on it."

"I see. Then I'll have this processed into a weapon or armor eventually. Elen, please take care of this too."

"Mm."

As expected, the short sword was made of mithril.

Since I've changed my equipment, here's how it looks now ↓

――――――――――

[Ruruk's Equipment]

・Weapon: Mithril Short Sword (NEW)

・Armor 1: Griffon Hide Armor

・Armor 2: Unicorn Hide Cloak

・Accessory: Sheep Doll

――――――――――

――――――――――

[Elenora's Equipment]

・Weapon: Magic Staff (NEW)

・Armor 1: Young Lady-style Dress (No defense power)

・Armor 2: Unicorn Hide Robe

・Accessory 1: Item Box

・Accessory 2: Ruruk Doll (Just a doll)

――――――――――

That's how it is.

The Griffon was a floor boss that appeared on the 80th floor and dropped hide material with a property that makes physical attacks hard to penetrate.

The Unicorn was an ultra-rare monster that appeared on the 77th floor and dropped hide material with a property that almost completely blocks magical attacks.

Therefore, thanks to our equipment, both Elen and I have quite high defense power.

However, Elen's physical defense power remains only her own.

I did make Griffon hide armor for Elen too, but she absolutely refused to wear it because it wasn't cute. Elen, who seeks cuteness at the risk of her life, declared that "Fashion requires sacrifice." I feel like that's not quite right, but I think I'd lose if I tried to argue.

"Ah, right. Can you take a look at this ring too?"

I show her the mysterious ring that was alone in the last treasure chest.

"My, you found a good one. It's probably a rare drop. It's called the 'Ring of the War God', and it constantly doubles the power of close-range physical attacks. It's legendary-class equipment."

"Oh, that's amazing."

It's amazing, but the only regrettable thing is that neither Elen nor I use normal physical attacks.

If the new disciple mainly uses a sword or spear, it might be good to give it to them.

By the way, equipment (weapons, armor, accessories) has grades, and the rarer it is, the more powerful it becomes.

In order of rarity:

・Star Birth Class

・Creation Class

・Mythical Class

・Legendary Class

・Holy Relic Class

・Heroic Class

・Common Class

These are the 7 levels.

This mithril short sword is just made of magical ore material, so it's heroic-class equipment. Apparently, if it gets a secondary effect, it will rise to holy relic class.

If the ring is legendary-class, it really is a precious item. Let's keep it safe.

"Elen, store this away too."

"Mm."

That's all I needed to have checked.

While we were doing this, we had moved out of sight of the border guards.

We continued to use teleportation repeatedly as we headed towards the next town.