The Otherworld Conquest Method of a Reincarnated Porter Chapter 72 Part 1
Labyrinth City of Astoma
As I run toward Lambert, I frequently pass merchants and their escorts on the highway. As I run at a fast pace as usual, it seems to cause them to be quite wary of me. If I use body enhancement, I can run more than two hundred kilometers a day, and although I don’t know the exact distance to Lambert, if everything goes smoothly, I should be able to get there by the end of the day tomorrow.
After running for a whole day, I enter a small town on the way. When I show them my porter identification card, I am able to enter the town for five large copper coins. First, I stop at a weapon shop to sell the swords and shields.
「Welcome.」
「I want to sell some swords and shields, a considerable number of them, I mean. How many can you afford to buy? Though if the price is too low, I am planning to sell them in Lambert.」
「Hoh, can you let me see them first?」
I put the iron swords and shields on the table one after another. In a rural town, there won’t be much demand for them, so I doubt they will sell for much.
「Ah, you’re a porter, huh. That means you are heading to Lambert, right? If so, it might be a good idea to sell them here. After all, it’s a city of iron. Steel products are cheap, you see.」
「But given the amount, I can’t ask you to buy it all here.」
「Hmm.」
The shopkeeper scrutinizes me. Maybe he is wondering how I got my hands on them. Well, if this guy is a professional, I don’t think he will pry into it too deeply.
「Let’s see, I’ll buy it all. How about two large gold pieces?」
「What, that’d be a great help. Alright, we’ve got a deal.」
That was an unexpected offer. Two large gold coins is also a fair price, talk about lucky.
I leave the weapon shop and go into an inn that charges one large silver coin per night. The room is spacious, but this inn only serves breakfast, so I go to a nearby tavern to gather information and have dinner.
Since I am alone, I sit at the counter and order three servings of expensive meat and pasta. A bottle of grape wine, too. I have been running while using body enhancement all day long, so both my stamina and magical energy are depleted, triggering my automatic recovery skill, which in turn causes me to be very hungry.
「Are you going to eat all this by yourself? You must be a porter.」
A middle-aged man speaks to me over the counter. I wonder if he is the owner of the tavern. I ordered a lot, so it looks like I have managed to attract his interest.
「You can tell?」
「Yeah, all the porters who use this highway eat a lot, after all.」
「This is my first time passing through this highway. I’m going from Neurath to the labyrinth city of Lambert, but do you have any useful information?」
I place a single large silver coin on the counter. The man does not take it immediately, but looks at me, ponders for a moment, and then puts it in his pocket.
「The labyrinth city of Lambert’s territory is Astoma. It seems porters can earn a lot of money there. Still, information, is it? In that case, be careful of bandits on the highway. There is no end to bandits that target porters who carry iron they get from the puppet labyrinth in Astoma, you see. In particular, porters who work alone are more prone to get targeted. Their number seems to be especially large in the forest to the east from here.」
「They target heavy objects such as iron?」
「Not only is the iron in the form of ingot, which is easy to carry, the bandits also have porters in their midst, after all.」
「The knight order or the warrior order don’t crack them down?」
「I call them bandits, but they are probably adventurers who hunt in the forest during the day, so it’s hard to tell them apart, after all. They look for weak-looking pack porters and aim for a time when there is no one around to go after them. Be careful. There may even be some who use this town as their base as they look for easy marks.」
True enough, if they set an ambush in the forest ahead, it would be a good idea to make this down as their base. Maybe they are in this tavern right now, and there is also the possibility that this man who is giving me information is also in on it.
I finish my meal and decide to go to bed as not only have I accumulated fatigue, I have no desire to pay for a woman either.
The next day, I leave as soon as I am done eating breakfast. That is because assuming that the bandits are using this town as their base and are lying in wait in the forest, I should not get attacked if I leave as soon as the gate opens.
There are already several people lined up in front of the gate early in the morning. When the time comes and I go out of the gate, I immediately break into a run while using body enhancement and overtake those who go out ahead of me. Just as I am about to reach the forest, a group of out-of-breath adventurers come running up behind me, saying something all the while. They ran here while keeping up with my speed. They have exhausted a considerable amount of their stamina and are breathing roughly.
I have stored both my sword and shield in my storage, but these guys are equipping theirs and look like they would have a hard time running.
「Oi, wait, haa, haa, I said wait, didn’t I? Haa, haa.」
「Who the heck are you?」
A total of five adventurers are chasing me, but it seems only one has caught up with me. It seems that he has thrown away his shield midway, and his friends coming after him have retrieved it.
「You bastard, making me run so much early in the morning. Haa, haa, leave your belongings behind if you don’t want to die!」
「Ah, you guys are bandits huh. Are you sure? Your friends are still far away, you know?」
「I alone am enough to deal with a porter. Now, give me your money and belongings.」
Hmm? This guy knows I am a porter. I wonder if the tavern owner from yesterday has incited these guys.
「I don’t have any money, you know?」
「Stop lying, you’ve got two large gold coins, don’t you?!」
「I see, that means that weapon shop is also a collaborator of the bandits, huh. You’re selling the stuff you steal there, aren’t you?」
「So what?! Now, take your money and belongings out of your storage.」
After thinking about it for a while, I start running into the forest. In front of the forest, we are fully visible to his friends who have yet to catch up, and if they see me kill this guy, they will most likely report me as an adventurer killer, which is something that I cannot tolerate.
「Ahh, hold it right there, you son of a bitch!」
The highway through the forest is also well maintained. After running for a while, I turn off the highway and into the thicket. That is because it would be troubling if we leave a trail of blood on the highway. There is little chance that this adventurer is a master. After all, he cannot catch up with me as we run at my running speed, so I don’t think his level is that high. The same goes for his friends.
I go into the thicket, draw my sword, and wait for him. I close my distance with the adventurer who is breathing heavily as he chases me and send his head flying. It ends in an instant. I rummage through his belongings and take his iron sword and money.
Now then, what should I do with the remaining four? I can just leave them alone, but let’s kill them here for the sake of the other posters. As I return to the highways and wait for them, two more men come running toward me a short time later. As before, I lure them into the thicket and send their heads flying. As expected, I wonder if it is because they don’t dive into the labyrinth. They don’t seem to be very strong. Then, I defeat the remaining two in the thicket, and head for the labyrinth city of Astoma.
I arrive at Astoma before evening. There are many people lined up in front of the gate, but I am able to enter the city surprisingly quickly. Many merchants and porters are going in and out of the gate, so as soon as I show them my porter identification card, I am able to go in.
RELEASE RATE
Otherworld Conquest Method of a Reincarnated Porter
Speed up schedule by 10 hours
Current schedule: Every 80 hours
Man…… I need to wait.