29-sai Dokushin wa Isekai ch.55

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Sorry the delay, here is the new chapter of 29-sai.

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Translator: Raizu
Editor: Mirp

Episode 55 ～Enjoying a Date after a Long While~

[How about reserving a room at the inn first before we go sightsee?]

[You’re rightー. I haven’t had breakfast yet, so let’s pick something up at the food stall.]

We headed to the inn suggested by the gatekeeper while discussing.
Gandil was a trading hub between Karendil and Gobbel.
Therefore the main road was quite wide. Wide enough for a few carriages to go side by side. The main road ran through the entire length of the city. I could even see the gate leading to Gobbel in the distance.

[There are quite a few buildings here that are not often seen in Karendil.]

[Those buildings were built from adobe. Karendil is rich in stones, while Miscronia has abundant woods. Gobbel lacks either of those. That is why they use clay and straw to make bricks instead.]

[Ee, so it depends on the country.]

I strongly felt the exoticism when I saw the buildings with ocher-like walls in a row. In my original world, I remembered that the buildings around the Middle East also looked like this.
Many people on the road were wearing clothes made of long, loose cloth. Most native people of the Karendil kingdom usually wore shirts and pants, so it’s easy to tell them apart.

[But what’s this? Isn’t it strange seeing them here?]

[Indeedー. Gobbel is currently in an unstable condition. I suppose this is the effect.]

[Yeah, although I guess the centaurs are still minority in here.]

Yes, there were many centaurs in this city, a territory of the Karendil kingdom which strongly discriminates against beastkin. However, I didn’t see many girls, children, nor old people among them. Are they here to escape the war? In that case, it’s a bad idea to escape to Karendil.

[I suppose it is a strange choice indeed. If the number of refugees keeps increasing, troubles will naturally occur here and there.]

[True. after all, you are the best in terms of administration stuff.]

[Uーn, as you already know.]

While having a small talk like that, we finally arrived at the suggested inn.
The inn in question was situated near the center of Gandil, so it’s in a very busy spot. But once we were in, the bustling noises immediately disappeared, probably because the building had a noise reduction magic tool installed. It felt like we entered an entirely different world.
The innkeeper treated us politely, perhaps due to how we dressed rather gaudily for just a pair of travellers. One large silver coin per person per night with a luxurious bed and bath. Only dinner was included in the room rate, but you can enjoy luxurious meals and sake at this inn’s restaurant.

[So that makes for one gold coin per night for two.]

[Well, the furniture and furnishings are incomparable to the scorching anvil pavilion. There is no doubt that the room is expensive.]

The owner said that the inn was also used by aristocrats from each country. Certainly, the gorgeous furnishings make it feel like an aristocrat abode. While laughing, he also secretly told me that it was soundproof. Ah, of course, it’ll be bad if anyone can overhear when the tenants are discussing something sensitive or secretive.
I’m at least glad that I won’t end up annoying my neighbors and vice versa.
Since we had no luggage, we simply took a short look at our room before heading out.

[First of all, market! Where is it?]

[We should be able to tell if we walk a bit. It is located not too far from the main road.]

A short walk down the main street to the Gobbel Kingdom Gate side, I was able to find a place that looked like a market. At least it seemed to be.

[Why is it so quiet?]

[Ahー, trades with Gobbel kingdom have stopped. Adding to that are the still ongoing great flood and civil war.]

[Seeing that there are many centaurs here, does that mean this trading route is under their occupation?]

Marl’s words really made me wonder. Normally, the closure of the trade route would never be tolerated by the Goebbel’s kingdom, but perhaps there were not enough forces to break the blockade.
As far as the centaurs who seem to be refugees are seen, the situation of the centaurs does not seem to be good either. And from the perspective of the people of Karendill, the centaurs were a nuisance that was blocking the trade route and influxing as refugees.

[I feel like I’m starting to get it now, why I feel it’s odd. Can’t do anything about it though…. Ah, uncle, skewer and juice, please]

Although quiet, there were still some stalls and shops open for business.
I bought some beast meat that was roasted with plenty of spices. The aroma of appetizing spices and the subtle spiciness really matched the seasoned meat. This meat tasted like lamb.

[Here I thought Taichi-san would do something about it.]

[I don’t know. It’s certainly not impossible to move the refugees with transfer magic, and the territory has enough food to feed them.]

Marl and I bit into our skewers and took a sip of the juice. The juice was squeezed from reddish fruit the size of plum which is also often eaten as dried fruit. I’ve also eaten it before, after all.
Oh, I think I’ve seen this dried fruit before. In my original world. Date? I believe it’s called a date.

[You do not look too excited about it.]

[I mean, it’s too annoying. Moreover, centaurs aren’t fluffy.]

[Eeー……..that is all the reason?]

It WAS an important factor for me.
Although what I just said was one of the reasons, there are actually some other minor concerns. I took a seat in the right place and told Marl my thoughts.
First of all, I don’t know if the environment in the forest would suit the Centaurs from the Gobbel kingdom. For the centaurs who are used to running around the vast grasslands, living in the dense forest may be stressful.
I don’t know if the centaurs will accept my help in the first place. Is it acceptable for them to give up on the civil war and flee to the distant sea of ​​trees? Both sides would have taken many lives from each other so far. I don’t even know the reason for the civil war. We also want to avoid enraging the Gobbel kingdom even further as a result of accepting Centaur refugees.

[Especially with how infamous you are to Gobbel now?]

[That’s right.]

I nodded affirmatively at Marl’s words. I’ve pretty much denied the prince of Gobbel from marrying two princesses in a row. So that should be very obvious by now.
Well, I ran out of food, so let’s buy something else.

[I want to eat some more. Any ideas?]

[How about some sweets!]

[I want something that is more filling.]

Marl bought a pie full of nuts with sweet syrup topping. I also had a bite. The aroma of the nuts matched the sweetness of the syrup. It was delicious. For everyone back at home, I also bought a lot of souvenirs, tossing them into storage as usual.
I bought a chunk of meat that was roasted and chopped and sandwiched between the roasted dough. That’s right, I know this. Doner kebab. I have eaten it several times in the original world. The sauce was a yogurt base and was quite refreshing.
After filling our stomach properly, Marl and I went around the market to sightsee.
After all, it seemed that the main items from the Goebbel’s kingdom were varied. It’s mainly spices, but there were also many things I didn’t recognize either. Marl, who was studying as an alchemist, was far more familiar with it compared to me who could only rely on my knowledge of my original world.

[Alchemy also contains research about the usage of spices as medicine!]

It’s a little frustrating when such a cutie acts cheeky like that. So in response I stretched out Marl’s cheeks.

[Ihyaiihyarefu.]

[Ahー, I feel like this kind of exchange hasn’t happened in a long time now. It’s calming somehow.]

[Why did it have to be my cheeks!? But I concur.]

I bought some spices while laughing and calming Marl who gets angry. It was a little expensive, but I managed to get vanilla extract. Now we can make pudding or vanilla ice cream! Hurray!
I’ll have to rely on memory for the recipe, but maybe I can make pudding. Ice cream should be okay too.
There were a lot of spices, but curry powder was impossible. I don’t know the composition. I tried to make pancakes but they didn’t swell. Maybe I need baking powder, but I don’t know how to make it. All I know is that I need baking soda. Should I challenge myself with baking soda next time?

[Those are a lot.]

[Yep. I’m planning to let Deborah or Shitan do some research on spices. I can make dessert with this vanilla extract, maybe]

[I will look forward to it! Please give me a sample later.]

[Of course.]

I also bought various other rare items. I bought a lot of dried date fruits because they were cheap. If I put them in my inventory, they would never spoil. It seems that it can be stored for a long time as a preserved food in the first place. We can wholesale it to the Palmiano general store.
As we continued shopping, we eventually returned to the food stalls area.

[I just think that I could use some drinks]

[Does not seem to me that it is the real reason]

Apparently an accident happened right when we arrived. I saw a grumpy looking shopkeeper carrying a club, and a centaur kid who seemed to be injured from a hit to his head. Some other centaur children came to support him. Then a slightly older centaur boy confronted the shopkeeper, though they only ended up glaring at each other for now.

[You shouldn’t have hit him with a club! He’s still a kid!]

[Does it matter if a thief is a kid or an adult? Rather, it’s because he’s just a kid that I ended up only hitting him. Otherwise I would’ve called the guards to detain him]

The older centaur boy gritted his teeth and complained, but the grumpy shopkeeper argued back calmly.
The punishment in this world varies greatly depending on the city and the discretion of the guards, but basically a small amount of theft is a fine. If you can’t pay the fine, you’ll become a criminal slave, and a criminal slave would almost always be worked to exhaustion in various hard labors. So if you can’t pay, it’s almost like the death penalty. Normally, a person who steals wouldn’t be able to pay a fine, so it’s easy to guess what’ll happen if he is caught stealing.

[What should we do?]

[Dunno… I don’t have any reason to actively get myself involved either]
Whilst scratching my head, I nonchalantly moved between the older centaur boy and shopkeeper. Due to my action, not only the two redirected their glare at me, the people on the surroundings also switched their focus to me. Please don’t look at me that much, you’ll bore a hole through me.
I glanced at the centaur boy, then at the shopkeeper. The latter seemed to be frightened of me as he tensed up and gulped.

[Give me cold drink.]

While maintaining a neutral face, I handed over a few silver coins to the shopkeeper.

[…..how many?]

The old shopkeeper looked at me suspiciously at first, but immediately regained his wit and returned to his stall to prepare the drink.

[Ah, two.]

[Okay.]

Looking back, the centaur boy was looking at me with a confused expression. The wounded kid and the children who supported him had similar facial expressions. The passersby who stopped to look had also started to disperse.

[Wa, wait! You’re coming so suddenly! I’m not done talking with the――!]

[Can’t you see? You have a customer. I AM your customer. You should know better than to ignore me for too long. That’s not good for your business. Oh, I wanna order something else too. Meat skewers. Yeah, skewers.]

[…..how many are you going to buy?]

[Just start baking, old man.]

The old man who received three more silver coins from me in exchange for two glasses of juice sighed briefly and started to bake a large amount of meat skewers. I tapped the back of a centaur boy, and led him to the place where Marl was waiting. There is a space in the market where you can eat and drink using old wooden boxes and barrels as tables and chairs.
The centaur boy had a stern look, but he obediently followed. Other centaur children came by as well as beckoning. I suppose he wouldn’t have followed me if he was on his own.

[Well, if they’re being noisy, I could just leave. You’re hurt, aren’t you? Come here.]

I cast healing magic at the wounded centaur kid. Turns out it was only a bruise, so there won’t be any scar left. I guess the old man really pulled his punch.
The kid was surprised when the pain suddenly disappeared. He could only look back at me with his fluttery eyes.

[Oy, kid. I have something to ask. I’ll give you some spare changes, so go buy some drinks for yourself and your friends first.]

I gave one of the kids some copper coins so that he could buy drinks for all his friends. Since they’re here, I better pull out some information from them. I haven’t heard much about the Gobbel kingdom. After all, very little information was available regarding the civil war.
I turned to Marl, but she just picked up the juice and looked at me with a smile. Apparently I have to do this myself. Is that it?

[Ohー, that’s it. Thank goodness it’s just a superfluous wound. But well, it’s not like I’m doing it for free. Do you mind if you stop looking like you’re bitten by a bug?]

[……no.]

The centaur boy replied with a few words and looked down. If you look closely, the cheeks are a little thin, like he’s exhausted. He seems to have gone through a lot, though he may still be fifteen or so.

[I’m Taichi, and this is Marl. We are adventurers. Although there are several other titles.]

[I am Marl. Taichi-san’s wife.]

[…..Tida of the Inin tribe. What are you guys aiming for? There is nothing you can gain by helping a centaur like me.]

The centaur boy who called himself Tida glared at us lightly with his tired eyes. It’s dingy now, but his hair, which stretches to the back of his shoulders, is as black as mine. If you clean it, he’ll probably have beautiful black hair with a gloss similar to Fram’s. He also looked quite handsome from my point of view. His slightly thin cheeks and tired eyes made him look older than he supposedly was.

[As I said earlier, I’m just looking for a small exchange. I want to hear about Gobbel Kingdom, or about how the centaurs are faring right now. ]

During the conversations, the kids returned with cold drinks. As expected, they’re fast thanks to their horse’s lower body.

[Next, go to the old man and get a skewer. I’ve paid for it. And apologize properly. Come on! Go!]

=====

[Nnーn, I see.]

I listened to Tida while munching on the skewer that the kids brought back.
Because Marl and I just had our breakfast, it was only a portion. Most of the skewers were flattened by children and Tida. Perhaps it’s been a while since they ate until they’re full, so the kids were starting to look sleepy.

[The western part of the Gobbel kingdom is now the main battlefield, and the centaurs who were caught between the kingdom and the great flooding were forced to retreat to the southwest near the border of the Karendil kingdom, greatly reduced in power. You should have known in advance that a great flood would come, didn’t you? There was no negotiation for a temporary ceasefire?]

[I don’t know the details, but it seems there was, but no one came back. My big brothers――the young warriors were angered by this.]

Regarding the war situation and the botched negotiation, it’s just as far as Tida knew, so the accuracy was not really high. After all, he’s not directly involved in it, so his understanding is just what other centaurs generally know.
On the contrary, he’s acutely aware of the centaurs’ situation around Gandil. Apparently, due to the courtesy of the citylord, the centaurs were allowed to stay, but the majority of cityfolks only half-heartedly accepted them. Their livelihood wasn’t all that good since there were very few jobs available for them.
The centaurs, who were originally nomads, have lived mostly self-sufficient, and they do not have much cash and other savings. Therefore, livestock became their main commodity. But it seems that there are not many livestock left because most were killed by the great flooding monsters or consumed as food when moving.
Moreover, it is painful that none of the influential people of each tribe who went to the ceasefire negotiations with the Gobbel kingdom returned. Of course, not all the influential people went, of whom kept the group intact. But the hole that was left behind was still large, becoming one of the sources of their hardship.

[There aren’t many prey monsters around here. And we, the centaurs, don’t attack caravans. But because we’re there, the caravans from Gobbel stopped coming. And the caravans that left this city did not come back … even though we haven’t done anything!]

Tida regretfully slammed his fist on the empty barrel that was being used as a table.

[Uーn. I see.]

If the centaurs were attacking the caravan, I think their life would be a little easier. The main exports from Karendil to Gobbel are mainly military supplies such as food, medicine, and weapons. This is to aid Gobbel in fighting off the flood.
If the centaurs really attacked the caravans, then they wouldn’t have stayed in Gandil.
This smells like a conspiracy.

[What do you think, Marl?]

[They are using the great flood to dampen the centaur’s strength. Gobbel needs not to send any caravans out, but they can prevent any caravans coming to their territory from returning back to Karendil. They can also prevent Miscronia’s messenger or caravans from reaching Karendil to keep the latter unaware of what really happened. This is on the level of an international problem already.]

[On top of that, they are pushing the blame to the centaurs. With Gandil’s livelihood relying mostly on trade with Gobbel, this will make the city folks naturally hate the centaurs. People of Karendil Kingdom had a heavy discriminating mind against the beastkin in the first place. This is an indirect way to slowly strangle the centaurs. What an insidious scheme.]

And the nastiest part of this scheme is that Gobbel cannot be blamed. They’re still coping with the great flooding, so there’s no way they could spare enough troops to escort the caravans through the hostile centaurs’ territory. Both Karendil and Miscronia need to be convinced in order for them to make a move.
If the story was passed by Gobbel merchants who were staying in Gandil, the notoriety of the Centaurs would be transmitted to Gandil and the surrounding border towns, spreading without any need for special effort.

[Wha, what should we do then…]

A centaur boy looked at me with a pleading gaze.

[First option, seek an asylum from Karendil.]

[But I do not think Karendil would accept, considering there is no benefit for them in doing so, as it instead can worsen their relationship with Gobbel. In the first place, Karendil is a country with human supremacy in mind anyway.]

Un, I thought so too.

[Second option, seek an asylum from Miscronia.]

[It is possible to accept the asylum, but it will be difficult, I think? The centaurs need to take full control of the trade route between Karendil and Miscronia. I think that if you do that much, not only Miscronia, even Karendil will happily accept you. However, Gobbel will never let this happen, so they will opt to strengthen their defense. In the end, it is not viable as well.]

[Is it possible to travel to Miscronia in the first place? Many will fall along the road.]

A centaur boy looked down again after hearing my and Marl’s words. It would be impossible to break through the great flood and Gobbel kingdom army’s to reach Miscronia in a situation where they also have to protect the children. If they are not good, they will be wiped out.

[For the same reason, it would be difficult to get to Mount Bus or to fall back into the big forest. Both are farther than the Kingdom of Mischronia.]

Well, I didn’t really want to say this, but the centaurs are as good as fucked. There’s only one option left for them, realistically.

[The third option, surrender to Gobbel Kingdom.]

[They will certainly accept your surrender, but those who follow the centaur’s leaders will be executed. Those who survive … Well, either they will be enslaved for generations, or maybe let off to be landless migrants?]

A heavy silence came at the end of Marl’s words.
The fourth option is to invite them to my territory. But as I said to Marl earlier, I’m not very enthusiastic about it. It’s not that there is no “use” to them, but I don’t know if they will accept it.
Or rather, let me say it again, even if it’s awkward. I came here to have a date with Marl! I didn’t come to save the Centaurs!
I want to live a free and happy life! I want to hold a woman when I want, eat and drink as much as I want, help others on a whim, be self-satisfied, rampage as much as I want, and look at beautiful scenery and treasures!
But after all

[Ah, dammit. If I abandon them now, they’ll haunt me in my sleep. That’ll rob half the fun from the rest of my life.]

Hearing me muttering all that quietly, Marl smiled at me knowingly.