Kays Translations

Chapter 5. Tired of Worrying, I Decided to Go to the Town

I ended up falling asleep while thinking about various things.

My body aches—probably from the strange position I was in.

Overthinking isn’t good.

After sleeping on it through the night, I felt like I should just hit the ground running.

I wet a handkerchief with water and wipe my face and body. I felt a little more refreshed.

For a simple breakfast, I have water, some kodama bean snacks and curry snack.

I like the fruit-flavored curry roll ups. It’s been in my bag for a long time, so the edges are all mushy, but it’s still as delicious as always.

What should I do with the trash?

For now, I put it into a plastic bag and set it on a shelf. But the storage also has limited capacity. Well, I’ll think about it more seriously when I’m in a bind.

No matter how much I think about it here, I won’t know what will sell for a high price until I go out into the town and try things out.

　

It’s a waste to spend my precious 1,000 yen on something that won’t sell for much.

If I start to suspect md, I can just go to another town, I guess.

When I thought I wanted to buy something, the screen opened.

I want something that resembles a spell or incantation. What should I name this skill?

The ability to buy something I’ve bought before for 1,000 yen a day is a long one, too long.

Re-purchase? Repeat?

For now, I’ll just call it “1,000 Yen Repeat” in my head.

I was about to buy a knit cap and a shawl when I realized something.

Have I ever bought a shawl before?

I’ve received many as gifts, and I’ve just used those without any particular preference, so I guess I’ve never bought one myself—surprising.

There’s a hand towel in my purchase history, but it’s too short.

So, I’ll go with a tenugui 

Tenugui dry quickly and are convenient for travel, so I’ve bought them at a 100-yen shop before.

I’ve also bought a knit hat at a 100-yen shop, so I’ll add both to my cart. Total: 220 yen.

I tuck my hair inside the knit hat and wrap the tenugui around my neck. As long as I can hide the fact that I don’t have an Adam’s apple, it’s fine.

I pull the hood of my coat over my head, and I’m ready.

I step out of the storage room and stand on the street.

I’m bad with directions, but I know which way to go because I can vaguely see what looks like city walls.

The town is that way.

Even though I see it, it’s farther than I thought.

As I walked, the castle walls slowly came closer. They weren’t towering, but they were still quite high.

　

If such a wall is needed, then monsters must be appearing here.

The gate comes into view. I see an armed man who is probably the gatekeeper. He is wearing a helmet so it is hard to see his face, but his hair reddish- brownish and his build suggests he is of Western European descent. As I get closer I can see that his eyes are light in color. Definitely not Asian.

How old are they? It’s hard to tell the age of foreigners…

 “Stop!”

I stopped walking when I heard that. I was relieved to hear that I could understand what he was saying without any problems. Judging from his voice, he seemed young.

“Where are you from? Do you have any identification?”

“I came from the mountains. My ID is…”

I use the male voice I’ve been practicing, and don’t forget to add a slight accent for authenticity.

Ah, so I need some form of ID after all. What should I do? Showing a driver’s license or health insurance card here won’t do any good…

“Any kind will do,” He says.

Really?!

I cautiously take out my health insurance card instead of my driver’s license which has my picture. Well, the photo on my driver’s license is the worst I’ve ever looked, so I might not even look like a woman, but still. Why do license photos always look so bad?

The gatekeeper frowns and says, “Hmm, a foreigner. I’ve never seen these characters before.”

He ran it through some kind of tool with a crystal attached to it, but there’s no reaction.

Of course.

“it can’t read this ID, so it cannot be used. Do you have anything else?”  

Should I try showing my driver’s license?

I hesitantly pull out my driver’s license.

And then, unbelievably, when I hold the license up to the crystal device, a beeping sound rings out, and the screen opens.

I don’t really understand it, but it actually reads it?!  

I stare in disbelief. How come the system read the driver’s license but not the insurance card? Maybe they’re reading the IC chip.

The information from the license is displayed directly on the screen. 

I was told to touch the screen, and when I put my finger on it, it lit up brightly for a moment.

“Identity verified. We have your information, but it’s only in a foreign language. What’s your name? You said you’re from the mountains, but where exactly?”

Of course, they’re going to ask that.

“My name is Saki. I’m from Wakayama Prefecture, apparently,”

The scenario I had thought up was that I was rescued in the mountains but my memory was hazy, and the only identification I had on me was this, so when I explained it, it was easily accepted.

“That must’ve been tough. I’ve never heard of Wakayama. Anyway, since your information is registered, you can enter the town, but since It can’t read it, if things stay as they are, you will need to pay a deposit of 30,000 gold. But looking at your face, I doubt you have that,” he says.

Yes, I don’t have any local money. It shows on my face.

“If you’re looking for work, you can register at the adventurers’ guild. Just wait a moment.”

The gatekeeper said as he headed towards the guardhouse.

“Hey, I’m going to the adventurers’ guild. Cover for me.”

He talks to the man who comes out.

“Going to register, huh.”

“Yeah, it’s been a while. It’ll be your shift soon so you can just take over.”

It looks like the gatekeeper will escort me all the way to the adventurers’ guild. How kind.

Note:

Tenugui (traditional Japanese cloth).

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