Volume 2 Chapter 3 Grimm
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
I finally ran into a living, breathing human being.
Finding out that people were actually thriving in this other world made me feel genuinely relieved.
Of course, that feeling was a bit short-lived, considering I ended up killing them almost immediately.
According to the guy in the hat, there’s a settlement nearby called Grimm.
I let my mind wander toward the idea of Grimm as I spent my second night in this new world perched high in a tree.
* * *
- The Following Morning.
I woke up again before the first light of dawn.
I’m not exactly used to sleeping in trees.
You can’t expect a deep, restful sleep in a spot that feels like it’s trying to buck you off.
I was more than ready to sleep on something flat again.
I haven’t had a proper bath in three days.
I’ve been using magic water to scrub my head, but that’s the extent of it.
I haven’t even brushed my teeth; the inside of my mouth feels like a garbage disposal.
If I ration the supplies those guys were carrying, I shouldn’t have to worry about starving for a while.
If things get truly desperate, I’ve still got that snake meat to fall back on.
Apparently, this place is known as the Forest of Magic¹.
I have no intention of living out the rest of my days in a place like this.
I need to get out of these woods and find my way to Grimm as soon as possible.
If I’m heading into a human settlement, I’m going to need cash.
I pulled the stolen wallet from my Item Box² to inspect the haul.
The wallet was stuffed with coins.
There wasn’t a single bill in the mix.
Each coin was stamped with some kind of intricate pattern.
Judging by the colors, I was looking at gold, silver, and copper.
I figured these dull, heavy ones had to be iron.
Assuming my guess was right, the tally was: one gold, thirteen silver, and ten copper coins.
I also had thirty-two iron ones.
That’s a decent chunk of change.
With this much on me, I should at least be able to find something to eat.
I waited until the sky started to brighten before climbing down.
The clothes I’d hung over the branches last night were bone-dry.
I changed into the local gear.
I cinched a drawstring pouch and the leather wallet to my belt, then buckled on the one-handed sword.
It kept banging against my leg as I walked, which was annoying, but I’d just have to deal with it.
I set off toward the river.
Just before reaching the bank, I veered off and started following the flow downstream while staying within the trees.
I didn’t run into any monsters or kidnappers today.
For once, things were actually going smoothly.
After walking for a while, I saw a break in the trees ahead.
Finally! I actually made it!
I’d managed to break out of the forest at last.
When I first woke up in those woods, I honestly didn’t know how it was going to end.
Beyond the tree line lay a prairie that stretched as far as the eye could see.
The grass was lush and overgrown, reaching all the way up to my knees.
The sky was a perfect, cloudless blue.
It felt a bit warmer out here than it did under the forest canopy.
The breeze felt good against my skin.
The river from the forest was meandering through the grasslands now.
It looked like it had widened out significantly since I last saw it.
About a hundred yards away from the water, there was a proper road.
I figured this was the main thoroughfare people used to get between Grimm and the Forest of Magic.
I decided to stick to the road.
Calling it a “highway” was a bit generous; it was just a strip of packed dirt where the grass had been cleared.
My boots were caked in mud within minutes.
(Wait… something’s different.)
I felt like the Mana³ in the air had thinned out.
I was certain it had been much denser back in the Forest of Magic.
I fired off an Ice Bullet⁴ toward the river just to test the waters.
Hmm. My magic doesn’t seem to be affected. It’s probably nothing worth worrying about.
After an hour of trekking, I spotted some structures in the distance. As I drew closer, I realized I was looking at a massive city wall.
The wall started at the riverbank on my right and stretched far to the left. I couldn’t even see where it ended.
It had to be at least four hundred yards long. So that’s Grimm.
It looked like a much bigger town than I’d expected. As I approached the wall, I saw fields off to my left.
A young man was out there tending to the crops near the road. Even for farm work, the guy was dressed in absolute rags.
”Hey there, got a second?”
”Huh?”
”I got separated from my group. Is there some kind of procedure for getting into the city?”
”Yeah. If you’re an outsider, it’ll cost you one silver coin,” he replied.
”I see. That helps a lot. Thanks.”
”Sure thing.”
It looked like it would cost me one silver to pass the gate.
I checked the wallet at my belt; I definitely had enough of the silver-looking coins.
The toll wouldn’t be a problem. The farmhand looked like he was of African descent.
I wondered if my Japanese face would make me stand out or look suspicious. But I didn’t have much of a choice.
Even if I looked like a stranger, they weren’t likely to just open fire without a word.
I kept a steady, observant pace as I walked.
The wall was towering over me now.
It was taller than a two-story house and seemed to go on forever.
The scale of it was imposing.
The road led straight to a gate.
Just inside the wall, there was a high watchtower.
I could see a sentry posted up there.
I guessed that’s where they’d rain down arrows if things got hairy.
Two guards were stationed by the gate.
Both of them were clutching spears.
As I reached the entrance, one of the guards called out to me.
”Do you have a registration pass?”
”No, I don’t.”
”I see. Then the toll is one silver coin,” said the guard.
I fished one of the silver coins out of my wallet and showed it to him.
”Will this work?”
”Yeah. You’re good to go,” the guard replied.
So, I was right – these were silver coins.
The guard took the coin and waved me through without any drama.
He didn’t even seem to care about my Japanese features.
I wondered if I’d have to pay that tax every single time I came through the gate, but I decided not to stir the hornet’s nest.
I’d made it inside without being questioned, and that was a win.
”By the way, I’m not really familiar with this city yet. Do you have any recommendations for a good inn?”
I pulled out another silver coin and handed it to the guard while I asked.
The guard’s mouth curled into a smirk as he took the extra coin.
”Oh, an inn? Go straight down the main street from the gate. There’s a square at the end. Any of the places facing that square are solid. They’ll cost you, but you won’t regret it.”
”I see. I’ll give the square a shot then.”
”Right. If anything else comes up, just ask.”
”Thanks. I appreciate it.”
This world is a savage place.
It’s always better to get on the good side of the people in official positions, like the guards.
Building a little rapport now couldn’t hurt.
Once I passed through the gate, the streets of another world opened up before me.
It looked exactly like a photo of medieval Europe.
Three-story wooden houses lined both sides of the street.
The road wasn’t all that wide.
Back in Japan, it would have been about the width of a two-lane road.
I walked along, being careful not to look too much like a wide-eyed tourist.
The streets were crowded.
It was just as I’d hoped; there were all kinds of people here.
I saw White people, Black people, and even some who looked Asian.
Caucasians seemed to be the majority, though.
With this much diversity, my face wasn’t going to stand out.
But more than the sights, it was the smell.
God, it was foul! What the hell was wrong with this city?
I’d caught a whiff of it before I even got through the gate, but now it was a full-on assault.
I felt like the stench was going to knock me sideways. The ground was just packed dirt.
The middle of the street was littered with piles of dung.
I figured it was horse manure. Some of it was dried out, while other piles looked fresh.
The sides of the street were elevated into sidewalks. But the sidewalks were just as disgusting.
Rotten garbage and waste were piled up in front of the houses.
The filth smeared against the walls was unmistakably human shit.
I stopped breathing through my nose, but the odor still seemed to coat my tongue.
Just looking at it was enough to make my stomach turn.
”Watch it!”
I barely dodged as someone dumped a wooden bucket of waste out of a second-story window and onto the road.
Are you kidding me?
So it wasn’t just those three guys from before who were exceptionally stinky.
At this rate, every single person in this city probably smells like a sewer.
I felt a wave of nausea at the complete lack of hygiene in this world.
As I walked, I noticed people dressed in filthy rags sweeping the trash and dung.
I guessed cleaning was a job reserved for the bottom of the barrel.
Further down, I saw a group of men digging a trench in the road.
They were nearly naked, working with almost no clothes on.
Beside them, a White man stood holding a whip, barking out orders.
The scars on the workers’ backs were a grim sight.
I assumed these men were slaves.
Most of them were Black, but I saw a few Asian faces in the mix too.
I see. So this world still uses a slavery system.
I wondered if the woman who was killed in the forest had been a slave as well.
After a while, I reached the square the guard had mentioned.
It was massive.
It looked to be about the size of an elementary school’s athletic field.
The square had been turned into a bustling market.
Stalls were packed together, selling everything from vegetables to hot food.
There were also vendors selling clothes and trinkets.
Imposing buildings surrounded the perimeter.
One looked like a church.
Another had a sign hanging from it with some kind of symbol I didn’t recognize.
I browsed the stalls as I walked.
I found a vendor grilling skewers of meat and vegetables.
It smelled incredible.
”Can I get two of these?”
”You got it! That’ll be four iron coins!” said the vendor.
I pulled out one of the copper-looking coins.
”Is copper okay?”
”Yeah, sure. Six iron back in change. Hang on a sec.”
I took the two skewers and my change and kept moving.
So my math was right: one copper coin equals ten iron ones.
And a skewer costs two iron coins.
If I equate one iron coin to about a hundred yen, then a copper is roughly a thousand yen.
I’ll stick with that calculation for now.
While I was munching on my skewers, I saw something that made me stop.
There was a tent large enough for a person to stand in.
A man with a turban was standing out front.
Beside him, a young White girl was sitting on the ground with her knees hugged to her chest, staring blankly at the dirt.
I watched her while I finished my food.
She looked young – maybe in her mid-teens.
She still had a touch of childhood in her features.
She was actually quite pretty.
I watched from a distance as a customer approached the man in the turban.
The customer and the man exchanged a few words.
The man made a gesture, and a couple of assistants stepped out from the tent.
The assistants stripped the girl completely naked right there.
They were putting her on display for the customer.
Right in the middle of the street.
Passersby didn’t even slow down; they just glanced over with total indifference.
The girl’s hands were pinned behind her back by the assistants.
She couldn’t even try to cover herself.
As she was put on display for everyone to see, she just tilted her head down and away, a silent act of resistance.
(Hoh. So that’s a slave trader.)
I used my enhanced vision to take a long, hard look.
Her skin was pale, largely untouched by the sun.
She was on the thin side, but she had a decent set of breasts.
They were well-shaped – bowl-shaped, I’d say.
The n**ples were a healthy pink color.
The fact that her areolae were small was a nice touch, too.
Eventually, the customer walked away.
The girl put her clothes back on and sat down, her eyes going hollow again as she stared at the ground.
It looked like the deal had fallen through.
(I see. So that’s the kind of world I’m in.)
I tossed my empty wooden skewer aside.
I kept walking, a single thought turning over in my head.
(That slave girl… I wonder how much she’s going for?)
—
Summary:
Moving from the relative isolation of the Forest of Magic, the protagonist successfully navigates his way into the walled city of Grimm. He pays an entry tax and begins exploring the local culture, which is immediately characterized by filth and systemic slavery. His focus shifts from simple survival to an analytical evaluation of the city’s inhabitants and its dark economy, concluding with a sudden curiosity regarding a slave girl’s price
—
Trivia:
- The protagonist notes a drop in ambient Mana density upon leaving the forest.
- He confirms a 1:10 ratio between copper and iron currency through a food purchase.
- The city layout mimics medieval Europe with three-story timber houses.
- Public sanitation is virtually non-existent, with residents dumping waste directly into streets
—
Character Insight:
The protagonist shows a lack of moral outrage at slavery, instead exhibiting a detached, pragmatic curiosity that borders on the predatory.
—
Glossary:
Notes:
• Grimm – The name of a large settlement and community located near the Forest of Magic. Grimm is a walled city featuring a bustling marketplace and diverse population, though it suffers from severe lack of sanitation and a legalized slave trade.
• Man – A roughneck wearing a hat who participated in a group assault. He suffers the loss of his right arm and later his left arm during an experiment by the protagonist before being stored.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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