The quest of t Clermont's ment has provided us with something quite meaningful.

  "?~"

  The girls sitting harmoniously at the back of the carriage, singing, are maintaining a good mood.

  It's been two months since we pleted that quest, and we've finally mao go on an expedition with Nel and Amina, plete with escorts.

  After that, there were various aftermaths to deal with, a-san was quite busy, so it took a while.

  Dent-san is driving the carriage, and beside him is Pidd-san, a bear beastman adventurer we met at the guild before. Above the carriage, Mile-san, a birdman, is keeping watch. It's quite a luxurious lineup for an escort.

  So, here I am, enjoying the cheerful singing of Nel and Amina as background music, thinking about how to use the items we obtained.

  Dent-san showed a lot of dissatisfa with the quality of those items, but that was the tract from the beginning. He'll just have to deal with it.

  "Alright, I o think things through before we reach our destination."

  I'm human too. I fet things sometimes.

  Ba Japan, I had a veool called a puter that stored all sorts of data, but such a thing does in this world. All I rely on is my memory.

  To avoid fetting, I o meticulously record important points. Otherwise, I might fet them when it matters.

  "Though, if I try to remember, I recall things. Is this what youth is?"

  From the leather backpack I bought with this trip's earnings, I pull out a bundle of someoor-quality paper, like a notebook.

  So far, I haven't fotten anything, so it's not a problem, but taking notes like this serves another important purpose.

  "Now, what to do with the items we obtained."

  Flipping through the memo pad, I see a list written not in this world's script, but in Japanese.

  It's a sort of anti-espionage measure, albeit a small ohe script of this world isn't Japanese, of course, so Japanese does here.

  I use it as a sort of code, an inprehensible nguage to this world.

  For some reason, I uand the nguage here and speak it like Japanese, but let's just chalk that up to a reination perk.

  The items listed in the memo total nine.

  As for money, Dent-san and I, along with Nel and Amina, split it into two shares. The guild's success reward goes eo Dent-san.

  'Mithril Ingot ×3Pendulum of TransferBranch of the A Magic Tree EldertreeIructible Rune ×2Fme on Skill Sagic Edge Skill Scroll'

  We also collected all the exgeable items, and thanks to that, our pockets are quite warm now.

  And as expected, the rewards from the infamous junk mansio are delicious.

  Mithril ingots and the branch of the a magic tree are items you 't get unless you take on a css 5 quest. ons made from these two items be used up to css 7 dungeons. It's not something you should get this early in the game.

  Even more valuable are the Iructible Ruhese are low-probability drops from boss chests in css 5 and above.

  If you synthesize these, you grant any on the Iructible skill. It's an exceptional item without any drawbacks like the Mark of the Weak.

  Getting all of these is quite a windfall. In the game era, buying all of these would cost at least 500,000 zeni, and that wouldn't be enough. Especially the Iructible Runes, which would cost at least 3,000,000 zeni at the low end. Sometimes they were sold for three times that much.

  Holy, it's a huge profit.

  "The ingots and branch will be for my on, the runes for Amina, one of the scrolls for Nel in exge, and the other... I holy want to use it myself."

  The uses are already decided. Or rather, we went through all that trouble to plete the junk mansio because the uses were already decided.

  With the mithril ingots and the branch of the a magic tree, I get the on I want. With the runes, Amina do what she wants. With the scrolls, Nel get oep closer to her dream.

  But with this distribution, Nel's share ends up being smaller. I'm fident we make up for it ter, but at this stage, it's iably unfair.

  Then, I think about giving the on to Nel, but sidering her future, mithril equipment isn't a good match for her.

  For Nel, adamantite, which is heavier than mithril, would be better. Given the amount of ingots, we probably 't make a on for her.

  "Hmm, it's a bit of a dilemma.""What does that mean?""It means I 't find the right bance. Huh? Nel, what's up? Weren't you singing with Amina?"

  While I'm p how to distribute these items, Nel es over and peers at what I'm holding.

  "This script again."

  She frowns at the Japanese writing and twitches her ears.

  "Amina flew outside. She 't fly mu the city, and flying outside might attract monsters, but with adults around, she fly freely.""Ah.""More importantly, when are you going to teach me this script?""Hmm, someday."

  Amina, wanting to move her body a bit, flew out of the carriage and is apparently flying beside Mile-san, who's on watch.

  "You always say that!! Teach me!!""Don't shake me~ I'll get carsick~"

  Ever since she saw the Japanese writing in this memo pad after I bought it, she's beeerio teach her.

  She shakes my shoulders bad forth. Even though she's a child, Nel, a fox beastman, has strength surpassing that of a normal child.

  Though she's gradually putting on more muscle, my slender frame is easily swayed.

  "Hey, you two flirt all you want, but we're almost there."

  If this keeps up, I'll really get carsick. Just as I'm starting to worry, Dent-san, with a look of exasperation, helps me out by letting us know we're nearing our destination.

  "We're not flirting!!""Girl, let me give you some advice from an adult. If you don't act ho here, some random girl might snatch him away. No offense, but after seeing him, other kids just don't measure up.""What are you talking about?""And you, kid, you should pay more attention to your surroundings. Otherwise, you might get stabbed in the back.""Why!?"

  Half teasing, half giving advice as an elder, Dent-san speaks to hen turns to me with a look mixed with sympathy and .

  I 't help but shout.

  Well, I uand the meaning from the flow of the versation. But at this age?

  I g Nel's face, but she turns away with a pout.

  Her features are well-formed, cute, and promising for the future.

  But sidering her mental age...

  "That's how it is, huh?""Ha, haa."

  If I made a move, I'd get arrested. Even if my physical age pulls me in that direy rationality tells me it's wrong.

  Uanding the meaning, the ethical dilemma.

  At that moment, I hear the sound of fpping wings.

  "Ha! Flying freely in the sky feels so good! Huh? Nel, what's wrong? Your face is red!""Nothing!!"

  Amina nds on the carriage. She's returned after relieviress by flying.

  "???""Better not ask too deeply.""Liberta-kun, you're making a weird face too. What really happened while I was flying?"

  I wao tell Amina that Dent-san was the cause of all this, but before I could, the carriage stopped.

  "Hey! We're here! Let's set up camp first!!"

  g his hands, Dent-san instructs us to get off, and I miss my ce to speak.

  "Kid, you're ing with me to gather firewood. Nel, you and Pidd set up the tent. Amina, you and Mile go to the river to fetch water."

  Being used to traveling, Dent-san gives precise instrus for setting up camp.

  The horses are tied to a nearby tree.

  "Uood.""Got it.""Okay."

  Dent-san, the leader of the escort. In the game era, we never had to camp like this, and I have no camping experiehat's why it's best to follow the experienced leader's instrus.

  "So, kid, why did you want to e here? With our skills, we could have gone somewhere more challenging."

  We split introups, and I'm with Dent-san, gathering dry brahat are just right, as instructed. As I pick up suitable branches, Dent-san asks why I chose this destination.

  If I were a normal kid, he probably wouldn't have asked this. He wouldn't have taken it seriously if it were just a child's whim.

  "So? What's the profit here?"

  He doesn't look around sneakily or whisper.

  "There's no profit here.""To all?""I've taught you a few things sihen, haven't I?""Yeah, thanks to you, I've made some profit."

  All of this is because, sihe junk mansio, I've been havi-san take on free quests that seem profitable and within his capabilities, also to verify my knowledge.

  Free quests be done multiple times and yield sistes. It's a way to firm if those quests exist and...

  "Thanks to the tips you gave me, I hought those troublesome quests could bee so easy."

  It's also an experiment to see if other tricks pyers found for seemingly quirky quests work here.

  I'm keeping a safety margin to avoid failure. What I want to know is the existence of the quests, the tent of the rewards, and whether my knowledge applies.

  "After making that much profit, you're still trying to squeeze more out of a kid like me?""Don't say that. When a kid like you specifically asks to go somewhere, it's hard not to be curious, right?""And that's why yed for us to be aloogether?""That's right. I don't want them to beat me to it."

  In terms of results, it mostly worked. "Mostly" because there were fluctuations ies, both better and worse than expected.

  Actually, even with t Clermont's ment, we should have had more leeway, but we ended up with a narrow victory.

  From this result, I learhat while my game knowledge is reliable, overfidence is not good.

  "Are you not getting along?""Nah? We're close enough to talk about our favorite women over drinks all night.""Didn't Pidd-san grab you by the colr and drag you around?""That was a gentle response. Pidd is the type to mercilessly beat up people he dislikes.""So that was the peaceful approach, huh?"

  Unaware that he's part of my experiment, Dent-san sees me as a kid who knows about profitable ventures and thinks he's the only one who knows my secret, so he's being less reserved around me.

  For a moment, I worried about his trust iher members, but it seems that's not an issue.

  "So, what's the real deal?""Nothing, really. This is just a pce for us to level up.""Level up... You guys haven't leveled up yet?""Yeah, leveling up with mochi is fine, but that gives you weird titles, right?""Right, leveling up that way gives you strales."

  We pn to gain some levels on this trip. It's best to avoid unpleasant uainties.

  "That's right. And with Dent-san proteg us, we hunt here retively safely.""True. If I 't hahis pce, I should retire as an adventurer. But still, as I said earlier, higher difficulty areas would level you up faster. A pce like the Goblin Forest would do. The soldier brats who bothered you before are leveling up there.""Goblins won't do. We'll go there aime.""Hmm, so you're saying you have a purpose here?""There's no profit. I'm not lying about that. This pce is just ve for leveling up.""Hmm, ve, huh? With those guys?""Yes, ve."

  As we talk, a rustling sound es from the nearby grass, and a monster appears.

  'Hanyaa~'

  Its smooth, glossy, earth-colored body. Its right arm raised, left arm lowered in a strange pose. Using its short legs skillfully to move across the ground, this monster is...

  A haniwa figure. Well, ly, but it's only called that.

  Its official name is...

  "Starting tomorrow, we'll hu s.""Yes, that's right."

  Petit s. Small cy dolls.

  Their characteristics are what make them useful for our leveling.