【MP Required to Activate the Teleportation Magic Circle (Millionths)】
If I used this card, I might be able to activate the teleportation magic circle.
Still, using it right away without testing felt risky.
I checked the other cards I had to see if any were suitable for an experiment.
【Product Price (Ten thousandths)】【Funds on Hand (Thousandths)】【Experience Points Gained】【Number of Treasure Chests】【Max MP】【Hunger Level (%)】【Speed】
What would happen if I combined 【Funds on Hand (Thousandths)】, 【-】, and 【1】?
I had no money in this world.
Would I suddenly be in debt?
Who would I owe it to? The world itself?
That was too unsettling.
Instead, I combined 【Funds on Hand (Thousandths)】, 【+】, and 【2】.
「Funds on Hand, Thousandths, +2」
The moment I spoke, two silver coins appeared before me.
Numbers and letters were engraved on them.
【1K】
…1K….. That probably meant 1000. The K likely wasn’t the currency’s unit.
Flipping the coin over, I saw a picture of “Danpol”.
They looked just like arcade tokens.
I recalled those days when I used to visit the arcade, longing to see Taira again.
I never played medal games much. I only used the free medals they handed out during events.
Not that I ever won anything. I had never hit the jackpot even once, so I never got hooked.
So, as I suspected, the card combinations followed basic mathematical formulas.
That was the special ability of “Math-Loving Kid”.
I headed to the magic circle and found Quend-san there.
Compared to last night, the stored magic power had increased slightly.
It seemed he had been pouring in his own MP as well.
「Milk. Sorry for asking right away, but can you add your MP?」
「Actually, before that, there’s something I want to try with the magic circle. If it works, we might be able to activate it right now.」
「What!?」
Explaining would be a hassle, so I simply prepared three cards.
「MP Required to Activate the Teleportation Magic Circle, Millions Place, -1」
The moment I spoke, the cards vanished.
The magic circle flared to life.
Quend-san’s mouth fell open in shock.
【5187/1】
【5186/1】
【5185/1】
The magic circle’s power was decreasing by one every second.
Wait… Did that mean even if I had poured in a million MP, it would have only lasted for one second!?
If I hadn’t known, I would have completely missed my chance to escape.
「Quend-san, I changed the MP required to activate the magic circle to 1.」
「WHATTTTTTTTT!?」
Quend-san’s yell echoed through the air.
That shout was enough to wake everyone up.
「Quend, what’s all the commotion this early in the morning?」
「Stewart! Perfect timing! Gather everyone! The teleportation magic circle is active! We can go back to the surface!」
「What!? Got it, I’ll call everyone!」
「We’ll need money once we get back. Don’t forget to bring the monster materials we set aside for selling.」
「Understood!」
Then, Quend-san turned to me.
「I won’t ask for details. Special abilities aren’t something you should casually talk about. But still… let me thank you.」
Quend-san expressed his gratitude.
I smiled and replied, 「You’re welcome.」
After that, everything was chaos.
We all gathered our belongings and used the teleportation circle.
The place we arrived at was inside some ruins.
From there, we made our way outside.
The monsters we encountered along the way were weak—around the third-floor level at best.
Beyond the ruins was yet another forest.
The ruins themselves looked ancient, reminiscent of Angkor Wat.
By midday, we reached a small town.
It was called Antowa, the Town of Ruins.
Apparently, most of the people in our group, including Quend-san, were originally from this town.
The money we earned from selling the monster materials was split evenly.
Each of us received 500 yen—five large copper coins.
It seemed “yen” was the currency of the world.
The cost of living here must have been low. A night at an inn was only 10 yen, which was surprisingly cheap.
That summed up our escape in a nutshell.
But the real problem started now.
「So you were sent here from the Hajime Kingdom, huh? Hajime Kingdom is on a different continent. You’ll need to take a ship to get there.」
「…A ship? It’s that far?」
「I don’t have a map, but I’ll write down the directions for you. I’d come with you if I could, but I have things I need to take care of here.」
I recalled yesterday’s conversation at the Adventurers’ Guild.
『Huh? Quend-san, you’re alive!? But Asla-san and Moira-san… they said you were dead.』
『As you can see, I’m very much alive. Asla and Moira set me up. It was a teleportation trap. So, where are those bastards now?』
『Well… they said they were retiring as adventurers and returning to their hometown. They withdrew everything from the party’s account and took all the belongings. According to the guild’s regulations, since you never returned, you were officially declared dead. And since you don’t have any family…』
『Tch. So they took all my savings and gear too.』
『I’m terribly sorry…』
『It’s not your fault.』
Quend-san’s expression at that moment was terrifying enough to make the guild staff instinctively apologize.
I wished he would let go of revenge, but… even if I tried to stop him, it would probably be pointless.
「Quend-san, if you’re going to take revenge, please keep it civil.」
「That depends on them.」
「Just… keep my words in a corner of your mind.」
「…Got it.」
Quend-san looked a little uncomfortable, but in the end, he saw me off with a smile.
Also, this morning, I found another set of cards placed on my chest again.
It seemed I received ten cards at dawn every day.
To reach Hajime Kingdom, where Taira was, these cards would surely be useful.
At first, I thought I had the worst luck.
But with these cards, I was sure I’d see Taira soon.
That thought alone kept me going.
Though…
「What is this card?」
Among the ten cards, one was completely blank.
An empty, featureless card.
The true purpose of this card—
Was something I wouldn’t discover for quite some time.
-0-
AN: This concludes the current arc.
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