In a typical world of swords and magic, any transmigrator from another realm would almost certainly be the protagonist. Just like The Familiar of Zero's Saito or Mushoku Tensei's Rudeus.
Clearly, Wood believed that the black-haired boy before him must be this world's favored protagonist, which was why he was taking such a serious look at him.
The boy, named Natsuki Subaru, was indeed just as Wood suspected—a youth from another world.
Back in his original world, Subaru had simply been running errands at a convenience store. But the moment he stepped out of the door, he inexplicably found himself in a completely different world.
Upon realizing he had crossed into another world, Subaru didn't panic or scream like an average person might. Instead, after calming down, he was filled with overwhelming excitement.
As an otaku, Subaru had played countless RPGs and read countless novels and manga. For him, transmigration wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
After all, in most novels and games, anyone who transmigrates becomes the protagonist, a chosen one favored by the gods. It's practically a given that they would become a hero and be surrounded by beautiful women—basic protagonist perks.
Besides, he wasn't anything special in his old world. Now that he had a fresh start in this new world, with all his gaming experience and modern knowledge, how could he not make a name for himself?
Unlike most transmigrators, Subaru considered himself to be pretty level-headed. From the moment he arrived in this new world, he had already assumed the role of the protagonist, treating everything here like a game.
And as if to validate his thoughts, not long after his arrival, he had a chance encounter with a beautiful silver-haired girl, triggering what he believed to be a story event.
Subaru, who was very familiar with RPGs, knew that when a beautiful girl and a quest event appear together, it means one thing: assist the girl in completing the quest, and in return, gain affection points and officially kickstart his otherworldly adventure.
When Subaru learned that Emilia had something stolen by a thief, he confidently promised to help her recover it.
However, once they began their pursuit, Subaru realized that this quest event wasn't as simple as he had imagined.
Although Emilia appeared to be a slender and delicate girl, she ran as fast as the wind, and her stamina seemed to be astonishingly good.
As for Subaru, his supposedly "impressive" 60-kilogram arm strength seemed completely useless in this world.
What made things worse was that Subaru seemed to have triggered a common storyline branch often seen in games: the arrival of a handsome blonde male rival.
In many games and novels, isn't it common for there to be a handsome but usually useless second male lead?
These characters typically show up to compete with the protagonist for the female lead's affection, but in the end, they are only stepping stones to make the protagonist look better and increase his standing with the female character.
At this moment, Subaru clearly saw Wood as that kind of "useless second male lead" character.
His slight hostility toward Wood wasn't just because he feared Wood would compete with him for Emilia's attention, but also because Wood was just too damn handsome!
Sure, being attractive can win you favor, but that only works with the opposite gender.
Take Subaru, for example—he absolutely couldn't stand good-looking guys, especially ones who might end up as his romantic rival.
"There's no helping it. With her special blessing, we've likely already lost track of her.
"We'll need to find another way to locate her."
The girl they had been chasing, Felt—the one with the messy, straw-colored blonde hair—had a blessing of wind. The distance between Emilia and her had been widening, and after being delayed by Wood, they had completely lost her trail.
"Don't worry, Emilia. I'll find a way to help you recover what was stolen," Subaru declared confidently.
Even though Subaru hadn't discovered any cheat abilities yet, and the people of this world seemed far more powerful than anyone from his world, Subaru remained as confident as ever.
Why, you ask? Because he knew he was the protagonist. And as long as you're the protagonist, there will always be a way.
If strength won't work, then brains will. Based on his years of RPG gaming, the current situation meant they should seek out NPCs to help them.
"Excuse me, sir. May I ask you a few questions?" Subaru, feeling like he had found the key to breaking through this situation, turned to a nearby fruit vendor and asked.
Having worked the streets for years, and having seen the blonde girl pass by just now, Subaru assumed the vendor probably recognized her.
"Young man with strange clothes, are you here to buy some fruit? I can guarantee that our fruits are the best deal on this street," the vendor smiled warmly as he greeted Subaru.
"No, I'm not here to buy fruit. I just want to ask if you've seen the girl who bumped into this guy earlier. Do you know who she is?" Subaru asked, pointing to Wood.
However, upon realizing Subaru was just there to ask questions and not to buy anything, the vendor's warm smile instantly turned into a scowl. "If you're not buying, then move along. Don't block my business."
Subaru awkwardly scratched his head, realizing that in this world, just like in his old world, money made everything work. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled bill.
"Seems like, no matter which world you're in, people are pretty realistic," he thought as he handed over what amounted to his living expenses for the next week.
Subaru had hoped to exchange his money for some valuable information, but to his shock, the vendor looked at the Japanese yen in disdain and threw it back at him, saying, "Who are you trying to fool with this scrap of paper? If you're not buying, then get out of the way. You're scaring off my customers."
Realizing that his money was useless in this new world, Subaru finally grasped that his old-world currency had no value here.
"Emilia, do you have any money on you?" Subaru turned to ask the silver-haired girl behind him.
"I didn't bring any with me. I came out with Rem for shopping, and she has all the money."
"Damn it, not enough starting funds to offer a reward for information?
"Is this the kind of situation where I need to complete other side quests to earn money before advancing this main quest?"
Subaru's muttering was mostly incomprehensible to Emilia, but she could tell that he was feeling frustrated, so she kindly reassured him, "It's okay, Subaru. I appreciate that you're trying to help.
"But I really need to find that person as soon as possible."
The item stolen from Emilia was a dragon insignia, a symbol of her candidacy as one of the contenders for the Dragon Kingdom's throne. If it was lost, it would be as if she had lost her candidacy altogether. She didn't have time to waste.
"Sir, I'll take a pound of apples, and while you're at it, can you tell me if there's a slum or black market around here?" Wood, who had been silently standing behind them, suddenly spoke up. He tossed a silver coin onto the vendor's table as he made his request.
The highest denomination of the Dragon Kingdom's currency was the gold dragon coin, followed by silver and copper coins, with an exchange rate of 100 to 1.
A pound of apples would only cost a few copper coins, so the silver coin Wood offered was far more than enough.
Don't ask Wood why he had money. He had simply reached into his pocket earlier and found that he had these coins.
Apparently, the character he was simulating this time was someone quite wealthy, since ordinary people rarely carried gold or silver dragon coins with them.
A customer offering a silver coin for a pound of apples was rare indeed. The vendor's face lit up with joy as he quickly packed a pound of apples for Wood and gave him directions to the slums.
Before they left, the vendor even reminded them to be careful, as the slums were full of thugs and lowlifes.
"That vendor really is a snob. But if you had money, why didn't you just ask him if he knew anything about that girl?" Subaru grumbled.
Subaru felt dejected. He had missed an opportunity to show off in front of Emilia, and he couldn't understand why Wood would ask about slums instead of the girl.
"It's quite simple. Even if the vendor did know the girl, there's no guarantee he would tell us much.
"When I ran into her earlier, I noticed that her clothes were even more ragged than those of the common townspeople.
"If the item she stole doesn't have any value to her, then she might have been hired by someone else, or she plans to sell it."
Emilia nodded at Wood's reasoning. "The item she stole is important to me, but it probably doesn't hold much value for anyone else."
"Even if it's not valuable to others, when a thief steals something they can't use, their first instinct is to sell it for money.
"Since stolen goods can't be sold openly, they usually end up on the black market, which is often located in rougher, more dangerous parts of town."
As someone with deep connections in the underworld, Wood was well-versed in how these things worked.
"Ah, I see! That's why you asked the vendor about the slums and black markets—to get there first and wait for the thief to show up. Not bad, young man!" Puck clapped his little paws, impressed with Wood's deduction.
"Thank you so much for your help. If we recover my stolen item, I'll definitely find a way to repay you," Emilia added gratefully.
Without Wood's assistance, Emilia could have found the slums by following the spirits, but it would have taken a lot longer.
"Don't worry about repaying me. It's my fault you lost track of her in the first place.
"Good luck finding your item. I'll be taking my leave now."
After helping them figure out the general direction of the thief, Wood decided not to stick around with Emilia and Subaru and chose to go his own way instead.
Although it was obvious to anyone with common sense that Subaru was the world's protagonist, and Emilia and her group were the main cast driving the story forward, that had nothing to do with Wood.
Wood wasn't your average transmigrator. He didn't need to complete random quests. He just needed to live his life and experience the world.
The world was vast, and one didn't need to cling to the protagonist to gain benefits.
Sure, staying with the protagonist might increase the chances of encountering rare opportunities, but the risks would also increase accordingly.
When Wood had been in the world of Mushoku Tensei, he had no choice but to stick with the protagonist, Rudeus, because Rudeus was his elder brother.
But Subaru? He had no connection to this world's Wood, so there was no reason for Wood to help him.
Emilia and Puck didn't find it strange that Wood left. After all, they were strangers to each other. Wood had already helped them plenty, and it made no sense for him to continue assisting them.
Subaru, on the other hand, was taken aback. He had spent all this time thinking of Wood as a rival second male lead, only for the man to just walk away so easily?
To be honest, Subaru had been feeling the pressure just now. Wood wasn't the typical "dumb, handsome second male lead" Subaru had expected. Not only was he good-looking, but he also had brains.
Compared to Wood, Subaru felt he didn't have much of an advantage.
Fortunately, this "tall, rich, and handsome" guy had now removed himself from the equation. Even though Wood had taken the chance to impress Emilia, Subaru still believed he had plenty of opportunities to shine later.
As he left Subaru and Emilia behind, Wood strolled down the street, munching on the apples he had just bought, thinking about his next steps.
From what he had gathered from Puck and Emilia, this world was rich in magic and had a special power called blessings.
If Wood wanted to make this simulated life worthwhile, he needed to learn new abilities from this world.
After a bit of thought, Wood also began to understand the unique aspects of his new body and what these blessings were.
Blessings, in short, were divine gifts—special powers granted by the world itself.
Those who possessed blessings could have their abilities multiplied many times over, making them individuals favored by the world.
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Don't forget to give Power Stone
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