The next morning, Yamamoto and Kenneth set out from Salt Fish Town just after dawn.
"You know," Kenneth said as they walked, "I've been thinking. Salt Fish Town really is in the middle of nowhere when it comes to adventurer activity. No guild presence, no proper trading post, nothing. Most adventurers don't even know it exists."
"Is that unusual?" Yamamoto asked.
"Not really. There are hundreds of small towns like it scattered across the kingdom—too small to support a guild chapter, too remote to attract much traffic. The monsters in the area are low-level enough that the local militia can handle most problems." Kenneth adjusted the pack on his back. "It's why the prices are so bad when you do find someone willing to buy monster parts. No competition, no established market."
Listening to him, it did indeed make a lot of sense. "I guess we'll have to go to a city first before thinking about selling?" Yamamoto asked, though it was more rhetorical.
"Yes, precisely! That'll be Mashlow then. It's one of the major adventuring hub in the southern region, so we're sure to get fair and good prices better than most places" Kenneth explained.
Of course, Yamamoto knew little things like this, just like every gamer. Major cities like that would have proper guild quarters and even headquarters, multiple trading centres, blacksmiths, alchemists… just name them. The options truly were diverse in a big city.
"How far is Mashlow from town?" Yamamoto asked. Though Lost World Online had been a well developed neuralink VR, certain things could still be exploited just like in any other form of game, which meant players could just fast travel through transport hubs.
"Not quite sure," Kenneth answered, "Though, from Millhaven, its about a week and half or thereabout. Well, we won't get a direct wagon from here, anyway, we'll have to go through Millhaven."
"Of course."
They kept discussing as they went along the way, and for the most part, the plan was simple and straightforward. They'd leave for Millhaven, spend a night there, then join a caravan for the long journey to Mashlow.
Around two hours later, they arrived in town and quickly made their way to the transportation area. On the way Yamamoto found one stall that had opened by then, and from it he was able to buy a few edibles, though nothing that could be considered actual food.
They found a wagon leaving for Millhaven within the next hour, and joined the merchant for the travel.
The journey itself was quite uneventful, as usual, and Yamamoto just spent the free time allocating points.
…
Strength: 16 > 18
Agility: 15 > 18
Endurance: 10 > 12
Intelligence: 5
Vitality: 7 > 8
Free Stat Points: 10 > 2
…
Everything looked nice, and just to feel like he had more options left, he left 2 free stat points unallocated.
They reached Millhaven late in the evening of the second day, and Yamamoto allowed Kenneth to take the lead in getting them a place to stay.
He took them to a place called Silver Pike, where they secured rooms.
While their rooms were being processed, Kenneth turned to Yamamoto, almost whispering as he spoke, not to let another person listen in.
"There's an Adventurer's Quarter here, more like a small operation, just a few shops, but they do buy monster parts. Of course the problem is, their prices are terrible. In the end, Millhaven doesn't get enough adventurer traffic to create real competition… better to wait for Mashlow."
Of course, Yamamoto agreed.
After settling down, they came back down for dinner. Over the meal, they planned their next trip, or more like spoke about what they'd planned already. The meat of it was that they'd need to choose a well guarded caravan, since the road was longer and more dangerous than the coastal route they'd just traveled.
After dinner, Yamamoto lingered around the common room getting some drinks. 'This is how it's done.' He thought to himself, almost bringing himself to laughter at the thought.
This was the classic information gathering of the medieval world, listening to gossips.
He found a good place to sit and ordered a mug of bear.
He spent some uneventful minutes sipping on bear and whiling away time while trying to sharpen this new adventure, mostly to no avail.
He then moved from the bar side and went to sit on a chair on the far table to the corner.
This time, two men were seated nearby to his side, and though they spoke in low voices, he was close enough that he could pick up what they were saying clearly, discussing something that had happened in the town not long ago.
"—terrible tragedy, really. The whole family, gone in one night."
"I heard it was some kind of accident. What did they say, a Fire?"
"Heh, fire… could've fooled me. What convenient timing, just when the mayor's son was murdered too."
"Your mouth'll get you into trouble one of these days."
"Oh please. It's not like everyone's not thinking it. She was his lover after all, everyone knew that fact, even though they all pretend not to. Now once he died, her entire family mysteriously dies? And you're telling me it's just a fluke? Impossible."
"Arhh, just drink up and let's get outta here, I don't want to be near your big mouth any longer. Before I disappear also."
Listening to all this, Yamamoto was like a frozen wet towel in the freezing cold, as steel as one could be. He couldn't believe what he was hearing at all.
'The entire family…' He thought to himself.
He'd killed Corvin, and somehow that led to… what? Revenge? A cover-up? He couldn't even say. Perhaps the mayor suspected them for being involved in the murder, or was it just a reputation issue?
Nonetheless, it all boiled down to what he did, first.
'This really is real life.' He thought to himself in horror almost.
Somehow, just when he was about to breakdown, the pressure eased, the same feeling as before, and everything felt lighter again.
Quickly, without wasting time, he climbed up to his room, not even bothering to finish the beer.