「First grab some clothes, then concentrate and try imagining yourself putting them into item box. I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it once you give it a try.」
Tanaka immediately picked up some clothes and concentrated. Then the clothes suddenly disappeared.
「Oh! It’s like a magic trick, just wow!」
Tanaka was excited by the mysterious phenomenon that happened in front of his eyes. In contrast, the General was as calm as ever. He continued to give out instructions.
「If you want to check what is inside your item box, just imagine and you will get the image of it. And if you imagine yourself taking out something that is inside the box, it will come out.」
「Oh, I think I get it. All right, focus, focus.」
Then clothes suddenly reappeared in his hand again. Tanaka got even more excited at the sight of it. Leaving such a Tanaka alone, the General moved to leave the room.
「Looks like you can do it just fine. I’m going to gather up other things that I think would be necessary for your journey then. In the meantime, as I said before, I want you to change your outfit and put the rest away.」
「Got it!」
The General left the parlor again. Tanaka quickly took off his suit and got changed.
「The structure of the clothes doesn’t seem much different. Anyway, there don’t seem to be any problems about it.」
In reality, he was a little worried about getting dressed by himself. However, in the end he managed to change his clothes without any problems.
「Now then, time for the long awaited storing! Haa, I guess I won’t be wearing this suit anymore, huh.」
He picked up the suit he had just taken off and sighed in melancholy. However, on second thought, he didn’t have much attachment to his old life. He quickly stopped being bothered by it, and became absorbed in storing the clothes. Before long, he finished storing all of them. After that, as he had nothing better to do, he decided to kill time by taking things in and out of item box. After a while, the General returned to the parlor with various objects in both hands. The General then lined up the numerous luggage he had brought with him on the table.
「I’ve brought everything I think you may need. First of all, things to carry on yourself… a short sword and a scent bag.」 He picked up a short sword, still sheathed in its scabbard, along with a belt to attach it to, and a peculiar pouch
「Oh, a sword. I’m getting a bit more motivated now. But what’s with this pouch? Somehow, I can smell a peculiar scent oozing out of it, though.」
Tanaka got excited at the sight of the sword. However, he was on guard with the pouch which emitted a peculiar scent right after.
「It’s a monster repellent. It may not be very effective, but it’s still better than nothing. You can just strap it on the belt.」
Tanaka put on the belt while listening to the General’s explanation. Then he attached the short sword and the scent bag on it. The General watched the scene with his arms crossed.
「Hmm, it looks good on you. Well, that’s about all for your equipment. Next is, I’m going to explain the things you are going to take with you on your journey. You can begin storing the items that I’ve explained.」
「Okey dokey.」Tanaka replied in good humor. The General began his explanation carefully one by one. Tanaka then stored the items that had been explained into item box one after another. There were quite a lot of them, but somehow he managed to safely store them all.
「Hmm, you’ve got it all stored, huh. I had expected it to get overloaded halfway, but it worked out just fine, huh.」
The General was relieved upon confirming that everything he had arranged was all stored away. Despite everything, he seemed to be a kind-hearted old man.
「There’s item box in this world, so merchants must have had it easy with transporting their goods, huh. Should I just become a merchant, then? Ah crap, I can totally see my bright future there.」
Tanaka happily considered the path to becoming a merchant. However, the General didn’t seem to like the idea that much.
「If you’re killed, the contents of your item box would all be thrown out then and there, you see? Rather than a merchant, don’t you think becoming a bandit suits you better?」 「…. 」
A rather harsh word came from the General. Upon hearing his words, Tanaka was speechless.
「In the first place, item box doesn’t have that much of a space. I bet even your item box is most likely almost full by now. So I’m sure you’d still have to use wagons if you want to earn money by becoming a merchant. Not to mention that you also have to hire bodyguards, so to the current you, while it isn’t completely impossible, I do think it’s better for you not to do it.」
The General might say it casually, but he still involuntarily reminded Tanaka of the harsh reality.
「Well, once you’ve decided on a suitable place to settle down, it would be safer to register with the guild and work in the city. After all, you’re merely on the level a baby.」
「Kuh, you’ve just resurrected the memory I want to seal. But still, there is even such a thing as a guild, huh. It’s getting more and more genuine fantasy-like.」
Tanaka thought about the new fantasy-ish keywords that had come up.
「You’ll hear more about the guild once you get to register there. Now get ready to leave.」
The General urged Tanaka. Tanaka was surprised by the unexpected development. 「Huh? I have to leave right now? Can’t you let me take it easy for a while longer?」
When Tanaka honestly expressed his thought, the General replied with a look of exasperation.
「Have you even been listening? Do you not understand that you’re in danger for as long as you’re staying in this country? Currently, the magical energy in the surrounding capital has vanished, so most magic tools have stopped working. Because of that, complaints are coming from all over the place, and it’s become such a chaotic situation. Without a doubt, soon enough patrols and guards will be tightened. So if you want to sneak your way out, now is your best chance.」
「I, I see…」
Being reminded of his situation once again, Tanaka’s mood sank. The General ignored such a Tanaka and urged him again.
「But well, it’s actually not too hard to go out, though. Come on, let’s go!」
Thus, led by the General, Tanaka left the residence.◇ ◇ ◇
Advancing time a bit, Tanaka was now outside of the capital. He managed to sneak his way out safely. He was now facing the General on the roadside, a short distance away from the outer walls.
「I suppose here’s fine. Given the short amount of time we had, it was quite an ordeal, but we’ve somehow managed to pull it off, huh.」
With a relieved expression, the General was delighted to have made it this far. 「Sorry for the trouble, old man, in the end I could only rely on you for everything…」
「Don’t mind it, it was originally my country’s fault, after all. In fact, I feel bad that this is the extent of help I could offer.」
Tanaka was truly grateful to the General. However, apparently the General felt that he hadn’t done enough for him.
「No way… If I hadn’t met you, old man, I’m sure I would’ve met that miserable fate you told me before. I’m really grateful to you.」
Tanaka thanked the General with a serious look on his face. Perhaps to hide his embarrassment, the General decided to mess with Tanaka.
「Then, come visit me once you’ve grown a bit and reached a proper level. At that time, let’s have a drink together. Your treat, of course.」
「You bet, I’ll get you enough booze to drown in! That’s why, old man, you don’t have to worry about me. Just return and make sure to turn this place into a slightly better country.」
Perhaps Tanaka was also feeling lonely for parting with him, he took the General’s teasing head on, and got carried away.
「Hmm, what a cheeky guy you are… Well then, take care.」
「Yeah, you too take care, old man!」
As if to leave his loneliness behind, Tanaka energetically sped off. The General saw him off with gentle eyes. The two had exchanged a small promise, but it was destined to never be fulfilled. Half a month later, the General would be imprisoned under a false charge, and then executed without a proper trial. And from then on, madness would begin to spread in Purin Kingdom bit by bit, until they eventually went on a rampage which engulfed the whole world. However, that was a story from the future.
Year 5963 of creation calendar, early summer, Tanaka took his first step in another world.
Name: Tanaka
Level: 1 Experience: 0/100
Vitality: 1.0e13/1.0e13 Magical energy: 1.0e13/1.0e13
Strength: 1.0e12 Dexterity: 1.0e12 Agility: 1.0e12
Intelligence: 1.0e12 Spirit: 1.0e12
Skills: none
Equipment: Short sword, Cloth clothes, Scent bag
Money: 50,000G