Slow Life

Having spent the night at the local inn following my arrival, I went to the mayor's house to inquire about any on-sale properties.

"Looking for a house huh." The mayor looked perplexed as he took in my request. "You know this village doesn't have a whole lot to offer to youngsters unfortunately. We do have a house that'll be available though, but it's gonna need repairs."

"That's fine with me, I'm not short on time or looking for an especially boisterous place. Quite the opposite actually." I answered.

The mayor looked even more troubled at my tranquil answer though. In his opinion, youngsters should use their youth to travel around the world or strive to make a name for themselves, rather than aim at settling down in a remote village to lead uneventful lives. The only ones he would understand if they told him so would be the sons or daughters of parents already owning a business in said village or town. So for someone like me who, not only did I look young, but also had no ties to this place, the request was perplexing to say the least.

"Well, if you're certain about your decision there's nothing else for me to do." He conceeded. "Especially since we are in dire need of manpower.

The village was already small, and the grown men were more like elderly people by that point. There were no established crasftman of any kind besides an old blacksmith, and the only two attractions one could find around here were a pub, or tavern, and an inn. Needless to say, most children born around these parts chose to vacate the place as soon as they were old enough. Resulting in a lack of manpower and overall energy.

"This is the place." He gestured after leading me to the aforementioned abandoned abode.

"It's fairly.. spacious..." I commented.

The house was dilapidated indeed, not beyond repair though, but above all else it was quite huge.
It was two stories tall and was so large I figured there was enough space to make at least three spacious rooms on the ground level. This went way beyond what I needed. Then again, if I think about the future, it might not be so bad actually.

"You're still young, if you think about the future this might actually turn out to be what you needed." Without meaning to, the mayor mirrored my thoughts.

"Right. So how much time would it need to be back in shape ?"

"Two months I'd say. The base material was of great quality so it'll mainly need to be reinforced and cleaned up."

That was a lot quicker than I would have thought. And since the inn was so cheap, I wouldn't have any issue spending the next couple months lodging there too. I grew wary though. This sounded a little too good to be true in fact. So much to my chagrin, I elected to remain cautious.

"For a village in need of more able people, this sounds awfully quick." I declared, skeptical.

"I understand your reservations, but whether or not you've realised it already we expect you to help in the process." He delivered matter-of-factly. "This' how we do around here."

I guess that made sense, and that would explain why his estimation felt so optimistic. But I liked it. The idea of having everyone working together to build and maintain a community and its appliances had its logic. A logic I was more than ready to accept. After all, I came here to clear my head in the first place, so the prospect of putting my mind and body to the task sounded perfect.

"Understood, count me in. I'll take this house." I finally answered.

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Later that day, the mayor prepared a welcome party for me. The fact that I bought a house –for basically nothing– had played a role most likely, but it was also a custom for them to welcome any newcomer with this kind of celebration apparently.

"Oh there's also a traveling blacksmith in town right now." The mayor told me, beer in hand. "He's apparently busy talking technical stuff with our own right now but you should visit him sometime before he leaves again. He's quite the amicable young man himself."

"Thanks for telling me, I'll do that."

I didn't know what his speciality was, if he had any, but the prospect of having another man working the iron around the time my house would be built was giving me ideas. I doubt they could reproduce the sturdy pipes or the machinery from back home but at least I could order some spare screws, nails, or even kitchen necessities like pans and pots. Wait, actually, ordering a new gear wouldn't be so bad either. I won't be able to go on for much longer with this training set. I've been wearing it since I was introduced to my master.

Thus resolved to pay both smiths a visit the following day, I joined the festivities in earnest and spent the rest of the evening getting acquainted to everyone.


"Kitchen utensils huh ?" The young blacksmith considered. "I've never made any to be honest. But I can try."

Upon waking up, and after doing my morning routine, I went straight for the young artisan's stall, or rather, to the large cart he used in place of one, and placed my order.

"No it's ok if you can't. I'll ask the local smith instead in that case." I quickly backpedalled. "Then I'll comission you for a new piece of armor instead if possible. A complete set even, if you can manage."

Since the young man had put swords and spears on display, I figured he would be able to handle breastplates and the like. That being said, I didn't know if he was proficient with leather or other tissues.

"Sure, no problem. I can handle leather and silk too." He assured me. "Do you already have an idea of what you're looking for exactly ?"

"Not in terms of shape or anything no, the only thing I know is the range of colours I'd like for it. If that helps." I was no specialist, a complete beginner even, so it kind of felt like I was begging my father for a pet dog as a christmas gift, without any idea of all the different races and their quirks. This felt oddly embarassing to be honest.

"It's ok, I could have gone with no basis at all too. But my question then is 'are you willing to trust me for the specifics and the materials' ?" 

That made sense. I took it for granted that most people in this world would know more about this stuff than me, but I had actually only interacted with warriors and "licensed" knights thus far. So maybe it was actually more common for the blacksmiths to do all the work. Though as he said, I have no guarantee I'll be able to tell whether or not the final product is of the expected quality. I admitted.

"Let's work piece by piece then." I ultimately suggested. "If I'm happy with what you produced, I'll order the rest, and if not we'll call it there. I'll be paying regardless though, of course."

"Fine by me. And I like your line of thought." At that, we shook hands to seal the deal and began brainstorming ideas for my new getup.

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"Only a couple more weeks and it should be done huh ? You must be excited." Remarked one of the men who'd been working on the house this whole time alongside me.

"Yeah, I can already see it. Thanks for the hard work again by the way." I responded.

"It's fine, it's fine. You're helping us out in return after all."

As he said, in exchange for their help with rebuilding my future house, I had been asked to partake in the daily hunting sessions they conducted. I had been looking for a way to make it up to them beyond participating in the initial effort, so this was ideal. I didn't hunt only for them after all, it was for the whole village and for myself too anyway. I was glad the knowledge I had amassed from reading various monster and wild beast encyclopedias back in Ispron came in handy.

"Oh yeah, my wife also asked me to invite you for dinner tonight. She said the harvest has been great this year and she was able to pick up a lot of mushrooms in the forest too."

"Are you sure ? Then maybe I should pick up some grass or plants on the way then, if only to cover the extra share of ingredients she'll be using." I suggested.

"Good idea, it's still cold enough to store away any extra after all."


Once we had finished our daily tasks of hunting and advancing on the house's restoration, I dove into the open-air baths of the inn and just as quickly changed into casual wear to head to my colleague's house. Rick's.

"We are glad to have you Taiyo-san, please enjoy the meal and feel free to ask for seconds." His wife, Cary, delievered with a warm smile.

"Thank you, and thank you for the meal." I said, putting my hands together in prayer.

"I've seen you do this gesture each time so I meant to ask, are you a believer by any
chance ?" Rick asked me.

"No, nothing like that. This is only a custom from my homeland."

I could have told them I had been summoned, or met the issue halfway and told them I was a gatebreaker, but I figured that wasn't important in the end and never bothered. If he had his doubts he could ask me and I wouldn't try to conceal it, but otherwise I planned to keep it to myself to avoid any risk. There was no telling what could have happend to him or this village in the past after all. Since this region's under the rule of the capital city named Fuyanagi, I'm ready to bet a fellow japanese person has had their hand in the matter at some point. Even still now.

Now that I knew that the existence of my language in officially published books in this world had derived from gatebreakers and former heroes hailing from the same world as mine, I couldn't help but become self conscious about how I appeared in these people's eyes. 'Thought I would be able to catch a break being so far away but, I guess even here I should try to uphold the quality of my upbringing and of my nationality too.

"Thanks for your hospitality, next time I'll cook something up myself and invite you instead." I promised as I left their house before midnight.

That stew isn't the only thing that's warming me up right now, that's for sure. I marveled in a daze.

"Ah Taiyo-san !" It was the mayor, it seemed he had been looking for me. "I received a letter for you from the kingdom of Ispron. Did you expect it ?"

"Oh yeah, I think I know who this is from !" I responded with enthusiasm. Jogging his way to confirm my inkling as soon as I could, my brain now completely alert again.

"Ah I knew it, great. Thank you Mayor." I beamed, eager to return to the inn as fast as I could to take the time to read it carefully.


As I'd expected, the letter was from Nika. She was the only one I'd told where I would sojourn for a while –though not for how long exactly– so it was basically guaranteed she would be the sender. That being said, I was nevertheless incredibly happy to receive word from her. Now let's see...

The letter was not very long unfortunately. It spoke of how well she was doing, how Seri and Xenia had only recently sent regards of their own to the castle, as they were away on adventurer work with Tokesa and Seri's initial party. Then she informed me that Neil, Prakia's murderer, had been exiled to Baravia. And lastly...

"Ohhh.. Felvis and Felmera are now married too! That's great to hear." The youngest sibling of the Ispron family, Felvis, had apparently always expressed his will to become the succeeding king. His older sister Felmera however, while also the only other child interested in ruling the kingdom, had put conditions to the fulfillment of his ambition.
Since he had no opponent within the family proper, with Tokesa, Seri, and Nika all uninterested in the position, Felmera, with her high standards, had told Felvis she would only accept to become his queen if he worked for it harder than if he had been up against Tokesa or another noble's child.
But that worked nicely for him. He had admired his older sister since forever, and he'd intended to work extra hard from the get go. Regardless of the circumstances. So then, with the promise of her hand spoken from the lips of the object of his affection herself, he had been fervently and consistently killing himself at the task. Which had now finally bore fruit it would seem.

Though knowing my sister, I believe he's in for a lot more work from now on in fact. Nika had added. He seems ready though. I could almost hear her giggle in her usual manner from her phrasing. I miss her...

"The kingdom seems to be in good hands at last." I thought, leaning back in my chair. "I only wish for them to remain as they are forever and to have children in good health."
Sure it was unusual for an earthling born in modern times to hear about brothers and sisters marrying and intending on having straight descendants, but I figured that didn't matter as long as the couple was functional and born out of love.

The day had been eventful until the very end but I felt fulfilled. My own house would be ready in less than two weeks now and I was finally managing to move on from the various deaths and atrocities I had witnessed or heard of in my time in Ispron. It had taken a few months but, I was now eager to go to sleep at night and even found myself looking forward to each following day.