Transition to Another World, Land Mines Included. 030

Transition to Another World, Land Mines Included.

ACT 2: UNION
030: Progress Discussion

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“So, now that we’ve all eaten, let’s talk about the future.”

“Oh, yes. That’s important.”

“By the way, Yuki, I stopped you from speaking out in the restaurant so there wouldn’t be any trouble. So don’t worry about our friendship, OK?”

“Huh? You’re only replying to that now? Oh, whatever, I’m glad to hear that anyway!” Yuki huffed, an eyebrow raised.

Of course, I didn’t think Haruka’s friendships with Yuki and Natsuki were any different, but Haruka did take her time to respond to Yuki’s doubt.

“No trouble, you mean so you wouldn’t draw attention to yourselves?” Natsuki asked.

“Yeah. Yuki looks like the restaurant’s poster girl, and if we revealed that we are good friends, that may attract unwanted trouble?” Haruka confirmed.

“Maybe. You’re much more beautiful now yourself, Haruka, and seeing you travel with Nao-kun and Tohya-kun may cause people to start gossiping.”

“And our former classmates too. I think you’ll know about all the land mine Skills since you got Help too?”

“Land mine Skills. That’s a good way to describe them, but I don’t think we’ll have any trouble with classmates here.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Right after we transitioned, we walked around the entire town in full view of everyone. Also, we’ve been working here all this while, so…”

“I guess any classmate who’s here would already have seen you around.”

“Yes. I think we’ve mostly gotten rid of anyone with those troublesome Skills.”

“Yeah, Natsuki called those classmates who have Skill Steal ‘bonus characters’,” Yuki interjected. “I think it’s a little mean.”

“…Bonus characters, huh?”

“Sounds about right.”

“Yeah, poor bonus characters.”

“What, you three agree with Natsuki!?”

Yuki looked incredulous as she stared at us, which was strange since she probably already knew why Natsuki named them that.

Thinking about Yuki and Natsuki back in our previous world, I was sure that they were given points more than, or at least equal, to me. If someone were to steal all their Skills, they’d probably die instantly unless there were some special circumstances that shielded them from Skill Steal’s effects.

Thus, for the girls, they’d lose their Skills for only an instant in exchange for an extension to their lifespans. It was no wonder Natsuki saw those classmates as bonus characters. I somehow wished we’d thought to do the same… But maybe we arrived at Rafan too late anyway, since some classmates had already died by the time we got there.

“Seems like you’re the minority here, bonus character-san,” Natsuki teased.

“WHAT!!!?”

The three of us yelled in unison, as Haruka shot to her feet, grabbed Yuki by the shoulders and started shaking her.

“Yuki! Don’t tell me, you got Skill Steal!?”

“Ow ow ow, no! No! I got Skill Copy. Natsuki, don’t lead them on like that!”

“Steal, Copy, they’re almost the same. But don’t worry, Haruka, I immediately warned Yuki not to use the Skill, so she’s safe.”

“I-I see… I’m glad. Otherwise, we’d have to abandon Yuki.”

Haruka heaved a sigh of relief as she let go of Yuki’s shoulders, but it was Yuki’s turn to panic at Haruka’s words.

“Whaat!!? You mean you’ll really abandon me!?”

“Depends on the situation,” Haruka answered with hesitation.

“But I’ve always seen you as a close friend!”

“But if you’d been copying Skills indiscriminately, you’ll become unable to learn anything useful at all, you know?”

“Yeah, it’ll be too dangerous for you to tag along on any missions,” I added, hoping to help Yuki understand.

If she’d been copying Skills from random people around town, all Skills essential to becoming an adventurer would become locked for her. She’d never be able to become an adventurer.

“Well, in any case, we’ll have to ask you to stay behind in the city whenever we head out. Maybe you can work as a kitchen maid?”

“But if she’d copied Skills from the average citizen, maybe even daily Skills like Cooking would be locked? She’ll be a kitchen maid who can’t cook,” Tohya pointed out.

“Erm, maybe she can still work as a odd job worker?” Haruka suggested with a grimace.

“Y-You guys are so mean… I get it already!” Yuki cried.

“Calm down. We’ve managed to avoid such a situation, all thanks to me. You can thank me, you know?” Natsuki said with a teasing smile.

“Haha, thank you, Natsuki-sama! Really!!”

Then, the girls updated us on their progress. It seemed that Natsuki had asked about Yuki’s Skills, warned her not to use Copy, but also taught her all the Skills she could.

“After letting her copy my Skills and teaching them to her, Yuki managed to learn them quite easily, so Skill Copy can be very useful. If you three can teach her your Skills as well, you’ll be able to help her catch up with us.”

“Catch up!? That’s so harsh!”

“Well… How about becoming jack of all trades, then?”

Yuki still looked somewhat upset at the whole situation.

“Sounds better, but it’s still negative! At least give me a nicer title, like all-rounder!”

“Alright, all-rounder Yuki,” Natsuki obliged with a giggle.

“Welcome to our party, all-rounder Yuki!”

“You’d better work hard to keep up with us, all-rounder Yuki!”

“Oh, you guys are just bullies!”

Well, you did suggest it yourself. I mean, all-rounder wasn’t really a nice title either, like someone trying to make themselves sound more important. It made me want to give her a pat on the back to discourage her from trying too hard.

“Alright, let’s give Yuki a break. You girls don’t mind coming with us, right? I mean, if you want to continue working here, we’ll respect your decision too.”

The girls nodded at Haruka’s question.

“Yes, please let us join your party. To be honest, it’s not that great working here.”

“Yeah. There’s no future in this place, and if anything happens, we’re doomed. We get a room and meals for free, but we’re only paid 100 Reas for a full day’s work! Can you believe that!?”

“Whoa! What a black business!”

“And with that food? I’ll break after three days.”

“I mean, apprentices don’t get paid as well… But 100 Reas is just too cheap? Couldn’t you girls find another job?”

In the past, apprentices worked under a master for free, in exchange for guaranteed food, clothing, accommodation, and coaching. However, in Yuki and Natsuki’s case, they were not given any clothes, and worked as mere waitresses. Plus, without any solid contract, they could get fired any minute. Even in this other world, doing such work for 100 Reas a day sounded like a bad deal.

“No, because this city is small and there aren’t many places to work. Besides, we don’t have days off, so we didn’t have time to look for another job,” Yuki sighed.

“In fact, if we take a day off, we’ll have to pay for our room and meals,” Natsuki added.

“But Natsuki took a day off today to take a look around. So, did you find anything?”

“Not at all, though there are jobs to be done outside the city.”

It seemed that Saarstat did offer similar jobs as Rafan, such as herb gathering, hunting, and demon subjugation. However, it would be dangerous for Yuki and Natsuki to take up those jobs alone. Natsuki further shared that while she had Spear Skill Lv.4 and Martial Arts Lv.3, which meant that she probably had much more ATK power than us, Yuki only had Martial Arts Lv.1.

And while she could use Earth Magic at Level 1, they were still two teenage girls that someone without good intentions could prey on, so it was risky to accept such jobs anyway.

That said, there was no way they could continue living like this, earning only 100 Reas per day. In fact, the girls had banked on being reunited with us soon, and if we hadn’t come along, they could have been forced to consider taking on risky missions.

“I mean, we can’t even afford a change of clothes! If these clothes aren’t such good quality, we would have been left with nothing to wear at all,” Yuki moaned.

“Don’t tell anyone, but one time, a naked Yuki slipped into my futon becau-”

“N-No need to tell them that!” Yuki interrupted Natsuki’s story in a panic.

“Whoa, I didn’t know Yuki likes girls that way,” Tohya smirked.

“Well, it isn’t hard to appreciate Natsuki’s beauty.”

“Yuki, just to let you know, I don’t swing that way,” Haruka teased, getting up and shifting to sit further away from Yuki.

“Me neither!! And Tohya, don’t say such things! I mean, both our clothes were being washed at that time, and I just suggested we share a bed to stay warm!?”

“Is that so? I’ve been so busy lately, I don’t really remember the details…” Natsuki murmured in a puzzled voice, her head tilted to one side, as Yuki grabbed her by the shoulders.

“But you do remember!? Why would you lose your memory just because you’ve been busy!?”

“Well, we’re not in a good situation either way, so I’ll be glad to go with you, Haruka,” Natsuki said with a smile, nonchalantly brushing off Yuki’s hands in one smooth motion, leaving the poor girl hanging.

“Anyway, let’s not worry about Yuki’s sexual orientation. What time can we leave? To tell the truth, we’d like to get back to Rafan as soon as possible…” Haruka replied.

“S-Sexual orientation!?”

“We can cancel our work contract tomorrow, but if you don’t mind, can we leave the day after instead? I feel bad leaving too suddenly,” Natsuki explained.

“Of course. We can wait for longer if you need it.”

“No worries. We’ve already made it clear that we’re working here through the Adventurers Guild, and may quit anytime.”

It sounded like the girls had an indirect employment agreement through the Guild, just like with temporary staffing agencies in our previous world. In exchange for the ability to quit anytime, the business wasn’t liable to pay any unemployment benefits if you decided to leave.

Yuki had fallen silent as Haruka and Natsuki continued to discuss details. I felt slightly bad for her.

“You’re OK with the plan, right?” I asked her.

“Of course. And I’m not a lesbian!”

With that strong declaration, we ended our progress discussion for the night.

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