Chapter 4

“Who are you? Why are you in this forest? Did you build this run-down hut?”

The old knight drew his sword toward me.

Despite his injuries, he has a lot of energy. So scary!

Panicked, I hurriedly explained.

“N-n-no, you’re wrong! Um, this is a tool shop, and I’m a toolmaker.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. There is no way anyone would open a tool shop here in the Forest of the Dead.”

The Forest of the Dead… That goddamn god, just what kind of place did he transport me to?

The old knight then made wet coughing and choked sounds.

“Sir Gawain!!! Please hang in there!”

“M-my apologies. Princess… Cough cough, hey you… At this point, anything will do, just give me some water.”

“Ah, u-understood! Uh, here, some energy drinks…”

I handed them each a bottle of the energy drink I had stored.

I gave one to the girl and another to the old knight.

But they both had “? ” marks on their faces.

“What the hell is this?”

“Uh, bottle… Ah, right! This is another world! Bottle caps probably don’t exist here!”

In this world, there are no plastic bottle caps or pull tabs.

I showed him the bottle, grabbed the cap on the top, and gave it a twist. There was a cracking sound, and the cap came off.

“This is how you drink it.”

“… It’s sealed? Such a tool, I’ve never–”

“Sir Gawain, for now, drink some water.”

“Y-yes.”

They imitated me and opened the cap. Then they drank it all in one gulp, probably because they were thirsty.

“Pffft!”

And then they spit it out.

“Cough, cough, cough! W-what the heck is this? Po… Poison?! Princess!!!”

“Ugh…”

“Y, youuuuuu!!!”

“Eeeeehhhh?! I-it’s just an energy drink… Ah!!! I guess it’s too early for people from this world to be drinking energy drinks!”

It does have a pretty unique taste.

Wait, this is not the time for that!!! The old knight has pulled out his sword!!!

This is bad. I’m going to die.

I mean, I don’t have any water or the like. What do I do, what do I do…!!!

“Oh, that’s right! Um, I don’t have any water here, but I do have some fruit! It’s got a lot of water in it!”

“…”

“Uh, g-get-well fruits! Here, how about an apple? Here, here!”

“… You eat it first.”

“Y-yes, sir!”

I take an apple out of the fruit basket.

The old knight gave it a disgusted look.

“That’s an apple? I’ve never seen an apple that bright red.”

“It’s an apple, an apple 1 ! Isn’t it sweet and sour and delicious?”

“Eat it.”

“Y-yes, sir!”

By the way… Why am I being ordered around like this by an old knight who is basically a stranger?

I tried to reach for the fruit knife, but the old knight was watching, so I stopped.

As it was, I took a bite of the apple… Delicious. It’s a fresh apple. It was juicy, and the sweetness was stronger than the sourness. Thank you, baa-chan.

“It’s delicious! Well now, how is it?”

“…”

The old knights snatched the apple from my hand and ate it.

“—!!! Is this really an apple? Such juiciness, both sweet and sour…”

“You’re not lying, are you?”

“… All right. You, give me more of this.”

“Y-ye—-“

And then, there’s a status screen in front of me.

◇◇◇WARNING◇◇◇

※ A robbery has occurred.

The skill “Bouncer” can be used.

Combat battle form: hand-to-hand combat level 1

◇◇◇WARNING◇◇◇

A-are you serious?

Now that you mention it, I did have a skill called “Bouncer”.

Indeed, this is a tool shop and this old knight’s act is robbery itself.

But… Can I fight an old knight who seems to be quite strong with only a level 1 hand-to-hand combat skill?

I mean… Is it really okay to beat him?

I look at the princess-like girl.

“Sir Gawain! Please put away your sword.”

“But, Princess…”

“What you’re doing is nothing but a robbery. Isn’t there something called “manner” when asking for help? Doing this, are you still a knight!”

“Uh… M-my apologies, princess.”

The old knight was despondent upon receiving a scolding from the princess.

And then he bowed his head towards me.

“I apologize. I guess I got a little carried away.”

“I-it’s fine.”

Oh, the bouncer skill’s screen disappeared.

It seemed, this skill can only be used when it detects a robbery.

I offer the old knight an apple. In addition, I cautiously handed a fruit knife.

“Um, I think it’s easier to eat if you cut it first…”

“… Much appreciated.”

The old knight cut the apple with the fruit knife and handed it to the princess.

The princess’s eyes lit up at the fresh apple and she took a bite.

“D-delicious!!! I didn’t know there was such an apple!”

“It also has a lot of water in it. The apple I know only has a strong sour flavor and does not contain this much water.”

“This is amazing… Um, can I have another one?”

“Of course!”

They ignored me, completely absorbed with the apple.

When the apple was finished, the old knight and the princess turned to me.

“I apologize for my rudeness earlier. You 2 have been a great help to me.”

“Thank you, really, thank you very much. You are my savior.”

“No, no. I’m glad I could help. Um…Could you please tell me what happened, if you don’t mind? Also, if you could tell me about this area and the outside world, that would be great.”

“… Do you not know where you are, my lord?”

“U-um, well…”

That’s because I’m from another world.

Can I even tell them that I’m from Earth and I’ve been reincarnated into this world?

I feel like this kind of thing needs to be done with more trustworthy people or something. But… There are many patterns where the first people you meet are the most trustworthy.

I guess I’ll just have to wait and see.

“First, let me introduce myself. I am Gawain, Knight Commander of the Kingdom of Euclid.”

“My name is Lucia, the second princess of the Kingdom of Euclid.”

“I’m Seiichi Maruyama. Uh, I’m a toolmaker.”

“Maru, yama… Seiiiichi?”

“Maruma, Seiichi.”

The two of them seemed to have trouble pronouncing it.

“That’s a difficult name to pronounce.”

“I’m sorry for that. Well, you can call me whatever you want.”

“Maru, yama, sei, ichi… So, Marusei for short, may I address you as Marusei?”

“… Go ahead.”

Lucia clapped her hands and smiled. Marusei… Since it’s Maruyama Seiichi, so Marusei for short, huh.

Oh, well.

“So, Marusei. Let me explain our situation. We are in the process of leaving the Kingdom of Euclid and fleeing to the neighboring Lod Empire. We tried to cross the Forest of the Dead, even though we know that it’s dangerous, and there, we were attacked by a magical beast.”

“T-that’s heavy… Fleeing, huh.”

“Yes. The first prince of Euclid, His Royal Highness, Prince Garcia, for his scheme… He poisoned the king and placed all the blame on Princess Lucia. Of course, the princess is innocent. So she broke out of her prison and is on her way to seek asylum in the enemy nation, the Lod Empire.”

This was a very heavy story.

Lucia hung her head down and looked like she was about to cry.

“Father, mother…”

“Please don’t worry, Princess. The poison they were given was light. It’s not deadly.”

“But…”

“Princess. For now, we can only rely on your safety, princess. Besides, this asylum is His Majesty’s will.”

“I know… All I have to do is deliver this letter to the Emperor of the Lod Empire, right?”

“Yes. A letter of friendship and peace treaty. Not even His Highness Garcia knows of the existence of this. We also have proof that His Highness Garcia had poisoned His Majesty. If we deliver this, His Highness Garcia will be finished.”

“Brother…”

"

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I see.

The Kingdom of Euclid and the Lod Empire were enemies. But they are trying to establish friendship and a peace treaty. If Lucia delivers that letter and also provides proof of the Prince poisoning the King, the Lod Empire will not forgive the villain for targeting the king of a friendly nation. His Highness Prince Garcia is definitely finished.

“Well then, Marusei. Let’s talk about you, too. What were you doing in such a dangerous place?”

“Uh… actually, I’m not sure either.”

Ah, shit.

I’m running out of magic.

“Please excuse me. I’m…”

“?!”

My body disappeared, and my consciousness returned to the hut.

“Sorry for that. As you can see, I’m a toolmaker, and also… a toolmaker (building).”

My voice echoed through the hut. Apparently, the two of them could hear me just fine.

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Footnotes

The words for “apple” used by the knight and MC are different. “リンゴ” used by MC is the one usually used in daily life, meanwhile, the one used by the knight “アプル” is apple (English) pronounced in Japanese. Honorific or respectful (sonkeigo) language, used by men in letters to male equals or superiors