Skeleton Knight, in Another World Chapter 11

Translator: Silver Editor: Those that see what I miss

「Form of the City」 Part 1

I traveled the road by the sprite river upstream using【Dimensional step】. On the way there were a few small villages, that were surrounded by small-scale wooden walls.
After a while I saw the town of Koruna which was a smaller version of Rubrierute. The city was surrounded by a stone wall. While watching my surroundings, I proceeded farther up the road.

The calcutta mountain range could be seen in the southwestern direction, as I arrived at main river the sprite river split from, the rydell river. The rydell river flows east of the calcutta mountains and seems to pa.s.s through the capital eventually. Farther downstream the river my destination, Diento, came into view.

A journey that would take a carriage 3 days, was completed in less than half a day with my travel method.

The city of Diento is located upstream from the spirit river before the river reconnects to rydell, the main river.  The size of the city might be 3 times the size of Rubierute? The surrounding field was also vast in scale. In the distance, the mighty walls that protect the city can be seen. Furthermore, the wall are double layered, and had private houses in between them. Inside each wall was a moat that surrounded the houses. It almost appeared as if the city itself was a giant fortress.

As the city walls are dyed in color of the sunset, I gaze at the land un.o.bstructed by anyone. If a city such as this were in modern times it would be registered in a world heritage site, as its beauty can capture the hearts of those who view it.

Rebooting my brain, I proceed to the entrance of Diento. The people that work in the fields around town are quickly making their way home.  From here I make my way to the city on foot. The eye-catching instant transfer would stick out too much.

However, there was a good distance from here to the city.  Maybe I should speed walk?

I began to speed walk with such force that my mantle began to flutter. The people in front of me screamed and made way when they noticed my footsteps. It was an easy pace to move at, but I think it was a little frightening for others.

A 2 meter tall man in full body armor moving at a fast pace……, It’s no wonder they scream……

Before long the city gate comes into view, so I returned to normal walking speed. If I approached the gate as I was before, I would no doubt be seen as a suspicious person.
The walls were around 7 meters tall, and soldiers were acting as sentries on the wall. As I pa.s.s through the large gate, the second one came into view.  The following gate is station right at the base of the hill. I climbed the gentle slope and arrived at the second city wall, to enter the city I show my adventurer certification.

All of the building in the city seem to be made of stone. Three story buildings line the road, and the streets are crowded with people coming and going as they please. For the first time since I came to this world, I’m surrounded by the sound city life as street venders and barkeeps yell out to pa.s.sersbies and people carry on about their business.

It feels a little nostalgic.

The layout of the streets seem complicated, and it might take some time to understand it all. When I entered a nearby bar, I found several people drinking to a good days work. I asked the uncle behind the bar for the location of a inn.

“Excuses me, I’m looking for an inn. Do you know a good place?”

“Our second and third floor act as an inn! How’s 2 sek a night sound, sir?”

The bar owner recommended his own inn. I wonder, could I take a meal from the bar and eat it on in the room on the second floor?

“Can you take meals in the rooms?”

“I do not mind. Ah! Just make sure you return the tray when you’re done eating. One meal is 3 sok, each time!”

I give the uncle 2 silver and three copper coins, and he immediately starts to put together a meal tray. With tray in hand, I climb up the stairs to my appointed room. I unlocked the room door on the third floor, and discovered that the rooms atmosphere was better then the inn I used to stay at. The bed was st.u.r.dy, and the blankets were well made. There was a small table with not only chairs but a foot stool as well.

Seating in one of the chairs, I set the meal down and removed my helmet.

It’s my first proper meal in a long time. It simply consented of soup, salad, and a black piece of bread, all served on a wooden tray. Meat doesn’t seem to be available. The black bread tasted the same as the bread I had before. But it was edible when I dipped it into the soup to soften it up. It was a bean soup that had been cooked in chicken broth. Quite delicious. As for the salad, it was two types of vegetables sprinkled with vinegar and salt. Was it lettuce and endives? No, it’s doubtful that they would put such similar vegetables together.

After putting my helmet back on, I take the tableware to the first floor. The uncle looked at me strangely when I returned the tableware. It maybe strange for an armored guest to return the tableware still in has armor, after eating the meal in his room. Nothing in particular was said thought.

When I returned to the room, I set with my back against the wall and fell asleep as I usually did. The blanket remained on the bed, since there was no reason to place it over my armor.

Early next morning, the sound of a bell is heard from somewhere. Awakened by the sound, I go down to the first floor where the bar uncle was working on something in the kitchen. Unlike the  before, this place isn’t unmanned in the morning.

I place the room key on the counter and call out to the uncle in the kitchen before leaving.

After a little asking around, I arrived at this city’s adventurer guild’s building. The building was three stories high, but the structure wasn’t that different from the other guild building. But there were more employees behind the counter. Thought none of them were like a caged bear. There were a large number of adventures in front of the quest board. The staff and adventures were all male, it might be possible that there weren’t many female adventures.

I at least thought they would hire good-looking women to be receptionists……

In front of the request board, I catch a conversation between two adventures while I was looking at request plaques.

“A five man party from my corps went hunting four days ago and haven’t been heard from since.”

“Could they have been gotten by bandits or monsters? This place is close to the elf forest after all. The monsters there are usually quite strong right?”

“No, they should have been heading to the base of the calcutta mountain range near the capital……”

In this world, the outside of cities are full of dangers. Life and death are uncertain the farther you went out of town.

Nevertheless, coming here has finally given me conformation of the the elf race. I have yet to see any non-humans in the cities. After all, elves live in the forest, a place that would be outside the range on human survivability.

Since I’m in another world I’d like a glimpse at what it has to offer. That thought crossed my mind after confirming the contents of the request plaques. Due to the larger population there were more request, but they were still mostly ch.o.r.es. It seems like I can’t find good work unless I join a adventurers corps.

It seems that I’ll hunt something in the forest today and sell it. I consider the adventurers’ corps as I leave.

A near by vender was selling dried fruit and I decided to buy some. Since it looks like a strawberry, lets call it that. The guy said the the wild strawberries grow in the west. The vender scooped up some of then in a cup, after I handed him 8 copper coins. It seems that the berries were only available half a year, and wouldn’t last half a day fresh ether. I tossed them into a small bag and placed them in my sack.

While heading for the gate, I make sure to listen in on the people around me.
Before long I reach the south gate of the inner wall. Showing my certification to the gate guard, I was let out of the gates.

The stone bridge was about 300 meters long and had six beautiful arches that stretched from end to end. Could the width of the bridge hold three carriages? There were a lot of people coming and going, most of them entering and leaving a carriage. This might be a transportation hub.

After crossing the bridge, the calcutta mountain range could be seen on my right and the the entrance to the forest in front of me. On the left side was a grazing field, as animals are relaxing behind a fence on that side. There were cows, sheep, and even horses. There was also another field spread out too. The rydell river flow into the forest upstream, but the river was quite open.

It was impossible for me to hunt near the the base of the calcutta mountains because of the large crowd around that area. I turn off the highway, and start moving in the southwest direction. I lost sight of the rydell river as I carried on.

The density of the surrounding trees grows to the point were sunlight was blocked out, making it difficult to see. Unlike the forest at the foot of the wild dragon mountain range, the thickness of each tree wasn’t much, but there was only a narrow amount of s.p.a.ce between them. I wouldn’t be able to swing my two-handed sword here. No, I could swing it, but I would cut down all the trees around me. In such a place, it might be difficult to catch anything without any traps set up.

I’ve been seeing small animals for a while now, but they would always disappear into the thicket.

With the tree so tightly packed, it would be difficult to use【Dimensional step】here. I aimlessly wandered around the forest for an hour before I noticed signs of 5 other things heading in my direction. I thought they might be wolves or something because they spread out to surround me as they approached.

However, what emerged was a group of five thieves, that each had a vulgar smile on their face. Their hair was unwashed, they had stubble on their faces, and each carried a dagger in hand.

“Oh, where are you going? Knight-sama, hehehe.”

“Tell you what, you can keep you life, if you’re willing to give up everything your wearing? A cheap price, isn’t it? Hahaha.”

“To spot a lone knight in the depths of the forest, our luck must be really good! Hahaha”

So they mocked. They seem to have become careless due to their supposed geological advantage. The eyes of the thieves are clouded with greed, as they appraise me from head-to-toe.

Even if you think I can’t draw my sword, it is still too early to become careless. I used【Dimensional step】to instantly transfer behind the closet thief. Gathering power into my fist, in an instant my punch pulverized the head of the thief.  A “paan” sound is heard as bits and pieces of the head flew everywhere, and the thief’s body collapsed. It seems I put too much power behind it. I didn’t think making the head vanish was possible.

It’s like looking at a slow motion video, as the faces of the thieves twist in astonishment. I take the opportunity to hammer my fist into the chins of the two closest by. The jaws of the two were sent flying. Blood spouted from the eyes, ears, and the remains of their mouths, as they sunk onto the ground.

“Mon-Monsterrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!”

“Th-That’s not humannn!!!”

The thief that was a little far away showed his back to me. From my position, I cast【Rock Bullet】, and a rock the size of a fist went straight through the fleeing thief’s back.  Although a basic spell of a mage, the power was pretty good. The was a large hole in the leather armor the thief was wearing.

That was the fourth one. Thinking so, I looked around my surrounding and spotted the last one swaying between the trees as he fled.

In this dense forest, I couldn’t use【Dimensional step】to catch the thief, that was skillfully dodging trees like a monkey. I had to rely on my physical ability to chase after him.

Even as I push the thicket aside, the thief, who knew this area well, steadily increased his distance by avoiding the trees. To try and close the distance, I started to run in a more open s.p.a.ce, when my foot was ensnared by something. I’m taken on a ride, as my foot ,ensnared by a rope, is hoisted into the air by the momentum of a falling rock.

“Ha! You’re a real idiot to fall for such a simple trap!!”

The fleeing thief stopped running and looked back at me, with a proud look on his face.
However the force of gravity on the fallen rock suddenly reverses as the rope snips and flies off in the direction of the of the rising sun. The rope snipped do to me forcibly pulling my ensnared leg.

When I started to run again, another trap was activated. This time it was a wall of spears meant to skewer the prey that activated it. I tackle the wall head on causing the spears to shatter upon contact. Next, a log stake comes flying at me. With one powerful punch, the log explodes and wood chips scatter everywhere, even the connecting ropes have been shredded.

The traps seem to have been placed in the more open areas beforehand. Since its like this, I just have to run through the thicker areas with greater force.

“Hyaaaaaaaaaaaa!!! Mon-monsterrrrrr!!”

Seeing me breakthrough all the traps with sheer force caused the thief to run away screaming again. Although his was disturbed, he still slipped between the trees quite nicely.

I chase fiercely from behind. Like a tank I rush straight on, if a tree or rock is in the way it was crushed under the force of my charge.

“Hahaha, where will you go?”

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!”

A strange tension built up as I chased the thief, and a line like an army colonel slipped out of my mouth. The smell of ammonia entered the air, as the crotch of the fleeing thief became wet. He seemed to have p.i.s.sed himself in fear, but he continued to skillfully flee.

Before long, a cliff around 7-8 meters tall appeared as we cleared the thicket. There was something like a cave in the cliff side, and it was surrounded by a fence to keep out animals.

The cave was apparently the thieves den, but the two guards out front only had vacant expressions.

The man who p.i.s.sed himself frantically ran towards the lookouts. The lookout were confused by his appearance and had a momentary lapse in judgement. Taking the opportunity, I used【Dimensional step】to approach the men and draw my sword. In an instant the three men were cut down in one stroke.  It’s easy to catch up in such an open place.

The 3 bodies were cut diagonally, and that cause blood to dyed the area red and the smell of iron to enter the air.

All of a sudden, voices and footsteps can be heard from within the cave, and they were heading in this direction. Throwing my sack down near the entrance, I grab my sword in both hands and wait for the remaining bandits. I must have come to this world to act as society’s cleaner.

Eventually a well-built bald-headed man came out of the cave carrying an axe.

“Huh! Who the h.e.l.l are you, b.a.s.t.a.r.d!!!”

The bald-headed man sees the sight at the cave entrance and yelled that remark before making a leaping swing with his axe. In that short instant, I covered the distance and thrust my sword into the man’s torso with all my might. Without feeling any resistance, the sword penetrates the stomach and cleaves through the abdomen.

With his body split in two, the bald-headed man grumbles on about some new type of monster, while falling to the ground.

The other thieves watched from behind in a state of shock. When I stepped over the entrails of the object that hit the ground, the others began to brandish their weapons in a state of panic.

I dodged their attacks effortlessly, and cut them down one by one with a single stroke of my sword. Only three people remained near the entrance of the cave, and do to the size only two people could use weapons freely.

As the last of the thieves sink into the pool of blood, the vicinity became quiet.
More then a dozen bodies were in the cave. A cool wind blows through the area and shakes the leaves, as the scent of blood is carried away. When I swung my sword again, fat droplets of blood flow off, allowing the mysterious blue light to shine through.

I continued to advance into the depths of the cave.

The cave wasn’t that big, as I hit a dead end after only traveling 100 meters down the left path. The inner parts of the cave became more like a hall, as there were still lamps lit and signs of people sleeping here.

Among the general goods, I found a wooden strong box. The atmosphere and appearance made it look like a treasure chest.

A considerable amount of gold coins, that the thieves had been saving, was within the chest. If I mixed in the gold coins in my pouch, the amount would probably exceed 500 pieces. They were the size of a 1-yen coin, but they weighted the same as a 500-yen coin. It’s quite a lot of weight since there were more than 500 of these coins.

There were also a lot of weapons left behind, so for the time being lets just collect the outstanding ones.