271 The Eastern Country

271.

After resolving the anomaly in the Vala Forest, we returned to the hot spring village.

This time, we planned to stay only briefly. About a few days or so.

Our purpose was to resupply, rest, and gather information before heading out to obtain the Ruby of Passion, the next target of our main quest.

It wasn’t exactly a place specialized in information gathering, but it had a decent number of people, an adventurer’s guild, and a library of sorts. Above all, the biggest reason for choosing this place was that it was a village optimized for rest.

After gathering information in our own ways for a few days, we gathered around a table.

I tried talking to merchants and adventurers who seemed knowledgeable about the world, but I didn’t have much luck. I was only getting superficial information about the Iolea Kingdom from people’s mouths.

“Well, first… shall we start with what we all know? The Iolea Kingdom is a huge island nation that you have to go far east, even further than the Eastern Continent. As a country where one island is the entire territory, it tends to be exclusive to outsiders.”

Looking at the map, I knew it was an island. I didn’t know about its exclusive nature, though.

“Hmm, that’s right. An exclusive island nation… Considering that, it won’t be an easy task.”

According to what I heard from Eldritch, the owner of the Ruby of Passion is the monarch of that country, a queen named Stella.

We had to steal a treasure possessed by the queen in a country that was exclusive to outsiders. It seemed like it would be more difficult than when we obtained the other jewels.

But there’s no need to start with discouraging stories. I brightly added.

“Well, if we go and try, we’ll figure something out. So, how do we get there? A portal would be convenient, right? Taking a ship would take too long…”

“Huh? You can’t go.”

I was momentarily speechless at Celina’s firm answer.

“Why, why? Why can’t we go?”

“I told you. It’s exclusive to outsiders. Basically, all foreigners are prohibited from entering.”

“Re, really? Th, that can’t be…”

“But it’s not completely prohibited from entering…”

Riel’s voice chimed in. Riel was holding a large book. It was a book about the Iolea region that she had been diligently reading for the past few days, borrowed from the library at my request.

“According to the guidebook, there are exceptions. Foreigners can set foot on Iolea’s land… when invited as guests to a festival held once every four years, when three or more Iolea citizens act as guarantors, and…”

Riel glanced at my face while reading. Why? What is it?

“…when becoming a slave owned by Iolea.”

Celina and Riel are glancing at me.

I think I know what they’re thinking. They’re worried that I might volunteer to become a slave again, taking the position that I have no choice.

Of course, considering my past behavior patterns, it’s not an excessive concern.

But I’ve changed. I’ve decided to graduate from such reckless behavior.

To volunteer to become a slave just to enter a country, even if it’s a story in a hentai game, is an excessively unintelligent act. No human with their right mind would lack that much judgment.

“Well, if there’s no other way, I guess I have no choice. I’ll have to become a slave.”

No, I didn’t say that.

It was Celina who uttered that hentai game-like remark. With a perfectly nonchalant face.

“Ce, Celina… Even if you’re a pathetic masochist pervert magician, that’s a bit…”

“Wh, who are you calling pathetic? That’s not it! Not what you’re thinking, Hero! Look at this!”

…So, she doesn’t deny the masochist and pervert part.

Huffing and puffing, Celina took out a piece of paper from her chest. It looked like a promotional poster depicting two swordsmen facing each other with dignity.

It said, ‘Iolea Arena, Gladiators Wanted!’

“A, a gladiator?”

“Yeah. Iolea is famous for its huge arena. If you want to enter Iolea, it’s the fastest and surest way. Of course, there’s a risk…”

“Gladiator… But isn’t that still being treated like a slave?”

There are many types of slaves. Common slaves who are exploited for their labor, and sex slaves, as well as gladiator slaves who are forced to participate in life-threatening matches just for the amusement of spectators, are definitely miserable slaves.

“I saw something written about that too… Ah, here it is.”

Celina pointed to a corner of the promotional poster. It was a part written in very small letters below a large phrase that stimulated the desire to compete without much content.

《Please note that those who participate will be branded with the ‘Mark of the Slave’ for smooth progress.》

…This feels like a scam?

They stimulate the romance of fighters with large letters, and write the really important parts in such small letters. They must be planning to insist later that ‘everything was clearly stated.’

If they were planning to scam, they wouldn’t have included these phrases from the beginning. But the fact that they went to the trouble of writing the truth using the trick of small letters seemed to be to fulfill some magical condition.

That small print didn’t end there.

《Gladiator rates are divided into five stages. From the third stage, the Blue rank, the Mark of the Slave disappears, and you will have the same rights as ordinary citizens of Iolea.》

“In other words, if you become a gladiator as a slave and then win quickly to reach the Blue rank, you can act normally from then on.”

Hmm, will that work out as planned? It seems difficult to get out if things don’t go as planned…

Riel seems to be thinking the same thing as me. She carefully scanned the poster and said.

“Even if Hero-nim is strong… Don’t we not even know how long it will take to get to the Blue rank in the first place?”

That’s right, that’s right. I was just thinking about that. I nodded sharply and looked at Celina.

“Um, that’s right. Besides, we still don’t have enough information. It would be better to find another way.”

“Hehe, heheh…”

Celina was smiling even though the flaws in her plan were pointed out. I even felt a sense of relief.

“Hehe, that’s a relief. You’ve grown, Hero. If it were before, you would have signed up without thinking. Now you won’t fall for such shabby tricks.”

“Wa, wait a minute… Were you testing me?”

“Yeah. I’m not an idiot, who would fall for such a genuinely stupid trick?”

…She’s a bit arrogant. In times like these, it’s necessary to inflict thorough punishment on her nipples.

While further twisting Celina’s nipples, which were whimpering, I carefully looked at the contents of the book that Riel had opened once again. But nothing changed even if I looked again.

“Well, there’s no rush. If all else fails, we can aim for an invitation to the festival that happens once every four years…”

Even though it’s a main quest, there’s no time limit. The curse of the penis is quite inconvenient, and sometimes dangerous, but if I’m careful, I can still have adventures.

In fact, I’m living reasonably well right now. There was no need to rush into becoming a slave.

“That’s right, Hero-nim. Let’s slowly investigate how to get in.”

That day’s investigation meeting ended like that. Without a conclusion, in the form of a request for further investigation.

========================================

The stay that I thought would only be a few days was stretching to over a week.

The reason was that the investigation into the Iolea Kingdom was sluggish. No matter how much we searched, there was no way to enter that tightly locked country.

Well, in fact, I didn’t have much of a role in the investigation. With my lack of reading skills and connections, my biggest role was listening to the information that Celina and Riel brought.

In other words, I was quite idle. The only information gathering I could do was to hang around bars or the adventurer’s guild and listen for tempting news.

What brought a change to my idle daily life was a visitor wearing black armor.

“I have something to say, Hero. Just the two of us.”

The black suit that I’ve become a little familiar with now. It’s called Black Armor mk 3, resembling an insect’s carapace. He wasn’t wearing the helmet with the mask that used to cover his face.

Blade seemed to have fully recovered now. The atmosphere of a well-honed blade was still there.

Cold and transparent eyes. I couldn’t find the rampaging figure of a starving beast that I saw last time.

Riel and Celina looked at me with slightly worried eyes as I followed Blade. But for some reason, I was sure that Blade wouldn’t harm me.

“First, I would like to express my gratitude, Hero. You have saved my life twice, even though I tried to kill you.”

It’s a dry tone and voice for expressing gratitude. Well, I don’t plan to nitpick.

“You saved me too, didn’t you? When I became Bonaparte’s puppet. We saved each other, so there’s no need to hear thanks.”

“Hehe, that’s true.”

Blade smiled. The smiling face was a different impression from the Blade I had seen so far.

But that smile soon disappeared.

“Even so, Hero, I still hate you.”