They had come to kill.
So I wouldn't hold back either.
I drew my sword from its sheath and took a fighting stance.
"Pulling a sword on me? You can't even tell which matters more—your magic bag or your life. Oh well, once I kill you and dump you in the woods, the monsters will pick you clean. Not a trace left."
Huh, nice info.
Going out of his way to tell me how he'd end up.
So in a single leap, I closed the gap and drove my blade straight into the gate guard's heart.
Right through the guard's
light armor—
clean through. A fatal wound.
"Guh... impossible. Where does a kid like you get that kind of power..."
It's the power of my skills.
The stat bonus from the Sword God skill is something else.
Really feels like another world.
It amps up my original abilities by a huge margin.
I'd trained pretty hard before my exile to earn skills, so those base stats really do matter.
Then I picked up the dead guard with one hand and tossed him into the nearby thicket.
By tomorrow morning, monsters would have devoured him for sure.
Truth is, I'm used to things like that.
◇◇◇
Back when I lived in the marquis's household, I witnessed the execution of those who defied the family or committed crimes more times than I could count.
And that was from a young age, too.
I guess that's one of the differences between commoners and nobles.
After all, the marquis household served as the feudal lord, wielding all judicial, legislative, and administrative power.
They couldn't outright defy the kingdom's laws, but they had considerable discretion when it came to taxation and public order.
In my previous life, crimes born from class disparity like this would have been unthinkable.
Specifically, I'm talking about the crime of disrespect toward nobility.
Oh right, even in my previous life there was that thing where upper-class citizens got off scot-free.
Officially, that wasn't supposed to exist, but here it's just an accepted part of life.
This other world is terrifying.
Floggings and canings were everyday occurrences, doled out on a whim depending on the mood of the local lord—my father—and if the punishment landed wrong, people would often just die from it, but naturally, the lord was never held accountable.
I got used to death being a close companion, but I've never gotten used to how blatantly class disparity exists here.
No, more than that—I despise it now.
And since being submissive and well-behaved in my previous life got me absolutely nothing, this time I'm going to push back and make sure things are on equal footing.
No matter who I'm dealing with.
◇◇◇
When dawn broke and I approached the gate, a different guard was standing there.
"That guy, slacking off again, is he... I'll treat him to a drink later."
That's what the other one was saying, so he's probably a habitual offender with a terrible work ethic.
At this rate, it'll probably be a while before anyone notices I'm gone.
And so, I paid the standard three copper coins to enter.
◇◇◇
Once inside the town, it seemed reasonably prosperous enough.
That said, Momentum is a barony, so compared to a marquisate, things are a bit less bustling. That was the vibe, anyway.
I went to the biggest inn in town to book a room.
Five silver coins per night.
A bit pricey, but I'd be struggling without it.
In this other world—light-novel-style, you know—magic tools powered by magic stones serve as a substitute for electricity, so you can live a somewhat decent life.
But things like what you'd find in modern Japan—clean baths every day even for commoners, convenience stores, three meals guaranteed, washing machines, coin laundromats—you'd need to be at the level of royalty or high nobility for any of that.
Especially the baths.
As someone who wants to soak in a proper tub, the fact that even high-ranking nobles only seem to have showers or cistern-style baths is something I just can't accept.
I've long since gotten used to it, but my goal is an ordinary life on par with Japan.
This inn is the only place in town with a shower.
At five silver coins a day, living in a hotel for a month is out of the question.
I need to find some way to earn money.
So, where I headed wasn't the usual adventurer's guild... but the garbage dump.
Because my skill would come in handy there.
I started applying [Reverse] to all the junk in front of me, one piece at a time.
And so, the broken-down magic tools, the snapped swords and spears—all of them reversed back to like-new condition, and I stored them in my magic bag.
◇◇◇◇◇◇
Skill: [Reverse][Divine Eye][Sword God]
Thank you always for reading!