The first thing I did was search my backpack for a spare set of clothes. Luckily, one of the larger sacks contained quite a few of those.
I also finally had time to search the backpack thoroughly.
To summarize my findings…
A small steel dagger, tucked pretty deep inside, which I previously missed. Compared to the sword, using it as a weapon wasn't very appealing, but it had plenty of other uses.
A small coin pouch, containing exactly 25 gold, 13 silver and 5 copper coins. I didn't know whether it was a lot or not, but at this point, it was infinitely more than the number of coins I previously thought I possessed.
Finally, I took a better look at the previously discovered travel supplies, and saw among them what I could only describe as a first aid kit, containing some bandages, a small vial whose contents gave off a strong alcoholic smell, and some kind of herbal paste.
Finally, found in a barely noticeable inner pocket of the main compartment, was another small vial, the approximate length and width of my index finger, although the glass itself was quite thick.
The vial itself was half full (or half empty, depending on one's point of view). The red liquid inside shimmered under the rays of light shining through the half-closed window curtains.
'Is that a healing potion?'
Usually, I'd never presume this much, despite the liquid's staple look, but a certain instinct - one which I learned to differentiate from a simple gut feeling - told me that was exactly what this was.
'Perhaps I would even be able to treat that wolf bite with this.'
Of course, even if that was the case, I was still extremely thankful for that healing.
Even if this potion could achieve a similar result, it was clearly not a common item, given its hidden pocket and small vial.
Given how well it was hidden, I couldn't help but wonder whether this small, half-filled vial was actually worth more than the coin purse.
Putting aside those thoughts for now, I decided to pocket the coin purse and vial, and finally made my way into the living room.
The room was empty, but to my surprise, there was a small bowl on the table, covered by a sheet of cloth, with a wooden spoon lying nearby.
Inching closer, I slowly reached for the sheet – I could guess this was left for me, but I still mentally prepared to repay for this meal in case of some misunderstanding.
What awaited me underneath was a puddle of cold, gray slop, somewhat reminiscent of oatmeal.
Sitting down, I took a spoonful of the gray goo into my mouth, and swallowed.
It was completely tasteless, but my hungry stomach urged my hands forward, and less than a minute later the bowl stood empty before me.
Just then, the familiar sound of light footsteps came from the upper floor.
"May the morning light shine on you. Although it might be a bit late in your case."
Adding the second part in a teasing tone, Amelia made her way down, wearing the same type of robe as yesterday, only that this set was fresh and pristine, not a drop of blood like yesterday
"Guess I overslept… sorry."
"That's fine."
The young priestess giggled.
"It's not like there are any other patients right now. Plus, the old man forced me to take this day off, anyway."
"I see. By the way, if you don't mind me asking, What's the old man's name?.. Of course, you don't have to answer! I was just curious."
Seeing her flustered expression, I hurried and added the last part.
"No, it's alright. It's just that… I really don't know myself."
"Huh?"
"Those who serve The Shining Lady may choose to undertake a holy oath called a 'Redemption Oath'."
"?.."
"Before I was sent here, I was already told by the temple – that the priest stationed here took the 'Oath Of Namelessness', discarding his mortal name in dedication to the goddess. He's been stationed in this town for over thirty years, actually... And even those who were here back then had always called him 'the old priest', or something of the sort."
"Oh. That's… quite interesting."
I really didn't expect such an elaborate answer to what I saw as a simple side question. But now I was a bit curious.
"Discarding one's name… Not that I'm implying anything, but wouldn't that be quite suspicious? I mean, if I claimed something like this, would people just believe me?"
"Of course not! The holy Redemption Oath is not something you can decide to take yourself, anyway. Well, you can take any oath yourself, but it wouldn't be a holy oath."
"Any Redemption Oath can only be taken in front of the goddess, and take place in a real temple, like in Silverveil. With some of them, such as the Oath Of Namelessness, the temple provides complementary services."
"With that oath, specifically, the template provides a special identification token, one that also bears the original wearer's blood, can almost never be faked, and is recorded in the temple archives. It's actually among the few such tokens on par with an official kingdom one."
This was quite interesting. Not only did this world appear to have the means to create some sort of bio-ID, but this kingdom alone had different types and tiers of IDs, and a whole bureaucracy supporting them.
This also reminded me of my original goal with this conversation.
"By the way, can I ask you a few questions about this town?"
"Sure! I'll answer whatever I can."
Afterwards, I managed to learn quite a bit, both about the town and this world in general.
The town, Pine Harbor, was a small town bordering the Red Pine Forest. Its economy mostly revolved around the high quality lumber it produced, supported by local farmers and hunters.
It also contained a small branch of the Adventuring Guild, and a few small associated businesses, such as a smithy, an alchemy shop, and a few other shops producing combat and survival equipment.
Some of those shops were located in the industrial zone, which I've already been to, while the rest were mostly scattered throughout the main street connecting the industrial zone (which was located near the town's south-western exit, commonly used by hunters and a few farmers) and the commercial zone, which was located near the main gate on the opposite side, and was the town's trading hub.
Most outside traffic came from trade caravans, mainly focusing on its wood-related goods and materials, and occasionally low level adventurers, looking for lower-risk work.
The reason the work was considered low risk was two-fold:
On one hand, the forest outskirts themselves were not very dangerous – one could sometimes encounter a few goblins, and at worst, a pack of wolves like we just did yesterday. Of course, there was usually no shortage of low level missions, but anything truly high risk (and thus - high reward) was rare.
On the other hand, it was sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy – due to the lack of high level missions, the competition between adventurers was far less cutthroat than average, and partly due to the town's meager population, everyone knew everyone, eventually becoming rather friendly.
"It's not like there are never a few bad apples or anything… but they usually don't last long out here."
"Actually, this reminds me of one of the first stories about Silver Claymore. Back then, Bern didn't have that nickname yet, though. His party was much smaller, too – he only had Hilda back then. Oh, you haven't seen her yet.. she was still recovering yesterday.
Anyway, back then, there was this group of ruffians. I think they called themselves Black Wolves . They came from the city just around the time I did – probably thought Pine Harbor was an easy mark, since it's quite peaceful here. Erm, yesterday was an exception! We usually don't get attacked like this. And even when we do, goblins don't make it this far! Erm… yes, so anyway…
Long story short, they started robbing some of the newbie adventurers and hunters. They always hid their faces, and sometimes, the poor souls who went on their missions wouldn't return.
I heard the town was working on procuring evidence for their arrests - and likely, executions. But before that could happen, Bern and Hilda took a hunting mission, and apparently, the Black Wolves grew confident enough to try to rob them.
That was the last time anyone had seen any of the six of them. They say Hilda also came to the smithy with lots of second hand equipment the next day. Nobody asked him a thing, though."
Amelia was quite talkative… not that I had any objections right now.
I was trying to soak in every bit of information about this town, its people, and the world in general.
She had already told me about the few shops I might find useful here, like the Crimson Anvil smithy and Madame Julia's Herbs & Elixirs alchemy shop, to name a few.
There was something else I was still very curious about, though.
"By the way… you mentioned Bern already knew a couple techniques when he came here, before stepping on his Path. I just… umm… could you tell me what you mean by a Path? And what type of techniques?"
To my surprise, Amelia grew flustered at my questions for the first time.
"Umm… I guess I can tell you what I know, but… erm, I thought you knew more than me, at least about Techniques."
"Huh? Why would I know more than you about them?"
Amelia raised her eyebrow in confusion.
"Didn't you use a Technique when fighting that wolf?"
Oh. So they referred to skills as Techniques. Now that I thought about it, Bern might have also used this word when talking about my [Charge Thrust] stance back when we first met, although I thought he meant it in a more traditional sense.
"Oh, I know them as 'Skills'."
"Ah! Well, people in different regions sometimes call them Battle Skills, too. Anyway, about Paths…"
Her voice faded, her expression in deep thought, as if trying to recall some long forgotten poem she used to know as a child.
"A Path is an amalgamation of one's Techniques, one's Blessings, and one's very essence. It is the road that leads to the future, built with the bricks of the past. To tread a Path is to hold both power and responsibility - before the gods, and before oneself… erm, I think that's how it was written, at least."
Amelia added in a less-than-confident voice, after reciting what sounded like a passage from some book she read in the past.
"I see. That's… kind of vague, actually."
"Sorry… I honestly don't know much about martial Paths. Paths are divided into different categories, by the way;"
The hesitance in her voice slowly receded.
"The ones that have to do with the body, usually weapons, too, are called 'martial' Paths. Paths related to spells and sorcery are called 'arcane' Paths. Although, those are pretty rare outside the bigger cities, so you probably won't see one around those parts."
She paused, before her eyes opened in recollection.
"Oh, there are more categories - Priests and Paladins fall under the 'divine' Paths category. There are also 'unique' Paths - ones which don't fall under any specific category. And… Well, there are also some darker, more blasphemous Paths. But I don't really want to talk about those."
Amelia's expression turned solemn for a moment, before shifting to her regular upbeat self.
"Anyway! Each category is different. Actually, even within the same category, Paths can be very different, like Paladins and Priests. You probably want to learn about martial Paths. It's probably best if you ask about it at the Adventurer's guild. Oh, maybe Bern can tell you more about it, too. You'll be meeting with him soon, right?"
I threw a glance towards the window. The sun, while still a fair distance away from the horizon, was already visible at the top of the wooden frame, which had not been the case when we started our conversation.
And, I still had quite a bit to do before meeting with him.
"You're right."
I stood up, turning towards my first ever bedroom in this world, before turning my head to look at Amelia again.
"Thanks again. For everything. I really owe you one."
"Oh.. yes, I suppose you feel better now, so it's time you leave."
There was a small hint of disappointment in her voice.
"Hey, I still wanted to ask you about a few things… if you don't mind, of course. I'm still staying in town for a while, so it's not like I'm leaving forever."
At my words, her eyes brightened up slightly, and her lips curled into a faint smile.
"Of course! You can come any time. Umm, well, not any time, but I'm usually at the shrine until noon, and for a few hours before and after sunset. You're welcome to come by!"
"I'll see you soon, then."
I nodded, before quickly continuing back into the guest room to pick up my stuff.
It was time to go shopping.