Chapter 028: Overcharging

Re-Translated by Gumihou

Edited by Onionpi

Please read this at kitchennovel dot com~

 

“Ah, if only I have a map…”

“Hm? You’re looking for a map?” the leader asked.

“Eh? Ah, yes. It would be nice to have even a rough map of this world…” I sighed wistfully.

[6] Then blinked.

Why are the four of them huddling together like that?

[6] I was about to ask when the leader turned to me with a big smile, “Oi, to be honest. We have a spare map on us.”

[4] “Eh? Really?”

“See, I have a senior Adventurer who’s kinda close to me. He gave me his map when he retired,”

“Eeehh, how nice…” I want one too…

“Naturally, it’s nothing like the ones used by high ranking army personnel. It does show the name and general directions of the different countries though,”

[4] “I see, I see,” wondering why he was telling me this. [5]

“I guess, if you really want it. I can sell it to you,”

[4] “F-for real?”

“We’ve memorised the contents of the map, so it’s not like we really need another one,” he grinned at me. “1 gold coin, how about it?”

[8] “1 gold coin…” I frowned, I really wanted a map, but that’s a bit…

“Can I see the map?” I’ll decide after seeing it.

“Ou, sure,” the leader took out a folded map from his shirt pocket. “There we go,”

He spread out the map on the table.

 

Illustrated by Mitemin, Translated by paichuntranslation

  

[8] “Hmm, as expected,” it really does look rather rough. [6] There were barely any details on the map. However, with this, I could at least know which country is adjacent to what.

[6] It was still better than nothing. I really wanted it, but 1 gold coin is…

“This thing is really rare you know?” the leader continued. “Furthermore it’s made from paper, understand?”

[6] “Hmmm…” that’s quite true, I couldn’t find something like this at the bookstore or the library…

“However, since you’ve treated us to a drink, I’ll give you a discount. 8 silver coins, well?”

8 silver coins…

[5] After pondering over the difficulty of getting any information on maps and the price of paper products…

“Here’s 8 silver coins,” [6] it hurts, but I need this.

“Alright, sold!”

Goods exchanged hands.

Once he pocketed the coins, the leader stood up, “Well, we have to set out really early tomorrow. So, we’ll be going first.”

“Ah, yes, thank you for the map, and the informative story as well.”

“Aah, it’s fine, it’s fine, glad to help out a fellow Adventurer, eh? See ya,” with that, the leader strolled out, followed by his party members.

Finally! I got my map!

Awesome, and here I thought I’d have to make one from scratch by gathering information from the Adventurers here. [5] [1] To think I’d actually managed to get my hands on a map in a place like this.

Lucky~~

“Pffftt!”

“Hee hee hee,”

…what the- why are these people laughing? And… looking at me?

“Pfft! Oi, you guys. Don’t laugh, it’s too mean!” [5] [3] he was laughing too.

“Excuse me, is there something funny?” I asked sternly.

The man who had laughingly reprimanded his friends turned to me and said, “Sorry, sorry,” not looking sorry at all!

“Do you have a problem?”

“No, no, it’s just, we overheard everything,”

[8] “What? What’s so funny about it?” I was getting really angry now. [5]

[6] “Your map,”

[6] “What about my map?” [5]

[8] “Your precious map,” [6] he patted his pouch and got out a very familiar-looking piece of paper. “I have one too,”

“It’s, it’s,” it’s identical!!!??

[8] “This is something that could be easily bought at the Adventurer’s Guild,” he said.

[6] “The- the guild?”

“Oh, and speaking of which, you can buy these at 1 silver coin each,”

[6] “… …” [5]

Laughter exploded around me as the other Adventurers laughed out loud.

“I can’t believe that guy paid 8 silver coins! What a fool!”

“Gyahahaha! Oh, to be young again!” 

“I- I was cheated!!??”

“Oh, yeah,” said the Adventurer who had so helpfully informed me about the map thing. “You’re totally cheated.”

[8] Uuuhh… I want to cry…

“By the way,” continued the Adventurer, who was obviously enjoying my pain and embarrassment. “The map is made by the guild from the information given to them by travelling Adventurers. [6] Since the guild is such a huge organisation, they can provide lightweight paper maps at a cheap price.”

“Well, there are some Adventurers who don’t rely on maps, but lots more do, especially the newer ones.”

“Yeah, it’s standard practise to make notes on the map and include details like the location of lakes, rivers or monster nests so that the guild could update their maps periodically. It’s a good standard practice.”

“Then again, there are some who only operate within their own territories and make super detailed maps for their own use. Those are like their special information maps, so they won’t share it with others.”

“Speaking of which, Merchant’s Guild also sell maps, right?”

“Oh, yeah, since both merchants and Adventurers travel all over the world, it makes sense for them to use maps.”

[8] The conversation around me continued as I lay there, wallowing in my misery of being cheated. [5] [8] I had gone to the library and the booksellers because of my previous world common sense.

However, now that I think about it, it made more sense for organisations that deal with travellers to have actual maps.

“Wh-why didn’t any of you say anything just now?” I wailed.

“It’s your own fault for being stupid,” came the swift and merciless answer.

Gunununu, it’s frustrating, but they may be right.

I should have known this world is not crime free, especially not after all that talk about genocide, slavery and war.

My 8 silver coins.

Boohoo…

 

[Gumihou: Well, while 8 silver coins are not little, they only cheat your money, not your life or freedom. Count it as an education fee, Mukouda-san.]

 

[1] Structural Change: Combine 2 paragraphs

[2] Structural Change: Combine 3 paragraphs

[3] Structural Change: Combine paragraph & dialogue

[4] Structural Change: Change passive sentence to dialogue 

[5] Delete Repetitive or Pointless Information

[6] Additional Information for Aesthetic Purpose

[7] Add Dialogue Tag

[8] Creative Licence Taken