Evening of the third day since the monster wave began.
“This is starting to get tiring... Do waves usually take this long?”
“This wave does seem to be giving them some trouble, but it’s usually settled in about a week, so it should be soon now.”
“I see... Oh, would you like some more olives?”
“Gladly! Thank you!”
Nom nom nom.
It was just plain bread with nothing added, but eating it with some salty pickled olives on top made it not bad at all.
Being stuck in the shelter for three days with nothing to do, it was unbearably boring unless I talked to people.
In that sense, the merchant uncle sitting next to me was a very good conversation partner.
Maybe because he was a merchant and had traveled all over the place, he had plenty of interesting stories to tell.
And since I handed him ingredients to eat with his bread, it was easy to win his goodwill.
Rattle, rattle, rattle—
Iseria must have been so bored that she had even developed the habit of shaking her leg, something she had never done before.
The wooden platform we were sitting on vibrated in time with the rhythm of Iseria’s leg.
Contrary to what the merchant uncle had said about it ending in a week, the guards protecting the shelter and the knights who occasionally visited all looked anxious.
I didn’t know how the battle was going, but I could vaguely sense that things were not proceeding according to plan.
Separately from that, my own expression was anxious too.
No matter that I had put all the ingredients in the refrigerator before leaving, ingredients with short shelf lives were bound to spoil.
Damn it. I went through all that trouble to make tofu... and now I’ll have to throw it all away without even eating much.
The same went for the various seasoned greens. Even if they didn’t spoil, if they were stored too long and released too much water, I’d have to throw them out.
I’ll have to clean everything out once I get home.
I let out a sigh and looked around.
Having spent three days here, I now had a rough grasp of how the shelter operated.
The shelter, located not far from the knight order’s headquarters and Silvaerin’s walls, was used not only for evacuation purposes but also as a large warehouse.
To be precise, in peacetime it was used as the knight order’s warehouse, while in wartime the wide open space was used as a refuge.
Because of that, it was only natural that supplies were sent to headquarters, and that lacking supplies were brought in.
Though to my eyes, all I could see were ingredients rather than combat equipment.
“There’s a bit less today.”
“This is all we could bring after scraping the bottom of our village storehouse...”
“No, no. I didn’t mean to pressure you. Spring has only just begun, so things can’t be easy. Thank you.”
“Oh, no, sir... not at all...”
The wagon, pulled by two sickly-looking horses, unloaded three sacks each of grain and flour, and two boxes of crops stored through the winter, such as potatoes and turnips.
With a creak, creak, the wagon returned to the village.
After checking the goods, the rationing soldier let out a small sigh.
Watching him, I felt sympathetic and sorry.
Each sack looked to be about 50 kilograms, and each crop box maybe around 20 kilograms?
Of course, the knight order wasn’t some neighborhood corner store, so they probably had more food stocked up.
But if supplies could only be replenished this little at a time, everything would run out in no time.
The resources required to maintain an army far exceeded the imagination of ordinary people.
Even in the modern era, with its developed agriculture, science, and technology, defense budgets were always insufficient if anything, never excessive.
Then there was no need to even mention the Middle Ages, where everything lagged behind.
Putting everything else aside and looking at food alone, considering that Silvaerin’s knight order had roughly 600 troops, one meal consumed ten sacks of grain.
And people didn’t live on grain alone, so once other crops, meat, and seasonings were included, the required amount of foodstuffs would increase greatly.
In that sense, the current supply rate was terrible.
The food ingredients that came in all day weren’t limited to that one wagon, but at most around four wagons had come and gone. The amount they brought was similar too.
I didn’t know how much food was currently stockpiled in the warehouse, but judging from the rationing soldier’s reaction, they were not exactly comfortable.
I quietly opened the [Mana Market].
「Onion」
「Green Onion」
「Potato」
「Carrot」
▼
I scrolled further down the list and searched for flour and barley.
▲
「Flour」
「Barley」
「Rice」
「Soybean」
「Mung Bean」
▼
And when I selected flour, a question appeared before my eyes.
[The selected product can be purchased in units of 20 kg. Would you like to purchase?]
Not only flour, but also barley, rice, salt, and other food ingredients with ambiguous individual units often brought up messages like this.
I had never bought anything in truly huge quantities, but when I bought one 20 kg unit, it didn’t consume that much mana.
If my total mana was 100, it took about 7 mana.
If I used up all my mana, I could obtain 280 kg of flour at once. Of course, if I did that, I’d collapse from mana exhaustion.
Couldn’t I help the knight order’s food supply a little with this ability?
If I supplied just 200 kg of ingredients at a time without overdoing it, it would at least give them some breathing room.
The problem was how to hand over those ingredients.
The justification was fine. After all, I was also a citizen with an identity tag of the city.
But what if I, someone who had nothing but a small backpack, went up and said, “Here’s 200 kg of flour lol,” and summoned flour out of thin air?
As far as I knew, there was no magic in this other world similar to my status window.
They’d probably shout, “It’s sorcery!!” and drag me away, or if not that, they’d drag me away and remodel me into a flour dispenser...
Either way, it was the worst-case scenario.
“Hey, Iseria.”
“What?”
“Do you happen to know how to use something like subspace magic?”
“As if that kind of magic exists?”
Iseria looked at me as if I had just said the stupidest thing ever.
I had expected as much. If such a convenient magic existed, everyone would be using it.
‘Ah, whatever.’
That night, when my worries had only deepened, I confirmed that everyone around me was asleep and carefully got up.
My destination was the food warehouse,
or rather, a small shed beside the warehouse.
It went without saying, but guards stood watch in shifts in front of every supply warehouse, including the food warehouse.
Even if there were no guards, the door would surely be firmly locked, making it impossible to enter.
So the place I chose was the shed beside the food warehouse.
It was old and small, so it didn’t really have anything you could call a door and was wide open.
Inside, various odds and ends and bits of straw were lying around.
Because it was close to the warehouse, there was a risk I’d be caught if I made any noise.
I crept into the shed.
▲
「Flour」
「Barley」
「Rice」
「Soybean」
「Mung Bean」
▼
Without any time to hesitate, I opened the status window and selected flour.
[The selected product can be purchased in units of 20 kg. Would you like to purchase?]
‘Yes. Ten sacks of 20 kg.’
When I decided the quantity in my mind, mana whooshed out of my body as payment.
Since more than half of my mana drained away at once, I felt slightly dizzy.
Still, the transaction went through properly.
In the empty space of the shed, ten 20 kg sacks of flour were summoned, stacked neatly.
Sneaking in at the dead of night only to commit not theft but reverse-pickpocketing.
Even as I felt awkward about the situation, imagining the rationing soldier’s reaction when he discovered this tomorrow morning made me smile.
I returned the way I had come and lay down on my bed.
Maybe because my mind was at ease, or because I had suddenly used a large amount of mana, sleepiness soon washed over me.
***
“Huh? Why is there flour here... It’s real? Hey! Hurry and bring the commissary officer!”
“Yes, sir!”
‘Just as planned.’
Awake early in the morning, I sat up while listening to the rationing soldiers’ surprised voices.
Iseria, who had gotten up even earlier than me, was also watching them. This girl always wakes up early.
“Good morning, Iseria.”
“You wake up too late. Honestly... Hm?”
Iseria was grumbling as usual when she stopped and stared closely at my face.
Even though our eyes met, Iseria’s eyes seemed to be looking beyond me... which felt strangely uncomfortable.
“Jin. Your mana has decreased a little.”
“H-Huh? Really? I can’t tell...”
She noticed that? What are you, a streamer who can’t game if the desk height changes by even one centimeter?
Faced with suspicion from a completely unexpected angle, I immediately played dumb.
“Hmm... I’m right, though... Well, I suppose it’s fine. It didn’t decrease by that much.”
It must not have been that serious, because Iseria withdrew her sharp gaze.
Can everyone who can use magic sense things like that? Apart from being startled, I found it rather fascinating.
“Didn’t we put all the ingredients that came in yesterday into the warehouse?”
“Yes, sir. I don’t know where this came from, but... the quality is top-notch. Could something meant for the lord’s castle have been delivered here by mistake?”
“Heh heh... For now, move it into the warehouse.”
“Yes, sir.”
The commissary officer, dragging along his obese body, checked the flour, gave the rationing soldier an order, and left.
The meaningful smile on the commissary officer’s face bothered me... but the rationing soldier’s expression was much more relaxed than yesterday.
It seemed he was happy that, whatever had happened, it helped with the food supply.
“Jin. Let’s go for a walk.”
“Ah, we went yesterday too. It’ll be the same anyway.”
“Still! I’m bored!”
Today passed just like the past few days.
Eat dry bread, chat a little, then take a walk with Iseria to the square.
As long as we didn’t go outside the walls, going in and out of the shelter was permitted.
Even in an emergency, people’s lives had to go on.
Of course, there was naturally nothing to see.
If this had been a monster wave that occurred as scheduled, it might have been bustling with adventurers and peddlers who had gathered in pursuit of profit, but because it had erupted too early, people from outside had not been able to come.
And so the desolate walk ended, and night arrived.
I got up again around the same time as yesterday and headed to the shed as lightly as a cat.
Perhaps all the flour had been moved, because the space where the sacks had been was empty.
[The selected product can be purchased in units of 20 kg. Would you like to purchase?]
‘Yes.’
I made the same transaction for ten 20 kg sacks of flour.
The flour gently piled up in the empty space.
Feeling pleased, I was about to leave the shed.
Rustle—
But at the sound of footsteps coming from outside, I froze.
‘Uh... what do I do?’
If I was caught like this, it would be suspicious, and in many ways, I didn’t think it would end peacefully.
I urgently looked around and spotted a shabby partition wall deeper inside the shed.
There were small gaps here and there, but if I hid well, I didn’t think I’d be visible from outside.
As the footsteps drew closer and closer, I quickly hid behind the wall.
And the ones who appeared were... the fat commissary officer I had seen in the morning, and two soldiers who seemed to be his subordinates.
“I came just in case, and it really is here. Don’t you think using such high-quality goods for rations is far too wasteful?”
“You’re right, sir.”
“Good. Let’s move it quietly.”
After exchanging a meaningful conversation, they loaded the sacks of flour onto the cart they had brought.
Once all ten sacks were loaded, the well-built soldier pulled the cart and disappeared into the darkness.
Only after the heavy sound of the cart faded into the distance and could no longer be heard did I leave the shed and sort through my confused thoughts.
Judging from the circumstances, it seemed the commissary officer’s group was trying to swipe the flour I had prepared...
But circumstances were still just circumstances.
Without clear evidence, I couldn’t accuse them of embezzlement, and even if I had evidence, it was uncertain whether they would properly trust the claim of a black-haired nobody with nothing to his name.
‘Haa... My gut says it’s 100%, though.’
Lying down in bed without being caught, I kept thinking.
And then, I came up with a method.
‘My credibility is lacking?’
Then I just need to raise my credit rating.
Having thought of a clever plan, I left the shelter with Iseria as soon as morning came the next day.
Iseria, who had been dragged out first thing in the morning without knowing why, was completely irritated.
I entered an alley with few people and kept watch of our surroundings for a long while before speaking.
“Iseria. Help me just this once.”
“What? You suddenly drag me out here and...!”
No questions asked.
I summoned 200 kg worth of flour in front of Iseria.
“Wh-What is this?! Magic?!”
“It’s too long to explain right now. Please carry this and follow me.”
“What?”
At my attitude, which made it clear I wouldn’t accept any objections, Iseria was dumbfounded, but she obediently raised wind magic.
The 200 kg of flour floated up on the wind as if it weighed less than 20 grams.
I walked proudly beside Iseria.
I also straightened up my appearance as much as possible so I would look neat...
At the shelter entrance, the guard, though a face I saw every day, flinched at my completely changed bearing and cleared the way.
Though it might have been the flour floating next to me that made him flinch, not my bearing.
I didn’t stop there and proceeded with an even more upright stride.
Everyone in the shelter stared wide-eyed at me and Iseria.
At last, we arrived in front of the supply warehouse. The rationing soldier who had come to inspect the warehouse met my eyes and, startled, snapped to attention.
He seemed to recognize me belatedly and relaxed his posture, but my mouth opened first.
“I am Gang Jinu of the Roka Trading Company. I would like to donate food ingredients.”
“P-Pardon?”
The method to raise the credibility of a black-haired man who had absolutely nothing.
That was to lie and say I was a merchant.