Chapter 17: Riverbend Town

The actual situation was this.

The Kingdom of Safro refused entry to the Church of Holy Light, refused the Adventurers' Guild, and refused all kinds of neutral or order-based organizations.

All marketable goods were transported exclusively to the ports, and foreign merchants were not permitted to leave the port cities where they were stationed.

The only exchange occurring via small caravans was with the neighboring country, Cohn.

Furthermore, the Kingdom of Safro had only been established for about a hundred years, and its land area was quite small, lacking significant resources.

Moreover, the flow of mana was extremely scarce; even magic-related artisan guilds were too lazy to come here.

However, this could be considered a blessing in disguise.

It was precisely because the flow of mana was so scarce that the country was actually safer, as there were very, very few monsters and similar creatures.

This, in turn, attracted some commoners to the area, adding a significant population to the kingdom.

But the reason for the mana scarcity was not actually a problem with the region itself; it was the work of the Royal Family.

"Have you never seen other races before?" Kana asked, somewhat puzzled.

To be honest, he truly hadn't considered this. In this world, communication between various races was considered relatively frequent.

Even racial integration and cohabitation were very normal.

One might even encounter a new race popping up in some random place.

Even if the continent they were currently on was primarily composed of humans, they shouldn't have gone without seeing even a few different races.

As it turned out, the group all shook their heads. They were already knights, which placed them in the middle class of this country.

If they hadn't seen them, ordinary commoners likely hadn't either.

Perhaps there were some sort of exclusionary policies in place.

Any suspicious issue could be blamed on the Royal Family; after all, they were conducting experiments here to create new races.

No wonder he hadn't seen any non-human races on his journey here.

"Has Your Highness ever been to other countries before?" Blake suddenly asked.

Kana instinctively wanted to answer but immediately stopped himself, shaking his head. "No, but I have read many books regarding the outside world, so I am somewhat knowledgeable."

He had almost let it slip; there was no way Kana would have had the opportunity to go abroad.

They chatted along the way and rested for one night, arriving at Riverbend Town the following afternoon.

From a distance, a dirt road could be seen extending into the interior of the town.

The town was not prosperous, but it wasn't bad either; various buildings were scattered about in clusters.

From afar, one could even hear the sound of flowing river water.

The reason it could be heard was, naturally, because this was no mere stream; it could be classified as a major river.

Entering the interior of the town.

Kana looked left and right, observing closely.

It was much like his memory.

"Blake? Weren't you supposed to be fighting alongside the Count?" A woman by the roadside seemed to recognize Blake and greeted him.

Many people around them recognized the three knights, occasionally greeting one of them.

Something was slightly off; there were too many people in this town, and there was absolutely no sense of dread regarding an impending disaster.

Moreover, along the way, he had seen several blacksmith shops.

He even saw a training ground in the distance, where many children were practicing.

The town as a whole could not be called old; looking at many of the buildings, it was clear they had been constructed not long ago.

It gave off a sense of being relatively new.

As he watched, Kana finally thought of something and asked, "The residents here... they aren't the families of the knights, are they?"

Blake turned his head to look at Kana in surprise, not expecting Kana to guess so quickly.

Judging by his expression, Kana knew he was right.

"This town must have been built only a few years ago, no more than ten?"

Blake nodded. "I was brought here not long after I started my knight training. At that time, this place was just a rather crude military camp."

Hearing this, Kana did not ask further.

However, the layout and architectural style of this town indeed gave Kana the feeling of being back in the starting village when he first began the game.

It seemed he hadn't gone to the wrong place.

Soon, they arrived at a small fortress built of stone; this was where the town mayor resided.

One could also see guards clad in full armor standing watch. Here, it clearly served the function of a military camp as well.

An old man wearing half-plate armor walked out. He had several scars on his face and looked somewhat fierce.

It seemed this was the mayor, likely a retired knight.

"Knight Joniel, this is the Fourth Prince, the newly appointed official appointed by the Count."

Mayor Joniel glanced at Blake, then at Kana. After bowing, he said nothing more, merely nodding.

"If you need anything, just tell me."

With that, he walked away without looking back.

Standing beside him, Blake said awkwardly, "Knight Joniel is just like that. Please do not take offense, Your Highness."

Kana nodded, unconcerned.

"It is getting late. I will take you to your quarters."

Blake led the two to a house with a small courtyard.

He settled them inside and provided them with two servants.

Two women: one to help with cleaning and one to help with cooking.

Before leaving, Blake added, "We do not have suitable maids here, so I must ask Your Highness to endure this for a while."

However, Kana did not care about such things and simply waved his hand.

After a simple meal—which could only be described as edible—Kana went into his room to rest.

Lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling beams, he contemplated his next moves.

It was basically certain that Riverbend Town was the future Bloodweep Town, the site of the combat during the closed beta.

Kana had participated in the closed beta.

Of course, the closed beta was actually just a three-day phase involving 5,000 testers.

The main focus was testing simple quests and the combat system.

Although the memory was from a very, very long time ago, he still remembered some of it; after all, it was his first encounter with a virtual game, and it had brought him immense shock.

Even if it was only a certain sense of feeling and all-encompassing visuals.

He only remembered that during the closed beta, most of their errand quests were related to war.

For example, helping transport the wounded, helping transport supplies, or helping deliver provisions.

Combat consisted only of guarding and eliminating enemies.

There was no plot back then; there was only a cutscene at the end, after which the beta ended.

The protagonist of the cutscene was the Count, who would later become the starting village mayor.

Later, when the official game began, as the plot progressed, they realized that the battles they participated in during the beta were actually the Count's retreat battle.

And the battlefield was named Bloodweep Town.

It was already certain that they would have to retreat toward Cohn; with their current strength, they would be no match for the integrated Blood Clan.

Therefore, preparations could begin from here.

Next was the most important thing—the Genesis Stone.

Since his "cheat" was basically certain to be generated by the Genesis Stone based on his own thoughts, then to increase his strength and perfect this so-called "cheat," he would need more Genesis Stones.

Furthermore, he needed to increase his own strength; he wondered if an experience point system could be added.

Training was of paramount importance. A digitized body made it difficult for his physical strength to be exhausted.

Moreover, the recovery of HP was very easy, so he didn't have to worry about issues caused by overexertion.

It just so happened that he was currently in the rear, so training should be relatively easy.

Based on his understanding of the plot, the upcoming battle would happen in a month at the earliest, or perhaps half a month at the least.

During this time, through training, he could certainly reach Level 2. Combined with his combat skills, he would be sufficient to deal with Level 3 enemies.

As long as he didn't show his face to fight famous characters, ensuring his safety would be no problem at all.

He could also test the equipment system and look for meaningful items.

He could also test whether he could digitize potions or food.

After all, consumables in a game should belong to a part of the equipment system.

Although food in the game had no taste, it could provide buff effects.

Once potions were digitized, they might become a little more useful.

Even if the effect of the digitized version could only be used on himself.

The main point was that although his mana had a total cap of only 12 points, it would slowly recover. Although it was slow, it would feel like a waste if it wasn't used up.

That was something he could not tolerate.

(End of Chapter)