One month later, they stopped at a small town.
It would still take at least another month to reach their destination—possibly even three if they moved slowly.
Mel Carlo was a little puzzled.
After all, they had been traveling steadily for the past month, so why suddenly stop in such a small town?
“Mr. Freli, when will we depart?”
“The road ahead is a bit rough. There might be Monsters on the way, so I’m planning to hire an adventurer—or better yet, find one going the same way. That way, we won’t have to spend extra funds.”
Freli tied the carriage outside the Adventurers’ Guild.
Claire followed behind Mel Carlo.
The two of them could still talk a bit, but since Mel Carlo wasn’t truly a child, they didn’t have many common topics.
“Kids, can you watch the carriage? I’ll go inside and see if anyone is heading to Oak City.”
After Freli entered the Adventurers’ Guild, Mel Carlo stood in place, twisting his neck.
He really wanted to go in and see what an Adventurers’ Guild looked like—after all, adventure was always the main theme in all kinds of isekai stories.
But someone had to watch the goods, and Claire couldn’t leave.
Besides, Claire was just a little girl—it was better for him to stay here.
“Mel, why do you always ignore me?”
Claire slowly moved closer to Mel.
“I just don’t know what to say to you. If I really disliked someone, I wouldn’t even look at them.”
Mel stretched and explained to Claire.
Over the past month, they’d gotten to know each other a bit.
It had been a dull but peaceful month.
After all, on the road, merchants could occasionally sell some goods.
[Back Jump] proficiency increased by 1500, bringing the current proficiency to 3101.
[Steal] had only been practiced 150 times, and now the proficiency was 470.
Since they needed to conserve energy at all times—they didn’t know if they’d run into mountain bandits or the like on the journey.
Current Effort Points: 33457.
If he were to spend it all on the lottery, a single 10-draw only cost 100 Effort Points.
But right now, the prizes were useless to him.
He didn’t dare to sell them or eat them openly.
Generally, for isekai protagonists with systems, the system would prompt some kind of update at times like this.
But all he had was this menu bar, completely unresponsive.
He could only save them for emergencies.
Of the supplies drawn before, only the instant noodles had been partially used.
“Mel, will you join the Demon King’s Army in the future?”
“I’m not sure. To me, it doesn’t matter who I join. I can’t say what the future holds—I know too little about this world.”
“Yeah, me too. There are too many things I don’t know in this world.”
Claire nodded.
She wasn’t sure what her future would be, so she could only live on with hope.
Those who often complain about not being able to see the future are precisely the ones who have seen their own future.
Not long after, Freli came out, accompanied by a female swordsman.
From her attire alone, she looked very experienced—short clothes, short sleeves, the muscles on her arms, and the sword at her waist all indicated she was a capable adventurer.
Level: ?
It seemed this female swordsman’s level was at least 10 higher than his own.
After all this time training, Mel Carlo found that his level hadn’t increased—he hadn’t hunted any Monsters.
Effortful training was his only cheat, at least he knew his hard work would always yield results—feedback in the most straightforward way.
“This adventurer will be accompanying us to Oak City.”
“Hello, I’m Kate. I’ll be traveling with you from now on.”
The female swordsman greeted the two cheerfully.
Mel Carlo nodded slightly at the swordswoman in front of him.
She had black hair like him.
It seemed black hair and black eyes were also common in this world.
“Hello, Miss Kate. Please take care of us on the journey.”
Claire also responded warmly.
“No, I should be the one thanking you. I wanted to go to Oak City, but I’ve been waiting a long time—there haven’t been any caravans or travelers. I heard the number of Monsters has increased lately, so there are fewer people on this road.”
Kate waved her hands hurriedly.
The journey so far had also confirmed something for Mel Carlo.
Most ordinary people were only Level 1, regardless of their status.
Also, aside from adventurers, ordinary people didn’t seem to talk much about levels—since level didn’t decide everything.
Nobles were born nobles—it was decided by blood.
“Is this your son?”
After getting in the carriage, Kate looked at Mel Carlo with some confusion.
“No, he’s my boss. He hired me to take him to Oak City.”
Hearing this, and considering Mel Carlo’s age, she had a bold thought.
Could he be a young master from some noble family out adventuring?
After all, she had snuck out to adventure herself.
“Miss Kate, do you have any questions?”
“No, no.”
Kate quickly looked away, a bit embarrassed at having stared at someone.
But after a while, Kate glanced back at Mel’s face.
She whispered,
“Little brother, did you sneak out too?”
“Hmm?”
Mel Carlo froze.
What kind of question was that?
But he soon realized the other party might think he was a young master from some family who’d run away.
“No, I’m an orphan. Miss Kate, you must be the one who snuck out, right?”
“I did not!”
Kate denied it immediately.
But the faster she denied it, the more it proved she’d snuck out herself.
However, this world didn’t have the idiom “there’s no silver buried here.”
“But going to Oak City is good—I hear the Monsters there are much weaker. It’s a great place for adventurers to grow.”
Mel Carlo looked at the flustered Kate and deliberately changed the subject.
He was still a bit curious—Kate’s muscles didn’t seem like something a noble could have, but exceptions weren’t impossible.
Some noble ladies were skilled in horseback riding and archery too.
“Don’t look down on me! I’m very strong!”
Kate looked at Mel with dissatisfaction.
She felt the child was underestimating her.
“Of course, I know you’re strong. Are you Level 10?”
“No, I won’t tell you. Adventurers must never reveal their bottom line so easily, little brother—I know that much.”
Kate crossed her arms confidently.
Before leaving home, she had done her homework—she wasn’t some sheltered lady!
“I just wanted to see what skills you have so I can learn from you.”
Whether skills beyond one’s level could be learned from others’ instruction was something he hadn’t fully confirmed yet.
At least, with the skills Anke had taught before, he couldn’t master them across levels.
After he killed someone and fled, Uncle Anke was probably in for a headache.