The New Gate (LN)

Since there was still some time before dinner, Shin and the others split up, one stayed in the room and the other went to explore the inn.

Milt and Sety were the ones who suggested it. They had the vibe of overly excited students on a school trip.

Shin, Yuzuha, Milt, and Sety were going to explore, while the others were going to relax in their rooms.

The inn had restaurants, gardens, playgrounds, other things familiar in Japan, and shops that were a little different. One of them was a store selling weapons. Perhaps because the inn was located in a city where martial arts and blacksmithing festivals were held, everything was rare and valuable, and there was a row of items that would be featured in a normal store.

“I’ve never seen so many rare items on display.”

“Want to buy some?”

“I’m torn.”

Shin was unsure if he wanted to buy some of the items at Milt’s casual suggestion. If he started thinking about it, there would be no end to it, such as the fact that they might have been made with techniques he didn’t know about.

“You really like it, don’t you? More of a blacksmithing maniac than a weapons enthusiast?”

“A man is always fascinated by swords and spears. Well, I’m sure that while I was making them, they became more interesting and I got into it.”

The avatar could be moved in the game, just as you would move your own body. This made it possible to do things that were not possible in games where the avatar was controlled from off-screen.

The more elaborate the game, the more things you could do.

This was especially true for THE NEW GATE. Shin still couldn’t forget how impressed he was when he first tried blacksmithing, making a fire, heating the iron, and hammering it, and doing the same kind of work as the real thing.

There was a time when he found this kind of work troublesome, but now it was a fond memory.

“There were times when I tried to use materials I couldn’t handle and it caused me a lot of pain.”

“So Shin had a time like that, too.”

Sety said in surprise.

From her point of view, it seemed Shin had good skills from the beginning.

“That’s because I work in the forge, holed up in it. I’m sure Schnee and others don’t know about it either.”

Support characters seemed to have some memories from their time in the game, but Shin rarely took them to the forge, so they might think he was joking when he said he had failures.

“By the way, what do you mean it caused you a lot of pain?”

“Yeah, in forging, there is a process of mixing materials with metal, or carving the material itself to process it into weapons and armor. Some materials cause abnormal conditions just by touching them, or can only be used as a forging material under certain conditions. When handling such materials, you need to have the appropriate equipment, skills, and facilities. But back then, I didn’t know about that and just tried to use them normally.”

Shin spoke as he left the weapon shop and headed towards the garden.

At the time, Shin had finally gotten his own forge, and he was still a human. And at the same time, he was getting a little carried away. He was happy to have prepared expensive materials, thinking that it would be okay to make the forging a little more difficult, but he mishandled them, affected by both 【Bloodred Poison】 and 【Hi-Paralyze】 at the same time, and died in his home forge. 

Although it was quite an embarrassing thing to do, no one saw him, and it was only a game. If one were afraid of the death penalty in a game, there would be no technological advances or new discoveries, so he had quite a few failures like this.

Milt, who was listening to the story, grimaced slightly.

“Wow, you’re acting like berserkers challenging an opponent they can’t beat…”

“Not many people know this, but the production guilds do some pretty stupid things too, you know? It wasn’t uncommon for labs to explode when developing chemicals, and it was common for tool development to result in strange objects. The many useful tools that everyone used were only completed thanks to the failures behind the scenes.”

“No, it’s no good if explosions are common! Ah, so that’s why the production guilds were in the corners of town.”

Milt was a bit convinced, even as she rambled on to Shin, who was laughing as he spoke.

In some cities, the area where the production guilds were located was designated as a danger zone. There was probably some joking around to cause an explosion because it was a game, but even if they were serious, there were times when damage was done to the surroundings.

Until the properties of the materials were revealed, it was impossible to know what would happen. That was the material of THE NEW GATE. The consensus among the production guilds was that the reason there were so many strange explosions must have been the intention of the management.

“But Milt uses poison too, so surely you had similar experiences?”

“I was not doing anything as crazy as the production guys in my line of work. The materials are what they are, so I took proper defenses and countermeasures.”

“Tch, what a boring life.”

“You are the one who is strange, Shin.”

Shin was hoping for some interesting failure stories, but Milt didn’t seem to be as proactive in experimenting as the production workers.

“Listening to Shin’s story, it seems like I took a safe route from basic to advanced stage. I feel like I have that experience to draw on when I experiment on my own.”

Sety has acquired some production-related skills using items and procedures that Shin had acquired. Unlike Shin, she didn’t just try things out from a blind perspective.

While the system did not allow for such a thing, even Shin did not want his support characters to explode or to die strange deaths. In that regard, he had acquired the items and procedures with reasonable funds.

“You’re still researching, right Shin? It doesn’t seem like there’s been any explosions yet.”

“My past experiences are coming in handy. I can kind of tell when it is about to explode.”

“How many explosions have you caused…?”

Shin could only give a wry smile at Sety’s amazement.

No matter what anyone said, he was having fun. He had thought that if it was going to explode, he could use that to his advantage. 

Even if it was about to explode, Shin in his current state would be able to contain it with ease. Even if that wasn’t the case, the Moon Shrine’s forge was an extremely sturdy building. It wouldn’t be shaken by a small explosion, and the mechanisms to prevent anything dangerous from escaping were perfect.

“Let’s wrap up this scary story now. We’re heading to the garden.”

Milt called out to Shin, and he turned his gaze outside the building.

The pathway they had taken led to a veranda, where he could see the beautifully landscaped trees.

“I don’t know much about gardens, but I don’t think they’re bad.”

“Only by the looks.”

Sety’s answer was suggestive.

“What do you think, Sety?”

“I don’t think they look bad either. But as someone who lived with Tsumugin, it feels a bit strange.”

The garden where Sety lived was maintained in a very good environment by the Tsumugin a.k.a Tsumugi tribe[1]. 

No particular plant grew too much, and even rare plants grew, which was the result of Tsumugin’s ability to adjust the balance.

Sety said that this one seemed a bit forceful in comparison.

“Even plants have their own compatibility. Take that tree, for example.”

Sety pointed to a tree about two-mels tall with moderately lush leaves. It was a Thibo, a tree whose leaves could be used to make poison neutralizers.

“Actually, it should be a bit more leafy at this time of year. But if the leaves grow any more than that, it will lose its balance with the other plants in terms of appearance. They probably limit its growth by not letting the roots spread any further. Maybe they even prune them.”

“If you call it a technique of keeping the appearance looking good, I guess you’re right.”

The tree was not in its original shape, but there’s no sign of anything withering. The person who managed this place must be doing a good job of that.

Shin’s impression of the garden was that it looked like a Japanese garden, and he didn’t find it particularly strange.

“I see, you can look at it that way. I had an image of what a garden should be like, so it didn’t feel strange to me.”

“The trees don’t seem to be weak, and it’s not wrong to entertain the guests, I’m sure.” 

Sety said while looking at the garden, to the impressed Milt.

“Maybe that’s why not many people come.”

“I wonder. I think there’s simply no culture of enjoying this kind of scenery, or rather, the atmosphere.”

Adventurers see a variety of scenery when they get requests, and merchants see luxury goods whether they like it or not.

Shin agreed with Sety’s opinion that the culture of enjoying looking at gardens may not be well established.

“We should go back to our rooms. After we take a bath in the hot spring, it will be time for dinner.”

It was a little early, but it would be bad to keep Schnee and the others waiting, so Shin suggested.

“Hot springs and food. This feels like a trip.”

“Let’s check out the entertainment facilities too!”

Milt was filled with anticipation, and Sety was also ready to switch gears and have fun.

Shin and his group took a slightly different route back to their room, where they met up with Schnee and the others and headed for the hot springs.

The room also had a small bathroom, but everyone agreed that they would like to use the large bathhouse since they had come this far.

Shin and Shibaid took the men’s bath, while all the other members took the women’s bath. Yuzuha was also in human form for this occasion.

Kagerou was not allowed to enter the baths with them due to the terms of use, so he waited in Tiera’s shadow. He would be bathed later in the small bathroom.

The milky white water was a little hot, and when Shin immersed himself up to his shoulders, he couldn’t help but let out a moan.

“Ahh… hot springs really are different.”

“Yes, my fatigue seems to melt away in the hot water.”

Shin muttered earnestly, and Shibaid agreed.

The signboard in the changing room described various hot spring’s benefits, but at any rate, it felt good. Those were the only words he could think of right now.

The bath at Moon Shrine wasn’t bad by any means, but it still couldn’t beat a hot spring.

“It’s like we have the place to ourselves. There’s no one here but us.”

“There are presences gathering in the room. They’re probably already eating. It’s probably because there aren’t many people there to begin with. Many of them don’t think of baths as something to enjoy, but as a way to wash away dirt. I guess that’s not the case where Shin is from?”

“It’s not that it’s wrong to think of it as washing away dirt. But it can also have other effects besides washing away dirt, like relieving fatigue or relaxing.”

“I think I’ve realized that since I started working with Shin and the others. I wish the people of every country could afford to do the same.”

“I understand that there are people who take baths frequently and those who don’t. And it’s hard to heat up a bath here.”

In reality, especially in Japan, it was not common not to take a bath for several days. 

However, in this world, baths were a luxury item, and some circumstances made it difficult to take a bath casually.

The average citizen wiped their body with a cloth dampened with hot or cold water, or poured water over themselves.

In such a situation, Shin had always stayed at inns with baths, and when traveling, he could take a bath whenever he wanted by bringing out the Moon Shrine. This could be considered quite special. Only a very limited number of people had a portable building with a bath.

However, in this case, the bathing time was more likely to be simply different.

“We’re getting naked together as men. Let’s change things up and talk about something we don’t usually do.”

When Shin spoke up, Shibaid grinned.

“Hmm, let me ask a few personal questions.”

“With you on the other side, it’s hard to predict what you’ll say, Shibaid.”

It was rare for the two men to spend alone together since they were in a party. Shin listened to Shibaid’s questions, a little on guard.

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[1] Tsumugin was first mentioned HERE

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