第１５７掘：運命の出会いはいりません (Part1)
**Dungeon 157: I Don’t Need a Fated Encounter**
**Side: Yuki**
"Yes. I, Yuki, am currently infiltrating a city that appears to be within the Zilba Empire's territory."
"Um, Yuki-san? This is supposed to be a serious infiltration... it’s not like we’re filming a variety show."
"It’s fine, isn't it, Tori? This is more fun, right?"
"Listen, Riel, I hope you understand that because we are Doppelgangers and couldn't use human bodies, we had to send only Yuki-san and Ria to infiltrate the enemy city..."
"I know, I know, it’s fine."
"Are you sure about that?"
As you can gather from their conversation, the Doppelganger bodies have a weakness: if you inhabit a body that is too different from your original form, it becomes difficult to control. The sensory input is apparently far too alien.
I hadn't changed my species, just my size and features, so I didn't have that problem. I have no idea how one is supposed to move rabbit ears or cat ears.
Mauve and the others haven't gotten used to their Doppelganger bodies yet, and since they can't master forms that differ from their own, they didn't come along. Ria, however, wears her Hero equipment during combat, which leaves a completely different impression than the simple armor she’s wearing now, so I brought her along.
As for me, I’ve set my Doppelganger body to look like Kiyu for the time being.
"Even if you were joking when you called in, that was harsh."
"...Yes. The smell is quite intense."
This place feels exactly like medieval Europe. Well, I’ve never actually been there, but isn't this what the Hundred Years' War era looked like?
If you step off the main street and peek into the alleys, the stench of excrement drifts through the air, and human corpses are just lying around like it’s nothing. I suppose that’s the natural scenery of a land plagued by constant warfare.
This city is in the Zilba Empire, and it’s called Fail. I heard that they captured it from the neighboring Enaria Holy Kingdom just three months ago. I managed to gather that much information just by asking a random passerby.
"Next up, a tavern. That’s the classic spot for gathering information, right?"
"Yes. A tavern or an inn would be good for gathering information, I think."
"Oh, right, there are inns too. Actually, shouldn't we secure a place to sleep first and then ask the innkeeper?"
"I think that would be best. We don't even know where the taverns are."
I don't want to walk straight into a tavern and get dragged into a brawl, either. As Ria said, it’s unlikely that an innkeeper would treat us poorly if we came as paying customers, so we should find an inn and gather information from there. We can save the tavern for last. There’s no point in going during the day, anyway.
"Still, I wonder where the inn is. Let’s try asking at that shop over there."
"Yes."
We headed toward the shop that caught our eye.
"Hey, welcome. Looking to buy some weapons... though you don't look like the type, kid."
"Oh, does it look that way?"
"Just a hunch. That armor you’re wearing, it’s brand new, right?"
"Yeah."
"And the lady’s gear is new and high-quality, too. Must have been made by someone with quite the skill, eh?"
"Oh, you hit the nail on the head. I had an acquaintance with great skill make it for us."
"Great skill" is an understatement—it’s cheat-tier.
"Anyway, we’re looking for an inn. Oh, I’ll take this knife."
I picked up a bundle of knives, likely intended for throwing.
"You’ve got an eye for quality. That’ll be one silver coin and thirty iron coins."
"Here you go."
I pulled the amount from my wallet.
In this New Continent, there exists an "iron coin" with a lower value than a copper coin. It seems 100 iron coins make one copper coin, and from there, it follows the standard decimal system where 10 coins equal the next denomination.
That said, apparently iron coins existed on the other continent too, but due to monsters and constant warfare, iron was mostly repurposed into weapons and farm tools. They say it’s easier because you don't have to do complicated math. I can understand that logic, but as someone used to using 1-yen and 10-yen coins in Japan, having only copper coins as the base unit feels a bit... off.
Oh, and about the money—I swiped it from the Zilba Empire soldiers we captured. Well, what’s yours is mine. They should be grateful they still have their lives.
"Well then, do you two have any preferences?"
"Let’s see. Not just a place to sleep, but somewhere with good food."
"In that case, head east down this street and you’ll find an inn called 'Rabbit.' I recommend that one."
"Thanks. I’ll come back if I need anything else."
"Come again. Don't go dying in the mercenary business. It’s no fun to lose your life at your age."
"I know, I know."
With that, we left the weapon shop.
"He seemed like a kind man."
"Yeah, he even warned us not to die. It might be part of his business, but he wouldn't spread bad information. If his reputation drops, it affects his trade. If we need anything else, it might be worth asking him again."
"Yes. But for now, we’re heading to the inn, right?"
"Right. I don't know which way is east, but we’ll figure it out as we walk."
People living in the city can probably tell directions by instinct, but we’ve just arrived, so after walking for a bit, I lose track of which way is west or east.
"Oh, looks like we’re in luck."
"You’re right. 'Rabbit'—that’s definitely the inn the man mentioned."
As we walked down a random street, we spotted the sign for "Rabbit." We walked straight into the inn.
"Oh, welcome. Are you here to stay? Or just for a meal?"
Inside, a man who looked like a decent fellow greeted us. Unlike the bearded man at the weapon shop, this one had a gentle, refined air about him.
"We’d like a room with meals included. A room for two."
"Right, that’ll be three silver coins per night. You might think it’s expensive, but I serve food that’s worth it."
"I’m looking forward to the food the weapon shop guy mentioned."
I said that and placed nine silver coins on the counter. If we stay for three days, we should be able to gather a decent amount of information.