WAS ACCIDENTLY DELETED APOLOGIES
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It had been one night since I checked into Mel's Inn. After waking up and rushing out for breakfast, I headed straight to a nearby restaurant.
Not only did they have a special 25% discount if you bought two items, but the food actually looked delicious. Because of that, the line was ridiculously long but that worked in my favor. My real goal wasn't the food. I wanted to listen in on what people were talking about: travel, money, magic, creatures, demons, anything that could give me some insight into this world.
Though, it was a bit annoying that people wouldn't stop staring at me. Was it the blindfold? Or maybe the clothes? Seriously, dude, I'm getting discriminated against everywhere I go.
"Can't believe this greedy place is actually doing a discount," said a man in front of me.
"Well, you think they're running out of customers!" another replied.
"Doesn't matter. Even with this, their prices are still ten times higher than normal," another one grumbled.
Not exactly the kind of information I was hoping for. The only gossip floating around was that this place was overpriced and greedy.
About ten minutes later, I finally reached the front of the line and glanced at the menu.
"Ehh?!"
I'd assumed this place would have bland, underdeveloped food, but I was wrong. There were tons of western-style dishes.
"Could I get a hamburg steak and a ruff omelette?" I asked the cashier.
He gave me a weird look, rubbed his eyes, and then looked at me again.
"Coming right up," he said, fingers fumbling over the counter as he scribbled down the order.
He stared at me one last time, a small smirk tugging at the corner of his lips, almost like he was mocking me.
I sighed. "Is it the blindfold or the clothes?"
He froze for a moment, then stammered, "N-no, I promise I wasn't making fun of you!" But I could still see the smirk he was trying to hide.
"Hurry it up, will ya? We've been waiting here forever!" someone from the back of the line shouted angrily.
The cashier quickly cleared his throat. "Erm, your total is two gold coins. We only take Strahl currency."
I handed him the coins from my pouch. "Is it the blindfold or the clothes, man? I need to know."
He just stared at me blankly, as I walked toward an empty seat.
It's definitely the clothes. People probably aren't used to this style, or maybe it's the blindfold. Either way, I doubt many folks here walk around wearing one all the time.
A few minutes later, my food arrived and it tasted amazing. "Just like on Earth," I muttered. The hamburg steak came in generous portions, and the ruff omelette was perfectly eggy. I loved everything about it. I could eat here every day.
Across the room, a table of men were deep in conversation. They carried weapons; some held staves. Mages and warriors,probably a party of old friends or seasoned adventurers.
"Ayy, that's the big man who came from Strahl!" said a muscular guy whose arms looked like they were trying to burst out of his sleeves. He wore red trousers, a black shirt, and had a large axe slung across his back. His eyes were brown, his hands rough and callused.
The man clapped another on the back, a priest in a black robe with blonde hair and striking blue eyes.
"Big shot? Who, me? No way," the priest replied with a chuckle.
"Good to see you haven't gotten too cocky," the muscular man said.
"Yeah, just so you know, I could take you out with one punch, hahaha!" another man laughed.
"Good to see you guys too," the priest said warmly.
"So, how was Strahl City, Starboy? Take out any demons?!" the muscular man asked, swinging his axe as if reenacting a battle.
"Kind of," the priest replied with a shrug. "I mostly dealt with curses, you know, the demonic spells those creatures cast on humans. Needless to say, it wouldn't be wise for a demon to show up in a Holy City."
Another man at the table, cloaked in a long robe and carrying a massive staff with a moon emblem on top, spoke up.
"True. Ever since the Demon King was defeated by Hero Himmel's party, they've been in hiding," the mage said.
"But didn't Hero Himmel die two years ago?" another man asked.
"Yeah, but the demons were already in hiding by then. Their king's dead, so it doesn't really matter," the mage replied.
Interesting. So the main plot is already finished? Guess I wasn't summoned to defeat the Demon King, then. Usually, this kind of setup starts with some royal idiot dragging a hero into their world to fight evil.
"You know," the priest continued, "they're not just hiding. They're blending in with humans. My superiors say it's getting harder to track them because they've learned to disguise themselves as people."
"What?! But can't you sense their magic or something?" the muscular man said.
"It's not that simple. They've learned to suppress their mana signatures too," the priest explained.
"Hah! Guess you'll be working overtime to catch them now!" the muscular man laughed loudly.
Their conversation was interrupted when the waiter arrived with trays of food. The group immediately dug in like starved pigs.
"This won't be enough for all of us," the mage said between bites.
"Bring us seconds!" the muscular man shouted, his mouth still full.
That was my cue to leave. I learned quite a bit today. So, demons are blending in with humans now? Interesting. I'd love to fight one someday.
"Maybe this world isn't so boring after all," I said with a grin as I left the restaurant and made my way back to the inn.
"Back already, ya weirdo," the innkeeper called out as I stepped inside.
"Do you live at that till, you baldy?" I shot back, laughing.
He grunted. "It's called having a job. Bet you don't even know what that is, you homeless freak."
"Wow, that one hurt!" I said dramatically, jumping up the stairs toward my room.
Reaching my door,number sixty-three,I slid the key into the lock and pushed it open.
Collapsing onto the bed, I sighed. "A refreshing breakfast and some good info. Not a bad start to the morning."
The next thing on my list would probably be finding some friends. But man, that innkeeper is ice-cold toward me.
I lifted the right side of my blindfold, revealing my Six Eyes. The flow of mana in this world still interfered with my senses.
From my previous experiments, I'd learned that mana works differently than cursed energy. Cursed energy has to be guided, molded, and directed with precision. Magic, on the other hand, feels more… independent.
For example, with magic, you just imagine fire, and it appears. But with cursed energy, you have to control everything down to the atomic level, deciding how it moves, how it burns, how it behaves. Magic skips the "how" and focuses on the "what." It's less about the process and more about the end result.
I ignited a small flame in my palm. It flickered softly, glowing orange. "Much simpler than cursed energy," I said to myself. Then a thought hit me. "But maybe if I apply cursed energy principles to mana…"
Focusing my mind, I began manipulating the flame at the subatomic level. The fire grew larger, then shifted into a deep, glowing blue.
"Ha! Just as I thought." I grinned. "By manually guiding the process like cursed energy, the result is stronger and the mana cost is lower. It's more efficient."
Normally, doing that kind of microscopic manipulation would be impossible, you can't see atoms with the naked eye. But the Six Eyes allowed me to perceive both cursed energy and mana at the smallest scale. Combine that with my brilliance, and you get a deadly combo.
I shifted the flame again. It transformed into a shard of ice, then solidified into a chunk of rock before fading into nothing.
"Seems like magic in this world isn't limited to a single type of technique," I mused. "That means I can branch out a lot more here."
If someone asked which I preferred, though, I'd still go with cursed energy. Years of experience give it an edge. But give mana a few years under my belt, and it might have a chance.