**Chapter 32: If There Was No Information About the Delivery Service, Then I'm Completely Unrelated, Right?**
**Day 22 – Early Afternoon – On the Road**
A passage permit. Proof of identity. "Haruka" written right on it, and the guarantor is Meri-Meri-san's full name.
Now I can come and go freely. No entry fee. I got so excited I went in and out about five times and got yelled at by the gate guards.
So now it's hard to enter the town again → classic otaku-hunting time. Today I'm taking the other road—the one that branches away from the river. I'll be leaving the fish behind too, but I'll come back by night.
There seems to be another town this way. Meri…? Meri-Meri-san said her dad went to the neighboring town. If Dad went there, maybe the otakus went too.
Today it's this direction.
Sprint.
Hmm… am I getting faster? Probably the "Acceleration Boots – Acceleration +30%, Skill: Instant Body" I stuffed into the leather boots is helping, so it's hard to tell.
Feels like I've covered a decent distance, but I only just left the town.
Sorry for badmouthing the bureaucrats earlier—they really do need those signs. "X km to go" and stuff. I have no idea how fast I'm going. But banners? Absolutely not. And no traffic safety slogans either. "A moment of inattention, a lifetime of injury"? Even if you pay attention you still crash—because goblins are right there. They don't just get injured; their whole life ends and they go to the next one. If you've got time to write slogans, guide the goblins to safety instead. Every single time I slam into them it hurts! Seriously! They jump out swinging clubs! I'm not just paying attention—I'm on full alert with presence detection! This isn't traffic safety anymore; it's full-on collision warfare!
Anyway, sprinting.
Knocking goblins flying, sprinting.
While I'm at it, knocking kobolds flying too.
I'm starting to lose track of the goal. Was I supposed to knock the otakus flying?
And again—just like yesterday—a carriage is being attacked. Is this a trend now? Should I join the trend? Start attacking carriages?
Up close I see "Omui" written huge on the side of the carriage. Company name? Delivery service? If they're like old-school couriers, I need to commission book deliveries.
I rush in.
The attackers are armed soldiers. The defenders are also armed soldiers. Isekai delivery business is apparently packed with danger. Probably full of late deliveries too.
First I blow away the non-delivery-side soldiers who are in the way. "Blow away" meaning I can't stop so I just ram them—goblins, kobolds, soldiers, they all go flying anyway. Isekai road conditions are terrible.
"Um… you're… Haruka-kun, right?"
Huh? I don't know anyone in the isekai delivery business. And again—an ossan. Isn't the ossan ratio in this isekai way too high? Normally there'd be beautiful girls squealing and crowding around me, right? Isekai standards. Why am I always surrounded by ossans? Encircled by armed ossans? Why are both enemies and allies ossans? Is this isekai trying to defeat me with ossan body odor?!
"Uh… yeah, that's me? But… who are you? Aren't you a delivery guy?"
Wait—if not, then who's going to deliver my books? Who's going to go all the way to the dense forest and bring me books? Fake couriers?
"The name's written huge on the carriage, but I heard it was a black-haired, black-eyed boy who charges at super speed and collides with things… Didn't my daughter invite you today?"
"Daughter? Oh—Merimeri-san's dad? The lord of the nameless town's Otou-san?"
More annoying ossans start swarming, so I drop the temperature on their feet and the ground with "Temperature," then freeze them solid with "Ice Magic."
Once they can't move, I set their hands and hair on fire. Go bald, you deserve it for trying to kill me with aging stench.
I mean, look—as someone who dabbled in chuunibyou (even if it's black history now), I always thought I should at least try "Ice-Flame Hell Inferno" once, y'know?
So I actually did it—and what I got was a pathetic crowd of bald, burned, frostbitten ossans with scorched heads and frozen feet who can't move… Wait, hold on. Inferno's supposed to look cool and dramatic, right? What is this? Just a bunch of ugly, smelly, burned-bald ossans? This isn't Ice-Flame Hell; it's Bald-Burn Hell. I don't want a technique like that! This is wrong! This isn't Inferno… Inferno is supposed to be more— (tears)
"…Helllooo? You listening? I heard you don't listen, but at least fight or listen or something—why are you monologuing in the middle of this? The burned soldiers over there look pitiful. At least finish them off properly before you monologue. Also, stop calling it the 'nameless town'—it says 'Nameless' huge on the carriage. And I'm her father, not 'Otou-san.' I haven't even introduced myself yet. Listen so I can introduce myself! Oh, and if you call her 'Merimeri' again my daughter will seriously cry, so stop!"
・ ・ ・
All the bald ossans got captured. Felt bad so I splashed mushroom potions on them. Wounds healed, but the baldness would take a while Scary stuff, Inferno (follicle genocide). Too dangerous—sealing it away (pretending it never happened).
But why is it that every time I go looking for the otakus, I run into massive amounts of goblins and ossans? Does my presence detection fail to distinguish otakus from goblins from ossans? If so, maybe the idiots I left in the forest are indistinguishable too.
"You're Haruka-kun? Thank you so much for saving both my daughter and me. I'm Meri-Meri's mother, Mulimuul. Today I cared more about thanking you than some pointless treaty with the neighboring town. The situation isn't exactly ideal for saying 'nice to meet you,' but thank you for saving my daughter—and for saving us too. I don't even know how to express my gratitude. Truly, thank you."
Oh—ossan ratio just dropped. A beautiful-type older lady in a dress stepped out of the carriage, plus a not-young maid… okay, ossan ratio is down, but my energy is still down. Average age is way too high. The cast's average age is over 30 now. Who is this for?
"No, the treaty with the neighboring town is actually extremely important—it's not pointless at all. And Haruka-kun, let me introduce myself properly: I'm the lord of Omui, Meroto-Sam Sim Omui. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for saving my family."
After that came a complicated spiel about nobles, other towns, the country's name, the king's name, etc.—I let it all wash over me. I repeat: I let it wash over me. It's definitely not because I couldn't remember all the names and lost track of what was being said. I just tuned it out.
In the end it turns out yesterday's bandits were elite soldiers hand-picked by a rival noble, given top-tier gear and disguised as bandits to kidnap Meri-Meri-san and use her for blackmail. But when their best men and equipment didn't come back, they gathered more numbers and tried to attack Meri-Dad and Mulimuri-san this time.
Result: no information on the otakus. No information on the delivery service. …Wait a minute, I'm completely unrelated to any of this. Of course I tuned it out.
Back in the carriage, heading to town again.
Got thanked nonstop the whole ride. Got the town name hammered into me nonstop.
Today the gate guards didn't yell at me.
Class Rep yelled at me.
Come to think of it… didn't I say I wasn't leaving town today…? Huh? I only went out to buy soy sauce…? Why…?