「……I see. So, the only one that can kill a Living Mail is another Living Mail.」
After finishing off the bandits, the tavern’s guards pointed their swords toward me next.
They didn’t display any hostile or murderous intent, but they were quite wary of me regardless. They merely pointed their weapons at me due to their fight-or-flight instincts kicking in.
In any case, I didn’t have any reason to provoke them.
『I’m not an enemy. I merely want to buy stuff from your establishment.』
Since we can understand each other’s words, I thought that I should show I meant them no harm through my actions as well. And so, I raised both hands.
I’m not sure if they understood what I meant by it though. I also wondered if there was any meaning to raising my hands since they were plenty lethal enough anyway.
However, the guards seemed dumbfounded by my actions, as evidenced by the widened eyes peeking through the cloth wrapped around their heads.
「B-Buying stuff? But you’re a Living Mail?」
「Even if a lump o’ metal like ya bought food, just how’re ya gonna eat them in the first place?」
「More importantly, just how is this thing speaking in the first place……?」
The words of the one who spoke last were basically delivered in murmurs. Now that I got a better look at them, there was obviously someone who didn’t remotely look like the rest. He clearly looked the part of a merchant.
Apparently, he was the owner of that establishment. I would have liked to have put on a more civil and peaceful impression, but that’s all but impossible with my current look.
I could just reveal that I was a human under the armor by unequipping it, but I felt that it would be far too risky to do so, especially in this situation, so I decided against it. It would be a mess if I ended up being treated as a monster that came out of a Jack-in-the-Box even if I wasn’t a walking, talking skeleton like Damar.
『I have money here, so give me something to eat. Anything’s fine.』
I showed them a cloth pouch that was completely unsuited for a Machina after untying it from my waist and then shook it around a bit. The eyes of the guy who seemed to be the tavern owner widened even more and then blinked repeatedly after hearing light metallic clinking sounds.
He let out a sigh after seeing that I didn’t budge in the slightest.
「Alright, I understand…… If ya have money ta spend, then yer a customer. Doesn’t matter if it’s a human, chimeraria, or an armor like you.」
『Thank you.』
I didn’t get what the word “chimeraria” was referring to, but it seemed that I was acknowledged as a customer in the end and invited inside the tavern. I felt a bit apologetic for giving them quite a shock though.
The tavern owner ordered the guards to dispose of the dead bandit’s bodies and laid out dried meat and large pieces of bread on the counter.
「Are ya fine with these? Yer not human after all.」
『It seems that there’s been a misunderstanding. I’m actually a human.』
「Yer human? Ye can wear such heavy armor an’ move like the wind, an’ ye say yer human? Fine. Even if yer human like ya said, yer one monster of a human.」
『Calling me a monster is a bit much, don’t you think? I can’t really offer any proof, but all I can say is that I’m really human.』
I couldn’t help but scratch the back of my head at the tavern owner’s words. But all that resulted in were metallic scraping sounds.
「……Well, ya did end up helpin’ us out. If ya say yer human, then I suppose I’ll just take yer word fer it.」
『Much appreciated. Here. Just take what you need.』
I threw some bronze coins out of my pouch and onto the counter. The tavern owner exhaled sharply and hastily counted them. He then proceeded to put most of the coins inside his trouser pocket.
I wonder if the value of bronze coins was just that low or if the prices of items in this tavern were just that exorbitant. I didn’t have proper info about the exact value of money in this era at present, so I couldn’t even make a protest. I decided to let it go and returned the remaining three coins silently into the cloth pouch. The pouch that had become much lighter had deflated greatly as well.
There was no container to put the meat and black bread I just bought in, so I had no choice but to carry them directly.
Seeing my increasingly incomprehensible appearance, the tavern owner let out another big sigh and threw a tattered jute bag toward me.
I offered my thanks again, and the tavern owner muttered some things under his breath while massaging the wrinkles on his forehead.
「Why is such a monstrous human like ya actin’ like a drifter? If ye can use Livin’ Mail that good, then ye’d be able to make it big in any country’s military. And even if ya get suspected as a non-human, it’d be fine as long as ya take that thing off, ain’t it?」
『It’s because I’m a coward and a worrywart. I simply prefer not to show my face if I can help it.』
「The hell’re ya worryin’ about!? I mean…… no human will be yer match as long as ya have that Livin’ Mail with ya, even if yer just an ordinary human under that armor.」
「That’s why I nearly suffered due to those two idiots」, the tavern owner grumbled under his breath.
I kept my mouth shut and left him to his thoughts. I thanked the tavern owner once more and was about to leave the tavern when the owner suddenly called out to me.
「……Let me give ya a piece of advice fer yer help. A band of Collectors has been hangin’ round these parts lately. It’s gonna be troublesome if they end up spottin’ ya.」
『Collectors?』
Since the owner referred to them as a band, I assumed that they were some kind of organization or group, but I couldn’t grasp the complete picture, so I tilted my head questioningly.
「Ya don’t even know somethin’ like that? Where exactly did ya come from anyway……? Put simply, Collectors are like scavengers, and many give the impression of bandits. I haven’t gotten in contact with their kind all that much, so I’m not too sure of the exact details, but it’s said that they prefer goin’ after Livin’ Mails an Iron Crabs.」
I couldn’t help but groan after hearing unfamiliar terms like Iron Crab and Living Mail.
The tavern owner let out another sigh and quipped that I was simply too ignorant to be walking out in the open.
I mean, I can’t help it y’know? I was originally from a completely different time period. And since the world and society have changed so completely and were so different from the ones I was familiar with, it was only given that I was ignorant about the norms.
***
The self-proclaimed human Living Mail left the tavern as soon as he finished packing the rations he bought into the jute bag.
The tavern keeper was honestly so exhausted that he wanted to think that everything that happened earlier was just a dream. However, looking at the absolute mess the earlier incident left his shop in, he was forced to face reality.
For the time being, he ordered his guards to give the drifter who had his head cracked open a proper burial as he decided to take a break and went outside for some air.
He’s had all sorts of guests visit his tavern over the years, but this was the first time he came across something like that. Moreover, he even managed to see not one but two Living Mails. Most regular folks spent their entire lives not encountering even a single one.
Regardless, the fact that he was still alive after all of that was already quite fortunate. He even felt a bit jealous of the traveling merchant who was still passed out at the back of the shop.
It was still a bit early to close up, but the tavern keeper decided he’s had enough excitement for one night and wanted to catch some much-needed sleep. But first, he was set on getting nice and drunk first and took a big puff of his cigar.
However, things didn’t always go according to plan.
「Hey, are you still open?」
The moment he got a look at the owner of the voice who called out to him, the tavern keeper already had a good idea about what exactly this new guest’s business with him was.
This guy can only be……
「A Collector. Darn it……」
Apparently, this crazy night was yet to end for the tavern keeper.
***
Sparks intermittently rose out of a blazing bonfire.
「Living Mail huh?」
Damar blurted out as he took a bite out of the dried meat I bought earlier and found that it tasted pretty bad.
「We did already anticipate this…… but it really looks like the people currently living in this age have never heard of a highly mechanized civilization like ours.」
We were currently in a remote corner of the wasteland, enjoying(?) a late dinner under the starry night sky.
The dry black bread tasted awful boiled or baked over the fire. It was just like biting through rocks. The dried meat was salty and not much else. It was also rubbery and hard to chew.
Even so, they were still valuable food items and sources of energy, and our meager funds were almost depleted after purchasing this stuff. Of course, it’s possible that the tavern owner sold this stuff to me for a severely marked-up price. Oh well.
「Living Mail does sound strangely fitting for these things though.」
I tapped my now-removed Machina, the Hisui (Jade), with my fist.
A large full-body armor suit that freely moves, regardless of whether it had a pilot or not, would only seem like a bizarre creature to the people living in this age who have no knowledge of machines.
「This world is now like those fantasy stories where people treated machines as if they were alive」Damar muttered while sipping water.
「Those Collector folks sound a bit troublesome though. Since they don’t actually know how the Machina work, why do they even go after them specifically?」
「Maybe they’re treating them more like tamable wild beasts instead of machines?」
「Taming Machina? Disregarding those that aren’t actively operating, approaching ones on a state of high alert will likely just result in their heads getting crushed like watermelons! In my case, I’d be turned to bone powder in an instant.」
Damar cackled in amusement.
It’s been close to a month since I first met this talking skeleton, but I still found Damar’s jokes mostly unfunny.
That’s why I just responded with a vague smile while washing a bite of the black bread down my throat with water. It would be troublesome if Damar took my smile as an acknowledgment of his comedic prowess though.
As he peered at my face with his gaping eye holes, the talking skeleton opposite me went back to talking about our original topic.
「If we do end up running into them, we should probably take the opportunity to ask them for more details about the world’s current situation.」
I was about to ask who was gonna go through the trouble of doing so but stopped myself in the end.
The talking skeleton before me would probably get treated as nothing more than a dangerous monster after all.
「You do look a bit too visually stimulating.」
「Oh, stop it! I’m not that special.」
Damar scratched the back of his skull as he acted flattered.
Just what was this guy on about? I was actually being quite sarcastic, but it looked like this guy took my words wrongly.
It was hard enough to read the guy due to his appearance, but more than that, his existence itself was full of mysteries.
It would make more sense if he was a demon, ghost, or even just a hallucination. However, Damar was as real as it gets. He can also eat food and drink like a regular human despite being only bones, was pretty smart despite his usual irreverent behavior, and had memories of the ancient advanced civilization just like me. Hence, despite his outward appearance, he was definitely no mere monster.
「Just what the hell are you?」
「Hm? A bunch of bones. What else?」
「……Well, yeah, but that’s not what I meant.」
Damar simply shrugged as the firelight illuminated his bony countenance.
I already spent almost a month with Damar, but I’ve learned surprisingly little about this strange talking skeleton.
***
TL Notes:
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Uchuu Kaizoku Translations 