Satoru returned to the office shortly afterward.
His appearance was met by a collective sigh that he did not entirely understand. Hayato was still seated in front of the desk, while Ringrande had returned to her place after attempting to leave a few minutes earlier.
"Did something happen?"
"Don't worry about it."
Nina decided not to elaborate and brought him up to date on what they had agreed.
Satoru listened until the end.
"I understand."
He did not consider the observation unfair. If his presence contributed to the problem, it was reasonable that he should also participate in solving it.
Then he looked at Hayato.
"Thank you for helping me."
Hayato smiled.
"I haven't done much yet."
"You agreed to do it. That is enough."
Satoru then turned his attention toward Ringrande.
"I appreciate your help as well."
She took a moment to respond.
"Mine?"
Ringrande seemed unsure what to do with the response and simply inclined her head slightly.
"…You're welcome."
Satoru saw no reason to prolong the conversation. He opened a portal toward the capital and waited while both of them prepared to leave.
Hayato crossed first, though he stopped on the other side to raise a hand in farewell.
"See you in a few days."
"You will."
Ringrande followed. Before fully crossing the portal, she looked back at Satoru one last time.
Satoru closed the passage once both of them were gone.
Over the following days, Satoru began considering what Muno could offer that would justify the interest of merchants and visitors.
His first answer was obvious: magical items.
He had access to materials, knowledge, and manufacturing methods far beyond anything he had encountered on the market so far. The potions available in Muno could fulfill their intended function, but that did not mean they were particularly efficient, and much of the magical equipment he had examined possessed limitations he could correct with relative ease.
He began with products he understood best.
For Zotol, he created a magical sword suited to his capabilities. It did not need to be disproportionately powerful; it only needed to be clearly superior to the weapon he currently used and durable enough to withstand continuous use by Muno's finest knight.
Nina received several boxes containing healing potions, antidotes, and preparations capable of treating common illnesses. Satoru also began producing items that temporarily increased specific physical capabilities or strengthened the wearer through magical effects.
He did not immediately put any of them into circulation.
Before considering a design complete, he compared its performance against products already available on the market and adjusted any prototype that failed to offer a sufficient advantage.
Nina found several of the early prototypes spread across a table when she went looking for him a few days later.
"So this is what you have been doing."
Satoru looked up.
"I am determining which items might be useful for attracting merchants."
Nina picked up one of the small enchanted pieces.
"What does this do?"
"It increases the physical strength of the user."
"Really? By how much?"
"It depends on the user, but under normal conditions it can increase their strength between two and three times without placing excessive strain on the body."
Nina put the item back down.
There were weapons, potions, defensive accessories, and several pieces whose purpose she could not immediately recognize.
"It is all very impressive, but I cannot help noticing that most of this seems intended for adventurers or soldiers."
"Primarily."
"That might be the problem."
Satoru turned his attention toward her.
"Why?"
"Because most people are not soldiers."
Nina gestured toward the objects on the table.
"A knight may want a sword, and an adventurer would certainly pay for a potion capable of saving them from a serious injury. But most people living in a territory work in fields, workshops, mines, or businesses."
Satoru spent several seconds looking over the items.
"Are you suggesting that I make tools?"
"I am suggesting that you think about problems that cannot be solved by hitting something."
Satoru considered the observation.
It did not take him long to find an example.
The kobolds had begun extracting mithril again, and a considerable portion of their work still depended on constantly moving ore, tools, and supplies between the tunnels and the outside.
"I could increase transport capacity."
Nina waited.
Satoru took a nearby bag and opened it.
"A container with expanded internal space would allow a much greater quantity of material to be transported without proportionally increasing its weight."
Nina stared at him for a moment.
Wait, he can actually do that?!
"How much could you expand the space?"
"Approximately to the volume of this room."
"Please sell us one when you finish."
The response came so quickly that Satoru tilted his head slightly.
Nina smiled.
"The kobolds would not be the only ones interested. Merchants, travelers, farmers, caravans… anyone who needs to transport goods could find something like that useful."
Satoru looked back at the bag.
"I understand."
Nina then gestured toward the rest of the prototypes.
"And do not abandon these. Just try to think about other uses as well."
Satoru nodded.
Over the next several days, the number of designs increased.
The storage backpack was one of the first ideas he managed to complete, but it was not the only one. He also began experimenting with tools intended for daily work and magical devices that solved problems he had previously considered too simple to require his attention.
One of them could cause rain over a limited area.
When Nina understood what it did, she immediately made a couple of calls and set several aside for herself.
Nina's enthusiasm did not change the standards by which Satoru worked. He had confidence in his products, not only because of the knowledge he had obtained from Mito and the Witch of Illusions, but because his own research had demonstrated that even when using materials he did not consider particularly exotic, his creations could clearly surpass equivalent items he had found on the market.
Before considering any design finished, he tested its results using the subjects reserved for his research. For antidotes, he used different poisons and compared how long they took to neutralize their effects, how much was required, and how the results differed from the preparations available in Muno. Healing potions were tested on wounds of varying depth and size, while other treatments required him to induce or reproduce the conditions they were intended to remove.
The process was different for physical enhancement accessories. First, he recorded each subject's performance through exercises and combat, then repeated the same tests with the item equipped and compared their strength, speed, endurance, and how long they could maintain those capabilities. Whenever the improvement over an existing product did not justify manufacturing something new, he modified the design and started again.
The tests did not end when Nina began showing interest in the first results. Satoru continued adjusting several items while she used her contacts to determine who might be willing to approach Muno.
The first favorable responses came from smaller merchants.
The great merchant houses could afford to wait. They already had established routes, sufficient capital, and too much to lose if the situation surrounding Satoru eventually became a problem. For those still trying to expand, however, that same uncertainty offered something far more difficult to ignore: for a time, they could enter a market where their more powerful competitors were still unwilling to invest money.
Nina did not need to convince them that Satoru was harmless. It was enough to offer them the opportunity to confirm for themselves that the goods actually existed.
The first visitors arrived in small groups. They examined the potions, asked about the storage items, and paid particular attention to tools capable of reducing labor or transporting greater loads. Some left without making commitments, but others began discussing quantities and availability with Nina before leaving Muno.
It was still little, but it was enough to demonstrate that the situation could change.
The next part depended on Hayato.
***
The airship appeared above Muno several days later.
This time, there was no attempt to keep its arrival private. Nina had warned those already negotiating within the city in advance, and the vessel descended in broad daylight while merchants, soldiers, and residents watched from enough distance not to interfere.
Satoru waited alongside Liza, Tama, and Pochi. Nina stood several steps ahead with various officials of the barony responsible for formally receiving the visitors, although the distinction between the two groups was clear even without explanation.
Ringrande descended accompanied by Maryest, Rusus, Fifi, Wiyaryi, and Loreiya, all members of Hayato's group and faces Satoru already recognized from the encounter aboard the airship. This time, however, someone else had come with them.
The young woman descended behind Ringrande and remained close to her while looking over Muno. She wore the vestments of the Tenion Temple, and her pale platinum-blonde hair, so light it approached silver, framed a face whose yellow-green eyes first passed over those who had come to receive them before stopping on Satoru.
Ringrande waited until her sister approached before introducing her.
"This is Sara, my younger sister. She is a priestess of the Tenion Temple."
Sara inclined her head with the expected courtesy before looking toward him again.
"It is a pleasure to meet you."
"Likewise."
Satoru already had a clear idea of who she was thanks to Nina and Hans, but Sara did not possess the same advantage. Until then, she had built her impression from what Ringrande had told her and from the reports circulating about the man established in Muno, so she had expected to encounter someone whose appearance better matched the stories of necromancy, demons, and power capable of defeating the Empire's Hero.
The man standing before her looked nothing like that image.
Satoru was tall and strongly built, though the most striking thing about him was his face. His features seemed too well proportioned to be ordinary, without any obvious imperfection to disrupt the impression. Even while making no effort to attract attention, he possessed a kind of masculine beauty difficult to ignore, enough that Sara needed a moment to reconcile his appearance with everything she knew about him.
It was not the only difference from what she had expected. Satoru waited calmly beside Liza, Tama, and Pochi, showing no interest in turning the hero's arrival into a display.
Hayato approached him with the natural ease he had developed during their recent encounters.
"Looks like we managed to attract attention this time."
Satoru briefly observed the people who had gathered around them.
"That was the objective."
While the two spoke, Ringrande remained beside Sara. There was nothing new to say regarding her presence there. She had simply kept her word.
Maryest, Rusus, Fifi, Wiyaryi, and Loreiya greeted him afterward. Hayato and Ringrande had already told them enough that they had not arrived expecting a confrontation, but that did not mean they shared the familiarity those two had developed with Satoru. To them, he remained effectively a stranger, and this would be their first real opportunity to interact with him and form their own impressions.
Tama and Pochi also watched the newly arrived group with curiosity, especially Rusus and Fifi, though Liza kept both of them near her while Nina completed the necessary introductions.
Liza's attention was focused elsewhere.
She had immediately recognized the quality of the equipment carried by the women accompanying Hayato and, although she could not accurately measure their strength simply by looking at them, she knew enough to understand that none of them belonged to the same level as the soldiers or knights she was accustomed to training with in Muno.
Satoru noticed that she was especially focused on the combatants, but said nothing.
Nina did not prolong the reception either. Once the formalities were complete, she led the group toward the area where Satoru's items had been prepared and where several of the merchants who had arrived over the past few days were waiting for an opportunity to see something more convincing than a demonstration carried out by Muno's own soldiers.
For that purpose, the hero's group was considerably more useful.
Nina assigned none of Hayato's companions any special task. The only part prepared beforehand was a brief comparison between Liza and Zotol; afterward, each visitor could inspect whatever interested them. For the merchants, it would be more useful to observe what drew the attention of people accustomed to top-tier equipment than to hear another explanation from someone in Muno.
The difference in the atmosphere became apparent as soon as they began moving among the tables. Hayato walked beside Satoru with the same ease with which he had arrived, but the merchants did not imitate that closeness. They spread around the displays while leaving a clear space around him, and whenever one needed to pass nearby, they did so without losing track of where he was. The hero's visit had succeeded in bringing them there; it had not yet made them forget why they had hesitated to come.
At one side of the prepared area, Liza and Zotol waited with their usual weapons. Nina gestured toward the space between them before drawing everyone's attention.
"First, we will see a simple comparison. They will fight once using their normal equipment, then repeat the match with the pieces Lord Satoru prepared for them. You may inspect everything else whenever you wish."
Liza and Zotol took their positions. The first round was brief. Zotol retained the advantage granted by his experience and everything he had learned during his training sessions with Liza, while she managed to force him to respond seriously and exploit several openings before Nina stopped the match. Both ended with a few bruises and minor cuts, enough to proceed without turning the demonstration into an unnecessarily long fight.
Satoru handed each of them a potion. Loreiya, the priestess responsible for healing within Hayato's group, had watched the fight with more attention on the injuries than on the weapons. She approached when the cut on Liza's arm finished closing, took one of the empty vials, and remained silent for a moment before deciding to speak.
Hayato noticed her hesitation and gave her an opening.
"Loreiya is our healer. I think she wants to ask you about the potions."
She gave him a brief glance before looking back at Satoru.
"Excuse me. A potion of this grade should not heal an injury that quickly. What difference does it have compared with the ones normally sold?"
"With ingredients of equivalent quality, physical recovery potions have produced approximately fifty percent greater effect. Mana potions approach the same proportion."
Loreiya held the vial for several more seconds, evaluating the answer through her own experience.
"For a group traveling for weeks, that means carrying fewer supplies while covering the same emergencies. That is a difference worth considering."
One of the merchants who had remained behind her gathered enough courage to intervene. He did not approach as closely as Loreiya and kept his tone carefully formal when addressing Satoru.
"Lord Satoru, does the increased effectiveness significantly affect the cost as well?"
"Nina is handling the prices. She can provide you with that information."
The man thanked him and withdrew toward where Nina's assistants were standing. Satoru gave him no further attention; Loreiya, meanwhile, moved on to inspect the other formulas on her own initiative.
When Liza and Zotol returned to the center, both wore the enchanted equipment Satoru had prepared. Neither changed weapons nor needed to alter their fighting style. The difference appeared from the first exchanges: both covered ground more quickly, reacted sooner, and the clashes between their weapons carried greater force than during the first round.
Nina allowed them to continue until the improvement became obvious, then raised one hand.
Hayato let out a short laugh.
"Well, that's one promotion that's easy to understand."
"That was the intention," Nina replied.
The conversations among the merchants immediately increased. Rusus and Fifi, the two demi-human fighters in Hayato's group, had followed the second round with considerably more enthusiasm than the earlier explanations. Both clearly enjoyed combat, and the match between Liza and Zotol had captured their attention from the beginning.
Maryest, the group's mage, was the first to turn away from the fight and examine the items intended for magic users. She found an enhancement accessory and paused to read the information sheet placed beside it. The materials used in its manufacture were listed there, including the fact that the mana core had come from a hydra. After calmly inspecting the accessory, she put it on and walked toward one of the available targets. No one had asked her to do so; she simply wanted to verify for herself what kind of result Satoru had achieved.
She formed a wind spell she knew well enough to know exactly how much power she had put into it, then cast it once. The impact penetrated farther than expected. Maryest lowered her hand, examined the item again, and looked back at the information sheet to confirm what she had read.
"Really? A hydra core? With a core at that level, I wouldn't have expected this much improvement," she murmured to herself.
One of the nearby merchants had heard Maryest's comment. He hesitated for several seconds before taking a step toward Satoru, and when he finally spoke, he chose his words far more carefully than he would have with an ordinary craftsman.
"Lord Satoru, if the buyer provided a higher-quality core, could you make a stronger piece?"
"If the resource is suitable for the effect you seek, I can work with it. I can also accept other components provided by whoever commissions the item."
The merchant looked ready to ask another question, but stopped to organize what he wanted to say first. Satoru waited without impatience. His previous answer had been normal and sufficient; that did not erase the man's nervous respect, though it did keep him standing there rather than retreating immediately.
Sara had been observing Satoru ever since stepping off the airship. His appearance had already contradicted part of what she had expected; during the rest of the visit, what ultimately drew her attention was how calm the man seemed in person despite his mere existence having managed to make two kingdoms nervous. He had not raised his voice, made no attempt to impose himself over those inspecting his items, and now allowed the merchant to organize his questions without showing annoyance, even when some of them repeated earlier points.
The variety of what he had prepared did not make it any easier to fit him into a single image. There were potions, scrolls, and various kinds of equipment; Wiyaryi, the group's archer, had ended up examining an enchanted spyglass alongside several pieces intended for bows.
There were also many other items that had nothing to do with combat and instead addressed needs in completely different areas.
Sara found herself wondering what kind of man he actually was.
When the merchant finished speaking with Satoru and stepped away with noticeably more ease than before, Sara saw that Ringrande was occupied with Rusus and Fifi and took the opportunity.
She approached on her own initiative and stopped in front of Satoru.
"Lord Satoru, it is a pleasure. I'm Sara. I know we were introduced when we arrived, but we had not yet had a chance to speak."
"I remember. I am Satoru."
After gathering the courage to approach him, Sara discovered that she had not prepared a second sentence. The silence lasted long enough for Satoru to notice.
"Is there something I can help you with? You seemed interested in the items."
"I was impressed by the variety," she admitted. "There is more here than I expected to find, although I did not see anything particularly related to my work. I am a priestess, after all."
Satoru remained thoughtful for several seconds.
"There is something that may interest you."
He picked up a short staff from among the objects that had not yet been examined and offered it to her. Sara felt the presence before touching it; once she extended her hand and allowed her mana to come into contact with the enchantment, the impression became unmistakable.
Her fingers tightened slightly around the staff.
"Sacred power…"
She sensed it again to make sure she had not been mistaken. The presence remained. Sara had handled consecrated objects and temple tools for years; recognizing that energy was not the difficult part. What she struggled to reconcile was the identity of the person who had made it.
"A necromancer making something like this…" she murmured, without intending the comment for anyone.
Satoru was close enough to hear her.
"Necromancy is one of the fields in which I possess the most knowledge. It is not the only one."
Sara tensed slightly when she realized he had heard her. For a moment she appeared to consider apologizing, but Satoru showed no offense. He simply gestured toward the surrounding displays and allowed the motion to complete his answer.
Sara did not return to her sister. Their conversation continued in a quieter voice, beyond the ability of those farther away to follow every word.
Ringrande watched from several steps away. She was not watching only her sister; whenever Satoru changed position, her attention registered it almost automatically, though she avoided keeping a hand on her sword as she had during their previous encounters. Rusus and Fifi stood near her, and Fifi eventually followed the direction of her gaze.
"I'm still surprised you let her approach him alone."
Ringrande took a moment to answer.
"That is precisely why I brought her. Sara is not part of the group, and her position in the temple means her impression has weight of its own. But that only matters if she can speak with him without me answering for her or stepping in every time she gets close."
Ringrande paused before continuing, and this time she made no attempt to soften what that decision meant.
"That man is an enormous gamble. If Satoru truly can establish a good relationship with us, it would be beneficial. But if he decided to hurt her, I could not stop him even if I were standing directly behind her. In truth, there is nothing in the Empire or the Kingdom that could."
The lightness disappeared from Fifi's expression. Rusus did not comment either. Awareness of that risk did not force them to remain still, but it removed any reason to treat the visit like a carefree excursion.
Rusus was the first to turn her attention back toward Liza, Tama, and Pochi. Tama and Pochi occasionally glanced in their direction, while Liza watched them with less concealment and with an attention clearly different from that of the merchants.
Ringrande followed her gaze.
"You two could go speak with them."
Rusus turned toward her with one eyebrow raised.
"Why us?"
"Because you and they have been exchanging looks since the beginning. Besides, Nina explained that those three are the people who spend the most time beside Satoru. We do not need to leave here as anyone's friends, but it would be ridiculous to come here to demonstrate that we are not enemies and then spend the entire visit avoiding his people."
The way Rusus and Fifi had followed the earlier match was enough for Ringrande to add one final clarification: she expected a conversation, not a challenge. Neither protested. Both enjoyed a good fight far too much to deny the temptation, but they also understood that asking someone far weaker than themselves for a match while under Satoru's direct protection could appear intimidating even if that was not their intention.
They approached together. Liza noticed first, and Tama and Pochi followed her attention before falling silent as the visitors stopped in front of them.
Rusus took the initiative with far more natural energy than she had used during the formal introductions upon arrival.
"Hi! I'm Rusus! I fight on the front line of Hero Hayato's group."
Fifi smiled beside her.
"I'm Fifi! I fight alongside Hayato and the others too."
Liza inclined her head slightly.
"I am Liza. I serve Master Satoru and travel beside him with Tama and Pochi, my companions. We appreciate that you came all the way to Muno with Hero Hayato."
"I'm Tama! Nice to meet you!"
"I'm Pochi. It is a pleasure to meet you."
During the pause that followed, Pochi's gaze dropped for the first time toward Fifi's axe. The adult noticed, rested one hand on the handle, and smiled a little more.
"Looks like it caught your attention. Don't worry, you can ask."
Pochi hesitated only briefly before doing so.
"Isn't it uncomfortable traveling with such a large weapon?"
Fifi laughed and rested the end of the weapon on the ground.
"After carrying it for years, it stops feeling heavy. The uncomfortable part would be trying to fight without it."
Tama then looked toward Rusus's two swords and quickly asked:
"Do you fight with both at the same time?"
"With both. At first they get in each other's way more than you would like to admit, but eventually you learn to let each hand do its own job."
Rusus turned one of the hilts to show her the angle at which she normally carried it. Tama moved slightly closer, immediately interested, and Pochi soon did the same with Fifi's axe. The difference in age and experience remained obvious, but within a few minutes the questions stopped feeling like formalities.
The girls wanted to know why they had chosen those weapons, how long they had been traveling with Hayato, and whether they had truly fought Demon Kings. Rusus and Fifi answered with the enthusiasm of people capable of talking about battles for hours, though they avoided turning every answer into a competition. Sometimes one corrected a detail from the other, while on other occasions both remembered the same battle differently, earning more than one laugh from Tama and a serious objection from Pochi whenever an exaggeration became too obvious.
Liza spoke less. She listened as the two described what it was like to fight beside Hayato against enemies the kingdom's soldiers could not even face, and whenever the conversation returned to technique, positioning, or ways of surviving against a stronger opponent, her attention became more intense.
During one of those exchanges, Fifi ended up answering a question from Liza about how they usually fought enemies that surpassed them in raw strength. When she finished, Liza used the same subject to make another request.
"There is something I would like to ask you. If my master permits it, would you be willing to train with me?"
The proposal surprised both of them. Not because Liza seemed incapable of fighting, but because they had expected precisely the opposite situation: after everything discussed before arriving, neither wanted to be the one to suggest a fight with one of Satoru's subordinates. If the request came from Liza herself, however, that changed things.
Liza continued before they could misunderstand her intention.
"I have not met many people with strength similar to yours. Until now, apart from my master, I had only seen strength like that in monsters. I am grateful for everything Lord Zotol has taught me, but I want to learn how to face different fighting styles and continue improving. I need to do so if I wish to be of greater use to my master."
Fifi exchanged a glance with Rusus. The smile that appeared on both of their faces was immediate, though neither forgot where they were. Fifi answered first.
"If Satoru agrees and you're the one asking, I'd be happy to."
Rusus adjusted one of her swords at her side.
"Count me in too!"
Liza inclined her head gratefully.
"Then I will ask my master for permission."
"Tama wants to improve too!"
"Please let Pochi join as well!"
Tama and Pochi reacted with considerably less restraint. Liza had to remind them that nothing had been decided yet, though that did not prevent both girls from immediately discussing which of the two visitors they thought would be harder to fight while Rusus and Fifi listened with obvious amusement.
****
Author's Note
Thank you very much for reading.
This is the second chapter of the chapter buffer I have been working on during the break.
I will admit that this is a quieter chapter and probably not the most eventful one, but it still gave me the opportunity to continue developing Satoru's relationships with the people around him, especially Hayato and his group.
The next chapter will be the last of these more casual chapters before things begin to take a more serious turn.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter and that you are looking forward to what is coming next.
***
New chapters of Traveling to Other Worlds are available early on Patreon for Early Traveler members.
Patreon also includes extra notes, differences from canon, and experimental stories.
Support is entirely optional. Reading, commenting, and continuing to follow the story already means a great deal to me.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/GreenHistories
***
Thank you again for your support, and I hope you enjoy the chapters to come.