The Otherworld Antique Bookstore is a Life-Risk Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Yuki Becomes an Adventurer? (Part 1)

 

The chirping of birds outside the window and warm sunlight seeping through the curtains' gap - yes, it's morning.

Yuki opens her eyes and jumps out of bed, eager to see the view outside. She flings open the curtains but quickly closes them and plasters herself against the wall.

"Oh, I forgot!"

She remembers Bergana's warning from last night: "Be careful of sunlight." Apparently, if Yuki were an undead without sunlight resistance, her body would burst into flames and turn to ash upon exposure.

Bergana, being a higher-ranking vampire, has sunlight resistance. However, most of the mansion's servants don't, so they sleep underground until evening and work from night until morning.

Yuki checks her head, face, chest, and waist with her hands. She's fine. No problems.

Cautiously approaching the window, she tests the sunlight leaking through the curtain gap on her arm. Phew, it seems safe.

Now, all at once. She fully opens the curtains and the window. Enjoying the pleasant breeze, she leans out to survey the view from the hilltop mansion.

"Wow," Yuki exclaims in admiration.

Against a backdrop of vast, silver mountain ranges stretching east and west and lush green forests, a massive fortified city spreads before her eyes. This is Zero, the royal capital of the Calito Kingdom.

"This is where my life in another world begins," she muses. No legend will be born here, though. After all, she intends to live an ordinary life.

Leaving her second-floor room, Yuki walks alone down the silent hallway. Reaching Bergana's room on the same floor, she knocks. No answer. She tries again.

Silence.

She turns the doorknob, and the door opens.

"Excuse me," she says, entering.

In the tidy room, discarded clothes are scattered about. Approaching the bed, she finds Bergana sleeping peacefully. Yuki starts softly, whispering near her ear:

"Miss Bergana~ Please wake up~ It's morning~"

"Mmm~ Hate mornings, hate afternoons, Berga still sleeping~" Bergana mumbles, writhing and turning away with her eyes closed, then resuming her gentle snoring.

Yuki had thought Bergana was a scary, queen-like person with an unwavering expression, but this is unexpectedly cute. Is this what they call gap moe?

She spends a moment observing Bergana's sleeping face, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere. What a treat for the eyes.

But if left alone, Bergana probably won't wake up until evening. Yuki wants to avoid spending her first day of reincarnation just lazing around in her room.

Time to wake her up. Yuki had wondered when she'd use her snowball ability. Now's the perfect time.

She produces a snowball and gently rubs it on Bergana's face.

"Eeeek!"

Bergana jumps up, transforming into countless bats that fly up to the ceiling. The bats circle the ceiling for a while before partially reforming into Bergana's face.

Their eyes meet as Yuki looks up, dumbfounded, still holding the snowball. Bergana's gaze drops to the snowball in Yuki's hand, and she seems to understand what happened.

"Geez, it's been 300 years since I thought I'd died," she grumbles as the bats on the floor merge back into Bergana's fully-dressed form. The scattered clothes have mysteriously disappeared.

Though Bergana complains, she doesn't yell or hit Yuki.

It seems Yuki's thin silk Japanese-style clothing isn't appropriate for going out. It would certainly stand out.

Bergana takes Yuki to the mansion's basement.

"Everyone, wake up," Bergana's resonant voice echoes through the underground room. The lids of ten coffins lined up on the floor open one after another, and the mansion's servants rise groggily.

Yuki is surprised to see vampires actually sleeping in coffins. Unlike their smiling faces from last night, everyone looks very grumpy now.

"They're not morning people either," Bergana explains.

When Bergana asks the servants to help Yuki change clothes, the butler and what seems to be the cook return to their coffins and close the lids, apparently deeming themselves unnecessary.

The maids hurry upstairs, returning shortly with several outfits. Their bodies are smoking, perhaps from exposure to filtered sunlight.

"Which would you prefer?" they ask, showing Yuki several dresses in different colors. But this isn't what she wants.

"I'm sorry, but could I have something less conspicuous?" Yuki requests.

The maids dash upstairs again. Yuki pretends not to hear the clicking tongues behind her.

Yuki changes clothes surrounded by the even more battered-looking maids.

They make her wear pumpkin pants and wrap cloth around her chest. One maid silently puts down a corset after comparing it to Yuki's body. While it's true Yuki lacks a sizeable chest, such an obvious gesture is hurtful.

They put a patched-up brown dress-like garment over her, cinch it with a belt, and voila - a plain town girl look is complete.

Feeling sorry for the maids returning to their coffin beds, Yuki bows deeply before leaving the basement.

* * *

 

Today's destination is the central plaza where government offices are located. As they walk from the southern commercial district where the mansion is, Bergana briefly explains the geography of the royal capital to Yuki.

The entire capital is surrounded by walls. To the north are the royal castle, Shield Palace, and the noble district. The church is to the west, while the eastern fortress serves as the common entrance to the Abyssal Labyrinth, lined with material shops and weapon and armor dealers. The southern commercial district hosts markets for specialized goods, along with artisan and warehouse districts.

The central area spreads out from the main plaza, with residential areas and numerous shops and stalls selling daily necessities and food items.

However, one thing concerns Yuki:

"Is it really okay for us to walk openly through the streets?"

"The Calito Kingdom may be small, but it's the only country on this continent that guarantees rights for demi-humans, magical races, and intelligent monsters. You'll see many different races in town," Bergana explains.

"Is that so?"

"Most countries on this continent advocate human supremacy. The treatment of demi-humans and magical races differs dramatically between the north and south, divided by the central mountain range. The northern empire maintains a particularly strict human supremacist policy, but the southern nations have been moving towards opening their doors to multiple races for quite some time now, inspired by the Calito Kingdom's prosperity."

Bergana pauses to think before continuing:

"Unlike demi-humans and magical races, we undead are classified as monsters, so we'd be hunted if we didn't hide our true nature in most places. Currently, the only places we can walk safely are here in the Calito Kingdom and the Demon Country ruled by the Demon King at the northeastern edge of the continent. But I recommend pretending to be human, as you never know when you might run into an acquaintance."

"So there really is a Demon King," Yuki muses.

"You should read some history books to learn more on your own," Bergana suggests.

"I'll do my best," Yuki promises.

"Here we are at the central plaza. Be careful not to get separated as the foot traffic increases significantly," Bergana warns.

"Oh, and remember, in public, I go by Berga the merchant, not Bergana. Call me that when we're outside, okay?"

As Bergana said, many demi-humans like lizard folk and beast folk walk among the humans in town. The delicious smell of grilling meat wafts from the plaza's food stalls, piquing Yuki's interest in this other world's cuisine.

"Come on, let's go," Bergana urges, and Yuki reluctantly follows her through the plaza.

"This town is really prosperous," Yuki observes.

"Conquered and managed dungeons don't have monster rampages, so they become relatively safe hunting grounds for low to mid-level adventurers. Processing and selling those materials stimulates the economy. The rapid population growth from accepting various races has also contributed significantly," Bergana explains.

"I see, so our dungeon is helping people," Yuki concludes.

"By the way, Yuki, you're from another world, right? You don't seem fazed at all. In fact, you look like you're enjoying yourself," Bergana notes.

"Ah, well, you see. I'm aware that I've died once. I'm grateful that I can still live as myself despite that. So I want to enjoy this new life, or rather, monster life," Yuki explains.

"Hmm, is that how it is?"

"Yes, that's how it is."

"Well, we're here. This is it, let's go in," Bergana announces.

Before Yuki stands an impressive, large building. So this is what a government office looks like in this world.

Yuki enters the building with Bergana.

 

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