Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:MvM Chapter3 (section)

===Part 13===

They walked a while longer and arrived by midday.

“Pant, gasp. Wh-where are the sweets and iced tea?” asked Shokuhou.

“Planning to eat back all the calories you burned off so you gain weight in the end?” replied Mikoto.

It was a small village.

They were finally seeing something artificial.

But instead of approaching the village, Mikoto and Shokuhou crouched down around 2km from it. They were still a good distance away, but they had to be careful and avoid the harpies, minotaurs, and other creatures that would make a fuss and give away their position if they got too close.

Only the elf remained standing, looking confused.

At her size, that wasn’t much of an issue, but…

“Um?”

“Sh.”

They were traveling with a runaway slave, after all. They knew better than to expect a warm welcome from this world’s residents. They didn’t know what kinds of communications existed here, but if the slaver had been able to send a message from the crash site via carrier pigeon or thoughtography magic(?), the village could have received wanted posters for them.

So they started by observing from a distance.

First, they wanted to confirm that the elf elder really was there. Then they would observe the villagers and decide whether to approach the front entrance with a smile or sneak in from the rear.

The basic Earth idea that ordinary people wouldn’t be a threat didn’t apply in Celesaqphere where elf slavery was accepted.

“Didn’t we find a tool for this?”

Bikini armor Mikoto rummaged around and pulled out a pair of binoculars. She had found it in a corner of the trunk stolen from the slaver. It was sloppily made compared to an Academy City product and it had no electronic correction, but holding a tool of civilization put her mind at ease.

And Patissiet was unexpectedly interested in it.

Apparently she knew what binoculars were but had never used them before. What kind of life had she lived for the past decades, if not centuries?

“It all looks so big!! Wow…I bet I could see all the way to the other side of the world with these.”

“Well, if she’s enjoying herself, I don’t see the harm.”

“I wonder what the sun looks like…”

“Wait, stop!! Now do you see the harm!?”

Shokuhou quickly used the one of her dancer costume’s frills to cover the lenses and snatched the binoculars away from the elf.

Surprisingly, this showed a caring side of the selfish Queen. Mikoto found this odd. ''It was almost like she had taken care of a small child at some point?

“Um, do you have an illegitimate child?”

“The name you’re looking for is Dolly. And if that doesn’t mean anything to you, you are even dumber than I thought.”

As far as they could see with the naked eye, the village was made up of gray structures that clashed with the green field. Instead of log cabins, the homes and stores were all made of brick. There were also some small church-like buildings made of marble with blue borders. It looked generally European, but it was somehow at odds with itself. Had this small village made all the brick used in those buildings, or had it been brought in from somewhere else?

But Patissiet didn’t seem to notice anything out of place.

When asked, she seemed puzzled by the question.

“Eh? But if you make your home out of plants, wouldn’t it rot away really quick?”

“…”

Apparently this world didn’t know much about preservatives.

There were some wooden structures next to the farmland, but they were all too small and simple to be homes. They were probably storage sheds for farming equipment. But even they had collapsed at an angle and were half fused with the green of the field.

It was possible they had brought a whole bunch of heavy brick from another floating land when they settled this land. Unlike Japan, it wasn’t uncommon for European apartments to be 300 years old, so they may have preferred something long-lasting to something that was repeatedly rebuilt.

(So they take good care of their buildings? Even though they work the enslaved elves to death?)

Knowing that dark side of these people made this economical spirit feel somewhat ironic.

Once Shokuhou handed over the binoculars, Mikoto observed the village in more detail.

“Ugh,” she groaned.

She saw some dull glints of silver light.

Those had to be the human villagers. They looked like plainly-dressed men and women, but they carried around short swords like it was normal. And these were double-edged swords thicker than the foils used by the Western girls in Tokiwadai’s fencing club. Large bows were common as well. These were not farm implements that could double as weapons. The swords in particular had no use outside of fighting and killing. And there were a lot of them.

“I can’t help but notice all the villagers are armed with dangerous swords and spears. Why? Is this a laundering base where bandits sell their loot for cash?”

“Hm? They probably just bought them at the weapon shop.”

The elf was again puzzled by their confusion.

Mikoto’s eyes widened at her explanation.

“Eh? Anyone can just buy weapons!?”

“Yes. I mean, how would the adventurers get them otherwise?”

How lax was this world?

And the elf didn’t seem to question it at all.

“That doesn’t mean anyone can equip anything, though. Weapons and armor imbued with magic are given compatibility points, so you can’t carry or wear them without the appropriate job and level. That’s why people go to the guild and work to ‘earn’ experience points.”

So if the guild(?), the organization that managed the level system, altered the paperwork, they could strip a runaway criminal of their level so they no longer met their gear’s compatibility points and would lose the use of their weapons and armor? Did that make this safer than late-night Los Angeles which was rife with old-fashioned guns with the registration number filed off and plastic guns illegally made with a 3D printer?

“Th-there she is. That’s our elder!” exclaimed Patissiet, pointing into the distance.

“?”

Bikini armor Mikoto looked for the elder through the binoculars, but where was she? She couldn’t see any old women.

She only saw a graceful lady who didn’t look much older than 30. Was that supposed to be the elder? With her youthful skin, she could have changed into a swimsuit and competed in a university cultural festival’s beauty pageant without raising any eyebrows.

“(But even little Patissiet is supposed to be far older than us.)”

“?”

The elf gave Mikoto a puzzled look. She looked just like a little girl.

Mikoto gave up on finding any link between an elf’s appearance and their age.

Did an elf have to live for 10 centuries before she grew into an old lady who would look at home seated on the porch enjoying a sunbeam?

…But what was going on over there?

People with pointy ears just like the little elf’s were being gathered in the village square. Mikoto would have understood if they were being forced to do backbreaking construction using heavy bricks, but they didn’t appear to be doing much of anything. If anything, it looked like the idea was to gather all the elves in a single outdoor space. But what for?

Shokuhou frowned and shaded her eyes with a hand.

“It’s hard to say what that is from here.”

“Then we need more information.”

They would follow the basics of a fantasy world.

Mikoto and Shokuhou remained crouched as they slowly resumed moving. They focused on the villagers at the outskirts of the village.

“Good morning! This here is Gempick Village.”

One of them was alone. Just like they wanted.

“Good morning! This here is Gempick Village.”

A boy of 15 or 16 was wandering near the village entrance.

“Good morning! This here is Gempi- mgh!?”

Since he had nothing better to do than repeat that line all day long, they covered his mouth and dragged him away from the village.

If he loved providing exposition for beginners, they would give him exactly what he wanted.

“That’s the elf elder over there, right? Why are the villagers gathering the slaves there?”

“Don’t ask me. A slave is a slave, so why would I know who they are – or used to be. Anyway, this here is Gempick Village.”

And he was back to normal.

Mikoto reflexively considered killing him for the experience points, but she just barely stopped herself. That would just be murder.

Yet again, she found life didn’t carry much “weight” in this world.

Thinking back, it had been that way even when they were rampaging through Academy City like kaiju, but it scared her how she might just do something here she would normally find unthinkable.

The (older than them) boy didn’t demonstrate any fear at all as he said more.

“But it’s about time for the tax collector to determine our taxation amount, so this is probably about that.”

“?”

“What do taxes have to do with it?” asked Shokuhou.

“''Your yearly taxes are based on how many slaves you own. So you can save a bundle if you eliminate your slaves just before they’re counted, right''?”

…If you what?