The next morning, I woke up early and washed up briefly at the well behind the inn.
I checked—Kazuma and Aqua were still asleep. I asked the inn's landlady to prepare their meals, and told her to say I went into town to gather information if they looked for me.
Then I went far outside Axel's town walls. I needed to practice the Kilo Kilo Fruit's ability.
I pulled a black long umbrella out of my inventory. Then I reduced my body weight, jumped as high as I could, and at the apex, I opened the umbrella.
My body started to drift slowly, riding the wind.
"Ooh~ I'm flying~ But how do I steer this thing?"
I tried moving the umbrella around in midair. But I could only go faster or slower in the direction the wind was blowing. Changing direction wasn't easy.
I practiced for a while, but I could only move in the direction the wind blew. I had no choice but to close the umbrella, max out my weight, and free-fall to the ground.
Bang!
Where I landed, a huge crater formed from the impact and the area was a mess. Of course, I didn't feel any shock myself.
"This is pretty usable."
I sat under a nearby tree and pulled a cheeseburger from my inventory to eat.
"Wow~ this cheeseburger is so good?"
It was the best cheeseburger I'd ever had. Maybe it's not a dud after all?
While enjoying the burger, I thought about the Kilo Kilo Fruit.
I guess I need to approach this as 'floating' rather than 'flying.' Instead of jumping straight up and dropping down, I should check the direction, jump at an angle toward that direction, glide, and when I see the target, free-fall and strike.
I brushed my hands off under the tree, stood up, and tested again.
The target was the big rock on top of that distant hill.
I grabbed the umbrella again, ran toward the hill, and jumped. At the highest point, I opened the umbrella and glided. When I got near the rock, I closed the umbrella and slammed down with maximum weight.
Bang!
There was a loud sound, but the rock didn't break much.
"Ah! The hill was high, so I didn't get much gravity effect. I need to consider height too…"
That's when a good idea popped into my head.
"Wait, do I even need to jump high? What if I use weight for strikes?"
There's nothing wrong with using it like Miss Valentine, but there's no need to be stuck on that. So I thought: What if I reduce weight to move, then max out weight at the moment of impact and add my strength for higher destructive power?
I immediately went down the hill, lightened my weight, and ran fast toward the rock on top. With my weight light, I got incredible speed. And when I reached the rock, I instantly maxed my weight and threw a kick with a shout.
"Hahp~!"
Boom!
With a huge sound, the rock I hit shattered completely, sending fragments flying.
"Oh! If I practice this, I can use it for every strike?"
I got hooked on the unexpectedly high destructive power and had fun smashing nearby trees and rocks. Suddenly, an alert popped up.
Ding~!
[[(F) Martial Arts] has been acquired.]
[Event: You directly obtained an ability for the first time. 5000 points]
"Nice! So you can just gain abilities if you meet the requirements."
I clicked Martial Arts.
[(F) Martial Arts]
You know how to throw a punch.
"Huh? That's the whole description? 'Know how to throw a punch'… Is it because it's F rank?"
I put the question aside, decided to save the points for now, and looked up at the sky. The sun was high, so I decided to head back.
When I arrived at the inn, Kazuma and Aqua were eating.
"Tae-jin, you're back?"
"Tae-jin, did you eat?"
These guys!
Looks like they just woke up and started eating now. They don't seem to have any sense of crisis about being dropped in this world. I almost said something out of anger, but I held back and spoke with a smile.
"You guys just woke up?"
"Yeah, a lot happened yesterday… I was tired… haha."
I sat down in front of Kazuma and the others.
And with a serious expression, I rested my chin on my hand and spoke.
"Hey, we've got a big problem."
"Huh? What problem?"
"We… we're out of money."
"Eeeeeeh~~~~~~!?"
Kazuma and Aqua answered with shocked exclamations. Of course, I had plenty of spare funds, but I wasn't planning to say that.
"We have enough for one more night, but that's it. There's nothing after that."
Then Aqua suddenly got a bright look like she had a great idea and stood up to speak.
"Then let's sell Kazuma's clothes this time!"
Kazuma slammed the table and stood up, furious.
"Don't be ridiculous! I can't sell the only thing with memories of Japan!"
"We don't have a choice. We have no money."
I listened quietly, then pressed my hand to my forehead from the headache.
"Hey, is earning money not even in your heads?"
"Ah~ well… ahaha."
I sighed and continued.
"We can't hunt because we don't have starter funds to buy equipment. But luckily, this town has a lot of trade with other regions, so there are plenty of jobs. So today let's look for work, and start working tomorrow."
"Oh! Wait a sec."
I went up to my room, pulled Enma from my inventory, and came back down. Then I started the story I'd prepared.
"This was given to me by an adventurer active in the capital. Said he couldn't use it. Apparently it's a sword that eats people?"
"Then isn't it dangerous?"
"Aqua's here, right? So when I draw this sword, if anything happens, Aqua, use your Arch Priest skills to help me."
Aqua suddenly struck a proud pose.
"Ahem! It's time for this Aqua to step up! Just trust me~"
I took Kazuma and Aqua to a wide empty lot outside the village.
"Okay~ I'm drawing it."
Kazuma and Aqua swallowed and watched. I was worried too, but I had no weapon, so I had to use this for now.
I slowly drew Enma from its sheath.
Something whoosh drained out of my body. Fortunately, it felt like mana. Even so, the amount being drained wasn't small—I couldn't maintain it long.
"Ugh…"
"Tae-jin! Are you okay?"
When I broke out in cold sweat and groaned, Kazuma and Aqua got worried and approached, but I stopped them with a gesture. Because I could feel the mana leaving me gathering in Enma.
I swung Enma at the large rock in front of me.
Crack!
The rock split cleanly like tofu.
"Woooow~~!"
"Woooow~~!"
Kazuma and Aqua opened their mouths wide in amazement.
I immediately sheathed Enma and sighed.
"Phew… Looks like this sword forcibly sucks out mana and turns it into cutting power. Good thing I have a lot of mana—an average person would wither and die."
"Then it's totally a cursed sword! Or wait, is it a Japanese sword, so a yokutō?"
"Yeah… so you guys shouldn't touch it carelessly either."
"Got it."
At least the Enma issue was resolved, thankfully.
We rested a bit, then went back into town.
"Alright~ Now let's each find a job."
"Ooh~!"
Luckily they're full of fighting spirit.
We split up and started looking for work.