Third Outer World Story Series: Pumpkin Sorcerer - Chapter 24

Translator: MadHatter Editor: MadHatter

“Whoa, this is impressive…”

“It’s the mansion of the territory lord and it’s already evening, so there are only a couple of people here.”

After entering Kunukihappy, Pumpkin was first overwhelmed by the abundance of humans on the main street and the various sounds they produced.

Furthermore, from what Rio mentioned, it seemed that there were more people in the morning or around noon, so the difference between the forest and the town was significant after all.

“But still…”

“What’s wrong?”

Pumpkin noticed something when he watched the mass of human beings.

There were apparently other races of humans in this world besides the ones he had recognized in his past life.

In addition to the humans that he has recognized from before, there may occasionally be a human with strangely long ears and pale skin, a slightly shorter and darker human, a human with scales on some parts of their body and a tail, as well as a human with small wings sprouting from their back.

This is another world, after all. At any rate, I’ll call the ordinary humans “humans,” the long-eared “elves,” the dark-skinned “dwarves,” the scaled “lizardmen,” and the winged “birdmen.” I am probably not far in the wrong.

Incidentally, even without external characteristics, Pumpkin’s eyes can distinguish each race distinctly.

Although there was a subtle mixture of other colors in the human’s magic, it was basically colorless and transparent, whereas the elves were clad in green, dwarves in red, lizardmen in blue, and birdmen in yellow at a clearly discernible level.

To add to that, he felt that races other than humans were basically imbued with a greater amount of magic power.

Well, it is a standard feature of fantasy in a sense. The human race is superior in collective power because of their inferior individual power probably.

“Pumpkin-san?”

“Hmm? Oh, excuse me. I haven’t seen this many humans in a while.”

“It must have been a real struggle for you…”

Oh, no. I was so lost in thought that Rio was getting worried about me.

However, the other common trait of fantasy, namely xenophobia, seemed to be absent from this town.

There may be a lot of things at work in the shadows, but that can be investigated in due course.

“Rio. Is there a place where I can exchange furs for cash? If so, I’d like you to take me there first.”

“I understand. In that case, I’ll take you to the Association. It is over here.”

So, for the time being, Pumpkin asked Rio for guidance to the money exchange place for the purpose of repaying Rio’s money and raising money for purchasing various supplies.

While walking along the road, Pumpkin occasionally received glances from the other side of the road, as if to say, “What the hell is that?” but he brushed it off.

This head of mine is simply too conspicuous anyway!

—————

“Here’s the Association.”

“Heh.”

After several minutes of walking with Rio leading the way, they arrived in front of a large building with a signboard that featured a combination of a bow and a sword.

In the building, a wide range of people was coming and going, ranging from those who had the appearance of adventurers to those who looked like they lacked fighting abilities, such as children, old men, and women. Overall, the atmosphere was calm but not too hectic, yet not too dangerous.

Although Pumpkin had an impression that it was a gathering place for rowdy people, on second thought, it would be poor for business if it had such an atmosphere when receiving requests from the general public. So, he supposed this was the kind of atmosphere to be expected.

“Since the Association can buy most things in the form of a request, you should be in good hands here.”

“Don’t they require registration to buy things?”

“It is true that registration is required, but it is free of charge. Besides, the Association’s registration form is just like an identification document, so anyone without a criminal record or a history of repeatedly neglecting requests may register.”

“I see.”

That would mean that rather than a guild or a similar thing as Pumpkin imagined it to be, this Association would be a mutual aid organization available to anyone who met very lenient criteria.

I see. Indeed, it seems that even I, a pumpkin, would pose no problem here.

“Shall we go in then?”

“Oh… mun!”

The moment they entered, Pumpkin was struck by something like a bloodlust from somewhere, so for the time being, he used his magic power to intimidate the people around him to the extent that they did not pass out.

“P-Pumpkin-san!?”

“Don’t worry. I’ve got the output of my magic power under control, and I’ve focused it in the right direction.”

“T-That’s not what I’m talking about! See how frightened the staff are!!?”

“Fufufu. If anyone has a complaint, tell it to the person who’s aiming the bloodlust at me.”

While saying that, he turned his attention to several people who might have been the source of the bloodlust.

For your information, it was they who first attacked me with bloodlust. I have no intention of retreating from here.

After doing so for a while, most of the bloodlust was subsided by Pumpkin’s magic power, and those who were engulfed were slightly collapsing.

Hmm. How sloppy.

And all that remained was…

“Hmm. Gohei told me that a pumpkin-headed human (?) was coming this way but you seem to be a monster beyond my expectations.”

It was an old man who looked to be a high-ranking figure and a human who apparently possessed a greater amount of magic power than some of the people around him.

His total amount of magic power is… less than mine as far as I can tell from the surface.

Well, the amount of magic on the surface can be deceiving, so I wouldn’t trust it.

“What business do you seek?”

As the old man approached Pumpkin, suppressing his bloodlust, Pumpkin stopped releasing his magic power and took out the luggage on his back.

Once the old man restrained his bloodlust, he immediately began to emit magic power that made people feel extremely at ease. No, maybe it should be called “atmosphere” instead of magic power.

“I am here to sell some materials. After that, I’d like to ask for registration with the Association, if possible.”

“Hmm. If that’s the case, let’s discuss it in the back.”

“I understand.”

When the old man spoke this to him, pointing towards the back of the Association, Pumpkin nodded his head to indicate his approval.

“Oh, yes. Me too…”

“Rio. You should finish your request and go to your mother’s quickly.”

“What? But…”

“Don’t worry, you can trust this old man. I’ll pay your money back later.”

“T-Then, let me be excused.”

Rio ran to the counter where several people were lined up.

“Now then, let’s have a long talk.”

“I suppose so.”

With all eyes on him, Pumpkin made his way to the back of the room.

—————–

T/N:

I just realized I mistaken Crawling Boar’s name. Its name is Clawing Boar (probably). The katakana of Clawing sounds similar to Crawling but since boar has no relevance to crawl, I think Clawing is the correct one. Sorry for the inconvenience, will change the name for the past chapters