"Hey, are you alright?"

The man called Roya, who was carrying a longsword, spoke to me.

"Yeah, I'm fine thanks to you guys. Really, thank you so much!"

"Don't mention it; we should help each other when we're in trouble! It's no big deal. But being out here all alone with such a big load, are you a merchant or someone from a nearby village?"

"You're dressed in a way I've never seen around here, so you're not a merchant, are you?"

...Ah, this is definitely another world. I used to read those so-called "isekai" novels during my commute, but this current situation matches perfectly.

...Seriously? I wonder if I'll be able to return to my original world.

"Hey, are you really okay?"

Oops, I must have zoned out for a moment since the girl with the cat ears was worried about me.

She has brown hair and brown eyes, and she seems more Western than Asian. She's wearing a metal chest protector, and her rugged one-handed sword—unlike my cooking knife—is stained with the blue blood of the goblin she just cut down.

"Yeah, I'm fine. The truth is, I came from a faraway country, but I lost my money, got lost, and then ran into goblins. It's been one misfortune after another. If you hadn't helped me, I might've died."

"That's rough. But at least you were lucky enough to be saved at the last minute. We're just heading back to the town; want to come with us?"

"Oh, I'd love to! My name is Tetsuya Matsushita… uh, I mean Tetsuya. Thanks again for saving me!"

"My name's Roya. Nice to meet you, Tetsuya."

"I'm Nicole, nice to meet you!"

"I'm Fal. Pleasure."

"I see, so you guys just recently became adventurers."

"Yeah, today we took on a goblin-slaying request. Those two we just fought completed the job," Roya said, showing me a small pouch.

Inside the bag were the goblins' ears, which had been cut off as proof of the kill. Afterward, we dug a hole and buried the rest of the goblins' bodies deep in the ground.

I drank a bit of river water—just enough not to upset my stomach—and quenched my thirst. It seemed they were going to rest by the river before heading back to town.

"Hey Roya, how about we have something to eat? I'm starting to get hungry."

"Yeah, me too. Since we're by the river, let's take a break and have a meal."

"Sounds good. Do you have anything with you, Tetsuya? It's not much, but we could share some of our food."

It seems that these three have only just become adventurers, but they're really good people. Even though they're probably not flush with money, they're still thinking about me. Despite saving me, they haven't asked for anything in return. I might have been brought to an unfamiliar world, but meeting these three was incredibly lucky.

"Oh, I'm fine. In fact, let me treat you instead. You guys are my saviors, after all!"

I took some food out of my backpack: the leftover smoked dishes from yesterday, along with bread, ham, cheese, and jam that I had planned to eat for breakfast. I originally intended to make hot sandwiches, but since I don't know the level of technology in this world, I decided not to use my burner.

"Wow, all of this looks delicious! Are you sure we can have some?"

"Of course! I wish I could also give you some money, but my wallet's gone, so..."

"Don't worry about it. We should help each other in times of need. But this really looks tasty. Do you mind if I have a little?"

"Go ahead, help yourself. Here, I'll keep stacking more bread."

I handed them bread stuffed with cheese and ham, as well as bread spread with jam and cut in half.

"Whoa! This cheese and meat taste amazing! It's got a unique flavor I've never experienced before!"

"This bread is delicious too! It's so soft... I've never had bread like this!"

"This jam is really sweet! It's packed with sugar, and when it's on bread, it's incredibly good!"

The three of them reacted really positively. Judging by their responses, it seems the food culture in this world isn't that developed.

"Man, that was really delicious. Thanks a lot, Tetsuya!"

We finished all the smoked food and bread I had, and now we're walking towards the town. Apparently, we still have quite a walk ahead of us.

"I'm glad I could repay you in some small way. By the way, what were you planning to eat?"

I'm a bit curious about the food in this world.

"Oh, this... give it a try," Fal, who was walking at the back of the group, handed me a piece of dried meat.

I took a bite.

"It's tough and has a strong smell..."

"Yeah, this is the cheapest preserved food available in town, but it's really tough and has a strong odor."

"It tastes a little better if you cook it, but starting a fire outdoors is a hassle. If someone could use fire magic, it'd be quicker."

"Even if someone could use fire magic, it'd be a waste just to light a fire. We'll just have to eat it as it is."

Oh... so there's magic in this world. Earlier, I secretly tried saying "Status Open," a common troupe in isekai settings, but nothing happened. Isn't this the kind of world where you usually get some kind of special ability?

As we walked toward the town, I stayed vigilant and asked Roya and the others about this world. Maybe it was thanks to the lunch I treated them to, but they answered all my questions cheerfully. I feel like I owe them even more now.

"There it is. That's the starting town for adventurers, Al-Flare."