The Liberomancer [Isekai Progression LitRPG]

[Demonic Detector] was an ability that would alert you if someone had learned a demonic grimoire, or if a demonic grimoire was present in the nearby vicinity.

[Demonic Detector] did not require the consent factor that [Inspection] did, nor did it require holding hands and had a low-to-medium range from what I understood, which was perfect for use at narrow choke points like the city gates. On the flip side though, as it had those benefits, it had a much narrower effect compared to [Inspection].

Both of them were Rank One grimoires, and both were highly useful.

Despite this, the country that had originally made them not only made sure that they were publicly available, but had even spent their own money to make sure that they were spread around as much as possible.

The reason was simple - demonic Liberomancers were a menace to everyone, and no one wanted them to be able to operate freely.

Many countries after this made their own grimoires in their own languages that granted the same abilities.

The guards at the city gate always had at least one Liberomancer on duty who knew both of those abilities.

Of course, this meant that [Crimson Lance] would set their detector off immediately.

"Uh, hello, I have to declare something," I said to one of the guards. They only really inspected people going into the city, not going out, but it was better to establish who I was so that there wouldn't be any problems when we returned. "I even have the paperwork for it." I took out a certificate that the Liberomancer's Guild had given me which had an explanation for why I had [Crimson Lance] and the official seal of the guild at the bottom. It was written in both the lizardmen and human script of Chipker.

I thought it would be quick and easy, but it ended up taking ten minutes as the guards were slightly confused and not sure what to do about me. I guess this was something really out of the ordinary for them. They ended up calling their captain, who said, "You're the man who managed to get his hands on that demonic grimoire, right? I heard about you - yeah, it's fine, let him go and let him come back when he's back six days later."

It was unlikely that we would run into this exact same batch of guards when we came back, but at least one of them should've been someone who was here that day. And at least I could say that I had tried to make the officials aware of my situation.

With that small delay out of the way, we headed out.

This was my first time outside the city barring that time I had visited that awful zoo back when the Book Fair was in town.

Now, there were no tents or stalls set up, just greenery as far as the eye could see. The path was well-paved close to the city, and it was here that [Unobstructed Sight] was quite useful for scouting.

By itself it provided no enhancement to one's vision - but the thing was that visibility was the best right after the rain on a very clear day, when all of the dust had been washed away. As in, on a normal day, you weren't seeing in ideal conditions, which is why it felt like my vision was better anyway.

I didn't see anything that could indicate trouble up ahead.

"What should I be looking out for?" I asked Granny Qi. The two of us were sitting in front of the cart, though Granny Qi was handling the reins. "Animals? Bears? Robbers?"

"We shouldn't need to worry about any of those especially in the middle of the day," Granny Qi said. "Robbers don't show up this close to the city, and as for animals, they usually stay away in the middle of the day. There are bears and wolves in the area, and you'll hear of someone dying to one maybe every couple of years, but I wouldn't worry too much about it. I've traveled along this road many times in the past… only now I'm alone and not sure if I can react in time if something on the off chance were to happen."

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"So, there are wolves nearby? How big are they? Do they have any magical abilities?" I asked. I had seen one in the zoo that was nearly the size of a horse.

She described them and it sounded like the ones in Chipker were like regular wolves back on Earth when it came to size, but the bears could grow up to twice as big as those I was used to.

Still, it shouldn't have been a problem even in the unlikely chance we ran into one. [Fireball] was more than enough to take care of either of them. Not to mention I had another offensive spell up my sleeve now, [Crimson Lance].

Thinking about wolves did make me wonder - perhaps somewhere, there was a group of wolf cubs that had been abandoned, or their parents had died, you know, something along those lines. And perhaps they would be receptive to being raised by a human? And perhaps, over multiple generations of breeding, they could be trained to be more friendly with humans?

And by doing so - I could eventually bring dogs into this world!

"You're thinking something dumb again, aren't you?" Granny Qi asked. "You have that look on your face…" she then added, even though I hadn't had the chance to ask how she had figured that out.

"Eh… not really you know…" I said, trailing off.

Of course, such an idea was completely impractical. For one, I did want to go back home eventually and didn't want to get attached to a whole new batch of pets. Not to mention I was sure that even if I succeeded, such a thing would definitely take decades and several generations of wolves at the bare minimum if not more.

It would also require culling any wolves which did not show habits conducive to domestication, which I did not have the stomach for. I could also release those who were not well-behaved instead, but I probably wouldn't have the heart to do that either - and then I would have the bigger problem of trying to figure out where to release those wolves.

Indeed, it was nothing more than a pipe dream.

I decided to change the topic rather than linger on the thought of somehow domesticating dogs from wolves in Libraria, no matter how much I felt that it would be a great improvement to this world.

"Ah, so you have family back in the village, right?" I remember Granny Qi told me that she had a huge family back when she grew up.

"One of my sisters and two of my brothers passed away," she said. "And the others moved to different places, but one of my sisters, Suki Tang, is the current village head if you'll believe it." She then gave me a stern look. "Just be sure not to embarrass me, alright?"

"What?!" I said incredulously. When had I ever done anything even remotely embarrassing? I didn't voice that last bit as I had a feeling that I would be treated to a long lecture if I did.

We continued to follow the path and didn't run into anything of note. We would occasionally pass by other carts, though we would pass by each other in silence.

I couldn't help but really appreciate how big the Arconia was, given all of its branches and its winding path that I saw as we trudged in a direction against its flow.

"The Ragini is even bigger," Granny Qi said, watching what I was doing. From what she described, the Ragini was nearly as long as the Nile back on Earth.

The difference between Ranks was really drastic when you thought about it - right now, my most useful skills were the Rank Two ones. Rank One spells could not match up to Rank Two spells at all, [Crimson Lance] being a rare exception.

If the tales were true and a Rank Six grimoire really had created the Ragini so many years ago - well, Rank One [Create Water] could only make a small stream like a faucet at home. The difference between the two was staggering!

That was assuming that Rank Six grimoires even existed at any point in time outside of the world of myths and legends, which most people doubted.

Although we didn't run into any huge animals, we did run into not just carts, but some people who were just walking along the road.

One of the wanderers asked us if we could spare any change and I gave him a Denarius.

As we went further and he was out of sight, Granny Qi clicked her tongue. "Did you really need to give him all of that?"

"He looked like he was homeless and hungry," I told her. The guy had been wearing clothes which looked like they hadn't been washed in some time and were torn in a few places. It was a different state from the day laborers in Arconia I'd see from time to time, that guy looked more like… well, more like me when I had transported here after a week. As in, he wasn't like that because he had a difficult job, but had been like this for a while.

"Why the full Denarius though? At most you should've given him a third," Granny Qi said. "And we can't stop to help everyone in need on our way."

"Yeah but," I said. "I remember being like that one time - when I first came to the city. I wouldn't be here in the position I am in if it wasn't for your kindness."

"I helped you out because you looked like someone who was just down on his luck for the time being," she said. "He looks like a perpetual beggar, with that being all he'll ever aspire too."

Yeah, there were those types back on Earth too. I guess Diogenes was the most famous - of someone who had just given up on societal expectations and chose to live as a homeless man foregoing the stresses of the world.

Still, I couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy whenever I saw people like that. I hadn't forgotten how it felt during the first few days I had been here in Arconia - that feeling of being lost and not knowing where your next meal was going to come from.