I followed Galu along the streets slowly. Earlier, I asked him if there were any bookshops around. I had the idea that a dictionary would probably add a lot more progress, and Tablet confirmed it.

The bookstore's outside walls were made of glass and had a shiny logo in the weird characters their language used. Books were displayed in a way that people could see them from outside, and I could see tons of people walking around quietly, flipping books from rows and rows of neat wooden bookshelves.

I didn't know what else I expected, but it felt kind of modern actually. I guess maybe it shouldn't be a surprise considering they can make machines. A lot of other buildings I saw did sort of have a 'medieval' look to them though.

Come to think of it, their machines couldn't just be pure science, couldn't it? Maybe it's mostly just magic making them run. I wondered if they had computers here or something similar.

"What did you want to get, Truck? I can get it for you!"

Galu was practically jumping up and down. No idea why he found it so exciting. Weirdo.

"Help me get... 3 different dictionaries!"

I figured that was a good amount.

"Eh? You don't want something nice to read?"

The boy looked very disappointed. I really didn't get him. After a bit of thinking though, I guess it wouldn't hurt. The past three days had been really stressful, so maybe a good book could help me relax a bit?

I don't recall reading that often back on Earth, but there were probably not many other forms of entertainment here anyway.

"I guess maybe I could. Do you have any recommendations?"

Galu's face lit up again. As quick to change as a flickering light...

"Thunder Hero Lesluth! It's the best book ever!"

Lesluth? It sounded a bit familiar. Oh, It's that book that his father complained about! To convince him to use a replica of the MC's sword and idolise him, it sounded pretty silly of him to me. Was the book really that good? I couldn't help but get curious.

"Sure, why not?"

"Wait, you've not read it? It's very famous!"

"No?"

Why the heck did he ask if he assumed I already read it?

After a bit more blabbering, Galu ran in and bought out 3 very thick books and a whole box set filled with books. There had to be like around a dozen books in it.

It had a very detailed illustration of a blonde man in scaled armour mid shout, raising a huge electrified sword into the stormy skies as thunder hit the ground. Beside him, there was a grey dragon roaring too.

Isn't this a bit, well, very over the top?

Urgh, I didn't ask to pay for that! It had to cost a hefty amount. Maybe I'll just tell him to return it-

"I got the first ten books for you as a gift! You only need to pay for the dictionaries, they're 8 silver and 97 bronze." 

Oh, that's nice of him.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Thanks!"

I handed him 9 silver and he handed me back 3 bronze. So 1 silver is 100 bronze. Does that mean 1 gold is 100 silver? Then that means... if one sandwich costs 5 bronze... 100 times 100 is 10,000... 10,000 divided by 5 is... 2,000... so 1 gold is 2,000 sandwiches?

Holy shit! I'm rich!

(Radio was speechless.)

I probably shouldn't try to spend too much on food though. I still had a lot of fruits on me and I'll probably waste the entire sum in a few days if I tried to stuff myself with human food.

Wait, then that means the dictionaries were like around 60 sandwiches each? That's so expensive...

Oh well. I handed the three books to Tablet.

[Language Deciphered: Human.]

[Progess: 50%]

[You should now be able to understand most of the basic words.]

What? Aren't dictionaries supposed to have all the words? This is unfair!

[Deal with it.]

Grrr... 

Radio, tell Galu to buy 10 dictionaries!

"What? Are you sure?!"

Do it!

I might as well at this point...

A very confused Galu went in and got ten of the same dictionary after some convincing. Many people were staring at him as he made his way to the counter.

"Sir, may I ask why you are buying so many?" the cashier asked when his turn came.

"Sir, may I-" Sheepy started.

Sheepy, stop!

"What?"

I understood fully! It was a very exciting moment for me.

You don't need to translate for me anyway, I understand the language now.

"WHAT?!"

I convinced the sheep by getting Radio to speak properly in the language here, Iyash. Sheepy stammered for a bit before seeming really dejected. Did it somehow have a lot of fun translating for me? Weird sheep...

Reluctantly, I handed Galu the gold coin as he came out. He handed me back 70 silver and 10 bronze. Maybe the currency here was a bit bulky. They should really adopt notes or have more in-between coins like on earth.

[[Language Deciphered: Human!]

[Progess: 60%]

[You are now fairly proficient at it.]

Urgh. Maybe it was enough though? I took out the first volume of Thunder Hero and flipped through the pages. Yup, I could read all the words! Oh, I actually spotted a small grammatical error.

It was really gratifying for some reason. Probably because I had to rely on a FREAKING sheep of all things to communicate for days.

With my newfound confidence, I told Galu he could go home first. I wanted to know if there was a library too, but I was so tempted to ask passersby for directions instead with my new grasp of the language!

The people here were very kind. Some old man in the middle of jogging even led me straight to it as he jogged.

"Follow me, it's not far away!"

"Thank you!"

It really wasn't far. I was there in an instant. Now I can-

...

Oh my god, I'm so stupid! I should have come with Galu so that he could get the books for me...

I expected Tablet to berate me, but thankfully, it kept quiet. I decided to just drive back to Galu's cottage and spend the rest of the day reading Thunder Hero.

----------------------------------------

It was pretty cliche, to be honest. Tragic backstory, heroic MC, whatever, blah blah. I mean, I still enjoyed it, but I didn't see why Galu liked it so much. The skies were already darkened by the time I was done reading the first volume; I could hear crickets from the grass in his garden. It was very peaceful.

[7:42 PM]

Yueler came out of the house just I finished reading the first chapter of the next book. He was holding a platter with a huge slab of meat covered in mushrooms, herbs and vegetables.

"Here," he said. "It's from the Ice Ape Galu took down this morning."

"Thanks."

I received it through my window, along with a fork and knife.

"You should come in and eat with us. It's merrier that way, isn't it?"

I felt a bit touched, but in the end,  I wasn't a person. Can't exactly squeeze myself through the doorway.

"Ah, it's fine. I prefer to be alone anyway."

Yueler shrugged and went back in. I didn't know why, but I felt a tiny bit saddened.

After I was sure he wouldn't suddenly come out again, I floated it into my mouth. Eating ape, isn't that kind of weird since they're humanoids too? Well, that didn't apply for me.

It was very juicy and meaty. The mushrooms and vegetable paired very well too. Delicious, definitely a lot better than the fruit.

I couldn't help but wonder if it was another intelligent animal like so many I've met though. That made me feel slightly uneasy.

It didn't stop me from wanting another serving, but I felt like it would be rude to ask for more. They probably didn't even cook that much. I put the platter and cutlery beside the doorstep and continued to read, turning on the lights inside me.

Time flew by. By the time I was done, it was 1 AM.

I guess I should meet the robo- no, golems now? And I wanted to continue reading... why did the the story have to get to a cliffhanger now of all times? Stupid author.