"Take these things with you."
"Thank you, Treyni."
Before Suzuki departed, Treyni had meticulously prepared a massive stockpile of resources for him. She knew that as soon as he entered human society, he would need capital.
And he truly needed to go. While living in perpetual depravity surrounded by three incredibly beautiful fairies of nature sounded like paradise, he knew that a man needed ambition! He couldn't just hide in the woods forever.
"I'm sorry. I can't stay with you all the time," Suzuki said gently.
"Don't worry. Honestly, I'm glad you have this kind of drive in you." Treyni smiled softly. She felt a bittersweet mixture of sadness and pride, watching the man she had fallen for prepare to forge his own path. Deep down, she made a quiet resolution that she, too, would eventually leave the Jura Forest to see him.
As for what Suzuki actually planned to do... well, becoming an adventurer didn't sound too bad. It was the quintessential isekai gig. Fighting dangerous monsters, saving towns, and having bards sing tales of his exploits—it was a classic, profitable path.
In fact, it was the most optimal choice.
Suzuki didn't mind choosing the most popular, cliché job, despite the inherent dangers. After all, he possessed two Unique Skills and the [Manager]. Whenever he faced a truly life-threatening challenge, his [Self-Made] skill would force him to adapt, potentially triggering a secondary evolution from an Enlightened Sage into a True Saint.
Some might wonder why he didn't just aim to become a Demon Lord instead. The answer was simple: becoming a Demon Lord required the infamy and the spiritual burden of slaughtering tens of thousands of humans. Even Rimuru hadn't wanted to commit mass murder at first; he had been forced into it to save his people.
Suzuki wasn't being forced into anything. Instead of massacring armies, he could just evolve the fun way.
The facts supported his theory! He had successfully evolved into an Enlightened Sage simply by doing snu-snu with Treyni. Logically, if he somehow managed to do snu-snu with a Demon Lord, wouldn't he instantly evolve into a True Saint?
...
Jokes aside, Suzuki knew he needed serious capital to unlock and level up the [Merchant] job he had cross-referenced from the Arifureta Suzuki. Just like his alternate self, he wanted to live in absolute, modern comfort—like inside a luxurious penthouse. Treyni's forest sanctuary was beautiful, but at the end of the day, it was still a bunch of trees and dirt.
If he didn't possess [Self-Made] and the [Manager] to constantly adjust his biology, his body would have broken down in this harsh, outdoor environment ages ago. No matter how much one tried to romanticize camping in a magical forest, Suzuki deeply longed for a proper mattress and indoor plumbing.
He had to get to a city!
Fortunately, Treyni was providing him with an absurd amount of startup capital. At first, he thought he would need to rely on the [Absolute Storage] ability derived from the Arifureta Suzuki's Merchant job to carry it all.
Well, actually... even if I didn't have that, I could just make my own.
Suzuki knew his [Etymologist] skill had terrifying, reality-bending potential. He decided to test it. He conceptually isolated the spatial noun [Container] and syntactically modified it with the absolute prefix [Infinite].
By merging the syntax, he essentially hacked the world's physics, creating a perfect, zero-mass sub-dimension tied directly to his soul. It worked flawlessly on the first try.
"You really brought me a lot of things," Suzuki remarked, staring into his newly created infinite pocket.
Treyni had absolutely loaded him down. She filled his conceptual inventory with ultra-rare Hipokute herbs, high-grade Magic Ore, and pristine monster materials that human nations would wage war over. At this exact moment, Suzuki was casually carrying the GDP of a small country in his invisible pocket.
"Don't worry about it. Those things are useless to us here," Treyni replied dismissively.
She didn't care about material wealth. She felt a deep, profound affection for him, and she also felt incredibly guilty for accidentally turning him into a global target. Loading him with a massive fortune was the least she could do!
Suzuki noticed her lingering guilt but didn't press the issue. He knew full well that his situation was genuinely dangerous. He might have brushed it off earlier, but as a newly evolved Sage, he was currently being actively hunted by paranoid Demon Lords, underground syndicates, and the Western Holy Church—who would undoubtedly send their apex executioner, Hinata Sakaguchi, straight for his neck.
While Suzuki was confident that [Self-Made] and the [Manager] would allow him to continuously adapt and grow stronger, that safety net only applied if he wasn't instantly vaporized, mind-controlled, or sealed away before his body could react. He had taken this world a little too lightly at first. Remembering the insane power scaling of Rimuru's story, he knew he had to be cautious.
"Please be careful out there," Treyni whispered, leaning in to kiss his lips softly.
"...Can I have a little more?"
Treyni laughed, playfully sticking out her tongue before pulling him in for a much deeper, lingering kiss.
Yep. His life in this world was definitely going to be good.
Still, where exactly was he supposed to go?
The continent was unfathomably immense. The maps shown in the original anime made the world seem relatively compact, but the reality was staggering.
The geography was akin to Earth's ancient Pangea supercontinent—a massive, single "all-earth" landmass surrounded by a global ocean. To put it in perspective, one of the neighboring Demon Lord domains was situated on a detached island. That "small" island was roughly the size of Australia.
If an offshore island was the size of Australia, the main continent where the story took place was easily the combined size of Asia, Europe, and Africa.
In a world that overwhelmingly massive, where was his ideal starting point?
After cross-referencing Treyni's geographical knowledge with the [Manager's] strategic algorithms, only one logical destination remained.
The Blumund Kingdom.
Known as the "Land of Information and Trade," it was a remarkably small nation that survived purely by navigating the complex politics between the Western Holy Church, the Eastern Empire, and the monster domains.
It was the absolute perfect drop zone. Because it was a relatively weak, politically neutral state, a wandering Merchant wouldn't draw immediate, heavy-handed scrutiny. He would likely be ignored by the major global powers. And if the Blumund nobility tried to cause him any trouble? He could effortlessly execute a hostile corporate takeover of the entire country, as it was small enough to be swallowed without the Church immediately noticing.
"You're really going, then?" Treyni asked, stepping back.
"Yeah."
"Just follow the path I laid out for you, and you'll arrive at their borders safely."
"Thanks, Treyni."
"I'll come visit you whenever I want to. Is that okay?"
"Can you actually do that?" Suzuki asked, genuinely eager to see her and her sisters again.
"Of course." Treyni smiled mischievously, her green eyes sparkling. "As long as there are plants and roots in this world, I can travel almost anywhere I please."
"..."
"So don't worry about me. Have a safe journey, okay~?"
Watching her naughty, distinctly lewd smile, Suzuki knew with absolute certainty that his journey ahead definitely wasn't going to be a lonely one.