?
way back we saw how the items he got from a peddler were bought from his old party
Honestly, I could tell that was the same guy selling the same stuff, but it struck me more as the "
first town merchant event" that the god(s) set up in every dimension/realm/reality as a bonus to kinda "
set the heroes upon their path."
Like, remember all those parties in that White Room in chapter one? Did they all go to the
same world?
(Without us, those bastards...?!)
Separate worlds?
Different continents?
Same continents, but different dimensions/histories?
But, no matter how different or far, they always get the dagger, spellbook, rocks, shield, sword, etc...
Just like what ring you get at the beginning of any Final Fantasy, depending upon your answer to an innocuous question.
Anyway, I don't know; but it struck me as that kinda thing, not as the group and MC being within walking distance of each other.
After all, he's gone much further in his travels, and still nobody heard of the Transistor Kingdom; if that random
Goblin Merchant (WTF; they kill gobbos, amirite?!) can
walk from MC to Party in less than a week, they would have to be
hella close... and they're not.