Chapter 36: Shopping tour |
As Ai got the better of him, the old man sat back down in his chair with a resigned attitude and began to talk about why he was running the blacksmith shop with a sigh.
"I'm only able to do this because of my father's legacy and customers like you."
""Customers like us?""
They could understand his father's legacy, but they couldn't understand how customers like them could support the old man's lifestyle.
"Yeah, if you take this kind of top-quality material to a store affiliated with the merchant guild, the whole country will immediately know about it. If you do that, all sorts of people are going to start taking some kind of action against you."
"Ah, so that's why Leela took the trouble to tell us about this place." (Tatsuro)
"Thanks to Leela!" (Ai)
"Well, this one's more expensive for it."
"Oh," they looked at each other but then shrugged their shoulders together.
"Okay"
"How long will it take you to do it?" (Tatsuro)
"For this amount, I need about ten days."
"All right. I'll come back for it. (Tatsuro)
"Good luck" (Ai)
"Okay~"
The two of them were worried about the old man who waved his hand without motivation, but they decided to trust Leela who introduced them, not the old man.
As they left the blacksmith shop, they discussed what they should do next.
"First of all, we need something to wear and a set of equipment, right?" (Ai)
"Yeah, and I also want to learn some common sense in this world, so let's go to the bookstore, and if there are any books on magic, even better." (Tatsuro)
"Oh, by the way, we still have SP left over." (Ai)
"I need to think about how I'm going to use it, and then I'll see what I can find." (Tatsuro)
"Nnn~" (Ai)
While they were both groaning and thinking about what they should do, they came up with another thing that they should do.
"A place!" (Tatsuro)
"A place to stay!" (Ai)
"So the order is to buy clothes and equipment, find a bookstore, get lodgings, and call it a day, is that right?" (Tatsuro)
"Yes. Now that we have enough money, let's stay in a bigger place today." (Ai)
"It would be a shame if we couldn't sleep together, though." (Tatsuro)
When Tatsuro jokingly said that, Ai's face turned red and she said "Idiot" and went ahead of him. When Tatsuro hurriedly caught up with her, he pulled her by the arm and said in her ear, "When you sleep, why don't we sleep together?" It was Tatsuro's turn to blush.
They didn't realize until the very end that passers-by were looking at them as if they were dazzling, smiling, or resentful, as they joked around the town.
As they explored the area, using the map function to find something that looked like a store, they came across a large building.
The color was pure white to match the surrounding buildings, but even though it was made of stone, it had a boxy shape like a building, and the site itself was reasonably large.
In such a building, people dressed like adventurers and residents of the town were coming and going.
When the two of them looked at the large sign, they saw that it read "Department Store" in Japanese.
"Department store means you can find everything there, right?" (Ai)
"Y-Yeah. Even so, I didn't know such a building existed. Even without the development of science, magic allows us to ignore materials and technology and create something similar…" (Tatsuro)
While Tatsuro was once again admiring the versatility of magic, Ai, who was itching to get in, couldn't resist and pulled Tatsuro's hand and led him into the store.
"Wait, I can walk by myself!" (Tatsuro)
"Hurry, hurry!" (Ai)
As they slid sideways through the large doors of the department store, they saw several food-related stores bustling inside.
"The first floor is the food section?" (Tatsuro)
"Not for us who can't cook, I suppose." (Ai)
"No, not today, but if we're going out, we'd better buy something here that will last." (Tatsuro)
"That's true. But for now, let's go upstairs." (Ai)
"Don't pull my arm." (Tatsuro)
Ai took him by the arm and led him up the stairs past the wives who were shopping for groceries.
When they got to the second floor, they found a row of clothing stores. The stores in the front displayed so-called cheap clothes, while the further in you went, the more expensive and expensive the products were.
"Oh, so many clothes! Let's look here!" (Ai)
"Yeah, we don't want any sparrows in our clothes." (Tatsuro)
The two of them decided to look in the middle of the store, but Ai's feet were drawn to a beautiful one-piece dress displayed in front of the store at the far end.
"Oi oi, that's definitely in the expensive zone." (Ai)
"It's fine, let's take a look" (Tatsuro)
Tatsuro was in the mood for a quick clothing selection, so he couldn't resist Ai's tearful face.
"Well, just a little bit." (Ai)
"Un." (Tatsuro)
Sighing, Tatsuro said and headed for the store where the costumes were displayed.
In the store located at the far end, a female clerk was sorting through the merchandise on the shelves when she spotted a man and a woman walking in.
When she caught a glimpse of them for a moment, she frowned as if they were chilling children, but she was soon able to change her mind.
First, the clothes. The design and fabric were unlike anything she had ever seen before. The stitching was excellent, and not a single piece was out of place. Furthermore, the people wearing them had beautiful skin and hair, indicating that they had been in a well-nourished environment for a long time.
Therefore, she understood that they were customers.
The two of them were casually looking around the store, not knowing what the clerk thought of them.
Tatsuro looked a little bored, but he was soothed by the sight of Ai's happy smile.
Meanwhile, Ai stared at the costumes on the shelves, imagining herself wearing them, and smiled at the price tags, thinking that she could afford them now.
While she was staring at an outfit she particularly liked, a female sales clerk smiled at her.
"You have a very good eye, customer. This is a very popular item among young people right now."
"I see. The embroidery on these skirts is really cute." (Ai)
"I see you understood it. You know, you are very perceptive!"
"No, not really…" (Ai)
As Ai and the shopkeeper began to talk about this and that with the shopkeeper, Tatsuro was impressed that the other world was also like this.
In the end, Ai, who was praised by the shopkeeper, bought three gorgeous embroidered one-piece dresses that would have been worn by a doll in her original world.
Tatsuro felt like his soul was about to come out of his mouth at the price, but Ai just paid it as if it was something like this. (T/N: Even when you become a millionaire suddenly, you can't get used to buying expensive things that easily)
"Thank you very much."
The saleswoman bowed her head and left the two of them with a smile on her face, knowing that she had been right in letting them buy three out of the pricey items.
Seeing this, the junior clerk was secretly burning with the will to fight the next time that customer came in.
Again, unaware of the shopkeeper's situation, Ai picked out two outfits for Tatsuro from another store in a secluded area and bought them.
They finally left the second floor after buying the rest of the clothes they needed from a store that catered to middle-class families.
When they reached the third floor, they found a row of bookstores. There were signs in front of the stores indicating what kind of books they sold as if they were a library.
"Amazing, it's like a library." (Ai)
"I'll buy a book if there's a skill-related book that might be relevant to me." (Tatsuro)
"Yeah, I guess so. But first, let's start with books that will help me acquire common sense." (Ai)
"Yeah" (Tatsuro)
He went into a variety of bookstores and bought encyclopedias, modern glossaries, demon dictionaries, and a few books on current events.
On the way, Ai also bought some books on how to learn skills that might be useful.
After purchasing the books, they put them all away in the [Item Box] and went into a bookstore where there were many books related to magic.
Inside, the books were divided by attribute, and Tatsuro looked around and picked up several books from the shelves that described each attribute in detail. As he was holding them and looking through the other books, a middle-aged man who seemed to be the owner of the store spoke to him.
"Customer, are you going to buy them all?"
"Yes, I'll buy them. Is that a problem?" (Tatsuro)
"No, no, no. I'd rather appreciate it. It's not every day that someone buys a book on magic with all the attributes, so I thought I'd ask just in case."
"Ah, I've been wanting to do some research on various kinds of magic, so…" (Tatsuro)
" Ah~, I didn't know that. I'm impressed by your enthusiasm for research for such a young man."
"No." (Tatsuro)
He accepted the blatant social call lightly and waited for the man to leave, but for some reason, he kept staring at him.
"Is there anything else?" (Tatsuro)
"Oh, no, you're interested in magic of any kind, right?"
"Yes, I am." (Tatsuro)
"There's a book I'd like you to look at if you don't mind."
"Sure, just take a look." (Tatsuro)
"Okay, I'll bring it to you now, please wait there."
Without even listening to Tatsuro, the man quickly disappeared behind the door behind the payment counter. Ai, who had been watching from a short distance away, came over to us.
"What was that about?" (Ai)
"No, he said he had a book he wanted to show me and went away." (Tatsuro)
"What is it?" (Ai)
"I don't know, but it doesn't seem to be harmful, so I'll wait a bit." (Tatsuro)
"All right. I'm going to look for a magic book that might be interesting for you to use." (Ai)
"Yeah, take it easy." (Tatsuro)
Then, with a swoosh, Ai went off to another bookshelf. In the meantime, he saw a man coming out of the door. In his hand, he was holding a book with a black-and-white circle on the cover.
(Is that the book he wanted to show me?)
After observing the man for a while, he eventually came in front of Tatsuro.
"This is the book," and handed it to Tatsuro with the cover facing upward, looking at him with some expectation in his eyes.
"—–This is" (Tatsuro)
On the cover of the book was written this.
"Anyone can do it! Mixing light and dark magic! It's so easy♪"
And.
"T-Th at's fishy…." (Tatsuro)
The man who brought the book to Tatsuro's words was also laughing bitterly as Tatsuro said so.