Ch 29 - 31 - iDEAL

Chapter 29: Seaside Street

Here we are, at a coastal town!!

I decided to enjoy the seafood to the fullest before heading east

toward the next country. I wasn’t in any particular hurry, so I didn’t

really have to go anywhere, but after all that had happened, I felt like

I should get moving sooner rather than later. I didn’t want that

crown prince guy to hear any rumors about me and decide to come

over from the neighboring kingdom of Brancott, after all.

But if there was an entire other country between us, surely that

would be too far for Fer-what’s-his-face to come after me, right?

Besides, I wanted to see what I could of this world before I found a

companion to settle down with. It would be difficult to travel freely

around the continent once I had a husband and children.

...That reminded me, what were Francette and Roland going to do?

Emile and Belle were orphans, and still quite young, so they could

travel around for several years to train and gain experience before

eventually settling down, or even go back to the kingdom of Balmore

to live with the rest of the Eyes of the Goddess. Surely they would be

skilled hunters by then, and could even open their own shop with the

accumulated pay for their bodyguard services that I’d been stashing

in the Item Box for them.

Well, I would leave that decision up to them. I was afraid they would

say, “We want to live near you once you settle down and protect you

for the rest of our lives!” but that, too, would be up to them. I had no

right to complain, either way. No one can take responsibility for

another person’s life.

That left Fran and Roland. It wasn’t like those two were lonely,

rootless wanderers. They still had family in their home country, and

Roland was royalty, for cryin’ out loud! He couldn’t just abandon his

home, and if he ever had a kid, that child would inherit a claim to the

throne unless the current king, Roland’s younger brother, had his

own child. Even if the king had his own children, there would still be

the second and third claims to the throne, and so on...

They couldn’t just wander around as they pleased indefinitely! Their

home country, and whichever country they went to, wouldn’t allow

it.

Hmm, how long did these two plan on staying with me...? I didn’t

mind Emile and Belle, but it was like the other two were there to

keep an eye on me, which was kind of hard to deal with...

Also, Fran and Roland had been in a bad mood the past few days,

now that the lieutenant colonel had taken over their role as the

“straight man” of the group.

...Not my problem!

“Let’s find a place to stay first. Then we’ll stuff our faces with all the

seafood we can!” I declared to the others as we stood in front of the

town, putting the chariot back into my Item Box.

I hadn’t had a proper fish meal that wasn’t dried or preserved in salt

since being transported to this world. That was a bit rough for

someone who had been born and raised in Japan. I did understand

that there wasn’t much that could be done for those who lived

inland, considering the need to preserve and transport the fish,

though.

I’d only been to a coastal town once before. But that was for an

event when a new ship made by the Aligot Empire had arrived at the

port of Balmore for the first time, and the purpose of the trip was to

show me their completed vessel and thus earn my praise. So I was

under siege by a bunch of shipwrights, and I had no time to walk

around and enjoy the food, given all the parties and review meetings

I had to attend.

And since it was a coastal town, I had assumed the fish would be

cheap and their expensive cuisine would all be meat dishes, but they

only had meat! Not only was there no seafood, they didn’t even have

vegetables! Why would there only be meat dishes in a coastal town?!

What a load of crap!!!

Haah... Haah...

Well, at least there were no snobs around to claim that good meat

had to be marbled, so I did enjoy the red meat at the restaurant, but

I could have had that anywhere.

It’s a coastal town, so just give me my fresh fish!

Well, in any case, that’s how I missed my chance last time. But not

this time! I was free to do what I wanted, so I was gonna eat all the

seafood! Grilled and simmered fish were tempting, of course, but my

mind was set on getting some sashimi. Sashimi was the only option!

I’d eat it to my heart’s content, then have grilled fish tomorrow, and

simmered fish the day after.

And so, we entered the town and made our way toward the first

fancy-looking restaurant I could find.

I wanted to eat as soon as possible, so I hurried the others along as

they tied Ed up and we took our seats inside.

“Sashimi platters, please! I’ll leave the selection to the chef!” I

exclaimed to the waiter, without even looking at the menu on the

table. The others were still reaching for their menus, but I didn’t

care! We didn’t have to order everything at once anyway.

All right, it’s time for sashimi! It’s been years!!! I was totally pumped.

“...Sa-shi-mi?”

That is, until I got that response, complete with a perplexed

expression...

“What is a sashimi?”

“...Huh?”

My language translation ability wasn’t working? No, that couldn’t be

it!

“U-Um, it’s raw fish that’s cut into pieces and eaten...” I said, feeling

shaken.

“Y-You want to eat raw fish?!” the waiter shouted in surprise, which

turned all eyes in the restaurant toward us.

What? They didn’t eat sashimi? Well, it’s true that the royal capital

and every other location I’d visited only served fish dried or

preserved in salt, but I thought that was just out of necessity, for

preservation and transportation to the inland cities, and so forth.

I had assumed that a coastal town would offer raw fish, or at least

similar dishes, like tataki, carpaccio, or namero. I mean, I thought

fishermen everywhere had cut and trimmed freshly caught fish,

scooped out the innards with their fingers, then rinsed the fish with

sea water and eaten them, basically since forever...

So why was I getting looks like I had just said something utterly

inconceivable...?

“Hey, buddy, you should explain properly. Anyone who eats a fish

that hasn’t been fully cooked will get bugs in their stomach and end

up rolling around in pain. I mean, I guess inlanders who don’t eat raw

fish wouldn’t know this, but if you try to cook one without knowing

how, your whole group’ll end up needing a visit to a doctor.” One of

the tough-looking customers thus offered a friendly warning. He

kinda looked like a ruffian, but was smiling as he spoke. Maybe he

was a fisherman?

“...Ah, you’re talking about parasites!”

“Oh, you know about ’em?” the older dude, I mean, gentleman, said

with a surprised look.

...I’d been kind of sloppy with my word choice since coming to this

world, so I had to be careful. My brother always used to say, “Your

eyes are pretty scary, so you’d have no redeeming qualities if you

had a dirty mouth, too...” Hey, shut it!

In Japan, they say you shouldn’t eat river fish raw, but sea fish are

fine, though that’s just because it’s commonly known that most

saltwater fish were treated by freezing them before being

distributed. Most freshwater fish weren’t treated this way.

Moreover, sea fish lived far away from humanity, so their parasites

didn’t evolve to target humans as a host.

In other words, most parasites for saltwater fish that enter a human

body don’t last long, and could only ever manage to cause temporary

pain, albeit rather excruciating pain, without generating any

potentially lethal symptoms.

...Well, a couple hours of excruciating pain was bad enough already.

Conversely, rivers and swamps are a part of the land on which

humans live.

They live alongside land animals, so a lot of parasites in freshwater

fish could survive in the bodies of those animals.

What I’m trying to say is, some of them were really dangerous to eat.

That’s probably why eating raw freshwater fish was known to be a

bad idea.

Anyway, it wasn’t that sea fish didn’t have any parasites. If they

hadn’t been frozen and checked by the fish shop to remove them

manually, they were actually pretty common, like the kind that

causes extreme pain in the human body. I knew all of this, but I could

easily deal with toxins and parasites with my potions, so I didn’t

really worry about them.

...But, of course, a restaurant would. Even if I told them that I didn’t

mind the risks, there was no way they could serve raw fish. If

someone got sick at their establishment, it would negatively impact

their reputation.

“Grilled and simmered fish, one dish each, chef’s choice...” Feeling

defeated, I ordered without looking at the menu or giving it much

thought.

One by one, Francette and the others ordered as well. It seemed

they actually perused the menu first.

Francette went on and on as she placed her order. Yeah, her body

required a lot of food to fuel her physical abilities.

That’s why she ate a ton, but... she never got fat. Ugh!

As such, I was still in a state of total hopelessness as the food arrived.

It all tasted good! Damn it!

“Would you mind letting me borrow your kitchen?” I asked the

owner of our inn, after we booked a room and took a little break. If I

couldn’t get sashimi at a restaurant, I would just have to make my

own. I was already used to making sashimi in my previous world,

after all.

Growing up in a family of five, it was better to buy fish in blocks

rather than getting the pre-cut kind. That is, the blocks weren’t

necessarily cheaper, but freshly sliced fish tasted better than fish

that was cut earlier that morning. The cross-section of store-bought

sashimi is exposed to air for a long time, so the flavor definitely

degrades over time. I’d much rather take a well-sharpened sashimi

kitchen knife and slice the fish with one smooth, swift motion, so as

to not squish the meat as I cut it, then add a pinch of freshly grated

wasabi and... Ohhh!

“Oh, what kind of dish do you want to make? We’re prepping right

now, so we’re not serving customers yet. I don’t mind you using it for

a bit, but I’d have to watch to make sure you don’t do anything

dangerous or damage the equipment.”

Yes!

My decision to choose a cheap inn because it was likely to be more

easygoing had paid off.

“Sashimi. Umm, it’s a dish where you cut raw fish into thin strips,

then eat it with condiments! I have my own condiments, so if you

could just let me borrow a kitchen knife and cutting board...”

“I can’t let you do that.”

Huh? He’d just said I could! I glared at him reflexively, and he visibly

cringed, with a tight expression on his face.

“Th-Threatening me won’t do you any good! O-Of course I can’t let

you!”

I wasn’t threatening him, and he didn’t have to be so scared... Well,

never mind. I already knew.

“Why?!”

The owner’s look changed to one of exasperation as he replied.

“We’re an inn and eatery. If word gets out that a guest had writhed

around in pain and was sent to the doctor after eating here, we’d go

out of business!”

“Ah...”

He had a point. The part about the guest making the food herself

would be the first detail to get omitted as the rumors spread. Then

they would be ridiculously exaggerated and embellished, turning

them into malicious rumors that people spread for fun. Not unlike

the environment of the internet on Earth...

“What if I promise you I’ll be fine...?”

“The answer’s still no. I have way too much to lose by taking a risk

and trusting the words of a child I just met.”

“Thought so!”

He was right. I would absolutely say the same thing in his place. And

so I gave up and went back to my room.

For dinner, I ate the grilled and simmered fish I had gotten from the

restaurant. I just couldn’t be bothered, knowing I couldn’t have

sashimi...

Feeling heartbroken, I went to bed with Layette early. Yes, to

prepare for the coming morning.

＊＊

“I’m going out for a walk.”

I tried to carry Layette in my arms and... whoa, she’s heavy!

Early in the morning, I had embarked on a grief-stricken journey,

holding Layette’s hand. No one had tried to speak to me, likely out of

consideration for my state of despair. And while nobody followed me

out, I knew they were going to stay out of sight and watch over me.

Enshrouded in sorrow, there was only one place for me to go.

Yes, the market. The fish market! If I couldn’t borrow a kitchen, I

would just have to prepare everything myself. I’d get my own

ingredients and kitchen!

And here we are, at the fish market!

Of course, it wasn’t just merchants from neighboring towns and

villages that were there to stock up on goods. The general population

could buy things, too. They weren’t auctioning anything off, or selling

exclusively in the early morning, or anything like that.

It was more like a gathering of retailers selling their wares out of

street stalls, so it was no problem for an outsider like me to be there.

Each shop seemed to have merchants, or the wives and daughters of

fishermen, tending it. They were calling out boisterously to

customers... I wondered how they didn’t ruin their throats, yelling

like that all day. Maybe a woman with a hoarse voice was a sign of a

hard-working wife?

Then there were silent saleswomen... Oh, maybe they were going for

guys who weren’t fishermen? Guess there were all sorts of ways to

go about it.

I wasn’t particularly good at telling quality fish apart, but I could

probably just buy whatever and be okay. Everything there should

have just been caught by the fishermen of this town, so they should

all be alike in terms of freshness.

It was also unlikely that someone would sell something poisonous to

a young girl without any warning... I mean, it was possible they really

were selling poisonous fish. Even on Earth, there were people who

liked the tingling sensation that came from the poison in fugu.

Looking around, there were all sorts of fish I knew...or, rather, fish

that resembled the kinds I knew, and some I’d never seen before.

Just because I’d never seen them before, though, didn’t mean they

didn’t exist on Earth.

Fish I’d seen and recognized from fish shops, supermarkets,

aquariums, books, and TV were only a tiny fraction of those that

existed on Earth.

The minor ones that didn’t have much market value were probably

eaten by the fishermen and their families, without ever hitting the

market. Those were known as fisherman’s fish. They may not have

much monetary value, but it wasn’t that they tasted bad. It was

simply that they weren’t worth much, mainly because of their

appearance, or due to being unknown.

In places like Okinawa, you could find blue fish being sold normally.

And by blue fish, I don’t mean mackerel, pacific saury, or sardines.

Those weren’t fully blue, they just had some blue on their spines.

But in Okinawa, there were fish that were actually blue... like the

knobsnout parrotfish.

So, what I’m saying is, even if I don’t recognize a fish, it may just be

that I don’t know anything about it, and they could be sold and eaten

normally in other countries or fishing villages somewhere on Earth.

But for today, I wasn’t going to challenge any unknowns. I’d go for

fish that were as close to the ones I knew as possible.

Hmm, I doubt they did any deep-sea fishing, so there probably

wouldn’t be any tuna or whale meat. Though, I guess it would be

possible to get those inland, instead. They just wouldn’t be

guaranteed to be in stock every day. That is, assuming there were

tuna and whales in this world, and they happened to live in this

region.

And so, I picked some seafood without putting too much thought

into it, and put it all into the big bag I had brought with me. I had

stuffed the bag with filling beforehand, so I could pretend to put it

into the bag while actually putting anything I got into the Item Box,

instead.

There was nobody watching me while I went shopping (besides a

certain female knight and her companions) so no one would realize I

was putting more seafood into the bag than it could physically

contain. So, I got an inada-looking one, a hamachi-looking one, and a

buri-looking one... Wait, those were all the same fish!

Oh, I guess their names don’t change based on their sizes here. No

promotions for them, I guess.

I also bought a bunch of shellfish and seaweed, too. They could be

used to make miso soup, and I liked the texture of whelk.

Ah, they’re selling gooseneck barnacles. I didn’t know they existed in

this world... Strange creatures, those things. They were actually

crustaceans, but a type that clung to rock walls and just stayed there.

I had heard they’re distant cousins of the acorn barnacle. They

looked like turtle hands, and were actually pretty tasty. Peeling the

outer skin is kind of a hassle, though.

I decided to buy some.

“Those are creepy...”

Layette had been looking around sparkly-eyed at the unique

atmosphere and the array of seafood, but chimed in with a

complaint. I mean, they did look like chopped-off turtle hands...

though I wasn’t sure if Layette had ever actually seen a turtle before.

My shopping continued along smoothly. No weirdos tried to mess

with me, either.

Fishing villages and towns with a prominent fishing industry tended

to have a lot of tough guys and a well-established hierarchy of

influential people, like fisherman bosses, leaving little room for gangs

or thugs to butt in. These men worked every day putting their lives

on the line, and there was no way they’d stay quiet if someone

messed with their families and friends. Nor would the fisherman

bosses, after having their revenue source...I mean, precious

employees...meddled with. In other words, there were no child

kidnappers or sections of town overtaken by rowdy street punks.

Yeah, it was a nice place.

Once I had finished buying a bunch of fresh seafood, I went back to

the inn in a pretty good mood. I would eat normal, cooked seafood

at the inn and dining hall for today, and go sightseeing in town. I also

wanted to check how advanced the ocean-related technology was

here. Like how good their naval engineering and navigation were, for

example.

Well, I was planning on going down the seaside road, so I didn’t have

to look into everything in this town, specifically. I could look around

for a little bit, then research some more in a different, bigger city.

This was just a small, rural village, after all.

All right, I’m gonna leave this town tomorrow and make some

sashimi where no one will bother me!

＊＊

It was just before noon, the following day. I forget what happened

after buying seafood at the market. It wasn’t important. I looked

around, ate, then went to sleep. That was all.

I woke up early this morning, then left without eating breakfast.

Then I made my way along the road on the seaside, and it was finally

lunchtime.

“All right, it’s time for lunch!”

“...Kaoru, isn’t it a bit early for lunch?” Francette objected, but I

ignored her.

Unlike me, who intended to put everything on the line for this meal,

everyone else had already eaten breakfast. But I didn’t care! I

couldn’t wait a second longer!

“It’s already past 9AM.”

Everyone else yelled, “That’s way too early!!!”

Doesn’t matter!

I picked a spot to leave the road and descend toward the coast. I

settled on a spot that had a nice view and couldn’t be seen from the

road, with plenty of tree cover, then took out a tent for shade, along

with a table and chairs, then told the others to rest there.

As for me...

“Work table, cutting board, knife, tableware, imitation wasabi,

imitation soy sauce, water tank...”

One after another, I pulled out the necessary things from the Item

Box and laid them out on the table. The water tank, which I had

created before as a potion container, came with a stand and a valve

near the bottom. It could be used as a water supply in a pinch. It

looked like a wooden barrel at first glance, but it was actually made

with reinforced plastic.

Then, it was time to bring it out. Yes, the raw fish I had obtained

yesterday!

“Come forth, ingredients!”

And so, not the Kitchen Stadium, but rather the Kitchen Colosseum,

had appeared.

“Allez cuisine!”

I quickly prepped the fish. I took off the scales, removed the head,

extracted the spine, cut out the abdominal segment, then picked off

the bones that were left on it. The whole segment left together

would be too big to use, so I cut it into a block that would be easier

to slice into sashimi.

Now I could turn it into sashimi, sear and marinate it into a tataki, or

cook it any way I wanted.

I put the block back into the Item Box to prevent the flavor from

degrading. Then, it was on to the other dishes.

Unlike me, the others probably wouldn’t be satisfied with just

sashimi. The horse-mackerel-looking fish would be salt-grilled. I’d

simmer some of the amberjack-looking one and teriyaki the rest. I’d

had a lot of simmered and grilled fish in the past two days, but I was

going to use Japanese seasonings and condiments, like the imitation

soy sauce, and feed them to the others.

Once I finished getting the other dishes ready, I took the fish block I

had prepped for sashimi out of the Item Box again. Now, to deal with

the problem.

Antidote/healing potion, inside a container shaped like a bracelet,

that can be controlled with my brain waves, to dissolve and eliminate

parasites, bacteria, and other toxic substances, come out!

Then, a bracelet appeared on my right wrist just like I had imagined. I

was afraid it could get lost or stolen if I could take it off, so I made it

unremovable.

...What if I wanted to take it off? I could just put it back in the Item

Box. If I wanted to put it back on, I could make it appear on my wrist

again.

What’s that? A bandit could cut off my hand and take it? No, no. No

bandit would injure prey that could be sold on the black market as a

slave at a high price. The bracelet didn’t look like it was made of

expensive metal, and there weren’t any jewels on it, either. If

someone questioned why I wouldn’t take it off, I’d tell them that it

was family tradition to leave it on, and I had done so since I was

young.

This bracelet would warn me with a tingling sensation when there

were parasites, bacteria, or toxic substances nearby. And if I mentally

willed it, those substances would be dissolved. It would be soundless

and undetectable by anyone watching, of course.

The reason I didn’t make it trigger automatically was because that

would break down all medicine with even a hint of toxicity, so all

sorts of chemical substances would be toast. As soon as I stepped

into a drugstore, their entire stock would be wiped out. This could

affect merchants and their carts full of wares as I passed by, too.

And if someone tried to poison me and was caught, the evidence

would be completely destroyed. That’s why I made it so it would just

warn me, and the actual elimination would be done at my will.

The effective range could be adjusted too. I kept it at a 30cm radius

by default, so I could detect anything on a plate in front of me, or

food at the end of my chopsticks or my fork. And if I wanted to

include my friends in my effective range, I’d adjust it as needed.

Bzzz...

Ohh, it had detected something already...

Many types of parasites reside in the skin or the internal organs, but

some of them move into the muscles once their host has died. I’d

removed the outer skin and organs, but maybe they had already

migrated into the meat, or it was a type of parasite that infested the

meat section to begin with...

Actually, it could’ve been some sort of pathogen, accumulated heavy

metals, or toxins contained in some creature the fish had eaten, and

not necessarily a parasite. Taking all that into consideration...

Eliminate!

The area of effect would, of course, include everything on and

around the table. I wasn’t sure if eliminating them dissolved them at

a subatomic level or sent them away somewhere...

Even if they were rendered dead and harmless, I didn’t want to eat a

parasite, so I’d be fine with it regardless, as long as I knew there

were no parasite corpses in my food.

So, I’d leave the method up to the “Goddess Workshop.” I had no

problem with how it worked as long as she chose a method that was

easy and convenient.

Oh, I should take out all the seafood from the Item Box later, purify

it, and then store it again. I just felt like getting it all done at once,

since I didn’t want to do this process every single time.

And it was done! Kaoru’s special full course seafood! Even though

there was sashimi, no one here would refuse to eat it out of an

abundance of caution. This was a meal cooked by a goddess’s own

hands, after all.

Not to mention, I had made them because I wanted to eat them. It

was highly unlikely to be dangerous, and no one would doubt a

goddess who they trusted unconditionally and in whom they placed

their faith.

...Besides Roland, that is.

Emile, Belle, Francette, and Layette immediately began munching

away at the sashimi. Roland was the only one who avoided it.

There were small bottles of wasabi and soy sauce for the sashimi.

“Delicious!”

“Mmm, this is so good!”

They didn’t just like the simmered and grilled dishes, but the sashimi

was also a hit! It actually tasted even better after being aged a bit.

The texture was better when fresh, but aging it would bring out the

umami far more. But if you messed up the preparation or aged it for

too long, it would decay. It required far too much knowledge for an

amateur to try. I didn’t care about all that for now, though.

All right, time to eat!

＊＊

We headed southeast, along the seaside road.

The peninsula jutting out of the west side of the continent ended and

turned into a part of the main body, so the perimeter was expanding

to the south.

The occasional fishing villages we saw only had a few small boats, if

any.

I’d heard that this country was working on constructing ocean-going

ships to expand into the islands to the west of the Kingdom of Aligot,

but that was probably happening in the bigger port towns or even

the naval ports.

...Well, supposedly, bigger port towns and naval ports hadn’t even

existed until recently. They only existed on a much smaller scale.

Like, just ports at small fisherman villages.

But now, countries along the sea were in the middle of a shipbuilding

renaissance. They were working on serious ocean-going ships

modeled after the historical carracks from Earth, with a focus on

transportation capacity.

Of course, these were made with the knowledge I had brought over

as a base, and I had given Aligot the edge at first, but since then I’d

given each country equal treatment and they all had the same

documents. It was still too early to reveal the compact and mobile

caravels and the improved form of carracks known as galleons.

Incidentally, the Santa Maria that Columbus sailed to the New World

and the Victoria, the ship Magellan and his crew used to sail around

the world, were also carracks.

It was a bit surprising to see how small they are by modern Japanese

standards. Caravels were basically from the same era. They’re a bit

small, but boast superior mobility and speed. Caravels served as the

consort ships of Columbus’s Santa Maria, and the two ships used by

Columbus and his crew to return home were the very same model.

Galleons were what later became the basis for the ship of the line,

and I was afraid those would lead to an outbreak of naval warfare, so

I was a bit hesitant to spread this knowledge. The high carrying

capacity of the carrack, and the swiftness and maneuverability of the

caravel, should’ve been more than enough.

They could improve upon the technology without any further help

from Earth knowledge from this point on.

I’d be fraught with guilt if they ended up progressing in a strange

direction and the standard ended up being catamaran battleships or

ships that could combine multiple units into one like the Apollo

Norm.

Chapter 30: Meanwhile...

“What?!”

Fernand rose from his seat reflexively upon hearing the report from

his subordinate.

“Kaoru is in the Kingdom of Jusral right now?”

The report stated that the messenger and the Goddess Celestine had

appeared in the neighboring Kingdom of Jusral and had saved it from

imminent danger. Not only that, but the messenger had been

running a medicine shop in the royal capital of Jusral for some time.

“It’s Kaoru! I don’t know whether it’s alpha or beta, but that doesn’t

matter. In any case, we must find her and bring her back here.

Prepare to leave immediately!”

Fernand, the crown prince of the Kingdom of Brancott, was certain

that “Alfa Kaoru Nagase” was the same Kaoru who had been working

as a waitress at that restaurant.

There couldn’t be two women like her...

Indeed, there were the battles in the Aligot Empire, at the peace

conference, and the many episodes over the course of the four years

after. Those were more than enough confirmation.

Her stopping by the restaurant she used to work at as she passed

through Brancott couldn’t be a coincidence, either.

I’ll bring her back, no matter what... Fernand resolved to himself, but

Fabio had a disapproving look on his face as he watched Fernand.

If Kaoru had been a citizen of his country... And if she had been an

ordinary person... If that was the case, Fernand could have applied

pressure to get what he wanted, being the crown prince of a

powerful kingdom.

But being from another country and having been given superhuman

powers by the Goddess Celestine, as well as permission to use them

as she pleased if she happened across injustice, Kaoru wasn’t

someone who would be cowed by demands simply because they

came from the son of the ruler of a kingdom of men.

...This wasn’t going to end well. But no amount of reasoning would

convince Fernand to give up. Fabio had known him long enough to

understand this.

Besides, the chances of it working weren’t necessarily zero. Even if

they were one in a thousand, or one in ten thousand, they were still

greater than zero...

＊＊

After stuffing my face with seafood at the seaside, I proceeded down

the main road for a few days, eventually ending up at a medium-

sized city. The city faced the sea, and even though it had a small port,

it wasn’t exactly booming with maritime trade. Ships, the sea trade,

and large-scale fishing still hadn’t developed enough in this world.

The Aligot Empire was the only nation that had proper blue-water

sailing vessels up to this point.

But many of these ships were currently in construction in various

countries, and once finished, maritime trade would likely prosper,

leading to the rapid development of existing and new port towns.

Moreover, it was said that a new type of ship was being constructed

in this town with the combined effort of the entire country behind it.

I was thinking I wanted to get a look at it when the ship entered port.

It was small by my standards, but everyone here would consider it to

be a properly massive ship. Also, the sailing ship was equipped with a

strangely familiar figurehead with scary-looking eyes at its bow...

Yes, it was certainly the Aligot Empire’s new-model sailing ship. It

wasn’t all that impressive yet, but it was capable of crossing the

ocean while loaded up with crew and goods, putting it a step above

the boats that had been used up until now.

Yes, I helped raise that thing! No, really. I contributed in various

ways, like providing model ships I created as potion containers and

suggestions on improving their shipboard compasses.

...When they started asking about the firing holes for the cannons,

though, I somehow managed to avoid mentioning their real purpose.

Right now, they’re being used as windows for letting in light and

fresh air. Someone may eventually realize their true purpose and use

them as firing holes for arrows, spears, and ballistas, but that’s on

them, and certainly none of my concern.

I’d seen the inside of a ship from the Aligot Empire in the past, when

I stopped by the Kingdom of Balmore’s northern port. It was pretty

much the same model, so I didn’t much care to look at this one.

More importantly, I didn’t want them to notice me and start making

a fuss.

So, even though I wanted to check out the current construction of

this world’s first large-scale sailing ship, I decided not to bother

visiting the imperial shipyard.

...But then I found out that, not only had the ships of this country not

been rigged yet, but that it would be some time before even the hull

was finished being built.

Though, thinking about it, I guess it wasn’t really that surprising. Even

when some higher-ups suddenly order you to start working on such a

project, you can lose months on problems with the budget, rights

and interests, facilities, engineers, and plenty of other obstacles.

Even the Kingdom of Balmore and the Kingdom of Aseed had just

recently finished small prototype ships and were still working on

their large-scale models, so it made sense that other countries still

had a ways to go.

The Aligot Empire was the truly abnormal one, what with having

large-scale sailing ships already in service. Well, I suppose other

countries could hardly compete when, to the Aligot Empire, failure

isn’t an option, and they’d consequently poured all of their resources

into the project.

All right, I’m skipping this city and moving on to the next.

“Lady Kaoru!”

Gyaaaaaa!

“Y-You must have the wrong person...”

“No, there’s no mistaking those eyes!”

Shut up!

Looking more carefully, I realized that I recognized this person. He

was one of the Aligot Empire’s engineers. I remembered the

discussions we’d had before.

Using only model ships as references, I remembered having heated

debates about how to use square sails and fore-and-aft sails, about

dynamic lift and drag, about how to maintain the shape of the

expanded sail, and about how to suppress the loss of air current

against the sails. I was an amateur, and one who only had knowledge

gleaned from movies, novels, and manga, while they were engineers

who lacked firsthand knowledge but made up for it with abnormal

sharpness, and we had spent our days testing our theories with small

boats.

...Those were fun times.

Even though I’m a normie and an amateur, I felt like I had become a

cutting-edge engineer at the forefront of scientific development. I

got to experience what it was like to be one of the top-class

technicians of this world.

Having top-secret meetings and conducting experiments with the

Aligot Empire’s design group, while trying not to get caught by the

Kingdom of Balmore’s own engineers, had been incredibly thrilling.

I had so much fun...

As I stood, reminiscing, the engineer seemed to have lost his

patience and opted to make a bold move.

“If you insist on denying it, you leave me no choice!”

With that, he drew in a deep breath, and...

“Ah! It’s the great friend of the Goddess, Kao—”

“Stop that!” I quieted him with a swift punch to the gut.

He crumpled in pain, clutching his stomach, but that wasn’t my

problem. He deserved it!

“Th-That was cruel...” he said, with a reproachful tone, after finally

recovering from the blow. He had basically blackmailed me, so I

didn’t apologize.

“That’s what you get for trying to make such a disturbance when I’m

keeping a low profile!”

“I’m sorry...”

The people of the Aligot Empire should really have known by now

that it’s not a good idea to make me upset. Even if he was desperate

to keep me from escaping, he also seemed to realize he had made a

mistake, and was very apologetic about the whole situation.

I supposed I could forgive him...

“So, what is it you want from me?”

“Oh, no, I don’t need anything in particular. Of course I’d want to talk

to you when I happen to see you at a place like this! I would love for

you to see this ship, because we’re incredibly proud of it, and if you

could possibly offer some opinions and advice...”

I could hardly blame him for thinking that way. I guess that wasn’t

too much to ask...

And so, I took the others with me to board the ship. Yup, without

cannons on board, it was more like an army ship than a naval

battleship. For naval combat, they must have used marine soldiers,

and if it came down to it, the members of the crew could have picked

up swords and fought.

I figured the main purpose of this ship was transportation of goods

and men, anyway, not combat. It may have been military men

operating the ship, but maybe it was more appropriate to call it a

transport.

After taking a closer look, I thought they had accomplished a lot in

such a short time, what with using only a model ship as reference

and having none of the basic technology beforehand. A professional

must have done the strength calculations and such, but there were

fewer leaks than I expected, and the sails had been upgraded from

the time I had been there to help plan out the design.

Yeah, they were doing a good job. I was the one who had raised

these ‘kids,’ after all!

“Kaoru... This figurehead...”

Okay, let’s get out of here!

What are you all doing? It’s time to go! On to the next city!

Damn it!

＊＊

“What? She’s already gone?”

Fernand, Crown Prince of Brancott, had finally arrived at the

neighboring Kingdom of Jusral’s capital, Litenia, only to find that all

that was left of Layette’s Atelier was an empty storefront. Caught by

surprise, he had his attendants search the surrounding shops, but

they all said the same thing: the Angel had departed to fulfill her next

mission.

Fernand’s group had gone straight to Layette’s Atelier, despite

having claimed that this was a courtesy visit to the king, and he

finally decided to head over to the royal palace. This was, of course,

to gather information about Kaoru.

“What? She left the country already?”

He even asked about Kaoru during his audience with the king.

This was considered extremely rude, of course, but the king quickly

surmised what this was all about from the way Fernand acted and

therefore responded with a forced smile. Fabio and Alan, who had

accompanied Fernand, bowed their heads apologetically behind their

crown prince.

They felt quite anxious about the whole thing, given that it had the

potential to devolve into a major diplomatic faux pas. Fortunately for

them, the king was a gracious man.

Fernand was no fool. Normally, there was no way he would act in

such a manner. He was generally able to handle most diplomacy

flawlessly, so Fabio hadn’t been worried about this meeting with the

king, and thus the error had come entirely unexpectedly. It seemed

that all of his reasoning abilities flew out the window when it came

to Kaoru.

Alan pinched Fernand’s butt from behind, shocking him back to his

senses. Fernand finally paid his respects with all proper courtesy, but

still asked about Kaoru again later on.

“I see. So, wishing to avoid a commotion, she has headed east

without returning to the royal capital...”

“Indeed. To think, she may have decided to stay here if that had not

happened... It truly is a shame. But it would have been truly arrogant

to ask for such a thing after she saved our kingdom from danger.

Upon saving us, the Angel has departed to fulfill her next task. All we

could do was give her our full appreciation...”

“...”

The king wanted to tell the young and inexperienced prince that he

should not be so attached to the Angel, and that even though

Fernand was royalty, there were some things he must not try to

make his own. However, the message didn’t seem to get through to

the crown prince, and the king could only force himself to smile

again.

Fabio and Allan had picked up on the message, of course, but

remained exasperated by Fernand, who suddenly turned into an idiot

when it came to matters involving Kaoru.

When the group had expressed their gratitude and was preparing to

leave, the king called out to Fernand.

“When you return, would you be so kind as to pass along a message

to your father?”

“Yes, of course. What would you like to tell him?”

The king replied, “Good. ‘If you wish for me to forget about your

son’s many discourtesies, hand over half of that secret wine

collection you were boasting about a while back.’ Please tell him I

said that.”

“Huh...?”

At that moment, Fernand finally came to understand how remiss he

had been with his lack of etiquette during this visit, and that his

attitude had completely given away that he had only come to gather

information on Kaoru.

“M-My apologies! I-I’ve displayed such insolent behavior... I do beg

your forgiveness...” Fernand desperately bowed his head, but the

king waved his hand with a laugh.

“It’s no matter... Well, I suppose I shouldn’t say that. Listen closely. If

I had been any other ruler, this could have been a major incident, or

you may have been subject to punitive demands in response.

Although, knowing him, having half of his beloved wine collection

taken from him may be more than enough punishment.

“In any case, you must be more conscious of your position and of the

responsibilities you carry on your shoulders. Otherwise, you may lose

something far more important than your father’s wine. Be it your

honor, the lives of your people, or something else entirely... Take this

to heart, crown prince of the Kingdom of Brancott! And do not forget

to pass along my message about the wine!”

...That would’ve been a nice speech if he had left that last part out.

And so, Fernand checked into a room at the finest inn in the capital.

He had, of course, made a reservation before coming out here. This

was merely a courtesy visit, and he hadn’t come as an official guest,

so he couldn’t stay overnight at the royal palace.

“What will you do, Fernand?”

“...I have no choice. Even if I headed east now, Kaoru will already be

gone. If I had laid the proper groundwork in my visit here, I may have

gotten away with saying ‘I happened to meet up with an old friend,

we hit it off, and so we went back home together,’ but if I go to yet

another country without any warning, act suspiciously, then take a

girl from a foreign land back with me, I’d have serious trouble when

the national authorities found out...”

“Ah, it seems you still have some capacity to think rationally. I’m

relieved.”

“Now listen here...”

Fernand looked displeased at Fabio’s expression of relief. But with

the near-incident he had been responsible for at the palace earlier,

he couldn’t get too upset.

“Then shall we return home?” asked Fabio.

Of course, Fernand hadn’t come with just himself and his two

friends. It was an official courtesy visit by the crown prince to a

neighboring realm, so they had a decent-sized party with them, one

that included attendants and guards.

They had to return as soon as they were done with their business, or

they would create endless trouble for the attendants and other staff

who were performing their regular duties without the rest of their

colleagues. He had brought them this far for his own benefit, despite

the trouble it had caused. He couldn’t continue to be selfish like this.

“I suppose I have no choice...” Fernand said, then a voice spoke to

him from his side.

“...I’ll go.”

“Huh?” Fernand and Fabio blurted in unison.

“Allan? What are you...”

“It’d be problematic for you to go around without making prior

arrangements first, Fernand. Besides, all these attendants and guards

make you incredibly conspicuous, and sneaking around with just the

three of us sounds fun, but it just wouldn’t fly. If you had been a

third son or something, maybe, but you’re the crown prince...”

Fernand stayed silent, a sour expression on his face.

“So, I have an idea. I, holder of the title ‘least noble-looking guy in

the world,’ who is often said to look like a simple huntsman or guard

behind my back, will go after her by myself. Once you get home, I

want you to write an official letter assigning me the task of pursuing

the Angel, and hand it to my father. That way, I can act freely, since

I’m on an official mission from the crown prince. And since I’m just

the son of an ordinary noble, it won’t be an issue if I go to other

countries without prior notice. What do you think? Good idea,

right?”

“Allan, you...”

“...You just want to do this because it sounds like a fun adventure,

don’t you?!” Fernand and Fabio shouted in unison.

Fabio followed up with another accusation.

“And you wouldn’t even come back if you do manage to find Kaoru!

You’re plotting to stick with her and follow her on her travels while

leaving me to take care of Fernand!”

A bead of sweat rolled down Allan’s head as he averted his eyes.

Then Fernand turned to Fabio, shouting, “What do you mean ‘take

care of’ me?!”

Their room was rather noisy, despite it being late at night, but no

one dared complain...

＊＊

When Fernand awakened the next morning, Allan was nowhere to

be seen. Instead, he found a single letter...

“Send that letter to my father for me. I’ll handle the rest!”

“He got us!!!” the two remaining men yelled.

Allan had snuck out of the inn late in the night, taken his horse out of

the stable, and ridden off onto the main road with glee. He was

headed, of course, east from the capital.

There had been only starlight illuminating his path when he had left,

but he was under no particular time constraint, so it was safe for him

to travel as long as he went slowly. Fernand’s group wouldn’t pursue

him, anyway, and he only had to make enough distance so they’d

think he had gotten away completely, and therefore he decided to

walk his horse at a leisurely pace until daybreak.

He would pass through the village Kaoru had saved, continue east,

then head to the neighboring country. Judging by Kaoru’s

movements up to this point, it was clear that she was staying in each

region as long as she felt like doing so, rather than rushing off to a

certain destination.

This meant that Allan had no reason to rush, either. His task was

quite simple: he just needed to look around the local inns, medicine

shops, and boxed lunch shops for any unusual rumors whenever he

stopped in a mid-sized city.

Kaoru left traces at every stop, almost as if she had no intention of

hiding her whereabouts. Maybe she really didn’t. She was just

traveling around and helping people, seemingly at random, and it

wasn’t as if she was running away from anyone. Allan had a feeling

this was an opportunity to say goodbye to a boring life. This thought

put him in a good mood.

Allan continued along his path, humming as he did so. He passed

through the village to the east, then continued moving eastward

until the intersection with the road stretching to the north and

south, then...

Chapter 31: Beliscas

The group crossed over the border, out of the Kingdom of Jusral, and

entered the eastern land of Beliscas.

This country did have a king, but it didn’t operate under an absolute

monarchical system. It was actually more like a republic, though it

wasn’t fully considered one, nor was it a complete democracy either.

That was why it didn’t have a particular appellation, and was simply

referred to as Beliscas. Its capital, Jammus, was located roughly in

the center of the country.

“What should we do, Kaoru? We already crossed the border, but if

you want to go to the capital city, we’ll need to head northeast...”

“Oh, we’ll keep going along the ocean for now...” Kaoru said, cutting

off Francette’s comment. It had been a while since Kaoru had seen

the ocean, so she wanted to maintain that view for a little while

longer.

Since marine transportation and the fishing industry still hadn’t

flourished on this continent, there weren’t many countries with their

capitals on the land near the coast, so you needed to go inland to get

to the royal and imperial capitals. And now that they were on the

main section of the continent, rather than on the peninsulas, there

was a lot of internal territory that didn’t face the sea. Therefore, they

would’ve had to leave the coastline eventually, anyway.

Although, they didn’t necessarily have to move inland, unless there

was some specific reason to go to the capital... Regardless, Kaoru and

her party continued down the coastal road.

“Oh, there’s a city up ahead,” Emile called out from the head of the

group, and sure enough, a cluster of buildings could be seen in the

distance.

They could see a substantial distance from the bend in the road they

were walking on, and thus could tell that it would still be some time

before they arrived at the town. They were in no particular hurry, of

course, and continued moving at a leisurely pace.

“It seems to be a fairly big place. What do you think, Kaoru?”

“Hmm, we already crossed the border, so maybe we’ll stay there. I

wouldn’t mind living there for a while, if it’s a nice place.” Kaoru

replied to Francette.

Roland frowned slightly, since it would be unfortunate if she actually

decided to take up permanent residence elsewhere.

Emile and Belle actually wanted Kaoru to return to Balmore and live

with the other orphans in the Eyes of the Goddess, but they had no

intention of pushing their own desires onto her, or trying to

influence her decisions.

As for Francette, Kaoru was her main priority. She wanted to follow

Kaoru wherever she went, but knew she likely couldn’t keep that up

with Roland tagging along, given that he was royalty.

If only I had come alone.

If only Roland wasn’t here.

Francette couldn’t stop those thoughts from lingering in her mind.

Maybe I got married too quickly...

No, we aren’t married quite yet.

I could still call off the marriage...

Roland would likely fall unconscious if he ever found out those

thoughts were in her head.

Kaoru had given Francette a chance at marriage after she had given

up, and now Francette was considering abandoning her future

partner to stay by Kaoru’s side. She was completely at a loss as to

what her priorities were.

“Kaoru, I wanted to ask you for a favor...” Francette approached

Kaoru to make a direct appeal.

“What is it?”

“I want to be someone who can live with you in your next

‘backstory.’ It’s a bit too difficult to keep watch over you at all times

when we live in separate residences...”

“Of course it would be difficult! What did... Wait, why were you

watching me at all times in the first place?!” Kaoru yelled with

exasperation, but didn’t notice Francette hadn’t used the phrase ‘we’

or ‘us’ in her proposal.

But Roland, who had noticed this little detail, turned pale at the

realization.

＊＊

We finally arrived at the entrance of the city. It had taken some time

to get here after we had first spotted the buildings in the distance.

Hmm, what sort of job would let me have interactions with the

locals...

The medicine shop idea ended up being a failure. I mean, it made a

decent profit, but it failed to assist with my main objective of having

a quiet life, blending in with the residents of the city, and finding a

good husband. The boxed lunch business had been a hit, but the

prep needed to mass-produce them every day was a bit too much

work.

This time, I wanted to take it easy.

But then again, most jobs weren’t easy, and I wouldn’t have

opportunities to meet guys outside of the workplace if I worked

every day.

Since I didn’t have skills that translated into anything that might get

me hired as a professional in this world, my only options for working

normally, without standing out by using my cheat abilities, were

things like clerking, factory jobs, and other straightforward labor.

A clerk might have some opportunities to meet men, but the other

jobs, not so much...

A maid? That’s actually pretty hard work, and requires a decent

amount of skill. Plus, there were very few chances to meet men

other than colleagues and residents of the employer’s house.

Besides, my daily workload would be far too much to bear.

I wanted a job that allowed me to do as I pleased, and one that

didn’t require me to be too concerned about interpersonal relations,

which meant self-employment was the best option.

First, I’ll make ten tank-type potion containers and... No, that’s the

‘Self-Defense Force!’

“Anyway, after having learned important lessons from my previous

mistakes, I’ve decided to go with this setup!” I declared in front of

the city’s entrance, to the group of unimpressed faces.

I continued my explanation anyway.

“First, our jobs... We will be running a normal shop.”

“...” Roland and Francette gave me their best dubious expressions,

apparently hung up on the “normal” part.

...Shaddup!

“It’s not going to be a boxed lunch shop?” Belle asked, but...

“No, that’s too much work. Far too much work for food that doesn’t

keep well. Pass!”

I did have the Item Box, but the meals degraded while they were on

display, and doing the prep work every night and making lots of

meals early in the morning was hell.

Francette, who I had forced to help us out in a tight spot, was

obviously relieved.

“So, we’ll be selling something other than food. Something that’s

easy to make, that doesn’t spoil, and that doesn’t require

unnecessary hard work on our part!”

Selling things like general goods and ornaments would be so much

easier. Especially when compared to a fish shop or a fruit and

vegetable shop...

Everyone in the perishable foods industry, thank you for your hard

work! No night-time prepping, early morning work, or kitchen work.

Even if we didn’t sell out our stock each day, we could just leave it on

the shelves. We wouldn’t need to store the items in the fridge or

dispose of them. If we had to take time off out of nowhere, the

business wouldn’t be affected. No worries about food poisoning or

food going bad either. And when I’m putting discount stickers on the

stock before opening time, I wouldn’t be harassed by a mob of old

ladies to hurry up.

Hooray, non-food items!

“So, our story is that Layette, Belle, and I are sisters, and Emile is

Belle’s lover, who just recently became a hunter. Roland and

Francette are a knightly couple, and they watch over us because they

made an oath to our late parents. Francette might get away with it,

but Roland’s speech and mannerisms give him away as a noble, so he

couldn’t pass as our commoner brother. And Francette’s a bit too

young to be an elite common-born knight, so her backstory wouldn’t

work unless she was a noble. Besides, her equipment’s a bit too nice

for a commoner.”

I decided not to make her Emile’s sister because, well... If he and

Belle started getting all lovey-dovey in public, people would think

we’re a family of weirdos, which would hurt my chances of finding a

romantic partner. And if Francette and Belle were already taken, the

young bachelors’ attentions would naturally gravitate toward me.

Muahaha, it was the perfect plan!

...But if the men start paying attention to Layette instead of me,

I’ll cry!

“Okay then, let’s do this!”

Nobody responded to my call, and they all moved their horses

forward with their shoulders slumped.

Well, I wasn’t expecting them to shout together or anything. The

guards probably would’ve come running if they did. And of course, I

had put the chariot back into my Item Box and was riding Ed, with

Layette sitting in front of me. We moved forward at a casual pace

toward the city.

This city wasn’t the kind surrounded by walls, so everyone was free

to enter and leave as they pleased. I wondered if they just weren’t

worried about enemy attacks, but then I realized this place was

located off in a distant corner of the country, in a completely

different direction from the capital, so it was highly unlikely an

opposing faction would send their armies here. You can take down

an opposing nation by taking their capital, so no idiot would waste

their time taking an out-of-the-way location that wouldn’t give them

an advantage in battle.

Makes sense to me!

And since it was so far from the capital, I didn’t have to worry about

kings and princes bothering me, either. So, as long as I was careful

with whatever lord ruled this place, I’d be totally fine...

...There was a time when I believed that.

“Huh? The king in this country is just a diplomatic ornament, and it’s

actually run by a council? It’s not a real monarchy?”

According to Roland, this kingdom had a king and nobility, but the

high-ranking nobles conducted meetings where they made all the

important decisions, rather than the king doing it himself. And

although it wasn’t exactly a democracy or a republic, it was a bit

different from other kingdoms and empires, since the voices of

powerful commoners, especially the rich and important merchants,

were quite influential.

“So I don’t have to worry about lords and nobles here?”

“Of course you do! Lords are still lords, and nobles are still nobles.

The nobles of this land are properly greedy and entitled and consider

commoners to be nothing more than livestock, so don’t worry.”

Thought sooo!

Death Crimson!

I mean, King Crimson!

We were currently at the house—no, the shop we had signed a

contract to rent.

Fortunately, all I needed to rent it was an up-front payment, and it

didn’t require any annoying certificates or guarantors. This wasn’t

the capital, but some out-of-the-way location off in the corner of the

country, so the rent wasn’t that high, despite it being a reasonably-

sized town. The shop area of the building wasn’t very big, but the

living area was a decent size. After all, not only was I living with Emile

and the others, but Roland and Francette would be joining as well.

I was going to have Emile and Belle share a room, and have Roland

and Francette take another, but Francette adamantly refused, her

face as red as a tomato.

“Wh-Wh-Wh-Whaaat?! An unmarried man and woman in the same

room? You can’t be serious!!!”

Huh? Whaaat?

“D-Don’t tell me...”

Shocked, I glanced in the direction of Roland, who averted his eyes.

Ohhh... I had figured everyone but royalty and nobles in this world

were loose about that sort of thing... Wait, Francette is a noble now!

And she did say she had never dated a man before. Wait... So have

they been staying in different rooms at the inns we stopped at all

this time?

“When it comes to inns, we had to keep traveling expenses low, and I

had my duty to protect him. That was work! This is different!”

I see... So she didn’t mind staying in a camp or inn together, since

it’s part of her job as a knight, but when it comes to living in the same

room, it’s a different story...

What a pain!

On the other hand, Emile and Belle were acting as if being separated

was out of the question, so I had them stay in the same room. I

would be sharing my room with Layette, of course.

As for what this shop was going to be for...

“A utility shop?” everyone asked me.

Yes, it was going to be a ‘utility shop.’ The shop would be open from

the first morning bell (6 a.m.) to the second morning bell (9 a.m.),

then from the second daytime bell (3 p.m.) to the first evening bell (6

p.m.). It would only be open while everyone was leaving for work

and coming back from work. I wasn’t in dire need of money, so I

didn’t want to work more than was necessary. I’d rather use that

time trying to find a marriage partner.

And for the product for our shop...

I pulled out the shelves and display stands we had used at Layette’s

Atelier from the Item Box and put them out in the shop area. And

there, I placed the products I had picked out personally. Hard bread,

jerky, cubes of dehydrated soup, dried vegetables and dried fruits. I

would only be selling food that wouldn’t spoil easily.

In addition, I laid out canteens, knives, capes, and hats for those who

had sudden travel needs and had to buy some equipment. There

were also spices, herbs, underwear, and even some disposable

cosmetics. I added those emergency items little by little, from a

broad range of categories.

“...Why would underwear and cosmetics be considered emergency

items, you ask? Let’s talk about that when Belle and Layette aren’t

here, Francette.”

＊＊

As soon as we arrived in the city, the first thing we did was secure a

room at an inn. After that, we began gathering information from

bored-looking people at the inn and the other guests staying there.

Information was incredibly valuable, after all.

From what we gathered, merchants had a lot of rights in this

country, and there was a merchant’s association—in other words, a

guild—that gathered taxes from other merchants and made

payments to the government. So, in order to open a shop, we first

needed to register with the Commerce Guild. I needed someone to

introduce me to the right people if I was to rent out a shop anyway,

so going to the guild and asking around was the fastest way to get

what I wanted.

And so, I headed to the guild first thing in the morning, bringing

Roland and Francette with me. After all, having adults with me would

ensure that things went a lot smoother, rather than me going by

myself, given that I looked like an underage child.

Francette looked to be 15 or 16 years old, so even though she was

technically an adult, it wasn’t quite enough to get by. That was why I

had Roland tag along too. Anyone who saw Roland would assume

correctly that he was an upper-class rich boy. Moreover, while

wearing his sword, he cut something of an imposing figure.

As such, people would assume that Roland would hold the rights to

the shop and be the shop owner, both in name only, while leaving

the actual work to me and Francette. That was fine by me.

If a rumor went around about a child shopkeeper, a bunch of

unwelcome types might have decided to come bug me. There are

those who try to take from the weak in every world, after all. If an

argument broke out, something terrible could happen... to the other

party, that is.

I doubted Roland would be conscious of the danger posed to me or

Francette, since he could just reveal his identity in a pinch and thus

get out of trouble. And would Francette, Emile and Belle even think

to go easy on someone who tried to cause me harm? I wouldn’t

show mercy to anyone who laid hands on Layette, after all.

Absolutely not!

In any case... the fewer sources of conflict, the better. That’s what it

came down to.

“Excuse me, we’d like to open a new business...” I had asked for

directions at the inn and, upon arrival at the Guild, spoke to the

young reception girl at the desk.

“Oh... Y-Yes!” Yeah, she was looking right over my head and right at

Roland’s face...

Well, Roland was an ex-prince, after all, and he had the appearance

to match. If he dressed up and rode in on a white horse, it’d be quite

the regal picture. It wasn’t so strange for a reception girl from a local

city to swoon over him.

“...So, h-how may I help you?”

Th-This girl was too busy gawking at Roland to even listen to me!

Wait, was Roland that popular with the ladies? Even without his

royal title?

I looked over at Francette, who shrugged. Huh... So this happened

pretty often.

“We! Would like! To open! A new business!!!”

“You don’t have to shout! I can hear you!”

Shut it!

When I was an office worker, there was a time when I had to cover

for the receptionists when they all fell ill with the flu. Though, for

some reason, I was released from my duties in the middle of my first

day... Anyway, a receptionist is the face of the company! When they

don’t put their all into their work...

Smack!

“Pardon me. I’d like to discuss your inquiry in detail, so please come

right this way,” a woman who was a little older than the first

receptionist said, smiling, and guided us toward a separate meeting

room.

“How mean! I was helping that handso— customer! You can’t just

come in and take... Hey, what are you doing?! Stop, I must help that

handsome man...” The receptionist girl got her head smacked with

rolled-up documents, then protested vigorously as her co-workers

dragged her away.

Maybe this happened often, because they were pretty efficient in

removing her. I was glad we didn’t end up being assigned to that

weirdo. Seriously...

“Well then. I am Irene, and I will be taking care of you today. I

understand you are looking to open a new business. Please turn in a

written request with the location, shop name, products handled

and/or business form, as well as the size of your business. Your taxes

and membership fees will be based on this information... Please note

that if you report false information in an attempt to reduce the taxes

owed, there will be issues later on...”

She finished her explanation quickly enough, but I wasn’t even at

that step yet.

“I’m sorry, but we still haven’t worked out a location for our store.

We came here hoping you could give us some guidance...”

“Oh, I see. Not to worry, there are quite a few people who do the

same thing. This gives us an opportunity to collect a favor later from

the estate agents for having referred you, and they also happen to

be members of our guild.”

I thought she would have gotten upset, but that wasn’t the case at

all. We were introduced to an estate agent, then we secured a store

location, all thanks to the help of the guild.

After officially completing the registration process, I asked her

something that was on my mind.

“Um, that receptionist we first talked to...”

“Oh, she’s the granddaughter of our lord’s nursemaid, so she won’t

get fired no matter what she does. She’s not a bad girl... I suppose

you could say she’s honest, pure, true to her desires, or just

unmannerly...”

That didn’t sound like a good girl to me!

So, on the documents I submitted, I wrote:

Shop Location: Commercial Ward, 3rd Street

Products Handled: Anything

Business Size: 3 employees

Store Name: Belle

I didn’t want to use the same shop name as last time, so I changed it

up. The employees of record would be me, Belle, and Francette. I

was going to have Belle train as a hunter with Emile again, but she

would be helping out every so often, and I was afraid of being

penalized for under-reporting, so I added her, just in case. It wasn’t

like I was hurting for money, and the difference in fees between two

employees and three wasn’t too different anyway.

I was planning on putting “Convenience Store Belle” on the sign. I

wasn’t going to call it a conbini. If I did, anyone who got transported

here from Japan would immediately be able to tell some other

Japanese person was already here. And what if that person made a

move before me... Wait, what am I even fighting against?!

Anyway, preparations for shooting down UFOs—I mean, opening the

shop—were complete! Now I just needed to order the sign! I had

changed the shop name, so I couldn’t reuse the old one.

...But first, I had to lay out the products and tell everyone about the

shop.

＊＊

And with the sign now complete, it was time to open the doors!

But it ended up being a quiet opening, since I hadn’t really advertised

at all. I wasn’t planning on doing any heavy marketing. Honestly, I

didn’t want too many people coming in, and I wasn’t selling anything

particularly interesting anyway. Just a small shop where customers

would occasionally stop by; that was what I wanted Convenience

Store Belle to be.

This store was nothing more than a front to make it seem like my

main source of income, after all. If word got out that I had a lot of

money, enough to live comfortably on, it would attract the unsavory

types and affect my search for a marriage partner. I wasn’t

interested in men who were after my wallet.

Plus, I needed something that would give me an opportunity to meet

people. My mistake last time was thinking that I had to make money

through my business. That had led to the idea that I needed good

medicine to sell at a profit. I didn’t need my business to be booming

in order to find a man; I really only needed people to think I was just

getting by with my shop.

Being in the red would be a bit much, though, so I would be satisfied

with breaking even after living expenses, or making a slight profit. Big

profits were completely unnecessary. Oh, maybe I could scrape up

the costs for Ed’s care too, though I didn’t mind using my savings in

the Item Box for that.

Emile and Belle were at the Hunter’s Guild. They would likely just be

introducing themselves and gathering info for today. They planned

on taking on real tasks starting tomorrow.

Francette and Roland were relaxing in their rooms upstairs. They

would come down in seconds if I rang the call bell, shouted for them,

or pulled the string under the counter. So, for now, Francette could

rest as much as she liked.

It was a far cry from keeping watch all day from the alley like last

time. I felt bad for that. Really... Sorry about that...

I’d have Francette swap in for my breaks, but I would do the majority

of the shopkeeping. Otherwise, it would defeat the purpose of

running a shop to find a marriage partner. Layette would be there

too, of course. Three-hour shifts, one in the morning and one in the

afternoon. Six-hour work days, with free time during the day. No late

night prep work or early mornings.

Sold goods could be easily replenished as long as I had a few days’

worth of stock stored in the Item Box. Ahh, this was a dream

compared to the boxed meal shop or being a corporate slave like in

my last life! I could even neglect my health and eat like crap and not

worry about getting sick as long as I had my potions!

This is it! This is the life I’ve always wanteddd!!!

...Wait. If I got married, wouldn’t I lose this dream life and have to

make meals for my husband every day? If I had to deal with that, I

might as well... No! No, no, no, no! Don’t think about it! Don’t think,

just feel!

＊＊

Even without any advertising on my part, people came to check out

the new shop out of sheer curiosity.

No one came in on the morning of the first day, but there were a

decent number of locals and people coming home from work who

stopped by in the evening. Ever since then, several people had

started coming by, here and there, in the mornings and evenings

alike.

“A ‘convenient’ store? You could find this stuff pretty much

anywhere...”

When people pointed this out, I provided them with an explanation.

“It’s true that these items can be found at other shops. Canteens at

item shops, knives at blade shops, nonperishables at food stores,

capes at clothing stores... But if you suddenly needed to travel

someplace far away, you would need to stop by multiple stores to

get all of those things, wouldn’t you? And if you needed to leave first

thing in the morning, you would have to wait until the second

morning bell or first daytime bell to get them. But if you come here,

you can get everything in one visit, and we open at the first morning

bell! Wouldn’t you say that’s a convenient store?”

“Y-You’re right...”

After hearing my explanation, most customers seemed to agree.

The prices for my wares weren’t particularly cheap, but they weren’t

too high either. We put out a few things we liked, like cookies baked

by yours truly, Belle’s bamboo wares, and Emile’s wood-carved

animals, all sold at a very low price. As such, our run-of-the-mill shop,

a shop that wasn’t exactly thriving or in a horrible slump, quietly

continued to do business.

＊＊

“Hey mister, do you have anything weird in stock?”

“Weird, you say...?”

The shop is closed from the second morning bell (9 a.m.) to the

second daytime bell (3 p.m.) This means that we have free time

between those hours, but... I was getting a full eight hours of sleep—

from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.—so I couldn’t really take a midday nap.

That’s why I decided to go visit my supplier, taking Layette and

Francette with me.

Roland said he was writing a letter to let his family know that he’d

stayed safe during his travels... Wait, he was writing to the king! He

was telling him about me, wasn’t he?!

It wasn’t like I was using my powers to make all of my wares. In fact, I

had limited myself to using my powers exclusively for products I

really wanted but was unable to get through normal means. Yes, I

was buying most of my standard wares at other stores.

I still had plenty of money from what I had earned in Balmore, and I

didn’t want to disrupt the laws of the universe here... Though, I guess

it was a bit too late for that. Anyway, this store was one of the places

where I stocked up on general goods. It was a wholesale store, and it

stocked a few interesting items once in a while, so I had to check in

from time to time.

“How about this one? It’s a specialty item from the faraway land of

Aligot: a doll of the angel with scary-looking eyes.”

“No, I don’t want that!”

“If you collect all six, you’ll be blessed by the angel with scary eyes...”

“Shut iiit!!!”

“Have you heard any other interesting things?”

My next stop was the Commerce Guild. As a merchant, I had to keep

an ear open for news at all times.

“You were just here yesterday, Miss Kaoru... It’s unusual to come by

every day, you know. If we get any urgent news or information that

could greatly affect business, we’ll send a runner to alert the guild

members.”

But I was bored! So bored! I needed to do something to keep me

occupied! It seemed that having a lot of free time had its

disadvantages. It’d been nearly five years and my corporate slave

mentality still hadn’t left me! Damn it...

I was lying around at home a lot back in Balmore when I lived with

the Eyes of the Goddess, but with all the potion stuff, development

of new products with the Abili Trade Company, providing sailing

technology to the Aligot Empire, and dealing with other countries, I

had kept pretty busy...

Anyway, it was time for my evening shift.

Finding myself bored each day, I was beginning to wonder if I had

made a mistake. I had done all that yearning for a safe and peaceful

life, sure, but once it became a reality, it was just so unexciting. And

to be honest, I wasn’t in that big of a rush to get married either. If I

wasn’t going to get any older, maybe I could travel the world and

enjoy myself for a while. At least for a little while longer, I could live

how I pleased... I could always settle down somewhere and have kids

later...

I was daydreaming thoughts like those, when...

“Excuse me, do you have any hemort seeds?”

Hemort? I’d never heard of it, but it must come from a plant,

considering that it’s a seed. The girl was around 16-17 years old, with

a look of half-desperation and half-resignation. She was considered

an adult by this world’s standards, but seeing the young girl’s face, a

thought crossed my still-hazy mind.

How can I call this a “convenience store” if I can’t provide a

customer with something they really need?

My mind had been up in the clouds for so long, it took awhile for the

cogs in my head to start turning. So, I decided to just hurry up and

give her what she wanted.

...A double-layered container with a potion in the bottom half and

hemort seeds in the top half!

I made a container appear in my hand under the counter, then I

placed it on the counter.

“Here you go, hemort seeds.”

I didn’t know what kind of plant a hemort was, but this would

probably do. I had to believe in the Goddess’s factory. The seed

looked like a soybean, but I figured it was completely different. There

were about 20 of them.

I couldn’t give her the healing potion, so I only gave her the contents

of the top half of the container.

How much should I charge her...

“Wh-Whaaat? T-They really are hemort seeds...”

She was flabbergasted. I thought that’s what she wanted?

“I-I didn’t think you’d actually have them...”

It seemed she wasn’t expecting much in the first place. Don’t take

the “convenience store” lightly.

It’s just a vegetable seed...

Though, to be fair, I didn’t actually have it in stock.

Well, it was almost time for the first night bell, so the other stores

had been closed for a while already. Maybe she was a farmer’s

daughter, and she was going back to the country tonight or first thing

in the morning.

“Th-Then, do you have a mortgul fruit or a kurcul leaf?

Hmm, maybe pulling everything out from under the counter would

be a bit suspicious.

“One moment, please.”

With that, I went into the storage room, which was about the size of

a closet...

“Double-layered containers with healing potions in the bottom

compartment, with a mortgul fruit in the top layer of one container

and a kurcul leaf in the other!”

It struck me that the mortgul fruit thing could’ve been the size of a

watermelon, coconut, or durian...but it was only the size of a piece of

gum.

Whew!

I removed the upper compartment of each container and brought

them over to the counter.

“Here you go, a mortgul fruit and a kurcul leaf.”

Huh? She’s not moving...

“Wh-Wh-Wha...”

The girl was stricken with even greater shock than earlier, before

finally coming back to reality.

“Wh-Why is this heeere?!”

What kind of question was that...?

“Because we’re a convenience store!”

Yes, this was the only answer I could give in this situation. This shop

is convenient, hence the name.

Even if the other shops were closed, and regardless of the fact that

we weren’t a specialty seed store... We sell that stuff here, and that’s

why we’re so convenient! Muahahaha!

“So, h-how much will it be...?”

Oh. This was bad. I didn’t know the market price. But it was just a

vegetable seed, a small fruit, and a leaf. How pricey could it possibly

be?

If a customer thought I was trying to rip them off, it could destroy my

business. So...

“That will be six small silver coins.”

Yeah, that should do it.

Two small silver coins each, equivalent to about 600 Japanese yen.

That shouldn’t be too much.

Why did she look like it was the end of the world? Was six small

silver coins really so much? Did she actually come shopping without

600 yen worth of money?!

“I-I’m sorry, I don’t have quite enough on me right now, but I’ll

definitely be back tomorrow! So please, accept this as payment for

now!”

With that, the girl removed the pendant around her neck and gently

placed it on the counter.

...Wait, this was definitely worth more than six small silver coins. In

fact, its value was probably off by two, no, maybe even three digits...

But seriously, why was she running around town trying to do

emergency shopping without even six small silver coins on her?

Oh, while I was standing there in shock, the girl had shoved the three

containers into her pocket and ran off.

This wasn’t theft... was it? Maybe she took my silence as acceptance.

Like that saying, “If you have no objections, answer with silence.” Or

maybe she was in such a hurry that she couldn’t even wait for an

answer...

Oh well, it wasn’t a big deal. She would likely be back tomorrow to

retrieve the pendant, hopefully with six small silver coins this time...

＊＊

“Excuse me!”

“You are not excused!”

“Wha...?” a girl and an old man said as they stood in the entrance,

mouths agape.

“Oh, uh, never mind! Welcome!”

The pendant girl from yesterday and an elderly man with a white

beard entered the shop.

“I am Oredeim, an apothecary. I understand this girl visited your

establishment yesterday. I would like to purchase her pendant back

from you. That was her late mother’s keepsake...”

What the heck, why was he looking at me like I was the bad guy?!

She was the one who left it because she couldn’t pay six measly small

silver coins...

In any case, I took the pendant from under the counter and placed it

on the counter. Seeing this, the old man produced a pouch from his

chest pocket and reached into it for some coins.

“I understand this is business, but to take advantage of her like

this...” he said, placing the six coins on the counter.

Huh? Did he really go that far over six small silver coins? The glass

containers that held the seeds and leaves cost more than that...

Wait, hold up!

“What is this?! You’ve got some nerve trying to pawn off counterfeit

money, geezer!”

“Huh?”

“Whaa?”

A guy like this deserved to be called a geezer... The girl was brazenly

acting as if she was surprised, but even I knew the currency of this

country, foreigner or not. It wasn’t as if I had just opened up

yesterday.

So, it was glaringly obvious that the objects on the table weren’t

small silver coins... And it goes without saying that they weren’t

silver coins, gold coins, or small gold coins either.

“If you can’t even pay six small silver coins, fine. Just take that and

go. I don’t want you stepping foot in this shop again. You’re

banned!”

With that, I pushed the pendant and counterfeit coins on the table

toward them.

“Whaaaaaat?!” they yelled in unison.

What were they so surprised about? They couldn’t have expected to

fool me with those fake coins...

Then, looking a bit shaken, the geezer said, “Umm... Those are

mithril coins, not counterfeit small silver coins...”

Wha?

He explained that the 6 coins here were “mithril coins,” and as the

name implied, they were coins mainly made of mithril, with each one

being worth 10 gold coins.

...Which made each one equivalent to about a million Japanese yen.

I mean, I knew of the existence of mithril coins. But I’d never actually

seen one in person. It wasn’t used by the commoners, and I heard

that they were only really used among the nobility, or in religious

ceremonies.

It wasn’t that they were particularly hard to acquire, but most people

only needed to use gold coins. Mithril coins were hard to use

because of their high value, and since they weren’t commonly seen,

most people didn’t have the ability to discern between real ones and

fakes. So, you’d normally use 60 gold coins rather than 6 mithril

coins.

60 gold coins wouldn’t even weigh 500 grams, and they weren’t

particularly cumbersome to carry around. They assumed I had asked

for 6 mithril coins, so they went through the trouble of exchanging

60 gold coins for 6 mithril ones.

Wait, wait, wait, wait, waaait! How the heck did 600 yen turn into

6,000,000 yen?!

Th-This was bad... My hands were shaking... Oh no, I accidentally hit

the hand bell for calling Francette and Emile, and it fell to the floor...

“You will pay for your crimes with your blood, scoundrel!”

Francette and Emile’s blades were pressed against the old man’s

neck. At the same time, Roland’s sword and Belle’s knife were held

to the girl’s neck. They were completely frozen in place, faces pale

and sweat erupting from their faces.

＊＊

“...So, when I said ‘six small silver coins,’ you thought I meant ‘six

mithril coins,’ and tried to pay that amount.”

“Th-That’s right!”

Afterwards, I hurriedly got everyone to put their weapons away,

switched the “Open” sign to “Be Back Soon,” then took everyone

upstairs. I gave the pendant and mithril coins back to the little girl

and the old man, respectively, for now. And after I had questioned

them, the girl began to explain her situation, with desperation in her

expression.

“But there’s no way hemort seeds, mortgul fruits, and kurcul leaves

could be bought for six small silver coins! This time of year, even low-

quality varieties would cost twenty gold coins, and could be up to

forty gold coins if they were of high quality! How could I not think

you meant mithril coins when you mumbled six silver coins?!”

“Indeed, I would have assumed that she was a crooked merchant,

and was trying to take advantage of you, if that was the case. That is

a million times more likely than believing some mad merchant put an

absurd price like six small silver coins on such rare items!”

The girl and old man took turns making their point.

Hearing this, Roland and Francette held their heads in their hands.

Then, staying in that position, Francette let out a groan and asked,

“Umm... Kaoru, do you know what hemort seeds, mortgul fruits, and

kurcul leaves are used for, where and when they’re produced, or

their market prices?”

“... No...”

The old man immediately took out his pouch, pulled out six small

silver coins, then placed them on the table.

“Well, we’ll be heading out now!”

With that, he took the bewildered girl by her arm and rose, preparing

to leave.

“Now hold on just a minute!” Francette, Roland, and I cried out,

raising our voices all at once.

They were used to this reaction by now...

And so we stopped the old man and the girl from leaving the six

silver coins and taking off.

“I paid the price you asked for. I see no problem here!”

I couldn’t argue with that...

“I asked for your price, and paid appropriately. Are you telling me

this shop is in the habit of raising its prices after selling its products

and then charging additional fees to its customers?”

“Uuu...” we all moaned, quietly.

A valid point. I just needed some tea to calm myself down. It would

have to be ceylon tea, of course... Wait, shut up!

“But that’s a bit too...”

“It’s fine, Fran,” I stopped Francette as she began to retort.

Then...

“You’re absolutely right. This was a business transaction, after all.”

“Y-Yes, exactly. I’m glad you seem to understand...”

The old man seemed to calm down a bit upon seeing my smiling face.

Oredeim the apothecary, was it?

“So, I’ll just take the six small silver coins, as per the price I quoted

originally. But since I won’t be able to explain the sale at such a price

to my supplier, and because I want to avoid a situation in which you

ask for the same price again, or even others who have heard about

this incident requesting the same thing, I will have to return all of my

remaining plant-based ingredients and stop carrying them

altogether. Therefore, if anyone comes in requesting such products

from here on, I will have to refuse the sale, after explaining what

transpired here in great detail.”

“What?!”

Yes, this was convenient for me too. This way, I could avoid this place

being known as a shop that carries valuable ingredients and sells

them for dirt cheap. I was glad the old man decided to take up the

attitude he did. My overhead cost for those items was zero anyway,

so it wasn’t like my wallet was going to suffer.

“You still have remaining stock?!”

...Huh? That’s what he was concerned about? I thought he would

change his mind and want to pay the six mithril coins instead. Don’t

tell me he planned on buying up the rest for cheap, too... What if he

started claiming, ‘You said they were six silver coins!’?

Oh man... No way would I put up with that. But saying there was still

remaining stock was my critical mistake. How could I get through

this...

Then, all at once, I had it.

“Of course, it’s not here, at this particular moment. The stock is

stored in a different building, one that has the appropriate humidity

and temperature. The seeds may be fine for dry storage, but fruits

and leaves are delicate, after all. Normal vegetables, seeds, and fruits

are also stored there, so when I ordered products in bulk, some

expensive ones must have been mixed in with my order. The person I

put in charge of ordering and separating the products must have

made a mistake, and since I don’t have in-depth knowledge of such

goods, well... Assuming they were common products, I priced them

on a whim, which was my mistake... Anyway, I’ll be returning

everything in the storage area too, so those items won’t be stocked

here in the future.”

There, that just explained why I don’t have stock here, and why the

price ended up being so ridiculous the last time. Peace at my shop

had been preserved!

“Wha... Th-Then, you won’t be restocking...?”

“I will not. Besides, I wouldn’t want to continue selling high-priced

items to a customer who demands to buy those goods at an absurdly

cheap price, fully aware that it was the result of a pricing error. It’s

far too risky for me, considering that you could use some careless

mistake or comment as a lever to make another such purchase,

losing us dozens of gold coins in the process. Honestly, it’s hard to

believe that you’ve taken up such an exploitative attitude with us if

you intended on doing business with us in the future. What, did you

think I’m an idiot?”

Well... I mean, I was pretty aloof and stupid that first time...

“What?! But I didn’t think you had more stock...”

“So you took advantage of my mistake and tried to buy it for one-

ten-thousandth of the market price, right? You got it for the price

you wanted. Congratulations. While you only had to give up a small

amount of money for this sale, you also lost the most crucial element

for anyone who deals with other people on a regular basis:

confidence and trust. But I’m sure you’re well aware of that.”

The old man seemed quite flustered.

For me, though, I had to avoid people thinking that this shop had

valuable goods for sale at all costs, so I had to make it clear that

those items would never be available here again. It wasn’t as if the

old man was losing access to something he had been getting here

regularly, anyway. He just so happened to acquire something that

was already hard to get. I’m sure it wasn’t a big deal if he continued

to have trouble finding it, and even if it was an issue, it wasn’t one

that concerned me.

“And you?” I asked the girl who had been watching all of this

happen.

She seemed nervous to be called out so suddenly.

“Huh? M-Me? I-I’m the master’s disciple, Taona...”

The old man had called himself an apothecary, so I thought there

was a chance she could have been his client, but he had spoken on

the girl’s behalf earlier, so I guess she was with him after all. So, she

was just as guilty... I mean, she hadn’t really done anything wrong,

but she was this jerk’s companion...

“I suppose we are done here...”

“W-Wait! I may be the only one in this city who knows how to make

Longevity Medicine! You wouldn’t want to lose a regular customer...”

“Regular customer? You mean the first-timer who only paid six silver

coins? The one who profited off of us losing nearly forty gold coins,

at that?”

“Urgh... But, for our transactions from here on out...”

“Here on? We are no longer handling plant-based ingredients. Do

you intend on buying enough portable foods and daily wares to earn

us forty gold coins in profits?”

The old man closed his mouth.

“Our customers are leaving now. Francette, Emile, please see them

out.”

“Right away!”

“Yes, ma’am!” Francette and Emile responded, expressions serious.

They seemed to be happy to be doing bodyguard-like work for the

first time in a while. But they were just kicking out a tired old man

and a helpless little girl, so it wasn’t all that knightly of a task...

Mainly, I figured they were glad to get an order from me and sort of

reconfirm their place and sense of purpose here. Belle looked

regretful about not being chosen for the task, but she was just as

weak as the two we were kicking out.

Emile ignored the girl, who was closer to him, and approached the

old man. It seemed he had reservations about laying hands on and

using force with a young girl, and so, Francette went with her

instead.

I hoped they wouldn’t break any bones by accident.

“Unhand me, I’m not done talking here! Who do you think I am...?”

The old man resisted and was dragged out of the room by Emile,

while the girl simply followed after them, without Francette needing

to touch her at all.

I was exhausted...

But, thanks to the old man’s attitude, I was able to play off my

mistake of selling some odd products for a horribly abnormal price.

Now it was like that ‘mysterious triple plant set’ never existed. Good.

...So, what the heck is Longevity Medicine?

＊＊

I explained the whole ordeal to the others after we’d kicked out the

two guests. When I told them, “I handled it, so now everything’s a-

okay!” Roland and Francette gave me an incredulous look.

But Emile and Belle were nodding in agreement...

“...There’s no way that’s the end of it,” Roland muttered quietly, and

Francette nodded in response.

Why?

“Francette, what’s Longevity Medicine?”

I was talking about the medicine that the old apothecary guy,

Oredeim, had mentioned.

He had said he might be the only person in the city who could make

it, so it must have been quite valuable. It also likely meant that the

old man was very skilled. He must’ve been, if he was one of the top

apothecaries around, although this was just a provincial city. His

haughty attitude made it all the more likely, too.

“Kaoru, you don’t even know that...? Well, I suppose it’s not your

fault. It has nothing to do with the Goddess, and you wouldn’t need

anything like that, since you can make the Tears of the Goddess. And

you’re not the Goddess of this world in the first place...”

She was right.

Then Francette straightened her back and began explaining the

situation to me with a serious look on her face.

Apparently, she was in ‘normal mode’ earlier, and her explanation

would now be carried out in ‘work mode.’

“Longevity Medicine is, as the name implies, medicine that’s said to

prolong one’s life. Its method of creation is passed down from

master to disciple, and it’s often mentioned in old stories, too. It’s

said to use all sorts of rare ingredients, cure all sorts of ailments, and

extend one’s lifespan...”

“But, in reality, it’s just normal medicine,” Roland said, interrupting

Francette.

“Wha...?” Francette and I trailed off, gaping.

Francette is surprised too?!

“It’s not that it doesn’t work. It’s very effective for certain ailments,

and if given to someone who’s on the verge of death, it’ll even

slightly increase their chances of survival. So it’s true that some

people have been saved and lived longer thanks to Longevity

Medicine, and it’s understandable why it’s so sought after, even

when it goes for an extremely high price. It certainly isn’t foolish to

do so. But this isn’t a magical drug that cures all ailments, or the

medicine of the gods. Just an expensive and effective medicine. It’s

not anything like Kaoru’s potions. Word of Kaoru’s potions has

probably only reached the top officials around here, so most people

would think of Longevity Medicine if they were asked what the

ultimate medicine is.”

Huh, so it was like ginseng in the Edo period. Ginseng later became

available for wealthier commoners too, but in places like China and

Korea, only the emperor, royals, and nobles could purchase it, and in

Japan’s case, it was only accessible for the shoguns, daimyo, and

powerful families. I wouldn’t be surprised if something like that was

worth millions of yen.

But instead of a magical elixir that could immediately cure all

symptoms upon consumption, it made the user more healthy over

time, gradually improving their condition... So instead of curing your

symptoms and thus making you healthy, it makes you healthy, so the

symptoms are eventually cured. Kind of like vitamins and nutrients.

“And the price is so high because those three plants are essential

ingredients, but they’re also hard to obtain. They can only be

harvested in distant countries, and they’re hard to come by because

they can’t be cultivated. The hemort seeds are one thing, but the

mortgul fruits and kurcul leaves can only be harvested during certain

seasons, and their effectiveness declines sharply when they’re dried

out... and Kaoru sold all three of them, fresh, for six small silver coins

total. Mortgul fruits can’t be harvested this time of year, by the way.

They likely ran low on hemort seeds and were searching high and

low for more, and although they were unlikely to find them here,

they stopped by, without really expecting anything, because we

handle plant-based products here. When the girl found out we had

them, she must have asked about the mortgul fruit and kurcul leaves

as a kind of joke. The ones they have must be dried and low-quality.

But you...”

Gah! I’d made a terrible mistake. I couldn’t be mad at Taona for

mistaking ‘six small silver coins’ for ‘six mithril coins.’ She was

expecting to be quoted a ridiculously high price, so it was natural to

hear it the way she did.

I’ve experienced something similar myself. And that Oredeim guy

didn’t seem to blame Taona for her mistake. This all could’ve been

avoided if she just paid the six silver coins and pretended not to

notice anything. He probably couldn’t have blamed her then, either.

Well, that may have been the case this time, but I probably would

have looked up the market price for next time, so I would’ve found

out about the appropriate pricing eventually. But I would have been

upset about her not mentioning the fact that the price was

ridiculously low, and upset at myself for selling such a thing so

carelessly, and removed that type of product from our inventory. So,

in the end, the result would’ve been the same.

But...

“Why do you know so much about Longevity Medicine, Roland? You

even know about the ingredients... I thought only a select few

apothecaries know about it?”

I was curious as to why he was so knowledgeable on the subject. It

was almost as if he could mix it himself.

“I was forced to take it. For a long time, too, after I was injured and I

couldn’t move my arm. I insisted there was no point in taking it,

because I wasn’t weakened by any kind of sickness, but my parents

and retainers wouldn’t listen. To think, how much of the kingdom’s

funds they wasted... So, I intently questioned the apothecaries and

researched everything there is to know about the medicine, all to

convince everyone that it was pointless to take it for my injury.”

Wow. I felt bad for asking. He probably couldn’t allow himself to

waste funds that were supposed to be used for the people. It must

have been a painful memory for him.

“...Sorry.”

Roland waved his hand lightly, telling me not to worry about it. But

my question had been answered, and I found out that this Longevity

Medicine wasn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. Case closed!

I had a little too much free time here, but it was way better than

abandoning everything and running away. All I needed was a decent

number of customers and a steady income. And meeting people!

That was all I was asking for!

Honestly, though, I wasn’t in any kind of rush. My body wouldn’t get

any older, so I didn’t need to worry about being a suitable age for

marriage. Francette and the others probably assumed I was tens of

thousands of years old anyway, so a few more years weren’t going to

change anything.

50,019 years old, 50,024 years old... It didn’t matter. Maybe I could

even travel around some, then return to Balmore once I was done,

and have Francette and Roland marry. While I’m at it, have Emile and

Belle get married, and maybe find Layette a husband, too. Then I

could go on a solo adventure from there...

Actually, going on a journey with just Layette might be better. Then I

could depart right away, without waiting around too long. Being

alone would be a bit lonely.

When we get back to Balmore, I can always find an Aligot ship at

some port town and hop on... There was a time when I thought

about things like that.

＊＊

“Is this the place that sells materials for the Longevity Medicine?!”

Here we go! Why did they come at all?! I clearly told that old man

that I wouldn’t be restocking any more of those ingredients...

Besides, there shouldn’t have been any reason for him to tell anyone

else about them. How annoying...

“No, it isn’t. Please look elsewhere.”

“But this is Convenience Store Belle, is it not?!”

Hmm... He seemed like a nobleman’s middle-aged retainer, or

maybe a rich merchant’s protégé, but where had he heard about

this...? I needed to confirm that first to figure out how to proceed.

I had to find out what he did and didn’t know, or I could end up

giving him unnecessary information and making things worse.

But first...

*pull, pull*

I gave the string under the counter a few light tugs, in a specific

rhythm.

The string was for calling Francette, who was relaxing upstairs.

Pulling the string would ring the bell in everyone’s rooms and make

their lights blink. We had a system so that information could be

relayed by the number of and intervals between the blinking lights.

The signal this time indicated, “Urgency level: four, threat level: four,

number of people: 1.”

This should be low enough that she would come down the stairs

normally instead of skipping three steps at a time...

*thud thud thud thud thud!*

Never mind.

Emile and Belle were out for hunter training and earning money.

They tried to give me all of their earnings, but I only accepted half of

what they made and stored their wages in a container inside the

Item Box for when they got married.

Roland was out somewhere, so he was also absent. It wasn’t as if he

was cooped up in his room all day, every day. I sometimes went out

with Francette while Emile and Belle were home. So, that left...

“You there! Prepare yourself!”

Yup, just Francette.

“Francette, the signal was for urgency level four and threat level

four...”

But that didn’t matter to Francette. In her eyes, everything was

either harmless or a serious potential danger to me. It was one or the

other, and she would face the latter with full force, regardless of how

low the threat appeared to be. And the thought of handling things in

a controlled or peaceful manner never really occurred to her.

Yeah, I knew that.

“Wha...” The middle-aged man cringed in surprise.

It was only natural, considering he had only gone out shopping and

now he had an armed swordswoman pointing her blade at him.

Maybe he was planning on leading up to threats and the use of force,

but we weren’t quite there yet, and he probably didn’t expect a

guard at a small store like this one. That explained why he came

alone, despite having that high-handed attitude.

Judging by how he couldn’t react coherently to Francette’s sword, I

could tell he wasn’t very strong... But compared to Francette, most

people would probably fall into that category. But now I could take

my time and calmly get the information I wanted.

＊＊

“So, you’re saying the child of this Baron Dorivell is in danger...”

“D-Don’t say such nonsense out loud!”

The middle-aged man, the one who had denied my words while

getting all flustered, introduced himself as the knightly retainer of

the baronial family.

Well, it wasn’t as if all knights had to be young and handsome. They

could accomplish feats in their youth and leave the field for a

managerial position, eventually ending up with a big belly and bald

head. The passage of time can be a cruel thing indeed...

“But isn’t that what you just said? Besides, unless this is the crown

prince we’re talking about, you wouldn’t use such a medicine unless

he was dying, right?”

I’d already learned about this stuff from Roland. You know, just in

case.

“B-Be that as it may, what if your careless, inappropriate comments

reach someone’s ears?! There is a big difference between being in

poor health and being in danger!”

Ah, he was right... Especially when it came to the son and heir of a

noble family, such rumors spreading around could lead to internal

trouble, or worse. I was in the wrong here.

“...I’m sorry.”

I had no choice but to apologize. And by apologizing, my mistake was

wiped clean. It was my turn to go on the offensive again.

“So, where and how did you hear about these rare medicine

ingredients being sold here?”

It could only be that old man, but conjecture and confirmation were

very different things. Plus, I had to find out just how much he had

revealed.

“I’m sure you’ve guessed by now, but I heard from Oredeim, the

apothecary. The baron heard the child of a merchant family had

taken this Longevity Medicine, and threa— convinced the merchant

to tell him where he obtained it. He found out the merchant had

requested Oredeim, who obtained the highest-quality materials for

eighty gold coins, and thus made him the medicine for a hundred

gold coins. Then, the baron prayed for the safety of Oredeim and his

disciple, and for some reason, he revealed the source of his

materials, despite resisting so much at first... By the way, Oredeim

said to tell you, ‘If you’re going to that store, please tell her I didn’t

want to tell you where I obtained the ingredients,’ so there you are.”

...I didn’t know where to begin. First of all, that damned geezer! He

was up-charging like crazy!! Roland had told me that medicine’s price

mostly came from the cost to obtain those three ingredients. The

other ingredients were far more reasonably priced, and

comparatively easy to obtain. Which means... He was charging eighty

gold coins for something he acquired for six small silver coins. Plus, a

twenty-gold fee on top just to make it! Dirty old geezer...

Wait, but maybe this was a good thing? The price he’d sold his

medicine for had no effect on me, and maybe this was far better

than him blabbing about buying the ingredients for six small silver

coins... That price was less suspicious, considering the time of year

and the quality of the goods, and considering the high price, resellers

wouldn’t be tempted to flock here, even if the source was leaked to

the general public.

Had the geezer actually done a good job? If so, then there was no

need for me to go out of my way to tell them I sold the ingredients

for six silver coins... Wait, that must have been that geezer’s plan all

along!

“Has he informed you we no longer carry them here?”

“He has. However, you were able to obtain the items at such a high

quality before... It should be possible for you to use the same route

to get more. Please, I beg of you. Help us, for the sake of Master

Challotte...”

I was surprised. This proud-looking, portly, middle-aged man, a man

who served a noble family, was bowing his head to some girl like

me...

But at the same time, I was conflicted. I would have treated him

coldly if he had come in here acting all high-and-mighty and trying to

order me around, but I couldn’t just turn down a nice, middle-aged

man lowering his head to a little girl for the sake of his master’s son.

Urrrgh...

Francette saw my struggle and gave me an exasperated look. Damn

it Francette, aren’t you a protector of middle-aged men too?! Well,

she did admire Roland, so pretty princes and young knights were

probably more her type. She still didn’t understand how good the

grizzled ones are. So young...

Wait, now’s not the time to be thinking about this!

Hmm...

But there was only one answer I could give...

“I no longer have access to that connection. When we decided to

stop selling plant-based items as a consequence of this particular

case, I had my connection change their location, so that I could avoid

a situation where a person of power could pressure me into giving up

that information. So, even if I were to send an order now, it would

just get sent back to me, as there would be no one to receive it. I

wouldn’t be able to find them, either. Also, I’ve already told them

that if someone tried reaching out using my name, it would be an

imposter faking my identity, so it would be best to make an excuse to

cut contact, or assume it’s coming from scoundrels who had

threatened or tortured me, and act accordingly.”

He let out an exclamation of surprise at hearing about my thorough

preparation. As for Francette, she was giving me a suspicious look. I’d

have thought she was used to my top-of-the-head remarks by now...

“S-So, the ingredients for the medicine...”

“Will never be stocked again, as the apothecary has told you. There

is also no way for me to restock them, even if I wanted to. This store

won’t be handling any medical supplies other than common

medicine, bandages, and the like. This is just a ‘convenience store’

for supplying basic goods on short notice, and it’s our policy to leave

any professional-grade items to their respective specialty stores...”

This should have gone without saying. What sort of convenience

store would be better stocked than a specialty store?! But the man’s

dejected and disquieted look was hard to see. It would’ve been

easier if he flew into a rage and started yelling. The guilt was starting

to get to me...

But if I told him I could get the items, it would be the same result as

last time. I couldn’t allow that to happen. Even if the man was giving

me an imploring look, like a rain-soaked chihuahua...

Urrrgh!

“...Kaoru, is there nothing you can do for him?” Francette suddenly

spoke up, and the man’s eyes lit up at the unexpected support.

Why would you shoot your ally in the back at a time like this, Fran?

It was pointless to think about.

“Just ask, and they’ll sell you rare materials.”

If such a rumor got around, it would all be over. Even if I insisted on

keeping this a secret, what if another member of the baron’s family

got sick, like his wife or his daughter?

What about other noble dependents? Their families? A retainer close

to the baron, or the baron’s family? What if an upper-class noble

above them asked for it? What if their kin ordered it? I suspected the

chance of him keeping a promise to stay quiet, a promise that he

made with some commoner girl, at that, was zero. The only possible

option was to have him give up and leave.

“I’m sorry, but there is nothing I can do.”

And so, the man plodded away, wearily. What’s that judging look for,

Francette?!

“...And that’s what happened.”

After our meal, I explained what happened to the others. I mean, if I

had brought up that story while eating, it would have made the food

taste bad. I had to wait until we were done.

“Francette, you...”

Roland gave Francette an exasperated look. Emile and Belle looked

at Francette reproachfully.

“N-No, I didn’t give her a judging look... That’s just how Kaoru took it.

This is a false accusation!”

Francette desperately tried to explain herself. However...

“But you were looking at me just like that!”

With that, I pointed at Emile and Belle, who were looking at

Francette, and Francette looked down in shame.

“...I’m sorry. I couldn’t help but remember the time I brought Lord

Hector and Lady Yunith to their grandmother, after she had fallen

ill...”

Francette was talking about Earl Adan’s family, who she had served

before serving Roland. The air in the carriage with those four—the

siblings, the maid, and Francette—must have been quite heavy

before she received the potion from me.

Francette was too kind for her own good to begin with. She couldn’t

just abandon someone who she had the ability to help... assuming

that someone wasn’t considered an enemy by her, her friends, or

me, that is.

This time, I saw anyone who wanted me to do something that could

draw the attention of the rich and powerful as being my enemy, but

that wasn’t the case for Francette. Well, she wanted me to be

worshiped by the people as a goddess, so I supposed she was all for

having me do goddess-like deeds. But with Roland trying to interfere

with me finding a marriage partner, and Francette trying to get me to

show off my goddess powers and draw attention...

I had enemies all around me! What the hell!!

“Emile, Belle. I have a divine order for you two, as members of the

Eyes of the Goddess.”

“Yes!” they replied, earnestly.

Whenever I spoke with a formal and serious attitude like this, it

meant I wasn’t messing around. They would take it as an absolute

order. Therefore, I had to be very careful about the exact orders I

gave out. Otherwise, they would put their lives on the line, even if it

was something dumb.

100

“You are to find out more about that visitor’s master, the so-called

Baron Dorivell, and his son, Challotte. However, you must prioritize

your safety above all else while conducting your investigation. My

servants are millions of times more important to me than the child of

some unknown noble. Should you be careless with your own lives,

you would be looking down upon and putting my servants in danger.

Your lives belong to me. I will not allow you to die without my

permission!”

Since that time at the well, this was the second time I had told them

they weren’t allowed to die without my permission.

Emile and Belle replied energetically, then ran out the door.

“M-Me too!”

Francette tried to follow, but I grabbed her by the arm.

“Not you, Francette.”

“Wh-Why...? I-I want a divine order too...”

Ah... ‘A knight who had taken up a divine order.’ Sounded like a title

Francette would die for.

“M-Me either?”

I turned around to find Roland standing there. Right... Come to think

of it, he really, really wanted that divine sword. Maybe Roland had a

lot of admiration for those things, too...

“No. Those two have done these sorts of jobs in the past, so they’re

used to it. You two have combat abilities that are far greater than

theirs, but gathering information about someone without being

caught isn’t your forte. Besides, you two stand out way too much.”

Francette and Roland couldn’t argue back, and just slumped their

shoulders. I felt a little bad for them...

101

“Okay, then. Francette, massage my shoulders! That is my divine

order!”

“Y-Yes, ma’am!”

I meant it as a joke, but Francette pounced on the opportunity. She

swiftly came up behind me and...

“Gyaaa! Ow ow owww!”

Forgetting to curb her strength out of excitement, Francette

squeezed my shoulders with a vice-like grip.

“Gyaaa!”

Then, Layette leaped forth and bit Francette’s neck to protect me.

That was the only exposed part of her skin while attacking from

behind.

“Gyaaaaaa! Gwaaaaaah!!!”

Francette instinctively squeezed my shoulders harder from the pain

and surprise of being bitten. Then, she swung her body around in an

attempt to get Layette off of her, making Layette’s teeth sink into her

neck even deeper. Layette clung onto Francette, continuing to bite as

if her life depended on it. Francette crushed my shoulders with an

even stronger grip.

“Gyaaaaaaaaagh!!!”

It was a scene straight from a nightmare...

“Haah... Haah... Haah...” we all panted, winded.

The look in Roland’s eyes as he stared down at the three of us, laying

on the ground and exhausted, was painful to see...

＊＊

“Reporting the results of our investigation...”

102

Once evening rolled around, Emile and Belle came home. According

to them, Baron Dorivell had one boy and two girls. They had been

born in the order of ‘boy, girl, girl,’ and they were ten, seven, and

five years old, respectively. Challotte, the boy that the servant had

mentioned, was the eldest son.

No wonder he seemed so desperate...

Well, not that he would have put any less effort into it if he had

another successor lined up. Besides, the baron’s wife wasn’t too old

to have more children... but I guess that didn’t matter to a parent

who cared for their child.

In any case, this Challotte was the only boy in the Dorivell house. And

he was in critical condition, due to his illness...

“Baron Dorivell is Rank B. The Challotte boy is Rank B Plus. Of course,

this is based solely on rumors from outside sources...”

Oho, those are pretty high ranks.

These “ranks” were a rating system the Eyes of the Goddess had

used when I was in the Kingdom of Balmore, mainly to determine

whether the target was worth saving.

“C” meant they were average nobles, not particularly good nor bad.

“D” meant that they were somewhat bad nobles.

“E” meant that they were garbage.

“B” meant they were pretty good for nobles, and “A” was reserved

for the very good ones.

These five levels also had plus and minus variants, leaving a total of

fifteen ranks.

There were exceptions to the rule, of course, but a Rank B adult and

a Rank B Plus child were well within the range for being worthy of

receiving the goddess’s mercy.

103

“All right, it’s time for phase two of the investigation. I want you to

keep it up tomorrow.”

This is the first task I’ve given them in my role as the angel since we

left Balmore.

Oh, and I’d given up on claiming I wasn’t the angel long ago. There

was no point in continually repeating myself, and if I brought it up, I

risked Francette claiming I was a goddess instead of an angel.

“Thank you, Lady Kaoru...”

Francette usually just called me Kaoru, but when there were no

outsiders around and the topic was related to the angel or goddess,

she addressed me as Lady Kaoru. I figured there wasn’t much that

could be done about that, and let her do as she pleased.

“I’m not doing this because you wished for it, Francette. I’d already

decided to continue saving people back when I left Balmore. And the

one granting salvation to the people is the angel, and not the girl

known as Kaoru, who runs Convenience Store Belle, so there’s no

problem there!”

“Lady Kaoru...” Francette stared at me with a look of reverence, but

she had always worshiped me in the first place, so that was business

as usual.

Add ninety-degree water to water that’s ninety degrees, and it’d

remain ninety degrees. That was just how she was.

Now, how should I handle this job...

iDEAL–NOVEL

Monday, June 21, 2021

Ch 29 - 31

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