Now then, what should I do?
If we stayed and talked in the middle of the shop, we would bother other guests. We went to a table that had been set up on the other side of the counter for situations like this. Of course, we would be a bother if we stayed in the passageway, but I wanted to loudly call these two liars. Well, to begin with, there weren’t any guests inside the shop who would be troubled.
“It’s not like I know everything.”
There were various things that I wanted to say, but above all else this was something I had to tell them, so these were the first words that came out of my mouth after I sat down. Or rather, thinking about it, since you guys were the ones who arbitrarily brought the cakes here, there was actually no need for us to pay you any mind. It would be a scam to tell us that we could eat it and then later demand for us to pay up. I must not lose to crime.
“We understand this. If you knew everything that was here Little Miss, we would be questioning your identity. Nonetheless, I still hope that you will cooperate to the scope that your knowledge allows.”
He said ‘cooperate’, but no matter how I looked at it, this was coercion.
The Demon Race man had a gentle tone, but I could feel the underlying intent of ‘don’t think about escaping’ all over his speech. There was also the fact that he got me to sit facing the passage that led to the entrance while he himself, sat with his back facing the entrance. Even though a child should not be able to run away, he definitely decided to sit there just in case I tried. I was actually furious at how prepared they were.
…My hair was going to end up falling out.
“What’s the compensation?”
In reality, I did not want anything more to do with this, so I swallowed the swear words rising up my throat. I needed to just finish the minimal amount of necessary transactions and leave the shop quickly.
“Didn’t we just give you cake?”
“That’s the portion for when I informed you about the battery. For the part where we troubled the shop by making it ring, we paid it back by telling you how to stop and use it. We’re even right now.”
I was being a bit pushy, but if I did not speak as strongly as that, they would have made more and more outrageous demands. It would be better if our negotiating position were strong, but even if it wasn’t, I could not let it be weak.
“You’re an interesting Mixed Breed. If you tell us something good, I will give you something from the shop. Though there are some things I can’t give.”
“What if there’s nothing I could find that I would want?”
“You’ll probably find something you want. If not, it depends. If I won’t give it, it means there are high value transactions associated with it, either because it already has a buyer or its use is known.”
In other words, as long as their way of use was known, the items value would rise, while the remaining items were considered garbage. It probably meant I could pick whatever.
“The buzzer just now—”
“Do you want that?”
Though it was good, I did not want it. I shook my head.
“I’m fine with something else. I want something that came from the same world as that.”
That item was the only thing that affirmed my past life right now. I wanted something in that vein, precisely because it was something that I could not tell others about. So that I could live without having to wonder whether my mind was going mad or not.
“So, in short, the Little Miss’s mother taught you about the world that tool came from, right?”
I nodded at the Demon Race man’s words.
He would probably misunderstand that the reason I wanted it was to use it as a substitute for a memento.
“Understood. If you teach us how to use three things, I’ll give you one of the three.”
Seriously??
The cat person was a good person, wasn’t he.
To give me one with just that much, wasn’t he quite generous? Was it because the memento attack was effective? I felt my eyes getting moist.
“That buzzer does not count as one of the three. Shopkeeper, isn’t that right?”
“Ahh, of course.”
“…I know.”
The Demon Race man was not nice.
Even I wasn’t thinking about being that petty. I exaggeratedly said transactions, but there was no real value in the information. The problem was, just how on earth would they be able find things from Japan. The shop’s interior wasn’t large, but it wasn’t very small either. I felt that the day would end if we just went around searching randomly.
“Then, I’ll bring things like that over, so just stay seated and feel at home. If ya want, I’ll bring some juice.”
“Huh?”
“Right now, you’re wondering about how he’s going to search for them, right? Otherworld shops these days classify them according to one world or another to a certain degree, by using things like screws or characters.”
Seriously?
No, but certainly. I was surprised, but I could immediately understand why.
If they just gathered everything, counterfeits would probably become common in Otherworld shops. It would be too much like gambling if they allowed sloppy business dealings like ‘if we don’t understand it, then it’s probably something from another world”. As a result, there was a need to tell them apart. If there was such a skill, they would probably classify them to one world or another.
“Hmm. Speaking of which, how do you know it’s from another world?”
“Things that cross over the world wall tend to carry a certain type of magic power. Magicians can recognize that. It’s difficult for an artificial thing to carry that certain type of magic power. It’s something that cheap knock-offs can’t do.”
I see. So magicians had these kind of jobs too. I had thought that they did things like exterminating monsters and working in the royal palace, just like in a normal RPG.
“Are you a magician?” Clau asked.
“It’s not ‘you’, but Big Bro. That’s right. Things from another world have a lot of new technology, after all. I’m researching various things from them.”
So this Demon Race man’s occupation was a magician. Not only that, but to be doing research meant that he was quite well employed, did it not?
“Speaking of which, the Little Miss, you lost your mother, right? What about your father?”
“…Don’t know.”
The Demon Race man started chatting with me in that manner. That facial expression made my back shiver. What was that question just now? I was scared because I could not figure out his motivations.
I averted my eyes from the Demon Race man and turned them towards the shop’s interior.
Nevertheless, for so many random things to drift into this world, just how was this world made?
“Kept ya waiting. Take a look at this.”
The cat man came in holding a full cardboard box and placed about a third of it on the desk.
Wristwatch, contact lenses, dryer—… there were also things that I did not know about here and there, but if there was this much, it seemed fine. However, the problem started here. It would be pretty dangerous if I exposed that I knew a great deal about most of the stuff on the table.
In that case, it would be fine for me to pick three items randomly, but I felt that even if I taught them about something, there was no point if it was an unusable object. Or rather, was the information that it was unusable what they wanted? At this phase, I could not choose which was the best. Still, I wanted to do enough so that I could earn the information fee.
“If you’d like, I don’t mind if you hold it and look. How is it, anything you know?”
It seemed that they thought I was staring at the tools because I did not recognize them.
“… Which ones do you want to learn about, Mister?”
“It’s Big Bro. Perhaps, you know all of them?”
At those words, I hurriedly shook my head. In reality, there was a good chance I would know, but I felt that it would be dangerous if I said that out loud. Depending on the information, even garbage might get a high price.
“I’ll mainly be examining it. And also, the person I’m listening to isn’t you, Big Bro magician, but the shopkeeper.”
Thinking about it again, why were you here? Even though you were a customer, just like me. Were you something like the shopkeeper’s friend? … I didn’t know.
“Then, do you know what this thing is? It’s quite pretty.”
I looked at the pretty thing that the shopkeeper was pointing at. The sparkling stones that were ornamenting it certainly made for pretty decorations.
After holding it in my hand, I unfolded the object. The screen was black, but it did not seem to be cracked. The buttons also seemed to be fine. But, still.
When I looked at the bottom after opening the cover, there was a battery properly in there, but the sticker under it was red.
“This is a cell phone.”
“Sellfone?”
“Yes, a type of portable tool used to talk with someone far away. But, this is broken after getting wet. The sparkling things are just stickers affixed as decorations and not gems.”
Thank you very much for immediately choosing something insignificant for the first one! My chest hurt. I averted my eyes as I put the battery cover back on. His eyes had definitely been drawn to its flashy appearance, but in that case, it definitely would have been better if I had just picked myself.
“I see. So it’s a useful tool like that. Is it something like telepathy?”
“Ah, no. Anyone can use it, even if they don’t have any special skills. However, you need another one of these, and you can’t use these at places without radio wave towers. But the camera, phone, and game functionalities are still usable. Also, like the crime prevention buzzer from before, if the battery stops working, it cannot operate.”
It seemed that I did not need to be worried, as the Demon Race man did not seem disappointed at the slightest. If anything, he looked like he was having fun listening to me. However, it was the shopkeeper, not him, that needed to gain something out of this.
“It’s great that anyone can use this. I’m also curious about the camera or game functionalities. Shopkeeper, do you have any more of these?”
“I don’t think I received anything else like this.”
I was a bit curious at what they looked at to determine if it was something ‘like this’.
If they were judging it based on similar decorations, there probably wasn’t anything like it. I had a hunch that there might unexpectedly be a cellphone mixed inside the cardboard box, but I did not say it out loud. Just teaching them about the usage of a cell phone took an awfully long time, and it was not worth the effort.
I looked down at the things on the desk and sighed. Perhaps it was better if I picked the next one myself.
Now then, what should I do?
If we stayed and talked in the middle of the shop, we would bother other guests. We went to a table that had been set up on the other side of the counter for situations like this. Of course, we would be a bother if we stayed in the passageway, but I wanted to loudly call these two liars. Well, to begin with, there weren’t any guests inside the shop who would be troubled.
“It’s not like I know everything.”
There were various things that I wanted to say, but above all else this was something I had to tell them, so these were the first words that came out of my mouth after I sat down. Or rather, thinking about it, since you guys were the ones who arbitrarily brought the cakes here, there was actually no need for us to pay you any mind. It would be a scam to tell us that we could eat it and then later demand for us to pay up. I must not lose to crime.
“We understand this. If you knew everything that was here Little Miss, we would be questioning your identity. Nonetheless, I still hope that you will cooperate to the scope that your knowledge allows.”
He said ‘cooperate’, but no matter how I looked at it, this was coercion.
The Demon Race man had a gentle tone, but I could feel the underlying intent of ‘don’t think about escaping’ all over his speech. There was also the fact that he got me to sit facing the passage that led to the entrance while he himself, sat with his back facing the entrance. Even though a child should not be able to run away, he definitely decided to sit there just in case I tried. I was actually furious at how prepared they were.
…My hair was going to end up falling out.
“What’s the compensation?”
In reality, I did not want anything more to do with this, so I swallowed the swear words rising up my throat. I needed to just finish the minimal amount of necessary transactions and leave the shop quickly.
“Didn’t we just give you cake?”
“That’s the portion for when I informed you about the battery. For the part where we troubled the shop by making it ring, we paid it back by telling you how to stop and use it. We’re even right now.”
I was being a bit pushy, but if I did not speak as strongly as that, they would have made more and more outrageous demands. It would be better if our negotiating position were strong, but even if it wasn’t, I could not let it be weak.
“You’re an interesting Mixed Breed. If you tell us something good, I will give you something from the shop. Though there are some things I can’t give.”
“What if there’s nothing I could find that I would want?”
“You’ll probably find something you want. If not, it depends. If I won’t give it, it means there are high value transactions associated with it, either because it already has a buyer or its use is known.”
In other words, as long as their way of use was known, the items value would rise, while the remaining items were considered garbage. It probably meant I could pick whatever.
“The buzzer just now—”
“Do you want that?”
Though it was good, I did not want it. I shook my head.
“I’m fine with something else. I want something that came from the same world as that.”
That item was the only thing that affirmed my past life right now. I wanted something in that vein, precisely because it was something that I could not tell others about. So that I could live without having to wonder whether my mind was going mad or not.
“So, in short, the Little Miss’s mother taught you about the world that tool came from, right?”
I nodded at the Demon Race man’s words.
He would probably misunderstand that the reason I wanted it was to use it as a substitute for a memento.
“Understood. If you teach us how to use three things, I’ll give you one of the three.”
Seriously??
The cat person was a good person, wasn’t he.
To give me one with just that much, wasn’t he quite generous? Was it because the memento attack was effective? I felt my eyes getting moist.
“That buzzer does not count as one of the three. Shopkeeper, isn’t that right?”
“Ahh, of course.”
“…I know.”
The Demon Race man was not nice.
Even I wasn’t thinking about being that petty. I exaggeratedly said transactions, but there was no real value in the information. The problem was, just how on earth would they be able find things from Japan. The shop’s interior wasn’t large, but it wasn’t very small either. I felt that the day would end if we just went around searching randomly.
“Then, I’ll bring things like that over, so just stay seated and feel at home. If ya want, I’ll bring some juice.”
“Huh?”
“Right now, you’re wondering about how he’s going to search for them, right? Otherworld shops these days classify them according to one world or another to a certain degree, by using things like screws or characters.”
Seriously?
No, but certainly. I was surprised, but I could immediately understand why.
If they just gathered everything, counterfeits would probably become common in Otherworld shops. It would be too much like gambling if they allowed sloppy business dealings like ‘if we don’t understand it, then it’s probably something from another world”. As a result, there was a need to tell them apart. If there was such a skill, they would probably classify them to one world or another.
“Hmm. Speaking of which, how do you know it’s from another world?”
“Things that cross over the world wall tend to carry a certain type of magic power. Magicians can recognize that. It’s difficult for an artificial thing to carry that certain type of magic power. It’s something that cheap knock-offs can’t do.”
I see. So magicians had these kind of jobs too. I had thought that they did things like exterminating monsters and working in the royal palace, just like in a normal RPG.
“Are you a magician?” Clau asked.
“It’s not ‘you’, but Big Bro. That’s right. Things from another world have a lot of new technology, after all. I’m researching various things from them.”
So this Demon Race man’s occupation was a magician. Not only that, but to be doing research meant that he was quite well employed, did it not?
“Speaking of which, the Little Miss, you lost your mother, right? What about your father?”
“…Don’t know.”
The Demon Race man started chatting with me in that manner. That facial expression made my back shiver. What was that question just now? I was scared because I could not figure out his motivations.
I averted my eyes from the Demon Race man and turned them towards the shop’s interior.
Nevertheless, for so many random things to drift into this world, just how was this world made?
“Kept ya waiting. Take a look at this.”
The cat man came in holding a full cardboard box and placed about a third of it on the desk.
Wristwatch, contact lenses, dryer—… there were also things that I did not know about here and there, but if there was this much, it seemed fine. However, the problem started here. It would be pretty dangerous if I exposed that I knew a great deal about most of the stuff on the table.
In that case, it would be fine for me to pick three items randomly, but I felt that even if I taught them about something, there was no point if it was an unusable object. Or rather, was the information that it was unusable what they wanted? At this phase, I could not choose which was the best. Still, I wanted to do enough so that I could earn the information fee.
“If you’d like, I don’t mind if you hold it and look. How is it, anything you know?”
It seemed that they thought I was staring at the tools because I did not recognize them.
“… Which ones do you want to learn about, Mister?”
“It’s Big Bro. Perhaps, you know all of them?”
At those words, I hurriedly shook my head. In reality, there was a good chance I would know, but I felt that it would be dangerous if I said that out loud. Depending on the information, even garbage might get a high price.
“I’ll mainly be examining it. And also, the person I’m listening to isn’t you, Big Bro magician, but the shopkeeper.”
Thinking about it again, why were you here? Even though you were a customer, just like me. Were you something like the shopkeeper’s friend? … I didn’t know.
“Then, do you know what this thing is? It’s quite pretty.”
I looked at the pretty thing that the shopkeeper was pointing at. The sparkling stones that were ornamenting it certainly made for pretty decorations.
After holding it in my hand, I unfolded the object. The screen was black, but it did not seem to be cracked. The buttons also seemed to be fine. But, still.
When I looked at the bottom after opening the cover, there was a battery properly in there, but the sticker under it was red.
“This is a cell phone.”
“Sellfone?”
“Yes, a type of portable tool used to talk with someone far away. But, this is broken after getting wet. The sparkling things are just stickers affixed as decorations and not gems.”
Thank you very much for immediately choosing something insignificant for the first one! My chest hurt. I averted my eyes as I put the battery cover back on. His eyes had definitely been drawn to its flashy appearance, but in that case, it definitely would have been better if I had just picked myself.
“I see. So it’s a useful tool like that. Is it something like telepathy?”
“Ah, no. Anyone can use it, even if they don’t have any special skills. However, you need another one of these, and you can’t use these at places without radio wave towers. But the camera, phone, and game functionalities are still usable. Also, like the crime prevention buzzer from before, if the battery stops working, it cannot operate.”
It seemed that I did not need to be worried, as the Demon Race man did not seem disappointed at the slightest. If anything, he looked like he was having fun listening to me. However, it was the shopkeeper, not him, that needed to gain something out of this.
“It’s great that anyone can use this. I’m also curious about the camera or game functionalities. Shopkeeper, do you have any more of these?”
“I don’t think I received anything else like this.”
I was a bit curious at what they looked at to determine if it was something ‘like this’.
If they were judging it based on similar decorations, there probably wasn’t anything like it. I had a hunch that there might unexpectedly be a cellphone mixed inside the cardboard box, but I did not say it out loud. Just teaching them about the usage of a cell phone took an awfully long time, and it was not worth the effort.
I looked down at the things on the desk and sighed. Perhaps it was better if I picked the next one myself.
