Minerva was standing there when I headed out of the Swindoll Con Inn early in the morning. He had been in the dungeon depths, so this was the first I’d seen of him in three days.
“What a coincidence, Yusuke,” he said. “Didn’t think I’d run into you here.”
I kinda felt like we’d been running into each other all the time recently, so it didn’t really feel like a coincidence...
“Good morning, Minerva,” I greeted him.
“Are you heading to the dungeon right now? I was just about to head there myself. We may as well go together.”
His invitation was just a little bit pushy, but we headed for work together.
“By the way, were you able to buy a license?” he asked along the way.
“No, I’m going to keep selling my goods in the dungeon for a while. I wanna earn money fast so I can rent an apartment.”
“I see...”
Having to pay 12,000 rims every month would hurt my wallet, and I got more customers down below anyway. In particular, customers that stopped by during the day had contributed significantly to my sales.
I’d started going to the break room by myself yesterday. I would be with the other adventurers heading both in and out of the dungeon, and so long as I had my monster cards, I’d decided it wouldn’t be that dangerous. Plus, I had Minerva with me today, so I’d be especially safe. I didn’t know his intention in joining me, but when it came to bodyguards, there was no one more reliable.
When we arrived at the break room, I recited the words “Store, open” to bring out my shop.
“Oh? I’ve got some new games! There’s a ten-rim game different from the one I got the other day, and capsule toys!”
Product name: Ten-Rim Game (Continental Conquest)
Description: Play with a ten-rim coin. The prize is a defensive barrier charm.
Price: Ten rims per try (Only accepts ten-rim coins)
“Whoa, this is that thing where you fight by taking over land!” I exclaimed. “It’s different from the ones I know, though.”
“Hm,” Minerva said, approaching with his interest piqued, “there’s a map of the continent of Nautilus drawn here.”
A continental map was drawn on the front of the case, featuring the continent of Nautilus, where we were currently located.
“So, how do you play?”
“It’s just like the Dungeon Conquest Game next to it,” I told him. “First, you put a ten-rim coin here.”
When I put the coin in, the left and right roulettes below the screen began to spin. The left roulette had numbers, and the right one had pictures.
“Using the stop button, you first stop the left roulette,” I said before demonstrating.
“Hm. It’s a ten.”
“That’s a big number. Now’s our chance. Next, you use the right button to choose a picture.”
There were four pictures: a princess, a king, a witch, and a skull.
“If you get the princess, you can occupy a number of countries equivalent to the number you rolled,” I told him. “If you get the king, you’ll get twice that number. But if you roll the witch, you’ll lose as many countries as the number you rolled.”
“So, the witch is the bad guy... Then what happens if the skull appears?”
“Death is the end of everything, so you’ll get a game over.”
When I pressed the button, I got the princess. Ten lamps representing ten countries lit up on the screen.
“If you keep this up and take over all fifty countries on the continent, you’ll get the prize.” My luck then immediately ran out. “Whoops, I got the skull.”
And that was game over.
I looked back at him. “You wanna try?”
“I’ll pass,” he replied. “It’s more fun to watch you do it.”
I feel like I once knew a girl who would say things like that... Though his scary, husky voice was the same as always, at times like this Minerva seemed like a girl.
“I see.” I then turned my attention to the other new item in the room. “Now what’s this gachapon?”
The capsule toys inside seemed relatively large and appeared to be of a more recent type.
Product name: Capsule Toys - Miniature Furniture (Eight types + a secret item)
Description: Miniature furniture made by a famous furniture maker. Skilled artisans painstakingly crafted each and every one of them. The first series features chairs and sofas.
Price: Three hundred rims
The label on the front displayed a picture of a leather sofa and a velvet-covered chair. They all used real materials and appeared very extravagant.
Maybe I should get the full set and decorate my store with them?
I thought a lineup like this would tickle the fancy of collectors, but the adventurers didn’t so much as look at the Capsule Toys. I didn’t understand why...
“It’s too expensive,” Meryl informed me while eating a frozen Anzu Stick. Meryl and Mira had returned here for a break.
“Hm... So, the problem is the price, huh...?” It was true that for Dagashi-ya Yahagi’s products, three hundred rims was on the higher end.
“It’s not like it’s a magic item either,” she said, showing no interest in the Miniature Furniture.
“But it’s cute, right? Wouldn’t you like to try arranging them?”
“We’re too old to be playing with dolls. If I had three hundred rims, I’d use it on the other stuff you sell.”
All these adventurers were so pragmatic. I had my doubts I could sell these at all.
Actually, what would happen at times like these when something wasn’t selling? After a certain period of time, would the contents be switched out? It wasn’t like it’d be a loss for me, so it wasn’t anything serious, but I was a little curious about how it worked.
I used my own money to try it for myself. I got a one-person sofa covered in black leather out of it. The seams were beautiful, and it looked perfect as a reading chair. It was way too small for me, though. After I admired it for a while, I placed it on a shelf.