One week later, the hot spring on B2 was bustling with adventurers. There were many who would stop by for a bath after work before heading home. Most of my customers up until this point had been relatively young adventurers, but I had recently been getting more veterans too.
“Hey, gimme some Ramune.”
“Thank you for your continued patronage!”
My sales were gradually increasing, mainly thanks to the drinks people would purchase after their baths. However, one of the most popular items I had were the Squirt Guns.
“Kazakh, aim for my back.”
“All right. Get my calves later for me too then.”
“I know. Oh, go to the left a bit more. Yeah, that’s the stuff! Ooh... You’re good at this.”
The sight of naked middle-aged men exchanging Squirt Gun shots was kind of surreal, but Squirt Guns were selling well among that age group. There’d been a population explosion of butt-naked guys holding a towel in their left hand and a colorful Squirt Gun in their right. As for what was trendy with the young adventurers, Menko was experiencing a silent boom.
Product name: Bomb Blast Menko
Description: A toy made of thick cardboard. It’s a card the size of your palm, and it comes in various shapes. It’s usually used to play a game or as a collector’s item, but if you use it against a monster, it’ll activate the spell Bomb Blast Storm to blow it away. As it is a magic item, it will disappear upon use.
Price: Twenty rims
Playing with Menko was easy. First, you decided who would go first with a game of rock paper scissors (yes, that existed in this world too). Whoever was going second would then put their Menko on the ground. Then the person who was going first attacked by smashing their Menko against the other player’s. If you caused their Menko to flip, then you won, and you got to take that Menko as your own.
The Menko I was selling featured illustrations of famous adventurers throughout the generations. They had a manga-like touch to them, with many cute or handsome adventurers. They were sold in little packets the same way trading cards were, so you couldn’t see what you got until you opened it.
“Ugh! I got the witch Michelle!”
It seemed currently active adventurers were included in the Menko as well. One boy was despairing over the witch Michelle card he’d pulled, so I traded my Menko with his. The witch truly was unpopular.
There was a description on the front of the Menko.
Witch Michelle: A great sorceress who established the Theory of Infinite Type Mana Circulation. An SS rank adventurer.
She was extremely talented and yet so hated. Was that all because she’d cast a curse on the king? Or maybe the government was carrying out a smear campaign against her? Or was she really a bad person after all?
“I think she’s pretty cute, though,” I muttered. The witch in the painting had a gloomy, sour look. On the Menko’s illustration, I stroked the witch Michelle’s black hair with my finger.
For some reason, Minerva seemed in good spirits all day long.
✦ ✦ ✦
I decided to officially move my shop down to the room in front of the B2 hot spring. I’d heard it was good for business if multiple stores were clustered together, so I invited the blacksmith Mister Sanaga and the recovery tea seller Miss Mirai to join me, and they happily offered their cooperation.
I didn’t know who had started it, but at some point, the hot spring had been designated Hot Spring Yahagi. It flustered me every time I heard it.
✦ ✦ ✦
A team of young adventurers stopped by my shop first thing one morning.
“Hey, Mister Yusuke, you still got that Cherry Mochi?”
“Yep, both the cherry and green apple flavors are back in stock.”
There had been a recent epidemic of something called the Dungeon Flu going around wreaking havoc. If you contracted it, you’d come down with a high fever and difficulty breathing. There were even some cases in which people had died from it. This product was selling pretty well as a result.
Product name: Cherry Mochi
Description: Twelve pieces of gummy mochi. It protects against Dungeon Flu upon consumption. Even if onset occurs, it prevents the symptoms from worsening. Green apple and mikan flavors are also available.
Price: Thirty rims
It had been mostly young adventurers buying this stuff at first, but recently veteran adventurers had been joining the mix too. They said they were going to have their families eat them.
In this world, illnesses were typically cured by people who could use Healing Magic, but it seemed Dungeon Flu didn’t respond well to magical treatment. At any rate, I was just happy that the snacks I sold were of use.
I stabbed a small piece of Cherry Mochi with a toothpick and had a bite for the first time in a while.
Yep, that’s the stuff.
It stuck to your teeth, but I loved the unique flavor. In my previous life, there’d also been cola and soda flavors. Would they come to this world soon too? I gave some of my mochi to Minerva, Meryl, and Mira as well to prevent them from getting sick.