A nobleman leading his guards came by my shop a little before noon. It was Baron Ethel, whom I had met before.
“I beg your pardon, Sir Yahagi,” he greeted me.
“Long time no see. How fares His Majesty since our last meeting?”
“That universal elixir worked, and he is in a stable condition. Alas, the curse itself has not disappeared.”
One of Baron Ethel’s subordinates was already trying the ten-rim Dungeon Conquest game. Having learned from their previous mistakes, they’d come prepared with a massive number of ten-rim coins they had acquired themselves.
“Incidentally, Sir Yahagi, I have caught wind that a toy called a Mobile Force has been all the rage lately.”
“That’s right. It’s been well received. No one’s there right now, but people start having matches in that arena every day around evening.”
“Oho, might you happen to have them in stock?”
“I just so happen to have two remaining.” One of them was the most popular type, Gufufu. The other one was Jujiong, which was difficult to maneuver. Gufufu came with a whip by default, so you could immediately join a match with it. I had also heard buying one of the swords or shields that Mister Sanaga sold really boosted its strength.
Jujiong was conversely a model geared toward more advanced users. It had no legs, so it moved by floating through the air. It was possible to stretch out its arms to attack from all directions, but that meant you needed a ton of mana and good visualization skills to manage it well, which could be a pain. I’d tried operating one myself, but merely trying to maneuver it freely through the air had been tough.
“They look interesting. Please sell me both of them.”
Baron Ethel opened the boxes on the spot and assembled the units. Once he had some practice moving them, he and his subordinate soldier enjoyed a wrestling match with the toys.
“This is great!” he exclaimed. “Positively amazing! Of course people cannot help but be captivated by these!”
This guy was a nobleman, but there wasn’t a pretentious bone in his body.
“I’ll be holding a Mobile Forces tournament soon,” I told him. “If you’d like, why don’t you participate in it? The grand champion will also receive the universal elixir as a prize.”
“Oh my! So, that means I shall be able to participate as well?”
“Everyone who possesses a Mobile Force unit is allowed to participate.”
“That just gets me itching to put my skills to use. I must begin training from today onward!”
Baron Ethel had some Curry Rice Crackers and Ramune as a part of his snack time, and then he had another Ramune once he got out of the bath. He picked up another five on his way home to bring back as souvenirs.
Even a nobleman like Baron Ethel was totally engrossed in the Mobile Forces. That meant it was possible there’d be many participants in the contest beyond adventurers. In that case, I’d need to set up about five of these arena rings to accommodate that. I should enlist the help of a certain reliable partner.
“Oh, my dear Minervaaa!”
“Wh-What is it? Why are you calling me like that?”
“I have something I need to ask of you.”
“I-I’ll at least hear you out. (Hurry up and spit it out! I’ll do anything for you!)”
“Could I ask you to use your Earth Magic to set up four more Mobile Forces rings? Is that all right?”
“Hmph. That’d be no trouble at all. (I’m so happy I can be useful to Yusuke. ♡)”
That was Minerva for you. After all was said and done, he coolly took on any task given to him.
“What would you like as thanks? You can take anything you’d like from my shop.”
“I don’t need anything.”
“You don’t need to be so humble. Do you wanna try my new product, Mikan Water?”
“Well, if you’re going to insist...” His voice trailed off.
“What’s the matter? Say what’s on your mind.” Sometimes Minerva became extremely shy. It could be a pain.
“My magical research has recently been at a standstill, and my shoulders have been...ooh...ow...” He trailed off, wincing, but I got the picture.
“Oh, you want me to give you another massage for your stiff shoulders? That’d be no problem at all! I’ll even throw in a Mikan Water for you.”
“Y-Yeah. (I’m so glad I got the courage to ask! Good job, me from three seconds ago!)”
Minerva immediately made the rings for me, and I gave him a thorough massage. It struck me yet again how delicate Minerva’s body really was, seeing it up close like this. It was kind of squishy too, like a woman’s...
Like a woman’s...?
“What’s the matter?”
No, it was probably just my imagination. No girl could have a voice this deep and threatening...right?
✦ ✦ ✦
I advertised the upcoming tournament to my regulars who stopped by in the morning.
“I’ll be hosting a Mobile Forces tournament, so come by this evening if you’d like.”
“Wait, really? Can I participate too?”
“Garmr, you have the Gugurecas model, right? Anyone who has a Mobile Force can participate. Tell your buddies too.”
“Got it. All right, I’ll stop by after work,” he grinned. “Woo-hoo! I’m so excited!”
“Hey, now! Focus on your work,” I warned him. “It’d be stupid to get yourself hurt over this.”
“I know. I’ll switch over to work mode like I’m supposed to. Don’t worry.”
God, I hoped so. He worked a dangerous job that could put his life at risk.
“I’ll show you the true might of my Gugurecas’s naginata!” he declared.
“Yeah, right! My Gufufu is way stronger.”
Garmr and his friends left, chattering away excitedly. It sounded like they were over the moon about the tournament. Organizing it had definitely been worth it.
✦ ✦ ✦
Once evening came, the tournament participants began showing up one after another. Most of them were my regulars, including Minerva, Meryl, Mira, and those like Garmr and his buddies. I had thought it would be mostly young adventurers, but I did see some middle-aged veterans here and there. It looked like the Mobile Forces’ popularity crossed generational boundaries.
Ultimately, I cut off entries for the day after thirty-two participants had shown up. Things would get way out of hand if there were too many participants. Hot Spring Yahagi was packed, with what I estimated to be more than a hundred spectators.
“All right. We’ll be starting!” I announced.
Matches kicked off in each of the five arenas. We needed to get through thirty-one matches before the winners could be decided, so we had to be efficient here. I could hear shouts of joy from here and there throughout the room. It appeared a fierce battle was unfolding in the very first match.
Oh, wait. Did they already decide on a winner in that arena? It hadn’t even been two minutes since we’d started.
“Amazing! That’s the Shinigami Minerva for you!”
“That silver mask guy is crazy strong!”
It seemed that Minerva had immediately knocked out the enemy. His Kian had dished out a crushing victory against the opposing Zako with a decisive, fierce thrust of its blade.
“Congratulations, Minerva,” I said.
“It’s only the first round.”
Minerva made it look like it was just another Tuesday. On the other hand, Rigal, who had only just recently bought his own Gungalf, came over to my shop with his shoulders slumped.
“I lost,” he said, shaking his head as he cradled Gungalf close to his chest like something precious. He had worked his darndest at his porter job to save up the three hundred rims he’d needed to buy that. If he’d gone and broken it right away, he’d be so crushed he might never recover.
✦ ✦ ✦
Mobile Forces were made to be sturdy, but they could suffer damage during rough battles. In those cases, you had to replace the damaged parts or buy a new model.
“How’s the damage?”
“It’s only scratched,” he said. “It isn’t broken.”
Even I breathed a sigh of relief. “Glad to hear it. That means you can try again.”
“You know,” he said with his eyes sparkling, “I’ve never been so devoted to something before! Every day is so exciting now! I’m really looking forward to the next tournament!”
It was moments like these that made me glad that I’d become a dagashi-ya. It was because of how keen my customers were to frequent my shop that I could keep working hard. It truly is wonderful to feel like you’re needed.
Still, if I eventually got something like Mini 4WDs, things might get pretty crazy. Well, that might be fun in its own way, though.