My senses were still sharpened thanks to the squid, so I managed to find the water station without getting lost. I had been imagining a well of some kind, but that wasn’t quite right. There was a lion statue reminiscent of what I’d see at hot spring hotels, with water gushing from the mouth.
I’d intended to quench my parched throat right away, but I realized I didn’t have a cup or a canteen on me. With no other option, I used my hands to gulp down the water. The possibility that I’d wind up with an upset stomach did cross my mind, but I couldn’t find it in myself to care. That’s how much a Squid Skewer could dry your throat out.
I guzzled the water...and it was delicious! Why did it taste so sweet after eating that squid? It was so delectable, I was tempted to eat more squid just so I could reexperience this sweet deliciousness. I eventually calmed down and took stock of my surroundings once more.
There were plenty of buildings here, but you couldn’t deny that this town had seen better days. If I had to compare it to something, it was like a hot spring town that had thrived in the Showa era but then had fallen into decline once Reiwa rolled around. The buildings were all old, and people were scarce. If you converted that vibe to a more European setting, it would probably look something like this town.
✦ ✦ ✦
Now that I had quenched my thirst, I just let my feet take me where they willed.
Oh yeah, I have to find an inn for the night.
It was a slightly chilly time of year, similar to spring in Japan. Sleeping outside in these temperatures would be rough, and if it started raining, I’d be in huge trouble.
As I walked along, I saw a signboard advertising an inn: “The Safe Swindoll Con Inn. Starting from 850 rims.”
That name made me feel the opposite of safe, but 850 rims for one night sounded like a steal. From what I’d gathered, one rim was equivalent to one yen. Back in Japan, a typical stay at a business hotel went for around 7,000 yen. Even a stay at a capsule hotel or an internet café would go for at least 3,000 yen a night. Compared to that, wasn’t 850 rims a more than fair price? Although I was sure I’d be getting what I paid for...
Well, with only forty rims under my belt, I was getting ahead of myself. Even such cheap lodgings were still far from what my nearly empty wallet could afford. I once again steeled my resolve to buckle down and get serious about selling my goods.
✦ ✦ ✦
As the sun dipped toward the western horizon, the dungeon plaza began bustling with life again. The adventurers were surfacing from the depths of the dungeon.
“Mister!”
Two girls were running over to where I’d set up shop at the edge of the plaza. One of them was the lively, pink-haired adventurer who had bought the Ten-Rim Gum this morning.
“Hurry up, Mira! Let’s go!”
The blue-haired girl named Mira had a much calmer demeanor.
“Don’t rush me so much, Meryl.”
Mira emanated a soft, warm aura as she arrived at my store.
“Oh, wow, it’s just like Meryl said.” She clasped her hands together, appearing awed. “So these are all snacks?”
“How was the Ten-Rim Gum?” I asked Meryl.
“It was delicious, and it came in handy,” she replied, “’cuz it did restore a little bit of my mana.”
“Just like I said, right?”
“Still, it lost its flavor really quickly, and the MP gain effect wore off...”
Yeah, that is one of the bad things about Ten-Rim Gum. It’s cheap and delicious, yet the flavor only lasts so long.
“Um...” Mira, the blue-haired girl, started meekly. “When I opened the wrapper, this came out with it...”
It was a slip of paper with the words: “Win. Redeem at store for a free gum.”
Oh right, I thought, this gum has a lottery.
“Congratulations,” I said, holding out a piece of gum. “Here’s your gum.”
“Oh my!” she exclaimed. “Are you sure?”
“Of course. That’s how this product works.”
Mira carefully pocketed the new piece of gum I’d given her, which she would no doubt use during her dungeon crawl tomorrow. It made me happy to think that it’d be useful for her.
Meryl, on the other hand, was looking at Mira with envy. “You lucky duck! I wanna win a free gum too!”
“If you want something else with a lottery,” I said, opening up a box of Ten-Rim Chocolate Coins, “I have this too.”
Product name: Ten-Rim Chocolate Coin
Description: A chocolate coin that looks a lot like a copper coin. Restores some HP.
Price: Ten rims
“Wow, they’re shaped exactly like ten-rim coins,” she remarked.
“It’s chocolate inside.”
“Chocolate?! But that’s something only rich people can afford to eat!”
So not only were spices luxury goods, but also chocolate? Maybe I should raise the prices on them...
No, forget it.
My pride as a dagashi-ya wouldn’t allow that. Painstaking research had been put into making dagashi cheap enough for even children to afford. How could I find it in me to trample on the efforts of my predecessors for mere greed? The great thing about dagashi was that you could buy plenty of it even on a pitiful allowance. I had a lot of fond memories of dagashi from when I was a kid, thanks to that. Who would I be if I didn’t give this world’s novice adventurers some support?
“So if I win, I’ll be able to get one more?” Meryl asked, gazing at me with eyes sparking with expectation. I grinned and wagged my finger.
“Nope. Instead, there are tradable coupons inside.”
“Ooh, like what?”
“It depends. There are coupons in there worth fifty, thirty, twenty, or ten rims. If you get one, you’ll be able to trade it in for an item of equal value at my shop.”
“Sold!”
Meryl immediately handed me a ten-rim coin and glared at the many chocolate coins.
“What are you doing, Meryl?” Mira asked.
“I’m trying to choose the one that has a coupon inside... Be quiet for a bit, Mira.”
Her efforts would probably be in vain since the product was designed so that you couldn’t tell which one was a winner. Still, this was all part of the thrill of buying dagashi, so I just left her to it.
Finally, Meryl made up her mind and thrust her hand into the box.
“I got you now!”
She clutched her carefully selected Ten-Rim Chocolate Coin in her hand. With nervous fingers, she shakily removed the film and revealed that inside the wrapper was...a single four-letter word, “lose.”
“Sorry, better luck next time.”
Meryl bit her lip in frustration. “Grrr...!!!”
“But it’s still delicious,” I said, offering her some solace, “and it restores some HP.”
“Huh.” Meryl tossed the Chocolate Coin into her mouth, and her face lit up with a smile. “Whoa, you’re right! It’s delicious! And I think it took the edge off of my exhaustion.”
At that, Mira’s interest was also piqued.
“Give me one too, please,” she said.
“Got it. Choose whichever you’d like.”
Mira selected one in no time at all and nimbly opened up the foil. “Oh?”
Amazingly, a ten-rim redeemable coupon was stamped inside of the wrapper!
“Congratulations!” I said to her, “You can trade that in for any ten-rim item in the shop.”
“Are you certain?” she asked, “I feel a little bad...”
Mira must have had the ultimate luck if she’d managed to win again. But Meryl couldn’t just sit back and take this.
“Why is it always her?!” she pouted. “What, are you playing favorites because she has bigger boobs than me?!”
“Of course not!”
“E-Exactly,” Mira whimpered, “so keep your voice down. It’s embarrassing...”
But Meryl didn’t stop there.
“Fine, then I’ll just buy three more!” she declared.
“Hey, easy now...”
“Here, thirty rims!”
It seemed Meryl was the type to get easily fired up, but thanks to the ruckus she was causing, some of the other adventurers came over to check out the shop.
“What’s all the fuss about? You got something good there?”
“You all better stand back!” she screeched at them. “That coupon’s mine!”
I explained what dagashi were to the young adventurers.
“Seems kinda interesting,” said one of them. “Give me some gum and chocolate.”
“Some Odama Candy for me,” said another.
Completely unlike how the morning had gone, my shop was bustling until dark.