That morning after I opened up shop, the first customer who came barging in was the porter Rigal.
“Good morning, Mister Yahagi!” he shouted.
“Good morning,” I greeted him back. “You’re looking full of energy today.”
With a radiant smile, Rigal thrust the palm of his hand toward me. Is he pretending to hand me a fart?
“Please look at this!” When he spread out his palm, facing upward, a small blaze appeared.
“Oh?! So, you can use Fire Magic now.”
“That’s right,” he said, his eyes sparkling. “This is thanks to the Mobile Forces!”
Moving Mobile Force units served as good practice for mana management. As a result of him using Gungalf every day with a keen fervor, Rigal, who had never had any offensive magic capabilities, had acquired some new magic.
“That’s amazing, Rigal. Keep this up for a bit longer, and you can graduate from being a porter.”
“Yeah. Mister Garmr promised me that if I could start dishing out three-fireball attacks, he’d make me an official member of his team.”
“I’m glad to hear it. Here, this is a gift to congratulate you.” I grabbed a handful of Ten-Rim Gum and gave it to Rigal. They’d help him recover mana. “It’d be a good idea to chew on these while you’re practicing your magic.”
“Thank you very much!” Rigal exclaimed, accepting my gift. “I’m going to train lots so I can make an even bigger flame!”
Witnessing the growth of someone I knew was wonderful. All of a sudden, it seemed that Rigal had gotten a little taller.
Meryl and Mira were the next to stop by. Meryl was excitedly clutching a leaflet printed on some coarse paper. “Mister Yusuke, did you see this?!”
“Are you talking about the Mobile Forces tournament?” I asked. “Yeah, that surprised me.”
“It’s more than surprising,” Meryl said, enthusiastic. “It’s a tournament that’s being sponsored by His Majesty the king himself! On top of that, the winner’s going to get one million rims! We can’t just not participate!”
Back when Baron Ethel had suggested it, I had dismissed it as a pipe dream, but the king really was going to host a tournament. Baron Ethel had requested a consignment deal between us regarding the Mobile Forces, but even now, he was selling out his stock every day. This was in spite of the fact that my stock had increased thanks to my level-up, and I was currently entrusting him with fifty boxes per day. I had heard there were even incidents of theft and robbery in town concerning the Mobile Forces. At this point, they could be called a social phenomenon.
“My Red Shoulder’s going to be the winner this time!” Meryl declared. She had landed in fourth place in the last tournament at Hot Spring Yahagi. However, there were many more people participating in matches than before.
“There’re a lot of competitors this time around, so do your best,” I said.
“That’s the problem!” Meryl complained. “Stop selling your Mobile Forces, Mister Yusuke. I can’t get any more rivals.”
“I can’t do that. If you get into the top eight, you’ll get a cash prize, right? Win on your own merit.”
“Pretty please, Mister Yusuke? Aren’t we friends?” she pleaded, sidling up to me while giving me puppy dog eyes.
“Get away from Yusuke, you hussy.” Michelle, who’d just finished cleaning the bath, had returned to the store.
“Good work, Minerva,” I greeted her.
“Yeah,” she said. “I left the bath spick-and-span with my magic.”
Meryl stepped back, overwhelmed by Michelle’s intensity. “You two guys are as close as always...”
“Hmph!”
Michelle was still using her cognitive obstruction spells, so Meryl and Mira remained under the impression that she was a man. She sat down next to me without even trying to hide her displeasure.
“Will you be participating in the tournament as well, Mister Minerva?” Mira asked her.
“No.”
On a scale as small as the Hot Spring Yahagi tournament, it was no problem for her to join in, but she’d stand out if she entered a tournament sponsored by the king. It was improper for a wanted criminal to participate, so she’d said she’d refrain from going. Michelle, of course, could’ve won it all. When I asked her if she wasn’t interested in the one million rims, she boasted that she could earn that much at the drop of a hat. Apparently, monsters in the dungeon depths dropped a ton of money. Even so, Michelle set aside that money as funds for her research, so she wasn’t superrich or anything. She did still earn much more than I did. She’d outright said she would provide for me anytime, but I didn’t feel like becoming a kept man.
As I lost myself in thought, Mira suddenly directed a question at me. “Mister Yusuke, are you not going to participate?”
“Me? No way,” I said. “I have to do a Mobile Forces exhibition and sale event that same day.”
“What? That’s such a shame. You’re rather strong, aren’t you?”
Michelle had actually been training me. I’d gotten strong enough to beat Mira and Meryl in some practice matches. I mean, if I get good at piloting Mobile Forces, then maybe I’ll get some new magic abilities like Rigal... That was why I was training hard. I had yet to see signs of any new magic abilities, though.
“Mira, don’t say that. I don’t want to get more rivals than I already have!”
Meryl was always true to herself.
“Well, you two do your best in my stead,” I said. “More importantly, I have some new products.”
I proceeded to recommend my shop’s new candy.
Product name: Dodon Pachin
Description: Candy that pops in your mouth. If you use a physical attack while it’s still popping, your attack will be accompanied by lightning. Orange flavored.
Price: One hundred rims
Lightning would increase your power along with your attack speed.
“It pops in your mouth? That sounds like fun!” Meryl loved new things, so she bought one right away.
“Don’t put too much in your mouth at once,” I warned her. “It really hurts if it pops too much.” It was a lesson I’d learned from experience when I was very young.