Vol 3 Chapter 1.1 (1/2)

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Chapter 1.1

Volume 3 Chapter 1: I tried becoming a chuuni  (1/2)

Several days had pa.s.sed since Gai’s body healed. After that, the medicine compounded by Sheik was completed with the help of Cecilia and Sophia-san, so Tiel-chan’s condition improved, too. In addition, since the quest taken up by Clayman was completed flawlessly, quite a substantial reward was given.

Looking back at it now, Tarevoke Merchant Guild must have not expected anyone to be able to defeat the rock lizard without injuring it externally, so I guessed they included that unreasonable condition just to trouble us.

If that was the case, there was nothing else that could be said in this situation except, “Don’t mind”…

And so, everything had settled down for the time being.

“Ahh, I got nothing to do! d.a.m.n it…” [Youki]

I walked around the city by myself in frustration. I had not made any arrangements to meet up with anyone in particular, but I just didn’t want to stay in the room, so I took a stroll to kill time. It was a no-brainer why I didn’t want to stay in the room; I simply couldn’t put up with all that flirting between Gai and Tiel-chan.

Tiel-chan’s condition had improved thanks to the medicine concocted by Sheik, so she dropped by to visit Gai. That alone would have been fine, but they had to take things further than that. They had both just been on the verge of death, yet they were each still worried about the other party. After that incident, the aftermath was horrible. They were totally in a world of their own, which made me feel like a third wheel.

They were at it virtually every day, driving me up the wall.

Tiel-chan would come over after work or on her break. Since they had been through such an incident, I tried to endure it somehow initially…but it became impossible. So that was why I ended up wandering around the city even though I had nothing in particular to do.

“Sigh… I guess I’ll go see if there is any guild mission that I can do …Come to think of it, Clayman did promise to promote me to A rank that time.” [Youki]

Sophia-san wound up taking over the role that was initially pushed on me; but, a promise is a promise.

I did keep my side of the bargain since I had helped him with the request, so it was possible that he would also keep his promise.

As I wanted to receive A rank missions, I decided to go to the guild.

“Hm? What is this?” [Youki]

While I was walking towards the guild, I noticed that there was a commotion going on in the area, so I caught a pa.s.serby to ask him about it. Apparently merchants had come from various places to set up their marketplace here. Originally, it was supposed to be held several times a year, but it seemed that the fight against the Demon Lord had affected the gatherings of the merchants. However, probably because the Demon Lord was defeated now, the merchants started gathering again to set up a large marketplace that hadn’t been opened for some time.

“Since the merchants are from different places around the world, I guess there would be unusual items for sale, too.” [Youki]

To be honest, I was more intrigued by that than A rank missions.

“Yeah, there are a lot of unusual things. I am actually on my way there as well. Do you want to come along?” [Pa.s.serby]

“Yeah, sure. Thank you and sorry for the trouble.” [Youki]

By the way, the pa.s.serby who had answered my questions was the wolf beastman whom I got acquainted with some time ago.(1) I couldn’t recognize him from behind, so I approached him, thinking that he was just an ordinary, huge-sized pa.s.serby.

His smiling face was scary, as always.

I could see sharp fangs sticking out of his mouth when he grinned. Howeve

r, he didn’t seem like a bad beastman since he had led me all the way to the place where the market was held.

“Ohh, that’s amazing.” [Youki]

There was a crowd of people consisting of humans and demi-humans.

There were also merchants who were setting up their stalls at that moment, and some who were putting up their tents as well. When I looked around at the surrounding merchants, I noticed that they had displayed never before seen items for sale…

“Heh, as I thought the marketplace this time is quite huge. I’ll be heading off then. Let’s go on a mission together the next time we meet.” [Wolf Beastman]

“Ah, yes. Thanks for guiding me here. Should any opportunity arise in future, I will be glad to.” [Youki]

“No biggie. I have something that I need to do here anyway, so you don’t have to thank me for it. See ya.” [Wolf Beastman]

The wolf beastman gave me a quick wave and disappeared into the crowd. It seemed that I shouldn’t judge someone just by their appearance.

“Well then, since I’m here, I guess I’ll have fun browsing through the different things for sale. It’ll probably be a good change of pace.” [Youki]

I decided to purchase anything that looked interesting to me, so I mingled with the crowd and browsed through the goods displayed at the stalls.

There was a wide range of things for sale, from items that seemed to be daily necessities to unknown articles that I wasn’t really sure what they could be used for at all.

As I loitered around while looking through the merchandise, I stumbled upon someone familiar.

That person seemed to be closely examining the goods for sale, but… that was no doubt Clayman.

“Clayman? What are you doing in a place like this?”  [Youki]

“Ah, so it’s you. Well, just a little shopping.” [Clayman]

“Hmm? …What about your job at the guild then?” [Youki]

“I took a day off today without letting Sophia know. I mean, I have successfully completed the rock eater’s mission, so why not?” [Clayman]

What the heck was this guy doing? He had skipped work without Sophia-san’s knowledge, just so he could go shopping? Wouldn’t she get angry if she were to find out about it?

Well, I really wasn’t bothered about someone else’s family’s circ.u.mstances, though.

“I’ll have no part of it if Sophia-san gets angry.” [Youki]

“Well, if she gets angry then let her be. I still have no regrets.” [Clayman]

The line he spouted sounded cool, but it was pointless.

It seemed that he had other reason to it, so I tried probing him.

I soon found out that he was actually here to buy Sophia-san a present.

“In the end, I didn’t get her anything for our wedding anniversary.” [Clayman]

“You haven’t bought anything for her till now? …But, judging from the wide range of selections here, it should be a perfect place for you to select a gift.” [Youki]

“Right? That’s why I’m doing this now.” [Clayman]

“Really? Since I’m here for a change of pace, I’ll help you.” [Youki]

It seemed fun to browse through the marketplace with someone.

Clayman didn’t appear to be against it, too, so both of us ended up wandering around the place.

While I was browsing through some stalls and tents, my eyes unexpectedly landed on one item.

“Oh-! Isn’t this fine?” [Youki]

“Let me see… No, wait. Are you serious?” [Clayman]

What I recommended to him was a cat ear headband. It goes well with a maid’s uniform, so it’s perfect for Clayman…

“Buy it!” [Youki]

“Buy it? You do know that I’m selecting a gift for my wedding anniversary, right? She’s going to think that I’m playing a prank on her instead!” [Clayman]

“Ah, come to think of it, that’s true. My bad…” [Youki]

“Oioi… Aren’t you behaving quite different than usual? Will it be alright?” [Clayman]

I was feeling frustrated a while ago, but the sight of all these unusual items had put me in a good mood. I got distracted momentarily and forgot about it, but… I was still of the opinion that the cat ear headband was perfect.

In the end, I purchased the headband secretly and slipped it into Clayman’s bag without him realizing it. I did feel that I was not being myself today, though, since I wouldn’t usually do such a thing. I could feel a strange tension building inside me.

After that, as I proceeded to select a gift with Clayman, I came across something that tickled my chuuni heart.

“Ohh! That looks cool!” [Youki]

I was looking at a long coat with sparkle in my eyes.

It was just a simple black coat, but it seemed to be overflowing with a chuuni aura. It looked like something that would be worn by some kind of protagonist.

“Kid, you sure have a discerning eye. This item is made of really good materials, so I can guarantee its performance as an armour.” [Stall Owner]

“Alright, I’ll buy it.” [Youki]

“Thanks for the purchase! You made a great buy there, kid!” [Stall Owner]

“My thoughts exactly!” was what I thought as I parted from the stall owner, looking rather pleased with myself.

Going shopping once in awhile didn’t seem to be a bad idea.

It appeared that my chuuni switch was about to flip.

Rather, the switch had probably flipped already.

Following that, I went around to various stalls, making impulse purchases.

If you are reading this on any other place than rinkagetranslation.com, this chapter has been stolen and is neither the most recent or complete chapter.

On our way back from the market, Clayman noticed my ‘furos.h.i.+ki’, which was bulging with all the items I had bought.

“Don’t you think you’ve bought way too many things?” [Clayman]

“Isn’t it fine? I’ve not bought anything for myself so far. I heard they’ll be setting up this marketplace only a few times a year. I have to buy these things now so that I won’t regret it later.” [Youki]

“No, but… from what I’ve seen, all of your purchases seem to be strange items.” [Clayman]

“What are you talking about? I only bought things that interest me.” [Youki]

“There is something wrong with your interest… Well, it doesn’t really matter since I managed to get what I was looking for.” [Clayman]

In the end, Clayman bought seasonings from other countries and an ap.r.o.n. It appeared that he had come to this decision after taking Sophia-san’s interest in cooking into consideration.

Clayman seemed to have a good sense in selecting the right gifts.

“Even so, what should I do now?” [Youki]

It was exactly noon at that moment. Tiel-chan should be dropping by to visit Gai around this time, so I didn’t want to go back yet.

I had eaten quite a lot of food in the market just now, so I wasn’t hungry either.

“Why don’t you go work on some guild missions? While you’re at it, put on the things you bought earlier, too.” [Clayman]

“That’s it!” [Youki]

“Hah!?” [Clayman]