Chapter 1.1 (1/2)
Rear Fiat City is located in the eastern side of the continent. It is a medium sized Inn town owing much of its prosperity to the bustling Lukar Highway.
Thanks to the temperate climate all year round, the town became notable for producing a grand variety of fruits and flowers. In this locale, there is no branch for the Witch a.s.sociation, but the police department does an excellent job of keeping the peace; the number of unresolved cases in this town is zero. Even finding suitable accommodations within the city is easy.
In the corner of the city, there was a small jewelry store ran by two employees, named — “Jewelry Sputnik.”
—- The second floor of the jewelry store had a sleeping quarters, and in one of those rooms was where the employee, Clue, resided.
“Good morning.” [Clue]
After getting dressed and finis.h.i.+ng her breakfast, she went down to her workplace. Today’s attire is composed of a simple round collar blouse, a spring colored flare skirt, and a light, deep blue cardigan.
On Clue’s favorite cardigan, the second b.u.t.ton from the top is shaped like a flower. She used to brag about it to the shopkeeper; but, one day, he stared at her chest, gave a scornful laugh, and then sarcastically replied with, “Even I’m not desperate enough to thirst after a chopping board.” And ever since then, Clue stopped talking to the shopkeeper about things related to fas.h.i.+on.
During her usual routine of getting ready, she put on a triangular bandanna over her chestnut hair and tied the ap.r.o.n to the middle of her back. In her right earlobe, there was a red earring with the sole purpose of embellis.h.i.+ng her appearance, but it was somewhat plain. The previous shopkeeper had made it herself and decided to pa.s.s it on to Clue; it has a certain value to it.
Clue turned towards the front counter, where the shopkeeper would normally be, but he was nowhere to be found.
“… Huh, Sputnik-san?” [Clue]
Sputnik was not within the store interior. Furthermore, the jewel processing room was locked. He had likely not been inside that area.
As far as he was concerned, he had either slept in or was simply late.
His sleeping quarter was also located on the second floor, right beside Clue’s. If he wasn’t up ten minutes from now, she would check his room and alert him awake. She then decided to prepare for the store’s opening, as she waited for Sputnik.
First, Clue unlocked the entrance, and while there, flipped the sign latched onto the door to display ‘Under Preparation’.
After that, she opened the windows to air out the store. Then she took off the cloth covering the jewelry case. After inspecting the case and its contents, Clue rolled up the piece of cloth and stored it under the shelf.
And then…
At that moment, the supposedly locked entrance door swung open. The jingle of the doorbell sounded as it was struck. There was also a sign depicting ‘Under Preparation’, and in the first place, the shopkeeper had not even come downstairs yet――
Clue confusedly faced the door. And then, with the brightest smile possible, she recited the usual greeting.
“Welcome to Sputnik Jewelry store. I do apologize, honored customer. We are still closed for –”
However..
“It’s me.”
In short, the person she was speaking to wasn’t a customer.
He was slender and tall with smooth, symmetrical facial features. The bridge of his nose was partially sunken, the corner of his eyes exuded a certain sweetness, and the hue of his eyes further accentuated his s.e.xy features. If that person’s outward appearance could be summed up in a few words, the only phrase to describe it would be, “Lady-killer”. The person who leaned against the ridges of the door was the store’s jewel processing specialist, and its owner, Sputnik himself.
For some reason, his ashen colored eyes seemed to be out of focus. His cheeks were pale, his hair disheveled, and he looked somewhat worn out. Just where did he go before arriving back here?
It was a peculiar sight, but…
“Eh… We-welcome back, Sputnik-san. Where were you all this time.. Wait. You reek of alcohol!” [Clue]
With a grimace, he halted his steps.
He didn’t concern himself with what the girl thought of it and unsteadily walked by her. Clue, fl.u.s.tered by the sight, chased after him.
“Where in the world have you been this entire time ——” [Clue]
Noticing the atmosphere that surrounded him, however, she stopped talking. She became aware of another distinct fragrance mixed in with the stench of alcohol.
The smell of.. women’s perfume.
“Well, if you can smell the alcohol, you’d know that I was obviously at a bar.” [Sputnik]
“Were you alone? Until now?” [Clue]
“I’m a selfish man who can drink with whomever I want.” [Sputnik]
In response to the abrasive reply, Clue unwittingly puffed out her cheeks.
“It would be a problem if the store’s remaining money was embezzled for recreation..” [Clue]
“Don’t worry. It’s coming out of my own wallet.” [Sputnik]
In other words, he wasn’t going to further discuss his whereabouts. Clue’s mood worsened and her cheeks continued to balloon.
He might have noticed her att.i.tude. Sputnik stopped himself and suddenly swiveled around.
“Listen up, Clue. I’ll be sleeping until noon. If a customer comes by, deal with them according to regulations. And if a guy comes in looking for me, telling him the shop-keep’s out buying supplies.” [Sputnik]
It was the shopkeeper who was supposed to keep everything running smoothly. Clue wanted to say, “I won’t acknowledge it!”, but he quickly stopped paying attention to her and his gaze drifted off into the distance.
“Aah, yes.. I remembered the purchase. How was it today?” [Sputnik]
It was a question lacking uniformity. But even so, Clue understood what it meant. He was talking about her “const.i.tution”.
“…… Three” [Clue]
After answering him, Clue took out a white folded cloth from her ap.r.o.n pocket. Upon it being unfurled, the jewels she had gathered this morning could be seen inside.
“Is that so. That’s too bad.” [Sputnik]
As Sputnik received the jewels wrapped within the cloth, his eyes lit up and the ends up his lips rose in a smile. He was fixated on the brilliance of the raw, transparent red jewel. The stench of alcohol had cleared, and his vibrancy grew to levels reminiscent of a young, innocent boy, involuntarily shocking Clue.
Before long, he lowered his arms, and his fingers played with the smooth shapes of the gems.
“This is a great haul in terms of its quality” [Sputnik]
“Is that so?” [Clue]
“There are no scratches, the sizes are fair, and the purity is high. There’s worth to be had in processing these. You ‘created’ a good batch today.” [Sputnik]
And then long finger that characteristically stood out, stroked the girl’s head.
— Her strange 『Composition. 』enabled the “creation” of jewels within her body.
Ruby or sapphire, peridot or emerald, garnet or amethyst…… a huge variety of jewels. The several jewels manufactured within her body are, once per day, dispensed from the mouth.
She herself doesn’t know how it works. When she first recognized this phenomenon, she already had this ‘const.i.tution’.
Her body was once held captive by bandits as a source of income, left in the corner of a hideout wearing tattered clothes. She was not given enough food to sate her hunger, and whenever they ran out of funds, they would strike at her stomach to have her spit out jewels. It became routine, happening nearly every day.
The one who saved Clue was Sputnik, who was on a journey as a wandering jeweler back in those days.
One day, Sputnik was waylaid; however, the thieves pathetically had the tables completely turned on them and were demanded “reparation” for their actions —- “If you don’t bring me any, I could always ‘loot’ you b.a.s.t.a.r.ds’ organs. I bet they’d sell for a pretty penny.. “ In the end, he looted most of valuables contained within the hideout. But among them, he found “The Girl Who Spits Up Jewels”, Clue.
Then a few years later on, when Sputnik gathered as much money as he could on the road, he decided to open up a jewelry shop in Rear Fiat City――but let’s get back to the main subject.