So-chan And Ma-chan

Noon in the Royal Capital.

I passed through Kou’s dungeon and came out into the shop’s kitchen.

Then I heard the priest Sophia serving a customer.

“That will be 30,000 Gort total… yes, I’ll take the exact amount. Here you go.”

“Thank you. I’ll come again.”

“Yes, please do.”

Footsteps sounded as the customer left.

When I stepped out into the shop, a female customer was just leaving, her long hair swaying.

I spoke to Sophia, who was sitting at the counter.

“So it sold.”

“Alec-san. Yes, Puchi Elixir and High Heal Potion sold.”

“So the potion sold too. Good thing we increased the number of products.”

“Though I feel 10,000 Gort is cheap…”

“Seriously? A normal Heal Potion is around 1,000 Gort, if I remember right. …About how much do you think would be good?”

Sophia shook her blue hair, cut neatly at neck length, and thought it over.

“Hmm… a High Heal Potion that practically fully heals injuries despite being called High Heal should be 20,000 Gort. Puchi Elixir should be 50,000 to 80,000 Gort. If you really want to be aggressive, I think even 100,000 Gort would be fine, you know? From what customers who used it said, it seems to have revival effects too, and it apparently cures not just status ailments but even petrification.”

“I didn’t know that… if that’s true, then it really is way too cheap. But if we suddenly raise the price, people are going to be unhappy… that person just now didn’t even seem to be an adventurer.”

“Then for a while, we can sell it as, ‘Stock is running low, so limit two bottles per customer.’ Then if we go back to unlimited quantities in exchange for raising the price, I think the complaints will decrease.”

“I see. You’re smart, Sophia.”

“Heheh, I was ranked number one, after all.”

Sophia shook her head with a slightly smug smile. Her blue hair flowed smoothly.

I nodded in reply.

“Then let’s go with that. Raise the prices to 20,000 and 50,000.”

“Yes. I’ll do that starting tomorrow. I’ll reduce the display stock to make it look like we’re running low.”

Sophia took several bottles of Puchi Elixir from the glass case and carried them to the kitchen.

While helping her, I asked about the sanctuary.

“Oh, right, Sophia. There are six kinds of sacred beasts now, so can’t we get this place recognized as a sanctuary?”

“What, already that many? —Yes, I think we can, so I’ll contact Ma-chan.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

I continued carrying Puchi Elixir bottles into the back room.

Sophia sat down at the counter and started writing in a notebook.

“What’s that?”

“Oh, this. It’s called an exchange diary notebook. If you write in this, the writing appears in the other person’s notebook.”

“Huh, that’s amazing. That would make exchanging information a lot easier.”

“It’s super convenient~. That’s why I use it to communicate with Ma-chan. But you can only use this if both people are high-ranking mages, and when you buy one, you have to show your address, signature, and identification, too~.”

“To prevent misuse, huh. Is it sold by the kingdom?”

“No. You can buy it at the Mao Mao Bookstore Chain, you know?”

“Huh… really.”

It did not seem widely used among civilians because it was hard to use, but militarily, just being able to send orders from headquarters to each unit seemed like something that could be used for large-scale military operations.

—Mao Mao was that bookstore that sold maps too, if I remember right.

Detailed world maps, and fast means of communication.

Were they trying to conquer the world or something? I was surprised the various countries were not raising the issue of military use.

After a while, the female mage Mackybell arrived.

She entered the shop, her wide-brimmed pointed hat swaying.

“Yo, So-chan, Alec! Long time no see~!”

“You look well.”

“Not really~. A lot of groundwork and stuff has been a pain. Ahh, I wanna go blast some monsters with magic!”

“Sounds rough. …Want a Puchi Elixir?”

“I do, I do~!”

When I handed her one, she immediately popped the cap open and drank it.

She squeezed her eyes shut and let out a big exhale. Her bright brown hair swayed dramatically.

“It hits the spot~! This is the stuff after all!”

“You’re starting to sound like an old man.”

“Oh, stop it, Alec. Saying that to such a cute girl. Right, So-chan?”

“If you say it yourself, the value drops straight to the bottom, Ma-chan.”

“Ahaha. If I don’t lower it when I can, my cuteness will go through the roof! —So, didn’t you call me here for something?”

With a slightly upturned-eyed smile, she put a hand on her hip and boldly thrust out her chest.

Sophia nodded and indicated me with her hand.

“Alec-san was saying maybe it’s about time to go ahead with sanctuary recognition. There are apparently six kinds of sacred beasts now.”

“Heh~. You’ve already gathered that many? Yeah, I’ve already laid the groundwork with the Church, the Knight Order, and the kingdom’s high officials, so should we go for it soon?”

“Hm? What are we doing? Aren’t we just showing the sacred beasts to the King and having him recognize it as a sanctuary?”

At my question, Mackybell answered with a fearless smile.

A row of cute teeth showed from her red lips.

“Heh-hehn. I call it the Saint Sanctuary Recognition Plan!”

“A Saint?”

“What we do is simple. So-chan takes the lead and brings the sacred beasts out of the forest. Then you enter through the Royal Capital’s east gate, walk down the main street in a big group, and meet the King and the Archbishop in the castle courtyard. Then from there, we get the Saint and the sanctuary recognized as part of the flow. The arrangements are already made.”

“Oh. That sounds like it’ll turn into quite the parade.”

It would probably leave a strong impression on people that there was a sanctuary inhabited by sacred beasts in the southeastern forest.

But Sophia protested, shaking her blue hair.

“What!? Me, a Saint? You never told me that, Ma-chan!”

“Well, of course not. I never told you.”

“Why, why a Saint!? It sounds like a pain!”

“Well, whose fault is it for whining so much that she didn’t want some remote monastery and didn’t want a country church either? If you become the Saint protecting the sanctuary, you get to stay in the Royal Capital, so isn’t that fine!?”

Mackybell pointed sharply at Sophia with her finger.

The priest slumped over the counter with a miserable face.

“Fwehh~! This is different from what I imagined~!”

“It’s fine, isn’t it? Apparently you only have to show your face at the Church once or twice a week, so it should be waaay easier than before.”

“Well… if it’s like that, then maybe it’s okay. But still~ at that point, I’d rather just keep working part-time here.”

“You can’t just parasitize Alec forever. He’s poor, after all.”

“This shop’s making 500,000 to 1,000,000 Gort a day right now, you know?”

“No way, seriously…!”

Mackybell covered her mouth with a hand and widened her eyes in surprise.

For some reason, Sophia spoke in a lightly triumphant tone.

“Seriously, seriously. Surprised?”

Without answering, Mackybell looked at me.

She turned her knees inward in a cute pose, placed her hands in front of her chest, and approached demurely.

Then, pressing her fairly large chest together with her arms and pushing it against me, she looked up at me through upturned eyes.

“My name is Mackybell.”

“I know.”

“I may not look it, but I’m a girl who’s really good at magic~.”

“I know.”

Putting on an act, she pressed the curves of her slender body even more closely against me.

“I~ happen to like older men, and for a long time now I’ve thought Alec-san was really wonderful… if you’re free tonight, would you like to go to dinner with me?”

She looked up at me with moist eyes, trying to charm me. The finger she held near her lips added to her cuteness.

But I did not budge in the slightest.

“No, that’s not happening. That’s a lie.”

I turned her down flatly.

Then, without even caring that her hat fell off, Mackybell ruffled up her brown hair wildly with both hands.

“Aah~, I messed up~! I kept thinking, ‘There’s no way with Alec~,’ so I showed way too much of my true nature~!”

“It’s the classic ‘it’s too late to regret it now,’ huh.”

“No, really. I let a big fish get away… men really are hard to understand.”

“Well, that’s thanks to Liricia supporting me.”

I declared it without hesitation.

Mackybell shrugged and let out a small sigh.

“I’m jealous~. Well, whatever. —So when should we do it? Is tomorrow okay?”

“Is it really okay to do it that fast?”

“All we have to do is make the Knight Order handle security and call in the King and Church people, so it should be easy enough, right?”

“I see. Then I’m counting on you for tomorrow.”

I quickly picked up her pointed hat and handed it to her.

Taking it, she answered with a cheerful smile.

“Yup!”

—Still, I thought.

Soon the rejuvenation medicine would be done, and the sanctuary would be recognized too.

With this, I would gain a secure place where I could stay together with Liricia forever.

It had felt long, yet short.

It was not over yet, but I felt like a bit of the weight on my shoulders had been lifted.

Then I remembered there was still something else I had to do.

I stared fixedly at Mackybell.

Noticing my gaze, she grinned back at me from beneath her hat.

“What? Feeling like cheating? Want to go get food right now?”

“N-No, you can’t do that!”

Sophia hurriedly stood up. Her priestly robes became badly disheveled.

I laughed and shook my head.

“No. Since you’re going to make the last round of contacts now, there’s something I want your help with.”

“What is it~? If it’s a favor from Alec, I’m always okay with it!”

“That helps. Then let’s go for now—Sophia, I’m leaving the shop to you.”

“Yes… but no cheating, Alec-san!”

“I won’t, I won’t.”

“See you later, So-chan.”

Smiling, I left the shop together with Mackybell.

After that, with her walking lightly beside me, her cloak swaying, we went around to several shops.

At an accessory shop, she spoke in an exasperated tone.

“So that’s why you’re asking me for advice? Isn’t that too cruel?”

“Sorry. I don’t know what to choose.”

“Just pick based on Liricia-chan’s colors and image.”

“But if she doesn’t like it…”

“What makes her happiest is what you agonized over and chose for her. So hurry up and choose already.”

She smacked me on the back over and over to fire me up.

So I seriously looked over the accessories.

—Liricia’s colors. Silver, white, …and then her eyes, violet.

In that case, maybe this one?

I chose an accessory decorated with diamonds and amethysts.

Once the shopping was done, we left the store.

I was wondering whether to thank Mackybell and part ways, or at least treat her to some cake, when things suddenly got noisy.

Priests and monks were hurrying along at a quick trot.

Apparently one of them was an acquaintance of Mackybell’s, because she ran over with a lively smile.

“What’s up?”

They talked in hushed voices a little distance away.

As she listened, her face gradually stiffened.

She came back with her beautiful face twisted in alarm.

“H-Hey, Alec! This might be bad!”

“Bad? Did something happen?”

“Just now, there was a sighting report that a Unicorn entered the southeastern forest, and the Church is moving to investigate tonight!”

“You’re kidding! Someone saw him!? —And tonight!?”

“Yeah, because there’s a high chance he’ll be sleeping, so he’ll be easier to catch.”

I felt my face go rigid.

My mansion—my love nest with Liricia—would be exposed!

The dungeon would probably be fine—no, those mansion and stable were made by Kou. Anyone observant enough would figure it out.

I grabbed both of Mackybell’s shoulders and pleaded.

“It has to be now! I need that sacred beast parade right now!”

When I begged her while peering into her face from up close, her cheeks reddened and her mouth moved in flustered confusion.

—Hm? Was she panicking too because it looked like the plan was about to fail?

She pulled away from me as if fleeing, then brushed back her disheveled brown hair with her hand and said,

“R-Really now! Fine, it can’t be helped~! I’ll notify everyone involved right now, so Alec, you go get ready and head over from the forest too!”

“Thanks, Ma-chan!”

“R-Really now! So-chan’s the only one allowed to call me that—never mind, just hurry!”

“Got it, see you later!”

I hurried off toward the shop, running down the stone-paved street.

Mackybell also gave a quick wave and ran off in the opposite direction.