NOVEL NEXT Chapter 9.2
Chapter 9.2. Field Officer
Sakimori, who had been sitting on the sofa and watching everything with the eyes of a black cat, quickly opened his eyes. Shizuku, who was sitting opposite him, was lying down and sleeping. She seems tired. It seemed as if she had been watching the battle, so it was okay. And her sleeping face is adorable. Beautiful girls are a bargain.
“…… I knew that the guys in the inner city had acquired an efficient way to improve their skills. …… Of course, they can strengthen humans, right?”
The movements of the swordsman known as Marume were a bit beyond the ordinary man. No particular surprise there. A normal nation would study him, and he would be stronger than me, but there is little frustration. That’s what happens when you have many scientists studying skills along with trained soldiers.
I’m only self-taught. And I’m training while I’m getting my bread and butter. I don’t work out all the time like a soldier.
So I’ll just bite my handkerchief. Muki. Muki.
“Sakimori. Please don’t act ugly. I’ll show you my muki.”
Before I knew it, she woke up, peeked out, and smiled back at the mischievous Shizuku who was chewing on a handkerchief and waving her palm.
“You’ve learned something. That’s a harvest in itself.”
He stops fooling around, propping himself up on his elbows and squinting. Shizuku agrees with Sakimori, who looks him sharply in the eye.
“The crystal sword he used. Leave that one aside, his Japanese sword was an ore he got from a monster. It was full of magical power, and was a good conductor of skills.”
Shizuku seems to have keen senses and can detect the flow of the enemy’s magical power. So the answer is reliable.
“I’m sure you’ve trained craft skill holders as well. I’m not surprised. What surprised me more than that …… is that they hardly used guns. They’re running out of bullets to the point of being in bad shape, you know?”
The skill set was strong. But there should be no need to have them fight up front. Even if they knew how to improve their skills efficiently, they should have trained for years. If they die, it’s a big loss. It’s normal to follow up with a gun or something.
Realistically speaking, it’s not a cartoon, and they wouldn’t have been foolish to let the soldier go alone, but they did it. The bullet situation in the inner city has become so severe that it’s necessary to do so.
Sakimori smirked evilly. This is our chance. We thought we could afford more, but we could revise our plans. For the better. For me, of course, in a good direction.
“Once we know that, we can be a little more daring with our Equivalent Exchange Store lineup. Even if we start selling some more unusual items, I saw that we can’t afford to keep securing them in the military.”
“You envy his armament. And we’re fighting without weapons.”
“That’s true. There are some. We have them in the store’s lineup. But I don’t want to do anything that might look suspicious.”
The Equivalent Exchange Store is the only one that people must never realize. If there is a telepathist, though, it’s the end of the line. It’s probably dead even if there is a telepathist. It is impossible to stay sane and continue reading the thoughts of this miserable world.
Store associations want to be cautious and work so that they don’t sink to the bottom of the ocean and show themselves. So I went through the adventurer’s clothing and the swords actually for sale.
“So, let’s add the next lineup~.”
I called the Equivalent Exchange Store and checked the list. What should I add?
“Let’s go with chocolate. I’ll have a palate of chocolate for now, please.”
Sniffling and sniffling, Shizuku gets on my lap and presses her face into my chest like a cat, but she won’t fool me. She’s too much of a girl for a beauty pageant. And I don’t have the extra core to do such a thing.
[Chain store conversion: wooden stick: 6,000 G]
I need to invest 1000 times the list price to add an item to the chain store lineup. Since 20% is collected from the item as a fee for using the store for these three days, I can easily unlock it. The 20% maintenance fee is pooled to keep the store in existence. It would be horrifying if I collected it steadily on my own. It took me four years to get water and coupepan.
[Wooden sticks: 10 G].
The set is complete. The price is reasonable.
“From now on, we should be able to make more and more money. I’ll add the wooden sticks for 10 G.”
20% royalty in the name of maintenance fee collected by the store, 20% store fee to me. I’ll put a combined 40% on top of the list price.
That’s the system where the body makes the most money. That’s common sense for chain stores. Well, no owner suffers from management because it’s a vending machine. I don’t know about this skill either, but then again, neither does the dungeon. I don’t know, but it’s good if you can use it.
“Can you sell a wooden stick if you put it up for sale?”
I cross my arms and nod naughtily at Shizuku, who raises her eyebrows with a doubtful expression.
“You’re right to wonder. But, people can’t even hunt F-rank. Little by little, we need to gradually raise people’s strength to the next level.”
In a game, I wouldn’t look at a wooden stick. I might buy a copper sword. But this is real life, and there are plenty of uses.
With a snap, I swap out the wooden stick from the store, and a meter-long wooden stick appears, fits in my hand, and I shake it.
“This place is real. Let’s show everyone how much use dry wood can be.”
For now, Sakimori thinks, let’s teach the children who live downstairs. Hmmm, as he watches Shizuku tilts her head curiously and cutely.