CSA 56 - I Was Ripped Off (Patreon)

“I'm really sorry, Lotorl!”
“I don’t mind at all since it's Alrina.”

I pretended to clean up Alrina's vomit with Cleaning Magic while putting most of it in Storage. They’re treasures. I think I’ll secretly use it later. As for what I’ll use it for, I'll leave it up to your imagination.

“Then let's go to an inn.”
“Un.”

It's getting completely dark now, so we look for an inn.

“What a beautiful city.”
“I think so too.”

This cityscape gives a completely different impression from the cities I've seen so far, things like signboards are being illuminated using magic.
It's a little different from a neon city, but it does give off a cyberpunk feel to it.
Because it looks cool, I think I'll just honestly copy these when I open a store or something like that.

Unlike Stra and Furia continents, the civilization level of the Yggdrasia continent may be slightly more advanced.
Isn't finding these differences the true charm of an isekai tour?

We found a random inn, rented a room, and ordered dinner at the dining hall, when a dish of insects was served and Alrina screamed.

“Insects!? It's insects!? Lotorl!?”
“They look delicious. Itadakimasu.”
“Eeh...”

If it’s Lotorl who had no memories of her previous life, she might have screamed and fainted, but in my previous life, I’ve eaten things like locusts tsukudani and hornet larva, and when I was a child, I ate things like honey ants that were walking on the roadside while they’re still alive. So I was able to eat them deliciously without any problems.

In consideration of those who are not good with insects, I will not depict those insect dishes. Please be understanding.

Leaving jokes aside, if this were a manga or anime world, the food on the table would probably be covered in mosaics. I wish they’d remove the mosaic and give a realistic depiction when they made it into a disc. No one would buy it? So I want the story to be shown as is, so what?

“Uiii... the larva... it's still moving...”
“It's sweet, creamy and delicious.”
“This one is a cicada...”
“It's almost a shrimp.”
“Even a spider...”
“It has a hybrid flavor of crab, shrimp, and chicken. Delicious, delicious.”
“Uuu... I feel like throwing up again...”
“I'll accept it anytime, so come at me with all your strength.”

It seems like it's still too early for Alrina to eat insects, so I took out a plate and an apple from Storage, grated it with Cooking Magic, and handed it to Alrina.

“Shouldn’t they just go with things like these... why bother with insects...?”
“Which do you prefer to eat, curry-flavored poo or poo-flavored curry?”
“Eh... I don’t want either...”
“In short, it’s like that. There's no need to force yourself to eat these.”
“U-un... no, what do you mean?”
“You don’t understand? I was just saying something like that, it doesn't really mean anything. But, between poo and curry, it's better to eat curry to not get stomach ache, right? Even if it tastes like poo.”
“That’s rude.”

* (T/N: I don’t get that either.)

After finishing our meal, we returned to our room and were about to go to bed, when Alrina asked me in a roundabout way if there was no bath, so I casted a Cleaning and Purification Magic on her.
There’s no way I’d build a bath in a place like this. It would be troublesome if it became a commotion.
I put the disgruntled Alrina to sleep with a tickle attack, and went to sleep that day thinking about tomorrow's plans.

The next morning.

“I’m going to go to the Merchant Guild for a bit to earn some money.”
“Eh, un...?”

Not having enough money in hand makes me nervous, so I head to the Merchant Guild to sell some potions.
Alrina is house-sitting. It's not hard to imagine what would happen if she saw a lot of money.
It's fine when it's just the two of us, but I'm worried that Alrina's honor will be damaged if other people see it.

The innkeeper told me the location of the Merchant Guild, and when I headed there, I arrived at a castle-like building full of heart symbols and a suspicious-looking exterior that looked like a love hotel.
I checked many times to see if this really was the place, but the signboard said it was, so it seemed like there was no mistake.
Honestly, I wish I was wrong...

When I timidly opened the door, I saw a group of lascivious women busily at work, their bosoms exposed to the world in all their glory, so I quietly closed the door.

“Arere─? How strange─? The signboard says it's the Merchant Guild, but it's an adult store inside.”

It was a good decision not to bring Alrina. It's still too early for that girl.

“Araa? What's wrong? It's too early for a girl like you here, you know?”

I heard a gentle voice calling out to me from behind, so I turned around and I saw an onee-san with a nice bon-kyu-bon body, leaning forward as if to emphasize her boldly open bosoms, so I unconsciously hugged her.

* (T/N: bon-kyu-bon, probably meant hourglass figure, calling it hourglass figure is too proper, any other fitting word?)

“Aahn. What's wrong? Are you lost?”
“Ha!? I'm sorry! I was unconsciously sucked in!”
“Ara ara, it can't be helped. Mugyu─.”
“Ahee!?”
“We can stay like this until you feel better. You must have been lonely all by yourself. Good girl, good girl.”
“Ohoooo!”

Apparently, I was mistaken for a lost child, but I judged that there was no need to purposely correct her.
Since I’m happy now, that's fine, isn’t it? It's human after all.

Now that I've had my fill of the nice body, let's get back to the main topic. Fuhehe.

“I came to the Merchant Guild for some business, but, um, I didn’t think it was that kind of shop. So I was wondering what to do...”
“Are you an aspiring merchant?”
“Rather than an aspiring merchant, I'm registered with the guild, so I'm here to sell potions.”
“Selling potions... with that age, could it be that you are from a foreign country?”
“That’s right, that's right. I'm traveling from Mebon country of Stra continent.”
“From Stra continent... that’s quite a long way you’ve come from. Very well. If you want to sell potions, please come here.”

I was led by hand into a small building at the back of the guild, and the nice body onee-san went behind the counter.

“Welcome to the Merchant Guild! My name is Sara, and I'm the guild master. Today we'll be purchasing potions, so let me take a look at your goods right away.”
“Eh, ah, my name is Lotorl. Here are the goods I want you to buy.”

I was taken aback by her sudden change from calm and gentle atmosphere to a businessman's tone and face. This person, she’s capable...!

When I took out a bottle of high potion from my stomach pocket Storage, I felt a shiver of fear run through me, and when I fearfully looked at Onee-san, she was looking at me with a smile on her face.

“I-I won't taste good even if you eat me, you know...?”
“...What do you mean?”
“It means I can always escape.”
“...I see. Then we won't do anything from our side.”
“I appreciate it.”

I did say I'd run away, but if I really ran away, I'd feel like she would chase me everywhere, that’s really scary. My legs started shaking. Calm down, me.

When I mustered up the courage and put the high potion on the counter, Onee-san silently placed a cash bag that seemed to contain 1 million El on the counter.

“Eh?”
“Is this not enough?”
“No, in my country it was about 100,000 El...”
“I see... It seems like you were pretty ripped off... Or maybe it was a really poor country?”
“I think it's the latter since it's a small country...”
“Hey, won’t you be my exclusive?”

The instant Onee-san said that, I felt as if my heart was held tight in an eagle grip, and goosebumps appeared all over my body. It's so scary... I want to run away already...

“...I’m on a journey towards Khizr country, it’s impossible.”
“Ara, a shame... then just give me as much as you have.”
“...Yes.”

I know being stupidly honest and taking out everything is dangerous here. So let's keep it to about two.

Just as I was about to take out two bottles of high potion from Storage and place them on the counter, my arm was grabbed.

“Ueehii-!?”
“Give me as much as you have, okay?”
“Yyees...”

I can't take this anymoreeeeeeeeeeee!!

Like a frog being glared at by a snake, I did as Onee-san told me to and put out all the high potions that were in my Storage on the counter, and Onee-san started counting out their number with a big smile on her face.

“...21, 22, 23. I'm buying them all, so 20 million El is fine, right?”
“...Yes.”
“Thank you. We got a good deal.”

She nonchalantly took back the cash bag containing 1 million El that had been placed on the counter, and in its place put a large, heavy-looking bulging cash bag that seemed to contain 20 million El on the counter.
It's hard to tell if she’s being generous or being greedy. (I lost 4 million El, so she’s being really greedy, by previous life.)

My mind wouldn’t hold up if I stayed here any longer, so I put the cash bag in Storage and ran outside as quickly as I could.

“See you later, Lotorl-chan.”

Ignoring the voice that seemed to viscously stick to me, I ran back to the inn where Alrina was waiting.

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