Where's the milk?!

Well, shit.

At the moment, I was standing outside a store, tasked with the mission of buying milk. Using the fragmented memories, finding the shop wasn't a challenge. But I faced a couple of significant problems.

First of all, I had no idea what milk looked like in this foreign world. In my home world, it was always stored in jars, but here, nothing had a similar appearance. Secondly, I couldn't understand the written language. I could speak it just fine due to my inherited memories, but reading the words and translating them was another matter entirely—and it seemed to be the primary way people identified items.

"Urggg, this is so annoying. Talk about trying to blend in, I really must do something about these fragmented memories," I muttered under my breath, frustrated. Entering the store, my eyes fell on a man behind the counter.

He wasn't part of the fragmented memories, indicating he might not know the original owner of this body, but there was also a chance that he did.

As I drew nearer to the counter, I inspected his face for any sign of recognition but there was none. "Do you know where the milk is?" I asked. He simply heaved a heavy sigh and gestured towards the back of the store. "It's over there," he said curtly, offering no further assistance.

I made my way over to the back of the store, my eyes scanning the shelves for any sign of milk. My frustration grew when I noticed that there were boxes of different colors. Can this get any harder?

"Hey! You looking for something?" I heard a voice say, and I shivered. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. My shoulders tensed up a bit. Not because of the voice—no, it was killing intent. A massive amount of killing intent, It was like being in the middle of an ocean during a hurricane – being battered around by waves and raindrops and wind and pressure all at the same time.

I spun around, alerted, my eyes meeting those of the young boy who had spoken. He was a small, wiry boy of about six years. His eyes, a striking shade of blue, but his intense gaze made him seem much older. His hair was spiky blond, and it almost looked as if it defied gravity. But what drew my attention were the three distinctive whisker-like marks on each cheek that added a unique touch to his appearance.

A beast man? No, that's not the most pressing issue. That killing intent—It's gone?! "By the spirits..." The boy looked at me peculiarly, slightly uncomfortable. "What? Is there something on my face?"

Breaking free from my shock, I replied, "Oh! No, there isn't anything. And yes, I'm looking for milk." He gave me a weird look. "But it's right behind you," he said, pointing to a box of milk on the shelf behind me. "You're weird."

I studied him for a bit; was this kid really the one who released raw murderous intent? Feeling nothing from him, I turned around and grabbed the box, grateful for his help. "Thank you very much," I said while smiling in his direction.

He gave a smile in response, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "No problem, I also came here to grab milk—mine expired!" he said before picking up a box of milk and heading out. As he walked away, I couldn't shake the feeling that there was something off about him. Something that made me feel uneasy.

Shrugging off my unease, I made my way back to the counter to pay for the milk. Oh, and lastly, my last problem: "It will be 80 Ryō." I didn't know how the currency worked! Taking out all the coins I had in my pocket, I decided to give all of it to him. My sister must have given me enough to cover for the milk, right? He gave me a look. "That's 100 Ryo," he said, his voice flat.

This is embarrassing. I took away two coins and he rolled his eyes and sarcastically said, "Thanks for the purchase! Come again soon!" I walked out of the store and made my way home. I felt my cheeks getting hotter by the minute. Looking down at my hand, I had two coins left. "So each coin is worth 10 Ryō, huh? Noted."

On my way home, I noticed a bunch of kids congregated near the entrance of a building. It must have been one of those magic shows; I should go check it out and see if I could get a hint on what that man last time did. As I got closer and closer, I saw a banner hanging over the building. Suddenly, my head started to hurt, and strange images flashed through my mind.

"Fantastic...why didn't these memories come to me sooner!" I complained. It appears my memories are still there; however, they need to be activated. Glancing back at the banner that said '50% off, get your NinjaMan merch Now!', I can now read it. To fill in the blanks of my lost memories, I must search for places or items connected to Shin Ten. This is really going to be a pain.

Letting out a soft sigh, I gazed up at the sky for a few moments. The sun was just on the verge of setting, casting an orange-yellow glow over everything. At least that didn't change. I needed to hurry and get home before my sister started asking questions.

As I walked into the house, my sister immediately bombarded me with questions. "Where have you been? Why did it take you so long to get milk?"

I rolled my eyes and tried to calm her down. "Relax, I got the milk, and I was out there looking at the new NinjaMan merch!" I handed her the milk and watched as she put it in the fridge. It was quite the item—it served the same purpose as an inventory ring, but instead of freezing time on whatever it held, it merely kept whatever was inside from going bad.

I gave her the remaining two coins for change and said, "Here you go." She nodded in acknowledgement. Then she added, "Now hurry up and eat dinner. It's on the table. And make sure you get to bed early because tomorrow is your first day at the academy!"

"Aye!" I said, feeling a mix of excitement and nerves. I grabbed a seat at the table and started to eat my meal. Well, I am excited, but I am heading into unknown territory; they could have a soul-verifying technique. Finishing my meal, I cleaned my plate and went into my room.

Resting on my bed, I felt a twinge of unease. The blond boy whom I had encountered earlier still lingered in my mind. That murderous intent he had seemed unnatural for a young child to possess. This world is filled with oddities and I could not be certain if this was good or bad.

"Guess, I will have to see it for myself."