DAY 20 MORNING - GENERAL STORE

ASTORE WITH NO NAME—it used to have one, but the sign was faded

and illegible. The guild receptionist told me that this place had the best

selection.

"Do you have any seasonings and food that won't spoil?" I asked the

shopkeeper. "And daily necessities?"

She was pretty in a way that must have made her very popular when

she was five years younger. I could imagine myself stopping by every day

to see a more youthful version of her.

"Are you a traveler?" she asked. "We have salt, pepper, and four

types of herbs. We also have sugar if you don't mind paying a premium."

Sauces were too modern, I supposed, and soy sauce was more of an

Asian thing. It'd still be good to have some herbs.

"Do you have any preserved foods other than dried meat?" I asked.

"We have wheat and barley flours, dried potatoes, and dried

persimmons. We also have dried mushrooms, but they're on the expensive

side as well. Our potatoes and bread keep the longest. We also have a wide

variety of vegetables."

I spent such a long time in the forest that I was surprised they had

normal food like potatoes. Mushrooms were expensive, but I had too many

to begin with.

I checked out what else was being sold.

"Black Hat: Stealth bonus. Defense +30. Presence Concealment."

Shouldn't this be at the Armory? I didn't expect the general store to carry

good adventuring gear like this.

"What's this?" I asked.

"Oh, I got that off a thief who tried to rob the store. I stripped him of

his possessions. It's the only thing that hasn't sold. You can have it for the

low price of 1000 ele!"

Oh yeah! That's a steal! Gotta get that, I thought. It looked like a knit

cap, but it still gave defense a hefty boost. Using Appraisal, I noticed that

this old—well, just lady—was pretty powerful.

Soap was expensive but necessary. I also bought a towel and

handcloth. I had my toothbrush from the real world, but I didn't know if I

could trust the tooth-cleaning powder here. I didn't see anything better,

though. The toothbrushes here were basically sticks, so I had to make sure

mine didn't break.

From looking around the store, I could tell that this civilization was

more advanced than the real middle ages. They even had spoons and other

utensils, although they were all carved from wood. From what I knew of

real medieval history, people didn't use anything besides their hands and a

knife to eat.

They had glassware, but it was cloudy, brown, lumpy, and very

expensive. I got a potion vial just in case. They had paper, but it was

expensive and so rough and heavy that it was practically papyrus. There

was also a huge range in the quality of the metalwork. I'd never before

considered that a general store could demonstrate all the technological

achievements of a civilization, even if we were still a long way off from the

twentieth century.

The Class Rep entered the store.

"Great timing," I called over to her. "I just ran out of my allowance!"

"I only gave that to you a few hours ago! How did you spend all of it

so fast? I gave you ele equivalent to nearly a hundred thousand yen! Do I

look like Doraemon to you? Do you think I can just pull something out of

my pouch to help you?"

She glared at me with the intensity of a thousand suns. Oh mighty

and terrible Lord Glare, I beg forgiveness for my sins!

If one ele was about one yen, why did she only give me 50,000 ele?

That was half of what she just said!

Regardless, I handed over my purchases to the shopkeeper.

"And here's the souvenir dried fruit," she said, wrapping up the

purchases. "Enjoy!"

Now I knew I wasn't legally bankrupt! I had souvenirs! The

Almighty Lord of the Glare directed her gaze at the dried fruit.

Everyone was only mad at me yesterday because I forgot to get

souvenirs! I need to be better at keeping other people in mind, I thought.

"You can't yell at me this time," I informed Class Rep. "This time I

remembered the souvenirs."

She did yell at me, but it wasn't as bad as last time. The dried fruit

did have some effect.

"You're hopeless," she fumed before handing me five more silver

coins, another 50,000 ele. We parted ways outside; she said she had to get

back to the inn so they could have another girls' meeting. Next time, I

resolved to get enough souvenirs that they wouldn't get annoyed.