Chapter 70: An Unexpected Encounter

「Deris-sama, we look forward to your next visit.」

「Yeah, see you again.」

「「「「「Thank you very much.」」」」」

After buying scrolls at the Quitet Magic Item Store, we walked out of the store with Owner and all the store staff seeing us off. I never thought that I could find a bargain at this timing. Most of the expedition rewards have been blown away just by shopping here. Still, this is a good buy. Also, we can take Gobuo with us as long as we dress him properly, and this store provides excellent service.

「The scrolls we bought this time were only one for me and one for Shishō. Are you fine with only these?」

「The more means you have, the more tactics you can use. However, it will be meaningless if you thoughtlessly learn this and that but can’t master them. Even now, you have a lot of magic that you have acquired. Until you can make use of them, using one special scroll is enough.」

It was expensive, so I want her to master the scroll’s magic 『All Break』 that we purchased. That also applies to me, of course. Especially when it comes to a higher rank scroll that’s a treasure trove of magic that’s difficult to handle, you can’t use it properly without diligent study.

「I see, hone my skills and destroy the enemies… Training is a wonderful thing, Shishō!」

「Yeah, that’s right, my disciple!」

「Gobu gobu!」

In a corner of a high-class shopping area, our motivation was running up to the max.

「Whisper…」

Well, we are getting attention from the people around us because of that. This is bad, I have to stay cool. Not only yesterday’s playing catch with Nell, recently I feel young again. I guess it can be said that life is so fulfilling, but I’m old enough. I have to remember to control myself.

「Okay, I’m calm.」

「「? 」」

Haru and Gobuo have a question mark on their heads. These two don’t care about the line of sight around them at all. They are not a zombie and the master for nothing.

「Ah, that’s right. I heard from Nell-san that a new sweets shop has just opened. Why don’t we go there now that we’ve finished shopping?」

「From Nell, huh? She sure likes sweets.」

「How about you, Shishō? You vigorously ate the cake the other day.」

「…… Sugar is good. It’s the best medicine for an overworked brain.」

「And your real feeling is?」

「I love sweets.」

「It’s settled then. This way!」

While my hand being pulled by Haru, we run through the main street of the city. Isn’t it fine that an adult man liking sweets? Isn’t it fine that I look forward to the sweets that Nell buys as souvenirs every time?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Haru led me to a store where I could relax. The inside of the store is brand new and has a calm atmosphere. However, there are many customers, probably because the store has just opened. Mostly female customers. Or rather, the customers here are all women except me. If you only look at the atmosphere of the store, it’s relaxing, but I will hesitate to go in unless I’m with Haru. By the way, Gobuo is counted as a pet, so he is not counted as a man. Just like a pet, he’s now sleeping inconspicuously under the table, curled up like a dog.

「This one, this one, and this one… wow, this one looks delicious too! I’ll have one of each from here to here, please!」

「You have to work out later for what you’ve eaten…」

I didn’t expect to see someone ordering from the menu thoroughly in front of me. Even while having a cramp in the face, the clerk who received the order brings the cakes, clears the empty plates, brings the cakes, clears the empty plates, and repeats the round trip many times.

「Shishō, is that enough? You like sweets, don’t you?」

「It’s not a staple food and it’s not meant to be eaten in large quantities, you know?」

While I was eating little by little from a plate, a lot of portion, which you can build a tower if you sum them, have disappeared into Haru’s stomach. I think it tastes good, but I’m too busy worrying about how Haru is eating. Look, she’s attracting people’s unnecessary attention again―― hm, that is…?

「…… Amazing. That girl over there is eating as much as Haru.」

「Yesh?」

Aside from Haru, who’s chewing the cake in her mouth, there’s a girl, at a seat facing the wall a little away from us, piling up empty plates at a great speed. Her speed is just like Haru’s. I can’t see her face because she has her back to us, but judging from her build, she’s definitely not a man. On the contrary, if she is a man, I want to pay my respect for coming here alone and showing such a big appetite.

「Nom nom nom…… gulp

. H-Hmm? The way she eats, I feel like I have seen it before…」

「That’s not something you can see many times everywhere. I’ll certainly never forget it.」

「…… Nom nom.」

Haru overuses her head, desperately trying to remember while consuming the sugar. She puts the cake into her mouth, stares at the girl, and tilts her head to the right. She puts the cake into her mouth, stares at the girl, and tilts her head to the left―― there’s no end. If it weren’t for the sweets in front of her, the black smoke would have come out of her head, right?

「If you’re curious, why don’t you go see her directly? You like confronting problems head-on, don’t you?」

「Ah, there’s that way! I’m going to talk to her directly, fair and square!」

「In case you are wrong, don’t be rude, okay~?」

I lightly waved my hand and saw off Haru, who rushed through the store in high spirits. In the store, there’s a secret food battle and one of the players started to move. The eyes of the other guests who were watching over naturally moved their gaze following her. Well, if it’s a person that Haru is familiar with, then we can narrow down the candidates. In all probability――

「Haa, the taste is dropped after all… How should I put it, the taste is too light? Still, I can eat them even among the places that I have visited. For the time being, I’ll remember the location of this store… Okay, I remembered. I probably won’t forget it. Well, I guess it’s better than nothing, huh.」

「Stares…」

「………」

「…… Ahh! It’s Touko-chan!?」

「Wha!? C-Cough cough! H-Haruna!? Why are you here!? Ouch!」

――――It’s Haru’s classmate. She, who has healthy tan skin and gray hair that’s unusual for a Japanese, was quite surprised by Haru’s appearance. She stood up vigorously and fell back down, landing on her buttocks on the floor.

「… Gobu.」

Perhaps he felt something, Gobuo gave her a look that was akin to pity.