Chapter 85: A Spectacular Outing (1)
It was a capital street.
This was my first time on the streets, as I had been busy preparing for the academy enrollment since I arrived. The lively atmosphere was still there, and there were a lot of people walking around the streets.
We first went to the exploration equipment shop. Naturally, Ernest took the lead. He was so excited that he quickened his pace.
“Let’s go quickly!” Ernest exclaimed.
“The shop won’t run away.”
“If we look around, we probably won’t even realize how much time has passed.”
That might be the case, but I didn’t want to ruin this good feeling by saying it out loud.
But Ernest was right. The exploration equipment store was a completely different world.
“Welcome! Oh, my! Academy students?” The elderly shop owner greeted us, who had come dressed in our academy uniform, warmly. “Oh, aren’t you Ernest?”
“Sir, how have you been?”
“Yes, wasn’t it just recently that you bought a bunch of stuff before school? Hahaha!”
It seemed that Ernest had already become acquainted with the owner of this place before entering the school.
“These are my friends, Dane Sogres and Leila Thermion.”
The owner’s eyes widened. “S-Sogres? Thermion?”
Oh. Was it because I spent time at the academy? For a moment, it seemed like we had forgotten about our houses.
“…You’ve made some amazing friends, haven’t you? You’re the top student this time, right? Even here in the capital, it’s a hot topic!”
Oh my, what were those rumors?
“The winner of the Dantère Cup! Miss Leila is also very famous. Hahaha!”
“Well, it’s nothing.” She liked it but pretended not to.
“Take your time looking around, and if you see anything you like, just let me know!”
Anyway, the owner was quite friendly, and thanks to him we were able to start shopping happily.
“This is an anchor. It’s firmly planted in the ground or a tree stump and is used to climb cliffs and holes! In times of emergency, it can also be used as a weapon! This thing is really heavy.”
With Ernest’s excited explanations, it was really hard to tell the time passing by. Among these, I also discovered something that looked interesting.
“What is this?” I asked.
“That’s a magic compass! It’s used to detect the magnetism or mana of certain minerals. Would you like to try putting some mana into it?”
I did as I was told and the compass started spinning like crazy.
“Wh-why is it like this?”
It seemed that the compass needle should point at me even if I moved by detecting my mana. However, my magic was a bit special.
“…We have to buy this because we broke it. I-I’m sorry. Dane.”
“No. It’s okay.”
Well, we had a pretty good time picking out the items even though there were some minor incidents like that,
“Y-you’re going to buy all of this?”
“Yes. We can put it in my subspace.”
“Th-that’s not it…”
There was a mountain of stuff piled on the counter. I didn’t realize it when I was choosing it, but when stacked up, I realized there were a lot. An expedition backpack, anchors, crampons, sticks, exploration sensors, a broken and working compass, rope, and most importantly, anti-tracking powder. How much would it all add up to?
“…You all come from pretty well-off families, huh?” The owner then told me the price. “The total… is 8 Gold Crowns and 3 Silver Crowns, but you can just pay 8 Gold Crowns.”
“Thank you.”
He said he’d give me a discount, so I had to take it quickly. I took eight gold coins out of my pocket, paid the price, opened my subspace, and swept all of the items I had chosen into the newly allocated space.
Of course, I didn’t feel the weight, but for some reason, it felt heavy.
“Take care!”
The owner saw us off very enthusiastically, with a bright smile on his face. He didn’t forget to tell us to come again.
“I think we made all of his sales for the day.”
“It might be for the week, not just the day.”
“That’s right! Thanks, Dane.”
I nodded at Ernest’s expression of gratitude.
“It’s no big deal.”
It really wasn’t. Thanks to him, I got two condensed pieces of ancient magic. I didn’t intend to go into detail about it, but if I had to, it would be thanks to Ernest that I was able to get a clue about the condensed ancient magic.
By the way, money was really scary. I’d just spent the most money in my entire life, past or present, and I never thought I’d be this indifferent.
In my previous life, I was on the battlefield and didn’t have much to spend money on, and in this life, the most I could afford was ice candy and tarts.
Of course, 14 Gold Crowns was a level that could be easily handled with my pocket money. The time to spend ‘real’ money started now.
“It’s here.”
The place Leila took us to was a magnificent building with a dazzling sign that read ‘Ellebore’ in fancy handwriting.
“This is the luxury furniture store that the capital’s aristocrats love the most. It’s incredibly expensive.”
You could tell just by looking at it. It was a place that only rich or noble people could enter.
Was it because I spent all my previous life on the battlefield, sleeping carelessly on a camp bed and sitting on a rock? Maybe it was because my previous life was longer than this one, but I felt a strange sense of rejection.
I felt strangely uneasy.
“D-Dane. Can I go in there?”
“You too?”
Ernest also seemed uneasy as he tapped his chest. Only Leila hurried us towards the entrance, seemingly unconcerned.
“What are you doing? Aren’t you going in?” she asked.
“Oh, coming. Let’s go, Ernest,” I said.
“Y-yeah.”
Of course, my uneasiness was instantly resolved.
“It’s like the ones in the castle?”
I didn’t know from the outside, but I understood when I came inside and saw the design. Wasn’t that the bed I always slept in at home?
“Right? There’s no way that Count Sogres would just pick up any furniture and use it. ‘Ellebore’ is a luxury furniture shop that applies semi-permanent magic using the highest quality Mana Stones on their furniture! They have a heating function, cooling function, automatic deodorization, and ventilation…”
It was like she was a furniture salesman. I let Leila babble and looked around the furniture.
At that moment, a man dressed in a nice suit approached us. He looked like a staff member. He wouldn’t think we were here just to window shop just because we were wearing school uniforms, right?
However, he bowed his head to us.
“Welcome to our luxury furniture store, ‘Ellebore’. Feel free to look around, and if there is a piece of furniture you would like, please snap your fingers twice. A staff member will immediately assist you.”
Great response. The fact that Leila, who was the most familiar with this stuff, was smiling contentedly was proof of that.
“We came to look at some furniture.”
“Please tell us what type you are looking for and we will do our best to assist you.”
“Can you show us the sofas first? It should be 3 meters long. Function doesn’t matter, but if possible, let’s go with an ivory tone.”
“Please come this way. We have a new product that just came out this season.”
As expected of the daughter of Duke Thermion, Leila stated her demands without hesitation.
Ernest and I whispered to each other.
“Should we just follow along?”
“Leila is so cool.”
She wasn’t the youngest daughter of the empire’s greatest noble family for nothing.
“This is a product with a minimalist design and bright, warm tones that go really well together. The Ellebore logo is subtly engraved, and it is made of carefully selected northern buffalo leather, making it extremely durable. It also uses the highest quality crystal from the Antallion Magic Tower, and the semi-permanent magic of Nixion Magic Tower, giving it a total of 11 functions, including heating, cooling, and self-cleaning. Of course, customization is also possible…”
There were more explanations to come, but to summarize:
“It must be very expensive, right?”
“Probably.”
Of course, there was no need to worry about money.
“If we’re going to buy something, we should get the best one. It’s good. We’ll get this.”
“Excellent choice.”
Leila was a person who believed that only the best things should be used. These two combinations led us on a shopping spree.
“Here, this is our catalog.”
Leila took the catalog that the employee politely handed her, glanced at it once, and then handed it to us.
“If there’s anything you like, just pick it out.”
She spoke as if she would buy everything, I nodded, thinking that this was the majesty of the young lady of House Thermion.
Hold on.
Wasn’t I the one spending money?
“Wow, Dane. Look at this. The lighting is really cool… Oh my gosh, it’s so expensive…”
Ernest, who was interested in nothing but exploration, trembled as he held the catalog. Soon, there was a look in his eyes that seemed to be wondering why anyone would pay such a high price for things that were just used to lay down and as decoration.
“Let’s see.”
I also looked through the catalog. In fact, taste didn’t matter for items in this price range. There was something that stood out.
It was a thin and simple bed, unlike the other beds in this catalog. It looked exactly like a camp bed.
“There’s something like that?”
Leila, who was watching from the side, looked at it with curiosity. It was definitely different from the dazzling, grand, wide, and heavy beds you could swim in.
“It’s a new product that reflects the trendy ‘hobby’ that has recently become popular among the capital’s aristocracy.”
Then an employee added from the side.
“Hobby?”
“Yes. The so-called ‘winter experience’ hobby is spreading among some nobles. They create a virtual cold space using magic and go camping inside it.”
“…”
The world really was a mess. Thanks to this, I lost interest. If I happened to come across a military base while passing by, I should buy one there. It could be folded so it didn’t take up space, and all it needed was a blanket and a suitable pillow.
“The rest is up to you, Ernest.”
“Uh, yes.”
Ernest was choosing quite diligently despite his trembling. After choosing various pieces of furniture, including the sofa we had chosen earlier, lighting, rugs, bookshelves, and shelves, we were finally able to take a break.
“This is coffee brewed from the finest beans from the Bryonia province. We hope you enjoy your time while you wait.”
“Ah, thank you.”
As expected from a luxury furniture store, the service was also top-notch. Three cups of coffee were brought out to us as we sat on a soft sofa that felt like a bed.
It tasted great. Unlike the cheap coffee that you could only taste if you were lucky on the battlefield, the flavor filled your mouth.
“What should we do now?”
“They’ll take care of everything. We just have to wait. In places like this, you just have to come and choose.” Leila answered as if she was used to it and enjoyed her coffee leisurely.
Then we heard some voices from the back entrance.
“Oh, my lady. We finally all came to Ellebore together.”
“Ah, this air. It’s so nice. I love the smell of wood, don’t you agree?”
“Haha. Oh my. As expected, Baroness Angre really knows a thing or two.”
It seemed like the ladies of noble families had come. The three of us just focused on our coffee without really paying any attention to them.
“These coffee beans are quite good.”
“Right? I’ll get it from the mansion later. There’s a lot at the mansion.”
Leila smiled brightly at my compliments about the coffee. When I saw her like this, I could tell she was a total kid.
After some time…
“Lady Leila, shall we proceed with furniture delivery to the Duke’s residence as before?”
“No. This time, please send it to the academy’s Rocktale Hall.”
“Yes, I understand. Delivery will take about a week. As before, we will contact you in advance through the crystal ball before delivery. As a ‘Black Label’ customer, we will do our best to serve you.”
“As always, thank you, Giel.”
“No need to mention it. It is always an honor to serve you, my lady.”
Leila nodded at the staff’s words. It seemed that she went there often. It seemed like she knew the staff well, too.
“What’s a black label, Leila?” Ernest asked.
Leila answered, “The second-largest spender here after the royal family.”
“Ah.”
“Didn’t I tell you? I furnished all of my rooms in the mansion with furniture from here.”
Ernest looked at Leila with eyes full of awe.
What should I say?
If you had a moderate amount of money, you might think she was showing off, but once you reached a certain level, you didn’t feel that way at all.
It was completely overwhelming. My family was rich, too, but the nobles of the capital were different.
Anyway, thanks to that, I thought our club room might become the most luxurious club room in the history of the academy.
“Then, a sofa, a rug, a mirror, lights, a shelf, a bookshelf… will they all fit?”
“Of course. Oh, just in case, you don’t put things like that in a subspace.”
“Why?”
“Well, it’s cooler if they come and install it for you. Think about it. Several employees wearing clothes with the ‘Ellebore’ logo will come to install it.”
This could be said to be for vanity and show. Still, it wasn’t like I didn’t understand. After all, I, too, had to put in a lot of effort in this life to understand the lives of the nobles.
Even though my family was a family of war heroes and a county, we lived a relatively ‘simple’ life—but we were still quite luxurious.
“Oh, I wish the sofa would come soon. Whenever I’m bored, I can go there, turn on the heater, and take a quick nap.”
I chuckled at Leila’s words. The sofa she just mentioned was the one that the employee was describing earlier, right?
“What? I had my eye on this sofa beforehand, so why is there no stock?”
“I’m sorry, madam. I’m afraid I won’t be able to sell it to you because another customer has already purchased it.”
Hmm. It looked like they were talking about our sofa over there.
“That’s ridiculous! I spent so much money here and I can’t buy what I want?! Who bought it? No, there’s no need for that. How much is it? I’ll pay double. Go get it.”
“I’m sorry, but it’s against our policy to do so. Please understand. Instead, may I introduce you to some other sofas?”
“No. I said I have to have this! Can’t you hear me? Go get it!”
The scream made my eardrums hurt.
“Countess Somers, please don’t do this.”
Giel could be heard trying to be as calm as possible, but the woman he called Countess Somers did not back down.
“Who are you trying to send away? How dare you be so arrogant! Even though I treated you well for being an Ellebore employee, how dare you—”
Just as the noise from the commotion was slowly making the others in the store uncomfortable…
“I bought that sofa.” Leila, who had been next to me just a moment ago, got up and started walking toward them. “As far as I know, Ellebore doesn’t have reservations… Did I misunderstand?”
