Chapter 298: Expensive Goods

Ten platinum coins was a lot of money, but since I hadn’t been wasting money up until now, it was still an amount I could afford.

If someone asked me what exactly we could do with two aura birds, I wouldn’t be able to answer, but having only one would probably be lonely for it.

“Well, aren’t you generous? I thought you looked poor, so I’m surprised you’re unexpectedly willing to spend.”

“So that’s how I looked to you…”

Well, I did look like an ordinary middle-aged man.

I guess it wasn’t unreasonable for people to assume I didn’t have money.

“Then that makes two aura birds purchased. Is there anything else you want?”

“May I take my time looking around? There are a lot of things I’m curious about.”

“Of course. You’re free to look around for the next thirty minutes before opening time.”

Since Chris gave us permission, I decided to slowly look around the shop.

First, since we had just looked at the aura birds, I started with the displayed living creatures.

Most of the creatures here were small animals or small monsters.

There were many cute ones, but the one that caught my attention most was, of course, the dragon.

It was small, only about twenty centimeters long, and rather than a dragon, it looked more like a seahorse with arms, legs, and wings attached.

When I brought my face closer, it breathed out a tiny flame.

Its firepower was about the same as a lighter, so rather than feeling scared, I actually felt soothed.

I found myself wanting to keep this dragon too, but the price was an astonishing 350 platinum coins.

“Sato, are you interested in dragons?”

“Yes. I have someone of the dragon race close to me, but I still admire dragons.”

“Huh. Then why not buy it? …Wait, that’s expensive!”

Velvet said that casually at first, then was shocked when she saw the price.

So even a princess thought 350 platinum coins was expensive.

“With a price like that, I can’t afford it.”

“Three hundred and fifty platinum coins is definitely too much. It’s cute, but it doesn’t look like it would be useful for anything.”

As Velvet poked at the cage, the little dragon tried to breathe fire at her.

However, it seemed to have used everything up when it breathed fire at me earlier, so only a faintly warm breath came out.

“Are you interested in the baby dragon? I don’t mind letting you pay in installments.”

“I think even installments would be difficult. By the way, how many installments would that be?”

“We accept up to forty-eight payments if you want to split it finely. So… you’d just need to pay seven platinum coins and three gold coins every month.”

“T-That’s impossible. I’d go bankrupt.”

“Is that so? What a shame.”

It was incredibly cute, but it was far beyond an amount I could afford.

With regret, I left the dragon Chris had called a baby dragon.

There were many other animals besides the dragon that interested me, but the one that caught my attention in particular was an animal that looked like a hedgehog.

Apparently, when an enemy approached, it didn’t just curl up into a ball of needles, it also covered itself in electricity.

I had started to feel that the solar-powered generator alone wasn’t enough, and the next time I used NP, I had been thinking of buying a monster that could handle electricity.

If this hedgehog-like animal could produce a certain amount of electricity, then depending on the price, it might be worth buying.

“Are you interested in that little mouse?”

“Yes. It seems this animal can charge itself with electricity, so depending on how much electricity it can hold, I’m thinking I might want to buy it.”

“The price is… ten platinum coins. It’s expensive, but… if we think of it as the same price as an aura bird, it isn’t completely impossible.”

Unlike the baby dragon, this was still within reach.

Depending on how much electricity it could release, I might actually decide to buy it.

“Chris, how much electricity can this animal release?”

“Enough electricity to drive away a large monster. Not enough to knock one unconscious, but it can release a fairly powerful shock.”

“I see. By the way, how long does it take to recharge?”

“I don’t know that much. It won’t release electricity unless it’s in danger, after all. But I’d say it can probably release electricity again after about a day.”

Hmm. There were several points that were just barely disappointing.

If it could release electricity when instructed and fully recharge in a day, I would definitely want to buy it.

However, if it would only release electricity when it was in danger, then I couldn’t pay ten platinum coins for it.

That would mean I’d have to make it feel like its life was in danger every time I wanted electricity.

I absolutely didn’t want to do that, and I couldn’t.

If I had plenty of money, I could buy it as a pet and think of the electricity as a lucky bonus, but… with my current finances, that would be difficult.

“I see. I don’t think I can go as far as buying it.”

“Hehe. You were the same with the baby dragon, but you really do look disappointed.”

“Because I really am disappointed.”

After that, we continued looking around the shop until the thirty-minute time limit was almost up, but the only thing I could actually decide to buy was the aura bird.

We had used up the entire thirty minutes just in the living creature area. I wanted to spend more time looking around, but time was up, so there was nothing I could do.

Everything was so expensive that the prices felt almost unreasonable, but every item was fascinating enough to be worth more than its price, so it was fun.

Until now, I hadn’t been very attached to money in this world, but I wanted to properly save up and come shopping here again soon.