Chapter 100 – Special 100th Short Story: The Things Sold at the 100-Yen Shop Are Actually Amazing
I love 100-yen shops. Being able to buy all sorts of convenient goods for just 100 yen is endlessly fun and satisfying.
But… you know how it is. You buy these convenient gadgets all excited, only to find they don’t quite live up to expectations when you actually try to use them.
They’re advertised as “Multi-functional!”, and you think, “That’s amazing!” and buy them…
But then every function ends up being kinda meh.
But considering the excitement I felt when I bought it, I don’t feel too bad about it…
That said, there are some items I regularly buy from the 100-yen shop.
And I’m curious to know how those would be judged in this fantasy world. Since Luna happened to be visiting, I decided to ask both Jude-san and Luna for their thoughts.
Luna, as adorable as always, was wearing a fluttery one-piece dress, and when I stroked her silver hair, it was so smooth and soft, I just wanted to keep petting it forever.
“So you just want us to judge whether or not these things are safe to put out in town?”
Quick on the uptake as always, Jude-san narrowed his green eyes and gave his approval.
“Yes, exactly!”
“I’ll do my best!”
“Thanks, Luna.”
Let me know if anything feels out of place, okay?
“You’re not satisfied with my judgment?”
“No, no! I’ve had Kirara take a look too, but she just says ‘It’s fine!’ to everything when it comes to food… especially sweets.”
“She totally does,”
Mimi agreed. Although, I feel like her judgment’s a little biased too. She always gives the green light to anything ice-cream-related.
“Okay, let’s start with snacks.”
Most of the things I want to test are consumables, so I’ll just produce about 10 yen’s worth at a time.
The first thing to appear on the plate was an ordinary cracker. Small and easy to pick up, simple round shape, lightly patterned—kind of like a smiling face. A plain, humble cracker.
Didn’t this used to come in 140g packs?
“This one’s probably fine.”
Jude-san grabbed one and gave his judgment.
“The taste isn’t particularly unique. I love the simple flavor.”
Luna, Kirara, and Mimi all nodded too, so we got a unanimous thumb-up.
Hard biscuits are the ones that come in at about 140g. They’ve shrunk a bit nowadays, but you can still get around 125g in a pack. Such a good deal.
I decided to try summoning a simple hard biscuit. Last time, I went with finger biscuits, but I wanted to see if hard biscuits would pass the test.
“Aww, so cute!”
Luna’s eyes lit up. The surface of the round biscuit had a detailed pattern, evenly spaced holes, and even some letters written on it. Let’s see how they judge that!
“Is this stamped with a mold? The pattern is too intricate…”
Jude-san went into deep thought.
“It’s tasty, so it’s fine!”
As expected, Kirara’s judgment is lenient.
“The shapes and colorings are all so uniform, it’s a bit startling when you see a whole bunch of them.”
Ah, I see. The reason they have the same pattern is because of the mold, but the fact that they are baked so evenly at this size makes them look unnatural.
Still, I feel like Martha could probably bake them that evenly.
In the end, the hard biscuits were given a tentative OK.
But—they were categorized as “luxury items.” Jude-san’s ruling: something this refined isn’t something you can casually eat every day. Makes sense.
“Um, candy should be okay, right?”
I usually buy simple candies from the 100-yen store—things like amber candy or cinnamon candy that come in big quantities and taste good.
Since cinnamon might be an acquired taste for some, I’ll go with the amber candy.
When I take it out, it comes out still wrapped in its clear plastic wrapper.
“This is…”
Ah, yeah. Clear plastic wrapping is a no-go. I unwrapped it and handed over the pretty amber-colored candy inside.
The shape was uniform, but since they come in large quantities, some are chipped or broken. Compared to the hard biscuits, they look a bit rough.
“It’s sweet.”
“Yummy\~”
“Approved!”
“Tastes good.”
Jude-san said he was a little concerned that the color was a little too bright, but he still gave it a passing grade.
Seems like black sugar candy would be a safer bet.
Still, the packaging is a real problem. If it wasn’t transparent, I might be able to play it off as an alchemy material, monster drop, or foreign material. But then the colored wrappers tend to be too flashy, which could raise different concerns.
Hmm, maybe I should show them some of the colored plastic stuff?
But plastic items usually have some transparent or translucent parts, and most of them are super brightly colored.
How about white plastic products?
“What about laundry pins?”
I summoned a laundry clip—which is mostly white plastic, with a bit of metal.
“It’s very white. And very light. It’s useful for gripping things, but…”
Yeah, plastic is kind of a cheat material. It doesn’t absorb water, yet it’s light and strong. It’s just too convenient a material. The extreme whiteness also seems surprising, I suppose. Even with color added, plastic is basically a no-no, isn’t it?
“The way it opens and closes its little mouth is cute!”
Luna giggled. You’re cuter, honestly.
“What do you clip with it?”
“It’s for laundry, so… laundry?”
Now that you mention it, I use them for random things besides laundry too.
“You use them to hang up clothes or seal snack bags.”
“Ouch, it pinches.”
Mimi, please stop clipping your fingers…
Oh, I have something I’ve actually bought repeatedly that’s made entirely of metal.
“Okay, how about binder clips, double clips, and paperclips?”
It seemed a bit confusing to them how to use paper clips, so I demonstrated how to use them. Paper clips are useful for organizing documents. They’re all made of metal, with no plastic.
Large clips or double clips can also be used as clothespins.
Well, I guess if it were one of those old-school all-aluminum or wooden clips, it’d be allowed too… but I don’t remember ever buying either.
“There’s nothing strange about the material. But this might be a problem for… other reasons.”
“Uh, what kind of reasons?”
“There’d be huge demand for these at guilds and any place with lots of documents.”
Ah… so that’s the concern. Still, clips are easy to imitate because you can see the mechanism, and it’s a good thing if useful things are becoming more widespread.
If the material isn’t an issue, maybe I can offer them to someone like Mathilda-san?
“You really don’t get it, do you?”
They told me I should file a patent. But like… for this?
“Got it. I’ll just use them secretly.”
They sighed. Not sure why though…
After that, things just fell apart.
It seems everything ends up being a patent issue. Maybe Grampa Jill, who’s good with fine handiwork, could act as a front for this stuff. It seems like once vested interests get involved, things get messy real fast.
Turns out the stuff sold at 100-yen shops is a treasure trove of patented technology. Amazing, right?
Thank you for reading as always.
Somehow, we’ve made it to chapter 100.
It’s only thanks to all of you reading that I’ve been able to keep writing.
Truly, thank you.
Also, thank you for always pointing out typos and mistakes.
It really helps.
Please continue to support me going forward!
TL note:
Amber candy: Bekkōame (べっこうあめ) is a type of Japanese hard candy. The name literally translates to “tortoise-shell candy,” as its transparent amber color resembles that of a tortoise shell.