Chapter 44: Information Gathering

“There really are souvenir shops, just like Linda said.”

“And markets too.”

This seaside area seemed to be a tourist spot. The markets were apparently famous and had become tourist attractions, though that information was from before the demons took over.

“Well, shall we go check it out? So what should we do? Go together? Or split up for efficiency?”

Takamiya-san asked.

“It’s not that wide an area, so I think staying together is fine. Besides, going off alone is strictly forbidden.”

Not just because it’s a demon town—even in a human town, it’s better to avoid going alone. Public safety isn’t great, and more than anything, there’s the matter of our classmates.

“Hmm, hmm… Then let’s all four go together.”

We stood up, left the hotel, and headed toward the sea behind it.

“The ocean, huh…”

“There are quite a few demons fishing.”

There were goblins too. Come to think of it, this was my first time seeing goblins other than Elvis in person.

“There are harpies by the bridge.”

Just as Ayaka said, there were quite a number of harpies under the bridge.

“Maybe they’re nesting there?”

“I wouldn’t want to sleep in a place like that.”

It’s ridiculously high up—yeah, no thanks.

As we walked along looking at the sea, a souvenir shop came into view.

“I wonder what they sell?”

“I don’t think it’ll be that different…”

We entered the souvenir shop. Perhaps because it was still morning, there were no other customers, but a sahagin was working as the shopkeeper.

“Welcome~. Take a look around~”

The sahagin greeted us with a friendly smile, so we browsed the merchandise.

“Lots of seafood.”

“Well, it’s by the sea… Pufferfish…”

They were selling fugu sashimi and frozen fillets.

“Is it safe?”

“Who knows?”

Ayaka and I exchanged glances, then split up to look at things that interested each of us.

I was looking at a wooden sword that was for sale when Takamiya-san came up beside me.

“Gonna buy it?”

“No, I’m definitely not buying it.”

I was just looking.

“You ended up in the same room as Ayaka.”

Yeah, about that.

“I wonder why? Well, we were roommates in Beppu and Kumamoto too.”

I had been a bit flustered at the hot spring inn, but I wasn’t that bothered by it anymore.

“If you think about it positively, doesn’t that mean you’re good to go?”

You think so?

“I don’t think so.”

“Yeah, figured. Well, why don’t you just ask her?”

“Won’t she think I’m being self-conscious?”

Wouldn’t that be creepy?

“Not really, it’s normal.”

Hmm…

“Hey, our leader, come here for a sec~”

Kitaura-san, who was looking at frozen foods with Ayaka, beckoned me over.

“Accounting, what’s it~?”

Takamiya-san and I went over to the two of them.

“Accounting?”

Kitaura-san tilted her head.

“If we start a company, Kitaura-san would be accounting. She’s good with calculations.”

“Do I need to qualify as a certified public accountant…? No, that can wait. Yuu, how’s preservation magic?”

Preservation magic slows the passage of time for items stored in spatial magic. However, since living animals can’t be put into spatial magic, you can’t use it for cryogenic sleep or anything like that.

“I’m good at it.”

It’s essential for an alchemist since you need to preserve materials and such.

“So could we buy these and eat them somewhere?”

Kitaura-san looked at the frozen pufferfish fillets in the open case with cold air leaking out.

“I think we could, but…”

Pufferfish are poisonous, you know? This is a demon town, not a human one.

“Huh? We’re buying it? Is it safe?”

Takamiya-san looked worried too.

“They’re selling it, so it should be fine.”

“No… Demons might not be affected by poison.”

Takamiya-san lowered her voice.

“Mayumi, did you forget our leader’s job? It’s a piece of cake.”

Well, we do have poison-neutralizing potions and such.

“It’s really okay?”

Takamiya-san checked with me.

“Give me a sec.”

I looked up pufferfish poison on my smartphone.

“Can we do it? I’ve never eaten it.”

“Me neither.”

“Come to think of it, me neither.”

“Me neither.”

“Umm… Tetrodotoxin is a neurotoxin. In that case, I can break it down even without a potion.”

Same principle as when I broke down the paralysis powder that had immobilized Yamane.

“Alright, let’s buy it.”

Kitaura-san put the pufferfish into the basket.

“Where are we going to eat it?”

“We’ve got a long journey ahead. Maybe when we stay overnight at some abandoned house or something.”

Well, if we’d had something like this on the way back from Kumamoto, it might have been a bit more enjoyable.

“What about cooking utensils?”

“I bought those around Kokura. Both my parents worked, so I cooked a lot—I’m pretty good at it.”

Kitaura-san did say she was poor…

“I’m good at it too.”

Ayaka’s so domestic~

“It’s nice to have good companions, isn’t it? Everyone’s good at something.”

Takamiya-san nodded along as she said it—so she probably wasn’t good at cooking.

“Then buy some fugu sashimi too.”

“Sure.”

Kitaura-san put the fugu sashimi in the basket.

After that, we continued adding dried goods and other things with long shelf lives to the basket, then went to the sahagin at the register.

“Thanks.”

“Thanks for buying so much~. My companions caught and prepared these~”

The sahagin were fishing in Beppu too.

“Excuse me, sir. We’re traveling from Kyushu—what are things like farther ahead?”

Takamiya-san asked the shopkeeper.

“Traveling, huh… I’ve heard bad rumors about Hiroshima. It’s another seaside town, so my sahagin companions are there, but they say it’s so scary they can’t go outside at night.”

So that’s the one.

“We heard about that on social media too. Is it for real?”

“Apparently it was an unbelievable scene. And there were zero witnesses. Over there, they’re calling it the Hiroshima Ripper.”

Jack the Ripper…

Sounds really weird coming from a demon.

“Hmm… Maybe we should avoid it then. What about Shimane?”

“Shimane? That’s a human town. No wait, maybe the western part was demon territory? Well, either way it’s dangerous, so you should avoid Hiroshima City and go east through the mountains. Hiroshima is big, so you should be able to get through that way.”

So Shimane is a human town.

“Hey, is there anyone who knows the western area well?”

Ayaka asked.

“Hmm… Try going to the market. They serve freshly caught seafood there, and the staff are sahagin. After all, our race knows the area best since we go on expeditions out at sea, and we regularly go as far as Okayama and such.”

Ooh…

“Aren’t you going?” I asked the shopkeeper.

“I can’t swim, so I don’t go out fishing.”

A sahagin that can’t swim?

“Really? Even though you’re a sahagin?”

“I injured my leg when I got caught in a human net. That’s why I’m working as a shopkeeper instead.”

I see…

“Ah, sorry about that.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. Talking with customers like this is fun too. That’ll be 52,000 mana. Let’s call it 50,000.”

The shopkeeper held out his hand, so I shook it and paid him in mana.

Then I put the purchased items into spatial magic, left the shop, and headed toward the market.