01-12: The other side of the word

“What kind of nerves do you have sending me RAIN during class? ……”

“Hmm …”

This was the first sound that entered my ears when I woke up in Arcadia.

“I thought you had the sound turned off. …..”

I’m not proud of it, but I’m not a good sleeper. My brain isn’t awake, and I manage to respond with a voice that sounds surprisingly raspy to me.

…… but.

“It’s not up to me to turn off the sound or not!　Mo!”

“You’re amazing. You’ve blown away the guilty sleepiness I’ve carried for 15 years. Do you realize you’ve got a boomerang stuck in your head?”

They say that anger can become comedy in a roundabout way. Ashima’s unreasonableness toward me was no longer understandable, and without much anger on my part, it turned into dismay.

I also felt sleepy, yet It was so unreasonable that it also woke me up from sleep.

“So what happened?”

I know that Ashima’s question to me now that I’m awake isn’t one she just came up with.

That’s right, I was questioned on RAIN, but I ended my day in reality with no answers.

But Ashima’s big eyes said there was more to it than that.

…… and say she’s been dying to ask since last night in Arcadia.

“… Nothing else.”

“Oh, I see.”

You’re gonna let it go!?

Normally, don’t you want to get a little more involved? like saying you don’t look like there’s nothing going on, or something like that.

“If you ever want to talk, just let me know, okay?”

…….

I’m the one who has always seen behind words with a mean streak.

I’ve been the one who has been able to see behind the words and expose the lurking malice in bad character.

That’s why Toru Fujima reads behind Ashima’s words.

It’s not that I want to know, it’s that I want you to tell me and make you feel better.　　That was behind the scenes.

I’ve been doing this all the time.

……However.

“…… is not creepy.”

Ashima’s backing, which made me thank her last night, made me read the other side of the story even more.

If you can’t talk about it, I don’t blame you, but please let me know before it gets really hard, she said.

Before I could respond, Ashima took a bag from the safe …… storage box by her bed and handed it to me.

“You know, you can’t leave money out and fall asleep. It’s dangerous.”

That’s the bag of coins I threw at her yesterday, telling her to take half of it.

“…… Hey, I’ve got two silver 90-coppers still in there. I told you to take half of it.”

Two silver 88 coppers earned yesterday and two coppers of all the money before that. All of them are glowing dully, bored in the air.

“But we’re going to be together all day anyway, aren’t we? If that’s the case, I don’t think there’s any particular need to share.”

“……?　　I don’t  get you, don’t you have something you want too?”

“What?　There’s a lot of them?”

“Take it with you if you want. You’ll have to pay for your own food and shower. I’ll also give you 10 coppers for lodging. ……”

“If Fujima-kun feels more comfortable, I’ll do that …but I don’t need it, right?”

“You don’t want it?　What do you mean?”

“I thought you would manage the money and provide me with food and clothing as a salary for my work.”

What’s that?

I did say, “I’ll hire you for a week,” but I didn’t think it was such a bleak form of employment.

This makes it look like …….

“And I think otherworldly slave fantasy is popular these days. I was longing for it ……… Hau.”

“Huh, you want to be a slave yourself. Also, it’s the master’s point of view that the general public longs for, not the slave, right?”

“Ah, but it’s good, isn’t it? I also have a thin hope for Hanchan while I’m chatty with someone I like for the first time.”

“I ain’t listening to you, and I didn’t want to hear what you just said. …… What’s a Hanchan, by the way?”

Even if you rethink before and after the word, it’s probably not a ramen and half fried rice set.

“Half of a chance”

“Wow, that was sadder than I expected. I knew I didn’t want to hear that.”

It was sad that Ashima couldn’t even one-up such hopes.

“In the first place, I’m not very good at mixing, and I’m not very good at collecting, so there’s no way I’m entitled to half the money…….”

That was my anguish last night when Ashima was in the shower.

“You bought me lodging, food, a shower, a towel, and even a skill book for mixing. ……”

It is useless to give courage to others.

It is useless to be kind to others.

When I knew that Ashima was thinking about this, my thoughts were cold. What annoyed me was yesterday I felt that way-that I would lose if I was with Ashima.

If Ashima was a normal girl, I would have kicked her out yesterday.

If I hadn’t been so weak-minded after my encounter with Reina and the others last night, I might have been thinking about how to get rid of her.

“…… Well, in that case, I’ll keep the money. The cost of lodging, food, water, showers, laundry, and other necessary expenses is about two silvers for both of us. Then the remaining 90 copper will be used for skill books and equipment. It’s a bit of a cycle, but it’s what we have to do for now. I’m going to eat breakfast and then start collecting. Let’s go …….”

“Yes.”

I put our living expenses in the safe and left the inn.

I made a vow to myself.

Karan Karan …….

“Hanya? Nyaha, Oni-chan, Onee-chan, Welcome!”

“Hello, …….”

“Good morning, Cocona-san.”

I return a casual reply, and Ashima immediately goes to pet Cocona’s cat ears.

“Tickling ♪ But what happened? It’s a very early time.”

“I’m thinking of buying a skill book before we go to collect.”

“Oh, thanks for the purchase ♪ Wait a minute, Nyan”

I held up my hand to the monolith she had brought from the back of the room.

“Ashigara-yama, what are you doing, you should come too.”

“What? …… But I was bought one yesterday, too.”

When I beckoned a hesitant Ashima to come over, she reluctantly extended her hand.

“Cocona-san. We’re going to collect epee grass and life herbs, and Ashigara-san is going to mix them into medicinal herbs and sell them. Do you have any skill books you can recommend?”

The skills are lined up in a row.

[Collecting LV1] It seems better to master the skill, but we are amateurs. I wanted the opinion of an expert.

“Now if you’ll excuse me for a moment, I have some skills to show you. ……”

Cocona’s face turns from cute and cuddly to serious. Oh, as expected of a professional.

“Is the budget only 1 silver 10 copper written here?”

“Sorry, 20 of those coppers are for breakfast, that’s 90 coppers.”

“Hmm……Then Oni-chan is 【Dexterous LV1】 and 【Collection LV1.The runner-up is Onee-chan’s 【Concoction LV2. You use a lot of SP for sampling, so it’s hard to throw away 【SPLV1】 too.”

“That’s right …. Ashima, have you already learned [Preparation LV2]? You just learned LV1 yesterday?”

“Yes ……, I did a lot of mixing yesterday, so I think that’s why …….”

Despite her delight, Ashima’s face was dark. …… Oh I see, I looked into Ashima’s monolith, and there was a,

[Compounding LV2] 60 Copper

That’s what it said.

Most lvl 1 skill books are 30 coppers, but this is double that.

“As a rule, the price of a skill book is doubled for every level increase. So lvl 3 is 1 silver 20 copper, lvl 4 is 2 silver 40 copper. I’ll tell you what …… other stores charge more.”

Oh man, there’s never enough money.

My goal is to buy the cheapest monster …… that sometimes goes on sale, “Kobold’s Will”.

As far as I can tell, the market price is between 6 and 8 silvers, by manipulating gear in the market box or in real life, yesterday, I miraculously found one for a little over 5 silver, but that is rare.

So, in addition to the living expenses for the two of us, we would have to save up 6 silver.

“What about for battle?”

“Are you kidding?”

“Then, [Escape LV1] should be bought with priority, too.”

And yet, I have to cut myself to the bone to get to a sum of 6 silver. I’m in trouble.

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