In the end, the eight rings I gave to Hayato all ended up with pretty much the same abilities.
Well, the materials were the same, so of course they’d turn out similarly.
Still, to avoid any arguments over design or preference, I made them all identical in appearance.
I do feel a little bad asking Hayato to wear four matching rings at once, but I hope he can put up with that much.
Apparently, the effects do stack, though, of course, the more you stack the same kind of effect, the more it diminishes.
Makes sense. If four “Attack Boost Great” effects stacked fully, it’d just be a case of “whoever wears more accessories wins.”
After that, I thoroughly enjoyed the sight of the freshly bathed girls, their skin flushed and glowing, and then I led everyone to the guest rooms and called it a night.
-0-
The next day.
Today is the day Aina and the others return from gathering materials.
Since we’ll be leaving tomorrow, I figured I’d start getting things ready, including preparations for Aina’s group too.
Apparently, there might be an opportunity to put accessories up for auction, so I decided to bring a few items made from the high-grade materials Hayato had given me.
That said, rather than listing them individually, it’s better to put them up as a set, so most of the pieces are actually forgeries, multi-copied versions.
There is one genuine, high-end accessory mixed in, though.
I was curious who would buy them, but from what I heard, they’re often purchased in bulk by knight captains giving gifts to their squads or by shops just starting to deal in accessories.
Either way, even if I can’t auction them off this time, they’ll sell eventually, so I figured I’d give it a shot.
Then, early morning.
I got up before anyone else and decided to head to the morning market.
…Or at least, that was the plan,
「Hey. Where are you off to this early in the morning?」
「Uh, I heard there was a morning market, so I thought I’d go check it out…」
I didn’t think anyone would be awake, so I accidentally slipped into polite speech when I got caught off guard.
And seriously, it’s not even fully light outside, how are you already awake, Letty-san?
「I see. Then I’ll come with you. I was feeling a little bored」
「I doubt it’ll be very exciting, though」
「That’s fine. I just wanted to talk a bit anyway」
「Shall we go, then?」
「Yes. Let’s go」
And so, today’s companion ended up being Lady Letty.
Just in case, I left a note for Hayato before we headed out.
I didn’t want him to get the wrong idea and think it was some kind of secret rendezvous.
『Off to the morning market! – Itsuki』
『I woke up, so I’m tagging along – Letty』
That should do it.
Yep. Should be fine.
The “morning market” was really just the northern district’s shopping street opening early, but there were more people than I’d expected.
「Heh. There’s quite a crowd at the morning market.」
「Yeah. This is my first time coming too, but it’s busier than I expected.」
Of course, compared to those summer and winter doujin events, it’s nothing, but still, there’s a decent number of people.
「Where are we going first?」
「Hmm, probably start with some freshly picked vegetables. Then meat, fish, and I’d like to get some spices too. I also want to buy extra clothes and underwear.」
「That’s quite a bit.」
「Figured I’d stock up on the essentials before we head out. And if it’s food, I can just store it in my magic space, so no need to worry about spoilage.」
「Space magic sure is convenient. I wonder if I could learn it too.」
「It’d be a problem if it was that easy to get… It’s my trump card, after all.」
I used up a ton of points to acquire it.
If it were that easy to learn, I probably would’ve picked something else instead.
「That’s too bad. If you could cook ahead of time, you could eat tasty food even in a dungeon.」
「Isn’t Chris’s cooking good enough?」
「If we run out of ingredients, we have to cook with whatever we can find in the area. No matter how good Chris is, she can’t do much without the right ingredients. And if we don’t have access to a rest room, we won’t have time to prep food in the hallways, sometimes all she can do is grill stuff.」
Ugh. Not being able to eat properly…
Dungeons really are terrifying places.
「Ara, oniisan! If it isn’t my favorite lady-killer! And today you’ve brought another beautiful lady with you!」
「She is beautiful, I agree. But she’s my friend’s girlfriend, so don’t go spreading weird rumors.」
「Wh-! I’m not his girlfriend!」
「Yeah, yeah. Got anything good in today?」
「Of course! Look at these tometos! Big and juicy, right?」
「Oh wow, these look amazing. I could bite right into one.」
The bright red tometos were large, glossy, and practically shining.
Even without tasting them, I could tell these were the best kind of freshly picked, delicious morning tomatoes.
「Alright then, can you throw together a selection of your best stuff, including those tometos?」
「Sure thing! The usual, right?」
With that, she started picking out the best vegetables from the display out front.
「…You really shop like a man on a mission.」
「Shiro’s a huge eater, and since I can store everything, I tend to buy in bulk. Also, 」
「Here you go! Since you always buy so much, I threw in some momomo for free!」
「Thanks, oneesan. Huh? You look like you’ve slimmed down a little, you’re looking good.」
「Ahahaha! Must be all the veggies I eat from my own stall! Here, take this limple too!」
「Thanks, love ya oneesan!」
「Love you too! Come by again!」
Got another load of freebies today.
Normally, Wendy goes over every item with careful inspection before buying, and I just stand there and charm my way into getting the extra stuff!
That’s why this place is my go-to stall!
「…Your ‘love’ sure comes cheap.」
「It’s just lip service. That’s common sense, right?」
「Haa… You and Hayato are totally different types.」
「Well, the guy does seem pretty serious.」
Yeah… lip service from her probably isn’t in the cards.
If I asked her to flatter me, maybe she’d pull it off by accident thanks to her natural charm, but…
「Next up, meat shop!」
「Are you planning to charm your way through that one too?」
「Nah, this time I’m using you, Letty.」
「Haa!?」
「Excuse me, hey, old man, you in?」
「Ohhh, hey there, boss! Looks like you’ve got yourself another gorgeous lady today! You really live the life, huh?」
「Aah, aah… Listen, pal. This young lady here is the beloved of Count Hayato, you know? She just happened to tag along with me for my morning shopping. If you piss her off, you’ll regret it, got it?」
「What!? Now that’s my bad! Well hey, it just so happens we got a cut of the King Pigle today, the king of pigles! I’d love for the Count to try it!」
「Whoa there. I can’t afford something like that, you know? I’m just here to grab the usual good cuts of Black Morm meat.」
「I hear ya, boss! Consider this one on the house, a gift. Be sure to send the Count and this fine lady my regards.」
「Got it. In that case, we’ll gladly accept. Now then, give me the usual, just pick out the good stuff you think we’d like. Let’s say 150, no, make that 200,000 Nohl’s worth.」
「I’m always grateful, boss! You’re always taking the best parts off my hands, can’t make a living like this!」
「Don’t give me that. You’re so damn cheerful that customers get scared off. I’m just making sure the meat doesn’t go to waste.」
「Haha, that’s a lifesaver! Trust you to notice that. I never realized my cheerfulness was working against me. Alright, I’ll go slice it up, so hang tight!」
With that, the shopkeeper disappeared into the back.
「…What was that just now?」
「What do you mean? That’s just my usual banter.」
By the way, that change in order was referring to the King Pigle.
Its fat isn’t greasy, just rich and refined, and when you grill other meat in its leftover fat, it takes the flavor to a whole new level. Basically, two layers of deliciousness in one.
But buying it outright is insane, just one cut costs 100,000 Nohl, which is why I never go for it normally.
So, I get him to toss it in at half price as a little service deal.
If I’m buying 150,000 Nohl worth of Black Morm, this kind of bonus is well within our usual give-and-take.
Getting it for free might sound better, but maintaining a fair balance like this makes for a longer-lasting relationship.
「Do you go through this whole theatrical routine every time you shop?」
「Well, I had you with me this time. It was good material.」
「Don’t treat people like props… And calling me Hayato’s girl…」
「It’s the truth, isn’t it?」
「Come to think of it, you… You said something unnecessary yesterday, didn’t you?」
「Hmm? Unnecessary or not, I did say something.」
「Yesterday, um…」
「Oh? Did he finally make a move?」
「No! He hugged each of us! One by one!」
「Oh, come on… Still, good on Hayato.」
Yeah, that’s a step forward.
No need to rush, just take the time to nurture that love from here.
「And then… he whispered ‘I love you’ in our ears. He said it to all of us. Afterward, we talked things through… Hayato said he loves all of us. And we… we all love him too, so…」
「Then he might as well go ahead and sleep with all of you.」
「Wha— ! You absolute—! Hayato’s not like you! He thought about each of us seriously and actually talked to us properly!」
「Well, good for him, then. If things had gone on like that, he probably would’ve agonized forever without making a move. Sure, maybe I overstepped, but as a fellow man, watching him torment himself like that was just too painful.」
「But still… Hayato’s engaged to Princess Chevalier, the king’s daughter… Even so, he told us that we’re important to him too. That made me really happy… but…」
「This world doesn’t exactly require monogamy, does it?」
「That’s true, but…」
I mean, it’s pure prejudice, but when you hear “noble”, you just imagine someone with a whole harem of women.
And looks like, at least here, polygamy isn’t that unusual either.
Of course, there’s probably still a difference between a legal wife and the others.
「But Hayato’s not the kind of guy who’d treat anyone differently, wife or not. No matter what form it takes, he’ll love you all equally. Well, I don’t know much about that princess, though.」
「Princess Chevalier is… a deeply compassionate person. I don’t think she’d treat us like we don’t matter… probably…」
「Then it’s fine, isn’t it? They say heroes are always popular with the ladies. Let him love you all fairly.」
「Still, I think all of us wish we could be the only one in his eyes. I know I do… I want him to see just me.」
「That’s something you should work out together. Like, set aside days where it’s just the two of you. There’s plenty of ways to make it work.」
Still… the old man’s taking forever.
Or so I thought, he was actually hiding in the back, watching us the whole time.
「Ahh, sorry, sorry! You two seemed to be having a serious talk, and I couldn’t find a good moment to step in!」
He suddenly started acting like we were the ones at fault.
Still, damn, that’s a lot of meat.
「That’s the usual for 200,000 Nohl. Come on, open up your bag already! At this rate, the whole market’ll close with just your shopping!」
「Yeah, yeah. Catch you later then.」
「Thanks as always, if you’re gonna have a lover’s spat, take it home next time!」
「I’m definitely telling on you!」
「Oof! Boss! That’s cold! I thought we were just messing around!」
Can’t hear you.
Well, not like saying anything would change things anyway.
The old man was shouting “Wait just a sec, boss!” like his arm was about to fall off, so I gave him a quick signal to say I got it.
Relieved, he let out a breath and moved on to help another customer.
As expected of the morning market, tons of people around.
「Anyway, no point dwelling on it now, right? Next stop: spices.」
「Ah, yeah. You’re right. It’d be a waste to spend this valuable time worrying over stuff like that.」
「Exactly. Just enjoy the time you have with Hayato for what it is. Life’s better when you take it easy.」
「You always seem to be taking it easy.」
「Ouch. That hurts, you know…」
「Someone’s gotta be harsh with you. Your slaves look like they’d just agree with everything you say.」
「I won’t deny that. On both counts.」
「…That wasn’t clever.」
「Tough crowd…」
Exchanging dumb banter like that, we picked up spices, drinks, and when we reached the clothing shop, we bought things like free-size underwear and some simple nightwear, then made our way home.
-0-
On the way back, she said she was craving something sweet, so we grabbed some baked treats as a souvenir.
Girls really do love their sweets, huh.
Total for today’s shopping: 440,000 Nohl.
It’s our first trip out like this, so I might’ve gone overboard.
Still, good meat is worth it.
It’s not that cheap meat is bad, but this is just a fact.
When it comes to food, I don’t cut corners.
If it tastes good, I’ll buy it!
…As long as it’s not bugs.
Well, with this, we should be all set for the journey.
All that’s left is for Aina and the others to get back, fill them in, and bring them along.
Before that, though, I need to take the accessories and vibrators I made for Reinrich and Yasis, sell them off, and secure our funds.
Not that there’s anything I particularly want, but since we’re going to the auction, there might be some hidden gem waiting.
This time I used high-end materials Hayato brought back to make the accessories, so even with a conservative estimate, I should get at least 30 million Nohl.
I owe getting that kind of money to Hayato, but let’s just say yesterday’s advice makes us even.
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