「So in other words, this staff is just an ordinary stick?」
「That’s right」
「……Then I don’t want something like this」
「You’re calling it something like this now?」
What a brutal reaction. Unfortunately, it seemed Nana-san was not impressed by the magic staff at all.
Well, it really was just an ordinary stick, and not something Nana-san would have much use for anyway.
「Wouldn’t it be more useful for Master instead?」
「Hmm? Me?」
「Wouldn’t it be useful to have a staff while traveling? Doesn’t it make walking easier?」
「Ahh」
I could kind of understand what Nana-san meant.
If you were trudging along through rough wilderness with no proper roads, having a walking stick would definitely help.
「But I mostly just ride on Hezrat-kun, you know?」
「Now that you mention it, that’s true……」
Basically, all my traveling was handled by Hezrat-kun. I just got carried around by him and hardly walked myself. There was never really a situation where I would need a staff.
「Then perhaps it would be better to give it to Jisrare-sama」
「A staff for Jisrare-san, huh……」
「Jisrare-sama is always walking beside you, isn’t she?」
「Still, would that person even need a staff……? She doesn’t seem like someone who would need something like that with her physical abilities……」
After traveling together with her for quite a long time, I had come to understand something.
Jisrare-san was incredible. Incredible in many ways. Extremely strong.
I had a feeling ordinary logic like “a staff makes traveling easier” simply did not apply to someone like her.
Still, maybe I should try asking her next time.
If it was Jisrare-san, even if I casually asked, 『Want to try using a staff or something?』 she probably wouldn’t get offended and say, 『I’m not that old yet』 or treat it as some kind of insult.
「Isn’t there anything else?」
「Hmm?」
「Any other souvenirs?」
「Eh?」
Apparently, Nana-san was not satisfied with the Kirk Bread, pennants, or magic staff, and greedily continued demanding more souvenirs……
「To begin with, this staff was just something Master made on a whim. It’s not even a souvenir from the human world. Give me an actual human world souvenir」
「Even if you say that……」
The only places we were able to stop at were tiny villages. We never even entered a town, so it’s not like we had much chance to shop……
「Umm…… Ah, how about this?」
「Hmm? Uh, isn’t that――an Alec Brush?」
So, Nana-san called it an Alec Brush too…… Even though she should know the name scrubbing brush……
「Actually, I bought this in Kirk Village」
「Eh? Ah, really? So, they had Alec Brushes in Kirk Village too?」
「I was surprised because Kirk-ojisan was using one, but they were also just casually selling them at the village general store」
So because of that, I ended up buying one on impulse.
Thinking about it now, I probably didn’t actually need to buy it, but at least it worked as a souvenir.
「The Alec Brush really has spread across the entire world, huh」
「It really is kind of amazing」
The name still bothered me a little, but honestly, seeing that they had become so common that you could easily buy one even in the human world was strangely moving.
「Anyway, I’ll give this to you, Nana-san」
「No, I don’t really need it」
「…………」
Well, it was just an ordinary scrubbing brush. Of course she wouldn’t want it.
Giving someone a regular scrubbing brush as a souvenir was obviously the problem here.
「Now then, Master. The next one」
「Hmm?」
「Please show me the next souvenir」
「Ehhh……」
She still wanted more…… Nana-san was way too greedy.
Way too greedy when it came to souvenirs.
No, but seriously, I was completely out of things now.
「There must still be something left. There has to be something. Come now, come now」
「Hmmm……」
Nana-san spoke as though she had read my mind.
Reluctantly, I searched through my magic bag again――
「Ah」
「Oh? So there really was something left after all? Come now, Master, come now」
While saying that, Nana-san reached out her hand, and into it――I placed a mask.
「Ooh? Could this perhaps be that famous……?」
「Yep. That’s the famous mask」
It was the mask I had worn during the journey.
It didn’t seem like I would ever use it again, so turning it into a souvenir was probably fine. ……Though whether Nana-san would actually be happy about it was another matter.
「Ah, it’s clean right? After washing it by hands thoroughly, I washed it with 『Hezrat-kun Style Laundry Technique』.」
「It certainly does look properly cleaned……」
After washing and drying it carefully, I had Hezrat-kun wear it before resummoning him.
Because of that, the mask was sparkling clean, practically like new.
「You can try wearing it if you want」
「I’m not putting it on」
She wasn’t going to wear it, huh…… I kind of wanted to see what it looked like on someone else.
「Good grief, so this is the face-concealing solution Jisrare-sama came up with for Master……」
「Yeah. Honestly, I was pretty shocked too when she first showed it to me」
「To be frank, Jisrare-sama is Jisrare-sama for suggesting this in the first place, but Master is also Master for actually wearing it and charging straight into human villages」
「…………」
But Jisrare-san put a lot of effort into thinking it up and making it for me. I couldn’t just throw those feelings aside……
「Well, thanks to that mask, I was at least able to visit villages in the human world」
「Humans really are quite tolerant……」
Honestly, that did seem true.
In the end, the people of Kirk Village had eventually gotten used to it and were casually talking with me while I walked around wearing the mask.
「That said, I still couldn’t enter any towns」
「As expected of towns」
「Yeah, as expected of towns」
Towns were impossible after all.
Kate-san completely shut that down.
「By the way, what are you planning to do next?」
「Next?」
「It seems the masked approach didn’t let you enter towns, but what exactly are you planning for the next――the Fifth World Journey?」
「Hmmm, I’m still thinking about that. ……Ah, by the way, for the next face-concealing plan, I’ll be handling it myself」
「Oh? Really?」
「Yeah. ……I was the one who asked Jisrare-san about it」
I had realized that Jisrare-san could be surprisingly reckless sometimes, so I asked if I could come up with the next idea myself.
As long as I could hide my face without making people suspicious, that was good enough.
If possible, I wanted to come up with something cool on my own this time. Maybe even make a stylish mask or something. As long as it didn’t completely cover my face, maybe a mask would be acceptable?
「And meanwhile, Jisrare-san also seems to have some kind of plan」
「A plan?」
「I don’t really understand it myself, but she said something like, 『I’ll approach the problem from a different angle』」
She didn’t explain the details, but it sounded like she had some kind of secret strategy in mind.
……Personally, I’d prefer if she just explained things properly beforehand.
The mask was the same way. She always tries to keep things hidden. I don’t need that kind of surprise……
Apparently, whatever 『different angle』 Jisrare-san was talking about would take time, so there was a chance the Fifth World Journey would still be quite a while away.
「……Hmm. Master’s face-concealing plan. And Jisrare-sama’s plan from a different angle, huh」
「Yep. That’s what the Fifth World Journey is looking like right now」
「I cannot help but feel the Fifth World Journey will also come to a very swift end」
「…………」
next chapter: Elf Treasure 2
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