Chapter 65 She Seems to be Hopelessly Lacking in Business Abilities

[So, what’s Kaito-san looking for?] [Ah, errr…… I will be going to the Sacred Tree Festival, and I thought I would find things in preparation for that. Alice asked me, shaking her long blonde hair, and I told her the reason why I came here. The fact that she’s no longer wearing that stuffed costume makes her somehow look different. As long as she takes off her mask and stops talking at all, would she have looked an easy-going beauty? It feels like her personality is ruining everything though…… [Heehhh~ The Sacred Tree Festival huh. Leave it to me! Within this store, “aside from food”, you can find anything!] [Unnn? Why don’t you have food here?] [I mean, if I were to sell food here, I would end up eating them!] [………………..] What the heck is this extreme disappointment I’m feeling…… Seriously, is it really alright to rely on this person? No, I don’t feel that it’s going to be alright. Anyway, let’s just buy five of the cheapest things I can buy and go home. [By the way, is this your first time joining the Sacred Tree Festival, Kaito-san?] [Eh? Yeah.] [Then, it’s a good idea to get yourself some good shoes.] [Shoes?] When I heard him recommending shoes, I just tilted my head, not knowing what she meant. [Yes, it’s a common mistake that first-timers make…… You would be walking inside a forest, and not every path you would pass through would have a good footing, and it would be difficult walking through that with hard shoes.] [I- I see……] Most of the shoes in this world are indeed leather shoes, and the shoes I’m wearing now are also quite hard. I also have my pair of sneakers, but they don’t really match the clothes I’m wearing right now and they stand out from the surroundings, so I kept them in my magic box. [The Sacred Tree Festival is in 10 days, so you should buy them now while you can and get used to wearing them.] [So, you’re saying that it’s better to prepare soft shoes for me to wear huh……] [That’s right…… And this is the one I recommend! This one is made from the skin of the Aqua Lizard, which has excellent elasticity! They stretch well and are durable, so unless you have the foot size that ain’t normal at all, they should fit! Plus, they’re dirt resistant, so you can even walk past beast tracks filled with confidence that your shoes won’t get dirty!] [………………] Arehh? Somehow, doesn’t that sound like a decent sales pitch? Taking the shoes that Alice offered me with a smile on her face, I looked over them and they certainly looked soft and comfortable to wear. In terms of color, they are a calming dark gray, and the design is nice without being too flashy…… I honestly wanted them. [They certainly look good, but…… Wouldn’t this be expensive?] [That’s right~~ We’ve used some good materials with that pair…… How about 100R!?] [Eh? I’ll buy it then.] [Thank you for the purchase!] It was just about 10,000 yen…… It was quite a bargain. Or more like, no matter how I look at it, doesn’t it seem like it was too cheap? Even though I’m not familiar with the prices of the goods in this world, I can tell that these shoes are pretty good. No, as far as I’m concerned, I’m just happy that I get to buy something good at a low price…… but seeing her appeal earlier where she’s back to the corner as she’s about to lose her money, I can’t help but be concerned about the situation of Alice’s purse. [……Isn’t this too cheap? Wouldn’t Alice be at a disadvantage with this cost……] [Eh? No, not really…… I mean, that’s “shoes I made myself” and I’m also the one who acquired the raw materials used in it.] [I- Is that so. Are Aqua Lizards that easy to hunt?] [Yeah, they’re just “3-meter long” lizards after all, they’re quite easy to hunt.] […………………] A 3-meter long lizard…… Wouldn’t that be large enough to call it a monster? Eh? Do humans in this world hunt 3-meter long lizards like it’s something normal? The heck is that, that looks scary. In front of the slightly surprised me, Alice moves in front of the shelves where weapons such as knives and swords are lined up. [If you’re looking for a harvest knife, here’s where they are. Looking at Kaito-san, you don’t look like you’re used to handling knives, so I think you would want a simple one.] [I- Is that so?] [Yes, it’s no laughing matter if you suddenly cut your own or someone else’s hand~~. I think you should get one with a blade that’s rather short and not curved…… Alright, how about this one?] [What’s that?] [This knife is made from electrum, which is a little heavy, but it’s very stable. The biggest feature of this knife is that there is a magic crystal in the center of the blade, and when you imbue your magic power into it, a blade made of wind would spread out of the blade, so even an amateur can cut stuff easily with this. The magic crystal used in this knife is also a good one, so you won’t run out of magic power if you just normally use it. It would be a different story if you force a large amount of magic power into it and make the blade huge though.] She took out something that looks really amazing again. In short, this is also a type of magic tool, something that helps the user to cut properly even if they’re not that good at handling a knife just by deploying a blade of magic power. The blade of the knife is pale golden in color, while the handle is also finely crafted, that it looks like a piece of art that seems to have some value. This would be a really expensive item this time…… I mean, I remembered seeing something similar to this one when Kuro and I went to the magic tool market before. The one I remembered was a bit bigger than this one, but I think it was about 2000R. I’m sure anyone would find a 200,000 Yen knife to be pretty expensive, but Kuro said that it was the right cost for magic tools that can also be used as a weapon. [H- How should I say this… This certainly looks good, but it looks really expensive.] [It’s certainly more expensive than those shoes earlier…… How about 500R?] [……I’ll buy it.] [Thank you for the purchase!] It was surprisingly cheap. Or rather, no matter who looks at it, this is too cheap. Could it be…… [Hey, Alice. Could it be that this is also……] [Eh? Yes, I made it too.] [……I knew it.] [I mean, most of the products in the store are things that are made myself…… That’s also because we don’t have the money to buy them from other places.] Surprised at her words, I looked around the shop. Shoes, clothes, accessories, weapons, magic tools…… Did Alice make all of this? T- That’s amazing. She can make shoes, sew clothes, a good sense of making accessories, smith weapons, get her own materials, and all of the products here are so good that anyone would think they were made by professionals. ……How the heck can she be so poor that she can’t even eat a decent meal when her specs are that high? [……Why isn’t this store popular at all when you are selling so much good stuff for a really cheap price?] [That’s the thing. Well~~ Even I don’t know why, but most of the customers would leave the moment they opened the door. Is it because the decorations in my interior look bad?] [……………..] No, I’m pretty sure that’s just because they immediately ran away after seeing the shopkeeper wearing a stuffed costume, isn’t it? That’s also what I was going to do earlier so…… No, no, even if customers won’t come here, that’s another matter. There are plenty of other ways for her to make money from her that…… [No, if you can’t sell it in your store, why don’t you just wholesale it somewhere else……] [……Huh?] [No, as I said, if you can make something this good, if you wholesale it to a company, wouldn’t they buy this from you?] [……I hadn’t thought about that.] H- How should I say this…… She really is quite the disappointing fellow. She has very high specs that she would be able to earn a lot of money even if she were to not seriously work hard for it, but her character, or rather, her usual behavior is ruining it all. No, rather, at this rate, even if she were to wholesale her items to a company, I think she would still fail. [Ahhh~ But speaking of which, I went to apply to open a store before but…… I was almost beaten up by them, telling me not to come back.] [……Did you go there in that stuffed costume of yours?] [Eh? Well, that should be obvious, right?] [Are you an idiot?] [I’ve strangely been told that a lot.] Correction. She already failed. This is no good. Her specs are too high, but she’s too fatally disappointing. Well, seriously, I guess it really is as it was often said. That God doesn’t give two gifts. (I don’t remember giving anyone any abilities though?) Hush it there, airhead goddess. Dear Mom, Dad—— the items in Alice’s shop were all first class, but unfortunately, Alice—– seemed to be hopelessly lacking in her business abilities.