73 - Shopping Practice
"...Ah?"
When I woke up, Leonardo was in my room. Since we slept together last night, it wasn't strange at all that Leonardo was in the room, but I'd assumed he'd have left for the fortress before I woke up, so his still being at the residence was odd. Already dressed, Leonardo was looking at the paper Reversi pieces laid out on the Saik board, but when he noticed my voice, he turned to face me.
"Good morning, Tina. Did you sleep well?"
"Good mornin', Leonyaldo-san."
I rubbed my sleepy eyes and got out of bed. As I toddled over to Leonardo, he lifted me onto his lap.
"What are you lookin' at, res?"
"Hm? I was thinking paper feels a bit unreliable..."
Leonardo said this while flipping the paper pieces over and back, observing them. It seemed Leonardo had taken a liking to Reversi. Maybe because Reversi's rules were simple enough that he could play on equal footing with me.
"Aren't there any games like Reversi, res?"
"There are some board games, but not many that children can play easily."
It seemed board games were treated as an adult pastime. Maybe that was why complex games like Saik, with intricate piece movements, were the mainstream. I might be able to learn them if I played more, but it would be hard for a child to remember after just two or three explanations of the rules.
"...Maybe I'll go to the city later and look for some."
"Huh? Leonyaldo-san, what about work, res?"
It was strange enough that Leonardo was still at the residence by the time I woke up, but if he was planning to go to the city, that meant he wouldn't be going to the fortress. He'd been at the residence since last night, so was work really alright?
"When I told Alf I wanted to take a few days off to make it up to you, he took over my work with a terrifying smile."
"I'm already feelin' better, res. Please go to work, mash."
Huh? What? Am I causing trouble for Alf-san too? I couldn't help making a deadpan face. It might have been fine to let Leonardo cheer me up a bit over this whole thing, but I didn't want to cause trouble for others (Alf) because of it. The cause was ultimately Leonardo casually brushing off what I said.
When I looked up at Leonardo with a dry smile plastered on my face, he pinched my cheek.
"I haven't been able to properly spend time with you until now. So I'll make up for it plenty."
"So Leonyaldo-san just wants to take a day off, res ne."
I shielded my squished cheeks with both hands and glared up at Leonardo's face. I couldn't tell whether his real motive was wanting to spend time with me or wanting a day off, but it seemed I couldn't send him off to work.
"...That's right, res. If you're goin' to the city, please take me shoppin' too, res."
After swallowing the last piece of bread, I asked the Leonardo sitting across from me. Leonardo had already finished his breakfast and was elegantly drinking coffee.
"That was the plan from the start. This is a holiday to play with Tina, after all."
"My mood is already better, res, so you can go to work, res yo."
I stared at Leonardo with a fed-up expression, as if to say, "You just want a break for yourself, don't you?" Receiving my cold stare, Leonardo lightly shrugged his shoulders.
"Where do you want to go? The Three Crows tavern again?"
"Hmm? Where they sell Leonyaldo-san's wallet, res ka ne?"
"My wallet? My wallet..."
It seemed Leonardo had finally remembered that the one he'd entrusted to Kaya hadn't been returned. Given how extravagantly Kaya had been spending, there was probably no chance of getting even some of the contents back. I doubted the wallet itself would come back either. That was why I'd asked to go to a place that sold gentlemen's wallets.
"Leonyaldo-san, the black one and the blue one, which do you like better, res?"
At the leatherwork shop he'd brought me to right after breakfast, I picked up a wallet with crimson accents on black, and one with black accents on deep blue. The former was a color Leonardo often wore, and the latter was my preference.
"Then the black one."
When Leonardo casually grabbed the black wallet and called the clerk over to pay, I hurriedly grabbed his hand. If Leonardo paid like always, there'd be no point in me coming along shopping.
"No, Leonyaldo-san. I'll pay, mash."
"You will?"
While being looked down upon by both the clerk and Leonardo as if I were some curious thing, I took out the allowance Leonardo had given me on the day of the Recollection Festival from my pocket. I'd been learning about currency by accompanying Tabitha on her shopping trips. I'd checked how much allowance Leonardo had given me and the price of the wallet before narrowing down my choices. It wasn't an amount I couldn't pay.
"It's my shoppin' practice, res."
When I pompously puffed out my chest and declared this, Leonardo seemed to understand. He lifted me up and turned me to face the clerk.
"...I have received the payment. Here is your change."
"Umm..."
I used my fingers to calculate the amount I'd given, the wallet's price, and the change coins. I thought I'd learned about currency well enough, but I couldn't help converting everything to yen in my head first, so I couldn't calculate quickly. Since there were no paper bills and the value changed based on the material and size of the coins, simple calculations were difficult for me right now. It took time to judge whether the amount was correct, but since I'd said beforehand this was shopping practice, both the clerk and Leonardo watched over me patiently.
...The unit is Shivil. Gold coins are the largest, then there are two kinds of silver coins. Two kinds of copper coins too, and below those, two kinds of grain coins.
The allowance, which was hugely problematic to give a child, was one gold coin. It was the highest-value coin, and even without thinking calmly, it wasn't the kind of money a child should carry. Moreover, it was a gold coin, which I'd never even seen an adult like Tabitha use. It was a bit frightening that Leonardo could casually hand such a thing to a child.
...The wallet cost 8740 Shivil, and one gold coin was 10000 Shivil. The change should be 1260 Shivil, so in this currency, that would be one large silver coin, two large copper coins, one large grain copper, and one small grain copper... probably.
Having settled on the answer in my head, I counted the change the clerk had laid out. The coins, arranged for easy counting, had one too many large copper coins.
"...That's 100 Shivil too many, res yo."
"Yes, that's correct."
When I slid one large copper coin back toward the clerk with my finger, the clerk smiled brightly. Probably because I'd said it was practice beforehand, it seemed I'd been given a trick question.
I took the purchased wallet from the clerk, pulled out just one large copper coin, and put all the remaining change into the wallet. When I handed it directly to Leonardo, he furrowed his brow in confusion.
"That was the allowance I gave you, you know?"
"Is this my lifetime allowance, res? It's too much for a child to carry, and it's dangerous, res yo."
At the very least, if Kaya had known I was carrying a gold coin at the Recollection Festival, I think she would have taken it. She'd have said something plausible like, "It's too much for a child to carry," and taken it, never to return it.
"My allowance was originally Leonyaldo-san's money, res, but I bought this, so it's a present from me, nyo."
I didn't forget to warn him, "Please don't just hand it to anyone this time." I meant to say that if he gave the wallet to someone like Kaya again, he'd lose my first gift to him, but I wondered if it would be effective. Leonardo could be a bit careless, so I was a little worried.
"...Couldn't you at least have silver coins?"
"It's a child's allowance, right, res? I think about five copper coins would be fine, nya, I think, mash."
"With five copper coins, you can't buy anything."
"You can buy five sticks of sweet-spicy dumplings, res yo."
At the Three Crows tavern, the sweet-spicy dumplings used imported seasonings, so they were considered a luxury snack. For buying simple treats like skewered meat or candy from regular street stalls, five copper coins was more than enough.
"There might be times you want something more expensive than sweet-spicy dumplings."
"When I go out, Leonyaldo-san is usually with me, res yo?"
Since I'd insisted on buying the wallet, I'd paid for it myself, but basically Leonardo paid for everything for me. When I went out with Leonardo, I didn't need any allowance, and even when accompanying Tabitha on her shopping trips, Leonardo gave me extra money in case I wanted something. Just as I'd never shopped before today, there simply weren't any opportunities for me to pay for things myself. As just a child now, I had no need for large sums of money.
"But still..."
"Anyway, please buy me a wallet too, res."
Holding up the large copper coin I'd set aside, I begged Leonardo. Partly to change the subject, but I also wanted a wallet.
"You can pick whichever you like."
As Leonardo started to move toward the corner with small wallets, I had him put me down and took his hand. The wallet I wanted probably wasn't in this shop.
"A wallet from here won't do, res yo."
"The leatherwork here is finely crafted and durable. For leather goods other than wallets too, this shop is the best."
"I can tell it's good quality, res."
The texture was nice and the craftsmanship was fine. But as a wallet for me, there was a problem.
"If I'm gonna use a wallet, it'd be from autumn, right, res? I think it'd be for goin' to and from the church, res."
The Menhishumi Church was built somewhat to the south, so that even the poor could easily attend. If I was going to be going there, my wallet should be something plain and affordable that would blend in with the surroundings, rather than a high-quality luxury item.
"I want a normal wallet, res, one that wouldn't be strange for a kid in the south of the city to have."
After calming Leonardo, whose attention kept going to overly cute or expensive items, I managed to get him to buy me a wallet that wouldn't look out of place for a child to have. The shopkeeper said children in the lower town didn't even carry wallets at all, but I didn't care. I put the large copper coin into my newly-purchased wallet with its drawstring, and hung it around my neck without hesitation. It was shaped like a black cat, so it looked like a child's wallet no matter how you saw it.
"Tina, let me see it."
"Yes, res."
When I held out the black cat part while keeping the string around my neck, Leonardo attached a dull-gleaming medal-like charm to it.
"What's this, res?"
I took the returned black cat in my hands and examined the round charm. On the round metal plate, a dog with three heads was engraved.
...Where have I seen this before?
When I tilted my head, unable to remember where I'd seen it, Leonardo told me it was Cerberus, the symbol of the Grenore Knights. Now that he said it, I felt like I'd seen it on the clasp of Alf's cloak, or at the fortress.
"I'm not a knight, res yo?"
"It's a mark saying you're the child of someone connected to the knight order. Think of it as a kind of charm."
"It's like a name tag sayin' I'm Leonyaldo-san's kid, res ne."
...Like a lost child tag or a charm, I guess.
Since I was family of the Grenore Knights who protected the city, it probably had an intimidating effect, that if I got caught up in some incident the culprit wouldn't get off easy, and a protective effect, that if I was in trouble someone would help me out.
"Ah? Isn't it different from Leonyaldo-san's cloak clasp, res?"
I felt like Leonardo's clasp was a bit more complicated. Cerberus was certainly on it, but that wasn't all.
"Mine has the symbols of three other knight orders besides Grenore. When four crests are lined up together, it's hard to read and stands out too much."
"I see, res. So it means I'll be walkin' around advertisin' that I'm Leonyaldo-san's family, which also increases the chance I'll get caught up in a crime, right, res ne."
"I don't think there are many idiots who'd do that, but just in case."
Picking a fight with Leonardo meant picking a fight with a third of the knight orders in this country. Anyone with sound judgment wouldn't do something that stupid.
...That's one vicious charm.
[Author's Note]
I took it easy so I didn't get as far as I planned... orz I'll fix typos and omissions later...
The currency situation of this country, made up on the fly. The unit is Shivil. 1 Shivil = 1 small grain copper, 5 Shivil = 1 large grain copper, 10 Shivil = 1 copper coin, 100 Shivil = 1 large copper coin, 500 Shivil = 1 silver coin, 1000 Shivil = 1 large silver coin, 10000 Shivil = 1 gold coin. Since the cost of living should be different, I can't say for sure, but think of it like +0 yen? The one large copper coin Tina pulled out seems to be about 1000 yen. Since 2 silver coins equal 1 large silver coin, silver coins aren't used that often, right? So there are fewer of them (unimportant setting).
I found and fixed the typos and omissions I noticed. There were a lot of omissions this time...