kscans

Chapter 72 - Because He's a Boy...

"Whoa... look at that, Akatsuki. Those incredible prices are just taken for granted..."

"Hundreds of thousands being normal is an amazing world... though I guess it makes sense since rookies like us get paid pretty well for a single job."

Hikaru really is still a kid in some ways. Both Rika and Hikaru are looking at the goods displayed at the stalls with curiosity, though that's natural for Rika.

"Oh, isn't that Satou-san? How about ours? I think this one's pretty cool."

"Huh? Let me see what you've got."

I have the flashy-looking guy from the accessory stall show me his products. I see... this is sensory enhancement? But instead of popular ones like sight or hearing, he went with taste.

"You've got your eye on some interesting stuff."

From what I can tell, none of the items lined up here seem to be for combat.

"Well, you know, there's fierce competition in that area, right? So I thought, why not make something that improves quality of life?"

"I get the concept. Making regular food taste better? But wouldn't making taste overly sensitive backfire?"

"Yeah. That part was really difficult, but everything I have on display here has a certain level of quality."

The taste enhancement earring I'm holding apparently isn't suitable for high-end cuisine but perfect for convenience store meals.

"Don't you have anything for high-end cuisine?"

"Nope. That stuff is made by skilled chefs using premium ingredients. The level of completion is totally different."

"So if you mess with taste perception when it's built on delicate balance, the quality actually drops?"

"Exactly. It's really difficult."

He's honest. I don't know who this guy is, but I like him. This type often goes pretty far. If he plays his cards right, he could aim even higher.

"Consider it an advance investment. I'll take everything you have on display."

"...I was trying to sell to you, but are you sure about this?"

"It's fine. I like collecting rare items too."

"Thanks. The total would be about this much."

"Here you go."

I hand over several briefcases I pulled from dimensional storage. It's a bit much, but... well, consider it a tip for showing me something interesting.

"Thank you for your purchase! With this, I can probably make something interesting."

"That's excellent."

I glance over at the kids.

"...A demon blade with safety considerations?"

"Can you really call that a demon blade?"

They're both tilting their heads at the cursed items that have been made safe.

"Yeah, you should avoid those."

"Satou-san... wait, so these aren't actually safe?"

"No, they'll be fine to use since their power has been sealed to some extent to make them safe."

But this type of seal degrades over time. Getting it resealed would cost extra, making it expensive in the end.

"Those are for people who can reapply seals themselves and handle various maintenance."

"I see."

"Do you have stuff like that, Uncle?"

"I do. I even went through a phase where I was obsessed with making cursed items like magic swords and demon blades."

"'...Making... cursed items?'"

"Yep."

Those kinds of cursed items just need to be thoroughly soaked with grudges and hatred. Buy any random sword and slice up some evil god or wicked dragon, and you're good to go.

"About six years ago? I was incredibly busy with work when evil gods and malevolent deities started messing with me."

It was a cross-mythological alliance led by Loki, the greatest trickster in Norse mythology. I might have tolerated it when I had free time, but being constantly harassed when I was busy made me snap. I actually wanted to kill them, but the top figures from their respective mythologies begged me to spare them, so I presented alternative conditions instead.

"I made them cooperate in creating cursed items."

"Sp-specifically, what did you do...?"

"I set up an extremely harsh environment and imprisoned them there. Hung them up like punching bags and kept tormenting them with weapons."

The weapons were made by blacksmiths from each mythology. I had them design things that would appeal to a boy's heart. Then I used those to repeatedly stab them and get them properly cursed.

"For magic guns, I remember shoving the barrel into their stomachs and twisting it around."

"'...'"

"You look horrified, but gods don't die from that level of treatment."

And evil gods and malevolent deities don't reflect on their actions from that degree of punishment either. They'd even critique the design, saying things like "Isn't that design a bit too childish?" By the end, they were happily making cursed items together with me. They even gladly cooperated in creating producer cards saying "I made this."

"I think I ended up with about two thousand pieces of that kind of dark equipment."

"'...'"

"Well, enough about my stories. Let's go look at firearms."

We head toward the shop run by Grandpa Tage, the aggro-drawing elder. As his nickname suggests, Grandpa Tage is pathologically good at drawing hate. If you're going to do group battles, learning techniques from Grandpa Tage would be a sure bet. Though he's a moody old man, so I don't know if he'd actually take on students.

"Hey Grandpa Tage. Mind if we look at your merchandise?"

"Oh, it's you... Yeah, look all you want."

Grandpa Tage seems absorbed in his FPS game behind the counter. The way he won't take his eyes off his gaming PC for even a second makes it seem like he's not taking business seriously... Well, he's just selling firearms as a hobby, so there's no problem with that.

"Ohhh... amazing... wow..."

Rika... the girl is making a bad face... What? Do girls these days like firearms? No, that can't be it. Sure, beautiful women and girls look good with hefty weapons, but that's just male desire.

"Hikaru, you're not really into this kind of thing?"

"Well, no. I'm more into swords and... also, wires and stuff look cool to me."

"Nice. Wire slicing does have romance to it."

"Though I might admire giant cannons that can only fire once."

"I get that."

While we two guys are chatting, Hikaru's gaze suddenly becomes fixed on one particular spot.

"Hikaru?"

"Th-this is... could it be..."

He approaches with ghostly, unsteady steps and picks it up. What Hikaru grabbed was a thin metal tube like a flashlight. Ah, given this shop's inventory, they'd have this kind of thing too.

"S-Satou-san?"

At his expectant gaze, I smile gently like a loving mother and nod.

"Try pressing the switch."

"...!!"

With a humming sound, a blade of light formed. Hikaru was... crying.

"I want... I want this... I want it! I'll buy it! Cash payment!!"

The price is... oh, three hundred thousand. That's cheap. Well, looking at it, it doesn't seem to have that much killing power, so it's reasonable.

"But you should probably avoid that one."

"Wh-why?!"

"Because the resource for forming the blade is your own stamina."

Hikaru is mainly close-combat focused right now. A weapon that drains stamina wouldn't be good for him. Depending on the item it might be worth it, but considering the firepower of the one he's holding, it's a bit of a negative.

"If you're making an expensive purchase, wouldn't it be better to get something practical?"

"Ugh... that is... true..."

"Don't look so dejected. There's probably... there we go, found it."

This type of weapon that consumes something from the user comes in different variations.

"This one would be better for you."

"What's this?"

"It's the type that consumes magical power. From what I can see, Hikaru seems to have a decent amount of magical power."

In games, magical power often equals mental power, but in reality they're different things. When someone awakens to supernatural abilities, changes occur in the human body and special organs can be generated. The energy produced by those organs is called magical power, and magic is what primarily uses that energy. Magic uses mental power as a resource, so it's a separate system.

"Th-then I'll take that one! Hehe... oh, can I change the color or anything?!"

"...Well, I can modify that for you later."

"Really?! Please do!!"

How heartwarming.