kscans

Chapter 13 - The Explanation

I was at the station nearest to my house, waiting for someone. That someone was, of course, Kaede-chan. There’s no one else.

Kaede-chan had found out that I was Eleanor. The interrogation was about to begin.

Kaede-chan wanted to come to my house right away, but I stopped her. The simple reason was that I wanted to tidy up my house.

The potions were all in my bag, but there were other things I had to hide, like books and DVDs. I rushed back home, stuffed anything I couldn’t let her see into a bag, and did some cleaning, like vacuuming.

After finishing those tasks, I was now waiting at the designated station.

As I waited at the station, Kaede-chan spotted me and came over, smiling and waving. She had, of course, changed out of her guild uniform and into her regular clothes. She was dressed cutely today as well.

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

"Nah. I wasn’t waiting long."

I really hadn’t been. Maybe about five minutes?

"Senpai... why are you in a tracksuit?"

I was in a tracksuit and sandals. This was not the proper attire for meeting Kaede-chan. What’s more, it was completely inappropriate for inviting a girl over to my house.

"There’s a reason. Anyway, are you sure you’re okay with my place?"

doki doki.

"This isn’t something we can talk about outside."

Well, I guess so.

"Then come on. This way."

"Okay. Excuse me for intruding."

I led Kaede-chan out of the station and we walked towards my home. After a short walk, a run-down old apartment building came into view.

"That’s it."

I pointed to my apartment building.

"It has character."

Kaede-chan is good at choosing her words.

"I’m thinking of moving."

"I would think so."

Kaede-chan and I continued walking. I was about to enter my apartment when I saw my next-door neighbor smoking in front of his door.

"Hello."

I greeted my neighbor.

"Yo! I’ve been seeing you around during the day lately, huh..."

My neighbor froze when he saw Kaede-chan behind me.

"My girlfriend!"

I pointed at Kaede-chan with great enthusiasm.

"That’s not true."

She immediately denied it.

"Hey, what about the girl from the other day?"

The other day?

"Who’s that?"

"You know, the girl with the long black hair. She was wearing that tracksuit of yours."

Oh, come to think of it, I ran into him before I dyed my hair.

"Hey, don’t say things like that in front of another girl."

Read the room, man. Kaede-chan is giving me a really cold look.

"Ah, my bad."

"Be careful. Come on, Kaede-chan."

I opened the door to my apartment and pushed Kaede-chan inside. Then, I entered as well and closed the door.

"Welcome."

"...Excuse me for intruding."

Kaede-chan’s voice was cold.

"What’s wrong?"

"Senpai, you had a girlfriend?"

She’s super scary.

"No, no. This is the first time a girl... or anyone, for that matter, has been to this house."

How sad.

"Then who was the person he was talking about?"

"I’ll explain that part too. Come on in."

I put my hand on Kaede-chan’s shoulder and urged her forward. Kaede-chan silently took off her shoes and stepped into the room. Then she passed through the kitchen and entered the main room.

"Well, it’s the room I imagined."

Kaede-chan muttered as she looked around.

"See? I can’t exactly bring you back here, can I?"

"I would be a little reluctant."

I thought so.

"Well, have a seat. There are no cushions, though."

At my words, Kaede-chan sat down seiza-style. Seeing that, I also sat down near her.

"Want something to drink?"

"What do you have?"

"Coffee, beer, chuhai, tap water, Healing Potion!"

"I’ll have a beer."

Huh? Did my joke fall flat? And she’s choosing beer...

I went to the kitchen, got two cans of beer, and returned to the room. Then I sat down while handing a beer to Kaede-chan.

"Cheers!"

"Cheers."

Kaede-chan and I opened our beers and started drinking.

"So? Please explain."

After taking a sip of beer, Kaede-chan demanded an explanation.

"Where should I start..."

"From the beginning."

Everything, huh...

"Well, you see, the first time I went to the Frontier, I had a skill from the very start."

"I know. Swordsmanship, which is already Level 5, right?"

"That’s the one, but I had another one."

"Huh? I checked many times, but there was only one."

So she really couldn’t see it.

"That’s the strange thing. It’s definitely there, but you can’t see it. I think it’s the same for other people too."

"Something like that... Ah, so that’s why you kept asking me to check so insistently."

I wasn’t insistent.

"I was just curious."

"You should have just told me."

"I didn’t want you to think I was crazy."

"It’s okay... no, so what skill is it?"

Hey! You already think I’m crazy, don’t you!

"Alchemy."

"Crazy?"

"For real."

"...Healing Potion... huh? You made it!?"

She catches on fast!

"That’s right. I can make it with Medicinal Herbs and Pure Water. What’s more, I can also make Pure Water."

"What? What kind of skill is that? That’s insane."

"It’s insane, right? And other people can’t see it."

"...Of course you’d think about making money with that."

Right! Right! I knew you’d say that, Kaede-chan.

"And I did make a profit. Behold, this bundle of cash."

I took out two million yen from my bag and showed it off.

"Yes, I’m the one who gave that to you, so I know."

Come to think of it, that’s right.

"Right."

"Senpai, try making something."

It would be faster to show her.

I took a bottle of water and a Medicinal Herb from my bag.

"First, I’ll turn this water into Pure Water."

I held up the plastic bottle to show her. Then, I stared at it intently.

"Ah, it glowed a little!"

"See!"

"Let me see that for a second."

Kaede-chan took the bottle from my hand and stared at it.

"You can’t tell if water has turned into Pure Water just by looking at it, you know."

"I can tell. It’s definitely Pure Water."

"Hm? You can tell? Is there a way to distinguish them?"

I can’t tell.

"I’ll only tell you, Senpai. This is something I’m not supposed to say, but I have the Appraisal skill."

Wow, that’s amazing.

"Really, that’s great. Then why don’t you just appraise things on the spot instead of going to the back room every time?"

You always disappear into the back.

"We’re not supposed to tell anyone what skills we have. What’s more, Appraisal is a valuable skill, so it’s especially forbidden."

"Are there not many people who have it?"

"That’s right. But the guild absolutely needs someone with the Appraisal skill. That’s why the current Guild Master-san invited me."

Because Appraisal is so valuable...

"I see. You can make a living with just that. If your job is so bad, why don’t you quit?"

"I’m indebted to the current Guild Master-san. She took me in, and she was my party leader."

What a great boss. Ah, that reminds me of my former piece of crap boss. No, no, don’t think about it.

"Then, do you know what this is?"

I took a pill out of my bag.

"Hmm? A medicine? ...A Sleeping Potion? You’re the worst."

Kaede-chan shifted her hips, putting a little distance between us.

"If you drink it, you’ll fall asleep instantly. And you won’t wake up for six hours."

"The worst... Did you make this too?"

"Yep. My skill’s recipes increase as my level goes up. Right now... I have six, I think?"

"This Sleeping Potion, Healing Potions, Pure Water... and what else?"

Kaede-chan looked at my bag.

"This, is it..."

"Huh? You can tell?"

You figured out this is an Item Bag!?

"Senpai, you took out ten Healing Potions from this bag earlier, didn’t you? A bag of this size can’t hold ten."

Ah... come to think of it, it can only hold five. That’s why I only sold five even though I made ten.

"My mistake, my mistake. Well, it happens sometimes."

Everyone makes mistakes!

"You’ve made a lot of other mistakes too, you know."

"Have I?"

"Want to hear them?"

"Nah. It’s fine."

It’s probably about the Status Cards. I also realized that having the exact same skills and level might be a bad idea.

"What are the ingredients for this Item Bag?"

"A container and rubber bands."

"What? Rubber bands?"

Kaede-chan looked stunned.

"Yep, rubber bands."

"Th, then, try it with this bag of mine!"

Kaede-chan took off the brown pochette she had been carrying yesterday and handed it to me.

"Sure, but what size? It depends on the number of rubber bands. One per kilogram."

"...Then, 100 kilograms."

I took some rubber bands out of my bag, opened Kaede-chan’s pochette, and took out the contents. Inside were a wallet, a smartphone, a small pouch, candy, and other things.

I put 100 rubber bands into the empty pochette and stared at it. Kaede-chan’s pochette glowed for a moment, and then it subsided.

"There. It’s done."

I returned the pochette to Kaede-chan. Kaede-chan took the pochette with both hands and just stared at it.

"Kaede-chan?"

What’s wrong?

"It’s really an Item Bag... An Item Bag made with rubber bands."

It seems she appraised it with her skill.

"Right?"

When I asked, Kaede-chan slowly looked up, her mouth twitching.

"...That’s 10 million yen."

"Hm?"

What is?

"Item Bags are traded for roughly 100,000 yen per kilogram of capacity. 100 kilograms would be 10 million yen."

........................

I picked up my own white bag.

"This is... 100 million..."

I put 1,000 rubber bands in it. So it has a capacity of 1,000 kilograms.

".............................."

".............................."

Kaede-chan and I looked at each other in silence.

"Shall we go eat some crab...?"

Kaede-chan broke the silence.

"Yeah... Should we go on that trip around the world, too?"

"Let’s save that for our retirement..."

"Want a refill?"

I pointed at the beer.

"Yes..."

I stood up, went to the fridge, got another beer, and came back. Then I sat down next to Kaede-chan and handed her the can.

"Let’s drink."

"Let’s drink."