"Ah that's right, yesterday Malik-san gave me his old magic bag and turns out, there's various things inside. Since Malik-san doesn't use it anymore, he gave the bag along with its content to me."
Ah that's bad, I'm really forgetful. I almost forgot to tell Chris-san. It'd be a waste if I were to buy the same thing that Malik-san already gave to me before.
"Oh? So that's your new magic bag. What kind of thing is left there?"
"There's five set of sleeping bags and tents, some cooking utensils, cleaning utensils and tableware. Malik-san said the only thing I need to buy is food and clothing."
If I may say, I think Malik-san already gave me the perfect equipment for camping.
"Hmm~ Then what about weapon? Do you have any dagger with you? I think dagger might suit you more since it's not as heavy as ordinary sword~"
"I have one though since I spent my days collecting lulu grass in the forest, there's almost no monster there so I don't have any hands on experience to use it. I practice my combat skill with Malik-san in the training ground but.. Well, the result is quite unsatisfactory I think.."
I touch the dagger on my waist, the one that Malik-san gave me when I took my first lulu grass gathering quest. I never actually use it so I'm a little bit afraid.. I don't know whether I can fight properly or not..
"That's alright~ Knowing basic self defense mechanism is already good!~ What's more important is how to know when to escape. If you think your life is going to be in danger, run away immediately! You can also use your support magic to help you escape~"
Clenching my fist and pump it into the air, I say,"Yes! When the time comes, I can use [Roots] or [Sleep] on the enemy and run away!"
I've trained my support magic with Tord-san, so far my success rate to trap the enemy is 100%. I will do my best in successfully running away!
"Hahaha! Hit them hard with your support magic, Ren-chan!~ Anyway, since Malik already gave you the necessary equipment, let's start by searching for clothes and food."
"Is there any specific clothes I need to look for?"
Chris-san seems to ponder a bit before he answers,"Hmm let's see, since you will be riding a horse with me it's better to buy long sleeved shirt so you won't get cold. Also you will need a mantle and boots. Mantle and long sleeved shirt to protect you from the wind and boots to protect you when walking in the forest."
Turns out, there's still a lot of things I need to buy. Good thing Malik-san gave me some pocket money.
"I see.. I still have a long way to go huh.."
"Well, Ren-chan is a special case afterall. If you've been living in Alsar since birth, you will already have all the stuff needed, probably you only need to buy food for your journey."
I see.
Looking at the street, mostly the people in Alsar wear boots instead of sandal like me.
Since I've only been living in Alsar for about 1 month, I don't have proper clothing for every season yet.
I don't know how hot it will be during summer or how cold it will be during winter.
"That's right, I need to buy plenty of clothes then!"
"Yup, yup !~ I know a shop specializing in selling shoes for adventurer, let's go there!~ I usually buy my shoes in bulk, about.. 4 or 5? So I will have spare shoes when I need them~"
I guess since most adventurer spend their time outside of town, their shoes will get dirty easily. Probably torn easily too.
But since I only will be out of town for half a month, I guess one shoes is enough for me.
"Yes, let's go there."
"Yup, this way Ren-chan~"
Chris-san pulls my hand along with him nonchalantly.
Is it strange that I don't feel uncomfortable holding hands with Chris-san?
—————————
Inside the shop, there's plenty of stuff from clothing to even magic bag. The shop line up the marchandise neatly, giving me the pristine and clean feeling.
"This way, Ren-chan~"
Chris-san take me to the clothing aisle.
"Hmm, there's no clothing in Ren-chan's size, we have to shrink it later. Ah, what about this cloak?"
Chris-san give me a dark brown cloak and he puts it over my body.
Touching the cloak lightly, I was surprised, "Oh this is waterproof? Nice, I don't need to worry about rain then. Do you think it look good on me?"
"Yup yup, it's good~ Hmm~ I think I'm also going to buy a matching one with Ren-chan~"
I really like this cloak, I think I'm going to buy this. Chris-san also said it looks good on me.
Wait, the price!
Huh? There's no price tag?
"Chris-san, this cloak.. There's no price tag to it.."
"Yup, in this shop you will need to ask the staff here for the price. Let's just keep looking for nice looking ones for you and then we will worry about the price later~"
W-what?!
What if I didn't have enough money??
Ah as expected, I'm really grateful that Malik-san gave me some pocket money.. Although if possible I don't want to use it..
"Haa.. Next is shoes then?"
Although I've only known Chris-san for a short time, but I feel like.. I somehow already know his personality inside out.
He's like the kind of person that hit first, ask later kinda thing.
So irresponsible.
Luckily, the shop's assistant is close by so let's just keep gathering the candidate for my clothes and think about the price later.
"Ren-chan, how about this one ? Since it's black, it's easy to mix and match. Also, it seems like it's going to be easy to move while wearing it~"
Chris-san hands me a black boots.
It does seems easy to move with.
Although the size is too big for me, I will need to use [Small] magic on it.
I can just go to the kids section but honestly I really don't want to do it. I would rather use magic to shrink the adult clothes to my size rather than wearing kids clothing.
"It looks good. Let's put it into our cart."
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Thanks to Chris-san, I can pick a lot of things relatively fast.
Chris-san also has good sense of fashion, so the clothes he pick always looks functional yet fashionable.
If I were alone.. I don't think I will ever get things done..
"Yup, I think we already covered everything you need. Let's go talk to the staff now Ren-chan~"
"Yeah.. We already have heaps of things…"
In front of me is the mountain of clothing that we've picked. I'm a little afraid to know the price..
Like the gentleman he is, Chris-san insisted to carry all the clothes to the shop assistant.
With a cheerful voice he says, " All of these please!~"
Chris-san hands the clothes to the shop assistant along with his guild card.
"Eh!? Chris-san?!"
"Let me pay for it~" He smiles.
"What?! No! I can't let you do that! This amount of clothes must've cost a lot!"
I already feel bad enough that he paid for my lunch, I can't allow him to also pay for my clothing!
It'd be wrong! I don't want to take advantage of Chris-san!
"Ren-chan, I think you misunderstand something about me. You must've think I do this out of kindness to you, right? But! The truth is, I do have ulterior motives! I was thinking to ask you to prepare my share of food for our subjugation quest in Calhea in return for all these clothes. You know during ordinary subjugation quest, my food ration is quite poor. Mainly because my cooking skill is not to be proud of. So, having you to cook for me is a huge advantage for me~"
"What? But even if you say so, the price of all of these clothes compared to the future food expenses doesn't match!"
I don't hate Chris-san, in fact he is enjoyable to be around so I don't mind cooking for him.
Especially since I already planned to cook for Malik-san too, having one more person to cook is not a problem at all.
But really, at most.. I think the ingredient might only cost about 100.000 elk. Compared to that, this mountain of clothes must've cost a lot more!
Ignoring me, Chris-san says to the store clerk,"Excuse me, since I'm buying this as a gift, may I have the clothes gift wrapped? And also please help me putting it into Ren-chan's magic bag~"
"Yes, let me assist you." Suddenly, another shop assistant appeared behind my back.
Chris-san hands the clerk his guild card but I still don't want to let this slide!
"Umm, Chris-san.. The payment.."
"Yes, everything has been paid by this gentleman's guild card. Thank you for your patronage."
What?!
Suddenly everything has been paid!
So guild card can also function as debit card some of sort.
Guild card is so convenient!
"Chris-san.. I would feel bad receiving this huge amount of gifts.."
"Ren-chan, do you dislike it? Please don't show me such sad face.. Nothing would make me happier than seeing you smile so please, can you smile for me?"
Ugh..!
D-don't show me that face! He looks exactly like an abandoned puppy!
There's no way I can win against that kind of sad puppy face, so sly!
Ah… Fine, it's my lost then.
Puffing my cheeks with a hands on my waist, I say,"Geez Chris-san! Fine! This is the last time, okay?"
When Chris-san said that he's going to pay for me, it's already a lost cause. He will never yield, never.
And then after sighing, I smile shyly and bow to Chris-san," Thank you, Chris-san. I really appreciate it."
Chris-san in return turn his back on me while covering his face.
"Ahh, I can't stop smiling, he's so cute..!"
I think Chris-san whispered something but I couldn't really catch it.
"Did you say something, Chris-san?"
"Hmm?~ Nope, nothing ~ Anyway, you're welcome, Ren-chan~"
Chris-san hands my magic bag to the store clerk and after they finished filling my magic bag with the neatly wrapped clothes, we head back to the street.
————————————————–
"Chris-san, I just want to say that I'm really grateful for the clothes. Thank you once again." I bow my back again when we left the store.
"Ren-chan you're such a good boy~ It's okay, don't mind it so much. I'm happy enough that I get so see Ren-chan's smiling face. Anyway, what's your plan for tomorrow?"
"Even if you said it like that, I would feel bad if I don't express my gratitude properly. Hmm.. Tomorrow.. I'm planning to just stay at home all day."
A good child or not, it's expected to express gratitude properly when someone gave you something expensive like this!
"Just staying at home all day?~"
"Yes, since I won't be home for a long period of time, I want to start preparing the meal for Malik-san and for our journey too. I want to prepare a variety of food in advance. There's a lot to do, from cutting,roasting, boiling… And so on. Since I'm going to prepare a huge quantity of food, it might take a whole day. After I finish cooking the food, I'm going to put it into a magic bag so it won't rot."
I'm going to buy the ingredient tomorrow morning at the market.
I wonder what kind of food should I cook ~
Malik-san says he can't go without a rice so I should include rice for sure.
"Ren-chan I can see your excitement bubbling through. You really like cooking huh~ I was thinking of asking you out tomorrow but I guess you're busy huh~"
"I love cooking and also housework! I really enjoy doing it~ Yes, I'm sorry but tomorrow I'm going to be busy."
Chris-san gives me his dejected puppy look again.
Because he has natural droopy eyes, when he acts like that, it's making him even more pitiful. My heart clenches looking at him.
Ugh! But I won't yield! Definitely this time I won't yield!
Preparing food for our quest is essential! I can't put it on hold or I won't be able to cook enough food for everyone!
Seeing I'm holding on my ground, Chris-san reluctantly give up and says,"Fine then since we're going to depart two days from now. Is it okay if you come to the guild at 5 o'clock? The guild is open 24/7 so you don't have to worry to wait for its open time."
"I'm fine with it but isn't 5 o'clock is too early?"
I know we're going to have depart in the morning but 5 o'clock.. Isn't too early?
"Yes, I always travel in the dead of morning because the sun is not up yet so temperature is relatively cool. If I wait until the sun is high, it's going to be too hot to travel. When the sun is high, I usually take a nap in the tent and rest until the temperature is cool enough. If we travel in the blazing sun, the horse will get tired easily so traveling when the sun is high is not effective."
"I see! That makes sense! I feel like recently it's getting hotter too."
But compared to the summer in Japan, this is nothing. The humidity during summer in Japan is really unpleasant..
I see, I guess it's going to be summer soon. I need to remember it so the next time I go on a quest, I won't get heatstroke.
"Well then, see you in 2 days! Thank you very much for accompanying me today!"
"Ah, let me take you home Ren-chan~"
"Ah it's okay, I can go back on my own. I will meet you later Chris-san. I'm going to make lots of delicious food so wait for it!~"
I quickly part my goodbye before Chris-san shows me his puppy face again and run back home.
——————————————————————–
Chris's POV
Staring at Ren-chan's leaving figure, I clench my hand,"Ahh, so dangerous.. Even though I don't have anything planned with him, but I still want to see him tomorrow. He's too cute that it's practically a crime! I want to see Ren-chan again~"
"All these time, I never think about settling down. Never. But.. If it's Ren-chan, I don't think it's a bad idea~"
All these 30 years, I've been getting numerous marriage proposal but I turned them all down but somehow.. Ren-chan is different. I think, I can finally settle down if it's him.
"Fufufu~ In two days, I can meet with Ren-chan again. I can't wait!~ For the time being, I'm going to treat him gently and aim to become his lover!~ Ah, now that I think about it.. This is the first time that I ever pursue someone like this huh~"
I can't wait~
I want to kiss Ren-chan and do a lots of things to him but.. I want to see his smile the most~
I want him to keep calling my name with his gentle voice~
Today, when I slung my hand over his shoulder and waist.. He felt so small inside my embrace, like if I press a little bit too hard, he might crumble away. I thought to myself that I have to protect him.
Really.. This is not like me at all..
I never get attached to someone before..
This.. this might be my first love.
When Ren-chan told me where to eat, I choose to go to 'Ken' without any doubt even though I never bring someone there. All because I think by going to 'Ken', Ren-chan might show me his beautiful smile again.
What's more, I hardly ever buy anyone presents before but if it's Ren-chan, everything comes naturally easy.
"To become a man suitable for Ren-chan, I have to change myself to become a responsible adult!~ Ah~ I can't wait to meet Ren-chan~"
I walk back to the guild while thinking about meeting Ren-chan again.