Chapter 39: Towards the Mission - Part 1
After Julius was gone, a butler hurriedly approached us.
"Princess, it's time for your tea with the queen."
"Oh, is it already that time? Alright, I'll go right away."
Upon receiving the butler's message, the princess said, "In that case, let's finish here for today," and our duties for the day came to an end.
Just like before, carriages were prepared for us, and we were each sent to our respective lodgings.
"...I should buy some equipment for escorting from Cynthia's place."
Although she said she would prepare the necessary tools for the task, it wouldn't hurt to be prepared myself, just to be safe.
With that thought in mind, I headed straight to Cynthia's shop.
"Welcome, Jin-kun. It's been a while."
As I entered the shop, Cynthia greeted me while arranging the displayed items.
"It's been a while, Cynthia. Were you still in the middle of preparations?"
"It's all good. I was just restocking the items that a customer bought a while ago. So, what brings you here today?"
"I came to buy things that could be useful for escorting. I'm going to take on an escort mission, and she said she would prepare the tools over there, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to have my own."
"I see. Jin-kun, you're always so meticulous."
Cynthia smiled and headed towards the counter, saying, "Let me know if there's anything that catches your interest."
"Now, let's see if there's any product that I like..."
The items on display have changed quite a bit since the game, so it seems I won't be able to find what I want unless I look at everything.
With that in mind, I carefully checked each item in the store.
Internally surprised by the changes since the game era, I had finished looking around to a certain extent and brought the items to the counter.
"You're buying that many? Each one is quite expensive, you know?"
"It's fine. I've been doing well with requests lately, so I have the money. Besides, if I were to fail a request, it would be fatal for an adventurer."
"I see. You really spare no expense when it comes to tools, Jin-kun."
"It's better to have high-quality tools than to have cheap ones that could hinder my work, even if I have the money."
As I said so in response to Cynthia's words, I paid for the items and put the completed purchase into the [Different Space Box].
Now that I've finished acquiring the equipment, it's time to head back.
Thinking that way, as I was about to leave the store, Cynthia called out to me, saying, "Ah, wait a moment!"
"Careful, careful! There was something I wanted to tell Jin-kun. Wait a sec!"
With that, Cynthia said and ran off into the back of the store.
And a few minutes later, she came back holding two small wooden boxes.
"When you came last time, you said you wanted more magical tools to use in the dungeon, right? A friend of mine who supplies magical tools to my shop heard that and prepared these for you."
"For real?! Can I take a look?"
Certainly, when I came to Cynthia's shop last time, as I was leaving, I said to her, "I want more various magical tools."
That was because I didn't have the items I used during the game, so I thought if I told Cynthia, maybe she would prepare them for me. I had a little hope.
But I never imagined that the shop's lineup would actually increase!
"...Hey, Cynthia. What exactly is this small room?"
"As the name suggests, it's a magical tool that produces a room. It's an item that uses spatial magic to store a room of about this size inside the magical tool, making it possible to bring it in and out at any time. However, it was made at the very limit of the tool's capacity, so the downside is that you can only place a few pieces of furniture."
I had a hunch from the name and asked, but it was indeed a magical tool that was a higher version of the "tent" that was quite useful for dungeon exploration during the game!
In the game, it was called the "Anywhere Small Room" and lined up at Cynthia's shop. It was such an important tool that I bought it as soon as it arrived.
"And although it's not a set, she recommended me to purchase this 'magical tool kitchen' here."
In response to Cynthia's words, I looked at the "magical tool kitchen" inside the second box and checked my wallet.
Uh-oh, I can't decide to buy such an expensive item alone.
"Hey, Cynthia. I'll bring Chloe with me tomorrow, so can you keep these magical tools for me? It's almost a definite purchase for me, but without it being party property, I can't seem to buy it."
"Fine by me. You've always been a great help, Jin-kun."
"Thanks, I appreciate it."
Saying that, I thanked Cynthia and left the store, returning to the inn.
After returning home, since I had time until dinner, I thought I should take care of my equipment if I'm going to go on a guard mission.
I moved to the inn's garden, took out the tools for maintenance and my equipment, and decided to do equipment maintenance until dinner.