Shop 18

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Chapter 18. The Depressed Little Girl In The Wilderness

"One month, huh..."

I was prepared for a certain length of stay, but a whole month was truly unexpected. 

Perhaps negotiating with the anticipation of a short-term stay was a failure. 

Well, I can go beyond the Veliero Company if necessary. 

Initially, I planned to conduct business cautiously. But as things got more complicated, I started thinking about changing my approach to fully capitalize on SHOP power since I had nothing else to do.

Now that I had nothing else to do, I returned to the inn.

"Oh, customers?"

Upon entering the room, little Narnia was there. This time, she wasn't in her underwear.

Not that I cared much about a little girl's nakedness.

"I'm back... Are you cleaning?"

"Yes, cleaning. This room is the last one."

"Well, thank you for your hard work."

Trying not to disturb her, I went out into the corridor. Narnia took out the stick candy-like thing again and muttered, "Become clean.". The moment the room lit up was still a mysterious phenomenon.

Narnia straightened the bed sheets, did some sweeping, and cheerfully declared, "Done!"

"Don't you change the sheets?"

"I just cleaned them with the cleaning tool."

She said something strange. But rather, she looked at me as if I had said something strange.

"Can you clean fabrics with that too?"

"Yes, it cleans toilets, horse dung on the roads, everything. The main street wasn't dirty, thanks to this."

"I see."

The cleaning tool was even more useful than I had imagined.

"Hey, can you lend me that for a moment?"

"Huh? Well, that's a bit..."

"I want to try something. Oh right, I'll do this." 

I took out two candies and handed them to Narnia.

"What's this?"

"Candy. Haven't you eaten it before?"

"Is it food? This?"

A girl, with the candy wrapped in a semi-transparent colored vinyl package, looked at it attentively.

"Oh, but don't bite into it. Let it melt in your mouth."

"Hmm, then..."

"Wait! You can't eat the bag! Just the contents!"

I quickly grabbed the candy that Narnia was about to put in her mouth with the bag.

"You can't eat this transparent bag. Open your mouth."

I took the candy from the bag and put it in Narnia's mouth.

"Munch... Mm... Mmm!"

At first, she looked puzzled, but her expression gradually melted like the candy. 

She jumped up with both hands on her cheeks and shouted. 

"Sweet! Delicious!"

The sight of a little girl happily sucking on candy was heartwarming. 

I hope she doesn't grow up to be an unpleasant woman.

Since she was engrossed in licking the candy, I decided to wait without bothering her.

"Ah... it's gone..."

After a while, the dejected little girl seemed to have disappeared from her mouth.

"Can I borrow the cleaning tool now?"

"Huh? Well, it's a bit..."

"I want to try something. Oh, right..."

"Wait, are you going to steal and run away?"

"You were suspicious of that? I won't do anything dishonest! I thought of buying it if it's useful!"

"Oh, you should have said that from the beginning. Here you go."

"Thanks..."

I received the mysterious object that looked like a metal stick candy and examined it. 

It wasn't as heavy as I thought, and I had no idea how it worked just by holding it. 

I thought it might have a switch or something, but there was nothing like that.

"So, how do you use it?"

"Imagine what you want to be clean, and say, 'Become clean.'."

Perhaps because of the candy, Narnia's language became gradually informal. 

Of course, I didn't mind.

I took off my shirt and held the Y-shirt in my hand. 

It was considerably dirty from sweating without changing for days and accumulating dust. 

It was a miracle that I was able to proceed with negotiations with such attire.

I hesitated.

Declaring that I wanted it to become clean was embarrassingly awkward. Is just thinking about it not enough?

With a last-ditch effort, I imagined the Y-shirt becoming pure white and neatly starched like a cleaned shirt, then brought the cleaning tool close.

I felt a sensation as if 'something' had flowed into the cleaning tool, and the shirt momentarily glowed. 

However, it had changed into the imagined cleaned shirt, but there was a bit of sand on the surface.

It seemed that it didn't become completely clean. With a sense of joy, I looked at the shirt, and Narnia lightly tapped the sand.

The sand fell to the ground, and the shirt transformed into a clean state.

"Oh."

"Customer, dirt turns into sand, so it's okay if you tap it. The laundry people will do it for you with an additional fee."

"What happens if you don't pay the extra fee?"

"It's just normal foot-treading laundry. With river water."

"I see."

It would be environmentally friendly to use this cleaning tool for everything. Probably a business decision.

"Thank you. Here's the promised candy; it tastes different from before."

I returned the cleaning tool and handed Narnia another candy. 

The previous one was strawberry-flavored; this one was lemon-flavored.

"Mmm."

She began to melt the candy single-mindedly.

I should probably give a tip in the form of candy rather than copper coins.

"Cleaning tools, huh? Hey, where can I buy this? I'd prefer a store that won't overcharge if possible."

"Um... After I finish licking it..."

After a few minutes of waiting on a chair, Narnia looked sad. It seemed she had finished licking.

"Well then, near the square on the main street. Go straight from here to the square, and it's on the left side just before the square. The sign is black with three white lines."

"I think I've seen that. Got it. I'll check it out."

"Have a good trip."

I briefly thought about giving her a candy tip, but I didn't want her to get cavities, so I'll leave it at this.

I left the room as it was.

After walking for a while, I arrived at the store with a black sign and three white lines hanging in front of it. 

Upon closer inspection, there were several fist-sized glass pieces embedded instead of bricks, giving it a considerably luxurious feel compared to other stores.

However, the glass was frosted, and the inside couldn't be seen. It probably has some lighting features.

Now, let's go inside. As I was about to reach for the door, the door opened from the inside.

"... Huh? Cherina... Oh, excuse me, what a coincidence, Veliero-san."

The one who came out was none other than the busty Cherina Veliero herself.

"Oh, if it isn't Akira-sama. Hello. And you can call me Cherina. No need for formalities."

"No, no, I apologize for being abrupt. I'm just a country bumpkin at heart."

I bowed slightly, and she smiled at me.

"So, Akira-sama, did you come here for business?"

It seemed Cherina's eyes became a bit sharper.

"It's not exactly business, just shopping. I heard that this place sells something convenient called a cleaning tool, so I came to take a look."

"I see. Some of the cleaning tools here are supplied by our company, so the quality is reliable."

"That's wonderful. In that case..."

"However, our business model is buying and selling in bulk. We don't do retail."

She anticipated what I was going to say and laughed. Women really can't be underestimated.

"Alright then, I'll take a look here."

I said that and entered the store, but for some reason, Cherina followed me inside.