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"No, we\'re nothing like that, Rouge-san. Rather, we aren\'t even a teeny bit close, just regular classmates."

"Is this what I am to you? A woman of convenience you can order around anytime like the other day you didn\'t hesitate in telling me \'Make 100 magic tools with your own money!’"

"...You can\'t take girls for granted, understand?"

Rouge-san said with a cold tone. I really wanted to deny her claim, but it was somewhat true so I couldn\'t muster up a strong rebuttal. No, I can\'t let this happen again. I have to quickly request for our club budget from Mujikka-sensei or else this girl’s going to use this line at every opportunity...

"What an outlandish behavior toward the heiress of the Dragoon family. Truly, the rumors hadn\'t lied about you, Allen Rovenne......"

Deputy Branch Manager Rundo was so shocked he ended up revealing his inner thoughts. He even forgot to add honorifics in the end. However, he quickly came back to his senses and continued.

"Branch Manager! The guests here are all the students of Class A from this year\'s batch. And… Is Branch Manager attending to Allen Rovenne-sama...?"

Rundo looked at Rouge-san with a worried gaze.

"Yeah. He looked so cute furtively taking note of the price tags that I couldn\'t help myself from calling out to him. He said to treat him like any other regular customer, but whoever said a talent can\'t be concealed is quite right. I guess I should also adopt honorifics, right, dear customer?"

\'Anything but that,\' I replied in response to Rouge-san\'s teasing question.

After that, Stella butted in as she looked at the short bow in my hands.

"In fact, just treat us the same. By the way, Allen, have you decided to give up on a sword and are now choosing a short bow? It\'s a pity considering you can fight with Leo to a stalemate. Also, it\'s fine for hunting, but this isn\'t a weapon knights often use. I think you could have chosen a longbow instead."

Rouge-san looked surprised upon hearing Stella\'s words.

"Deary me, so you were a knight aspirant? I should have properly confirmed it before. What she said is right. How about swapping to a longbow now?"

Rouge-san suggested, though, for me, I had already taken a liking to this \'Lygo Bow\'. Besides, I wasn\'t particularly aiming to join the knight order anyway. No, maybe I should say I didn\'t really care about being a swordsman or becoming the world’s strongest. All I wanted was just enough strength to lead a whimsical life.

"Thank you, but I like this one. Besides, I can just use this and if it seems necessary, I’ll think about trying out other weapons. Also, I wasn\'t actively pursuing knighthood."

Rouge-san chuckled on hearing my response.

"Alright. Well, you seem to have talent with the bow so I believe you can also use your honed skill with the short bow for the longbow with ease."

"...My, Allen-san has just been away for a while, yet he is already on close terms with another lady. This is why I can\'t keep my eyes off him. Considering this, maybe I should focus on becoming one of the girls around him rather than aiming for his V-card. Ah, but it\'s not like the Reverance family to surrender before the outcome is decided... Then again... But... Just what exactly do I really want? Kukuku, maybe, this is love?"

No, it isn\'t! I thought. As Jeu giggled to herself while murmuring her riddled monologue, Stella and Fey stared at me.

"Back to business. Which one do you want, Allen?"

Rouge-san stepped forward and said as she placed two knives on the table. One was a silver knife with a blade length of about 20cm, and another a hefty, thick-bladed machete-like weapon with a blade length of about 30 cm.

"Both of them are the products of the Banri Firm that has just started to spread among the shops of the Royal Capital lately. It\'s actually a start-up company but the firm itself has been established by the ex-workers of the Zaimura Company after separating from it. Well, the materials used in making them are different from the original company, but they are cheaper and do quite a good job in my opinion."

...Amazing, she’s really knowledgeable. It\'s no wonder Rouge-san can become a Branch Manager at such a young age.

The excitement in me was suddenly roused to the max. However, it quickly deflated like a balloon when I glanced at the price tags. The knife had a price of 1800 rea, while the machete-like blade had a 2200 rea price tag.

I could take that much out as it would be going over my planned budget by then.

"Fufu, don\'t make such depressed expressions. You can pay a total of 2500 for everything. Ah, but don\'t take it as me giving a favor to the Royal Academy, alright? It\'s more like my assistance in anticipation of your explorer career, just consider it as an investment from my side. It\'s not going to be your first and last purchase in our store, right?"

Rouge-san said with a mischievous smile. If she put it like that, it would be rude of me to turn down her offer. I took her up on her words and accepted her assistance.

"Thank you very much. I’ll surely come by to shop again when I’ve earned enough."

"Fufu. I guess my effort isn\'t in vain. Alright, which do you choose? The knife is mainly used for harvesting plant-type materials. It can also be used to dismantle small monsters, assist you in draining the blood of big ones, and process their internal organs, if you properly maintain it. The machete here is convenient for cutting down thin branches from bushes or dismantling medium-sized monsters. Make your choice depending on your activities as an explorer."

Ugh, what my main activities will be huh…? That was something I hadn\'t given much thought to. As I was pondering thoughtfully with a groan, Stella chimed in with a piece of advice seeing my troubled expression.

"I say since you can easily earn money with your abilities, why not purchase another when you’ve saved enough? If you’re unsure, maybe choose the knife, I think techniques with a knife will help you out later on. It’ll also help expand your combat strategy like fighting while utilizing all sorts of weapons in case you aren\'t joining the knight order.”

Oh, that actually made sense. Truly a mannish way of thinking she had.

"Just what I expect from you, Stella! Then, I’ll go with the knife for now."

This time, I made sure to keep my thoughts to myself while saying my words of admiration to her.

Though, she seemed to have read my mind as what I received in return was her glare.

"...Are you trying to pick a fight with me?"

Why the hell does your girlish instinct work only in this regard…?

◆◆◆

After Allen and co left the store.

"What brought the change today, Branch Manager? I don\'t think I’ve ever seen you assisting a student of the Royal Academy, whom you detest, that much and you always ordered us around saying \'Easy discounts are a no-go, take pride in the prices we set\'. You even purposely changed the price tag of those knives. I believe that price is just the manufacturing price, right? It\'s far from a profitable deal when you include the bow and the chest armor. Maybe you’ve also heard of the rumors about Allen Rovenne despite your disinterest in them?"

Deputy Branch Manager Rundo inquired to his usually moody superior.

"No, it\'s as he said. I didn\'t know who he was or the rumors about him. I just provided a bit of assistance in hopes that he’ll become our regular customer following his explorer activities. No more, no less."

Rouge answered in an upbeat mood.

"But he is the rising star of this year who has beaten down that prodigy Leo Zatsinger by achieving the top score in the practical exam, Branch Manager. We should give him a discounted price and buy his favor."

Rundo enthusiastically appealed, however, Rouge just smiled in response without saying anything.

◆◆◆

"I’m sorry for my earlier blunder, Allen. They found out your real name in the end."

After leaving the store, Al earnestly apologized for his earlier mistake.

"You really don\'t have to mind. I was mostly done with my shopping, and considering my future visits, I think it all worked out for the better."

"If you say so. By the way, what’s everyone going to do now? Coco and I plan to visit the Association Headquarters and register ourselves as explorers."

Al asked the others about their plans.

"I still have an errand to do here after this. So, see you tomorrow." (Allen)

I had basically gathered all the necessary equipment, so my next stop was to visit the Explorer Association and gather intel on explorer\'s work.

"...Can\'t you leave that errand for tomorrow? There’s a tasty sweet nearby, it wouldn\'t hurt to accompany us for a while longer, you know? Even in the arms store, you immediately went out to pick girls up and trapped that beautiful lady with your sweet words... Do you even know why we came here?"

Fey gave me a reproachful glare. No, it wasn\'t just her, everyone was casting accusatory glances my way… I only visited the arms store and received a weapon from the clerk, I didn’t think they needed to look at me like that... I really don\'t get it.

Well, on the other hand, it\'s already late today. I guess I’ll just gather information tomorrow. But sweets, huh? I really wasn\'t that excited about it, to be frank.

It’s not that I wasn\'t interested in them, far from it. I frequently went out for the sake of sweets, which I think was quite whimsical of me as a man, and pre-awakened \'Allen\' was fond of sweets, which was normal for a kid. However, coming from someone who experienced the world\'s top-class cuisines in the gourmet superpower called Japan, especially in the capital Tokyo, I have serious doubts about the gourmet level here.

At the very least, I didn\'t see any dishes served back at our family\'s home that managed to impress me. Things like barbecue with just salt sprinkled on monster meat were incredibly delicious, but that was mostly due to the ingredient quality rather than craftsmanship.

There was just one time I visited a first-class restaurant in this Royal Capital, and that was when I was sightseeing with my elder sister. Honestly, my impression stopped at \'Well, this is it\'. I guess the standard of the country called Japan was just that extraordinary from my other world perspective.

But turning down their offer now would be a disservice to Stella who had gone out of her way to help me out this time. And I also decided on my weapons without any prior discussion with them...

"Haa. Alright. Stella went out of her way to accompany me, so I can do that much..."

The girl trio cheered when I said that. The connection between girls and sweets never changes, huh?

T/N - I guess others know who Rouge is or how she usually treats royal academy students. On the side note, I added the Allen tag after the dialogue since I thought it might be confusing to check who speaks that line. And on a further side note, I am glad this novel isn’t about cooking.

EN - You know, if Allen just stood up to Fey instead of being quiet just because what she said was kinda sorta true, there wouldn’t be any misunderstandings. How hard is it to say “That was for our club activities and you agreed to it quite readily.” If he’s gonna act like such a doormat to her, he may as well sign the marriage papers now ‘cause he’s gonna be her whipped husband at this rate whether he likes it or not. Sorry for the rant, I’m not really fond of these sorts of forced comedies when the mc can clearly defend himself if only he spoke out.