Chapter 5
----- Lutz -----
With a turn of the handle, the thick door opens more smoothly and effortlessly than most would imagine, considering that it’s clearly been reinforced to prevent intrusion.
On our side of the now open doorway is an alley, like many others that exist in Orakio’s capital city of Roshar. But the one I’m standing in is obviously kept clean, which is what sets it apart from most others.
Although this is one of the nicer parts of the city, that doesn’t mean alleyways are safe and sanitary. Far from it, actually. If I were to go into a random one, I’d likely be met with piles of garbage and maybe even a vagrant or two huddling in a dirty corner.
There’s even a chance I’ll run into a band of thugs, looking to rob anyone unlucky enough to take the wrong shortcut.
But none of those problems infest this particular alleyway, the reason being obvious for anyone who knows what this building is. Though it’s less about the building itself and more about who owns it.
The owner being me.
“Hey everyone!” Belle walks inside first, waving to her family. “I’m back!”
“Big sis!” The younger sister stands up from her chair, where she was writing in a notebook.
“How ya doing?” Belle gives her little sister a hug. “Working hard?”
“Yeah! I’ve been doing a lot of writing!” She points to the notebook, which does indeed have words written on the page.
“Oh? Let’s see what you’ve got.” Belle picks up the notebook and begins reading her little sister’s writing. “They made the funny cat mad. It made a loud noise and got angry. It flew at them with its wings after making a big jump. But it got sad when they knocked it back down.”
As Belle continues reading the story, I shut the door and lock it. Considering this is the back entrance to my shop, The Elven Crossroads, it only made sense to beef up the security by installing a thick door to prevent intrusion.
I didn’t stop with just getting a new door, though. I enchanted the brick walls on all four sides of this room with defensive magic, giving them a toughness far beyond what anyone would imagine.
But even if someone managed to blast their way in, it would likely be the last thing they ever did. Each member of Belle’s family has been to The Beast Warrens, a dungeon near their hometown that even most adventurers fear.
In terms of pure stats, Belle’s family is on the same level as an average S-Ranked adventurer. If we include their overpowered equipment, they could even be considered some of the strongest people in the entire world.
Though none of them have any real combat experience since my party did all the actual fighting in our dungeon runs. Still, it’d take a concerted effort from some of the most powerful people to actually threaten them.
“...and then,” Belle continues, “they opened a treasure chest and got a lot of pretty things!”
“Yeah!” The younger sister shows a bit of excitement after hearing her story read aloud.
“This drawing is…” Belle holds the notebook up, which shows a drawing of a cat-like creature.
“The mantis core!”
“I thought so. But it’s pronounced manticore.” Next, Belle points to the other page on the notebook. “And these people are?”
“You!” The younger sister looks to me next. “And you! And everyone else!”
The resemblance is uncanny–is what I would like to say. But if anyone were to ask me who the people on the page are, I would have a hard time answering. I do have my spear in hand, while everyone else has their appropriate weapons. That’s the only real clue as to who the figures are supposed to be.
Belle looks between me and her sister’s drawing. “You drew him way too handsome.”
I take in the sight of the figure wielding the spear, with his oblong head and oddly-shaped limbs. “At least my hair matches the drawing.”
Among everything her younger sister drew on me, the hair is surprisingly accurate, even if it’s still a crude representation.
“It was easy!” the young girl says. “I just squiggled a bunch of lines!”
“Pfft.” Belle covers her mouth. “Yeah, that’s pretty much all you need to do.”
I run my hand through my unruly hair. “Hope you like it because it’s not changing any time soon.”
By soon, I mean in the next few thousand years since that’s the estimated life expectancy of my body. RAM herself confirmed it, though I’m the first one to actually put one of these bodies to use.
Although now, there’s another person who’s in the same situation as me. And it’s the very girl I brought along with me to this shop.
Belle places the notebook back down onto the desk. Although she currently has her normal, blue hair and the same looks she had most of her life, her real body is actually similar to mine. That is to say, she’s considered an Immortal Being alongside me.
As is typical for Belle’s family, her parents are hard at work sewing clothes and taking care of various tasks related to the shop. Her father is still a novice enchanter, but he can at least create buffs strong enough that a fresh adventurer could make use of them.
And since we sell them at a reasonable price, our shop has become somewhat famous as a place to go for both newbies and world-class adventurers.
If we scaled up production, we’d definitely put a lot of other shops out of business.
We should be careful not to disturb the market too much after the war. I am literally a cheater after all, so nobody would be able to compete.
For now, my top priority is making sure everyone is prepared for the final battle. With how many adventurers and soldiers frequent my shop, I can be assured that a lot of my potions and equipment are being used to increase our overall strength.
Unfortunately, there’s no more time to use this shop to distribute items naturally amongst those who will be at the final battle. We’ve reached the point where all the useful stuff is going into a stockpile with the sole purpose of handing them out directly to the soldiers and adventurers who need them.
That said, I still plan to keep the store’s shelves filled, to a degree. We still have a lot of customers, after all.
“Another busy day, huh?” I check my [Minimap] and see a large grouping of blue dots in the store’s front.
“Never lets up.” The father answers without looking up from the shirt he’s sewing.
“After the war, we should consider hiring a few more people. At the very least, we need enough staff to keep the store running in case all of you want to go on a vacation.”
“Never given much thought to taking a vacation.”
“You should. You’ll be a noble family after the war, so you might not have time to work at this shop all day. And if you’re going to be mingling with so many powerful people, then expanding your perspective might help you fit in better.”
He shakes his head. “Don’t care about that.”
“Trust me when I say I agree. The last thing I want to do is play games with nobles. But there’s something to be said of people who at least pay respect to other customs and traditions. In your old village, adventurers who passed through to get to the dungeon often caused trouble. That’s why you didn’t respect outsiders very much, right? If those adventurers were more respectful to your village and its people, wouldn’t you have a much higher opinion of them?”
“I suppose. Not likely to happen, though.”
“True. There will always be troublemakers, no matter where you go. But if your family is going to be raised to noble status, then it’s almost like you’re an outsider coming to visit their village. If you don’t show them at least some respect, they’ll reject you. And you don’t want to be on the other side of a powerful group of scheming nobles.”
I motion to Belle. “She can protect your family from a lot of problems, simply because she’s a summoned hero. But that will only last so long. What about your grandkids? Or your great grandkids? Noble families have long memories, so making enemies early on can create huge chasms that lead to a lot of bad blood.”
The father finally looks up. “I get what you’re saying. But I’m just not made for dealing with those types. I’ll set up shop somewhere quiet, just to get away from them.”
I nod. “Now that, I can absolutely agree with.”
“Hmm.” The mother looks at Belle. “Grandkids.”
“Uhhh…” I suddenly realize the mistake I made during my recent conversation.
My eyes meet Belle, and I don’t see any hesitation in them. Among all my companions, she’s always been the most forward about her feelings. By now, she’s obviously got all of them sorted out.
The same can’t really be said for me, considering all the circumstances surrounding us.
“Oh, that’s right.” I look toward the other door in this room, shamelessly changing the subject. “I need to speak with Celine, too.”
I open the door that leads out to the shop’s front room, where all customers are shopping. Celine and her brother are working the counter and helping the patrons, as usual.
Using them as an excuse, I leave the back room behind, along with all the talk about having children.