Tasan of the Ring ①
The next day. I must have been tired, because I slept past noon.
Today isn’t a Witch day, so after eating, I immediately headed to the room next door.
On the way, I glanced at the Tower. It seemed Mineha-san wasn’t there either.
A mauve Square Chunk.
Not only could I not cut it, but even 【Vanish】 had no effect.
And it was heavy. I couldn’t even lift it to carry it.
I was glad Juicy-san was there. Glad she was a Gorilla.
No, a dog? No, a wolf. Hmmm. Dog is fine, I guess.
First, for confirmation, I used [Wheel of Fortune].
The chunk emitted a purple light. Yep. No doubt about it.
No doubt about it, but… what is this thing, really?
“I’ll report this to the Witch tomorrow… hmm? Looking closely, it’s dirty.”
There was mold and various other stains on the surface. Hmmm. First, a wash.
I brought lye, soap, and Purified Water from the next room.
Purified Water is a mixture of Potion, several types of medicinal herbs, and Slime Oil.
Slime Oil is an oil made by Compounding slime mucus and fragrant oil.
This Slime Oil is diluted for use in cosmetics and such.
Mixing the undiluted solution with medicinal herbs and Potion creates Purified Water.
It can remove extraordinary stains.
This is the Witch’s own recipe, so its effect is outstanding.
Right away, I applied lye to a Tawashi Scrubbing Brush and scrubbed. Scrubbed. Scrubbed.
“…It’s not coming off at all.”
Next. I lathered it with soap and scrubbed. Scrubbed. Scrubbed. Scrubbed. Scrubbed. Scrubbed. Scrubbed. Scrubbed. Scrubbed. Scrubbed.
“…Nothing’s coming off.”
What is this grime? But this Purified Water should work!
I applied Purified Water to the Tawashi Scrubbing Brush and scrubbed. Scrubbed. Scrubbed. Scrubbed. Scrubbed. Scrubbed. Scrubbed. Scrubbed. Scrubbed. Scrubbed. Scrubbed. Scrubbed. Scrubbed. Scrubbed. Scrubbed. Scrubbed. Scrubbed. Scrubbed. Scrubbed.
“Hah… hah… haah… Not even a millimeter has come off.”
After all that scrubbing, there’s no change at all?
The Witch’s prized Purified Water?! Phew. Good grief. I’m stumped.
I put down the Tawashi Scrubbing Brush. Even 【Vanish】 didn’t work on this thing.
It can’t be helped. I have no choice but to give up.
“…But, if I recall…”
A faint memory from my past life whispered to me. Free experimentation with the flexible thinking of a child. Try everything you can. There was a manga like that. I couldn’t remember it clearly, but those words stuck with me.
“Flexible thinking… of a child…”
An idea struck me, and I returned to my room. I gathered up every seasoning and liquid I could find.
I placed them all on a wooden box, and now, let’s begin.
Smiling wryly, I picked up a jar of honey and a jar of tomato sauce.
“First, honey.”
I poured honey on it. Hmmm. It just got sticky.
“Tomato sauce.”
Absolutely no change.
“Citrus Scent tea.”
Same.
“Olive oil.”
It got slippery.
I tried sunflower oil too.
Slippery.
“Spices.”
Since it was powder, it felt more like I was rubbing it in.
“Garum.”
The all-purpose seasoning. Fish sauce. It has a stronger flavor than Soy Sauce. And it smells fishy.
“Vinegar.”
It mixed somehow, and stinks!
“Stinks, stinks. Cough, cough. This is bad, I messed up.”
I managed to rinse it off with water. Lye. Lye. Soap. Purified Water. Purified Water. Potion!
“Ah… managed somehow.”
Back to square one. This is quite tough. I can’t make a dent in it.
But surely something must have an effect—somewhere—ah, there is.
I have just the thing. I immediately returned to my room.
I took out the Pot from under my bed.
“Has the time finally come to use this?”
It came sooner than I expected, I thought, as I held the firmly sealed Pot, large enough to require both hands.
There was nothing special about the Pot itself.
I think the Pot itself was on sale for 500 Oro or something.
It was originally meant for pickling. I was planning to make beer-pickled cucumbers.
Or Ale-pickled, here. A memory from my past life.
When I said I liked them, my grandma back home sent me a huge amount in a plastic bag.
It burst and made a huge mess in the fridge, but I enjoyed them every day for nearly a month.
Anyway, the problem with the Pot is its contents… I’m getting nervous. I’m about to do something outrageous.
If Mineha-san found out about this, I wouldn’t just get beaten to a pulp.
Because this is the water of Life that saved Mineha and her mother.
Yes, inside the Pot is Elixir.
All of it from the demonstration is in here.
The legendary water of miracles. The treasured liquid. A drinkable Legendary.
There are many people around the world who would pay any amount of money to obtain this.
And there are likely just as many people who would resort to any means to steal it.
It wouldn’t be surprising if a world war broke out over it. And I’m about to waste it.
Returning to the room with the chunk, I immediately opened the Pot’s lid.
Momentum is crucial for things like this. Act before thinking. Just do it.
“Gods. Forgive me. I am about to commit a demonic act.”
I’m about to do something that would get me brutally murdered by people all over the world.
Inside the Pot, the Elixir sloshed.
I poured it onto the mauve Square Chunk.
The viscous, faintly glowing liquid flowed grandly over the Square Chunk, splashing, its droplets shining like rainbows.
The spilled liquid purified the floor, making it sparkle. Amazing.
The Square Chunk, now drenched in Elixir, had the mold and grime on its surface completely vanish.
“Whoa…”
It wasn’t like it dripped off messily; it was purified, so I didn’t need to clean up afterwards.
Still, a “whoa” escaped my lips.
Once it was clean, I noticed something strange.
The Square Chunk, which had been a marble pattern of white and purple, was now pure white.
The purple had gathered in one spot, forming an almond-shaped lump. Like a gemstone.
“Was this its original form?”
Even if it was, it looked too different. The corners were gone, making it slightly rounded.
It was practically a different object now.
“Phew, I really did it now.”
I extravagantly poured out the entire contents of the Pot of Elixir.
I’m probably the only one in the whole wide world who’s ever done something like this.
“…Guess I’ll clean up.”
Perhaps because I’d done something so extravagant, my mood strangely dropped. I felt calm, in a good way.
I put away the seasonings and decided to call it a day.
Tomorrow, I’ll go to the Witch’s place and let her know.
“Now, what to do?”
Right. There were the things I picked up yesterday. They were all rare; I should go sell them.
I got ready and headed to Arifa-san’s shop.
It’s been a while since I visited Arifa-san’s shop.
“Hello.”
“Oh, welcome. Woff. It’s been a while.”
Red hair. Orange eyes. Black Horns. An impressive beauty.
She’s Mr. Agaro’s older sister and a Tier III Seeker herself.
Arifa-san put down the box she was holding.
As usual, her shoulders were bare and her top was open at the chest. She wore pants that were torn up in various places.
“The Junkyard reopened, so I came right away to sell some things.”
“Just like you, Woff. Let’s see, let’s see.”
We moved to the counter. I took out several rare items I’d found from my pouch and lined them up.
A small bronze bell. An old copper key. An amulet made of a wooden tag with a hole in it. A small round mirror.
A red and blue hair ornament. A small doll-like amulet resembling a dogu.
Arifa-san appraised them one by one.
“How are they?”
“These are all quite unusual. Where in the Junkyard did you find them?”
“Ahaha, just in a slightly deep spot.”
“I heard that incident left various holes around.”
“It certainly looked different from before.”
“Be careful, okay? You never know what might be there. Even if people call it junk, the stuff there is really just scrap.”
Arifa-san moved away from the counter.
She turned her back to me, crouched down, and started rummaging around. She must be getting the money.
“……”
Visible over the counter, her large, round, watermelon-like rear end, which I hadn’t seen in a while.
And since she trained, it was clearly defined even through her pants… It would be rude to stare too much.
I gently averted my gaze.
“The total comes to 110,600 Oro.”
“That much?!”
“The small bronze bell is a Legacy. No matter how deep the sleep, ringing it will wake them up. But it only has 3 uses left. 20,000 Oro. The old copper key is also a Legacy. But this one… it’s a troublesome thing. It can only be used once, but it’ll open any door lock.”
“Isn’t that… for crime?”
“10,000 Oro.”
“…Arifa-san. Are you going to sell that?”
And where would she sell it? Arifa-san laughed.
“Nope. I’ll submit it to the Guild. They buy up Legacies that can be used for crime. The buyback price for this is 20,000, so this is half that.”
“O-Oh, I see. Understood.”
Ahh… thank goodness.
I trusted Arifa-san, but that really gave my heart a scare.
“The wooden tag amulet with a hole. This one’s rare. It’s an amulet to ward off misfortune from a remote tribe on the neighboring continent. The price is only 600 Oro, though. The small round mirror. This is a fine piece of art. 60,000 Oro. The red and blue hair ornament is also rare. 20,000 Oro. Lastly, the small strange doll amulet is… 0 Oro.”
This strange doll was made of ceramic and resembled a dogu.
“You mean it’s worthless?”
“I couldn’t determine its value even after appraising it. That happens sometimes. So, I’ll ask around through my connections about this one. Is that alright?”
“Yes. Please do.”
“Once I figure out the value and price, I’ll give you the amount minus the brokerage and referral fees.”
Saying that, Arifa-san took out one Copper Coin, one Rough Silver Coin, ten Silver Coins, four Rough Gold Coins, two Gold Coins, and one Minor Royal Coin.
Let’s see, the currency is…
Rough Copper Coin: 1 Oro. Like 1 yen.
Small Copper Coin: 50 Oro. Like 50 yen.
Copper Coin: 100 Oro. Like 100 yen.
Rough Silver Coin: 500 Oro. Like 500 yen.
Silver Coin: 1000 Oro. Like 1000 yen.
Rough Gold Coin: 5000 Oro. Like 5000 yen.
Gold Coin: 10000 Oro. Like 10000 yen.
Minor Royal Coin: 50000 Oro. Like 50000 yen.
Royal Coin: 100000 Oro. Like 100000 yen.
One Copper Coin and one Rough Silver Coin. Ten Silver Coins. Four Rough Gold Coins. Three Gold Coins. One Minor Royal Coin.
So, one Copper Coin = 100 yen. One Rough Silver Coin = 500 yen. That’s 600 Oro right there.
Ten Silver Coins = 10,000 yen. Four Rough Gold Coins = 20,000 yen. Two Gold Coins = 20,000 yen.
And one Minor Royal Coin = 50,000 yen.
Total 110,600 Oro. Indeed.
“Thank you… Um, Arifa-san.”
“What is it?”
“I’d like about three knives for 50,000 Oro.”
“Huh, three for 50,000? Hey, you’ve got that Knife Agaro gave you, right?”
“I want one for everyday use and a spare.”
“A spare, huh.”
I don’t know when a Knife might break again. Preparedness means having knives.
Arifa-san scratched her head and said, “Wait a sec,” before disappearing into the back of the shop.
I set aside just the 50,000 Oro for now and put the rest into the cloth pouch I use as a wallet.
After a little while, Arifa-san returned.
She placed three knives on the counter.
A Knife with a simple shape.
A strange Knife with a single-edged, upward-curving blade.
A straight Knife with a long handle.
“Each one is different. What’s the story with these three knives?”
“They’re things my foolish younger brother swiped from a bandit hideout when he subjugated them a few years back. Supposedly they were the bandit boss’s favorites. I bought them off him for 50,000, then just stored them away and forgot about them.”
“For 50,000 Oro?”
There’s no way that’s just a coincidence. What is she planning?
Then Arifa-san smiled.
“Wof. Wanna buy them for 50,000?”
“But then your profit…”
“A kid shouldn’t worry about things like that. What’ll you do?”
“…Can I check them one by one?”
“Be my guest.”
I picked up each Knife one by one and drew it.
The blade shape. The quality of the steel. The temper line. The grip feel. The weight. How it felt to swing. Not bad.
Yeah. None of them are bad. Alright, I’ve decided.
“I’ll buy them.”
“Thanks for your business.”
Thanks to her kindness, I obtained three knives.
I left Arifa-san’s shop feeling elated. Right, time to head home.
Ah, right. I should stop by my usual butcher shop. I’ll buy some Assorted Meat and some slightly better quality meat.
Just as I was thinking that…
“Hold it. Found you. Wof, was it?”
Someone called out to me. A boy’s voice. It sounded vaguely familiar, yet unfamiliar.
I turned around to see a blond boy dressed in something like a military uniform.
He had Horns on his head. A Faun?
He gave me a nasty look. Seems like he has a bad personality.
Next to him… was a drunk man.
Slouching, with messy hair. An old guy’s face covered in stubble.
He held a silver flask in his hand. He gave off an air of someone who had given up on life.
He had roundish beast ears and a distinctive Tail.
Could he be… a squirrel?
“…Who are you?”
I didn’t know either of them at all.