Chapter 285: Ways to Earn Money
As the train began to move, Ivan and Phonia pressed their faces against the window, gazing outside. Occasionally, Phonia’s ears twitched adorably, drawing the attention of those around them, who murmured comments like, “Ears?” “So cute!” and “Cosplay?”
Meanwhile, El was intently watching the advertisements and destination displays on the train’s LCD monitor, deep in thought. The two Beastmen were calm, but the members of the Vampire Clan were anything but settled.
“This vehicle can carry this many people? That’s incredible!” Ivan exclaimed.
“There are so many people,” Phonia added, her eyes wide with wonder.
As they admired the passing scenery, Ivan instinctively took a step back and assumed a defensive stance when a train on the opposite track whizzed by. Phonia, caught off guard, plopped down onto the floor in surprise.
Fortunately, the train wasn’t crowded, so nothing happened, but one could only imagine the chaos if it had been a packed train.
“What are you doing, Ivan…?” I asked, noticing the curious gazes of those around us. Ivan looked sheepish.
“Sorry, I was just startled when something rushed past me.”
“That was surprising…” Phonia echoed, still a bit dazed.
With the two of them reacting to everything and El curiously observing various things, we finally arrived at the nearest station to our base, the apartment building.
“…I feel really tired,” I sighed heavily alongside Rio, glancing around. We were no longer in the office district, so there weren’t many tall buildings, but the area around the station was bustling with activity. Looking up at the sky, I could barely see any stars—just the typical urban skyline.
As I released Nil from his cage, he stretched out luxuriously.
“It’s about a five-minute walk from the station,” I noted, checking the map on my smartphone as we started walking.
We turned off the main street and ventured a little into a side alley where our apartment building stood.
“Finally made it!” I exclaimed.
After taking off our shoes and stepping into the room, I sank into the living room sofa with a sigh of relief. None of us had a driver’s license, and we couldn’t just hop in a car whenever we wanted. I had wanted to get used to public transportation, but it turned out to be more exhausting than I had anticipated.
“Tomorrow, we’re going shopping by train!” I declared.
“Yay!” Phonia cheered, raising her hands in excitement, and even El’s lips curled into a smile.
“Alright, I’ll take a bath first. Oh, and El, can you help teach her how to use the bath and toilet?” I asked.
“Got it!” El replied eagerly.
“Hmm, the usage, huh? That sounds fun,” El mused.
“I know how to do it too, so I’ll teach you!” Phonia chimed in, her eyes sparkling with enthusiasm. It seemed that for Phonia, who was often the one being taught, it was a delight to share knowledge about something others didn’t know.
“Then let’s go to the bath together!” Phonia suggested.
“Okay!” El agreed.
The three of them headed off towards the bath, with Phonia happily explaining various things to El, eliciting surprised exclamations from her.
“That looks like fun,” Ivan murmured, glancing in the direction of the bathroom.
After a while, we heard Rio’s voice from the bathroom, “I’m going to take a bath now!” I responded with an acknowledgment.
As I checked the route to the store we would visit tomorrow on my smartphone, the three of them returned from the bath. Rio and Phonia were dressed in outfits that felt perfectly normal for Japan, while El was still in her usual attire.
“Of course, they didn’t have any clothes that fit El,” I remarked.
“That’s to be expected,” Ivan agreed.
Just by appearance, El was noticeably taller. It was clear that with her melon-sized chest, there was no way to find clothes that would fit her properly.
After we all took turns bathing, we gathered in the living room to discuss our future plans.
“I really think we need to find a way to earn money here too,” I said.
“Yeah, I thought the same today,” Rio replied.
“I remember you saying it wouldn’t be easy, right?” Ivan recalled.
“Yeah. I can’t do part-time jobs, but I was wondering if there’s something we could offer from our side,” I explained.
“Earlier, we provided meat, right? Something like that?” Ivan suggested.
“Exactly,” I nodded.
We had treated Mr. Jinpei and the others to barbecue, and I wondered if we could offer something similar.
“When it comes to ingredients, the only thing I can do is give some to Mr. Jinpei personally, right?” Rio explained, and she was spot on. There was no way we could sell meat that no one could identify.
“I thought about magic tools too, but it seems like the household appliances here are superior,” Ivan noted.
“Yeah, and the only thing we have that they don’t is magic, right?” I added.
“That’s true… Ah, I see. That could work,” I said, realizing a potential idea.
“Wait a minute… How do you sell magic?” Ivan interjected, puzzled.
As Rio and I were coming to an understanding, Ivan questioned the practicality of using magic as a means to earn money.
“Are we supposed to showcase magic like bards performing songs?” he asked incredulously.
“No, no, we wouldn’t do something like that,” I chuckled at Ivan’s confusion as I pulled out my smartphone.
“You know this can record videos, right?” I asked.
“Uh, yeah,” Ivan replied, recalling all the photos and videos I had taken of Phonia.
“And in this world, there’s something called the internet,” I explained, “If we upload a video, people all over the world can see it.”
Ivan and El’s eyes widened in surprise, while Phonia’s eyes sparkled with excitement for some reason.
“Could it be that I’ll get to be seen by so many people?” she asked, her voice tinged with hope.
I was taken aback by her unexpected enthusiasm but quickly understood her next question.
“Will they praise me a lot?” she asked, her eyes shining.
Now that I thought about it, I remembered how Phonia had envied the photos of Kaede that were posted in the Adventurer’s Guild. Hmmm, while I had initially considered uploading videos of magical shock moments, perhaps it would be nice to spread the word about Phonia’s cuteness online.
“Phonia-chan is adorable, so I’m sure people will say she’s cute a lot!” Rio assured her.
“Hehe,” Phonia giggled, her face lighting up as Rio crouched down to meet her gaze and gently patted her head.