“…Oh my?”
Eve flashed a meaningful smile while gliding her hand over her chest.
“Mr. Jonah, you seem quite mature for your age, huh? This should make our conversation enjoyable.”
Mature, huh? (X)
More like a total flake. Wanna do something fun with your big sister? (O)
“……?”
My broken mental translator. But no matter how many times I thought about it, that really sounded like what it meant.
Embarrassed, I shook my head and added.
“I meant your necklace, not your chest!”
“Oh? Looks like I misunderstood. …What a shame.”
Embarrassed that I misunderstood. (X)
Too bad. (O)
Was Eve always this kind of character…?
I sighed briefly, unsure whether my mental translator was malfunctioning or if Eve was losing it.
Eve pulled at her necklace and revealed a golden gem hidden in her cleavage.
The vintage, intricately crafted piece was practically a work of art by itself. If she put it up for auction, it’d probably fetch at least 20 gold coins, right?
But that necklace wasn’t just a decoration.
The biggest reason why Eve, who lacked business acumen, was barely scraping by—it was a magical device that boosts luck.
To me, who was planning on blowing all the money on a gacha, it was the most essential item.
Eve, fully aware of the necklace’s effect, held the golden gem while grinning, and spoke.
“You might not know this, but this is a really important magical device for me. I can’t just hand it over like that, even in a situation like this.”
Bring it on and take my life if you can. (X)
But there are conditions. (O)
“So you’re saying you might consider handing it over if the conditions are right?”
Eve’s smile grew wider. Her positive reaction made me grin back.
“Unfufu….”
“Hahaha!”
Lydia gasped, Lemon looked nervously around, and Apple was a bundle of nerves, but it wasn’t really a big deal.
*
On the way back to Fairy and Silver Coin, I patted the necklace on my chest with a satisfied grin.
“Wow. That was a really good deal! Eve seemed like a nice person too.”
“…Are Jonah’s eyes holes for nails?”
“Lydia, you shouldn’t judge people by their appearance, right? Sure, Eve looks a bit shady, and she does tend to choose words that seem suspicious… but she’s not a bad person.”
“You can’t trust people easily.”
“I didn’t trust her easily. I had a good feeling about her, see?”
“…That’s what trusting easy sounds like.”
Lydia sighed and shook her head. I nudged her with my elbow.
“Are you… jealous, Miss Lydia? Oh dear. That’s both delightful and surprising! After all, I already have Ellie!”
“Not like that.”
“Sure, sure. You’re feeling a bit left out since I’m getting along with Eve, laughing and teasing her, huh?”
“…That last part was surprising for everyone, you know.”
Lydia pouted. Well… she probably knew in her head that the deal with Eve wasn’t bad.
I only pocketed 2 gold coins, but in exchange, I got a magical device that’s incredibly hard to get, even with plenty of cash.
Honestly, I was a bit choked up about losing 4,600 yen, but… it’s not like I could blow it all at once, right? After all, it’s about gradually rolling it out over the years.
It was better to snag high-grade magical devices, especially one that brings luck. During that time, I’d get stronger, and my income would rise too.
Plus, the last condition I made—while it was called a condition, it was something that benefited both sides.
If she bought things in Eden, I’d give a little discount, but she’d need to promote our business while adventuring or introduce other customers.
I’d let Lemon and Apple have it cheap and ask them to help level up to the 2nd-floor adventurer status when they had the time.
It was kind of a partnership proposal. Usually, those are offered to established adventurers… but maybe she thought well of me or aimed to leverage my connection with Lydia.
Honestly, I thought Eve would suddenly pitch some raunchy conditions since she seemed to have flipped her mood.
That would have been nice in its own way, but… since I intended to build a long-term relationship with Eve, the current terms weren’t bad either.
Anyway, the reason Lydia looked sulky despite knowing all this was probably two-fold.
One was because she was simply suspicious of Eve and worried if it was wise to build a close relationship like this.
The second was, since I pocketed the 2 gold coins, she was anxious I’d pay off her debt right away.
For the former, it would take time for Eve’s true value to surface… but the latter was something I could deal with right now.
“Miss Lydia.”
“…What?”
“About that date expense you lent me the other day. Can I pay it back a bit later?”
“……!”
Lydia’s expression brightened slightly. Now that I noticed, her lips were curving more than usual.
But as if trying to hide it, she straightened her expression and continued speaking.
“I don’t mind. I didn’t think I’d get it back anytime soon anyway… But today’s earnings combined will be quite a bit. What are you planning to use it for?”
“That’s already decided!”
“Let me guess, equipment? Smart choice. As Jonah knows, good weapons compensate for lacking physical abilities….”
“Of course, I’m going to gamble! I’ll triple my money, so look forward to it!”
“…….”
Lydia’s face twisted, as if she had seen some useless trash.
But perhaps she thought if she didn’t allow this, I’d repay all my debt and take off somewhere. Eventually, she nodded with great effort.
“Well, it’s your money, so I can’t control how you use it.”
While saying that, she still seemed keen to talk me out of it in various ways. I got it. I must have seemed like a kid suddenly striking it rich and unable to handle it.
…Not entirely wrong. But the fact that I even earned this much money was all thanks to the gacha.
Spending all my 2 gold coins, if I could pull just one more 3-star, I’d come out ahead!
While I was beaming at thoughts of rushing back to do a gacha roll, suddenly Lydia stared at my necklace and asked.
“Is that necklace really okay?”
“Huh? Oh, are you worried about the side effects?”
“Yeah. It had kind of a unique side effect, didn’t it?”
Everything Eve sold had excellent performance but always came with weird side effects.
For instance, a magical device that creates water has great capacity but produces foul-smelling water that’s hard to drink.
Or a magical device that makes the surrounding scenery transparent for a time, creating a safe zone, but the noise it makes defeats the purpose of stealth.
It’s roughly that kind of vibe. No wonder Eden looks run-down. No one buys anything there…
As for the necklace I just got, Lucky Strike also falls into the same category.
Wearing it brings luck, but the type and magnitude of that luck are entirely random.
It might help, but there’s low odds of getting tangled in something complicated, making it an impossible magical device for a straightforward life of easy luck.
Conversely, the outcome is always a benefit, so as long as you can overcome the problems, it’s a magical device worth the risk.
…And maybe the incident that caused Eve to turn dark was a problem born from that very Lucky Strike that she couldn’t withstand.
This was the best-made among Eve’s wares, and since she was fond of it, I never expected her to let it go so easily.
I chuckled while stroking where the necklace would rest on my chest.
“It’s fine. I never expected to live a peaceful life without any trouble or incidents anyway.”
“Jonah….”
Lydia looked at me with a sympathetic expression. Must be complicated seeing a kid spin such dark thoughts already.
But I was sincere. Even as a guy, it’s a pretty impressive appearance, and how would women here see me in a world where the genders are reversed?
I, after all, am someone who holds the concept of morality from Earth and also the author who synthesized the very core of this world.
In a situation like this, how could I live an ordinary life filled with simple happiness without any turmoil?
“If life is just a sequence of pain and incidents, we ought to get something out of it, right? In that sense, luck will surely help!”
“Alright. If that’s how Jonah sees it, I won’t say anything. Let’s head back and boast to Ellie-senpai about today’s happenings.”
“Sounds good! But first, let’s stop by one place.”
“Where to?”
“To a lingerie store.”
“…Huh.”
Lydia’s delicate eyebrows twitched. Seeing her red irises quickly scan my entire body, it was clear what was going through her mind.
“Miss Lydia, you were just thinking something dirty, weren’t you?”
“N-no, I wasn’t.”
“Hmm. Did the refined lady suddenly imagine my lingerie getup?”
“…….”
Now she completely turned her head to avoid answering. But stopping here wouldn’t be any fun.
I got on my tiptoes, grasping her cheek to swivel her back around to face me.
With a complex expression, Lydia rolled her eyes, and I leaned in and lightly whispered.
“I’m not sure if Ellie will like it or not… but could you take a first look for me?”
“……!”
Lydia couldn’t even muster words and was merely chewing her lips. She tried many times to refine whatever was in her mind into words but ultimately failed.
Instead, with her narrowed eyes, she grasped my hair with one hand.
This wasn’t just some gentle petting or sweet intimacy. It was an iron claw.
Crackling—
“Ow ow ow! Lydia! That hurts! Let go!”
“No way. Not letting go. No intention of letting go.”
“I really think this kind of obsession isn’t good…!”
“It’s not obsession. It’s educational guidance.”
“Gaaah! Okay, okay! Honestly, I’m not going to buy for myself, but for Ellie! I just thought it’d be fun to tease you, so I said that!”
“……Huh?”
In an instant, Lydia tilted her head as if she couldn’t comprehend.
Right, she wouldn’t understand. After all, women in Pan Continent don’t have much interest in lingerie!
Men’s underwear is loaded with useless embellishments, sheer materials, or ones that dissolve on contact with water.
In contrast, women’s underwear is usually just plain colored pieces of cloth! And often mismatched!
Do you have any idea how disappointed I was when I barged into Ellie’s room and found her rolling around in mismatched underwear?!
I understand the target audience has switched from women to men for packaging pretty lingerie, but… I still want to see Ellie in some stunning lingerie!
“If you’re imagining me in my underwear and getting excited, surely you understand, right?!”
“Not at all. And I wasn’t excited.”
“Aw, come on!”
Well, if she understood that, Lydia must have been into girls then.
