Chapter 290: Let’s Start from Being Friends?
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I entered the store together with Sir Ark and immediately called a horb.
“Please inform Bennyboy or the deputy shopkeeper about this customer for the sake of guiding him to the liquor sales room. If neither is free at the moment, I will take it upon myself to bring him there.”
“Understood.”
Having watched my conversation with the horb, Sir Ark became startled and asked me, “Was that one of the rumored golems just now?”
“Yes. They mostly take care of the store’s security and maintenance, but they can also pass on messages.”
I mean it’s much faster and simpler to ask a horb than grabbing one of the busy employees and having them play the message runner.
Soon, as I was talking with Sir Ark, the horb came back.
“Both were in the middle of serving customers.”
“Okay, please tell them to join us after the finish.”
Given that Sir Ark is very likely quite rich, I’d like the two to greet him.
＊
Sir Ark remained obedient at first, but that fell apart before we reached the liquor sales room. It didn’t go as far as with the duke, but he got so excited that he didn’t even know where to look first as he kept veering off. As such it took us around thirty minutes to get there.
Anyway, once we got to the liquor sales room, he bought all the types of liquor up for sale.
I feel like it’ll be quite tough on him to take everything home without a carriage, but is he going to be alright?
When I asked him out of worry, Sir Ark proudly declared, “Whenever I came here, I made sure to always carry a magic bag with weight reduction as essential for any adventurer! Because I didn’t know when it’d be opened to the public, I didn’t shirk on my preparations!”
I see…
Yep, you’re definitely the duke’s like-minded spirit!
＊
Even after buying the liquor, Sir Ark continued to bustle around the whole place. He didn’t care about running into commoners, and even greeted them with a broad smile.
Truly incredible. I thought Duke Chaudgal would be the only noble acting like that!
I guess he does have a personality allowing him to slip among commoners, in some sense. If only he could somehow cover up the dignity seeping out of him even while wearing a commoner outfit, he’d surely melt in perfectly.
On the second floor he bought soap and basic skin-care products in the beauty corner――a battlefield in its own right.
Amazing.
He also bought tableware, so I’m starting to wonder whether he’s going to be alright? Isn’t he spending way too much money?
＊
On the third floor he bought various groceries as well, before finally taking a break. I told the horbs that we’d use the sofa for VIPs for him and served him a drink for free.
“I think you have become quite used to drinking black tea, if you are a noble, so we will serve you something different.”
After brewing the black tea, I held it out to Sir Ark.
He picked up the cup, but became surprised when he sniffed its aroma.
“This is…”
“I think you can call it a flavor tea. It had dried fruits added to it while the tea steeped. It’s very soothing and gives the tea a nice aroma, don’t you think?”
Sir Ark looked up to me, and nodded with a cheerful smile.
“Indra, thank you for everything you’ve done for me today. It’s wonderful that I was able to meet you. It was a dazzlingly great day for me, so I’ll never forget it.”
I froze at Sir Ark’s line.
……What an incredibly affected way of phrasing things. Somehow, it reminds me of Sword’s phrasing.
Come to think of it, the feel of him settling down like this also reminds me of Sword.
＊
…As I was thinking all that…
“Ark!?”
Turning around towards that voice, I spotted Sword staring at Sir Ark with surprise written all over his face.
“Sword? …Do you possibly know Sir Ark?” I asked him, but Sword pointed at me and Sir Ark with a trembling finger while looking dumbstruck.
As such, Sir Ark answered in Sword’s stead.
“As a matter of fact, you’re right about that, Indra. Sir Sword has helped me out in the past.”
Hee. But, it’s rare for Sword to remember someone he rescued.
＊
It took some time before Sword finally managed to squeeze out some words.
“…Why…are you here?”
Sir Ark smiled at that.
“I was curious about this store, so I frequently came to visit, hoping that it might be opened to the public at some point. When I did so today as well, the young lady over here called out to me and offered to guide me around.”
I curtly explained, “How to describe it best? The level of his sparkling eyes as he watched this building was extremely similar to Duke Chaudgal’s reaction when he sees things he’s never seen before or when you spot new toys, so I got a bit curious about him. He was a calm man with a certain level of grace and also possessed the will to buy our goods, so I decided that it’d be alright to lead him around as a customer and took on the role of being his host. I wanted the shopkeeper or his deputy to handle this duty if either was free, but it looks like both are still busy serving their respective customers.”
Sword looked at the two of us with an absentminded look. His odd state caused me to tilt my head in confusion.
“What’s wrong? He’s your acquaintance…and moreover, you guys seem to be close enough to talk casually with each other, so he’s not a bad guy or anything, right? …Ah, but there was also the case with Shadow, wasn’t there?”
Sir Ark twitched in reaction. Is he acquainted with Shadow as well?
Sword apparently rebooted when he heard me mention Shadow’s name. Scratching his head, he said, “…Sure, he ain’t no bad guy. Shadow too might be a black-hearted, cunnin’ sadist, but as he does what he does out of loyalty to the king, it’s not like he’s a bad guy or ‘nythin’. I mean he only had someone spy a bit on you, right?”
Well, if he puts it like that, it’s not wrong.
“…So, how was it?”
I was asked something weird.
What does he mean with how? How what?
I cocked my head in confusion once more, “He bought lots. He should be today’s number one customer, I think? Historically, the woman, who bought decorative bottles and beauty products, holds the top position as the biggest buyer, but I’d say he should have a firm grasp on the second or third rank. ――For that reason, I’d label him as a good customer. His reactions when I led him around the store were also on the same level of admiration as Duke Chaudgal. I think he has a fairly high opinion of this store.”
Sir Ark coughed several times.
“…Yeah, Gerard and you sure got along well.”
I mean, Sword has been chased around by Gerard. But, the duke was fairly normal to me.
I replied to Sword, “Damsel Scarlet is my friend, but so is Sir Gerard.”
Rightfully so! He’s a great person who claims adventurer to be a much better occupation than being a noble, and he slurps his ramen without giving a care about other people’s thoughts on that.
“Could I become your friend as well then?” Sir Ark stood up and offered his hand to me. “I’m Gerard’s friend. We both succeeded in our family’s business, resulting in us becoming unable to interact with each other as much as in the past. But even so, I still consider him my friend. Thus I wish to become your friend, seeing how you’re Gerard’s friend.”
I tilted my head, pondering about it for a while.
“…Very well, let’s start from being friends first, okay?”
I clasped his hand while replying in a way Damsel Scarlet and Mr. Amato might understand.
“Eh? Hey…”
Sword gestured as if he was worried or trying to stop me, but in the end, he let it pass.
Well, having one more noble friend won’t change much at this point anyway. I live my own life after all. Besides, this man has been pretending to be a commoner, so he probably wants to associate with me as a commoner.
Let’s just interpret it like that.
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