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Chapter 258 Part 1

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Translator: “Hakou”                             Editor: “Weasalopes”

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After spending a dreamy moment with Explosive onee-san in Jayanne, I crossed the central square to the east and walked toward the shopping district.
I didn’t have any business or brothel appointments, so I decided to check out a store I had been curious about.

(It has finally become spring huh)

I squint at the bright afternoon sun. The women on the street are wearing light clothing, like flowers that have just begun to bloom.

(I see, now I understand how bees are attracted to flowers)

Even I, who had just been satisfied, felt that way. Women are truly an attractive existence for men.
Tauro the bee was flying through the flower garden of the royal capital while admiring the various flowers with his eyes.
As I was enjoying this, I soon arrived at my destination.

「Good afternoon, do you sell item box here?」

Facing the main street of the bustling shopping district, the shop is quiet. I entered the store, without fearing the atmosphere that seemed to select its customers, and called out to the person who seemed to be the owner.

『Item Box』

It’s a small but indispensable item in the fantasy world that can hold as much stuff as you want.
I learned of its existence in Landbarn right after I was transferred there, but gave up on it at the time.
I was told that it was expensive and that it was not available in a rural city like Landbarn.

(But the situation is different now)

This is a bag store in the shopping district of the royal capital. I also have enough income and reserves now.
I stared at the white haired elderly man while sticking out my chest, but his reaction was dull. I don’t feel he’s being disrespectful, but I have a feeling he’s observing what I’m wearing.

(I guess I should have come in my pilot’s uniform)

I think about what I’m wearing and regret it a little. I was dressed in my normal clothes, which I thought would make me look like I was wearing a T-shirt to a luxury brand store.
From the store’s perspective, they must be confused how well they should treat me as a customer.

『Entering a store in tattered clothes and get treated exactly as how you look. And being enraged by that treatment, you throw a lot of money at them to shut them up』

I’m not going to do that, as expected.
There’s no way to judge a first-time customer other than by their appearance, and it’s rude to the other customers who have come well-dressed.
Business transactions are basically equal. Even if you are a customer, you should be considerate of the seller.

「Um, I’m actually an E-rank merchant. And I want to buy it for personal use」

I took out a guild card from my pocket and held it out. The white haired elderly man ran his eyes over the words on the card, and then he broke into a smile.

「We have a sample. I will explain it to you, so please come this way」

I followed the shopkeeper in front of me as I felt relieved.
An E-rank merchant is a sign of a middle-class merchant, and the level of trust is different. Looks like he saw me as a decent customer now.

「It’s made to order and is a set with the magic circle, is it?」

As I sat down on the sofa for customers, I was shown the actual product and expressed my impressions.

(It’s different from what I thought)

What I had imagined was an expansion of the space inside the bag. And if the time is stopped inside it, it would be more wonderful.
However, the item box in this store was only connected to a different place.

「We can set up a magic circle wherever you want. Anything placed on the magic circle can be taken out of your bag, no matter how far away it is!」

Of course, you can not only take it out, but you can also put it in.
“Here you go”, the white haired elderly man said as he held out a shiny, luxurious looking leather bag. I put my hand inside and groaned.
In my mind’s eye, I saw a magic circle about a meter in diameter drawn in a room somewhere, and an item placed on top of it.

(Okay, let’s try pulling out this… perfume bottle, I think?)

I grabbed a small, elegantly sculpted glass bottle and pulled it out of the bag. In my hand, I was holding the perfume bottle firmly.

「It consumes magic power from you, but it shouldn’t be much of a problem for small items」

The shopkeeper continues to speak with a business smile.
The price is several hundred gold coins. He said that the price would go up or down depending on the size of the magic circle.
He said that the store would send a magician to set up the magic circle.

「If you are planning to build a vault, it is not recommended to remove the door and turn it into a wall. The door should be left as is just in case something goes wrong」

The next explanation was about where to set up the magic circle. He said that there are cases where people made it impossible for people to enter or leave the place because they were too wary of thieves.
However, the magic circle is not indestructible, so if it gets damaged, the entire wall will have to be torn down.

「And it’s possible that the magic circle will also break in the process」

If that happened, hundreds of gold coins would be lost. That’s why the door should be left as is, he said.

「It’s not a door that you will open and close on a daily basis, so it’s no problem to put a lock or trap on it」

After I finished listening to his explanation, a solution came to my mind.

「I see, so treasure chests are also a type of item box, huh」

Treasure chests that are filled with vicious traps that appear in games. I have always questioned its existence.
If you put a lethal trap in a jewelry box, you can’t just casually take out the contents. You will part with it forever the moment you put it in the box.

(The trap is for anyone who tries to take the contents without going through the item box. So it’s a countermeasure against that, huh)

That makes sense. The only time the door is opened is when the box is broken and needs to be repaired.
Moreover, the owner must be present and there must be an expert to open the lock.
As I nodded my head in agreement, the white haired elderly shopkeeper tilted his head.

「Treasure chest?」

Since we didn’t seem to be on the same page, I said what I thought. I wondered if he could set the magic circle inside a treasure chest and then connect it to the item box.
However the shopkeeper replied with, “No, we don’t have such a product”.

「It takes a lot of skill to make a magic circle that small. It will take a skilled magician a long time to set it up, and the cost will be very high」

I guess it’s something like a laptop. You can get the same performance for less price with a PC.
As I listened to his explanation with great interest, the owner of the bag shop continued.

「Besides, there is no benefit to making it smaller. The amount of items that can be placed in the box will be reduced, and there will be a possibility that the whole box will be stolen」

I can understand when he mentioned the disadvantages. It seems that there is a good reason why there is no treasure chest type vault.
But then, the shopkeeper’s eyes suddenly darken. He looks away from me, puts his hand on his chin and starts to mumble.

「…..No, wait, I think that’s not necessarily true. It can be made in the workshop without having to go to the actual site. This is big. And it might cost cheaper instead」

I watched in silence, and started thinking too.

(If he can make it in the workshop, there is no need to carry tools and materials. And there’s no need to waste your time going to the site to install it)

It would be difficult if the house where he needed to install it was located deep in the mountains. He will have to take lodgings if it takes a long time.
Influenced by my previous life as an engineer at a construction company, I was tempted to start playing cost estimator. But the elderly shopkeeper’s monologue continued.

「Not being attached to the ground or buildings means that you can take them with you when you move out」

The owner nodded a couple of times and raised his head with white hair. He looked me in the eye and came up with a proposal.

「That sounds like a good idea. What do you think, can you trust this idea to me?」

I don’t mind myself, but what about the low capacity and theft problems it has?
When I asked him about it, he said, “I haven’t thought about it in detail yet,” and then continued.

「Not all customers will want a large capacity. It will depend on what they need to use it for」

There I paused once and continued.

「About the theft problem, I would like to make an alarm on the item box side when someone tries to open the lock forcefully. That way, we might be able to take out the contents before they are stolen」

But the expensive treasure chest itself might get taken away, said the elderly shopkeeper while scratching his cheek with his finger

「Dear customer seem to have a flexible mindset. I have seen only the negative side」

The owner shrugs his shoulders after he finishes his explanation. But I could understand what he was saying.
Experts tend to focus on the flaws first.
In this case, I was an amateur, so I guess I just happened to be able to look at it from a different angle.

「I’m counting on you」

I smiled, shook his hand and left my seat. In return for the idea, we agreed that I would get a discount on the finished product.

(Even if he gave me money, I don’t have any use for it)

I enjoy women in high-class brothels and play a part in society as a Knight pilot. And when I return home, my familiars, who I thought of as my family, are waiting for me.

(I have enough)

Thanks to healing magic, I’ll be able to stay healthy until I die.
It’s okay just to have a certain amount of money as savings. The more important thing is to have time to enjoy life.
I left the store while thinking about the traps I would put on the treasure chest I would get.

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