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Volume 8 Chapter 5 Part 10

If clothes were allowed to be tried on in this world just like they can be tried on in the changing room back on earth, then I feel like it would be a great hit.

「Three each of these two, please.」

Because I felt sorry for the shop clerk, I show him that I’m actually going to be the customer who’s going to be paying for the girl’s shopping. That way, he shouldn’t be complaining no matter how much time Roxanne and Vesta are going to spend picking clothes here.

「I understand. Vesta, look here.」

「Is… is it really alright for me to get so many clothes?」

「Yes, it’s going to be alright.」

I urge Vesta to move along with Roxanne by pushing her shoulders. Roxanne’s struggles with the clothes had already started.

Roxanne carefully examines every piece of clothing herself with her watchful eye, and then checks how it looks on Vesta.

「Maybe something like this?」
「Yes, it looks great.」

「And how about this one?」

「Yeah, it is certainly lovely.」

Both of them are choosing the clothes excitedly while I am patiently watching them from the sidelines. The shop clerk is watching helplessly, too. Occasionally the girls are asking me to share my opinion on a particular piece of clothing, so whenever that happens I just do it from the distance while trying to be as clear and concise in my answers as possible.

「This one, and this. Then, how about this one?」

「Yes. It’s alright, I think.」

「Then, can I have this one as well, please?」

This time, they choose it without asking me for my opinion, thankfully. Once they finish choosing, I pay the necessary amount for the clothes that they ended up buying. And since they ended up buying more than one thing, I buy all of them at a generous thirty percent discount.

Once everything was wrapped up here, we put the clothes in Vesta’s backpack. I sure am glad that we ended up buying the large one for her.

The large size of this backpack is quite convenient.

「Thank you very much.」

Vesta bows again when we leave the store.

「Don’t mention it. I’m glad that you like the clothes that you picked.」

「Yes. But this dress… it is brand new, don’t you think?」

「Well, yeah, seems like it.」

「In that case, I… I can’t have you buy brand-new clothes for me.」

「It’s fine, Vesta. Because it’s Master.」

While walking, I overhear the conversation between Vesta and Roxanne. It looks like used clothes are being sold in this world as well, which pretty much checks out with the observation that I made: an observation that there is far less people who are wearing brand-new clothing than I have originally thought.

After having gone to the grocery store and then the clothing store, the next stop on our list is buying ingredients for dinner.

「Vesta, can you cook?」

「I can cook something simple for myself, I think.」

「Something simple? Like what?」

Since Vesta is so big, I wonder how much food she actually eats. But whatever she might be able to cook, I shouldn’t expect too much since she doesn’t look that confident in her skills.

Maybe she can cook eggs, or perhaps rice?

「Even if you can’t cook that much then it’s okay Vesta, because I can cook enough food for all of us.」

「For everyone? I am not confident in my skills to cook for everyone.」

Yeah, I thought as much.

「Hmm, let’s see… how about you first try to make one dish to see how it is going to turn out?」

「Umm, I don’t think I can make something that’s going to be to master’s liking. The only thing that I am absolutely confident in making is a soup with potatoes and leftover vegetables, or a stew with bread crust mixed into it.」

That reply of her was… honestly rather disappointing, even more so since I was expecting her to give a rather motivated answer. Maybe the reason for why she doesn’t have any kind of confidence in herself is because both of her parents were also slaves, and that fact continues to weight down on her heavily?

That being said: vegetable stew with bread crust? I’m not gonna lie, that actually sounds kinda delicious and makes me want to try it.

Thinking about it now, ever since I came to this world, everything regarding the slaves that I have been getting for myself has been going exceptionally well, if I do say so myself. Roxanne can cook pretty much everything, Sherry is a Master Smith who comes from a wealthy family due to her grandfather’s work, she is quite the intellectual type thanks to all the books that she read, and Miria…. Well, Miria’s entire existence basically revolves around getting fish and eating fish, but it is precisely because of that obsession of hers that we were able to taste some of the best dishes that we had the chance to try in our entire lives.

In comparison to all of that, I guess it would really be a little bit too much to expect the daughter of two slaves, who was herself sold into slavery, to be able to cook as well or even better than Roxanne can.

「All right then, Vesta. If you say that you’re not that confident in your cooking skills, then you’re more than free to help me or the others whenever we’ll be cooking instead. Sounds like a plan?」

「Yes, I think that should be something that I should be able to help with.」

「Then, can you please make soup today, Roxanne?」

「Certainly, master.」

I have no idea how many fish Miria managed to catch while she was fishing alone in that village. I’m also not sure if she hasn’t eaten them all already, which is definitely a possibility a far as her craving for fish is concerned. For this reason, I decided to make some additional preparations.

I’m sure Miria will cook the fish she catches herself, so that leaves two things for dinner pretty much covered: soup and fish. In that case, should I settle for preparing some meat?

So, leaving the fish for Miria, should I cook some meat? I think that some grilled Rabbit Meat should do nicely for Vesta’s first ever dinner with us, even more so since I should already have some Rabbit Meat inside my Item Box. As to how much I should cook, it will decide it later, depending on Miria’s catch.

I also need to buy other ingredients, such as vegetables.

「I guess you eat a lot, right, Vesta?」

I ask her while picking up bread in the bakery. If she is so big, then it is pretty much self-explanatory that she also going to eat more than your average human, so it might be a good idea to buy some more bread just in case one loaf was not enough for her after all.

「Actually, ever since I was little I heard that I was always eating like a cockroach all the time, so I think I’ll be fine.」

「Is… is that so?」

Eating like a cockroach, huh? I wonder who that person who said that is, because I would very much like to meet them so that I could bash that stupid mouth of theirs in for saying such disrespectful things about my slave!

On a sidenote though, it seems that even the kids of the slaves have it pretty rough for themselves, huh? And since Vesta is the newest addition to my harem, I don’t even know if or when I am going to step on a potential landmine with everything that I say, but I should try to exercise as much caution as I can in order not to start some touchy subject with her.

Well, since she maintains that she’ll be fine, even though she was called a cockroach, she will probably be fine. Actually, a cockroach’s vitality is incredibly high, so it can also be taken as a compliment.

Even I was called a cockroach in the past… Ah, shit. Hello the hateful memories of my painful past.

「This much should be enough.」

I purchase the bread per Roxanne’s advice. I bought more than usual for there’s one more person with us now… but would this much really be enough?

「It looks so soft and delicious-looking bread. Can I really have the leftovers of it?」

Vesta asks Roxanne when we step out of the bakery.

「No Vesta, you’re not going to get the leftovers of anything. You’re going to have an entire loaf of bread to yourself, because that is how things work in master’s household. Everyone eats the same things that master eats, and we all eat at one table at the same time, so please, make sure to eat as much as you like without hesitation.」