I Level Up With In-app Purchases

EP.87 A Suspiciously Well-Stocked General Store (2)

“Mister! How have you been?”

“Hello.”

“Uh… Hello, Boss.”

“……”

Around lunchtime on a weekend.

Four girls visited the general store in a group.

One of them was a face I hadn’t seen before.

Or rather, a girl whose face I shouldn’t officially have seen before.

A pretty girl with aquamarine-colored everything was looking up at me nonchalantly.

“Hello.”

The girl finally greeted me casually when our eyes met.

Shine put her arm on the girl’s shoulder and said,

“This is Vine, she’s in our class. She said she had something to buy, so she came along. Don’t you think this place needs some advertising? The goods are great, but business isn’t booming.”

“That’s right, that’s right. If only it was advertised well, this place would be overflowing with people, don’t you think?”

“But the boss did say he doesn’t like having too many customers.”

If I’m already going crazy with just four girls visiting, it’s probably better not to do any advertising.

“Why did you all come in a group?”

“Exams are coming up soon. The written test is the main issue, but we need to prepare for the practical exam in advance too.”

“If we don’t buy things early, they’ll run out of stock.”

“I guess we could have prepared later since not many people know about this place.”

The three girls chattered away.

Meanwhile, the aquamarine-colored girl was looking around the store, rolling her eyes.

I was a bit taken aback because I hadn’t expected that girl to just roll into the store like this.

It’s not that I was surprised by an SSR suddenly appearing.

‘I need to sell the unique weapon.’

I was just surprised because an opportunity to sell the unique weapon suddenly came up.

If I wait a bit, I’ll probably get a chance to talk to Vine separately.

I decided to wait until then.

“Um… Boss?”

“??”

While the kids had disappeared to choose items, Ariane quietly approached me and spoke.

She seemed to have something weighing on her mind, as she couldn’t look me in the eye.

“By any chance, did someone from my family come here?”

“Your family?”

“Yeees.”

“About the bead issue?”

“No…”

Listening to Ariane’s gloomy voice, I couldn’t keep my expression neutral.

“Pfft, why so serious? Stop worrying about unnecessary things and go play with your friends.”

Pat pat —

I patted Ariane’s head.

“Your father came and left.”

“!!”

I could clearly tell that Ariane had been through some emotional turmoil.

It must be because a few days ago, Ariane’s father, the Duke, visited our general store and had a candid conversation with me.

===

**

===

“Ahem, I’ve come about my daughter’s issue. Could we talk for a moment?”

“……”

The Duke entered the store alone just as I was about to close.

The typical haughty atmosphere of nobles was emanating from him, but he seemed somewhat awkward.

‘He looks like a puppy that needs to pee.’

While I was briefly lost in thought, the Duke must have had some realization as he changed his manner of speaking.

“May I have a word with you?”

The Duke requested a conversation with me once again.

He smiled as if he had done something incredibly praiseworthy.

‘Is using formal speech the only thing a noble can do to show respect to a commoner?’

I could roughly guess what he was thinking.

“What brings you here?”

“I am Ariane’s father.”

“And?”

“…I see my daughter hasn’t relayed any message to you.”

“She hasn’t. Why have you come here?”

Has an unworthy person come to my precious general store?

If they’re not an SSR, I wish they’d just quietly leave.

Although I was pretending not to know, I actually knew why the Duke had come here.

It hadn’t been long since I sent Ariane to investigate her family’s suspicious activities, had it?

In this situation, the Duke visiting the general store was as good as proving that he was the culprit.

“There must have been some strange occurrences recently… Ahem, those were on my orders. I misunderstood the relationship between my daughter and you. I apologize for my foolish actions as a father who couldn’t trust his own daughter.”

Is it because he’s a noble?

He’s clearly the one apologizing, but somehow I feel like I’m the one who should be apologizing.

Doesn’t it seem like he’s doing me a favor?

Even as I thought, ‘I guess all nobles are like this,’ I couldn’t help but feel a bit twisted inside.

“So it was Ariane who was the culprit after all. I was quite shocked when you suddenly hired a woman to stick to me.”

“Culprit? I think you need to watch your language.”

As I shrugged my shoulders, the Duke continued with his excuses.

“What wouldn’t a father do for his daughter? If there was someone blocking my daughter’s path, I could do even worse things. That was just a taste of what I’m capable of.”

He was justifying himself, saying that any father with a daughter would do the same.

“I’m not sure if I’m receiving an apology or if I should be grateful and revere you for apologizing. Should I assume it’s the latter?”

“Ahem.”

“You’ve been clearing your throat a lot. If you’re uncomfortable, why don’t you adjust your posture?”

The Duke, who must have lived a privileged life, came to apologize against his nature, so of course he’d be uncomfortable and awkward.

‘But do I have to be considerate of that?’

The Duke, who looked somewhat like Ariane’s father, became sullen and tried not to show it while speaking.

“I’m just saying that was my situation.”

“So you’re saying ‘This is my situation, so you should just understand and accept it’?”

“Why are you so twisted!! And I didn’t intend to end this with just words. I’ve prepared some compensation at the front door, so check it later.”

“You’re going to substitute an apology with money?”

“Then what more do you want me to do?”

It seemed I was supposed to be grateful that a noble, and no less than the head of a ducal family, had come in person to express regret while using polite speech.

“Well, fine. I don’t want to raise my voice arguing over an insincere apology. In that case, I’d rather receive ‘material’ compensation.”

Realizing that they were trying to settle this with some words and moderate compensation, I thought I should extract proper compensation from my side instead.

“Now we’re talking! You’ll find the compensation more than adequate when you check it.”

“No, what I want isn’t money. As you can see, I’m not running this store because I’m struggling to make ends meet.”

“Then?”

“What I want from the Duke is obviously power, isn’t it? Please use your power for my benefit. For someone in your position, it shouldn’t be too difficult.”

Shouldn’t I avoid being dragged into the military at this age?

I was planning to resolve that issue as compensation for this incident.

After hearing my explanation, the Duke spoke as if he had guessed something.

“So that orb was indeed created with your ability?”

“I knew you had guessed that when I heard you ordered an investigation into my identity. You might be disappointed, but I didn’t intentionally hide the fact that I’m an Awakened. I only Awakened a few months ago.”

The Duke was surprised, as if he had assumed I had been living as a hidden Awakened all this time.

“You Awakened recently?”

“Yes. I Awakened despite being over thirty. If I reported it now, the military would probably call me up as cannon fodder, so I couldn’t report it.”

“We can’t afford to lose an Awakened with unknown potential on the battlefield. I’ll resolve that issue for you. However, you’ll need to undergo a few tests. To prove that you didn’t intentionally hide your ability, you see.”

“That’s perfectly fine.”

This old man is quite reasonable.

Although his apologetic attitude was infuriating, isn’t that typical stubbornness of old people?

I decided to be satisfied with receiving compensation that would actually benefit me instead of accepting a hollow apology.

The Duke was happy not having to bow his head to a commoner, and I was happy to resolve a troublesome issue. It was a satisfactory situation for both of us.

We shook hands, both satisfied.

“And…”

And?

“If possible, ahem! I’d like you to say something to my daughter.”

“What should I say?”

“Tell her it was resolved well. It would be good to say the atmosphere wasn’t too bad.”

“…Are you serious?”

“Ariane was quite distressed.”

So that’s why the Duke came to apologize in person.

It seems Ariane was loved by the Duke much more than I thought.

“I don’t think you’re expecting me to do this for free.”

“Is there something else you want?”

“If I ever need the protection of the ducal family in the future, I’d like to receive help one more time. Then I’ll make sure there are no problems from this incident.”

“Hmm, alright. Let’s do that.”

A few days passed, and it was the weekend.

Ariane came to the general store with her friends, and since she hadn’t heard that everything had been resolved well, she was fidgeting and watching my reactions.

‘They look alike, but their personalities are completely different.’

She seemed embarrassed to face me, probably because she had assured me last time we parted that her family would never do such a thing.

Honestly, I still can’t believe the misunderstanding of Ariane’s father, the Duke.

‘Pairing me with a kid like that?’

How messed up does one’s thinking have to be to even consider such a thing?

For reference, Ariane’s head barely reaches my chest.

It’s absurd to even think of pairing me with someone like that.

“Did your father really come to apologize in person?”

Ariane’s eyes widened and sparkled as she heard my words.

“Yes, he said he got scolded by you a lot and became sullen, then asked me to please speak well of him to his daughter.”

“Wow~ Did our father really do that? I can’t believe it…”

Although she said she couldn’t believe it, Ariane’s expression was gradually brightening.

She must not have expected that the head of a ducal family would come running like a doting father to apologize and bow his head, even though she had gotten angry at her father.

That guess was correct since such a thing didn’t actually happen.