NOVEL NEXT Chapter 131: Helping Choose A Present
Chapter 131: Helping choose a present
Hi there
Since I have made really good progress today here’s a double release.
I believe I should still be on track to release another chapter tomorrow.
Anyway, you probably guessed who the “new” characters that are going to appear in real life right?
Enjoy.
A certain public holiday in the afternoon.
Today I had a day off from my part-time job, so I went to the neighboring town one stop away by train to an appointment in the shopping mall.
I sat down on a bench in the plaza inside the station and waited while playing around with my phone.
The person I had an appointment with was…
「Master!」(Walter)
「…」(Wataru)
Uwah, I don’t want to reply.
I don’t really care in-game, but being called 「Master」 in the middle of town is quite painful and embarrassing.
Why do you think I went as far as to tell him my real name last night?
The one who was waving his hand and heading towards me was a young boy that you’d mistake for a young girl.
White legs stretching from under his shorts and his hair was dazzling under the sunlight.
「Wait, what’s with that androgynous fashion style…are you doing it on purpose? Or are you just an airhead?」(Wataru)
「Master?」(Walter)
「Hmm? Ah, my bad. I guess in this case…I should say nice to meet you? Tsukasa-kun.」(Wataru)
「I don’t want that, Master. Refer to me the same you do in-game.」(Tsukasa)
「In that case, stop with the Master. If you call me in a normal way I’ll consider doing that.」(Wataru)
「!?」(Tsukasa)
Why do you look as if the world is going to end from just that, I can’t begin to understand him.
She…wait, wrong.
The one that goes by the name Walter in-game, Yanase Tsukasa looked no different from his avatar in-game.
In terms of age, he’s a year below me, he’s in the same school year as Rise.
Even as a guy, he had shoulder length silky hair, a slim body and even the clothes he wore were rather feminine…
「Why, Master…am I not good enough to be your disciple? Even though I idolize you this much…」(Tsukasa)
Ugh, looking at me with those eyes that look as if he’s going to cry and that voice…
The people around us glared and pierced me with their gazes. It was really uncomfortable.
It might be that they think I’m some piece of trash that has made a girl cry.
This person is a guy though…
「In that case it’s fine…you can call me Master…」(Wataru)
「Yes, Master!」(Tsukasa)
…I don’t know what to buy for ojou-sama’s birthday present.
I received an email with those contents a few days ago.
After going back and forth, we decided to go and choose a present together.
Walter…Tsukasa’s and his ojou-sama’s residence, while not exactly close, was about one prefecture away from the looks of it.
While not a distance you could travel whenever you want, it wasn’t a distance that was impossible to travel either, so we each took the train and met up like this.
The truth is, when we decided about this I went and invited Shuuhei but…
「Guhah! My old wounds are aching…」(Shuuhei)
He said those types of words that came straight out from someone with chuunibyou so it was only me here today.
It seems like he is still shocked from the events of that time.
If we thought about other acquaintances I had there was Miyu, but since she has never talked to Walter directly, I didn’t invite her.
Honestly, since it was a present for a girl, I wanted to bring a female acquaintance with me if possible but…seems like that was not happening.
However, even after meeting him in person, unexpectedly, I don’t really feel any sort of excitement from it.
I guess this is what happens when your avatar is using your real self as a basis.
If we were speaking about offline meetings, you could frequently see people lying about their gender.
Or maybe they look really different from what you imagined and maybe you can’t even get along with them the same way you do in-game.
Or maybe on the contrary, the opposite happens and it’s a good thing.
I’m not from that generation so it’s only stuff I heard about but it gives me some mixed feelings.
「So, have you any ideas about what kind of present you want? Like I thought, you probably have some kind of idea already right?」(Wataru)
「Yes, I think that an accessory would be good.」(Tsukasa)
「An accessory huh? I got it, then over here.」(Wataru)
Even girls my age usually come over to this town to buy stuff whenever they have time.
The town is quite big so I think we’ll find a jewelry or accessory shop if we go around the area in front of the station.
「Welcome, what are you looking for?」
「No, it’s not for me but the person accompanying me-」(Wataru)
「You have a cute girlfriend. Ah, in that case, what about the products displayed in this case? We have the new spring products-」
「…」(Wataru)
「Master, Master, how about this one?」(Tsukasa)
「Why are you trying it out on yourself? Though it suits you.」(Wataru)
「Eh…I-It’s that so? That’s embarrassing…」(Tsukasa)
「We have the one for males that pairs up with that one as a set. How about it?」
「…」(Wataru)
「We have a couple’s day promotion going on today! How about it? The drinks are 30% off!」
「Ah, I’m not hungry right now so it’s fine!」(Tsukasa)
「That’s wrong! Why are you not denying it when we are being called a couple!?」(Wataru)
「I-I’m sorry, Master…」(Tsukasa)
With this sort of back and forth, we actually went through five shops.
Just how many times will I have to tell the employees that he’s not my girlfriend…?
For some reason, Tsukasa also keeps saying that the products of the shops don’t fit his ojou-sama.
For the time being, we decided to go back to the bench at our starting point and drink the beverages we bought while resting.
「…Hey, Herscha is an ojou-sama right? She lives in a huge residence right?」(Wataru)
「That’s right.」(Tsukasa)
「You, aren’t you comparing the items to what she usually wears when you are choosing by any chance?」(Wataru)
Tsukasa looked at me with surprise once he heard those words.
I guess I hit the nail on the head.
「You may be right…」(Tsukasa)
「In that case, wouldn’t it be obvious that you find the accessories found in town lacking? Before that, I forgot to ask something important.」(Wataru)
「Something important…you say?」(Tsukasa)
「Budget, the budget. We should have decided on the shops by taking that into account from the start.」(Wataru)
Having understood what I meant, Tsukasa nodded one time and brought his face close to my ear.
Wait, why is he doing this…to begin with, why does he smell so good even though he’s a guy…
It’s clear that he’s not wearing any perfume, the smell of his shampoo and soap spread towards me.
He then whispered the amount of money to me in a small voice.
It was an amount I could believe from someone working at a mansion, it was a large amount of money compared to what a normal high schooler would have.
「Even then, I guess it wouldn’t be enough to buy something that would fit someone with a lot of money…」(Wataru)
「Uuuh…you might be right…」(Tsukasa)
From what Tsukasa has said, she usually has accessories made from large natural diamonds or stuff like alexandrite dangling from her.
In that case, instead of trying to find something expensive, we should approach this from another angle.
「…In that case, I have a suggestion. Want to hear it?」(Wataru)
「Of course, Master. What is it?」(Tsukasa)
「How about you just forget about buying something that’s already made here and make a handmade accessory?」(Wataru)
It was the only method to fight against expensive gifts.
To do that, wouldn’t the best thing be a product that you have poured all your feelings into?
Thinking about Herscha’s personality, I believe she would just throw it away if it was some cheap product.
「Handmade…you say? I believe that would be lovely but when I think of starting to make it right now…」(Tsukasa)
「Don’t be that impatient. To tell you the truth, there are quite a few stores in the vicinity where you can try making handmade accessories.
I heard that it takes around two hours to make a finished product, how about it? Want to search for one?」(Wataru)
「Ah…!」(Tsukasa)
Tsukasa’s face turned cheerful.
A while back, I heard the girls in my class about them making their own original accessories and it being fun. It was also cheap and simple.
I searched the vicinity on my phone at once, there were quite a few stores and they didn’t need any reservations either.
Glasswork, power stones, silver, glass beads, etc…
We brought our heads closer and after talking about it for a bit, we decided to call a certain store.