079: Souvenirs

My father has been drained by clothes shopping for an uncommonly long time, but he puts on a brave face for his beloved wife. I can hear female customers commenting on my parent’s close relationship, I’m sorry other husbands and boyfriends. They’re a very nice couple from any perspective.

Since I’m a kid, I didn’t expect to find many things, but I came across a few small items. I should be able to find a good souvenir for Emma, so it wasn’t completely terrible to be dragged into this store. There are many barrettes, hair elastics, scrunchies, bracelets, and other colorful accessories. This store has a sizable female section, if I wasn’t an innocent child, I might have been shy.

Unfortunately, there’s a loud female voice coming from the back of the store.

“Tell me, does this look good?” Loud Woman

“Yes! That works well with customers of all body types!” Clerk

Is some aristocrat’s wife in the back? I guess she went shopping with a servant. That ‘all body types’ phrase suggests she’s on the larger side. The clerk must have dealt with women of that size before. I can see her servant stifling laughter out of sight from the woman, that servant has no respect for her.

“Oh? I wonder if should get this coat too?” Loud Woman

“Thank you!” Clerk

“It seems the new fashion is to have traditional embroidery on a rough outer covering.” Loud Woman

The round and loud wife puts on a bright red coat, then heads to the purchasing counter. That doesn’t look like a normal coat, where have I seen that pattern before? The woman left the shop trailed by a servant desperately covering their giggles.

“Thank you very much!” Loud Woman

“Manager! Where did the break room carpet disappear to?” Shop Assistant

“Ah, I sold it to my favorite aristocrat” Shop Owner

“Uh, wasn’t that carpet pretty worn out?” Shop Assistant

“Well, we commoners can’t conceive of the intricacies of aristocratic fashion.” Shop Owner

“Ah, that’s right” Shop Assistant

Oh, so that wasn’t originally a coat. It seems clothes of a size to fit that body size could only be made to order, with long lead times. It seems the shop owner showed off the carpet as quick option for a coat, which was snapped up.

Well, that was weird, but I have to look for accessories that will work as souvenirs. I picked up various items to look at them, but there were some I had no idea what their purpose was. Oh, this one looks interesting.

While I was looking, Mina came up and picked up a hairpin and put it in her bangs.

“Does this look good on me?” Mina

“No, it doesn’t complement your hair color and makes you look more like a simpleton.” Al

“Oh! Alfred has a mean mouth! You could give a nicer answer. Wait, look more like a simpleton?” Mina

Some might say that I’m being overly mean, but the hairpin Mina picked up is for a young girl, think three to five years old. It would be an insult to say it looked good.

“Oh, how about this?” Mina

Mina grabs a light blue scrunchie and ties back her hair this time.

“It looks like a tadpole’s tail.” Al

Her hair isn’t anywhere near long enough to be tying it back, she needs another six inches for it not to look ridiculous.

“Alfred is so cruel! Sarah!” Mina

Mina runs over to Sarah with exaggerated crying.

“What’s wrong Mina? Fufufu… Are you being punished?” Sarah

“Awww! Sarah is terrible too!” Mina

Sarah went as far as to laugh at Mina’s terrible choice in accessories. I cheered Mina up by giving her a cookie to eat. I bought the accessories I had picked out, then checked through my list to make sure I wasn’t missing anyone.

I’ve got a small accessory for Emma, even if it’s small, she’ll appreciate something from the capital. I don’t want to get something too big and have Thor make fun of me, that would be depressing. I bought something similar for Sheila, but would she prefer something to eat?

My current problem is picking out souvenir for my sister Eleanora. She’s got odd tastes, so I’ll have to be clever. I’m sure she’d like a weapon, but then she would want to practice with me, so no weapons please. I need something safe.

I could bow down for forgiveness, but I’ve had to do that too many times before. There’s no value in it anymore. An observer might think I have an odd hobby I do it so often.

I’ll think through her schedule to fine something. So she goes to morning sword training, then academic studies (as little as possible), militia training, then relaxing in the mansion. When she has free time, she’ll barge into either Silvio’s or my room.

“What about this for Eleanora?” Elna

“Oh? It seems a bit too fancy? Eleanora doesn’t really like that kind of clothes.” Nord

“Oh, right. She looks good with anything, but doesn’t like to dress like an average girl.” Elna

Besides being a sword fanatic, her personality is a lot like a younger Elna.

“Maybe…”

“She’s a girl around that age, I want her to be more fashionable” Elna

Eleanora doesn’t care about fashion. She only wears clothes that are easy to move in, and nearly all of her time is spent with a pony tail. That reminds me, her hair tie is pretty worn out. I’m not exactly sure which kind of accessory she would prefer for that purpose, I’ll just buy several kinds in several colors to be sure. If I try to pick one out, she’ll just say she doesn’t like the color.

I ended up buying various accessories. I shouldn’t have problems giving souvenirs to women, only God knows if they’ll be well received. When we left the second store, the noon-time bell rang. Mina and Sarah ran off to the south boulevard, apparently they’re planning on trying all the food stalls of the royal capital. I doubt that’s possible, but Sarah will be responsible and make sure to get Mina back. It’s easy to find our inn by going north from the south boulevard.

Since it’s lunch time, I wonder where the Slowlette family is going. When I asked Nord, he said we had a reservation at a restaurant specializing in fish. Oh, seafood! It should be different from the river fish we can eat in Koriat Village. I haven’t had seafood since I was reincarnated, so I’m looking forward to it. Personally, I preferred seafood to meat.

We went north a little while to find the restaurant. It’s an upscale restaurant since it’s in the northern section. There’s a maître d’ greeting us.

“Welcome, Mr. Nord Slowlette?” Maître d’

A smartly dressed man bows as we enter. Since this is an area with high-end area, the service for aristocrats will be good. The quality of the staff looks to be high. It seems Nord has pull beyond that of a normal Baron.

“That’s correct” Nord

“Please follow me” Maître d’

We follow the man and sit down at the designated table. We aren’t the only customers in the restaurant, but it’s not crowded. There’s a gentle murmur of conversations, the restaurant has a luxurious but relaxed atmosphere. I can see several other families eating together. It looks like polite manners would be expected, but it won’t be overly strict. I would like to enjoy this type of food more often, but our territory is surrounded by mountains, and the sea is far away. I can sometimes eat dried fish, but it’s overly salty. I think I heard that Eric’s territory has a sea nearby, I should visit if I get the chance.

“I’ll get seafood for the first time in a while” Nord

“Our river fish are delicious, but seafood are more varied and tastier.” Elna

It seems Elna and Nord are looking forward to the meal.

“Al has never had fish from the sea, right?” Elna

“Yeah, I’ve only had river fish.” Al

I looked over the menu, but all of the fish names are unfamiliar. I’ve read about a few of them in books, but I’m lost as to what to order.

“Do you see anything you want to eat?” Nord

“Hmm, I don’t know, I’d like some recommendations.” Al

I wanted to eat some shellfish and shrimp. I don’t want to end up with a large fish head or other odd seafood dish, so I’ll ask for some recommendations.

“Understood” Nord

Nord smiles at my response, then consults with Elna before placing an order for me with the waiter. I tried to ask for wine again, but it was rejected and I was given grape juice. The eyes of the waiter and nearby customers were reproachful.

When the seafood dishes arrived, I was able to recover the energy I lost this morning. The seafood soup that had multiple flavors in every spoonful was my favorite. It must have taken a lot of experimentation to produce a harmonious taste even though it had shellfish, shrimp, and multiple fish in the soup.

I heard that fish is rarely eaten raw in this country. Is it because nobody has found a good way to eat it raw? If there’s soy sauce, I’d bet raw fish would take off. I should search for soybeans to make soy sauce, or ideally, just find soy sauce. I know how to make it since I’ve made it at school. I also worked with soy sauce factories in my previous life’s career, but soy sauce isn’t easy or quick to make.

If there is a place selling it, I’ll go there immediately. Even if it is in another country. Once I have done one journey, I can use Transfer magic to make the next journey much quicker. I wonder if Triela would ship it like he did with the rice?

After a leisurely conversation after the meal, we headed out to see the magic tool that Bartolo requested. The magic tool shop we’re visiting in nearby, obviously it’s quite different from the smaller store I visited in the western district. This shop is big and has many magic tools on display, it’s not like a hole-in-the-wall shop.

It looks like the best-selling tools are for making light, water, hot water, and fire. They seem to be the kinds of tools any aristocrat would have. Of course, if you can just use the magic yourself, that would be the most convenient way. Unfortunately, the refrigerator-style magic tools are sold out. I can hear an aristocrat arguing with the clerk, they want to know when they’ll be back in stock. Apparently, the demand is far outstripping the supply, since Ice Magic is a rare magic.

“Welcome, are you looking for something” Clerk

As we entered the store, the clerk ran over to attend to us, so he could get away from the angry aristocrat.

“Well, I would like to see the recently released Fire Magic tool.” Nord

“Oh, the one for cooking? I have it right over here” Clerk

When we follow the clerk, he’s showing off something much like a stove from my previous life.

“This is the new Fire Magic tool used for cooking. Instead of simply making fire, it is able to regulate the strength to keep the interior at a constant temperature. Compared to a wood-fired oven, the temperature is far more consistent.” Clerk

“Will buy!” Al

“Thank you” Clerk

“Al, you aren’t the one making the decision” Nord

“Dad, what are you talking about? This is a revolutionary magic tool that improves cooking!” Al

Does Nord not understand since he doesn’t cook? I don’t know if he can conceive of how important this could be. This would save a lot of time, allowing more variety of dishes, I’d even be able to make tempura.

“Uh, I was told that by Bartolo” Al

“Isn’t it important if both Bartolo and Al ask for it? They’re the ones making interesting new dishes.” Elna

Thanks for the backup Elna, I’m glad you’re getting the idea.

“If you got this, you’d be able to mass-produce sweets, right?” Elna

“Indeed, we could also try to make new sweets!” Al

I let the cat out of the bag, but I can’t help it. An oven would be so useful. Besides, Bartolo would be the one doing most of the cooking, and he’d probably be fine with using the time he saved to make more sweets. That seems to have convinced Elna.

“That sounds good, so let’s buy it. How much is it?” Elna

“Thank you, Missus. It’s currently 80 gold coins” Clerk

“That’s quite expensive!” Nord

“Look, we do have the money” Elna

Elna is looking less reliable, I don’t know if we’ll get it now.

“Huh, do you not want to buy it” Clerk

“That’s right” Nord

“My sweets… to enrich my meals” Elna

“Anyway, let’s hear more about it? We don’t have to buy it today.” Nord

If we don’t get it today, the day when sweets are available all the time will be pushed back. Elna eventually convinces Nord to buy is, so he reluctantly pulls out some platinum coins from his pocket.

Translation

Good Job!

Do Better!

Chapter

Love It!

What?

FFS!

Really?