Kent picked up one of the finished baked sweet potatoes and tried it.
“The raw ingredients are good to begin with, but it really is an oven for commercial use. It’s cooked thoroughly inside, sweet, and delicious.”
The sweet potatoes used were top-grade ones cultivated by Al in his home garden. Their taste is better than those grown in Sumput.
“The remaining two are souvenirs for Auntie.”
“Oh, my apologies. My husband will be delighted, so I’ll gratefully accept them.”
“Well then, I’ll go prepare something to wrap them in, so please wait a moment.”
Out of the five baked sweet potatoes made, Kent, Rachel, and Auntie each ate one, leaving two. They decided to give those two to Auntie as souvenirs.
“Oh, and speaking of thanks for this time, would you consider entrusting the matter of the school festival sponsor to Auntie?”
“Do you have someone in mind?”
“Yes, we will dispatch someone in charge with the details later. Hmm, would this shop be alright? Or perhaps your home?”
“Either is fine. I’m usually here from opening to closing on weekdays when I’m not at school, and my home is right across from this shop, so please choose whichever is more convenient.”
“Understood. The condition will likely be that they only provide funding and do not interfere with the exhibition content, so please discuss and decide what to do with the committee member in charge.”
“Understood. Thank you.”
While this was happening, Rachel bagged the baked sweet potatoes and handed them to Auntie.
“Here you go.”
“Thank you. I’ll be going home now then. Kent, Rachel, and Emily, it was nice meeting you all.”
With that, Auntie left the shop and headed home.
“Hehehe. I’ve made an unexpected discovery. A shop-attached fairy and a mid-ranking fairy with powerful magic power… I never expected to encounter them here. This is getting interesting.”
Auntie, in a good mood, disappeared into town.
After Auntie had gone, Emily had a strange look on her face.
“Emily, what’s wrong?”
“No, it’s just… the customer from earlier seemed to be observing me. And Al too.”
“Isn’t it possible you just felt that way? I didn’t sense any malice from her.”
Although Emily said that, Kent didn’t notice any suspicious behavior from Auntie and thought she might have just been looking at the two of them because they had distinctive appearances.
“Oh, and she promised to find us a sponsor, so that’s good, isn’t it?”
Rachel was also thinking optimistically.
“It’s not that simple. Actually, when I accepted the sponsor offer, I was granted a new ability. Therefore, it’s only logical to assume it will have some impact on this shop.”
“Wouldn’t an increased ability be considered good for the shop?”
Kent said to the wary Emily.
“So, by the way. Emily, what is this new ability of yours?”
Rachel asked Emily with great interest.
“Actually… Master. Could you please get out a piggy bank?”
“Hmm? Of course. Here you go.”
“Thank you.”
Kent took out a terminal at Emily’s request and chose a random piggy bank. He then handed it to Emily.
“Now then… alright. I will present this to Rachel.”
Muttering something, the piggy bank flashed for a moment, and she handed it to Rachel.
“Um, what is this piggy bank for?”
“It’s for paying phone bills. If you put copper coins in this box, you can make calls on the Smartphone you have. The money in the piggy bank will decrease based on the call duration, and the call will be disconnected when it runs out. The range of calls… I haven’t tested it, but it’s probably about this city’s size.”
“Wow. That sounds convenient. I’ll try it out.”
Rachel dropped all the copper coins she had into the piggy bank.
“How do I make a call?”
“The contact information is registered, so please try calling from your contact list. Also, you cannot dial by number, so you cannot call people who are not in your contact list. Please note that this function only allows calls and not features like email.”
“Got it. Alright, here I go… yikes!”
Rachel took out her smartphone and attempted to make a call to someone.
(Can people in this world, who don’t know how to use this, even answer the phone?)
Kent suddenly thought.
“Hello.”
“Ah, Caro? I knew you’d pick up.”
“I had seen Kent’s terminal, so operating it wasn’t a problem. Also, Rachel’s name appeared on the screen, so I knew it was a phone call.”
Kent was impressed by Caro’s quick comprehension. He was, however, surprised by Rachel’s natural action based on that understanding.
“Actually, this smartphone I have gained the ability to make calls.”
“Well, considering we’re talking now, it seems Rachel is right.”
After that, Rachel had a casual conversation with Caro on the phone. Since she was using speaker mode, which allowed conversation without holding the phone, Kent could hear the content of their talk.
“Oh, the money in the piggy bank is almost gone… Sorry, Caro. I have to hang up soon because I’m running out of money.”
“Understood. Well then, until next time. Emily, please do it for me next time, too. And Kent. I’ll see you on Monday.”
Caro seemed to have noticed that Rachel was speaking in speaker mode, and after greeting Emily and Kent, the call ended.
“Alright, I’m going upstairs now, what about you, Onii-chan?”
“Hmm, I think I’ll head home.”
Kent bid farewell to Rachel and Emily and decided to return home.
“…And that’s what happened.”
Upon returning home, Kent informed Marie, Catherine, and Al about the smartphone’s calling function.
“That sounds very convenient.”
“I’m going to Emily’s place now.”
“I feel a bit hesitant to ask for a favor, but I suppose it can’t be helped.”
Marie, Catherine, and Al took the piggy banks from Kent and went to have Emily enable calling for them.
“Come to think of it, do I need to get my own smartphone?”
Kent, who hadn’t prepared one for himself, picked up his terminal and started operating it with the intention of purchasing one.
“Maybe I can make calls with this?”
Kent suddenly had an idea and switched his terminal to call mode. Then he noticed that the names of the people he had given Smartphones to had been added to his contact list.
“Shall I try calling someone? Here goes.”
Kent pondered who to call but couldn’t decide, so he looked up and pressed a random spot on the screen without looking. After a while, a ringing tone could be heard.
“It’s a call… right? Uh, hello?”
The ringing stopped as the owner of the Smartphone answered the phone.
