“It’s rare to find myself alone.”
Kent murmured to himself. Lately, there had always been someone around Kent, so being alone felt like something he hadn’t experienced in a long time.
(For now, I’ll get something to drink and relax.)
Kent took out his terminal and searched for something to drink.
(Oh? New drinks have been added. Speaking of which, I haven’t tried this one, I wonder what it tastes like?)
Kent ordered a drink labeled “Suspicious Carbonated Water.”
“So this is the rumored suspicious carbonated water. Even though it’s carbonated water, it’s flavored and classified as a carbonated beverage, so I should be able to drink it on its own. I never got to drink this in the other world. Despite all the harsh reviews, for some reason, it gained a few loyal customers and became a long-seller.”
As he said this, Kent tried to open the cap of the plastic bottle with “Suspicious Carbonated Water” written on it.
“Older brother, good morning.”
The door suddenly opened, and Rachel entered the room.
“Good morning, Kent.”
Caro followed in.
“Wow, older brother is about to drink Ayatan. It’s a Challenger.”
“Ayatan… so it’s Ayatan because it’s suspicious carbonated water. I see. Rachel, have you had it before?”
“I was forced to drink it as a punishment game before… Just thinking about it makes me nauseous… ugh.”
“Uwah, don’t throw up here.”
“Ugh… I’ll try my best.”
Rachel desperately held back the urge to vomit.
“Does it taste that bad?”
“I don’t know? Actually, I’ve never tried it either, so I just decided to try it out of curiosity. But, it seems there are some people who like it, so I think some people can drink it.”
“Is that so? Can I try it too?”
Caro seemed interested and said she wanted to try it. Without any other choice, he ordered another one from his terminal and handed it to Caro.
“Thank you, Kent. Let’s drink it together, on the count of three.”
“Understood. Here we go. One, two.”
At Kent’s signal, Kent and Caro gulped down the “Suspicious Carbonated Water.”
“Ugh. What is this… I need to go to the bathroom…”
Kent felt a surge of nausea from the taste that exceeded his imagination and rushed to the toilet.
“This is no good. I can’t handle it. Speaking of which, Caro, how about you?”
Kent had rushed to the toilet immediately after drinking, but Caro hadn’t followed him. Wondering why, he returned to the room and was surprised by the sight.
“Kent, this is delicious. It kind of makes me feel energetic.”
“Older brother, Caro seems to have a good aptitude for it.”
“It seems so.”
Kent and Rachel chuckled wryly as they watched Caro happily drinking the “Suspicious Carbonated Water.”
“So, what are we doing today?”
Today, they were supposed to go out, the three of them including Caro, at Rachel’s invitation. Kent asked Rachel about it.
“Um. Today, I’m planning to go to the biggest shop in this town.”
“Jastar Trading Company, right?”
“As expected of Caro. You figured it out right away.”
“It’s the first time I’ve heard the name, but what do they sell?”
Caro seemed to know, but Kent had never heard of it, so he asked Rachel.
“I only found out about it myself recently, but it’s a really big store. It wasn’t in the game settings, so I was surprised when I saw it for the first time.”
“It’s unusual even for the knowledgeable Rachel to have only known about it recently. And it’s such a large store.”
“Truly. I wonder why I didn’t notice it before. And, well. They sell all sorts of things. If I say it’s like a shopping mall, older brother, you’ll understand, right?”
“I don’t know the scale, but it sounds impressive.”
Kent only knew about small, privately owned shops in this town, and the largest store he could think of was Marie’s Bakery No. 2.
“Jastar Trading Company, you know, is one of the top two largest companies in the country, run by Prim’s father.”
“Prim’s family is that amazing?”
“Actually, yes.”
“I’ve only ever seen him working, but he’s actually from a really amazing family, isn’t he?”
“That’s right. In terms of assets alone, my family can’t even compare.”
“It was that amazing?”
“Yes. And since Prim is likely to inherit the business, his parents have decided to let him work for educational purposes.”
When Prim’s name came up, Kent thought of Bobby, who was in the same class.
“You’re dating a young lady from such an amazing family. Is Bobby going to be okay?”
“Older brother, what does Bobby’s family do?”
“I think he said they were carpenters or something.”
“Oh, really? They seem to get along well, but will their parents oppose the relationship?”
“I don’t know. This is entirely a matter of family circumstances, so I can’t say.”
Following the flow of conversation, the three of them worried about Bobby.
“Speaking of which, I heard Catherine returned. I’m relieved.”
“I was surprised, she came back this morning.”
“It seems she’s alright after all.”
After getting ready and leaving the house, Kent and his companions started walking towards Jastar Trading Company. On the way, Rachel said to Kent,
“But, it seems she has to work at the castle now and can’t come to the shop.”
“Work at the castle? What could that be? Caro, do you know?”
“It’s strange for a commoner child who doesn’t attend school to be summoned to work at the castle, let alone an adult. I wonder what they plan to have Catherine do.”
Caro’s brain worked at full speed to find an answer, but she couldn’t reach a conclusion.
“Speaking of which, there was no one at home, but are Marie and Catherine out?”
“Yes, I think they’re out in town, so we might run into them somewhere.”
The three of them headed towards their destination, talking about various things along the way.
“This is Jastar Trading Company.”
“It is indeed a large building. I thought it was some kind of facility, but it’s a shop. If this whole thing is a store, it’s on an incredible scale.”
The three of them had arrived in front of a large, three-story stone building. It was larger than Josette’s mansion and resembled some kind of public facility. Next to the building, there was a large stable, indicating it was designed to accommodate customers arriving by carriage.
“But something seems off.”
Caro noticed something and said.
“What’s wrong?”
“The flow of people has stopped.”
“Now that you mention it, it does seem that way.”
Given the size of the facility, there should be a flow of people being drawn into the building, but as Caro said, the flow stopped before the store, and some people were turning back.
“Shame. It’s a sudden closure. I was planning to spend the whole day here.”
Getting swept up in the flow of people, Rachel reached the front and sadly noticed a sign.
“It’s unusual. To be closed on a holiday, when business is usually good.”
Caro also said in surprise.
“If they’re closed, then it can’t be helped. Well, since our plans are gone, what should we do?”
“Oh? Isn’t that Kent?”
As Kent was saying this to Rachel and Caro, someone called out to him from behind.
