It's Not Like I Want to Play the Role of a Misunderstood, Good-for-Nothing Prince in a Villainess Story! - Chapter 28 – Visitor and Shopping

Morning.

While eating on the first floor of the inn, Garim and Debut walked over.

“Zeke-sama, you’re coming today?”

“Yeah, well. I’m free with nothing to do.”

“Hmph. Can you keep up with our shopping speed?”

“There’s no fast or slow way when buying necessary things.”

I finished eating the chewy dried fruit-like food before leaving the inn.

“So, where are we going first?”

“We’ve finished buying weapons and food, so next is miscellaneous goods and clothing.”

“Hmph. Shall we look at Zeke-sama’s clothes too? You don’t have other outerwear to prevent rain, do you? The coat you wore here is far too high-quality.”

“True, not suitable for the forest, huh.”

I have no money, but I’ll bill the palace again.

“Prince!”

The moment we left the inn, a soldier came running and saluted.

“What is it?”

“Prince, a guest is waiting for you.”

A guest?

Who, I wondered, when someone I recognized walked over and bowed his head.

“I was rude yesterday.”

It was Larba Ribauto.

Apparently he’d come first thing in the morning and was waiting for me or Beldiha to appear.

Moreover, he’d even told the soldiers he didn’t need to be summoned until we came out, since he came on his own, he’d wait at the entrance.

“I didn’t know the prince was this strong. Please forgive my rudeness before the match.”

“No, if you’ve apologized then that’s fine. I’m not angry anyway.”

“Thank you. Also… I have one more request.”

Apparently he wanted to come along for tomorrow’s monster subjugation.

His apologetic demeanor was likable.

But this isn’t something I can decide on my own.

As I was pondering, Tarsen happened to come out from inside.

“I saw Larba-dono, so did something happen?”

When I explained the current situation, Tarsen nodded as if understanding.

“That’s fine. The captain apparently intended to bring Larba-dono along if he wanted to come. I’ll tell him when he wakes up.”

“Please!”

Larba bowed his head deeply.

“Speaking of which, is Beldiha still sleeping?”

“The captain is probably sleeping off a hangover. It’s fine, I think he’ll wake up tonight or tomorrow morning.”

“So late!”

Hard to believe he’s the same guy who was pompously talking about humility yesterday.

Well, it’s like him in a sense though.

“By the way, Prince, are you going somewhere now?”

“That’s right, I was thinking of going shopping for tomorrow.”

“Then may I come too?! I’ll guide you around town!”

Larba offered.

******

“Huh, so that’s why you have that unique style.”

“That’s right. It’s easier to fight that way. Would a normal style be better?”

“Isn’t it fine? That had no openings and was a bit hard to fight against. Also, sword styles differ subtly by region, for example…”

While going around town talking with Larba, it was very enjoyable.

Because I got along surprisingly well with Larba.

Larba’s swordsmanship theories were interesting, he talked quite well, and he listened to my stories earnestly.

All the game romance targets who’d appeared until now had hostility toward me, but this is completely different.

How to put it, it’s refreshing.

He apologized for yesterday, so now let’s just get along normally.

Something like this is nice.

And so we’d generally gathered what we needed to buy.

“Is this the end?”

“No, not yet.”

Wait, did we not buy something?

“Where are we going next?”

“Hmph. You seem to have forgotten. We haven’t yet bought Zeke-sama’s clothing.”

“Ah, the waterproof coat.”

At worst I feel like I don’t need it though.

“Hmm, however the stores up to here didn’t have it.”

“Wait, wasn’t it at the earlier store?”

“Hmph. It’s for you, Zeke-sama? Such cheap goods won’t do. The design wasn’t good either.”

“Cheap goods are fine. Design doesn’t matter either.”

“No no, Zeke-sama in shabby clothing is unacceptable.”

“Hmph. Even if you permit it, we cannot.”

“If I’m permitting it then compromise on that.”

Then Larba snapped his fingers.

“Right, there’s a shop our house uses regularly, how about that?”

And so, we immediately came to Larba’s recommended shop.

I see, the selection is certainly good.

Even taking just the fabric, they seem to use high-quality materials.

Moreover, despite the spacious interior, there are mountains of clothes.

My eyes wander.

“Zeke-sama, how about this?”

What Debut brought was bright yellow clothing that seemed to make eyes flicker.

“…Wouldn’t a different color be better?”

“Really? I thought to make you stand out immediately even in the forest…”

Stand out—isn’t that from a monster’s perspective? I think it’d make me easier to attack.

“Hmph. You have not a fragment of sense. Look at this.”

Next, what Garim brought was green clothing that reflected light with a shine.

“…Wouldn’t something plainer be better?”

This one has zero camouflage effect.

Even for rain use, something usable normally would be better.

I mean, why do these guys only pick fluorescent colors?

“What are you saying! Zeke-sama in subdued colors is unacceptable.”

“Hmph. Standing out is everything.”

“You understand we’re going on a monster subjugation, right?”

If I stand out to monsters, only I’ll get attacked by groups.

I’ll just have to leave it to Larba who went searching deeper inside…

“Ah!”

“Huh?”

Looking toward the voice, there was someone pointing at me while looking at me.

A very familiar-looking girl.

A bit older than me with brown hair, seems a bit strong-willed but her face is well-proportioned.

I mean, that girl is, uh…

“D…D…Dri…”

“It’s Driema!”

Right, Driema. Elliott’s older sister.

But why is she here?

Driema raised her chin and glared down at me.

“Why are you people here? This is a shop used by proper nobles. It’s not a shop for fake royalty like you.”

Fake! I was fake royalty?!

Well, I’m used to that kind of abuse, so I’m not shocked.

“So, why are you here? Is Elliott here too?”

Since I ignored her, she gulped, but immediately recovering, Driema crossed her arms and turned her face slightly to the side with a “Hmph…”

“I have no need to tell you. I just came shopping to meet someone. Also, my foolish brother is in the capital.”

I see, just came shopping.

I mean, this girl says there’s no need to tell me but tells me everything.

Could she be a tsundere character?

“Driema-chan, where are you?”

While talking, that person appeared.

The moment I saw her, my face involuntarily stiffened.

She had some resemblance to Driema and Elliott.

Her age looked about the same as Laura’s.

Certainly beautiful, but seemed to have a very harsh personality.

“This shop isn’t suitable for tainted bloodline types.”

The snorting manner was certainly those two’s mother.

Furthermore, I disliked the feeling of seeing her dressed up with excessive hair ornaments and accessories.

I definitely couldn’t get along with her.

Her name was Hilma, I think.

“Prince, were you here? I searched for you… what’s wrong?”

In the unpleasant atmosphere, Larba came with clothing in hand.

Then Hilma saw Larba and laughed through her nose.

“Oh my, if it isn’t Ribauto’s… an upstart and a tainted mongrel getting along is comical. Right, Driema-chan? Don’t you think so?”

Hilma waited for Driema’s agreement, but when it didn’t come at all, she looked back suspiciously.

“Driema-chan?”

“Eh, ah… y-yes. I think so.”

It was a glossing-over kind of response, but Hilma nodded satisfactorily and hid her face with a fan produced from somewhere.

“Well, fine. Come, Driema-chan. Let’s leave these people and go. We mustn’t keep Duke Romash waiting.”

“Yes, Mother.”

Hilma glared at us once before leaving, and Driema gave us just a brief glance before departing.

“Prince, who was that person?”

“Well, yes… an acquaintance.”

“I see. Actually, I once gave her directions when she was lost in town before. I ended up not asking her name, and thought I’d done something wasteful.”

Huh, something like that happened… hm? Wasteful?

After that, I was persistently asked about Driema, but I explained lightly for now.

Could she be his type?

But you know, her mother was a blood supremacist, so I think it’s impossible.

“You ended up with that?”

What I chose at the shop was a slightly dark gray coat.

Made from the hide of a huge boar called Oulboar, it was effective for blade resistance and waterproofing.

Even if I went outside at night, if I lay on the ground or hid in tree shadows, I wouldn’t be noticed.

Yeah, if anything, this kind is good.

“Please treat me well.”

Looking over, Larba was greeting Beldiha.

How heartwarming.

The problem, if there was one, was that Beldiha’s face responding with his hand was bright red.

According to Tarsen, he woke up last night but immediately snatched a sake bottle saying something about the hair of the dog and returned to his room.

Let’s just leave him alone.

After that, we departed from the town of Afkad on the scheduled date.