Save the Starving Frontier! The “Buyer” of the Reversed Chastity World - 37 END

Chapter 37: A Small Shop in the Frontier Lands

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Half a year had passed since the celebration. The frontier lands had harvested their autumn wheat and somehow managed to recover. With the town’s buildings repaired and merchants from other regions returning, it could be said the territory was completely restored.

There was nothing left for me to do here. All that was left was to live my own life.

I had received a small shop and a plot of land in the commoners’ district from the Margrave, and I was now running it as the shopkeeper. It was a general store, but I had also placed two tables inside so that food could be served. They doubled as a place for the employees to eat their meals.

“Kaito-nii-chan! Don’t slack off!”

“The shopkeeper is minding the store. You work, Employee.”

Etna, who was cleaning the shop, complained to me. There were four employees besides myself: Etna, Pirika, Syldra, and Aisha, who doubled as a guard and heavy-lifting worker.

Etna was about the age to become an apprentice, so I had hired her together with Pirika. Syldra had almost been invited to the Margrave’s estate, but she refused to leave my side. Aisha also had an adventurer’s license, but I paid her a salary to stay here with us.

Paying wages for four people meant the shop made no profit. Almost everything went into salaries and other expenses. But with “Purchase” and the “Internet Market,” we never had to worry about starving, so I figured that was fine.

I also spent money on supplies. Sure, I could pick up random junk lying around, but if I did that, it would eventually lead to residents fighting over scraps among themselves. So instead, I requested the Adventurers’ Guild to collect magic-infused herbs and subjugate magical beasts, then tossed those into “Purchase” as my source of funds.

If no one was losing out, then it was only right to pay money for it.

“Wife. I’m hungry. Give me donuts.”

“Here you go.”

Lately Syldra was hooked on the lineup from “Mrs. Donuts.” I could give them for free, but sometimes she handed me shed scales in return, so I bought those and let her eat as much as she wanted. Even in her human form, scales would fall off her.

At first, I had been shocked and searched to see where they were growing, but there were none. Apparently, they were linked to her original body, and whenever hair or scales shed in that form, they would just pop off here. If she wanted, Syldra could drool into a saucer, and since it contained magic, it qualified for “Purchase.”

As long as she stayed with me, she would never go hungry again.

As for Etna, Pirika, and Aisha, since I paid them wages, I told them to buy herbs or weeds with it and put them through “Purchase,” and that was what they were doing. It was to prevent the currency circulation in this region from shrinking.

After all, anything bought back disappeared from this world. We had to keep money flowing to the Adventurers’ Guild and herb shops. Since I had stopped handing out supplies for free, almost no one came to me for resources anymore.

If they were short, they could just buy from the shop. They had lived fine without me before the disaster, after all. If I kept giving things away forever, the economy would collapse without a trace. That would dishonor the Margrave, who had gifted me this shop.

Ah, a customer.

“Yo, Commander Sharon. Vice Commander Mial. Welcome. What’ll it be today?”

“One hot night with the shopkeeper.”

“Coming right up.”

Commander Sharon, Vice Commander Mial, and even the Margrave herself sometimes came by. Occasionally, they came for rare modern goods, but most of the time, it was for something erotic. If they wanted children, they called on me.

“Muuu, you’re after Nii-chan again!”

“I’m not for sale, but it’s fine, isn’t it? I do it with you guys too.”

If I sold this kind of service, I would be running an entirely different business. The Knights’ Order couldn’t afford that kind of scandal.

When I waved them off with “See you tonight,” Commander Sharon and Vice Commander Mial left smiling. They almost always came as a pair, and they always ordered together. Of course, the nighttime part was also the three of us together. Maybe because the very first time had been all three at once, they had gotten hooked to that.

On the back end, I was supplying sweets, seasonings, and such not only to the Knights’ Order but also to the Margrave. Those sales covered most of my payroll.

We served food at the shop too, but orders were rare. The dishes I had introduced were being recreated using magical beast meat and local ingredients. Now you could eat fantasy-style gyoza, tonkotsu ramen, pizza, or fried chicken at restaurants everywhere.

Since they used beast meat and bones, they were delicious. When I got tired of food court flavors, I sometimes went out to eat them myself. After all, I was supplying the specialty seasonings.

Even without me, this world had its own food. Sometimes I wondered if spreading Japanese cuisine everywhere was a good thing. But then again, Japanese food was full of adaptations of world cuisines in Japanese style. If it was made in another world, then that made it cuisine of that world.

“Kaito, it’s about lunchtime. I’ll flip the sign.”

“Yeah, thanks, Aisha. What do you want to eat?”

Aisha flipped the door sign to “On Break.” When I asked what they wanted for the midday staff meal, Etna and Pirika spoke up together.

“Katsudon!”

“I want katsudon!”

“I want katsudon too.” 

Aisha added.

Aisha as well, huh. Then katsudon for four.

I asked Syldra too, but she was still munching on donuts. Last week it had been ice cream. Eating only sweets wasn’t good for nutrition, but… Well, we were all eating katsudon, so who was I to talk?

I was lining up four bowls of katsudon on the table when someone stepped through the door.

“Ah, sorry. We’re on lunch break right now.”

“Um, I…”

I blinked in disbelief. The person standing there was wearing a sailor uniform.

“Um… I thought I got run over by a truck, but when I came to, I was here… I don’t have any money for this place either…But then the townspeople told me, if you don’t have money, go to this shop…”

A high school girl? No way. Another person had been transported here besides me? Her sailor uniform was a bit dirty. Her makeup was faded, almost gone. She must have been in this world for a few days already.

“I… I don’t know what to do…”

Her stomach growled loudly. She probably hadn’t eaten anything all this time. As everyone stood stunned, I quietly pulled out a chair from the table. Then I took the girl’s hand and seated her in front of the katsudon.

“Welcome. For now, what you should do is eat the katsudon in front of you.”

“Eh!? N-no, it’s fine! I don’t have any money…”

Shut up. Like I care who you are. You’re hungry, aren’t you? Whether you’re from another world or from Earth, hunger is hunger.

So I told her.

“Shut up! You’re alive, aren’t you! Just eat! If you eat first, everything else will work out!”

When I pushed the bowl toward her, the girl hesitantly took a bite. Then she began to cry in tears.

“It’s delicious… Why is there katsudon in a world like this…?”

Who knows. I don’t. I don’t know why I have these cheats either. But well… You’re alive, aren’t you? So eat something good first.

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T/N: A part of me thinks Author-san wrote this story not for the isekai aspect, but… I guess as a way to heal his mind from this depressing real world? Eat and stay alive guys!