“Storage: In.”
I deployed the null-spell I’d just learned. A magic circle surfaced on the floor, and the chair sitting on top of it sank into the floor and vanished in an instant. Right, Storage worked.
“Storage: Out.”
This time I pictured the chair and triggered the spell. The magic circle rose up, and the chair shot back out of the floor.
“Whoops.”
I caught the chair as it flew up and started to fall. Force-control on this one is tricky.
[Storage] is a null-spell for tucking things away. Living things like animals can’t go in, but plants can. The capacity scales with magic power, apparently — in my case, probably a whole house, maybe more.
While stored, time seems frozen — store a hot bowl of soup, pull it out the next day, and it’s still warm. Handy.
The most annoying thing about traveling was lugging cargo around. The full-length mirror I brought to Mismid, the dragon’s horn I picked up there… unbearable to carry.
Same with that bicycle thing — hauling the materials around was rough.
That’s where this spell comes in. Goodbye to all that hassle. Bring on the cargo. Pair it with [Gate] and — joking aside — I could probably make a living as a delivery service.
Anyway, I’ll go shopping today. With this spell, doesn’t matter how much I buy.
I grabbed my wallet and headed out of my room in good spirits, down the stairs to the first floor. In the living room Kōhaku was stretched out on the corner sofa, dozing comfortably. Getting more and more cat-like, somehow.
I crossed the terrace and stepped into the garden. In one corner, Frio-san and Claire-san were checking on the vegetables in their kitchen garden.
“How’s it going? Growing all right?”
“Ah, Master.”
“Yes, it’s coming along. We planted cucumbers and tomatoes to start — should be ready to harvest before long.”
Frio-san spoke with delight. Nice. Fresh-picked vegetable salads, then. Once you’ve got that going, fruit’s tempting too. Plant a chestnut, maybe a persimmon? Wait — is chestnut a fruit…? Yeah, fruit.
“Master, any requests for today’s lunch?”
Claire-san asked about the lunch menu. Mostly I leave it to her, but everything Claire-san cooks is delicious.
“Hmm. It’s hot today, so something refreshing… I’d like hiyashi chūka.”
“Hiyashi… chūka? I’ve never heard of that dish. Another one of Master’s home-country recipes!?”
Claire-san’s eyes lit up. Apparently every dish I named was one she’d never heard of, so each time I’d hand her a recipe and she’d make it. The novelty of each new dish always fascinated her.
“It’s a noodle dish — a chilled, slightly tangy broth with vegetables, meat, egg on top. I’ll write up the recipe.”
“Yes. I’m looking forward to it.”
That said, this is another world. Not all the same ingredients are available. Even so, Claire-san always manages to produce something delicious — that’s the impressive part.
I looked up the hiyashi chūka recipe and used [Drawing] to copy it onto paper, then handed it to Claire-san. Lunch is going to be good.
All right — time to head out.
I used [Gate] to jump to the Outer Ring of the capital, the South District. This area was the commercial quarter, shops lining the streets. Closer to the West District you’d find high-end places like Berkut; closer to the East was a pleasure district with cheap taverns and theaters.
The West District, where our home is, is a residential area for the wealthy. The East District, by contrast, is where ordinary folks live.
But apparently the East District’s public order is worse than the West’s — slum-like areas, even. Rumor was that people who’d lost their jobs, or kids who’d lost their parents, banded together and committed petty theft. The bigger the city, the bigger the underside, I guess.
I came out of a back alley in the South District and emerged onto the bustling main street. First stop — the guild. I needed to withdraw some money.
The street was lined with traveling merchants and street performers. Oh — knife juggler. My grandma tried teaching me beanbag-toss when I was little, but I couldn’t manage it at all.
I was thinking about that, eyes wandering, when — bump. I’d run into someone. A young boy. Dirty cap pulled down low, threadbare jacket and trousers.
“Whoops, sorry. Wasn’t looking.”
“Spacing out, big bro. Watch yourself.”
He tossed that back and slipped off into the crowd. Younger than Sue, probably — and that mouth on him… Like to see his parents.
The guild was as busy as always when I arrived. Adventurers crowded the request board, glaring at slips. I bypassed them and stepped up to the counter to withdraw some of the money I had deposited.
“Please present your guild card.”
Yes, yes… wait. Huh?
Inside pocket, chest pocket, hip pocket, back pocket… huh? Huh?
My wallet was gone. Wait. I had it when I left the house, didn’t I? Did I drop it…? No — ah!
Got me. That kid earlier. Pickpocketed clean. Damn.
The contents weren’t much… but I needed the guild card back.
I left the guild at a quick pace, pulled out my smartphone (thank god this didn’t get lifted) and searched for my wallet. Hit. Good — still in this district.
Huh? Moving — running, by the speed. Then the marker stopped, in a back-alley dead end. Probably planning to pocket the contents and dump the wallet somewhere quiet. Fine — if it gets to that, I’ll just search for “my guild card” instead.
I hurried toward the location. When I got to the scene, two rough-looking men were kicking a kid curled up on the ground.
“Working our turf again, you little shit!? Thanks to you, the patrols are crawling all over!”
“You doing whatever you want — that’s our problem. Hope you’re ready.”
One of them drew a knife and pinned the kid’s arm down. The kid’s face went white with terror.
“Stop! Stop, please! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!!”
The kid begged through tears, but the two men just sneered, refusing to let go.
“Too late, brat. As a courtesy from one trade to another, we’ll let you off with one finger. Don’t ever work our turf again. Next time — we kill you. Understand?”
“No… no, please——!!”
“That’s enough.”
The two thugs whipped around to glare at me. The kid being pinned widened tear-streaked eyes.
“The hell are you? Stay out of it, or we’ll kill you.”
“You’re beating a kid in a pack. Of course I’m stepping in. From the sound of it, you two are pickpockets too — that right?”
“What if we are!?”
“Nothing. Just makes me less hesitant to shoot, that’s all.”
I drew the Remington New Model Army from my hip and — boom, boom — shot the two without hesitation.
“Goh——!?”
“Gah——!?”
[Paralyze] rubber rounds. Both collapsed where they stood. I holstered the gun and rushed over to the kid.
“You all right?”
The kid nodded, face a mess of tears. Bruises and old cuts all over his body.
“Light, come — peaceful healing — Cure Heal.”
Healing magic flowed over him, and the small cuts and bruises vanished. The kid stared at his own body, eyes wide at the change.
After confirming the healing took, I pulled out a small steel cube I had on me, used [Modeling] to reshape it into wire, and tied up the two thugs so they couldn’t move. [Paralyze] keeps them down for half a day, but just in case. I’ll call the city guards later.
“My wallet — could I have it back?”
“Ah…”
The kid fumbled in his coat, pulled out my wallet, and handed it over with trembling hands. I checked the contents — nothing missing.
“Got my wallet back, so I won’t report this to the guards. Take care.”
“Ah — um!”
I’d started to walk off when the kid called me back. What?
“Thanks for… saving me…”
“If you mean it, give up the pickpocketing. Next time you might really get cau—”
Grrrrrrr…
—ght, I was about to say, when a tremendous stomach-growl drowned me out. Silence.
”…Hungry?”
“Haven’t eaten in three days…”
The kid sagged, head down. Haa… Can’t be helped.
Not my problem, none of my business — my head wasn’t apparently wired to be quite that detached.
“Come on. I’ll get you something to eat.”
“Really!?”
If you just heard that line alone, I’d sound like a kidnapper. Oblivious to my mental tangent, the kid ran up to me — and the burst of motion knocked the cap loose. A strand of hair tumbled out from under the brim.
The kid noticed, pulled the cap off entirely — and in a single instant, the boy turned into a girl. …What?
Bright flaxen hair, falling just past the shoulders. The whole impression from a moment ago flipped on its head.
“Wait — a girl!?”
”…Yeah?”
A pair of jade-green eyes looked up at me with a what’s the surprise expression. That was how I met the pickpocket — Renee.