LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 188
Chapter 188. The Bumpy Family And The Tabletop Mirror
Near the fountain square, where the “Endless Water Jug,” a famous Sevites landmark, spews water endlessly, lies a corner of the street market.
For the past few days, I’ve had Giro and Clari running a stall here.
Rotton handled the setup process for us—much appreciated.
I arrived at the stall with Rotton and Lalaila. Lalaila was carrying our lunch.
I hadn’t intended for her to carry it alone, but she figured it would make chatting with Rotton along the way easier. She’s a thoughtful kid, really.
“Yo, how are the sales?”
“They’re amazing, Akira-nii!”
“Lots of customers… very many.”
“That’s great to hear.”
As we chatted, a middle-aged man, looking like a traveling merchant, suddenly stuck his face into our conversation.
“Excuse me, but are these items displayed here… really priced as shown?”
The merchant was pointing to a wooden price tag. On it, in my messy handwriting, was written:
“Tabletop Mirror – 1,780 yen.”
Displayed on the stall were a large number of small, adjustable tabletop mirrors, the kind commonly found in households.
Their size was somewhere between a manga volume and a weekly magazine.
To me, they looked like the kind of cheap mirrors you’d find at a 100-yen store.
But for the people of this world, these mirrors—flawless and pristine, without a single blemish or crack—were extraordinary.
Even at this size, they were practically national treasures, yet here they were, sold at what seemed like a joke price.
“Mind if I take a closer look?”
The merchant’s voice trembled as he tried to maintain his composure.
“Of course, go ahead.”
“Oh… this… is this really a mirror? And it’s really 1,780 yen? Not 1.78 million yen?”
“Yes, but there’s a limit of 20 pieces per person, and no discounts allowed!”
“I-I see. Then, could you sell me 20 pieces!?”
“Certainly! Thank you! Please handle them carefully—they’re fragile.”
“Ah, yes, of course!”
The merchant paid, carefully packed the mirrors into his item bag, and quickly left.
He was likely rushing off to another town to sell them.
Naturally, since we’re handling high-quality goods, security measures are thorough.
“Were there any issues? Yaralai?”
“No particular problems.”
Leaning against a box behind Giro and Clari was Yaralai, our bodyguard—blonde, dreadlocked, and lean but muscular.
“No way! Yaralai-ojichan, we totally had a weird guy!”
“Huh?”
“What do you mean?”
Giro interrupted Yaralai, but the elf didn’t seem to understand.
Raising an eyebrow, I asked for an explanation, and Clari quietly filled me in.
“Um, there was a merchant we told about the 20-piece limit. He left, but later he came back with some friends, and they each bought 20 pieces.
The first merchant saw this and came back, furious…”
We’ve got plenty of stock, but allowing one merchant to buy everything would be troublesome, so there’s a strict limit of 20 pieces per person.
The reason is simple: we want as many merchants as possible to have access.
By the way, the large wooden box Yaralai is leaning on is stuffed with numerous item bags borrowed from Rotton.
If you’ve forgotten, item bags are magical, extraordinarily convenient bags that can store many times their apparent capacity.
Every day, we stock 2,000 mirrors, and they always sell out.
Clari, with her ability to remember customers’ faces, prevents merchants from returning to buy more later.
Even those who try disguises are detected by Yaralai.
“So, what happened to the angry merchant?”
“Uh… Yaralai-san… took him somewhere.”
“He came back soon after, though,” Giro added with a grin.
It wasn’t hard to guess what had happened.
“Oh, Dad. Giro-kun, Clari-chan, I brought lunch.”
“Yay! I’m starving!”
“No, Giro-kun, wait! Thank you, Lalaila-san.”
“Sure, no problem. We’ll watch the stall—go enjoy your meal, you three.”
“Thanks.”
The three of them sat behind the stall and began eating. Lunch was simple, just stir-fried potatoes and vegetables, but the sandwiches made with their favorite bread were sure to please.
As Lalaila and I took over manning the stall, Rotton bid us farewell.
“Well then, I’ll be off—”
“I found you, Akiraaaaaaaa!”
Rotton’s words were interrupted by a thunderous roar that echoed through the marketplace.
The voice, loud enough to silence the bustling street, belonged to none other than Dodol Messara.
The man stormed toward us, his shoulders shaking, dressed in cheap, rough linen clothes that made him look like a beggar or a slave.
“Oh my, Dodol-san. Long time no see.”
“Y-You! What’s the meaning of this!?”
He pointed at the mirrors on display.
“What do you mean?”
“How dare you! Why are you selling so many mirrors at such a ridiculously low price!?”
I answered him calmly despite his rage.
“There’s a lot of them, so I’m selling them at a fair price.”
“Y-You… you sold me a mirror at an outrageous price before!”
Hearing Dodol’s shout, Giro and Clari reacted immediately. Giro gritted his teeth, his eyes burning with anger.
Clari, frightened, hid behind Giro but glared at Dodol with a dark expression.
Thud.
Deep within me, something stirred—a dark, heavy emotion.
“Oh, Dodol-sama… or just Dodol now? What are you rambling about? I just sold you a mirror. Any issues?”
“Y-You scum! Don’t address me so casually!”
“Ah, I heard you were kicked out of the city council. Now you’re just a regular citizen, same as me. Right, Dodol?”
“Y-You wretch! Don’t compare me to trash like you!”
“Oh, so you admit you’re trash, then?”
And thus, Dodol’s downfall became abundantly clear.
To summarize:
Dodol was abandoned by his family and went bankrupt.
When Dodol tried to kick one of the mirrors, I casually blocked him with my hand.
The feeble attack was as effortless to deflect as brushing aside a stalk of rice.
Watching him fall, I couldn’t suppress a dark smile as something sinister welled up from deep within me.