CH 85

We wandered past the various street stalls without buying anything.

“I see! Mmh, mmh, I see, I see!”

“Hmm? Found somethin’ of interest?”

“I did! There’s an abundance of different types of strongly fragrant and tongue-whetting leaves and nuts!”

I was unable to easily get my hands on different spices in Ys and the earldom. I was told by Bennyboy that he’d get some for me, but I felt like buying them here to give them a try first.

“Excuse me, pretty lady, I’d like a little bit of all these kinds. How much does it cost?”

Sword was taken aback.

“Oh my, you silly thing! Despite looking so young, you’re quite the experienced smooth talker, aren’t you? So you want all types?”

“Yep. I love cooking, and you see, I had a strong feeling that I’d be able to make great food if I used these!” 1

Having an extended talk with the sturdy-built stall owner who was in her forties, I got her to tell me what taste the different spices had and for which dishes they were suited the most before buying samples of all types.

Sword paid for it, but only then the stall lady noticed his existence.

“S-Sir 【Thunderclap Whitefang】!?!”

“I’m Sword of the party 【Allrounders】. This one here is my partner. He may look like this, but he’s an amazin’ cook who can whip up dishes that’d make the royal family’s cooks scurry to the winds. We might regularly come to buy at your place, so please take care of us then, ‘kay?”

“O-Of course! I-I’d be more than d-delighted to do so!”

The stall lady immediately became scared stiff.

“Miss, there’s no need to be so tense around us. Sword is a good guy, despite his rougher outward appearance, so you’ll be fine talking with him normally as long as you don’t send any malicious intents his way, okay? It seems like he’s done some great things, but that was long ago, even before I was born…ou-ouuuch!”

An iron claw descended upon me once again!

“I’m sorry to tell you, ‘kay? But it wasn’t that long ago, you know? You just didn’t hear ’bout it since you were cooped up indoors all the time.”

Eh? So it was a story that took place at a time I had already been born…?

He grabbed the scruff of my neck.

“It’s alright for you to be normal ’round us, just as he says. We’re simple customers. …This fellow has a honey mouth, but he’s extremely rude and tends to blurt out stuff that pisses off folk to no end, so please try to look past his shenanigans as much as possible. He’s got no evil intent. Probably.”

While the stall lady was repeatedly bowing, I said, “See you again, miss.”

I casually waved my hand, but while being dragged away by the scruff of my neck.

“Hey, how old do you think I am!?” Sword roared at me after the stall wasn’t in sight anymore.

“Hmm…it’s hard to tell the age of life-forms in this world. Going by the standards of the other world, you’d long passed your thirties. Yep, I’d guess you’re something around forty?”

Sword froze. No, it’s better to call it petrified.

……Oops, it looks like I went a little too high with my estimate.

“Umm…anti-aging technologies are quite advanced in the other world, you see? I’d estimate the young man over there to be around thirty.” I pointed at a youth walking in front of us.

“Ah, so it’s not like your judgment labels me as old.” Sword’s petrification was lifted.

“…By the way, how old are you?”

Silence followed my timid question. After a painfully long spell of quietness, he whispered,

“……25.”

“Okay, I got it. I’ll create some beauty products. I forgot that being an adventurer is a job where you’re often exposed to the sun. Sunlight consists of several light rays. Some of them are also harmful to the human body. If you keep exposing your skin to them, it gets burned by those rays and ultimately hurts. The skin tries to resist those sun rays, resulting in an accelerated aging. Since some of the sun rays are also necessary for your body, it’d be bad to avoid all sunlight, but as with everything else, keeping it moderate matters. Alright, I’ll do my best to normalize your skin again, okay?” I rattled down in a hurry.

Sword seemed to be on the verge of crying.

Sorry, I didn’t expect you to be so young. You gave me a dad-like impression. Until now, that is. That’s why I’ve thought that various things might have withered away, though…

“I’ve been regularly drinkin’ healing potions, you know?” He appealed with a tear-choked voice.

“I’m sorry to tell you, but skin aging is a normal cell reaction. For this reason, healing potions won’t help with beautiful skin. It’s alright. I’ve asked the pharmacist to teach me various things for this very occasion. And now is the perfect time to test the results of all my studying!”

It’s fine. We’re in the capital, a place that’s overflowing with all kinds of resources, items, and products.

…Having said that, it’s impossible to obtain Vitamin-C derivatives and W377 in this world. And as might be expected, I don’t know how to make them either.

Resveratols seem to be good as well, but I’ve heard that you can only get grapes from the big farming nation…

So it’s only ceramides, huh…? Well, it’s still better than not tending to your skin at all, I suppose. Then again, it’d be scary if he suddenly had weirdly beautiful skin.