Chapter 316 A Familiar Angel

After we finished playing Sugoroku and eating lunch, Alice and I were leisurely sitting side by side.

[……Customers aren’t coming huh.]

[Yeah……]

At the counter of the miscellaneous goods store, I’m taking it easy and reading a book while I look after the store, and well, I had already expected it, but customers aren’t coming at all.

However, even Alice knows that, as she is making some small accessories while speaking in a lax tone.

[……There’s really no one coming at al huh.]

[……Well, I guess so~~]

[Or rather, this store…… Does it even have any customers other than me?]

[Hmmm, a customer comes “once a month”.]

[……What’s the point of having a store then?]

Apparently, Alice’s miscellaneous goods store is always really deserted.

Well, this store is certainly away from the main street but…… is it really that far that customers aren’t coming at all? Perhaps, this store is being avoided as a dangerous store where a suspicious costume-wearing person appears……

As I was thinking about this, a product on the side of the counter caught my eyes.

[……Is this a magic box?]

[Unnn? No, that’s a different item. That’s a “random box”.]

[……Random box?]

In a box placed on the side of the counter, black cubes…… that resembles the magic box I have, which are apparently called random boxes.

[Those random boxes are disposable magic boxes. They’re made of “magic paper” made from magic crystal powder, which are just shavings from the leftovers while making magic tools. Things made from magic papers can’t be reused, but they’re often used by adventurers because they’re cheaper than magic crystals and can be imbued with a magic technique for one-time use.]

[Hehhh…… That means you can only put things inside once……]

[Yes, well, it’s only about the size of a small drawer, but it’s handy to carry around with you…… And, as for those random boxes, as the name suggests, it’s a product that contains random items…… Well, to put it simply, it’s “gacha”!]

[……I see, that certainly is a simple way of describing this.]

[It’s 10R a piece, and it’s hard to tell what’s in it until you open it…… but there’s a chance that it may contain something valuable inside. Incidentally, they’re made by Seditch Magic Tool Trading Company.]

One roll for 1000 yen huh……

In short, if you pay for this random box, you get the product inside. Perhaps, some of the items inside are worth more than the price you paid.

[It’s a rather popular item, you know?]

[……Well, since there were no customers coming in, there wouldn’t be any point in stocking up on popular products……]

[I guess so~~]

[…………………..]

[Ohh, Kaito-san? Are you interested in it?]

[U- Unnn. I’d like to try it out…… It was 10R, right?]

[If you buy 5, I could sell it to you for 45R, you know?]

I was curious and wanted to try opening them, so I took out my wallet, and Alice, not wanting to miss out on a business opportunity, offered me a deal if I bought in bulk.

[Alright then, I’ll buy five.]

[Thank you for your patronage~~ Now, please take your pick.]

Paying Alice for them, I then randomly choose 5 random boxes.

[……Arehh? How do I open this?]

[If you pull the string at the bottom, it will unlock and reveal its contents~~]

[Let’s see…… Unnn?]

When I pull the small string attached to the bottom of the box, the random box glows for a moment, and after it disappears, a card-like object appears in front of me.

It’s about the size of a common trading card, but I don’t know if it was made of good paper or not, but it looks beautiful.

[Mumuuuu… Could that be……]

[Eh? This somehow looks unusual…… wait, isn’t this Kuro?]

When I turned the card over, there was a drawing of Kuro eating a baby castella.

The soft colors of the picture, which seems like it was drawn by a fairly skilled artist, makes me feel that Kuro’s cuteness is enhanced.

[Ooohhhhh, that’s amazing! As expected of Kaito-san, to draw Kuro-san’s bromide…… That’s absurdly rare, you know?]

[B- Bromide?]

[Yes, although the bromides of the Six Kings and the Supreme Gods are included as ultra-rare items…… Among those who got their bromides made, Kuro-san feels embarrassed about it…… There are only a few of them, which she had only agreed to at the beginning because they are the products of her own trading company.]

[R- Really?]

[Yes…… That’s why they’re only available in early lots, so it’s not normally available anymore…… And you see, my stock has been unsold since the beginning so……]

There are only a few bromides of Kuro in the world…… Unnn, she looks cute. I’ll be carefully storing this.

[Incidentally, if you put it up for auction, you can get a crazy amount of money from the Underworld King Adoration Association.]

[I- I see…… They sound scary, so I’ll be keeping this for myself.]

[That might be a good idea…… Well, that aside, please open the next one.]

[Y- Yeah…… wait, this one’s huge!?]

Prompted by Alice to open the next random box, what I pulled out now was a large…… model of a dragon, about 50cm long.

[Whoa, another rare one…… Isn’t that the model of an ancient dragon that could only be acquired through the random box?]

[……What do I even do with this……]

[Incidentally, that is something that Duchess Lilia wants.]

[Really?]

[Yes, because they’re no longer in production…… she cried because she couldn’t get it.]

[…….Lilia-san.]

Come to think of it, Lilia-san liked dragons…… Alright then, I’ll give this to Lilia-san later.

Now then, let’s open the next one……

[…… A crown?]

[It’s a toy crown. There are children’s toys like that inside too. That crown is made like the authentic one, so it would be expensive.]

[I see. Well then, the next one is…… E- Errr.]

When I opened the fourth box, I found something that’s kinda familiar…… or rather, this mask looks very similar to the one the woman beside me always wears.

[Whoa there, you’ve just rolled the jackpot! That’s Phantasmal King-sama’s handmade mask, it’s extremely rare!!!]

[What the, it’s a miss huh……]

[You just smoothly threw it away!?]

Well, it’s a gacha after all…… just as how there are jackpots, there are also complete miss.

The mask I just got, I threw it straight into the trash can and opened the last random box.

Thereupon, a plant in a flower pot appears…… I see, things placed in the magic box don’t deteriorate, so things like these could also appear……

[Alice, what’s this?]

[That’s a crystal herb.]

[Is this rare?]

[It’s pretty rare. It may not have an effect when used on its own, but it has the effect of enhancing the effects of other herbs, so it fetches quite a high price.]

A herb huh…… I guess this could be considered as a hit too, but I don’t really know if I’d have any use for this.

Ahhh, speaking of which, Dr. Vier raises herbs, right? If so, I might as well give this to Dr. Vier.

[……Even so, Kaito-san’s luck really is quite frightening. Normally, there is more like a pen or some other trivial item in the box but…… You bought five boxes and all of them are hits……]

[No, I also pulled out a miss…… That strange mask, I meant.]

[Isn’t that cool!? Please put it on and match with me, Kaito-san!]

[Even if it costs me my life, I don’t wanna.]

[Do you really have to refuse that much!?]

Seeing Alice’s shoulders slump down, I can’t help but chuckle.

As I’m leisurely spending my day like this, chatting with Alice about trivial matters…… I can hear the sound of bells on the door of the store.

[……Ohhh.]

[……Eh? I never expected that a customer would come…… How unusual.]

Both Alice and I didn’t expect that a customer would come, and we both turned to the door.

[Welco……]

[Sightsee, Sundries, Visit.]

[……Immediately leave, go home!]

Alice was about to say a cheerful “Welcome”, but stopped mid-sentence and immediately told the customer, who had a stiff expression on her face, to leave.

Dear Mom, Dad———– Alice and I were leisurely tending to the store when, to my surprise, a customer arrived at Alice’s miscellaneous goods store. That’s what I thought, but the one who appeared———- was a familiar angel.

Alice’s arc…… there’s only 3 chapters left, I guess? Eden, who came out at the beginning and end of the arc…… Could it be that she’s a key person?

T/N: 40/202