小嫂子的味道

It had been more than an hour and then I was in a different shop with Ellyn and Anya. This one was bigger and had more sections and clothes to pick from. And judging from the quality of the material the shop made and the clothes as well, I guessed that this should be one of those expensive ones.

"Having trouble, ain't ya?" The shopkeeper asked.

During the time they were taking and choosing their dresses, I sat on a stool near the shop counter. The shopkeeper was just on the other side so it wouldn't have been strange for him to try and start a conversation.

"Not really. I'm just waiting," I replied.

"Hehe, well. Ladies like to take their sweet time," he said. He came close to me and leaned forward while resting his hands on the counter.

"Still though," he said. "You have good taste. Which one of them is your gal? Or perhaps both?"

"Neither of them," I stated, and at the same time, wondered why people misunderstand this so easily.

"Oh? Are you getting swindled then? Trying to get yourself some company by paying a handy amount—"

"The blond one is my sister, and the red-haired one is her friend."

The shopkeeper was silent and hesitated to speak for a while, perhaps there was nothing else to say.

"Well, looks like I touched the wrong spot. Sorry for that," he said. I didn't reply as I had no intention of stretching this conversation any longer.

"Anyway, you might be here for some clothes too, na? I have something that'd look just great on you. Lemme show ya," he said and come to the other side of the counter.

"It's fine. I'm not here to buy—"

"Come on, just take a look. I'm sure you'll like it. It's not like you have anything better to do for now. Those ladies will take at least half an hour more, you can take my word for that."

I glanced in Anya's direction and she seemed busy finding the best color that'd suit her, Ellyn was helping her so probably she'd chosen her own dress—but honestly, I can't really say.

"Show me then," I said and hopped off the stool. Nothing can be worse than sitting here and getting bored.

"Now, that's the spirit," a smile appeared on the shopkeeper's face as he led to a specific section of the shop.

Looking around I saw that this area had men's clothes, however, since there were no customers I found it weird.

"Are girls interested in men's clothes as well?" I asked.

"Hahaha, no no. These clothes haven't been put up for sale yet, they have freshly arrived," he replied as we walked through walls of winter clothing.

"Why are you showing them to me then?"

"I said they are not up for sale yet, but that doesn't mean I don't want to sell them. I can't change the stock on a working day, that's all. Also, think of this as an apology for that misunderstanding."

'Yeah, yeah, I know you're such a good man. You totally aren't doing this to sell me some expensive stuff.'

"Here we are," he said and stopped in his tracks.

In front of him was a metal stand and on it was hung a cloak in the shade of dark gray and black.

"This is what I wanted to show you, it's one of the best cloaks you'd find right now."

"Well, I wonder about that."

I walked close and touched the fabric of the cloak. And while I didn't have much experience in these types of things, I had been living in this world for quite a while and knew what was good and what was not.

If I'm talking about this specific cloak, I'd say it was better than the ones I had now. It was also thick enough to keep me warm even on the windy nights of winter.

I walked around the cloak and checked it from all sides; after all, it won't be strange if he was trying to sell me some damaged goods.

However, after examining it for a few minutes I saw no such things. I liked the look of the cloak, and the material it was made of was durable as well.

"How much will it cost?" I asked.

"Ah, it's not really so much. Just 5000 C," he replied.

That confirmed it. I was right with my first assumption, he was trying to sell me some expensive stuff.

"Fine, I'll buy it," I said.

I was never really good at bargaining. If I liked something, I was going to buy it indifferent of the cost. That's how it was in my previous life, and that's how it is in this one as well.

I'm not saying that it doesn't cause me inconvenience, but I just ignore it most of the time.

The shopkeeper then packed the cloak and I came back to the counter with him. I paid him with my transaction card. I still had to wait a few minutes before Anya and Ellyn were done picking up the dresses of their liking.

After everything was done, we left the shop and were back on the main road.

"You seriously bought this for 5000 C," Ellyn asked, a little surprised.

"Leave it. That's what he's like," Anya said. "Couldn't you have waited until I was done? I'm sure this cloak was worth half the price you bought it for."

"Why should I have waited for you? I'm not a kid that you'll buy me clothes," I stated.

"Oh ho? Well, you are no less than one."

"I can take that personally."

"You should! Even if you are good in many other things, you are at the same level as a kid in daily life chores," Anya said.

"Hey, you don't need to go that hard on me. But then again, it's not like what you're saying is not true," I sighed.

"You shouldn't take that lightly. Things like these are what will come to be useful later. Ellyn, you should tell him something too?" Anya said, though got no reply.

"Ellyn?" She turned to look at her side, where Ellyn had been walking.

But right now, there was no one but thin air.