Otherworld Dagashi Shop Yahagi

The search for treasures promptly began.

It was conceivable that other Lepras would come into this room. It’s obviously better not to take too long.

Merle turned over the shelves lined with torture devices, while Mira turned over the rug in the center of the room.

[Wait, wait. I’m going to teach you a trick to cleaning and searching.]

[What’s that?

[You go from top to bottom, then innermost to the outermost.]

Michelle is a neat and tidy person, but she does have a careless side.

This is probably why she often loses things.

She would sometimes lose a small accessory, her handkerchief, and occasionally, her underwear.

In such cases, the spotlight would always be on me.

After I search carefully in the way I have just described to them, I would definitely find what items she’s missing.

The Leprases’ treasure should be no exception.

[Then, let’s start searching from the back of the room over there.]

[Unnn, alright.]

It didn’t take us long to find a metal box hidden under what seemed to be a bed.

It was about the same size as the cardboard boxes of mandarin oranges I used to see back in Japan.

[I’m pretty sure this is it…… Hmmm, there don’t seem to be any traps.]

Merle, who was examining the treasure box, nervously put her hand on the lid.

Gripping the lid, she slowly lifted it and the box opened without a sound.

Inside were silver coins, magic crystals, and even though they were few, there were also gold coins.

[Ohhhh! This is more than I expected. They sure have saved up a lot of money.]

[How astonishing. How much do you think there is?]

[I estimate there’d be at least a million rims.]

[A million!?]

""

[Yeah, even with just the money alone, not counting the magic crystals, I think it would be around that much.]

Merle and Mira heard my estimates, but reality doesn’t seem to have sunk in their minds yet.

They just gazed at the sparkling treasure with a vacant expression on their faces.

[A million, that would be worth around that much, right? Ummm, around 25 months’ worth of rent.]

[With this much money, I could send money home to my parents……]

[Alright, let’s leave counting the money after we go back home. Let’s get the heck out of this place already.]

The money and magic crystals were transferred into three burlap pouches, each of us then carried a pouch.

[Let’s go.]

Merle briefly said, and we ran out of the room.

However, to our dismay, seven Leprases appeared ahead of the passageway.

They must be the other Leprases that nest here.

Now that we had their treasures though, it wouldn’t be a good idea to fight them head-on.

I take out my magic smoke and put up a smoke screen.

Thereupon, I blindly fired all eight rounds of my 8-shot pistol.

This should buy us some time.

On top of that, I also took out a Monster Chips card.

[Monster summon, activate! Come out, C-rank Kelpie!]

Kelpie is a horse-like monster that lives by the water.

It disguises itself as a fine horse, and as soon as one tries to catch it, it would drag them into the water.

[Yuusuke-san, we have to retreat here!]

[I know. Just because I summoned a monster doesn’t mean I intend to fight. Kelpie, lower your body!]

I gave the order, to which the Kelpie got down on the ground like a dog.

I immediately straddled the Kelpie’s back.

[Mira and Merle, quickly get on!]

The summoning time is just three minutes, but the Kelpie’s legs are much faster than most monsters.

Three minutes should be enough time for us to draw away from the enemy.

Merle and Mira, sensing my intention, immediately jumped on the Kelpie.

[Run, Kelpie!]

The Kelpie, carrying the three of us, started running vigorously towards the stairs on the 3rd Underground Floor.

◇

That afternoon, I hung a “Temporary Closed” sign on Dagashi Yahagi.

The door is securely locked and the glass door has the curtains drawn as well.

We made sure that the situation inside couldn’t be glimpsed at all.

Even if one tries to listen attentively, they shouldn’t be able to hear us.

The three of us gathered in the tatami-mat room at the innermost part of the house and quietly inspected our gains.

[97, 98, 99, 100……]

[T- There’s still more?]

As I counted the silver coins piled up in stacks of tens, Merle asked in a trembling voice.

[Calm down. There’s a total of 1000 silver coins. If you add the 26 gold coins to that…… That would be 3.6 million rims.]

[3.6 million!]

[Shhh! Merle, you’re too loud.]

[U- Unnn…… Sorry. However, that’s 3.6 million rims we’re talking about here. Split between the three of us, that’s errr…..]

[1.2 million rims.]

[O- One point two———– Mnnghh!?]

Merle was about to scream again when Mira put her hand over her mouth.

[I said, keep quiet.]

[Phua! I- I’m sorry. I won’t make any more noise. But what should I do? My hands won’t stop shaking here.]

[Same here. For it to actually be 1.2 million……]

At first, we thought the treasure would be worth about 300,000 rims, making it about 100,000 rims per person.

However, the amount of money we got actually turned out this much.

For two people who have just escaped from rookie status, 1.2 million rims must be quite a large sum of money.

 I guess it would be like a college student suddenly winning a 1.2 million yen lottery?

Considering one’s money sense, acquiring a million could sound even more amazing.

[Let’s keep this a secret from everyone, okay?]

[Yes, there’s no way I’d expressly publicize that I’ve won a lot of money. If I end up getting aimed at by others, all we went through back there would come to nothing.]

[You’re right.]

Gan! Gan! Gan!

There was suddenly a knock at the door, making us jump up in surprise.

It seems like a customer was knocking on the door.

[W- What should we do?]

[For the time being, let’s put the money in a bag. Take it upstairs where it won’t  be seen by others.]

[Alright!]

The three of us packed the thousand silver coins into a bag.

Meanwhile, the door was knocked on several times.

[Yuusuke, you there? It’s me, Michelle!]

Relieved, I stroked my chest.

Michelle, who had gone to the deepest part of the dungeon, had just returned.

[Welcome back, Michelle.]

I ran to the door and opened it.

[Geez, what’s going on? I saw the door locked and curtains closed, so I got worried.]

[Well, stuff happened.]

At that moment, Michelle noticed Merle and Mira in the tatami-mat room.

They both have stiff smiles on their faces.

[Ah……]

[What’s the meaning of this?]

The tone of Michelle’s voice dropped a notch.

[Oi, don’t make any misunderstandings now.]

[What the heck are you doing here with those slutty brats!? I knew it! I’m just a gloomy woman after all!]

[You’re mistaken!]

[I’ll just kill Yuusuke and then kill myself!]

She’s gone yandere for the first time in a long while and it’s gone full-throttle!?

Moreover, her mana is swelling to the point that it’s getting tyrannical!!!

[Michelle, stop chanting Maximum Magic! Just look at what’s going on for yourself!]

After exchanging looks with her, the attentive Merle dumped the contents of the bag on the tatami mat.

Silver and gold coins scattered on the tatami mat with a clattering sound.

[Eh?]

[We hunted a Lepras den and got their treasure. We were just counting the money here away from the eyes of others.]

[A- Aren’t you just enjoying harem play……]

And where the heck does she learn words like that……

[Like heck we’re doing that. I’m devoted to Michelle. Can’t you just believe me even for a bit?]

[I’m sorry. I thought…..]

The rage Michelle had until a few minutes ago seemed to have faded away.

Well, it was a situation where it couldn’t be helped if we were suspected huh.

I’ll just apologize and talk about this with her when it’s just the two of us later.

[Will you stay with me tonight?]

When I whispered that in her ear, Michelle turned bright red and gave a small nod.