"Are you short?"
Piuri had figured it out.
"Ah — well, yeah, a bit…"
All I had was the nine silver coins from Teok. Ninety Rant. Sixty short of a hundred and fifty.
"I really would love to give you a better deal, but…"
Piuri said it with genuine regret.
"Don't worry about it. If you give too much away you won't be able to eat."
The tag on the garment read Adventurer's Clothes. Not in Japanese, but I could read it. Something like this would be useful going forward — I wanted to buy it here if I could.
Should I ask Teok for an advance…? No. He'd already done more than enough for me. I wasn't going to pile onto that.
Sell the sweatshirt or the chinos, then…?
I was still turning it over when a voice came from behind me.
"Oh — Piuri, and Yohei. Good afternoon."
I turned around. Wavy semi-long purple hair, fine and slightly slender features. And from the waist down, a serpent's body.
"Elder."
"Melanie, hi~!"
Melanie Belve. Village elder of Asteno, race: Lamia. Exactly as Teok had described — beautiful, with an effortless elegance about her. The long-sleeved green dress with a cape draped over it gave her a composed, refined air.
"Piuri, would you show me what you have today?"
"Sure thing~ Furidoo, lay everything out!" "On it."
I'd apparently arrived before Piuri had finished setting up. While the goods were being spread out, Melanie was already looking over what had been put out so far. She must have noticed me watching, because she turned to speak to me.
"Have you found something you'd like, Yohei?"
"Ah — about that…"
My eyes drifted to the Adventurer's Clothes without me meaning them to.
"That's the one catching your eye. How much is it?"
"Two hundred Rant normally, but I've got it at a special price of one-fifty~"
Piuri called out from behind the merchandise.
"That's the thing — it's just a bit…"
Admitting I still couldn't afford it even at the discounted price felt a little embarrassing.
"You haven't been here long," Melanie said. "It makes sense that funds would be tight."
Everyone in Asteno knew I'd arrived with nothing. I'd had a wallet on me — some small change and my driver's license — but neither was any use here.
"Then allow me to give you this as a gift. I'll take this one, please."
"What — no, I couldn't possibly—"
The villagers had already done so much for me. Taking more felt wrong.
"Don't be shy. Your coming to this village has brought a kind of energy that wasn't here before — Teok, and the others too, they've all seemed more lively since you arrived. You're human, which makes you something genuinely new to them. I'd like to thank you for that, if you'll let me."
As she spoke, she was already paying Piuri.
"One hundred and fifty Rant." "Thank you very much~"
"I'm grateful, truly — but you and everyone here have done so much for me already. I can't just accept—"
I was fumbling over the words when Melanie paused, considered for a moment, and then spoke.
"Then — give me a gift in return, and I'll give you this one."
She was looking at me with calm, warm eyes.
"A… gift?"
A gift for the village elder. This was somehow a harder problem than just paying for the clothes outright.
"I'll look forward to it."
Melanie smiled — just a little, and just a touch mischievous.