165. THE FLORIST
Nine waved at the three– and then made a dash. The cold biting wind hitting her face, the flutter of the mantle around her shoulders. She ran towards the fountain.
She had narrowed down a few more important things she needed to get right, one of which was to explore the kingdom. Since Noel was there to take care of the girls, Nine thought she should use this spare time to get a better understanding of this world.
For one, slavery is a thing. As for the existence of demi-humans, it’s a big fat yes. As for dwarves, Nine saw a short brawny guy with a huge mustache. If dwarves exist then elves must exist too right? That said, Nine wanted to confirm it with her own eyes.
When she reached the fountain, she made a turn back to the path they came from. Her purpose was to talk to the girl that sold them flowers. Speaking of flowers, Nine still had tucked behind her ear, it was uncomfortable but Nine thought it looked cute.
Noel did something fairly interesting just now, bribing a little girl for information using the pretext of buying flowers. She should use that ‘bribe’ to attain more info. She was too rushed with wanting to go to the guild, thinking that it would’ve been better if they had used this time to obtain information.
Noel passed everyone a few coins to use, so it wasn’t like Nine was penniless.
In that case– wouldn’t a library be good? Looking around, shop signs were written in English for some reason, probably the effects of [Otherworld language], which probably means it’s possible for her to read books written in Phoenic language.. but Nine ruled out that possibility.
Sure, it’s good to go to the library to acquire info about the world.. but then what? Is that even practical? What books exactly are you going to find? World history? Magic for dummies? Those books don’t contain information regarding how to live in this world. It’s not a practical way of learning about the world– at least, not when her current aim is to learn enough to know how to survive.
‘Building connections’ was also a thing on her to-do list, perhaps the girl with the freckles could become their private information broker. After all, a little girl with an innocent face and short stature are bound to be human encyclopedias. Hopefully this cliche proves true.
“Hello!” Nine saw the girl holding a basket.
===
Name: Jennifer
Race: Human
Lv: 13
.
Vitality: 85% (57)
Mana: 63.4% (98)
.
Stats:
DEX:12
AGI: 11
INT: 23
.
Skills:
[Magic enhancement (C)] [Paperwork (D)] [Magic Cost Reduction (D)]
.
Titles:
[God of Disease’s Blessing]
===
“Ah, it’s you again. How can I help you?” the girl with the freckle, Jennifer smiled.
Nine observed as her mana continued to go down half a fraction every dozen seconds or so.
“Um, excuse me miss?”
“Oh, no sorry. Are you using magic?”
“Yes, I’m using magic to keep myself warm..” Jennifer looked at Nine clearly stunned.
“Okay.. um. Sorry, I’ve some here because I want some information. Could I ask a few questions?”
“Eh.. Information? Do you want information? Is it information about this kingdom?”
“Yes...” Nine felt a bad premonition.
“If that’s what you want.. I think it would be better to let my mom answer your questions. Follow me!”
“Wait..”
Nine had no way to stop her sudden enthusiasm. Left with no choice, she followed her into the flower shop.
It had a nice ambience, the windows were all glass, allowing light to pass though. Baskets of flowers around the place with numerous light sources shining in the interior of the shop. To Nine, it even looked like a modern cafe with a cozy-cabin feel.
Various flowers of different shades could be seen arranged in beautiful banquets, one side the colours of autumn, the other the color of winter. Most of the winter themed ones were stacked together, yet to be arranged into a presentable piece of art.
Architecture and technology in this world was rather advanced it seemed. Though, did this world have electricity? Nine couldn’t help but wonder as she looked at the different light orbs that lit up like modern LED lights.
“What do we have here Jennifer? You brought a customer?” A woman who was busy arranging blue flowers came out from behind the counter and caressed Jennifer’s head.
Jennifer beckoned her to come closer, her mother bent down a little to lend her ear while giving Nine an apologetic look. Her soft expression soon turned to surprise. Nine had no idea what Jennifer had just told her but.. it certainly was something suspicious.
Nine thought she should run. But her gut told her to stay.
“Pleased to meet you Miss, my name is Margrett. You are here to acquire information about the royal capital, correct?” the woman asked.
“Yes miss. Also, my name is Nine.”
“Nine-sama?”
“Yes, Nine.”
Nine wondered if her name was being mis-translated. For example, if the number ‘nine’ was to be said in japanese, it would become ‘kyuu’. An entirely different thing altogether.
Margrett gave Jennifer a furtive glance, before saying, “Can I ask you for a favor in exchange for information?”
“What is it, Miss Margrett?”
“Could you perhaps form a party with my daughter?” smiling meekly.
“Form a party huh..” Nine looked up at the ceiling– you could see the wooden beams and mish-mash plasters being used to mend some cracks, it was unsure if this building was old or something happened to it.
Jennifer had an expectant look on her face. Nine didn’t know what to say. After all, she hadn’t registered at the guild yet.. at the same time, Nine couldn’t just reveal that fact can she?
“I’ll have to think about it, can I pay in other ways for the information?”
“My daughters well-being is more important.”
“Why form a party with her? She wants to become an adventurer?”
“Yes, I want to support her on that; however, I don't dare allow her to join a random one in fear of her safety.”
“And so.. why me then? I’m a stranger right?” Nine suddenly realized how she made an oopsie. she realized she– no. They had been found out the moment Nine came and met Jennifer the second time.
“Why do you think I trust you? You should know the answer very well don’t you? Hero-sama?” Margrett showed Nine a schemish smile.
“What the.. do you really think I’m that sort of person?”
“Care to explain your name? Moreover, your hair is black, quite a rare colour you know?”
“Haah.. I’m not a hero though.”
Nine laughed. Though Margrett was correct, she was also misunderstanding. In the first place, how did she, a florist shop owner, know that Nine was a reincarnated person at a glance anyways? She was level 21, but didn’t have any special skill.. nevermind, she had the skill [Intuition (C)].
“I believe in my intuition. You can’t deny the fact that I know you’re lying.”
“Please Nine-sama,” Jennifer lowered her head. She was bowing.
“Spare me from this,” Nine slapped her palm on her forehead.
“If not, then I can only ask of you to seek information from elsewhere, it comes at a heavy price with so many citizens knowing that the heroes have descended.”
“Okay. Miss Margrett, you’re getting one thing wrong here. I’m not a hero. The hero was transmigrated here one month ago, right? If the heroes were transmigrated here one month ago, why would they come to ask for basic info all of a sudden?”
“Hmm, you do have a point.”
“Does that mean you’re not a hero?” Jennifer raised her head with her body still bent, an expression of pure disappointment– an arrow straight to Nine’s heart. Critical damage, Nine lost 50% of her [Vitality], just joking.
“Fine, fine. I’ll explain, but first, can we have a seat somewhere..” Nine relented. Jennifer’s cuteness was too extreme.
“So you’re admitting?” Margrett looked at Nine as if she had won.
“Not quite. My situation is a little complicated, and I swear I’m not a hero. Let’s bargain,” Nine said.
Margrett shook her head, whispering something to Jennifer, Nine was led to the inner room. At the same time, Margrett walked to the front entrance to change the dangling ‘open’ sign, to ‘close’.
The inner room was pretty much a kitchen. You could still smell the bacon and egg from breakfast. Pans dangling here and there, kilns emitting a gentle heat, a covered ceramic pot on top, apparently heating up something. In the center, a long table and 2 stools On the opposite side of the kiln was a staircase leading upwards, pictures of the family hanging on the wall. Nine wondered where the husband of this family was?
There was a backdoor, and beside it was a crude sink without any pipes. A water bucket could be seen placed on the floor, the glass window was just above the sink.
Again, the place was lit with some sort of magic light. Nine was certain this wasn’t electricity.
“Take a seat,” Jennifer pulled out a stool from underneath the table and invited Nine to take a seat. After which she went to the pot on the klin, and with a wooden ladle, scooped up some warm water into a wooden cup before passing it to Nine.
It was lukewarm water with a flowery smell.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Margrett then came in with an additional stool. She sat opposite Nine, Jennifer too.
“Thanks for the reception?” Nine said.
“It’s basic courtesy. Now, let’s get straight to the point. What is your bargain? My request is simply that you form a part with my daughter, Jenn.”
“You can call me Jenn if my name is too long,” Jennifer said in continuation.
“O–kay.. so Jenn wants to be an adventurer, that’s the reason right?”
“Yes!” Jenn said.
“Um.. just so you know, I have no idea how adventuring works okay?” Nine pondered for a moment.
“I trust you Nine-sama. You don’t need to humble yourself.”
Nine thought: whatever. It doesn’t matter shit anyways. She pulled up her UI to check on her to-do list. She could kill two birds with one stone, perhaps?
“First of all, before I state my side of the request, do you have an extra room you can rent us?”
166.
“An extra room.. It would have to be cleaned.”
“Just any room should do fine,” Nine thought all they needed was a small room to cram in since.. they had Prune’s unique skill after all.
“So you’re going to stay here?”
“If you can rent it to me.. but it’s not just me. I have another 3 friends. Don’t get me wrong, one room is enough, we can share it.”
“I see.. but it would certainly be a tight fit, would that really be alright?”
“It’s alright, no worries.”
“As I thought, you are a hero-sama after all!” Jenn couldn’t contain her excitement. Margrett stroked her hair with a wryly smile.
“Nah.. not quite. I’m not a hero, neither are my friends. But, you know, you shouldn’t just assume any black-haired weirdo to be a hero right?”
“So you’re perhaps an Irregular?”
“An Irregular?!” Jenn looked like she was going to blow when she heard that.
“What exactly is an Irregular? Can I get the full description?”
“Hm. An Irregular isn’t much of a myth. It’s something most people know about. It’s written time and time again in history that it is not the hero that saves us humans from the demon lord, but the Irregulars. Those heroes that strayed from the normal path to forge their own. It may be due to being ostracized to a dungeon due to his lack of a powerful unique skill, or that the Irregular just didn’t like the thought of being controlled, or how the kingdom ostracized him, or how the Irregular somehow killed the princess the moment he appeared due to his memory of abandonment in his second run in life… or how a noble who was discovered to be a reincarnated person assisted the hero despite being once called the trash pig baron. There are many such stories. Though, that doesn't mean heroes themselves are useless. There are certainly records stating that the hero, not the Irregular, was the one that defeated the demon lord… Miss?!”
Nine fell off the stool deliberately, her head struck the ground but it didn’t hurt— it did slightly but Nine chose not to mind it because..
“Noel, what the fuck kind of world did you drag us into...”
Nine didn’t know what world this was anymore. It’s as if the citizens knew all the tropes.
Honestly, she didn’t know what to think. Is this supposed to be an isekai? What happened to meeting the kings and queens? What happened to getting the attention of the princess? What happened to meeting nobles? What happened to being betrayed? What happened to being the MC? What happened to being the side character? What happened to killing the demon lord? They were neither the side characters nor the main characters. They were literal walking gods. No.. they were beyond gods.
How should Nine explain his position to Jenn and Margarett?
“Hehe…”
Nine was a little crazy so let’s take a short intermission:
“Mom.. she said a bad word,” Jenn pointed out, squatting beside Nine who laid on the floor, probably convulsing. It wouldn’t be weird if she was foaming from the mouth.
“Remember that you shouldn’t learn from her alright? Jenn, please help mom support her.”
“Oh, I fell. Where were we again?” When Nine came to, she was now seated with her back against the wall. Of course, she knew what happened in between her ‘faked’ play, she was just fooling around.
“Are you alright, miss?!” Margrett tried to pass Nine her cup of water.
“I’m good, I’m good. I just learnt something ridiculous today. Let’s continue.”
Everyone went back to their seats, and the discussion continued.
Nine’s bargain was a room with cheap rent. In exchange, she would form a party with Jenn and take on quests together and acquire information about this world. Jenn would continue to be a part of Nine’s party until Nine left this place for a better one.
“That’s a good bargain,” Margrett said.
“We just need a place to stay though?”
“Then here’s my proposal. I won’t charge for rent nor information, however, I would have your friends assist me when I need help, in a way, to accustom yourselves to the world. Would that be alright?”
“That might be..” Nine puffed her cheeks to think, “That’ll depend on them. I think it’s alright.”
“Then the deal is done. Unfortunately I can only make this a verbal contract, so I can only hope that an Irregular like yourself can live up to it’s lease.”
“Yes ma'am. Also..”
“Hm?”
“What is your opinion about the demon lords of this world? Are they really as bad as people think they are?”
Nine was lying in a sense. Demon lords are great, Liliath’s magic was OP, without it, they would’ve probably been stuck in the royal courtyard.
“Demon lords? They are vile creatures of men aren’t they?” Jennifer said.
“I was just wondering. If there are so many historical records of demon lords being defeated by Irregulars or heroes, are there records of demon lords who chose peace instead?”
“I believe there was. It was short lived however.”
“The story about the demon queen and hero?” Jenn asked.
“Yes, that one,” Margrett stoked her head again.
“Okay. Well, then I’ll come back here again with the rest once I get things settled on their side, is that alright?” Nine stood up. “Thanks for the tea by the way.”
“Nevermind that. Then I hope you’ll be able to aid my daughter when the time comes.”
“Thank you Nine! Ow..” Jenn tried to bow but slammed her forehead on the table instead.
“Are you okay?!”
“I’m..” Jenn held her head with tears in her eyes.
“Oh no, let mommy see..” Margrett said with concern. A light green magic could be seen coalesced on her finger tips.
Nine checked Jenn’s status window, you could see her vitally reduced by 3 percent. It wasn’t all that bad.
“Sorry for showing you something unsightly,” Jenn said after being treated by Margrett, tears still in her eye.
“Uh.. it’s alright. Then I’ll be sure to come back before evening, see ya.” Nine didn’t know what to say.
“Thank you for stopping by.”
“Bye, bye!”
Nine left through the front entrance. The time was 11:43, they had been talking for quite some time. Nine wrote a short note and sent it into the messaging group through the messaging widget, notifying the rest that she had secured a place to stay.
“Speaking of which. I haven’t tried using appraisal on objects huh?
She turned around and focused her mind on the florist signboard of the shop that said Margrett’s Boutique.
[Wood]
And then Nine wanted a description.
[A wooden sign made by craftsman at the Pecker Woodworks franchise]
And then Nine wanted to know what the Pecker Woodworks is. The word ‘factory’ is telling Nine that this world may not be as ‘medieval’ as she thought.
[The Pecker Woodworks franchise is a company that specializes in wood workings.]
Nine chose a different object this time.
The floor. More specifically, the brick.
[Dirty cobblestone]
More info on it’s origin.
[A stone brick used during the creation of this pavement]
Material origin.
[Stone came from the now unoperational Grugru Mine]
Nine came up with a theory. His god-rank [appraisal] was like the encyclopedia on the internet where you can keep clicking for info. It’s like wikipedia.
So what if Nine thought about the person who mined this piece of stone? And how did it end up here?
[Lark was the miner of this piece of stone.]
[After which it was transported to the stone craftsmen to be shaped before use. This was one of the 3 other stone bricks crafted from the single stone used in the construction of the path]
“That’s..” Nine said in a daze.
Meanwhile, Jenn who was inside the florist shop, looking at the Nine staring at the floor amazingly, asked her mom,
“Why is Nine-sama smiling at the road?”
Margrett couldn’t give an answer.
Nine then walked into an empty alley, making sure nobody was around, she transformed into her male form. She was now a he. His clothing changed with him– now in a back trench coat with the missing kitchen knife that had been used to intercept the projectile from the sentinel.
Even his stats would change depending on his gender.
Nine thought Prune’s decision to delay the guild registration was a fortunate thing, else, Nine would've accidentally used her female ‘account’ as the main adventurer.
“I can go incognito with this, isn’t it?” Nine played around with his stats before giving himself a shrug.
As for why his STG stats was 20, it was because he crushed the shaft of his toothbrush between his thumb and index finger like a pudding this morning.
Time to go to the guild.
===
Name: Nine Quaint (male)
Race: Reincarnated Human
Lv: 50
.
Vitality: 93%
Mana: 99%
.
Stats:
HP: 100000
MP: 100000
DEF: 10000
STR: 20
DEX:100
AGI:100
INT: 100
LUK: 10
.
Skills:
[Appraisal]
.
Unique Skills:
[Omnipotent Keyboard] [Widget: tethered] [Otherworld language] [TALENT: Gender Swap (EX)]
[Stats Concealment (EX)]
.
Titles:
[Bleu’s Blessing]
