Shopping at the Market

Ronnie and I were walking toward the landlady's house. It was close enough that we'd arrive in no time, though.

As we walked that short distance, I suddenly found myself wondering.

"Come to think of it, where are the toilet and the well? There wasn't a kitchen either..."

"The toilet's out back. The water source is about a two-minute walk that way. You can borrow the landlady's kitchen. It costs money, though."

After Ronnie explained that, I went to take a peek at the nearest toilet. I was a little curious about how poor commoners lived. My family was quite well-off for commoners, after all.

When I went around back of the apartment building, I found the toilet right away. It had wooden walls and a door, so that must be it. Curious to see something frightening, I cautiously opened the door and looked inside—and was appalled. It was nothing more than a hole dug in the ground.

A drop toilet would be way better than this... If the edge of this hole collapsed, wouldn't I fall in? I got chills imagining it and stopped.

No, I couldn't live here... I was barely managing even with the toilet at my family home.

At first, I thought reincarnating as a commoner was unfortunate, but maybe I'd actually been quite lucky. My family was incredibly well-off for commoners...

Life as a commoner is tougher than I expected.

"Leon? What's wrong?"

Ronnie's call snapped me back to reality. Right, I'd told Ronnie I was going to the bathroom and had come here.

If I kept him waiting any longer, he'd start to worry. I pushed my thoughts to the back of my mind for now and returned to Ronnie.

"Does your stomach hurt, Leon?"

"No, no! I'm fine, so shall we go to the landlady's?"

"If that's all, then good... Shall we go?"

And so Ronnie and I headed to the landlady's house again and arrived in front of it.

Knock, knock...

"Hello, this is Ronnie."

Ronnie knocked on the landlady's door and called out. A gentle voice soon came from inside.

"Yeees. Just a moment."

A short, white-haired old woman opened the door. She had a gentle face and was smiling warmly.

"Ronnie, what brings you here? And who's this boy?"

"This is Leon, my friend!"

"Oh, I see, I see. How wonderful that you have a friend."

"My name is Leon. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Please look after Ronnie."

The landlady said that with a smile. She was an incredibly kind person. Talking to her made me feel at ease.

"So, what brings you here today?"

"I'm going to start using a handcart, so could I rent some space to park it?"

"Oh, is that all? Then you can put it wherever you like. I'll collect the fee along with your monthly rent."

"Thanks! How much is it per month?"

"Six copper coins a month."

"Got it! Thanks, ma'am."

Wait, six copper coins a month? So that's about six thousand yen!? Since a month in this world is ninety days, by Earth's standards, that's six thousand yen for three months...

That's incredibly cheap, cheaper than I'd expected. I'd gladly pay that much.

"See you later!"

Ronnie said that, and the landlady smiled warmly before going back inside.

"Leon, she said it's six copper coins a month. Is that okay?"

"Yeah. That's no problem at all."

"That's good."

Actually, it's way too cheap!

"Then I'll add it to your wages for the first week of each month and give it to you."

"Thank you!"

Oh! There was something else I needed to give Ronnie money for. I needed to give him money to buy ingredients.

"Ronnie, I also need to give you money to buy ingredients every day, so just this once, I'll give you a week's worth at the end of today instead of together with your wages. After that, I'll include the cost of ingredients in your wages."

"I see... I'll have to manage money from now on, too. I've never held that much money before, so it scares me, but I'll do my best."

"Right. We're going to the market today, so how about we buy a cloth pouch you can wear around your neck and hide under your clothes? It will be safer to keep the money in there."

"Yeah! Then let's stop by the market on the way to the food stall."

And so we started walking toward the market. Ronnie was pushing the handcart now.

"Ronnie, do you think you can push it by yourself?"

"It's a little heavy, but I think I can manage this much. I need to build up my stamina too, so I'll do my best."

"That's true. If this helps you build up your stamina, swordsmanship class will be easier."

"You're right! All right, I'll do my best."

"But be careful not to overdo it. If you're really tired one day, it's fine to take the day off from the food stall."

It was going to be a pretty demanding schedule, and it would be bad if he got sick.

"Is that really okay? I was planning to do it every day, though..."

"It would be a problem if you got sick, so I think it's better to rest when you're tired."

"...You're right. If I got sick, I'd have to take several days off. Thanks, Leon."

"It's all right. Don't hesitate to rest."

"Yeah! Come to think of it, what are we buying first at the market today?"

"First, I want to buy a cloth pouch for your money and a sturdy cloth to cover the handcart's load. If we cover it properly, we won't have to worry about it being stolen, right? I also want a large cloth bag so it will be easier to carry the cooking utensils from the handcart to your house. Once we've bought those, we'll get today's ingredients."

"Then we should start with the shop that sells cloth goods. It's right near the market entrance."

That worked out perfectly. We'd buy the cloth goods there, then the ingredients, and head to the food stall.

For ingredients, pork, cabbage, and eggs would be enough.

We worked hard to push the handcart along with a rumbling clatter and finally reached the market entrance. The market was like an old-fashioned greengrocer's in Japan, with lots of goods displayed outside the shops, making it easy to shop even with a handcart. If something was inside, we could ask the shopkeeper, and they'd bring it out right away.

"Leon, here it is!"

"They have quite a lot."

It seemed to be a shop with a very good selection. The cloth wasn't very high-quality, but that was probably better for Ronnie, since it wouldn't make him stand out as much.

"Welcome! What can I get you boys?"

"I want a small, sturdy cloth pouch that can be worn around the neck, a cloth bag large enough to hold everything on the handcart, and a sturdy cloth to cover the load."

"Those three things, huh? Give me a minute."

The shopkeeper said that, then went inside to find the three things I'd asked for.

After a short wait, he returned with his hands full of goods.

"For the small cloth pouch, one of these three should do. I only have this one large cloth bag. As for the sturdy cloth, choose from these five."

"Thanks! Ronnie, which one do you like?"

"Hmm, I think this one for the small cloth pouch. The cord to wear it around your neck looks sturdy."

"Then let's go with that one. As for the sturdy cloth, which one should we choose?"

Even after feeling them, they all seemed the same to me. They were all sturdy, but none of them seemed water-repellent...

Huh? Come to think of it, I hadn't thought about what we'd do when it rained! What did we do on rainy days again?

Hmm... When I lived at home, I think everyone mostly just stayed wet. In winter, we wore cloaks.

Actually, we generally only went outside for the bare necessities when it rained.

For now, we could close the food stall on rainy days, and if it started raining while we were out, maybe we could just cover anything that absolutely couldn't get wet with a cloak. It might also be a good idea to have a wooden box.

If we put things in a wooden box and covered it with a cloak, that should be perfect.

"Leon, I think any of them would be fine."

"Then let's go with this one. This one, sir!"

"Sure thing. Come again."

We paid and left the shop.

"Ronnie, I just thought of something. It's fine to take the day off from the food stall when it rains. But it might start raining while you're on the way, right? So I was thinking we should keep one wooden box and one cloak on the handcart for situations like that. What do you think?"

"True, customers probably won't come when it's raining, so taking the day off might be best. And if it starts raining while we're on the way, a wooden box and cloak should be perfect."

"Good. Then let's buy those two as well."

"Then let's start with that shop over there!"

After that, we bought a wooden box and a cloak, purchased the ingredients, and left the market.

"All right... Shall we go to the food stall?"

"Yeah! Finally. I've really been looking forward to this! I never thought I'd be the one selling things at a food stall..."

"Did you always want to run a food stall?"

"We never got spending money at the orphanage, so whenever we went to a food stall, I could never buy anything. My little sister and I used to say that if we became food-stall vendors, we'd be able to eat as much of the food they sold as we wanted."

"I see..."

When I thought about Ronnie's childhood, tears welled up in my eyes...

I wanted to buy Ronnie and his little sister as much food from the stall as they wanted!

"Ah, but of course, I'm only an employee, so I won't eat the things we're selling!"

"Ronnie... You can eat as much as you want, as much as you want! That's part of your wages, too, so don't hold back. If you're hungry, eat as much as you like."

"B-but... Isn't that taking things too far...?"

"It's fine! It's my food stall, so if I say it's okay, then it's okay."

"I suppose that's true, but..."

"Don't hold back, okay?"

"O-okay. Thanks."

I'll make sure to give him a little extra money for ingredients...

"Then let's get going. I need you to learn how to make crepes."

"Yeah!"

"Come to think of it, have you eaten lunch, Ronnie?"

"No, I haven't. There's no school."

Could that mean he skipped lunch whenever there was no school? But he'd said he couldn't find a job, and without an income, he had no choice but to cut back...

He'd worked so hard to attend the Royal Academy, and if I remembered correctly, his dream for the future was to earn money himself and let everyone at the orphanage eat their fill... Ronnie was such a good kid!!

He was such a good kid it made me want to cry!

"Then when we get to the food stall, let's make some crepes and eat them. You need to know what the food you're selling tastes like!"

"I guess it is better to know the taste. I'm looking forward to eating one!"

"I'll make some delicious ones."

I'll make incredibly delicious crepes for him!!