Chapter 73: Store Summoning 10

The next day. As expected, Samonia-sama’s crest increased, and I sprang up from bed and made a victory pose. Getting permission from my parents, who were no longer surprised at all that I could summon a new store, I decided to summon the new store right away. Estelle and the others, who had gotten completely used to it, were excited just like me, I could tell. What is it, I wonder; I’ve gradually started feeling like I’m pulling a gacha. I don’t think there are that many shops I visited in my entire previous life, but even if I went to ten new shops a year on average, there’s a stock of two hundred shops. But how many events were there in total throughout the ‘Starlight Symphony’ series…? …I just realized, maybe I can also summon shops I visited in this life eventually. I’ll try to visit shops as much as possible from now on. No, if I’m aiming for Earth-exclusive shops, is it better not to go…? Basically, nobles summon merchants instead of going to shops, so I feel there aren’t many opportunities to go anyway. Well, whatever. Anyway, summon!

“[Store Summoning]!”

With a dazzling light, a new store is summoned. This is…! What appeared was a green storefront tent, and under it, colorful vegetables lined up. Vegetables in colanders and baskets have handwritten price tags placed on them. Some products are stacked in cardboard boxes. Stepping back and looking up, white characters ‘Yaokuma’ on a green corrugated iron sign with a bit of rust showing. Why bear (Kuma)? Because the shopkeeper is Kumada-san. This shop is a greengrocer that was in the shopping street near my parents’ house. I’m sure it’s still in business. Though the management was passed to the son apparently.

“Sakura-chan, this is a shop selling vegetables… right?” “…Yes, it’s a greengrocer.”

I could only answer plainly to Mother who asked. Honestly, it’s subtle… I thought so too. Sorry, Kumada-uncle. Basically, vegetables in this world are often similar. The taste doesn’t change that much either. So, it’s not really a product ‘Only on Earth!’ like before. Well, this greengrocer seemed to stock some rare vegetables too, so there might be some unknown vegetables…

“This is Lady Sakuraile‘s ‘Gift’! It is wonderful!” “Right, right. Lady Sakuraile, being the ‘Princess of the Holy Sword’, is blessed by the Goddess of Summoning, Samonia-sama too.”

Seeing my ‘Gift’ for the first time, Ritsu wearing a maid outfit has sparkling eyes. And nodding boastfully as if saying ‘How about that’ is Bianca. Umm, the story seems to be getting bigger again… Since it might wake a sleeping snake, I ignore that and step into ‘Yaokuma’. Like the candy store, the back of this store is a residence, so it seems we can’t enter there. The products themselves are fresh. Tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbages, potatoes, daikon radishes, bell peppers, paprikas, garlic, chili peppers, carrots, green onions… Ah, they even sell bitter melon. Avocados too. I don’t like either though. Strawberries, apples, bananas, lemons, kiwis… fruits are sold too. Huh? Are strawberries fruits? Or vegetables?

“Father, money.” “Ah, understood.”

Watching Father place gold coins on the counter at the back of the greengrocer, I took one apple from there and bit into it with a shari.

“Young Miss, that is unseemly, you know?” “Sorry, let it slide just for today. This is also checking the ‘Gift’.”

Maid Arisa-san admonished me for biting into an apple on the spot, but I want her to forgive me here. Yeah, delicious. Just an ordinary apple. Taking another bite, I notice Estelle staring at me intently—jiii.

“…Want some?” “Can I? Itadakimasu!”

Saying that, Estelle snatched the apple I was holding. Huh? I meant to ask if you wanted to eat a new one here, not the one I was biting.

“It’s a waste so this one is fine! Nn! Delifious!” “I-Is that so?”

If you don’t mind, well, fine… I flinch a little at Estelle biting the apple with an ecstatic expression. No weird ingredients mixed in, right?

“Kohaku-san wants to eat too?” “I do not like apples much. Give me strawberries.”

Placing a basket of strawberries in front of Kohaku-san, he started eating them—mushamusha. His mouth area is covered in strawberry juice. Have to wash him later.

“My, my, everything looks fresh and delicious. …Hey, Sakura-chan, how do you eat this?”

Mother is holding a banana with a puzzled face. Huh? Are there no bananas in this world? I snapped one banana from the bunch—pokiri—peeled it, and offered it to Mother. While hesitating at the unknown food, perhaps drawn by the sweet scent, Mother put the banana in her mouth—pakuri.

“Delicious! My? I feel like I’ve eaten this before?” “Eh? Ah, come to think of it, there was a fruit parfait on ‘La Vie en Rose’s’ menu. It’s the banana inside that.” “So it looks like this originally.”

The bananas in fruit parfaits are sliced. You don’t know unless you see the real thing. Perhaps inspired by Mother, Grandmother and the Empress were also eating bananas and strawberries. Fruits are good since they can be eaten as is.

“Uwa, bitter…!”

Looking aside, Jean who bit into a whole green pepper was grimacing. Eh, you bit it raw? That’s bitter. Or rather, didn’t green peppers exist in this world too? Did it look like a fruit to Jean? Even though it’s green?

“This one isn’t that bitter.”

I pick up a paprika next to the green pepper and hand it to Jean. In the first place, green peppers are unripe, and turn red when fully ripe. Since it’s unripe, naturally it’s bitter. That bitterness can be delicious though. Green peppers are always in the top ten vegetables unpopular with children. Can’t be helped if Jean grimaces. Jean, holding the red paprika, is looking at me suspiciously. Eat it quickly. With a fearful feeling, Jean bit into the paprika.

“…Not bitter. Actually a little sweet. I can eat this.”

Well, after eating a bitter green pepper, eating paprika would feel sweet. This shop has red and yellow paprikas; if I recall, red is sweeter, and yellow is slightly acidic? I pick up a yellow paprika and try biting it too.

“Nn. Delicious.”

Can’t really feel the acidity. Delicious as is, but I think it would be even more delicious if made into a salad with dressing. Ah, mini paprikas are sold too. This is about the size of a green pepper, or slightly smaller. Wouldn’t this be delicious in a salad too?

“Let’s see. I’ll have one too.” “Eh? Ah!? Wai…!”

Hyoi, Father picked up a vegetable next to the mini paprikas that looked very similar and bit off about half. Seeing that, Uwa!?, I peel my eyes open. Why is that placed next to mini paprikas? Same species, and they look similar so I understand wanting to place them nearby, but! You shouldn’t place Habaneros next to mini paprikas, Kumada-uncle!

“HowaaaaaaAAAAAAAA──────!?”

Father opened his eyes wide, face dripping with sweat, and screamed as if about to breathe fire. Everyone in ‘Yaokuma’ was surprised by that voice and gazes concentrated here. I wonder, is Father cursed to have to eat spicy things from Earth?

“Wa, wate…r!”

Suppressing the urge to make a pun like ‘Earthworm?’ (Mimizu? vs Mizu?), I tried to take out a water bottle from my storage pochette but stopped. Let’s go with milk. With water, the spiciness just spreads in the mouth, so I don’t think it’s very effective. With milk, ‘Casein’, a type of protein contained in dairy products, binds with capsaicin and should alleviate the spiciness felt on the tongue. I take out a bottled milk bought at ‘Fuji no Yu’ from the pochette and hand it to Father. Tearing off the lid, Father drank the milk in one go, and then—Bishi!—held up one index finger towards me. Yes yes, one more, right? Drinking the additional bottle slowly as if rinsing, Father exhaled a big breath—fuuu.

“Thought I’d die…”

That much? Even though Father has eaten the Hot Dog Hot Source Special, I thought the damage wouldn’t be that bad. Was raw Habanero tough, or was the surprise attack tough… If Estelle or Mother had eaten it by mistake, they might have fainted from shock. Thinking that, it was good that it was Father who ate it. No, it’s not good though.

“This is wonderful…! Even for unknown vegetables from another world, if there are seeds, they might be cultivatable in this world too. This is a great discovery! It’s not an exaggeration to say it’s discovering new species!”

The one with high tension over never-before-seen vegetables is plant otaku Leon. He is observing the vegetables scrutinizingly—tame-tsu sugame-tsu—to the point where Elliott and Jean beside him are put off. Certainly, if there are seeds, they can be grown into seedlings immediately with the Traumerei family heirloom, ‘Pot of Acceleration’. Calling it discovering new species, well, is it not wrong?

“Just so you know, research on those new vegetables will be a joint research with our Ducal House, okay?” “Of course! Since the vegetables came from here originally, that is natural.”

When I nailed it down just in case so profits wouldn’t be stolen, Leon readily admitted it. Ah, this guy just wants to research rather than profits. I don’t know how to grow vegetables or when to sow seeds. That part will probably be thrown entirely to the Traumerei family. This is a Father case. I’ll leave the negotiations to him. While hoping Earth’s vegetables and fruits become commonly eaten in this world too, I took another bite of paprika.

◇ ◇ ◇

At that time, on the outskirts of a certain village…

“What the?” “Oi, what’s wrong?”

To the voice leaked by a man who swung a hoe down on the ground, a bearded man doing the same reclamation work next to him asks.

“Hit something hard. What’s that?” “Was a rock buried? or a root of a cut tree?” “Dunno. Seriously, telling us to make a field in a place like this, nobles make us do incomprehensible things.”

Muttering complaints, the man uses the hoe to dig around it. It was three days ago they were ordered by the lord of this land to reclaim here. Something about experimentally growing new crops. The man doubted if crops would grow in such dry, barren land, but orders from nobles are absolute. Had to do it. Trying to take out a rock or something, the face of the man digging soil lazily gradually became severe.

“O, oi, this…” “W-Why is something like this in a place like this?”

What appeared from the soil before the men was a single black coffin. Not a normal coffin. Its surface was decorated with gold, and no matter how you look at it, it’s a coffin where a person of high status is laid to rest. Dense gold inscriptions are carved on the surface and sides of the coffin. Even for two farmers, they understood this coffin was something outrageous.

“W-What do we do?” “…If it’s a coffin of a big shot, maybe gems or something are inside…”

Which one swallowed their saliva—goku? When a noble dies, mementos, ornaments, and gold coins to use in the afterlife are sometimes put in the coffin together. Therefore, to protect from grave robbers targeting them, noble cemeteries have grave keeper clans. Fortunately, other reclamation colleagues have returned to the village for lunch. Pilfering one or two gems inside, no, stealing everything, no one would know. The two exchanged glances, nodded slightly, and slowly put their hands on the coffin lid…