Chapter 1
Episode 17: Female Knight and ramune
Like Seram, I also pick up a basket and wander around the store.
Inside the slightly cramped store, the packages of candy lined up on the shelves. Everything I see brings back memories.
When I was in elementary school, I used to come here with 100 yen coin in my hand to buy candy.
Feeling nostalgic, I put the potato chips, stringed gummies, and Umeebou I used to eat in my basket and brought them to the cashier.
Even if I bought this many, it would only cost me about 150 yen. Dagashiya (Cheap-sweets shop) is wonderful, isn't it?
"How about a cold Ramune?"
Kaito offers a drink while I pay for the snacks.
There is a fridge next to the cash register filled with bottles of Ramune and Coke.
"...... This house doesn't even serve drinks to its guests?"
"If you come upstairs, I'll serve you barley tea, but the first floor is the store."
I can't drink barley tea after seeing a bottle of Ramune that looks like it's been chilled perfectly.
"Tsk, a bottle of Ramune then."
"Thanks for your patronage."
Negotiations failed, and Kaito forced me to buy Ramune.
He is a shrewd salesman.
"I'll give Seram-san free Ramune as a bonus!"
"Hey!"
"Well, Seram-san is a new customer after all!"
I voiced my discontent with his different treatment, but Kaito laughed it off.
If he treated her like that, he could at least give me a bonus.
I sat down on the tatami space at the back of the room, slightly annoyed.
After paying for our purchases, Seram also sat down next to me.
"You bought quite a lot."
"Yup, I'm curious about all of them. Even though I bought this many, it cost less than 300 yen. The sweets are so cheap."
Seram made a comment similar to the thought that crossed my mind earlier.
"By the way, how do you drink this Ramune? I can't drink it because something round is blocking the opening..."
"Oh, you just need to put this ball-pusher on top of it and push it in. Then the marble inside will fall down."
As I explained and opened my Ramune bottle, Seram imitated me and successfully opened her own Ramune bottle.
"It fell down!"
"Don't remove the ball-pusher for about five seconds, okay? You might experience a soda spurt."
"Huh? Will the drink spurt out? I don't quite understand, but I'll keep it down for a while."
Seram tilted her head as she patiently waited. After a short while, she nervously took off the ball-pusher.
"The color is beautiful, and the bottle's shape is too."
Seeing us opening the ramune, Kaito seemed to want a drink, so he took a ramune bottle out of the fridge.
"Well then, cheers!"
Kaito swiftly opened his Ramune bottle and raised it for a toast with us.
He appeared as if he had been drinking since morning, but instead of alcohol, he was drinking Ramune.
The ice-cold liquid spread in my mouth.
The cool, refreshing flavor of Ramune penetrated my nostrils, and then it flowed down my throat.
For a moment, I forget that it's the middle of summer.
"Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh! What the hell is this! The moment I sipped it, it felt like my tongue was bitten!"
While Kaito and I are feeling cool and refreshed, the female knight from another world is choking violently.
Oh, come to think of it, this is her first time drinking carbonated drinks.
"Don't worry. It's that kind of drink. You'll be surprised at first, but you'll be fine once you get used to it."
"Are you serious?"
"Seram-san, have you never had a soda drink before? My bad."
"No problem. Now that I know it's that kind of drink, I should be able to handle it."
Teary-eyed, Seram takes another sip of the Ramune.
"Puha~."
This time, she doesn't choke and lets out a faint exhale.
"Mmmm. Once you get used to it, this tingling sensation is not bad. It goes well with the refreshing Ramune taste."
"If you can't handle it, don't force yourself, okay?"
"I'm okay."
Many people find carbonated drinks undrinkable and not tasty, but Seram seems to be fine with it.
After quenching her thirst, she indulged in the snacks she had bought.
The first snack Seram picks up is the cod roe-flavored Umeebou.
Despite being a beginner, she instinctively chose a classic snack. Impressive instincts.
Seram opens the package with her fingers and takes a bite of the Umeebou.
A crisp sound fills the air.
"This is delicious! Is it really okay to cost only 10 yen for something this good?"
"Haha, it's okay. There are many other flavors, so buy some if you like."
Kaito recommends different flavors to Seram, who is astonished by the taste of umeebou.
"Are you saying that all of them have different flavors?"
"They're all different."
"Give me all of them!"
"Thank you very much."
The evil candy seller strikes again.
I want to tell Seram to keep it in moderation, but I can't stop her because I just told her to buy whatever she wants with her salary.
"Still, there are so many flavors."
As I recall, there were 14 regular flavors of Umeebou.
But looking at the umeebous that Kaito now has, there are clearly more flavors than that.
"My favorite is the premium, but I also stock local and seasonal limited editions. And just between you and me, I also have a few discontinued flavors."
"Just how many do you have? Next time, sell some to me."
The discontinued versions include my favorite lobster, pizza, and kabayaki flavors. If I could find them again, I would definitely buy them.
"Well, it can't be helped. They're special, right?"
Kaito is talking exaggeratedly, but he isn't bragging about himself. I guess he really likes candy.
After finishing our secret talk, I took a string of gummy bears from the bag and ate them.
I enjoy the simple taste. This is how cheap sweets are supposed to taste.
"What are those long green things?"
"It's a candy made from fruit juice and sugar. It's like a more elastic and fruity version of Yokan. Do you want to try it?"
"Yes, I want to try it!"
The package says it has a melon flavor, but when I tried it, it tasted like grapes or pears. Honestly, I can't even tell what it tastes like. But I guess that's what makes it tasty.
"It's Jin!"
"There's also the rumored wife!"
"...... She's beautiful."
While relaxing and eating our snacks, some kids opened the sliding door and came in.
The kids were not interested in the candies but came up to me and Seram.
"You kids know about it too?"
"It's become viral in this neighborhood, you know? Most people here are aware of it."
"The unfriendly Jin-san finally got married, and people were talking about it."
Apparently, my relationship with Seram is known by everyone.
I wonder how many people Minori-san and Shigeru-san have told.
"Hey, hey, how did you and your wife meet?"
"Which one of you confessed first?"
"...... Have you held hands already?"
While I was lost in my own thoughts, the kids bombarded me with questions all at once.
"You kids came here to buy candy, right? Just be quiet and buy your candy."
"Eh? But we're more interested in hearing about Jin's love story."
"Yeah!"
When I reluctantly gave them 100 yen coins, they lost interest in me and headed toward the store.
As I took a breath after shooing the kid away, I noticed Kaito grinning at me.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, not too long ago, you were quite unapproachable. You didn't visit my house often, and you didn't even bother with the kids, did you?"
"... Is that true?"
Kaito said as much, but Seram seemed surprised because she knew nothing about my past.
Since I came back here, I couldn't help but feel that socializing with people was troublesome.
I didn't even see my childhood friend (Kaito) often. It's not surprising that Kaito says I've changed.
"I wonder who changed you?"
"I don't know."
I pretended not to understand what Kaito was saying and ignored him.
